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The $400 97 Talon Awd Rescue

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96Formula6spd

10+ Year Contributor
245
22
Nov 17, 2009
Greenville, South_Carolina
Figured I would make a build thread to the new car to the herd. I had a 91 GSX years ago and sold it off. Anyways a friend of mine messaged me on Saturday and asked if I knew anybody who would want a AWD Talon. It caught my interest as the 91 has been the only car I regretted selling. He sent some pictures of it and decided to take the extra 2 hour drive home from anyyok autocross and go take a look. He said the guy was ready to let it go to scrap. It has been sitting 7 years due to a blown head gasket. Will get into that later. Anyways I figured I would show up and since the car had a Michigan tag and was sitting in the dirt that the body was probably rust and the car was close to stock. After about 10 minutes of poking around the only offer on the car was $250 and that guy had no way to move it. I offered $400 and was able to pick it up on the Tuesday as the guy worked nights and was the first day that we could meet up.

Here is the car where it had been sitting for a long time. It was in Columbia where they got the floods last year and the ground is still wet and the car was sinking into the ground.

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Fast forward to Tuesday. I hand over $400 and we start pulling the car out. The Suburban pulled the car out with zero issue. All we did was air the tires up. Brakes seem to be working. Handbrake was down which make it easy for it to stop. Hand to hand crank the car up onto the trailer. That was not fun. Would move a few feet at a time and be tired. Got the car onto the trailer and proceeded to lock the one and only key under the hood as I was removing the jumper cables. We did that so we could roll the drivers window down. The drivers door handle is broken. But the trailer would not let us open the passenger door far enough to reach in to open the drivers. Had to make a broom handle with a coat hanger taped on to loop on the inside door handle so we could open the door. This got us back in so I can get the key that was under the hood. Finished locking the car down and drove home. Was later than I thought but I was happy.

All loaded up.

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Where it had been sitting all those years. Not anymore

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So got the car unloaded. Man its nice when projects will at least trailer drive. Been a long time since I have had to manually load and unload a car. This one was a slight pain. Anyways got it off and moved into its new space. Step one was a bath.

Before

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After

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After a bath I decided to find all what was left in the car. Found some old mail from a time when Wachovia was around. Also found some goodies.

Can always use a Haynes manual and the safc manual. Plus a tire tread depth checker. Been needing one of those.

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3 Bottles of gear oil as well as a full set of new spark plugs. A few less things to buy.

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A brand new timing belt kit. Its been sitting a bit in a hot car. The belt is turning color so its not going on the car. But the idlers are good. So it will at least save a few bucks on the new kit.

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Next up was the interior. Started in the glove box to find receipts from All Aspect Motorsports in Va Beach. Installed stuff included...some nice stuff in here.

- Slow Boy Racing Stage 1 6bolt swap
- John Sheppard Stage 2? Transmission 375-425hp version
- Act 2100lb 6 puck clutch
- Koni Shocks
- Ground Control Kit
- Ebiach rear adjustable sway bar.
- Stainless Steal Brake lines.
- B&M Short throw shifter.
- Unotherodox under drive pulley.
- MSD plug wires
- Road Race Engineering Camber correction plates.
- Road Race Engineering 2.5 inch catless downpipe
- Burschur 3 in Cat back exhaust
- Injen Intake System
- TurboXS H34 Recirculating blow off Valve.

At the current moment it all looks to be there. As the car was sitting I doubt anything really got pulled. The only thing he said he did pull and that was years ago was the 16g. The car is back on the stock t-25 which needs a rebuild. I may swap on a 14b or 16g for now. Other goodies I have found in the car include.

- Safc tuner. Its someting but may get pulled for DSM link
- Autometer Air Fuel ratio gauge
- Greddy Boost Gauge.
- Some AFC seats. I will be pulling them out as how they were mounted is very unsafe. Will probably unload them on craigslist.

Anyways some random pictures

Interior

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Only 135k

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When cleaning out the car I found two different things.

Anybody need some keys?

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However this was the worst part. Anybody want some brand new TYC Altezza tail lights. Its going to hurt me to not throw them in the trash but will be going on craigslist for $50 to fund the rebuild. Good thing they are for an eclipse and not a talon. I like the stock taillight look.

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Onto the plan. Step one is to go threw the motor. Cams are rusty so they need to be replaced. I don't think they can be saved. Find out why it was parked. Who knows maybe the bottom end is shot. Will be getting a tune up. Get to play tear down to find out what is 1g and what is 2g. After that the plan is to get some tires. Has some 18 inch that need tires. The one is holding air even with a huge gash on the sidewall. Biggest concern is the fuel tank. Pumps can always be replaced but I have a feeling the tank is going to be rusty. Has 1/3 tank of ethanol fuel that has been sitting since 2009. At least car-part has a few around for $55 its just the fun of swapping it all over.

Anyways here is the start to a $400 rescue that had a date with a crusher.
 
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Man that is a freakin steal. I wish I could find something like this, it's always N/a junk cars :(

Side note, I don't understand why people always seem to think the inside of fuel tanks get rusty. It's air tight sealed why would it rust? :p Just a thought, I'm sure the fuel tank is fine. Run a tank of gas, then change the fuel filter. At least that's what I would do but it's your car, good luck, have fun getting it up and running.
 
So today I did two things. First up was to check the condition of the cams. When buying it the intake cam looked rusty from the oil cap. The coolant is mixed so I am guessing the blown head gasket theory is correct. Well a picture is worth a thousand words so here it is.

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I knew this one was coming. Looks like I will be shopping for a set of used cams. The look like stock units so no real loss. I will hit up the classifieds when I am ready. Good news the rockers, valve springs all look in great shape. So maybe a quick trim on the head and a gasket for the top end.

I also pulled the spark plugs back out and poured in some oil down into the cylinders. This should help the pistons loosen up. I won't be turning the engine over at all with the cams int he head. That rust wants to flake off really easy. So just need to take the cams out to see if the bottom end is seized up. Hopefully it will turn over.

Next thing was on the list was to check the tank out. I got some of the lines out but had to quit early. So going back tomorrow. Found some gas in the system and it was clear. Found out that the awd gas tanks are made of plastic. So no rust. Should be able to pull the pump and drain the gas tank. Then just refill with some fresh gas. I need to get the pump to turn on. I guess its like my Miata that the pump will not start running until the engine is turning over. As I do not want to turn this engine over in its current state is there any diagnostic plugs in the system. If not I will do what the Haynes manual says and give the pump a hot wire and a ground wire. If it turns on this car could be seeing the road a lot sooner than I had planned.

Edit. Found the wire to send 12v threw to run the pump.

Did find out that I don't have a lsd rear. Oh well I guess that can change later. Tomorrow we find out about the pump and then decide on when to start pulling the engine out so I can order parts to get it running again.
 
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Good new. Sent 12v on the jumper wire and I herd the pump click on. Going to let it pressure down and before I take the engine out I will be draining the fuel tank. Man that gas smells bad.
 
Even if the engine need to be rebuild, that's a great deal if the car isn't all rusty under. Good find
 
Even if the engine need to be rebuild, that's a great deal if the car isn't all rusty under. Good find

Only some light rust in the spare tire area. The spoiler is leaking I think so I will be hunting for a new seal. The roof has some but I will be taking care of that soon.


One a later note I tried to jump the pump to clean out the tank. I got a very weak flow and then it stopped. Gauge is showing 1/3 tank. So looks like a walboro 255 will be going in. Will be pulling the pump to confirm. But if the tank has gas in it then I will manually drain it. Man it smells BAD. Either way its just the one line under the car that I have not broke lose. So hopefully it plays nice like the one on the top did and I can remove the pump.
 
Pump came out. Pulled the other side sending unit. Also pulled about 7 gallons of very old 93 out. Sending units are in working shape so its just a matter of swapping in a new pump.
 
I'm sure you know this but it's recommended to get an afpr if you go with the 255...
What kind of power levels you going to be shooting for with this bad boy? Can't remember if you stated it in your other thread.
 
I'm sure you know this but it's recommended to get an afpr if you go with the 255...
What kind of power levels you going to be shooting for with this bad boy? Can't remember if you stated it in your other thread.

Power levels I am not looking for much. Right now its either going to be on a T-25/14b/16g. Not really going to aim for bigger. Yes it could be set up to make more power. But really just want it as a DD at least for now. Could also hit the classifieds for someone who may have swapped in a 255 and has a good 190 laying around.
 
Nice, I would vote for at least a 14b. I bet you would get tired of the t25 real quick. Another option would be evo 10 or 9 fuel pump if you can snag one cheap. Sometimes people want too much. A 16g is really fun for a street car (at least for me).
 
I had a 14b on 13lbs on the 91. Loved it. Made a fun street car. Quick boost with no lag. Heck that car ran down a 16g awd car. I was on the stock inter cooler and piping. There is a thing of to big of a intercooler as you lose flow. When I had the intake pipe off it had oil. So I am guessing I will be doing a 14b. T25 works but the 14b is just a little bigger.

Plus if I decide to autox or rallyx the car something with fast spool helps it get out of the corner. Drove my buddies holset hx35 on a 420a car. Nothing like waiting and waiting and waiting for boost to come on. Would rather have boost at 3000rpm.
 
Well a little more work was done. Other stuff has come up so the engine has not had time to come out. Looking like a buddy of mine is thinking next weekend. Oh well. Anyways did get a few things done. One I was able to fix the brake light switch. The brake lights were always on with the battery. A quick test showed the switch was working. I raided one from a lkq so now I have a spare. Anyways simple adjustment and they go off. Will need to test with someone around to make sure they turn on when the pedal is pushed.

Also was able to raid this at the LKQ while in Savannah.

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Yaye a drivers door handle. They had about 8 cars and 3 had handles. First one was a oem silver. The second was a aftermarket one. If felt horrible. This one felt good and was on a new car to hit the lot. After removal it has a Mitsubishi part number. So looks like I got an factory handle for $12. Will need paint but since I need some for the roof I may spray this one as well. For not being painted it looks ok.
 
Well over the weekend the engine came out. No big complaints. A few small surprises.

- The drivers motor mount is trash. Guess I get to figure out what mount I need. 6 Bolt in a 2g.
- The drivers side axle is missing its abs tone ring as well its sensor. So since I would like the abs to work I guess I will have to look into it. Wonder if that tone ring can be swapped on.
- Some wires are broke under the drivers side wheel under the cover. I think this car was way to low at some point.
- Passenger side caliper has seized up. I am going to both caliper. Should be simple as its just some seals. Could check the stainless lines as well. I know that they can still fail as a buddy has some good ones fail on track. He swapped back to rubber on a two year replacement plan.
- The rack and pinion has decided that the drivers side seal is done. Might swap a used rack in or go ahead and try to fix it.

Hopefully the engine will go onto the stand in the morning. Need to run and get some longer bolts for the stand and a few nuts that were in bad shape. The clutch looks like a fun one to daily drive. Its an act 6 puk with a non sprung disc. Great for drag racing not good on the street. Depending on its condition it may go in the trash. Who puts a crazy clutch on a car with a stock turbo. Wonder what decent ACT cost. If not hopefully I can find my old clutch alignment tool. I know I don't throw things like that away but its gone threw a few moves now.

Otherwise the engine looks new. Should be ordering parts soon if the bottom end is good. I guess I should take the head off and find out if the engine even spins over.
 
Someone on here has a write for fixing the door handles so they are not so prone to breaking ... I cant find it for the life of me. i used it on my last 2g and it worked pretty good.

Great job so far on the car ....
 
Well today I got the engine onto the stand. Clutch disc looked good as well as the flywheel. So that will be going back on. Could not find my clutch disc tool so I will have to buy one I guess.

Onward to the engine. It turned over freely while I was trying to get the flywheel off. Was hoping not to do that till the rusted cams were out. Tho draining the oil found this.

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Yep it 10000% blew a head gasket all those years ago. Good news it was still enough oil that it should clean up. No rust and the cylinder walls look brand new.

Anybody need a milkshake?

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So I think I will be pulling the crank and cleaning it up. Then put some assembly lube on all the bearings. Need to checkup and make sure that bearings are ok to sit in this goo. Herd its not good for them.

Other things I noticed on the engine. The balance shaft has been deleted. Stock main bolts. Rods look stock but the pistons may be aftermarket. Pretty sure its just a stock bottom end. So should just be able to clean this up.

However this little guy was hiding in the oil pan....

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Looks like maybe a piece of a camshaft. With them being rusty and they actually turned something could have broke off. However this is not rusty. It also looks like it has some oil journals in it. Going to have to clean everything up and search for where it came from. Feels like a cast piece.

Tomorrow the head comes off as well as the turbo and intake manifold. Should find out more tomorrow.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if that's a piece of a journal bearing from a previously installed/blown turbo. Is it brass?

Feels and looks like cast steel. Which has me worried some. I will be checking all the bearings as well as cleaning them off as well as inspecting, cleaning the oil pump.
 
I thought I got a Smokin' deal when I got my rust free 96 TSi AWD rolling chassis for $150. Mine didn't have GC suspension or a Shep trans though....or a 6-bolt.... I digress..... Looks like a HG fo sho. I would definitely be tempted to get that thing hot tanked and then get all new bearings. It's a little pricey, yes, but I would want the peace of mind. If the crank passes the fingernail test either slam it in as is or get it polished. Definitely replace the cams and see which lifters you have. If they're the revised ones then I would take them apart and clean them. If they're stock 2G's, I would just get the revised ones. Obviously new complete timing kit with tensioner (or whatever pieces are missing from what you found new) and all new gaskets and seals. I would be very tempted to get another oil pump as well, but I would disassemble the original, clean it and spec it out. If it's within tolerance, just rebuild it. If you do replace it, just get an OEM from STM or someone. I haven't had experience with aftermarket pumps unless I got the car with one that was blown already. Lastly I would have the injectors cleaned or make a tool and do it yourself before trying to run this thing. New filters and flush lines too. I would also take the covers off the ECM all other modules and inspect for corrosion there and at all ground points, especially if it was a flood car. Even fresh water can make you pull your hair out.
 
I thought I got a Smokin' deal when I got my rust free 96 TSi AWD rolling chassis for $150. Mine didn't have GC suspension or a Shep trans though....or a 6-bolt.... I digress..... Looks like a HG fo sho. I would definitely be tempted to get that thing hot tanked and then get all new bearings. It's a little pricey, yes, but I would want the peace of mind. If the crank passes the fingernail test either slam it in as is or get it polished. Definitely replace the cams and see which lifters you have. If they're the revised ones then I would take them apart and clean them. If they're stock 2G's, I would just get the revised ones. Obviously new complete timing kit with tensioner (or whatever pieces are missing from what you found new) and all new gaskets and seals. I would be very tempted to get another oil pump as well, but I would disassemble the original, clean it and spec it out. If it's within tolerance, just rebuild it. If you do replace it, just get an OEM from STM or someone. I haven't had experience with aftermarket pumps unless I got the car with one that was blown already. Lastly I would have the injectors cleaned or make a tool and do it yourself before trying to run this thing. New filters and flush lines too. I would also take the covers off the ECM all other modules and inspect for corrosion there and at all ground points, especially if it was a flood car. Even fresh water can make you pull your hair out.

Yeah I was thinking I was just going to pass on this car. Nope it was a keeper. Right now the plan is to pull the crankshaft. I did not get a chance to pull the head today. Hopefully tomorrow or worst case the weekend. Crankshaft should be good. If it has scoring then its going to the machine shop. If not then its clean, clean and clean. If the bearings are in spec then I will just reinstall everything. The pump will be take apart and cleaned. If it looks good then pack it with some grease for that first restart and install it. If anything looks out of spec it will get rebuilt. Hopefully I will just leave the pistons in the block. Going to check the lifters. The build was in 04/05 so I have a feeling they are the old style. This does have a 1g head. Heck the whole engine is 1g. As for an oil pump if its not OEM I don't trust it. I have had after market melling pumps fail in 137 miles. Buddy had a 420a with a melling that was reading low. He ended up swapping in a used neon pump and it fixed all the problems(we all gave him crap about it but after 60k miles its still going strong for being a $11 pump). I am going to clean the injectors I need to cut a pigtail for one. Since its pump is dead I drained the tank. So new filter is going in the system. As for the ecu I pulled it. I checked for eprom and its not. See anything wrong with it?

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Feels and looks like cast steel. Which has me worried some. I will be checking all the bearings as well as cleaning them off as well as inspecting, cleaning the oil pump.

A quick test with a magnet would give you a better idea on the material.
 
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