Artofschiffy
Proven Member
- 70
- 6
- Mar 12, 2017
-
SFV,
California
Name/age: Arthur / 23
Occupation: Student
Vehicle: 1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
Purchased: March 2017
Starting mileage after rebuild: 150,501
Introduction:
Hello fellow tuners, my name is Arthur and I recently purchased a 1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD as my first project car. I love cars and have always wanted to work on one. After saving for a couple years I finally had enough expendable funds to throw at something.
Why I chose DSM:
I wanted something a little different than the average tuner which let me to DSMs. I had very little knowledge on DSMs before purchasing my talon. After seeing the craigslist ad on my talon, I did some research and realized the potential these cars have with the right user. I had never even seen a 1G DSM before and only knew about the 2g eclipse. I found this car to be rather unique after reading the background story about the joint-venture between Chrystler and Mitsubishi. I felt an connection with this car speaking that I am half Asian and half white
, so I had to have it. None of my friends who like cars had even heard of an eagle talon and I was always intrigued with “sleeper” cars. I don’t consider 1gs true sleepers like a supercharged Buick Regal, but due to its unfamiliarity with the younger crowd, this sports coupe has slid off the map.
The DSM community is another reason why I became a fan of the car. Most of the tuners here are extremely helpful to novices and information is readily available thanks to forums like Dsmtuners.
Initial impressions, issues, and mistakes before rebuild:
By looking at it’s carfax, I could see that it sat for about 7 years until late 2016. The P.O. said the engine was rebuilt and all stock other than the paint and ebay exhaust welded onto the stock piping. Electrical bug, Power steering was shot, some oil leaks from a cracked valve cover, and idle issues were the few things I knew before purchasing. When I got it home the coolant housing was dry so I flushed it/filled with new and made sure there was no air in the system. I also noticed the wastegate arm was never hooked up to the flapper so I connected it (bad idea). Replaced the power steering pump and it turned like butter. I then took it to my mechanic and put it on a lift and noticed there was a chunk of bellhousing missing from the tranny and my passenger axle barely connected to the tranny. They put on a new axle and while driving it home the dipstick popped out spilling oil everywhere. I also noticed that my coolant was all brown and low even after the flush.
Long story short, on my way home from getting fresh tires, the head gasket blew while driving uphill a block away from home. I now realized that the car was most likely pushing coolant before I purchased it. The wastegate was disconnected for a reason.. The ecu installed was fried and was for a FWD NA, the pistons in the original turbo block were NA pistons as well. Another discovery which would have probably led to engine failure was the use of a balance shaft delete stub with no oil groove commonly found on ebay. After realizing all of this, I knew I had to go over everything and start from scratch.
Day 0:
After a little cleaning up (pre-hg failure)
What not to use for BSE:
Occupation: Student
Vehicle: 1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
Purchased: March 2017
Starting mileage after rebuild: 150,501
Introduction:
Hello fellow tuners, my name is Arthur and I recently purchased a 1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD as my first project car. I love cars and have always wanted to work on one. After saving for a couple years I finally had enough expendable funds to throw at something.
Why I chose DSM:
I wanted something a little different than the average tuner which let me to DSMs. I had very little knowledge on DSMs before purchasing my talon. After seeing the craigslist ad on my talon, I did some research and realized the potential these cars have with the right user. I had never even seen a 1G DSM before and only knew about the 2g eclipse. I found this car to be rather unique after reading the background story about the joint-venture between Chrystler and Mitsubishi. I felt an connection with this car speaking that I am half Asian and half white
, so I had to have it. None of my friends who like cars had even heard of an eagle talon and I was always intrigued with “sleeper” cars. I don’t consider 1gs true sleepers like a supercharged Buick Regal, but due to its unfamiliarity with the younger crowd, this sports coupe has slid off the map.The DSM community is another reason why I became a fan of the car. Most of the tuners here are extremely helpful to novices and information is readily available thanks to forums like Dsmtuners.
Initial impressions, issues, and mistakes before rebuild:
By looking at it’s carfax, I could see that it sat for about 7 years until late 2016. The P.O. said the engine was rebuilt and all stock other than the paint and ebay exhaust welded onto the stock piping. Electrical bug, Power steering was shot, some oil leaks from a cracked valve cover, and idle issues were the few things I knew before purchasing. When I got it home the coolant housing was dry so I flushed it/filled with new and made sure there was no air in the system. I also noticed the wastegate arm was never hooked up to the flapper so I connected it (bad idea). Replaced the power steering pump and it turned like butter. I then took it to my mechanic and put it on a lift and noticed there was a chunk of bellhousing missing from the tranny and my passenger axle barely connected to the tranny. They put on a new axle and while driving it home the dipstick popped out spilling oil everywhere. I also noticed that my coolant was all brown and low even after the flush.
Long story short, on my way home from getting fresh tires, the head gasket blew while driving uphill a block away from home. I now realized that the car was most likely pushing coolant before I purchased it. The wastegate was disconnected for a reason.. The ecu installed was fried and was for a FWD NA, the pistons in the original turbo block were NA pistons as well. Another discovery which would have probably led to engine failure was the use of a balance shaft delete stub with no oil groove commonly found on ebay. After realizing all of this, I knew I had to go over everything and start from scratch.
Day 0:
After a little cleaning up (pre-hg failure)
What not to use for BSE:
Attachments
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