What would you do?
 

You have an 88 NA all stock with 108k original miles, you hardly race (but speed) and are on a low income (think college student budget).

Cuz thats me right there. Same car, from the "Firestone Crashed My Supra!" post. I'm in process of restoring it, and I'm thinking about mods (without having to live off ramen noodles).

Ha ha sorry to tell you but your gonna live off them noodles for a while if you want to hook up your ride.I hope your good at saving money and have patience cause your not gonna be able to go out and buy everything you need/want at once.Save and buy one thing at a time.Take it slow or your gonna be living out of that car.Let us know how your doin'.

First make sure it is mechanically sound. New plugs, wires, rotor and cap. Check the air filter. Just a plain old K&N is going to cost at least $40.00. Check for leaks, oil or water. Take a compression test to see what kind of shape the engine is in. Change the oil and filter regularly.


As for suspension, check the shocks and make sure the tire wear is even. Bolts have been know to fall off of these cars from time to time so make sure all the rack bolts are still there along with the sway bar mounts.

Just getting rid of that big muffler at the end and replacing it with a free flowing muffler helps some. You don't really need anything but the cat converter and the rear muffler. Bigger sway bars and better shocks really help the car handle better.

There are a lot of things you can do to make it more a car of your personal tastes, but stick to the basics first then go with handling. Make sure it is going to last, then start checking ebay for some stuff you might want,

Good luck

Russ

do the basic maintenance first like rnoswal says, pretty much make sure everything works because itll save you from a big headache later on, then i would start with basic upgrades; intake, exhaust, downpipe if turbo to free up the flow of the air, maybe some suspension like springs or strut bars to make the handling a little better, simple bolt-ons...then if you decide on making big power you might wanna consider teh big stuff...but since you are on a budget theres no reason for me to get into it unless u want me to