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‘97 GSX

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This is going to be the first big thing I’ve done to the car since I bought it last week.

The headliner was starting to sag, and all the foam underlining hidden beneath it for the past 20 years was starting to show. I’m going to be replacing it this weekend, and while I’m at it, I’ll be turning the interior from Factory Tan to a Satin Black.

Also. I have no idea what I’m doing.

Hell yeah.
 
Update: My Interior is halfway done. Headliner looks solid, panels need 1 more coat, and my Transmission just gave up on life. This car is going to be the death of me. Wonderful.
 
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Working on getting the car out of the garage. Haven't been able to keep up with her since Fall Classes started. Money's been short due to being moved to part-time at work. No income + No time = No progress.

BUT

Giving up isn't an option. The Trans is still shot, and the interior is still unfinished, but at least Ive been able to replace a few gaskets, clean the injectors, fix an oil + vacuum leak and add new sparks/wires.
(Thanks for the help Joel)

Bringing a car back to life that's sat for 3 months filled with stagnant ethanol ain't easy, but its happening.
And its about time for it to happen too.

I'm excited.

Lets go.
 
It’s been awhile since I’ve been on here, but I figured better late than never to post and update. Been hammering through some serious maintenance to the car, apparently none of the 6 different owners before me ever thought about fixing problems instead of adding expensive mods.

I’ve gotten her to the point where I believe she’ll run perfectly; save for one glaring issue. The Transmission. My build updates from July 2019 were unintentionally stretched. My Trans hadn’t just blown, but had been shot to hell since I bought it. MAP and MAF sensors both going off, plus 2nd and 4th were completely gone. No wonder OD wouldn’t work LOL. It’s a miracle it was able to drive back from Chicago.

I’ll (finally) be taking it to one of the best Transmission shops in Des Moines for a complete rebuild. I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough to rebuild it myself at home.

But something has caught my attention. I’ve heard a lot of talk about the Translab Shift Kit; especially how much of a difference it makes in reliability. IPT has the Translab STL-175-HP (for F/W4A33 transmissions) in stock, and I’m seriously consider picking up one of those. Only thing is, I’m trying to decide if I should hand over a few more hundred and have my shop install it, or do it myself as a quarantine project. (Apparently they’re not terribly hard to do at home.)

Anyone out there with any advice for me would be extremely appreciated. If not, that’s alright too. Just curious about the different insights and feedback I could get about this.

(And here’s a pic of my favorite cash trap chillin in the garage)

See you all in 5 months when I inevitably post my next update
 

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Alright alright alright. Got her back from the shop finally. Transmission totally rebuilt. Shift Kit completely installed.
Everything's finally coming together.

Syke.

Once the rebuilt transmission was put back in, the car immediately refused to start for the test drive. It just cranks, and cranks, and cranks. The guys at the shop were able to get it to turn over once, but it went straight into limp mode. No faster than 15mph, no higher than 2k rpm. Only code that was able to get pulled was for the cooling fan. (Which I know why. The wires were corroded to the point that they snapped in half when I took the fan out to get to the back of the alternator. Therefore, no more fan.) Ended up having to get it towed back home. Pretty disappointing.

I'm gonna be testing the timing and compression, looking for boost and vacuum leaks, and maybe getting a decent code reader of my own. This car is really starting to get on my nerves. Its always one thing after another. God forbid I have a properly functioning car. Such is the life.

But that's enough complaining on my part. Gonna figure it out sooner or later. Might as well start today. Woo.
 
Update time.

Good lord this car just drains my wallet.

Figured out why she would just crank. Trans shop apparently didn't realize my intercooler's cold pipes actually needed to be connected to the charge pipe. Basically it was one big ol boost leak. Super easy fix. Trimmed the inside on my bumper for the pipes to fit too. Passenger side bumper bolts are stripped out and not worth heli-coiling. Just gonna Drift Stitch it till i can get that Widebody kit from I've had my eye on.

Working on swapping out my Compression Control Arms. The Laterals will have to wait. Big shoutout to whoever thought it was a good idea to tackweld my LCA mounting bolts to the subframe. Thanks ya friggen genius.

AC needs recharged, Coolant leaks near the Trans, and Oil leaks from around the pan. Throw a new Fuel Filter on there. Nothing major, just a few things to fix. (Also Oil Pressure Gauge is done. That'll be interesting to check out)

Topping it all off with Iowa's beautiful Blackout Plates, and a finished Smoker's Khaki to Satin Black interior conversion.

I might actually have something going on when I'm done.
 
Update time.

Good lord this car just drains my wallet.
.


Lol welcome to the club. Yeah think we all know that we’ll never see the return but we all do it for the love :talon::laser::dsm::hellyeah:. Some pics would be nice
 
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