95 Talon AWD Panda

[tay97gst]

Hey guys. No big updates but figured I'd keep this up to date. I ended up switching back to spark plug wires from my coil on plug setup. I'm trying to diagnose some bugs so this was one part of the system I wanted to troubleshoot. In order to pull this off I got the JMFab coil pack relocation bracket. However I found out that one of the wires is now no longer long enough, so I ordered some 1g wires which are longer. I also rewired the fuel pump finally but I dont have any pictures of that. The last thing I did was swapped out the bpr7es plugs with some br7es, just for a test really. Im curious which ones suit my needs better. I included a picture so you can see the difference if you're curious.

 

[Stephen227]

Just a question. Have you gone back and looked at the humble beginnings of this car? Man what a solid job.

 

[tay97gst]

Just a question. Have you gone back and looked at the humble beginnings of this car? Man what a solid job.

Thanks man. Its been a lot of work but she's come a long way.

 

[RAW92Talon]

Awesome build man. Looks like you've put alot of time and money into that thing. I've got a 1G Talon that I'm hoping to get to this kind of standard one day. Keep it up.

 

[MeteorBurn]

Awesome looking ride. How did cleaning glue off the interior go? I always have a fear of something like that happening after I finish a job.

 

[tay97gst]

Awesome build man. Looks like you've put alot of time and money into that thing. I've got a 1G Talon that I'm hoping to get to this kind of standard one day. Keep it up.

Thanks for the kind words!

Awesome looking ride. How did cleaning glue off the interior go? I always have a fear of something like that happening after I finish a job.

It was a bi*** to clean but razor blades removed it from the glass and goo gone removed it from the seats. It wasnt possible to remove it from the headliner though. Luckily I sold the car shortly after so I didnt have to deal with it too long. Definitely a lesson learned.

 

[tay97gst]

tay97gst updated tay97gst's Eagle Talon AWD


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[tay97gst]

tay97gst updated tay97gst's Eagle Talon AWD


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[tay97gst]

Hey guys, it's been a minute since I've written any kind of update on my talon. I can't believe how fast time flies. I was going to keep updates to myself until I finish what I'm working on, 1) because I hate to share the current state of my proudest project, and 2) because I know it will take at least a year if not more to fully finish.. but I think keeping the build thread going will help keep me motivated and reimmerse myself in the community again. So bear with me as I get caught up and share with you my future goals.

The car was essentially finished with what I had pictured in my head many years ago. The engine ran great (still does), made over 400whp and looked great doing so. I didn't get to drive it as much as I would like due to me not having a garage and chasing down some electrical demons (which I think I worked through) so it sat most of the time in a storage locker or my FILs driveway. I actually had it listed for sale some time ago thinking I was done with it but it never sold and I'm glad it didn't even with what I'm about to share. in March 2021 it was sitting in my FILs driveway waiting for winter to end and I got a phone call that a neighbors tree had fallen in high winds and landed on my car. The good news is that it was only a large branch that contacted my car and not the whole tree. It destroyed the rear hatch, shattered the glass, left a football sized dent in the rear quarter panel and left many little dents and scratches on the roof and elsewhere. The bad news is that I didn't have insurance on it since I wasn't driving it and the neighbors insurance wouldn't take any responsibility for it, so to fix it will be out of my own pocket. I was pretty devastated, but there was never an alternative for me other than to rebuild it better than ever.

The damage was mostly isolated to the drivers side and the roof, so the path forward would be to replace the rear hatch/glass, the side view mirror and correct the various dents and dings. It is so frustrating having already gone through body work on this car and the paint being in such great condition to now having so many little scratches and dents. My hope is that I can have a paintless dent repair expert repair the majority of the damage, and then vinyl wrap the car so that I don't have to bring it to a paint shop but I'm not sure how that will turn out yet. All of this happened while in the process of planning my wedding so my spending money was and is still tight so I'm doing things methodically and spaced out as my budget allows.

In figuring out what to do about the hatch I essentially determined the route that this rebuild was going to take. Sticking with the mantra that upgrading is better than replacing, I contacted Carbonetics to make me a replacement CSL hatch. And since I didn't want to just have a carbon hatch mismatch with the rest of the car, I decided that I should add a carbon fiber hood and side skirts to match. After a long 9 months of waiting, I received my shipment from Carbonetics containing all of my goodies.

I have to say that they really did a great job. The finish is amazing and there weren't any perceptible problems with my order. The weight savings are going to be fantastic but the look alone is worth the price. So far I have the hatch installed, using OEM glass I cut out of a junkyard car, and the hood installed along with some Quik Latch 38 series hood latches. It was nerve racking cutting into the hood but the fitment is perfect and I'm so happy with the results of the latches. I forgot to take pictures of the hatch installed but I'll get some soon. I still have to mount the side skirts but I'm less motivated to install those until more is complete.

This is essentially how it sits currently, while I continue to stockpile parts and find the time/money to keep the project going. I am trying to find a free oven on craigslist so that I can powdercoat engine bay parts in the meantime. My next main priority is having the PDR tech fix as many dents as possible and assess how much body work I'm going to need to do. Other than the PDR tech, I plan on doing all of the work myself. I take pride in learning as much as I can while owning this car and try to remain appreciative of the opportunities that these adversities have presented me with. A sincere thank you to everyone still on this forum keeping the DSM community alive!

 

[tay97gst]

Hood and hatch are installed, mocked up the side splitters to see the full effect. They fit so well that they just stayed up using friction which I’m really excited about. Will install them permanently after bodywork. Really happy with the overall look.

 

[chrisman287]

Looks great!

 

[Aeflores11]

Hood and hatch are installed, mocked up the side splitters to see the full effect. They fit so well that they just stayed up using friction which I’m really excited about. Will install them permanently after bodywork. Really happy with the overall look.

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Looks so good man , I just went though your whole build starting from 2013 when you bought this car . I needed this motivation . I’ve had a 95 talon tsi panda color in my garage for over year I’m slowly bringing it back to life . I’m dealing with bad rocker panel rust right now and it sucks. great job on this build !!!