I was going to buy this car off a buddy, but it turned out to be a bit of a beater. It stalled every now and then when you first fired it up (probably IAC, although I didn't really do any diagnosis), the front end is a bit loose, the sunroof doesn't leak but you can hear air whistling through at cruising speeds, and the supercharger was making a racket. He'* getting desperate to get rid of it, and now offered it to me for $1000. I'm seriously considering it, but I need some advice. First, the supercharger, I'm assuming there'* a bearing at the snout? It definetely sounds like a bearing is gone in it. What do parts cost to rebuild this thing, and is rebuilding it a terribly time consuming thing to do? How is the front end put together (I didn't bother to look when I first checked the car out)? I'm hoping to not be looking at replacing ball joints, since I don't yet have a press to do it with. And on the performance end of things, since there'* no way I'd buy a supercharged car and leave it stock, will slapping a smaller supercharger pulley on increase boost or do these cars have some sort of boost bypass system? What other relatively simple performance mods will the car really respond to? Thanks!

just a general word of advice: i bought my car for $500 after it was in a fender bender. i put a windshield and tires on it, some new sensors, a new PCM, some other misc. things. but it adds up fast. If youre looking for a project car and have another means of reliable transportation, go for it. it will be fun. but if you need it to be running right away, and for years to come, i would save the money you would put into this and buy a car in better shape. It can turn into a money pit fast. there can be internal problems that you have no way of knowing about until later.

I'm pretty experienced with a wrench, and I've owned my fair share of beaters. I'm also pretty friendly with my local parts store. This car is currently his daily driver and has daily driver potential to my standards without a huge amount of work. Also, I have my own shop to work on it in and several other vehicles to drive in the meantime. I'm looking for specific advice.

front end is loose: you mean steering, or suspension? i would check the bolt that goes through the control arm. both were snapped when we bought our '97

it would probably be cheaper/easier just to get a used SC of a junker than rebuild it..

a smaller pulley will increase boost, but make sure you get a scanner on it because dropping pulley sizes can lead to KR... which will lead to the eventual death of your engine

Front end is loose as in steering. Problem I've had before more than once, sometimes I get lucky and tie rod ends do the trick. On my Dakota I got to replace upper and lower balljoints. When you say control arms, I'm guessing that means it has struts? I will check the bolts, and overall I'm much happier dealing with McPherson than A-arms. As for kr, I'll have to see if anybody I know still has a good scanner, but is it an issue even with higher octane? I can get 94 at the pump here. I might also be able to get some custom chip work done.

yeah it has struts. my control arm was bent, and the bolt with the bushings on it that connects up to the (steering stablizer?) was snapped off from rusting. i would get under there and check (compare right to left to see fi anything is bent)
yes, you can still get KR with high octane gas. most people at least go with a modified intake of some kind (fenderwell intake, or a custom K&N cone filter) to help prevent it.

i would also do the standard tuneup (plugs, wires, and possibly an 02 sensor)

Sounds pretty straightforward. I'd be putting it in the shop for a while to get all the bugs worked out of it. Are there any decent spots to get cold air from without butchery, or am I more or less limited to the usual cone filter on a pipe at the corner of the engine bay deal? Is there anything for aftermarket exhaust systems? It seems there isn't a huge aftermarket for these cars.

INTENSE racing sells a fenderwell intake but obviously this requires a hole in the fender... if you do the K&N in the corner of the engine bay behind the headlight, be sure to build a heatshield around it or you will actually lose performance due to pulling in heated engine bay air.
as far as exhaust, most go with a generic high-flow cat (yours is either 2.25 or 2.5 inches) and a magnaflow or flowmaster muffler. and any F-body mufflers will fit (camaro, firebird)

The INTENSE FWI is far too large in diameter to efficiently feed a 92/93 SSEi in a laminar fashion.

It will hurt performance. 92/93 SSEi'* and 92-94 L27'* should use no larger than 3" pipe.

Okay, maybe I'll build something then with 3" tubing. So is the exhaust system itself not really a bottleneck? Is there anything to actually gain with a high flow cat and aftermarket muffler? Speaking of which, you're talking about the transverse 3rd gen F-body mufflers, right? Willwren, what are your thought on the supercharger rebuilding and pulley? Can I buy a complete kit with all the replacement wear items I'd need? As for pulleys, I've noticed that sizes are available from 2" to 3" in .1" increments. For a purely street car what would be the limit, and has anybody graphed out the actual amount of boost per pulley size?