3rd and FINAL Round 2009: 14b Talon ends the season on a high..

[SBstar]

Originally Posted by Gooberlog

I can feel ya Phil. Our lives have mimicked each others for the past 10 years or so.
Fall of 2002 we both found dsmtuners, a few years later we both got in to sport bikes. We both had a motorcycle accident and went back to dsms around 08/09, we both lost our jobs late 2008.

The job situation is definitely tough. I have been working part time since January and have been applying to different police departments for about two years now. I don't know what i would do if it wasn't for my wife.

Didn't know you worked in law enforcement as well! Hope someone picks you up quick!

Phil,
I think anyone can understand financial burdens and pressures right now, I thank God everyday that I still have my job and can continue to go to work, we've had quite a few scares and this economical situation doesn't look like it's going to change soon so we're bound to have more. I hope and pray for you and your family that things will start looking up into the other direction. Car's and hobbies come second behind everything else, as much as we'd like to see your car out there breaking records and laying down awesome times we all can understand when you don't have the finances to keep it going. Good luck!

[bullettdsm]

Originally Posted by Phil1320

OK GUYS, HERE'S THE CURVEBALL............. the economy got me like many others in the country........
Hopefully, things will turn around...

I think all across the country we're all hoping the same thing. Some of us are fortunate enough to still have a job. But believe me, even though I'm the big fish in our little pond where I work, I'm concerned everyday I go in. Everyday I go in to see if the place is locked up, lol.

Phil, you know coming from me, this isn't to minimize your situation. On the contrary, its to let you know that you are one of many successful and strong people who are also in the same boat - and just hoping to stay afloat until she turns around

Hang steady, my man.

MB

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by SBstar

Didn't know you worked in law enforcement as well! Hope someone picks you up quick!

Phil,
I think anyone can understand financial burdens and pressures right now, I thank God everyday that I still have my job and can continue to go to work, we've had quite a few scares and this economical situation doesn't look like it's going to change soon so we're bound to have more. I hope and pray for you and your family that things will start looking up into the other direction. Car's and hobbies come second behind everything else, as much as we'd like to see your car out there breaking records and laying down awesome times we all can understand when you don't have the finances to keep it going. Good luck!

Thanks Shane, means alot. I will do my very best to be positive and hope things change for the better. It would be one thing if I could just go back out next year without changing anything, you know maybe eek out another tenth as the car sits, but as states elsewhere, I have a safety reg to meet and that's gonna cost. Anyway, I will see what happens and maybe I'll eat my words come next year. I have some things to tend to and if I can rectify them, then and only then can I think about spending anything on the car.

Originally Posted by bullettdsm

I think all across the country we're all hoping the same thing. Some of us are fortunate enough to still have a job. But believe me, even though I'm the big fish in our little pond where I work, I'm concerned everyday I go in. Everyday I go in to see if the place is locked up, lol.

Phil, you know coming from me, this isn't to minimize your situation. On the contrary, its to let you know that you are one of many successful and strong people who are also in the same boat - and just hoping to stay afloat until she turns around

Hang steady, my man.

MB

It's true, companies make decisions very fast when they are backed into a corner or see the sales charts plummet month in and month out. I hope your job is safe. My brother in law just made it through the 3rd round of lay-offs this year, so I'm sure he arrives at work everyday in similar fashion to you. It's gotta be frustrating and a bit frightening as well. I know you're not tryng to downplay my situation, but with that little bit you added into my quote, yeah, I'm one of many. So, thanks for the world, Mark!

[Gooberlog]

Originally Posted by SBstar

Didn't know you worked in law enforcement as well! Hope someone picks you up quick!

Have been trying to become a cop for a couple years now. As hard as it has been to get selected, now with all of the unemployed increases, you can imagine that many more people are now competing with me for the job i want since it has govt. benefits and starting pay over 40-50k w/ no experience necessary. Everything works out in the end though. Stay positive everyone.

[Phil1320]

Whelp.....a bit more bad news:

Just found out that my 11.49 run had been taped over. My buddy Doug who taped a few of my runs was using an old-school tape video cam that was a friends. The camera was at their garage and one of the guys decided he'd pick up the camera and take some video of his engine compartment without first checking the tape. Of course, it taped over my 11.49 run. Doug went there to review the tape, saw this, and then after you see the 11.49 up on the boards with no run before it. The kicker, is this is a group of Honda guys. So, we have some lame ass Honda powerplant in place of my run. Awesome.

On a positive note, he has a clean vid of my 11.66 run, my first run of the day. It's a 1.54 60' with a 7.41 1/8. He was up in the tower announcing for most of the day after that, and was able to catch my last run, the 11.49. We had another vid taken of my last run, and the camera refuses access to the disc. So, two cameras on the 11.49 run, zero videos! Ahhh, what can you do? They both tried.

I know that Doug made the guy feel a bit bad about the tape over and let him know he taped over a "record run." Dougs words I told Doug that I wished the guy a broken axle shaft at his next drag strip launch Douchebag.

So, hopefully, we'll have an 11.66 run to watch soon

[SBstar]

Dang, can't catch a break eh! It'll be nice to see an 11.66 run either way, have him attach that 11.49 on the board to the end of the video anyways, it'll be like a teaser haha!

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by Gooberlog

Stay positive everyone.

Totally trying to for sure.....hopefully everything will turn for the better in 2010.


I've considering becoming an officer several times. I never went for it though. Good luck!

Originally Posted by SBstar

Dang, can't catch a break eh! It'll be nice to see an 11.66 run either way, have him attach that 11.49 on the board to the end of the video anyways, it'll be like a teaser haha!

It's always something. I suggested to him that he attach the "11.49" to the vid if he can......waiting on a message back......

Hell, I still haven't told the story of what it took to get to the strip the last time....

I will. Soon. And I have some other miscellaneous info to post about the car and my times over the years.

Just been working on getting the Galant finished. Timing belt, water pump, balance belt, new tensioner, and pullies, crank seal(was leaking pretty bad,) front axle boots, spark plugs, PCV, trans fluid. Should be done later today and ready to register and finally drive. So, that should be cool. Gotta get the slicks off the talon, with the cold nights they are on rapid deflate. That's it.

[Gooberlog]

Originally Posted by Phil1320

Just been working on getting the Galant finished. Timing belt, water pump, balance belt, new tensioner, and pullies, crank seal(was leaking pretty bad,) front axle boots, spark plugs, PCV, trans fluid. Should be done later today and ready to register and finally drive. So, that should be cool. Gotta get the slicks off the talon, with the cold nights they are on rapid deflate. That's it.

When it's on a car that you're really interested in, isn't it a lot of fun getting it all tuned up and maintained. When I first started freshening up the laser when it was all original, I really had a good time making it new again.
My buddies garage where i do my work, he has a LT1 camaro and the slicks on that thing are also on the rapid deflate program. If he fails to swap out the street wheels/tires, i get to pump them up every time i pull the car out of the garage.

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by Gooberlog

When it's on a car that you're really interested in, isn't it a lot of fun getting it all tuned up and maintained. When I first started freshening up the laser when it was all original, I really had a good time making it new again.
My buddies garage where i do my work, he has a LT1 camaro and the slicks on that thing are also on the rapid deflate program. If he fails to swap out the street wheels/tires, i get to pump them up every time i pull the car out of the garage.

It's been a bit more work and money than I expected, but, it's coming along well. I do like the fact that it will be "freshened" to an extent. Picked up spark plugs and new PCV this morning. Coolant and transmission fluid should be the last things to purchase...I hope. I have not looked at the air filter yet, once all the above is done, then I'll check that out, and see how dirty the throttle body is. Next season I'll pull the intercooler and rinse it with gasoline, and put a breather can in there. The car arrives with almost brand new brake pads front and rear and a newer right rear caliper as the original owner told me about having to replace it due to seizing. He never told me that all the pads were pretty new, so that's cool. Heading out to set tension on the t-belt and pull the pin. Have to torque the axle bolts as well and wrap that up. So, hopefully, by the end of the week or early next week, I can actually drive the thing! And, yes, I gotta get the slicks off the talon!

[Gooberlog]

Glad the galant is coming along well. Yeah for some reason i feel that the laser was more expensive for upkeep parts than it was with the Talon. Then again, i was living at home with mom when i had the talon.

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by Gooberlog

Glad the galant is coming along well. Yeah for some reason i feel that the laser was more expensive for upkeep parts than it was with the Talon. Then again, i was living at home with mom when i had the talon.

Thanks man! I'm actually getting sick of working on it now and want to drive it pretty bad. It' about finished, I got held up on some other things today, but the accessory pullies/belts need to go on, motor mount, etc. load the fluids and fire it up. I didn't do the valve cover gasket yet, it's a bit leaky on the back of the motor, but DRY at the cam gears. The cheapest I could find was $35 and average retail was $50. Thankfully, a buddy of mine works at NAPA! So, it's coming close to being done and I'm sure I'll have some other stuff I want to replace like the fuel filter and injector o-rings, the basics. But, I have to hope that for now, it's ready to go. Ok, well, the oil feed line crush washers seem to be leaking, I have extras, so I'll do that when I do a fresh oil change. The oil was just changed a few hundred miles ago, about 1 month before the car was shipped here, so that saves too for now.

I hope it's a fun car. Even in bone stock trim.

PS-- everything seems cheaper when you live at home, it was great! That is gone for good now!

[Capegaj]

Hey guys, I just wanted to give a shout out to such a great and amazing site! I have been an avid follower of DSM and drag related events for quite some time now and due to a past DSM project car build I was introduced to Phil Beers when he was working at XXTuning in East Hartford, CT. Phil and I have become great friends since running into each other. I could not find a better mentor, friend and big bro than him. He introduced to this site and I'm very happy to see very familiar names as well. Phil has re-introduced me into the hobby of car projects, drag racing and road coarse racing which I fell out on interest for the better part of nearly 10 years. I am very proud to see his enthusiam for drag racing pay off in the result of his 11.49 pass with his Talon. Truly amazing accomplishment from all the time, dedication and hard work he has put into the car! Congrats to him on all of his automotive and racing endeavors. I hope to see you all at DSM based events and at the races!

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by Capegaj

Hey guys, I just wanted to give a shout out to such a great and amazing site! I have been an avid follower of DSM and drag related events for quite some time now and due to a past DSM project car build I was introduced to Phil Beers when he was working at XXTuning in East Hartford, CT. Phil and I have become great friends since running into each other. I could not find a better mentor, friend and big bro than him. He introduced to this site and I'm very happy to see very familiar names as well. Phil has re-introduced me into the hobby of car projects, drag racing and road coarse racing which I fell out on interest for the better part of nearly 10 years. I am very proud to see his enthusiam for drag racing pay off in the result of his 11.49 pass with his Talon. Truly amazing accomplishment from all the time, dedication and hard work he has put into the car! Congrats to him on all of his automotive and racing endeavors. I hope to see you all at DSM based events and at the races!

Jumbo, first, I'm glad to see you up here! Second, thanks alot for the killer words man! I appreciate it greatly! I hope I'll somehow be able to make it out next year and that you'll be able to get to the track with me if it's possible.

There are a few things that I can do to the car that will not cost any money as I have the parts, and there is some weight reduction that I can still do, unbelieveably. So, I will keep working on the car in anticipation of being able to make it out next year. It will keep me positive anyway.

Thanks again and I hope to see you up here more often!

[Gooberlog]

Hey i just saw dsmtuners.com is now selling the 2010 dsm Calendars and congratulations on getting the cover photo Phil! The car looks great. I guess maybe the moderators do listen to the people since all of us were chiming in our votes that your car make it. Didn't even think about making the cover. I think i would buy two if i were you, one to use as a calendar and one to frame the cover page as your achievements.

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by Gooberlog

Hey i just saw dsmtuners.com is now selling the 2010 dsm Calendars and congratulations on getting the cover photo Phil! The car looks great. I guess maybe the moderators do listen to the people since all of us were chiming in our votes that your car make it. Didn't even think about making the cover. I think i would buy two if i were you, one to use as a calendar and one to frame the cover page as your achievements.

Trav---- I came up here this morning and saw that and I had a grin from ear-to-ear.....I couldn't believe it either! I'm super psyched! And, I never even thought about the cover at all. Thanks for the props! I will buy several of the calendars for sure! I have to thank ludachris as well! The pic is from July when the car went 11.59@116.85.

UPDATE GALANT:It has been fired up and all is well so far. I have to get my insurance card emailed over and go temp register, emissions, VIN verification, and DRIVE IT! Actually, I've driven it about .4 miles, just up and down the street. There are a few small issues that need to be ironed out:

Left rear 1/4 window lets a little water in with a healthy direct blast from the hose, noticed it while washing the car yesterday. It has been a problem before as you can see some of the sealer thay used at the edge of the molding on both rear 1/4 windows, the passenger is dry. I touched a bit of it and it seems its never cured, but I guess that stuff doesn't harden obviously. I'm gonna try some clear RTV just under the edge of the molding to see if I can get it to stop without removing the window.

The other thing is that the reverse lights don't work. I still have a switch on my original Talon trans that I will swap out and try. I looked at both bulbs and they look good....I'll try some other bulbs as well first.

Other than that we are sitting pretty. I hate to remove the aircan and all that to replace the reverse switch as ALL the original ties are still intact at the intercooler piping etc. I've got a pic of it, all original. And some pics of the car all cleaned up and ready to go:

[SBstar]

Looking slick Phil! Family car with attitude! Gotta love the white as well.

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by SBstar

Looking slick Phil! Family car with attitude! Gotta love the white as well.

Thanks!!! I really only wanted a white one. Finally, I can make up for not getting a white talon! Honesly, I've been happy with the red in hindsight, it's been awesome. I've been trying to clean it up as best I can, obviously it looks better in pics than in person, but, it's fairly clean. The only thing aesthetically that bothers me with the Galants, including mine, is the black door frames fade and the "corners" on the windshield and rear window fade to chrome. I've colored the window trim seals with permanent marker for now. It won't last super long. As far as the door window frames, the driver side is worse as you can see from the pics, passenger side is ok. I thought about painting them in satin black, but what a tape job I would need on the whole car. So, I'm gonna do what most cars have these days and use vinyl to cover it and that will be fine. And, won't have to worry about black spray anywhere. Call me crazy, but this is my biggest pet peev with these cars. There are some sick Galants out there with alot of time and money spent on them, and these two simple things are not addressed, and IMHO it makes these cars look like crap.

UPDATE TALON: Even though the possibilty of me racing next year is super slim as I've said elsewhere, I've decided to not let that get me down, and I have already started to work on the things that I can, which means things I already have:

-Polk A-Arms
-Cams/Gears
-rear 1/4 lexan

.......and, my all-time favorite~WEIGHT REDUCTION! ......:

I think it's blog time.......

[Gooberlog]

Man i'm jealous for your galant. It looks really nice. Glad everything worked out well with all the maintenance.
Working on the talon with the parts you already have will give you something to do and something to look forward to. Keep it up Phil.

[Phil1320]

Originally Posted by Gooberlog

Man i'm jealous for your galant. It looks really nice. Glad everything worked out well with all the maintenance.
Working on the talon with the parts you already have will give you something to do and something to look forward to. Keep it up Phil.

Don't be jealous! but, seriously, thanks! So, far, so good, gotta get out there and drive it some and then come back for an inspection. I may even pull the timing cover back off in a couple weeks to see if the crank seal is holding well, and to see if the rear balance shaft/oil pump seal is leaking. It was so nasty in there I couldn't tell, I'm hoping it was just oil from the leaking crank seal that got up in there.

I am still motivated to work on the talon......and hope somehow the work will pay off next year at some point. I have started a blog, but have to get my first entry in there. So, check it out soon!

I've got the insurance card for the VR4, tomorrow register it, then I can give some impressions.

Ok, a couple updates. Drove the galant for the first time today. It drives very well, however, I knew I'd find some things to nit-pick. It needs an alignment, but it's not off bad.....with new tires on there though, I will try to get that done sooner than later. It has a "whine" of sorts, especially at highway speeds, when I let off the throttle, it goes away, I'm thinking maybe the bearings in the tranny are making this noise. You can hear some gear whine as well, when letting off throttle, nothing crazy, but, it's there. I may need to do front strut bearings.....I hear a clunk sometimes, just speculating. It shifts well, glad about that. Overall though, I had fun, glad to have an AWD DSM on the road again. It handles very well for being bone stock and 190k on the clock.

Took it through emissions, no prob there, very clean.

Wanted to do some more investigating when I got home so took aircan out, filter is a bit dirty, will replace that. Looked at MAF, there's no lower honeycomb and no sign that one was ever there! Weird. I'm wondering if all GVR4's came with no lower honeycomb right from Japan? I'd like to swap my modded talon MAF in, apparently it works, even though my Talon is a '90. There was an air silencer in there. See ya to that, it's out already! I'm used to driving cars that are a bit quicker....it's fairly lazy in 1st and 2nd gears. 3rd seems to pull the nicest for whatever reason. I checked the turbo via the compressor side, spins freely and seems to have normal play, cool. So, it's time already to employ all possible free mods. I can't have my pick-up being quicker than the VR4. I think I'll pick up a K & N too. Those factory style filters suck.

Here is the blog I started for anyone interested:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/blog...ory-talon.html

Thanks for reading!