We know how difficult it can be to work on cars; believe us, we’ve had more than our share of problems over the years, too. Good thing we’re willing to share this knowledge of problem solving with you and act like we know something technical about cars. Feel free to ask us about your problems by writing to Super Street at tech@superstreetonline.com or Super Street, attn: Tech Support, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245. We’ll try out best to answer your questions, but can’t answer every one we receive personally or in print, so if your issue is urgent, we highly recommend you seeking the help of a nearby mechanic! Also, try to do some basic research online; while the Internet isn’t foolproof, it is a good start, as there are many excellent resources to look at. If it helps to include a few photos to describe/illustrate your problem/project, please do so.
Preludicrous
Q I own a ’93 Prelude with a H22A, and I’m thinking about building it but I’m kinda torn. I just want to know if it’s worth building my H22 or swapping a H23 into it? I’m not looking to get crazy, but if I do build the H22 I want to do stronger internals so I can safely boost it. However, I also have the phrase “there is no replacement for displacement” stuck in the back of my head. I just want to know what would be easiest, get me the best results and be the best decision.
Josh Esser
Via the Internet
A Man, the H23 is a horrible idea. Sure it has 0.1L more displacement, but aside from that it’s inferior to your current engine in every way. Unless you’re talking about the H23A VTEC motor, which we highly doubt you are, because they’re very expensive and you’d be better off building your current motor than buying one. So in a nutshell, keep the motor you’ve got, cram it full of aftermarket goodies and party on.
Brake Yo Self (Redux)
Q Two questions for Charles Trieu about the 240SX Brembo upgrade in the January 2011 issue. After driving the car for a while now, what comments do you have concerning the EBC pads? Second, what can you tell me about repainting the calipers? I read that the STI calipers have some fancy ceramic base-layer paint.
Matt Elliott
Eden Prairie, MN
A Although Charles no longer works at Super Street, he was kind enough to take a break from his busy import-tuning schedule to answer this question: “The brake upgrade is great. I can’t comment on the pads yet because I haven’t tried any others on this setup and since it all happened at once, it’s hard to tell what effect the pads have. Overall the setup is pretty good, but I’ve yet to track it; with my lame skills on the street, though, I love the setup. I’ve had zero problems with the paint so far—I just wish I had used a little more clear-coat because now they need wax to really shine.” - CT
Supra-Maine That Ho
I have an ’85 Toyota Supra 2.8L automatic and live in Maine, so it’s really hard to find performance parts for this car. I would like to start small with intake and exhaust, then go to a chip and engine rebuild. Need some help in finding these things—could you point me in the right direction?
Paul Moshier
Albion, ME
A Although the MK2 Supra isn’t the most popular car, there’s a very tightly-knit cult following for them. We recommend going to celicasupra.com and celica-gts.com, signing up for their message boards and reading as much as you can. There are a lot of people out there who have already mapped out the best ways to modify these cars, and you can learn a lot by reading what others have found works and what doesn’t.