Hotwire - MY04 GT Wagon Auto

[Fangin_RX]

Hotwire you can make a double of CJs wagon , Buy them same rims and all the gear he has and you'll be right . And Senator thats not very nice just cause he doesnt wanna have the big boys toy at the moment doesnt make him different

[Hotwire]

Always the old auto/manual debate... I have an Auto Lib, but a Manual SP23, so I can have fun in either

I'm interested to know what the factory auto stall converter is - i'm guessing around 2500 as thats what most auto's have these days but still would be good to know. However I wont be stalling it up till a trans cooler is installed.

[swingn]

Welcome mate

Good to see another wagon owner in our ranks

I had an SP23 before the Lib... Was so happy to see it go as it was the biggest POS I had ever had.

[Hotwire]

Welcome mate

Good to see another wagon owner in our ranks

I had an SP23 before the Lib... Was so happy to see it go as it was the biggest POS I had ever had.

Really?! the SP23 has been the most reliable car i've ever owned. Not one thing has gone wrong in 3+ years of ownership and 64,000kms (touch wood). I've found it a good fun car, and is capable of keepin up with Turbo AWD cars in the adelaide hills (till hit the long straights that is)

Anyway, I've been searching (here and legacygt.com) and it seems that there is little knowledge on here about open source tuning for the 2.0T. Plenty on the 2.5 as that's what the yanks have, but little to nothing on the 2.0... get the impression people pay the $1500+ for ECUTEK. Pity

[Mano™]

Welcome.. Nice to bad it's a wagon drop that shit too

[Hotwire]

....
Planned mods are simple:
20% tint all round
18x8 wheels (yet to decide style)
and whatever mod is required to create more boost down low!

The lag is annoying the hell out of me. Will a tune or exhaust fix this?

Well thought I would post a little update....

Planned mods are simple:
20% tint all round - Being done in October Just before hot weather
18x8 wheels - XT7r on their way in 18x8 +45, with 225/40/18 Kumho KU31s
and whatever mod is required to create more boost down low! Have been religiously researching open source tune and will be playing with different ADM/JDM/STi maps to get best combo

Here is how the car should look come End of August with the new wheels:

[alfabruce]

Hi Hotwire,

Greeting to a fellow SA legend.

congrats on the machine. Im aiming for something like this but might have to spend a bit of time in the NA versions for a while before the misses lets me get one.

Where did you buy it...and did you get a good deal. I havnt seen them pop up a dealers. I missed one at pickles last year which was very dissapointing.

I might even try to get one in the same colour as the NA versions and hopefully she wont notice the bonnest scoop, different stereo etc etc.....


Looks good with those proposed wheels.

Cheers

Tim

[Hotwire]

Hi Hotwire,

Greeting to a fellow SA legend.

congrats on the machine. Im aiming for something like this but might have to spend a bit of time in the NA versions for a while before the misses lets me get one.

Where did you buy it...and did you get a good deal. I havnt seen them pop up a dealers. I missed one at pickles last year which was very dissapointing.

I might even try to get one in the same colour as the NA versions and hopefully she wont notice the bonnest scoop, different stereo etc etc.....

Looks good with those proposed wheels.

Cheers

Tim

Thanks Tim,

I actually bough the car from Noosa in QLD. I was looking at what was on the market here in SA for approximately 5 months, and only 1 car came up in the condition I wanted and it was out of my budget! So I started looking at VIC NSW and QLD as I had friends contacts in each major capital that could look at the car for me. I found this in Noosa for approx $4k less than any other dealer anywhere in australia (for similar age/kms) and thought it must have some body damage. Well to my surprise got a clean bill of health (body was spotless, not a scratch!) so paid deposit and flew up there a week later to seal the deal.

When I got the car there was only 2 shopping trolley dents in the car which I had removed by Dent Masters and now the body is flawless - just how I like my cars

[Sentinel]

Yours will look good Hotwire when she's got the rims on. You planning on doing the nuggets too??

[Hotwire]

Yours will look good Hotwire when she's got the rims on. You planning on doing the nuggets too??

I would like to say yes, but I know i'll never have the spare $$ for them. Besides, it would be purely for show as I just don't get the oportunity for hills thrashing much these days Brake pads need changing next service so will be getting a high temp pads (probably TRW Lucas as have 650deg rating with relatively low dust) and just having stock rotors machined true again. This should see them capable enough for what i'll put them through.

Basically my plan for the car as funds become available are:
Rims/Tyres - August
20% Tint - September
Transmission Cooler - October (Dana cooler off ebay, DIY install)
Suspension - ????? (if I can ever afford springs/coilovers)

Custom Tune - as soon as I learn enough to do it myself In the mean time - JDM/STi map will be loaded after next service.

[Sentinel]

Sounds like a good plan. I reckon once you see the wheels on, you'll want to sort the suspension - quick! LOL. You can get springs fairly cheaply, but ultimately, like the ol' saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Why the trans cooler? Pardon my ignorance, but was there an issue with cooling or do you tow a lot?

[Hotwire]

Factory stall is 3100rpm in the 04GT, and once tune is sorted out I intend to be making quite a bit more torque down low. Extra torque before converter locks up = lots more heat. Simply a preventative measure to ensure the trans doesnt get too hot. And by plumbing it before it goes through the factory piping in the radiator, if it "overcools" the fluid, then the radiator will heat it back to optimum temp

OH, and the other mod in mind is changing stock mufflers for something a little more throaty. Im thinking that surely if the Phat mufflers can be done in Mild steel for $575 delivered, I should be able to have them changed over for more hi-flowing mild steel for similar price for a local exhaust shop

[alfabruce]

Hotwire,

I know what you mean with the prices here is SA. IM preparing to buy from interstate because everything here is, like you say, 4ish grand more than other places.

Im looking a t a few cars around the other states at the moment that look quite cheap and I feel just like you did, I wondering if they have accident damage or some other serious fault but I spose sometimes there are good genuine deals out there.

Did you always get friends to check the cars out or is it possible to pay for RAA or similar checks interstate.

Looking at the Redbook valuations from gen4 wagons it says that cars that many of the 2003, 2004 vehicles are only worth in the $14-$18,000 for a 80-100,000kms car but the prices listed by the sellers are often $8,000 more.

Did you find that the red book valuations are too low in general for the vehicles??

I keep you posted with my purchase and might catch up with you on a cruise some day soon.

Tim

[Sentinel]

Ah huh - good thinking 99!

And the muffs - can't go wrong with the Phat man.

Enjoy the mod journey mate!

[Hotwire]

Did you always get friends to check the cars out or is it possible to pay for RAA or similar checks interstate.

If you are an RAA member they can help source a check interstate - my parents just bought a 300ZX from Vic and they had RACVIC check out the car

Looking at the Redbook valuations from gen4 wagons it says that cars that many of the 2003, 2004 vehicles are only worth in the $14-$18,000 for a 80-100,000kms car but the prices listed by the sellers are often $8,000 more.

Did you find that the red book valuations are too low in general for the vehicles??

Redbook have "0" idea when it comes to real world sales I find. Dealers will use it to screw you down on trade in, but will easily add a few $k when selling the car.