Hey all. I've been browsing around some forums, and this one looks nice enough, so I joined. Well, I have a couple questions for you guys. Im gonna lump them all into one post for now, if noone answers, ill expand them into multiple posts in the correct forums.

1: I have a '96 Saturn SL1...which kicks with 100 h.p. ...and thats on a good day. What type of mods would you recommend I do, if any? I've looked around, there not much made for saturns at all. I could get a really expensive turbo kit...and thats mostly all ive found. I was thinking about swapping engines for a similar sized engine with a little more pep. Is this even a realistic thing to look into (i dont have much experience with cars, however, my father does.) ? I was thinking maybe a small Honda engine or something....? My cars light, so it doesnt need too much to make it go. (dont quote me, but i think its 2200 lbs.)

2) I also have an 88 GrandAm. What could I do to this sucker? Scrapyard, or could it be a viable streetcar platform? The only problem it has, which mystifies even my father, is after long drives of an hour or more, the torque converter will tend to lock up...and then its just a bitch as it stalls whenever you come to a stop, and the only way to start it is to throw it into reverse.

3) My grandpa has a 1984 Nissan 300zx which is in decent condition but needs some TLC before its even road worthy. Its non-twin turbo (low miles though). Should I attempt to acquire this and rid myself of the above two vehicles? My only concerns is it needs a decent amount of TLC and work and money, and is the non turbo version...and the 300zx's are NOT light cars.

Whatcha guys think? Sorry about the long lumped together multi-post! Thanks a bunch.

Ditch the other two and work with the 300zx. With the money you coudl get with the two other cars, you could turbo the Z (maybe)

I dunno. The GrandAm would bring in MAYBE 500 bucks as its got a paint defect(paints all peeling off everywhere...it was recalled, but previous owner never brought it in). The saturn is my daily driver. I drive 60-80 miles a day for school and g/f, and it holds up well. Now, while theres nothing out there for the Saturn...I always imagine having a pimped (internally, not external sh!t ) Saturn. It would be an awesome sleeper. Imagine being owned by a Saturn. Im not talking about taking on the big guns, like the High Torgue muscle(Im keeping my eye out in my area for any of the torque-mongers to surface for sale), i just mean beat-down on the little ricers in my area. Do I have any hope, or is it just a dream? I like the 300zx, it purrs. So thats never out. Im not 100% sure i could get the car from him, but as he has 2 1950's jags hes playing with, im sure hed give it up. (hes got 6 cars to play with as-is).

Since you say you are using the saturn as your daily driver, I wouldn't recommend doing anything to it (don't want to risk putting it out of comission and having to walk that 60-80 miles a day). But if you are set on fixing up the saturn, then you might try swapping for the dohc sl engine, more hp and some more options for modding, but definitely don't stick with the sohc. Personally, I agree with the other comments telling you to work on the Z, that's probably your best bet, but I feel for ya on the sleeper saturn thing (I wanted to import a fiat 126, stock 650cc engine, and try to turn it into a sleeper because no one would ever expect it and it would be a speed demon with 200-250 hp because of its size).

Take the P.O.S to MAACO and get a cheap $100 respray. Shit peels in a week, but it gets the car sold.