New to DSMs/the forum

[davezorz]

Hey, my name is Dave and I just bought a 1995 GSX. I currently am driving an '05 STi, but this was a pretty good deal and I couldn't pass it up. Currently the car needs a new head gasket and a new turbo... The second you turn it on it just billows white smoke.

The car has a ton of miles, 220,000 to be exact. I am hoping to turn this car around and give it the TLC it needs, haha. I already bought a new turbo, boost controller, Evo 8 FMIC, and an HKS metal head gasket.

If anyone has any suggestions for me I would love to hear them because I am pretty new to DSMs.

 

[Ahnubus_29]

Man with that many miles on it I hope you didnt pay more then 400 or 500 dollars for the car seriously, but besides that start by going through the car completely and making sure everything works right and nothing is rusted threw, and all the wiring is still in good shape nothing hacked and chopped up. But other then that welcome to the world of DSM's.

 

[Project2G]

Wow lot's of miles. How much did you pick up the gsx for? Welcome to the edless money pit of a dsm world

 

[mikhro]

Did you also buy a boost gauge?....I looked at the A pillar and didnt see none, or maybe is installed elsewhere

 

[MAX420]

Welcome to the world of money pits. I've been trying to stay away from DSM's for the past 5 years now but I somehow someway keep getting back into them. Good luck!

 

[mikhro]

They are just addictive

 

[Doubleot]

That's a shizz load of miles sir.
But if you got a good deal (400-600)
I wouldn't blame you...
Welcome to the thunder dome.

 

[gstryyder]

welcome to the forums! i don't wanna sound harsh when i say all this. don't take it the wrong way, but you've got a ways to go as far as making sure your cars is trustworthy and driveable.

what turbo did you buy? how is the compression on that bottom end? what headstuds you get? you getting any machining work done? i woulda bought a different HG but whatever floats your boat. if i were you i would sell your evo fmic you just bought and get a different one. punishment racing has a good bolton one.

if you want to know your motor will be okay since it is such a tired motor and you got it with problems...not a good idea to trust it. especially the bottom end. while you are in there it would be a good idea to get a motor you KNOW is good.i would hit up maybe dsmgraveyard for a frankenstein long block ready to rock. they are a cheap upgrade from stock... and then you could just drop it in n go. unless the bottom end and head are good?

by the way.. i hope you paid less than a grand for that thing...more like 5-600$

good luck with it. you have got a lot of work ahead of you. if you need help we are here though. more info and pictures of the car would give us a better idea of where to go with helping you. mods on the car?

 

[jjm96gst]

Man that's a lot of miles on that car. Check compression on all cylinders and do all maintenance, tune up, hoses etc... Other than that welcome

 

[sleeping95gsx]

+1 on the compression check. IMO i think its a pretty damn good deal if you picked it up for $500-600 or even closer to a grand since those Sparco seats and harnessess are worth more than that haha. Good luck with it!

 

[viperlp01]

It has a blown headgasket so why would u do a comp test?? He also has an STi so he has money ... He will turn this car around im sure..

 

[nyTalonTsi]

Yeah its a project. Sell those seats.

Might as well rebuild the motor, or swap in a 6bolt. Car was probably beat on so it might need it.

Most likely that transmission has been replaced once or more.

 

[davezorz]

Well thanks for the suggestions, guys. I really wanna make it run right. I bought a brand new TB2568 from a friend for $50. I was thinking about reselling those seats but I have no idea what they'd be worth anymore. They're in great condition. All they need is a vacuum and steam cleaning and they'd be perfect.

I really would like to replace the motor, but I have no idea where to start as far as the blocks I saw on dsmgraveyard.com go. So many choices.

Anyway, I am really excited about making it run good.

What would be the best motor to get from DSMGraveyard.com? DSM Graveyard - Your #1 Source for DSM Parts!

I really want to stay as close to stock as possible but the rebuilt one is way more than the performance ones.

 

[954TalonTsi]

Well if you are going to try and stay close to stock then you can forget a 6 bolt swap. It'd be a good way to rebuild an engine and then just swap it. Looks good though. good luck and welcome to DSM's

 

[davezorz]

Well what is the deal with crank walk? I keep hearing about it... I heard the 1st gen 7bolts don't have it, but the 2nd gens do. Is that true?

 

[gstryyder]

the first 3 shortblocks on that page would be well suited for you. depends solely on a few factors. do you want it OEM or a step up? do you want all new parts? or just a nice fresh rebuild? if you are gonna modify your car a decent amount i would get the frankenstein. option 2.. if you are just gonna use it for some fun putting around with minor mods and want it to be practically stock i would just get the basic rebuild to freshen it up. if you want it all stock with a good warranty o for the ALL NEW OEM block... personally i think the frankenstein is a good choice. if you sent you head in and got it cleaned up all super nice and got new seals n freshen it up you would be set.

and i personally would get arp headstuds. for when you throw it back together. get the balance shafts eliminated.

AS FOR ANYONE QUESTIONING **WHY DO A COMPRESSION TEST**!!!! USE YOUR BRAIN... he just bought a car that had issues....and it has 200k+ miles on it... and he is replacing the headgasket anyways... wouldn't you think it be the SMART and SENSIBLE thing to check for compression? i wouldn't take the chance and just throw on stuff thinking the bottom end is great when he could be close to or past his service limit.. even if it is close to the limit but not required.. YOU ARE IN THERE ALREADY.... why the hell not? i check compression when i change my sparkplugs... just ### i am already swapping em. might as well know how strong that motor is running. better safe then sorry. better prepared than not.

if ya have any specific questions just holler man. otherwise, do as much research as you can on here and get an idea of where you want to go with this car and what it is capable of. ALSO, DO YOUR MAINTENANCE!!! check all your mounts and bushings and all that other good maiuntenance stuff and see what needs to be done.

 

[gstryyder]

Well what is the deal with crank walk? I keep hearing about it... I heard the 1st gen 7bolts don't have it, but the 2nd gens do. Is that true?

ANY car can crankwalk. it is a stupid overtalked about problem. dont worry about it. dont bother with it. if someone mentions it tell em to shut up. it probably wont happen to you. it is not as common as people think. blah blah blah. seriously... people that talk about this subject and try to scare ppl into thinking it will happen to their car... shit, look at the new subaru's... they will destroy a STOCK motor before you even have a chance to get it from the dealership to your house. it is more common then it should be... but what has it happended to 50 out of the thousands and thousands that drive them? at least we nowadays have preventative methods to lessen the chances.

remove your clutch trigger sensor thing, dont use a massive pressure plate. make up for it with a better disk, take care of your motor... blah blah...

i say this over n over n over to noobs with dsm's...

 

[davezorz]

That is actually a really good idea. If I am going to be tearing it down already, I might as well do the check just be safe. The Frankenstein block is what I am looking at... What I am afraid of is buying that block and then buying parts for my current one and not fitting... like I said I am new to DSMs.

On an STi I would know what to do. I would know the ins and outs of an EJ25, EJ22, or EJ20 but with these I am a little lost.

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

ANY car can crankwalk. it is a stupid overtalked about problem. dont worry about it. dont bother with it. if someone mentions it tell em to shut up. it probably wont happen to you. it is not as common as people think. blah blah blah. seriously... people that talk about this subject and try to scare ppl into thinking it will happen to their car... shit, look at the new subaru's... they will destroy a STOCK motor before you even have a chance to get it from the dealership to your house. it is more common then it should be... but what has it happended to 50 out of the thousands and thousands that drive them? at least we nowadays have preventative methods to lessen the chances.

remove your clutch trigger sensor thing, dont use a massive pressure plate. make up for it with a better disk, take care of your motor... blah blah...

i say this over n over n over to noobs with dsm's...

Dont let no one tell you other wise, because that is the EXACT truth. Just to add, go to any supra forum or srt forum and do a crankwalk(thrust bearing failure is the real name) search, it happens to ALL cars.

 

[gstryyder]

That is actually a really good idea. If I am going to be tearing it down already, I might as well do the check just be safe. The Frankenstein block is what I am looking at... What I am afraid of is buying that block and then buying parts for my current one and not fitting... like I said I am new to DSMs.

On an STi I would know what to do. I would know the ins and outs of an EJ25, EJ22, or EJ20 but with these I am a little lost.

i would do the compression test with your motor as is.... wet n dry ones. see exactly how the motor sits. if you have GOOD compression in 2 of 4 cylinders and those 2 end up being cylinders with a bad HG portion, then you would know the piston rings should be good. yet, if you net BAD results it would be safer to rebuild and have no worries. i hope your bottom end is good so you can worry about other things and get the car up n running cheaper and faster. i mean... my 98gst has almost 230k on it. stock bottom end, stock head (with cams at one time). i have beat the piss outta it. compression test is still good. still pulls hard. hopefully you have the same luck and it is just a head gasket.

its nice coming into a dsm world from subi's because from my experience it is MUCH EASIER to work on a dsm. so you should be set. and they are generally much cheaper to work on/modify too.

i have worked on all kinds of cars... and my favorite to work on and modify is still a dsm. wether it is mine or somebody else's.

 

[gstryyder]

ALSO, check your ecu asap and see if you were a lucky one to score an Eprom ecu... i kinda wish i hadn't sold mine even though im running AEMEMS... i would still like to have MINT one sitting around like mine was.. dammit.

 

[davezorz]

its nice coming into a dsm world from subi's because from my experience it is MUCH EASIER to work on a dsm. so you should be set. and they are generally much cheaper to work on/modify too.

i have worked on all kinds of cars... and my favorite to work on and modify is still a dsm. wether it is mine or somebody else's.

Holy hell, I hope you are right... I hated working on my car. I was installing a new clutch and flywheel and I found out my motor mounts were trashed. The only FULL set was made by Cusco and they were on back order for 2 straight months.

I have a few previous DSMer's that I am good friends with but now they drive Evos and I always joke that it's a glorified DSM, but again, I am relatively new to the 4G63T motors.

 

[davezorz]

Also! When replacing the head gasket I was told to only go with the OEM version. Everyone is telling that with a stock motor it will only lower my compression.

Anyone have any suggestions as far as that goes?

 

[manny correa]

Dont let no one tell you other wise, because that is the EXACT truth. Just to add, go to any supra forum or srt forum and do a crankwalk(thrust bearing failure is the real name) search, it happens to ALL cars.

so dam true!!! i just got back yesterday from my buddys garage(1000hp supra, real talk) and he had the motor on the stand with shredded thrust bearings! aka crankwalk but dont let it bother you. hell just opt for the 6bolt, i did. ohh welcome,

 

[davezorz]

Where can I get a true 6 bolt, though? Which one of those blocks on DSMgraveyard.com would be the best one?