Originally Posted by starwarskid
A DIY tuneup would be worth doing in my opinion, it will make the car feel alot better for very little money:
• Spark Plugs
• spark wires
• Oil & filter
• New Tranny fliud
• adjust throttle and clutch cable
• Replace the PCV valve (like $4)
• spray carb-cleaner in the eacv and vacuum hoses
• Use 1 bottle of sea-foam for the intake, crank case (before changing the oil and filter) and the gas tank. (go by the instructions on the can for this)
• Replace the battery wires and grounding wires (You can use the $3 6-gauge and 4-gauge battery battery cables from wal-mart to do this, no need for JDM speaker-wire stuff).
• use a disposable wire brush to clean up the oxidation on the bolts that hold down the grounds to the chassis, and the battery terminals
• after doing the above stuff, you can accurately adjust the timing and the idle
• If you can, adjust the valve-springs
These are things that shouldnt cost too much to do at home and (combined) will have a dramatic effect on the quality of the ride if you havent just tried all of it.
Once you have some of these superficial things out of the way you can be more specific about what needs to be done, and the ride will be more tolerable while you save up.
I wish there was a way (without sounding like a smart-ass) for me to explain how funny it is when people say "oh just diy...all you do is adjust the throttle body and timing accurately, etc, etc."
I mean its hilarious only becuz-when I say I can't do it myself, I mean I can't even jump start the car without it leading to my or some other poor saps demise. I mean just set me up with a set of jumper cables and a car and play the looney tunes theme and you got a dangerous-but funny-situation. its just that i've never learned to work on cars or how they work really. I bought a manual which is for me like reading a japanese, by-way-of-latin, book thats encoded in ancient egyptian...I mean if somone sat with me and said this goes here and that goes there, then I could do it but until then I won't be changing the oil let alone tuning it up!
thanks though for trying and also for telling me your opinion on the tune-up on old engine!