12secondtalon
Probationary Member
- 18
- 0
- Jun 14, 2008
-
Boulder,
Colorado
I have been a long time member and have had quite a history with Talons in my life, but I've never been able to be a participating member because a lot of this time I haven't had one running. Over the years I've had 4 Talon Tsi AWD 5-speeds. A white 91, white 92, my favorite black cherry 91, and newest black 92. All of them 3 bolts, except the black 92, its a 4 bolt and has tan leather interior with no sunroof
My first one came as I was graduating high school in 2001, it was the white 91. I was working as a shop hand in a local mechanics shop where the owner also built 7000+ HP race engines for his hobby. This very stock Talon with few mods came in to get a turbo replacement so he could sell the car, he upgraded to a 16g. I'm from the foothills of the Rockies in CO, so a lot of people have AWD/4WD cars to get to their mountain homes. As a side note, there has always been a decent amount of DSM's in CO over the years, its been wonderful to occasionally see another DSM.
Since he hadn't advertised it yet, I was able to swoop in an get it. I believe I paid $3500 for it with 190,XXX miles. I was super stoked. I got to play around a bit with it, it pulled hard at 14 psi. I raced on some county roads and found it fun. Unfortunately, I was young and dumb, and I let a friend of a friend take it out a handful of months after getting it and he put it sideways into the back of a truck with me in it. So, alas no pics were ever even taken of it. Still bums me out, it was a solid car.
Skip forward a couple of months, I had to work my way to getting the kid and his family to shell out some cash for the ordeal; finally got it. A few agonizing DSM-less years later in 2003, I spotted a semi decent white 92 all the way down in Tucson, a good 15 hour drive from CO. I spent a lot of time talking to the owner and finally took a quick (ha) road trip south and picked me up a rust free, slightly modded Tsi for $3000 with 125,XXX miles. A handful of weeks down the line, the oil cooler blew a hose and my oil gauge wasn't working... you know the rest. It was my fault and I was devastated again because I didn't have a lot of money to shell out at this point in my life. Luckily I had some space for it to sit covered in a garage for years, sleeping.
In 2005 I was able to slowly start rebuilding the engine and found all kinds of mods and quickly got overwhelmed with what I wanted to do with the car. I got the engine done at my shop:
0.20 over bore JE Pistons
Eagle H-Beam Rods
ARP Head studs
ARP Main studs
Balance shafts eliminated
264/272 HKS Intake/Exhaust Cams
AEM Adjustable Cam Gears
Cometic MLS Head Gasket
After getting the engine all in, I was very nervous for everything to work out. I took the car out after a warm up and put roughly 20-30 miles on it at varying speeds, trying not to boost it. It ran smooth and nothing seemed specifically out of order. My wideband was reading fairly rich after a while, so I returned home to figure out what could be the issue. Unfortunately this came at a crossroads in life and couldn't get things ironed out and didn't want to risk something on a new break in, so I garaged it once again in 2006. While it was garaged over the years, I started replacing parts that could be old and of replacing including many hoses and turbo related parts.
I became interested in upgrading my intercooler and working with a MAF Translator. I also periodically bought pieces for the BOV and piping hoping to make sure all leaks were gone.
As it sat, I got itchy and wanted to try some fun DIY stuff. I relocated the battery to the trunk and was pleased with the outcome. I obviously haven't had a chance to try and see (if at all) what advantage that what actually have, but it at least powered the car.
Soon I had to move some 60 miles away and could not take it with me, so it sat undamaged and out of the elements for another 6+ years while I patiently stock piled parts when I could. It would be a year sometimes before I could get up and see/work on it.
More to come as I get time to post,
Justin
My first one came as I was graduating high school in 2001, it was the white 91. I was working as a shop hand in a local mechanics shop where the owner also built 7000+ HP race engines for his hobby. This very stock Talon with few mods came in to get a turbo replacement so he could sell the car, he upgraded to a 16g. I'm from the foothills of the Rockies in CO, so a lot of people have AWD/4WD cars to get to their mountain homes. As a side note, there has always been a decent amount of DSM's in CO over the years, its been wonderful to occasionally see another DSM.
Since he hadn't advertised it yet, I was able to swoop in an get it. I believe I paid $3500 for it with 190,XXX miles. I was super stoked. I got to play around a bit with it, it pulled hard at 14 psi. I raced on some county roads and found it fun. Unfortunately, I was young and dumb, and I let a friend of a friend take it out a handful of months after getting it and he put it sideways into the back of a truck with me in it. So, alas no pics were ever even taken of it. Still bums me out, it was a solid car.
Skip forward a couple of months, I had to work my way to getting the kid and his family to shell out some cash for the ordeal; finally got it. A few agonizing DSM-less years later in 2003, I spotted a semi decent white 92 all the way down in Tucson, a good 15 hour drive from CO. I spent a lot of time talking to the owner and finally took a quick (ha) road trip south and picked me up a rust free, slightly modded Tsi for $3000 with 125,XXX miles. A handful of weeks down the line, the oil cooler blew a hose and my oil gauge wasn't working... you know the rest. It was my fault and I was devastated again because I didn't have a lot of money to shell out at this point in my life. Luckily I had some space for it to sit covered in a garage for years, sleeping.
In 2005 I was able to slowly start rebuilding the engine and found all kinds of mods and quickly got overwhelmed with what I wanted to do with the car. I got the engine done at my shop:
0.20 over bore JE Pistons
Eagle H-Beam Rods
ARP Head studs
ARP Main studs
Balance shafts eliminated
264/272 HKS Intake/Exhaust Cams
AEM Adjustable Cam Gears
Cometic MLS Head Gasket
After getting the engine all in, I was very nervous for everything to work out. I took the car out after a warm up and put roughly 20-30 miles on it at varying speeds, trying not to boost it. It ran smooth and nothing seemed specifically out of order. My wideband was reading fairly rich after a while, so I returned home to figure out what could be the issue. Unfortunately this came at a crossroads in life and couldn't get things ironed out and didn't want to risk something on a new break in, so I garaged it once again in 2006. While it was garaged over the years, I started replacing parts that could be old and of replacing including many hoses and turbo related parts.
I became interested in upgrading my intercooler and working with a MAF Translator. I also periodically bought pieces for the BOV and piping hoping to make sure all leaks were gone.
As it sat, I got itchy and wanted to try some fun DIY stuff. I relocated the battery to the trunk and was pleased with the outcome. I obviously haven't had a chance to try and see (if at all) what advantage that what actually have, but it at least powered the car.
Soon I had to move some 60 miles away and could not take it with me, so it sat undamaged and out of the elements for another 6+ years while I patiently stock piled parts when I could. It would be a year sometimes before I could get up and see/work on it.
More to come as I get time to post,
Justin