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2G Looking at a 99 GSX, but inexperienced with DSM and concerned

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Makes Bad Decisions

Probationary Member
5
0
Feb 16, 2018
Melbourne, Florida
Hey all,

I am looking at a 99 GSX that's in somewhat rough condition, but I am new to DSM and turbos in general, so I can't gauge exactly how bad things are. For reference, I am well versed with vehicles in general, having rebuilt my Subaru transmission and done various engine rebuilds on Subarus and Hondas in the past. That being said, I have a new job and just moved 1000 miles from home, so I do not have much spare time or friends to do this work myself. I live on the East Coast in the middle of Florida and have not found many shops that specialize in DSMs, which is concerning because I was hoping to have a shop fix the car.

The car itself has some typical DSM rust, where the hatch and shock towers have little if any and the rockers are rotten. The chassis has 212k miles and obviously the entire suspension and bushings are shot.

My concern lies within the engine bay, mostly. The engine is built with what appears to be top shelf parts: forged internals, hot cams, sheet metal intake, massive Garrett turbo, DNP manifold, Tial BOV, Apexi exhaust, Mishimoto radiator, FP turbo inlet pipe, FMIC with hard pipes, and it's a 6 bolt swap from a 1990 model (supposedly had 600 awhp when running correctly, which I don't entirely doubt).

The big problem: It overheats within a mile and idles/runs very rough. I suspect the head gasket at a minimum because the oil felt very thin (as if it were mixing with coolant). As for running rough, the owner says it was tuned on an AEM standalone, but something happened with it and now it's back on the stock ecu, which obviously can't support the extensive mods. I can't tell if it idles poorly because the tune is that far off, or because of cam lope. The owner doesn't appear to be super car savvy and got in over his head with this particular car, but he seems like a good guy. I drove it around the block, before it overheated, and it seemed okay. Definitely rough, but clears up a bit around 3k rpms. It started overheating so quickly that I couldn't really gauge much, but it's throwing a P1105 and P0141 with ABS light as well. He is asking $4000, but I feel like this car will need a ton of work to get it right since it has had so many hands in it.

Am I missing something simple, or does this engine likely need completely rebuilt? Also, I am not familiar with DSM tuning, but this will need a DSMLink and professional tune as well, correct?

My experience tells me to run far away, but I have been hunting for a local-ish GSX for almost 2 years now, and this car has many high-end components that lead me to believe it could be a diamond in the rough. Is there a shop I can take this to that's local, or someone in the area that would be interested in inspecting or correcting it?

Thanks and sorry for the book.
 
Follow your gut. Run. I would stop looking local if you really want one. I searched a year. Got a one owner 52k mi car.
 
... I have a new job and just moved 1000 miles from home, so I do not have much spare time or friends to do this work myself.

This is one of the biggest reasons to walk away. It may be a project for someone, but for your circumstances, not a good fit.
 
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I searched for a long time for a mostly unmolested 1g. I finally bought one near Orlando. Finding out now that many OEM parts are not available, even though the dealership websites show them to be. A later model 2g (95-99?) is probably a little better for parts, and I have seen decent looking ones for reasonable price. Your skills sound like plenty to work on these cars; turbos aren’t that tricky, compared to a tranny at least. The high milage is concerning, and rust is never good.
 
Follow your gut. Run. I would stop looking local if you really want one. I searched a year. Got a one owner 52k mi car.

As much as I don't want to accept it, I know you're correct. I have been looking nationally, but I'm incredibly hesitant to purchase sight unseen or risk wasting significant resources to find a car far from expectation. I mostly have no faith in 99% of folks representing their vehicles accurately, which makes it difficult for me. Additionally, I do not actually see that many 97 - 99 manual GSXs posted.

I agree. Too many issues and only upside is upgraded engine parts. You don’t want a 600hp car w sh**ty suspension and possibly warped head/block

Very true. I figured it would take quite a bit of effort and resources on all fronts to get it pristine. I guess I was mostly hoping someone would call be dumb and explain why it is a good deal!

This is one of the biggest reasons to walk away. It may be a project for someone, but for your circumstances, not a food fit.

This is the argument I posed to my friends and fiancee. I like having an older car to tool around on occasionally, but this is a bit too much project and not enough car. I suppose getting to actually drive it lulled me into thinking it was manageable, when it clearly isn't. Thanks!

I searched for a long time for a mostly unmolested 1g. I finally bought one near Orlando. Finding out now that many OEM parts are not available, even though the dealership websites show them to be. A later model 2g (95-99?) is probably a little better for parts, and I have seen decent looking ones for reasonable price. Your skills sound like plenty to work on these cars; turbos aren’t that tricky, compared to a tranny at least. The high milage is concerning, and rust is never good.

Truthfully, the car violated many of my "absolutely not" rules when I decided to purchase a GSX. The two big ones are: no rust, and don't buy one that "just needs tuned." I knew it was a bad deal, but, as I mentioned to someone else, I was hopeful a DSM guru could tell me I'm wrong.
 
I have known dsmers all over the country fir years. That's how I dealt with it. A trusted acquaintance looked at the car for me. So it was "sight unseen" but not without some educated information. I truly got lucky but I believe there are clean cars out there. I just happened to stumble upon a unicorn.
 
4k rusty and 212k miles and over heats? Just say no. Mayne yes for 500$ But even then no

I turned it down today, which is a bummer because I was hoping to finally get one. Thank you for your advice.

I have known dsmers all over the country fir years. That's how I dealt with it. A trusted acquaintance looked at the car for me. So it was "sight unseen" but not without some educated information. I truly got lucky but I believe there are clean cars out there. I just happened to stumble upon a unicorn.

I would be more likely to fly out for one if I had a trusted individual to check it out first, but I do not know anyone in the DSM community, so that isn't really an option for me, unfortunately.
 
Rotted rockers are a no go 100% of the time, it needs the good parts pulled and crushed sadly at that point, how does a Florida car have any rust let alone rotted rockers???
 
To put it in perspective I bought my car with 90K original miles- immaculate paint, no rust, bone stock, and garage kept for $5k.

These cars still exist in pretty good stock condition it will just take some more patience and luck. Expand your search to Canada if you can- I know that is far from home for you but I have seen quite a few stupidly low mile examples going for fantastic prices up here. IMO it would be worth the shipping costs if you can find one with around 50K original miles

But if it is in Kona Blue I will probably fight you for it
 
To put it in perspective I bought my car with 90K original miles- immaculate paint, no rust, bone stock, and garage kept for $5k.

These cars still exist in pretty good stock condition it will just take some more patience and luck. Expand your search to Canada if you can- I know that is far from home for you but I have seen quite a few stupidly low mile examples going for fantastic prices up here. IMO it would be worth the shipping costs if you can find one with around 50K original miles

But if it is in Kona Blue I will probably fight you for it
Canada has salty roads, which means more likely to be rusty
 
Rotted rockers are a no go 100% of the time, it needs the good parts pulled and crushed sadly at that point, how does a Florida car have any rust let alone rotted rockers???

I passed on the vehicle, but it spent most of its life in Pennsylvania, so that's why it has rust. Here in Florida, cars rust from the top down.

Do not walk away from this deal...





RUN AWAY from this deal!!

You listed way too many issues for this car to be worth anything. The owner would be better off parting it out. Overheating and oiling problems kills it right off the bat.

I told him I was no longer interested, but thank you for the response.

To put it in perspective I bought my car with 90K original miles- immaculate paint, no rust, bone stock, and garage kept for $5k.

These cars still exist in pretty good stock condition it will just take some more patience and luck. Expand your search to Canada if you can- I know that is far from home for you but I have seen quite a few stupidly low mile examples going for fantastic prices up here. IMO it would be worth the shipping costs if you can find one with around 50K original miles

But if it is in Kona Blue I will probably fight you for it

For $5k, I'd ship it no question. I know you have to pay to play, and I am willing to pay, but I just don't see many examples pop up. My big issue with shipping is that I don't know anyone in the DSM community to inspect the cars before I buy, and they are almost never accurately described by the seller, so I am hesitant. I would hate to spend $7k and get a rusty turd to my doorstep.

As for the color, I like red better anyways!
 
I’m not sure if it’s within forum rules to advertise someone elses car, but there is a red 1g on ebay atm. I haven’t taken the alert off my ebay settings and saw this one pop up. I will share that I bought my 1g just in April via ebay auction. Please don’t everyone shoot me if this is a no-no to post; I’m still on probation...
 
Additionally, I do not actually see that many 97 - 99 manual GSXs posted.

That's because 97-99 GSX owners are not looking to sell them. A clean 2g GSX platform with no rust took me 3 years to find, and even still it had a blown tranny and a weeping head gasket. Autotrader, craigslist, ebay, this forum, I still see crazy low mile GSX "barn finds" on the internet all the time, don't give up on finding a clean one man.
 
I bought a 92 tsi awd 5 speed running car with a few mods for 600 bucks. I have about 2 grand into it now and it's very reliable and tons of power. 4 grand for a car that overheats and possible head gasket issues I would run away from.
 
I’m not sure if it’s within forum rules to advertise someone elses car, but there is a red 1g on ebay atm. I haven’t taken the alert off my ebay settings and saw this one pop up. I will share that I bought my 1g just in April via ebay auction. Please don’t everyone shoot me if this is a no-no to post; I’m still on probation...

I'm specifically looking for a 2G, with a preference for 97 - 99, but thank you for the information.

That's because 97-99 GSX owners are not looking to sell them. A clean 2g GSX platform with no rust took me 3 years to find, and even still it had a blown tranny and a weeping head gasket. Autotrader, craigslist, ebay, this forum, I still see crazy low mile GSX "barn finds" on the internet all the time, don't give up on finding a clean one man.

I've seen a few that tempt me, but I'm just not comfortable buying one sight-unseen yet, and they are almost all located 1000+ miles away. I do not plan to give up. I've wanted one for several years and I will have one, sooner rather than later!

I bought a 92 tsi awd 5 speed running car with a few mods for 600 bucks. I have about 2 grand into it now and it's very reliable and tons of power. 4 grand for a car that overheats and possible head gasket issues I would run away from.

I already turned the seller down, but thank you for your input.
 
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