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Pontiac Sunfire Accessories and Modifications

masterchiefmasterchief Member Posts: 10
edited December 2023 in Pontiac
Well I haven't found a single discussion for people modifying or upgradeing their sunfires, so I' figured I start one. I currently just have an AEM Cold Intake, but eventually I want to put a magnaflow exhaust on it, new headers, a Bomex body kit, mess around with the suspension, and then get the GM supercharger when it comes out. Any suggestoins or what others have done to there sunfires would be appreciated.

Comments

  • babygirl24babygirl24 Member Posts: 7
    The strut bar helps if you like to drive fast. I have one on my 97 coupe, I also have the cold air intake. Try rims and if you get a body kit make sure you upgrade to the z-3 fenders b/c they look hot. Good luck with your car. I know its a quick little car but its no honda, dont forget that.
  • azcusnretazcusnret Member Posts: 1
    This is a great subject there Masterchief! I have a 01 sunfire 4 dr that I bought for my daughter and the ride is a little rough, I have 99,700 miles on it, replaced the struts but that didn't solve it, I'm going to do the coil springs next, but I can't find out any information on like an interchange possiblity. I don't want to lower it, I want to go with a better spring set. I read on another forum somewhere a guy took the coil springs out of a grand am or grand prix and put them in his sunfire and he said it road like a caddy. I'm kickin myself because I can't find that site/link anymore to see what he actually did. If you hear anything pls let me know. Thanks!
  • 1fastsnfr1fastsnfr Member Posts: 3
    i've got a 96 2.2, and i've done more than a little work. its all budget, so don't laugh. i installed a stock turbo from a 98 gsx eclipse, and a hks boost controller, all of which cost me around $350. i welded the header myself , and its got about $60 worth of 1.5" exoust tbe, and a piece of 1/4" thick plate steel for the flanges. i had my haed built with .190 valves, and ported and polished for $300. The block has eagle rods and wrist pins, which set me back $250, and a mantapart.com cam which was a little over $200.
    the block is stock bore, but with keith black forged pistons, $30 apiece. i guess the most expensive part on my car is the intake, which i bought from mantapart.com. it does away with the stock one piece unit-intake+throttle body-and allows you to replace the throttle body with a bigger one like mine. its off an '01 Z28. the intake is $250, or maybe a little more, but worth it! with a 2.5 inch exaust, and no cat, im pushing a dyno proven 205 hp, at 8psi. of course, the car is having some problems which are unrelated to these mods-i hope! i drove it for over a year with these mods and never had a problem! it runs a little lean, but other than that its fine. i also have accell coil packs, an msd im, accell wires and ngk iridium plugs, so it helps out. if i can fix the problems its having, i plan on finding a good set of fuel injectors and trading the stock PCM for a megasquirt unit which is fully programmable. im trying for 250 hp with less than $8000 invested. i know im pushing it! it may be possibe, and it helps that i did alot of the work myself! the only thing i didn't do was the head and exaust!
  • sunfiregt34sunfiregt34 Member Posts: 2
    Ive been looking for a turbo kit for my sunfire gt has anyone found one, or does it gotta be custom made.
  • 944s944s Member Posts: 42
    hey what up just picked up a 99 coupe,, havent done anything on it yet, its an 2.2L automatic with 95000 miles on it. im planning on doing several mods to it,,, my inquiry was, has anyone actually done any upgrades or modifications the the internal engine and /or transmission. the only thing in scared of is adding all of these modifications and having the engine or tranny die out on me... what i was going to staro off with was a borla exhaust system along w/a hi flow cat and performance headers, AEM CAI, rims, suspension. evemtually i want add a turbo and intercooler.. let me know what u guy's think please!! :confuse:
  • aac1958aac1958 Member Posts: 1
    Can i swap the dual exhaust from a Sunfire GT on to my 2000 Sunfire SE 2.4l?
  • goldblurgoldblur Member Posts: 1
    Hello,
    I am new to the forum and just thought I would say hey to everyone. I have a gold 2005 sunfire. It is slightly modified with 17" rims, 4 subwoofers with alpine deck and alpine 6x9's in the back, green led's under the dash and hood, green neons under the front and rear bumpers, rear tinted windows and a custom intake.
  • jayrod4jayrod4 Member Posts: 1
    How to I get my door panels off of my 99 sunfire with manual windows to get to my door speakers?
  • 1eyesunfire1eyesunfire Member Posts: 2
    Well there propbably no real turbo for fires but when I put my friends on he just turned the little thinngy (don't no mane and much about turbos) 90%s up and it worked, I got up to 240 hp on the dino to bad my friend took it back :(
  • 1eyesunfire1eyesunfire Member Posts: 2
    There will be 3 (I think) screews on the bottom of the door and about 2 on the middle. Make sure you get new clips cause you will have to break yours to get the door off.
  • stidyleestidylee Member Posts: 1
    hey man I have a 97 coupe and I was wanting to know what the best cold air intake for a reasonable price and what good/cheap exhaust to buy I just got my car yesterday and want to get my car up to 170hp by the end of summer just need to know what stuff I should be lookin for

    --bryN
  • shy1009shy1009 Member Posts: 1
    Hi There everyone...I have a 2001 Pontiac Sunfire. Today I went to put in a CD and it spit it out and said Check CD. Now that's all it keeps saying on the display screen and even when the car is off it keeps trying to eject a CD, but there isn't one in there!! Can anyone help me, PLEASE!!!!
  • pink_crayonspink_crayons Member Posts: 2
    Hello group..so I have a 98 2.2L SE coupe...that had a close encounter with a hydro pole. The pass. fender was messed up and the bumper was bent in. This didnt bother me too much because what I was hoping to do was replace the old 98 bumper with one off a 03 model, providing its doable. I need to know really if the brackets are compadable and stuff. If you could get back to me with my options I would really really appreciate it seeing as my car is out of commisson until something can be done. Thank, C.
  • mrforemanmrforeman Member Posts: 2
    I got a 1996 sunfire and in the process of shaving the door handels and was wondering if anyone could help me out and tell me how to remove the door handels and hey hole or give me a web site to go to to find out thanks
  • method03method03 Member Posts: 1
    Is it possible to buy door panel clips for a 98 sunfire online or would I need to order it from the manufacturer? I've been searching online and it seems no one has any either that or i'm looking in the completely wrong places. If anyone has any info. about where i could purchase a few it would help a ton.
  • eric090585eric090585 Member Posts: 1
    I recently purchased a 2005 Pontiac Sunfire 2DR Coupe and I would like to get the most out of it, but money IS an issue! I just purchased the 'Pontiac Sunfire Gas Fuel Saver 1995 - 2005 MORE HP!' off of ebay for about $12.00 and it's supposed to increase my horsepower by 'up to 35hp' but we'll see how much I actually get. I also have been looking into AEM Cold Air Intake but the prices are outrageous. They've been averaging between $225.00 - $250.00 and I would only gain 5.5hp, doesn't seem worth it to me. Has anyone purchased one of these for an 05 and had good results? Or does anyone have an extra one that they would like to get rid of at a reasonable price? If so, e-mail me at: Eric090585@gmail.com I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts and suggestions. Thank you for your time.

    Eric Casey
  • lestatleelestatlee Member Posts: 2
    i have a 02 sunfire navy blue with a ram air hood from RK sport a wing again from RK sport and a master flow cat back exhaust quad dual exhaust tip
    MSR 190 racing rims charcoal gray check my pics out on my page lookn for some cheap but good body kits if any one has some suggestions i would appreciate it
  • bcjewelsbcjewels Member Posts: 1
    I needed a passenger side mirror for my coupe but when I went to ebay and purchased one I accidentally got the sedan mirror. Does anyone know if it will fit? Thanks
  • jsakjsak Member Posts: 7
    um it should i guess trial and error would work to your advantage here you gotta try something to find out right?
  • dirtrackponiacdirtrackponiac Member Posts: 1
    I race dirt track and i have a pontiac sunfire (who wouldnt) and i was wondering if there maybe is like tricks you can do or chips for it? it has a 2.2 in it but can i can put a 2.3 or 2.4.
  • jsakjsak Member Posts: 7
    2.3 or 2.4 is common and a possible swap i myself have the 2.2 with cold air msd coils denso iridium sparkplugs and accel wires. you can get chips for them depending on the year there is the intake air temp mod which works good what it does is trick your motor into thinking it is getting optimal air tempature(32degrees) at all times and it advances your air/fuel and is as easy as replacing your iat sensor to a cooler place as far as swaps i would like to see maybe a sunfire with a 3.1 in it? come on do something different the old school cavs and sunbirds had em why cant we? maybe even a 3.4?
  • alpharecon91alpharecon91 Member Posts: 23
    Ok so i got a 2.2 coupe with a custom cold air intake, some basic interior modifications, blue led strips on each side of the center counsel near the floor, some blue leds on the ceiling, old pontiac trans am rims (which dont laugh cuz they were only like 30 bucks for all four and they look sexy so....) xplod amp xplod 12 inch subs and xplod door speakers and soundstorm 6'9" in the back. (plus 2 tweeters in the front and back in addition to the factory ones). So what i'm thinking of doing next is maybe a cherry bomb (glass pack)...what do you think? Afraid it will sound too ricy or two loud, to be honest it sounds really good with the Air intake right now but its not the sound i'm looking to upgrade its the hp im hoping for. Keep in mind i don't want to put too much money into its basically just my little go kart (for when i want to screw around)/winter rat. Also thinking bout getting a strut bar, how much does that actually help plus is it hard to put in I've never really looked into them.
  • jsakjsak Member Posts: 7
    i dont know about a glass pack but how about a flowmaster or dynomax something that is quiet yet powerful i have had my sunfire(S) with exhaust done and loved the power gains from it but didnt like the cops following me around so yes go for power but keep it quiet? sounds like a plan to me got any pics?
  • alpharecon91alpharecon91 Member Posts: 23
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  • thebigbkthebigbk Member Posts: 3
    To take the window handle off theres a metal fork like tool, you can get at any car store. You just need to make sure its the tool for GMs. Thats the easy part. Theres 2 parts to the door panel, you just need to take off the bottom half to get to the speakers. Theres 4 screws you need to take off at the bottom and snap off the plastic clips between the two halves. i have a 2000 with manual windows so i don't see it being much different than yours.
  • thebigbkthebigbk Member Posts: 3
    I got a K&N cold air intake and im pretty impressed with it, and it gives a little better gas milage. I didn't get an exhaust cuz i don't think its realy worth the money to put on a sunfire, but just remember with cars you get what you pay for. Masterflow is a good brand for exhausts and check Summit Racing.com for stuff
  • navyyeomannavyyeoman Member Posts: 4
    I purchased a used 2004 Sunfire. Am interested in installing a cargo net in the trunk. This one came without it and I know there is one somewhere.

    Anyone have any ideas on where to get one complete with hooks and hardware? Please advise. Thanks
  • tracy38tracy38 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 1999 sunfire 2.2. Can I put a 1998 engine in it? Looks like things could be changed over that arent the same but when I am done will it start? Coil pack is in different spot and head is a little different.
  • ch8ffeech8ffee Member Posts: 2
    putting a silencer in ur exhaust takes away power.
    louder is better sounds great i love my car...its an 05 sunfire done quite a bit to it.
    just needs turbo lol
  • ch8ffeech8ffee Member Posts: 2
    man u can make any car a race car ...i could get my sunfire to like 400 hp with the right parts so that isnt true.
  • TheDonShump716TheDonShump716 Member Posts: 1
    i gotta 99 pontiac sunfire gt with 2.4L twin cam i put a vibrant cold air intake on it n i had my friend put on long pips. If anyone knows were i can get a supercharger that would b great.
  • meackmeack Member Posts: 1
    I have recently bought a 1997 white pontiac sunfire and im in the middle of ricing it out, and I have realized that the front headlights r just ugly.... is there any place where u can buy projection or aftermarket headlights for the 97's :mad:
  • duece2duece2 Member Posts: 2
    Can anyone tell me if its possible to stick a 3.4L V6 or 3800 V6 in a 1998 sunfire gt without doing too much extra work. I know i would probably need at least a ram air hood but im trying to keep it as cheap as possible.

    Thanks
  • anthonygiggeyanthonygiggey Member Posts: 1
    yes you can the parts are the same from 96'-99'
  • 99sunfire_gt99sunfire_gt Member Posts: 1
    i would like me car to accelerate quick an efficient i would like my handling/cornering to work the best it can, i would like my fuel economy to be as high mpg as possible, with the highest HP as possible without sacrificing fuel economy

    Any tips?

    Answers Appreciated
  • zaken1zaken1 Member Posts: 556
    What you're hoping for just is not possible in the real world. Every change you make to the motor has a downside in another area. The real power increases are made by pushing more fuel/air mixture into and pulling more burned gases out of the motor. Now I think you are smart enough to be able to understand that pushing more fuel into and pulling more gases out of a motor cannot result in using less fuel. It will use MORE fuel. This is why race cars get absolutely terrible mileage. So you need to sit down and decide what you really want. If you want power; plan to pay more for fuel and pay far more for repairs (more power will put greater strain on all the driveline and engine parts; and they WILL BREAK). If you get serious about power; you'll probably run out of money for school, so you'll have to drop out of school. The first thing that will probably break is your automatic transmission; which will probably cost $2000 or more to repair.

    It is inappropriate and downright foolish to try to hop up a car with over 100,000 miles on it, that has an automatic transmission. This automatic was not designed to last much longer than 100,000 miles to begin with, let along to be used in racing; so as soon as you start putting more power through (or even often driving it aggressively); you'll blow the transmission.

    If you can't afford to have a major unplanned expense wreck your life and educational plans; wake up and stop dreaming. Leave this car alone, or it will soon turn into a pile of abused junk. I speak from experience; after having destroyed every vehicle I owned when I was a youth; by hopping it up and driving it hard. Only after I got into a situation where I really had to have a car that I could depend on every day; did I learn to become mature and responsible enough to quit destroying the vehicles I owned by playing with them. I eventually realized that I was not rich enough to buy all the parts and make the constant repairs which are part of the everyday life of a hot rodder; so I then got into economy tuning. That finally was a place where I could modify my engines without damaging them (as long as I didn't set the mxture too lean; which is a constant temptation for inexperienced people who try economy tuning). So I then burned the valves out of some of my first cars in that era before I learned that lesson.

    There are some unfortunate people on this site who feel the need to lie about the power and performance they have added to their cars. Be warned not to take all the claims seriously about gobs of horsepower which you read here.
  • kimlei63kimlei63 Member Posts: 1
    I am going to be selling my sunfire but need to replace the front speakers. Can anyone tell me what size I need?
  • ClairesClaires Member Posts: 1,222
    edited October 2012
    Hi, kimlei63 -- This might be a good question for our answers section -- some of our members hang out there to answer quick questions:
    http://answers.edmunds.com

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    ClaireS, Host
    Automotive News & Views | Coupes & Convertibles

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  • fasterfirefasterfire Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2015
    Whats up fellas, I got a 05 sunfire, w/body kit, stainless steel headers,cold air intake,2200 watt system,5 speed,fixing to get her dynoed, & remaped...I love it. What I need to know is why when I hook up a after market  tach. It reads real low.
  • Sumica1961Sumica1961 Member Posts: 1

    I was hit in the driver side rear quarter panel & left a huge dent. I have taken the rear seat out. How do I remove the inner panel to access the dent?

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