Wes's Talon - DD/AutoX/Drag

Turn you speakers down. The wind noise is pretty bad.

Central PA Region SCCA - Mid-State Airport, just north of State College.

The course on Sunday was the same course as Saturday, but backwards.

Saturday was cold,cloudy, and windy. Steady winds of 35mph with gusts over 50. It was hard to keep heat in the tires, especially with 10+min between...

...

I meant to post nightly updates like I did last year during my "annual" spring break build week, but I didn't get around to it until now.

This year's list of projects was slightly smaller:
-DG Suspension
-Energy Suspension bushings
-STM -6an Tank to Rail Kit
-New rear brake calipers
-Goodridge SS brake lines

But first, I had to get my...

And that's how it ended.

The car just shut off mid run.


The timing belt has little nicks down the left side spaced about an inch apart all the way around the belt. I pulled the valve cover and nothing looks like it's out of place.

I'll do a compression test to tomorrow just to make sure. I'm pretty sure something...

I finally got back to the drag strip. It's been more than year since I've been there last. And once again, I had problems with going lean and knock.

Run 1 - 14.681 @ 89.33
Run 2 - 14.171 @ 97.48
Run 3 - 13.869 @ 95.09 --> Cut a 1.916 60' About time I had a sub 2-second one. Only difference from Run 2.

I kept trying to add fuel to lean it out, but I couldn't...

I finally got around to washing and waxing the car for the first time in months. It really needed it. Since it was such a nice day and I had the day off, I took a drive out to the local state park and did a little photo shoot. Here are some of the better shots. No photo manipulation except to blur the license plate.

...

My car doesn't get treated to a full exterior detail too often.




It could use a clay bar and a good wax, but I need to fix a few dings in the paint first.

I had a guy stop by my car at the car wash and he got all excited when he was the front mount. He started asking all these questions and actually seemed...

I finally finished up the car Tuesday night. It's just taken me a bit to get this posted on here because I've been busy getting back to school and getting caught up on work. I missed Monday and Tuesday and didn't wake up to my alarm Wednesday, so I missed half my classes that day too.

Night 7 - Pictures
This was the highlight of the night. So shiny.
...

I'm calling it quits early tonight. I got the timing set, the splash guards back on, the oil pressure sender mounted and all the wiring done.

I also got the broken bolt drilled out of the turbine housing and put a new helicoil in. I ran a tap down the other 3 to clean up the threads.

Tomorrow, all I should need to do is to bolt the valve cover down, bolt the exhaust manifold...

I got a good bit done tonight.

The head is finally back together.


And on the block.

I just threw one of the valve covers I pulled from the junkyard on it for now. I'll put the freshly painted on one when I'm done messing with tools and oil.



I also got the...

Sorry, no pictures. There really isn't anything to look at.

I didn't get much done today or tonight. I went and got the new valve stem seals and intake manifold gasket ordered. I finished the electrical stuff too except for a couple terminals on the grounding straps.

I also cleaned all the intercooler pipes out. I'll get that back on later today. Wires also got zip tied...

Well, I originally wanted to be finished up by the end of tonight, but with the problems I've had, I'm glad I'm this far.

As for the work I got done tonight.

I got the head all cleaned up.
Before:


After:

Actually, I cleaned it up a bit more than that, but didn't take a new picture....

For the first time since I bought my car, I'm tempted to set it on fire and enjoy the show.

That tool for installing the keepers just kept giving me problem. First I smashed a brand new valve stem seal (and there are none at any local Advance Auto or Autozone) then this...

Where'd the valve go???



There it is!
...

5:30am and night 2 is finally done. I really wanted to have the cams in by the end of today, but it took me a little longer than I planed to get the trans cooler mounted.

I know most people usually mount the trans cooler vertically, but the stock SMIC duct covers more area if the cooler is horizontal. I made my own mounting bracket out of 1"x1/4" aluminum bar. It's a tight fit, but...

I'm more of a night person. Without school or work to worry about this week, I've been following my own sleep schedule. That left me to work on the car from 7pm last night unitl 8am today.

So far, I've:
-Installed the shift kit
-Changed the trans fluid, installed the new filter
-Removed the old trans cooler
-Mocked up the new path for the IC piping
...

My car is my DD. I'm a member of the Penn State Auto Club (PSU LPAC), and we go out racing at the local tracks. I figured that this year, I needed to get my act together and get my car at least into the 12's.

This all started as a failed deal on a set of reground cams for $175. Since then, it has ballooned into nearly a grand of odds and ends that needed done.

I'm a college...

I figure it's about time I start updating the blog on this site about my current winter build status.

Here's the setup so far:

Head:
Comp 10200 intake and exhaust cams
Evo 8 valve springs and retainers
New valve stem seals
Revised lifters
New camshaft seals
Repaint the valve cover. I'm tired of that bright blue.
Gates...

I totally forgot that the previous owner gave these to me when I bought the car. I looked through these and was shocked. I'm sure you'll get a good laugh.

Original windows stickers.



Here's where the fun begins...
At 124,947 miles, the timing belt breaks. What does the pervious owner (a well-off business...

It's been a while since I posted last. Since the T25 blew, lots has happened.

221430 mi - T25 Blew
221482 mi - 16g and oil change
221795 mi - 2nd 16g and ARP Headstuds

Yep, that's right. I managed to kill a 16g in about 200 miles. Justin (jusmx141) honored his 30 warranty and replaced it. When he tore it apart, the shaft had eaten itself alive and the bearing...

I've been having this problem with the car stuttering anytime I really jumped on the gas. It would start breaking up at about 10psi. I had done a boost leak test and replaced the TB shaft seals. The AFRs were about right for a stock car (9.5 give or take) but it was sputtering badly.

I had ordered up some new spark plugs with my last order to STM. Figured it was about time to put them...

Yep, it failed again. The list this time:

• Bad front passenger wheel bearing
• Bad tie rod end
• Bad lower ball joints (control arms)
• Exhaust leak

I knew from before that the axle would not come out of the hub. I had tried to get it out when I pulled the engine. So, I got everything ordered again. I had broken a exhaust mani to turbo bolt, so I ordered a new set of ARP ones.

...

October 31st, 2008. 215k miles.

I procrastinated and took my car in on the last day inspection was due, expecting it to pass. Since I'm up in Erie, I took it to a shop up here. I just pulled it out of the phone book. When I took the car, it was nothing like what was at the shop. They seemed to specialize in old domestic cars. Great.

They inspected it. They found......

It's now June '08. 209k miles.

I started leaving oil spots under my car every time I parked. Big spots. 8" diameter spots in about 5 hours. All I knew was that the oil was coming from behind the lower timing belt cover. I couldn't afford the downtime to fix it though. I was working 5 days a week 15 miles from my house. It had to wait until the end of August, when I planned to pull the...

It's now May of '08. 210k miles on the Talon.

I hear this loud grinding sound and the car shakes at about 70 mph. If you guessed wheel bearing AND tie rod end, you'd be correct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSsC-lWB1lg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so0vL-ZOwY8

Turns out, that impact into the hillside did a bit more damage than before.
...

March 8th, 2008. 207k miles on the car.

I'm on my way home from school in Erie, PA for spring break. I'm not planning anything exciting for the week. Just sitting around. As I get ready to leave, a big snow storm (the largest that year) starts to move through the area. Erie get 24" of snow. I leave after the first 4" are on the ground. It took me an hour and a half to get the first...

Then came problem #2 on January 30th, 2008 with about 203k miles. My car started acting really funny. I don't even how it was acting, but I finally decided to open up the hood and look around. This is what I found.



Yep, laying right there was the vacuum hose to the BOV. Except I didn't know it was a BOV, and I didn't know what it did. After a quick...

So, after fixing 155 dings in the paint on the hood, 9 small cracks and a bulls-eye in the windshield, and some rust in the door jambs and trunk, I thought my car was perfect.

Then came October '07. Car had about 201k miles. I took my car in for it's first inspection under my ownership. My family is good friends with the guy who inspects our cars. We've know him for over 20 years. They're...

In the beginning, there was darkness... then the PO turned on the garage light and I got my first look at the car that would soon be mine.

I found the ad in the local classifieds (should have kept the clipping ) asking $5000 for a fully loaded, well kept, 97 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD auto with 191k miles. I had been looking for a 5 speed for 3 months, so I was slowly becoming more open...

Ok, so I'm making this for a few reasons.

1. To keep track of maintenance.
2. To have something to hand to the next owner (if I ever have to sell my car because of misfortune).
3. To watch my car transform from some business man's 191,000 mile DD into a college kid's dream car. (Yes, I'd take a DSM over any Italian car, call me crazy, my friends all do.)

I've had my car for 2 years, so the first...