This is the Build Thread for 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD | Tennessee Blue. Reply below.

For the longest time, I was loyal to my Electric Blue 1gb shop car. Like many projects, it ended up sitting for years while I focused on family, life, and other priorities during my hiatus from DSMs and BOSS in 2015.

As I started finding my way back into the platform, I came across a Tennessee Blue shell in Spokane, Washington. Tennessee Blue had always been one of my favorite DSM colors, but I had never come across one for sale locally, nor had I ever worked on one or seen one in person. I jumped on the opportunity with the intention of restoring it and eventually replacing my Electric Blue as my long-term 1g keeper.

Not long after, I came across this two-owner Tennessee Blue 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD for sale in Oregon. It was a no-brainer. The car was largely unmolested, complete, and far cleaner than the shell I had purchased. More importantly, it would save me the time and effort of sourcing missing parts and correcting years of modifications and damage.

I bought the car in 2021 from the second owner. As the third owner, I was fortunate enough to keep the car in the Northwest.

The car had an overheating issue when I bought it that the previous owner had tried to remedy with a Mishimoto radiator and an aftermarket fan. There was also an attempt to raise the rear of the hood to help vent heat. After a little digging, I traced the overheating issue to a cracked exhaust manifold and a cracked 14B turbo. Rather than go too crazy with modifications, I replaced the manifold with another stock unit and upgraded the turbo to a 16G that I had sitting on the shelf. My focus was on keeping the car reliable while maintaining the factory feel.

Around the same time, I was able to source a set of black-housed headlights in need of restoration. Having already owned a set on my Electric Blue shop car, I wanted to preserve those, so I picked up this set to restore instead. I also upgraded the exhaust system, installed some suspension components to improve the driving experience, and swapped the stock wheels for a set of 17-inch black aftermarket wheels I had on another DSM.

The last thing left on the list was to build a mid-pipe, but as luck would have it, life got busy and the car ended up sitting for a while. During that time, I had the opportunity to spend time with my youngest son as a baby—time that I'll never get back—finish college, and earn my black belt.

As life settled down, I found myself coming full circle and finally able to make cars and BOSS part of my day-to-day life again. With my kids getting older and many of my other commitments behind me, this is the first year I've really been able to get back out and participate in the DSM community in a way that I haven't since 2013.

Most of the focus now centers around maintenance, restoration, and preservation. The goal isn't to build an all-out race car, but to keep a clean Tennessee Blue AWD on the road and enjoy it.

I'll use this thread to document the car's history, repairs, upgrades, and future plans.

Pictures

After purchase:

After some work:







Videos

First TB pick up:


Finding my 1g unicorn:


Walk around:


Doing some work:


Swapping suspension:


Swapping suspension continued:


Heating issues:


Manifold stud issue:


New manifold studs:


16g:


Exhaust set up:


If you've read this far, thanks for stopping by and feel free to follow along. There's plenty of work ahead, and I look forward to sharing the journey. More photos, updates, and progress to come.

Oh yeah beatiful dsm enjoy.