I'm new to the site and wanting to do some small upgrades to my 2002 Chevy cavalier. for example: exhaust and rims and maybe debadging. my car is completely stock. i was wondering what kind of muffler i should get? i like the glass pack kind of sound but am not for sure that's what i want to do. if i got a glass pack what size would i need to get to fit my stock exhaust?
forget about an exhaust... pointless... lower you car before rims. other wise it will just look 4x4ish.
if i lowered the car i wouldn't want to slam it. I would want it like the pic you have in your post. can you tell me what kind of setup that is?
uuummmm thats pretty damn slammed for a cavalier at least he is one of the lowest around without bagging it, the pic on my sig is slightly droppped, about an inch and a half with a little extra sagg
Modding my j since I found the org
what kind of setup do you have on your cavy?
im on eibach sportlines with koni's. 1.7 inch in the front 2.3 inch in the rear
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
Yeah I'm not sure that's what I want to do.
A popular good quality, cheap (price-wise) suspension setup is KYB AGX shocks and struts and Eibach Pro Kit 1.4" lowering springs. It rides nice, not bumpy or anything and you shouldn't really have any issues with scraping. It will also improve the handling a little as well. It's a really good budget friendly setup for a daily driver.
After going through 3 different aftermarket exhaust setups on my former 2002 Sunfire GT, I'm not a big fan of aftermarket exhaust setups. If I did it over again, I'd stick with the OEM exhaust with a nice round muffler tip and just do an intake, either CAI or SRI. Speaking of which, if you decide to do an exhaust, you may want to do an intake first. Intakes are usually one of the first things many J-Body owners do because they're readily available, cheap (eBay) and easy to install even for someone who's not mechanically inclined.
As far as de-badging goes, it's very easy to do, but time consuming. It's also basically a free mod which is nice if you're on a tight budget. Use a hair dryer to heat the badges, and consequently the adhesive behind the badges up, then use fishing line to saw back and forth behind the badge from one end to the other. Once the badge itself has been removed, there will be leftover adhesive still stuck to the paint. I recommend using the hair dryer again to heat it up to help make it easier to remove. Spray some WD40 on the adhesive, let it sit for a minute or so and start rubbing. It may take a while, but the results will be well worth it. Alot of people here also remove the side moldings as well for a really clean look.
Welcome to the JBO! Post some pictures of your Cavalier when you get a chance
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Thanks for the advice i will be getting an intake very soon and i will debadge when it warms up. i will also post pics very soon.
would also like to know if anybody could recommend a good cheap cold air intake? i would also like to know what the difference in cold air intake and a short ram intake is?
honestly intake price doesnt make much of a difference, and what filter you get is mostly yur look preference, but some filters are better than othrs(in my opinon). i know a person with a civic ef who just put pvc pipe and a filter at teh end and got just as much improvement as a aem intake which he also had. if yur on a tight budget i would recomend you going to ebay and getting a cheap short ram intake.
difference is; cai doesnt stay in your engine bay so they are getting cold air instead of the warm air that short rams get from sitting in the engine bay.
Aaron Ruark wrote:would also like to know if anybody could recommend a good cheap cold air intake? i would also like to know what the difference in cold air intake and a short ram intake is?
Power-wise there isn't much difference between a CAI and an SRI, especially on a stock car. It's more about the difference in looks then anything else. With a CAI you have to worry about possible hyrdolock (water getting sucked into the engine), whereas with an SRI you obviously won't have that worry. They do make pre-filter wraps and bypass filters for CAIs though that will help prevent hydrolock.
I had
this CAI on my former 2002 2200 powered Sunfire SE Sedan. It's an AEM knockoff for a third of the price of the AEM. The only thing I would recommend is getting a good quality filter (AEM or K&N) for it because the one that comes with it is junk. The fit and finish of the intake itself is excellent though, especially for the price. I was very happy with it. It looked, fit and sounded great. If you decide you'd rather have an SRI, I would honestly suggest just getting this CAI anyway and cutting it to make it an SRI. It's pretty much the only intake that connects directly to the 2200 throttle body and obviously it's cheap, so it would be well worth it even if you cut half of it off.
Your Cavalier looks like it's in really good shape. Nice clean slate to start with! Can't wait to see progress on it!
If you have any more questions, be sure to post and I'll do my best to help you out.
you can make a custom intake for your car for under 40 dollars. in face ill sell you one using spectra pieces and filters lol.. interested? PM me
yeah man sorry for the late reply but im on agx struts and prokit springs also on ebay you can find a wai for around fifty with a cone filter that will last you for a bit, i only suggest getting a better filter down the year.
Modding my j since I found the org
excuse the nasty engine bay but here is my intake and you can see the drop on my car from my signature.
Modding my j since I found the org
Installing a new stereo in the cavalier and since the last time have had the windows tinted and and tinted the tail lights,
