Ello Pittsburghers

[etay89]

well..spring time is approaching..and were all itching to break out the dsm's again (well atleast those who love their cars and protect it from the snow)

On thursday, i made a big step. i went from an auto 97 GST to a 5spd 99 GSX. effin love the car. found it in west virginia for $4200. the clutch is good..tranny is in decent shape. the engine is in good shape (seemingly) as well. so overall it's a solid car. it has its share of problems tho..here's pics for your viewing pleasure.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

when i first got it

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

now the ugly

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

that wud be the driver side strut

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

driver side rocker panel

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

rad support

comments, concerns, tips, *cough cough* help *cough cough* is all appreciated

 

[GripNGo]

Gota love the black Eclipses. Nice ride man!

 

[JusMX141]

Yikes with the rust!

It's a WV car, you didn't go far enough South of the Mason-Dixon to get a rust-free chassis!

 

[etay89]

Yikes with the rust!

It's a WV car, you didn't go far enough South of the Mason-Dixon to get a rust-free chassis!

! i was about 3-5 minutes away from it

edit: thnx grip.

 

[JusMX141]

If it came from the mountains, those vehicles are generally in worse case rust-wise than a Western PA car.

My buddy Steve lived in Garrett County MD for a while, and bought a nice '01 Ranger while he was there. In four years of daily-driving the Ranger, the spring shackles were rusted to the point of breaking off, and the frame back by the rear bumper had rotted to the point where it would never pass PA inspection much less tow a trailer heavier than 100 lbs. So a 9-year-old truck, 130k on the clock, JUNK in the eyes of a PA inspection station.

 

[Rex2342]

If it came from the mountains, those vehicles are generally in worse case rust-wise than a Western PA car.

My buddy Steve lived in Garrett County MD for a while, and bought a nice '01 Ranger while he was there. In four years of daily-driving the Ranger, the spring shackles were rusted to the point of breaking off, and the frame back by the rear bumper had rotted to the point where it would never pass PA inspection much less tow a trailer heavier than 100 lbs. So a 9-year-old truck, 130k on the clock, JUNK in the eyes of a PA inspection station.

The shackles on the Ford trucks is pretty common around here too. I've replaced several of them over the years. Not to hard to fix though. Just burn out the rivets and the new shackles from Ford come with bolts. I've had a few Expeditions come in where the rear trailing arms where rusted through and broken off. Driving down the road and hitting the brakes causes the whole rear end to shift and the truck change lanes . I had one lady refuse to fix it and she drove it out like this!

I looked at Erics car today on the lift and that left front upper control arm is basically being held in with only the rear bolt and the whole control arm is moving a good bit. There's nothing left of the strut tower on the underside. The right side isn't far behind. The entire core support where the front engine mount bolts to is also rotted away and only being held in with one bolt at the moment. Eric I'll talk to the Bill at the body shop in the morning and see if he has any ideas for you. Like I said he deals strictly with collision repair and is very good at fixing things like this.

 

[JusMX141]

The shackles on the Ford trucks is pretty common around here too.

On trucks as new as '01? I changed them on my old '94 F150 with almost 200K on it, but that would be expected.

Garrett County had 272 inches of snow last winter.

I looked at Erics car today on the lift and that left front upper control arm is basically being held in with only the rear bolt and the whole control arm is moving a good bit. There's nothing left of the strut tower on the underside. The right side isn't far behind. The entire core support where the front engine mount bolts to is also rotted away and only being held in with one bolt at the moment. Eric I'll talk to the Bill at the body shop in the morning and see if he has any ideas for you. Like I said he deals strictly with collision repair and is very good at fixing things like this.

Had a similar issue on my buddy's '95 TSi AWD; he chose to cut the entire front end off a rear-end collision car at a scrap yard, then do the same to his car welding the good front end on his TSi while the engine was out. This wouldn't be a cost-effective solution for someone without collision repair skills, however.

 

[CurtC]

The DSM looks great Etay, hope you can get the rust fixed up

 

[stukyl28]

Black and yellow ,Black and yellow ,Black and yellow ,Black and yellow sorry I had to... looks good tho 99 is the BEST

 

[GripNGo]

99 = LSD

 

[Rex2342]

On trucks as new as '01? I changed them on my old '94 F150 with almost 200K on it, but that would be expected.

Garrett County had 272 inches of snow last winter.

The Expedition I was referring to was an 03 if I remember right. She was complaining about her brakes and after I checked them out and found nothing wrong I decided to take it for a ride. What a ride. I hit the brakes doing about 40 and nearly lost control of the truck as it changed lanes by itself! The bastards at Ford redesigned these arms by making them 1/2" longer so the have to be replaced in pairs and they cost nearly $300 each at our cost. After the mark up and plus the labor it came to around $1500. I told her to tow the thing and not to drive but she didn't listen. Most of the shackles I've done on the Rangers where all late 90's early 00's. Gotta love Pittsburgh chrome !

 

[etay89]

Ahhh the person who bought my dsm is ruining it already

 

[JusMX141]

Rice parts?

 

[etay89]

No, part of the deal, I let him keep the fmic and I kept the mbc and all the gauges. he's tryin to boost the thing to all hell

 

[JusMX141]

It will need a head gasket in two weeks.

 

[etay89]

That thing is gonna go the way of my spyder at this rate

 

[GripNGo]

who did you sell it to and where? I wana know where to look for it on the side of the road

 

[etay89]

Some mechanic named Dave in Penn Hills. Claims he had 1g's before and yada yada

 

[pitt97gsx]

, did he have a black 2G Talon NT?

 

[etay89]

idk. i kno he owns a 3.8 buick or oldsmobile..i forgot which...and he used to have a hyundai genesis 2.0t...then he got bored with it