1992 Laser RS build. 2 owner car

[gimmie11s]

gimmie11s submitted a new DSM Profile :

1992 Laser RS build. 2 owner cream puff


Read more about this vehicle here...

 

[gimmie11s]

Im a 22 year DSM vet. These cars ignited my passion for high performance vehicles and quarter mile racing. My first car was a 1990 FWD Eclipse GS-T that i owned back in 1997. From there, i bought and built a 92 GSX that went bottom 11s at around 126 mph back in 1999 and 2000. Ive since also owned a 95 GS-T and a blue 92 Laser RS AWD.

All that said, i havent had a DSM for about 5 years now. I currently own a 2018 twin turbo 5.0 mustang that traps ~147-148 mph on 13 psi boost which has quenched my need for speed in recent years. Prior to the 18 Mustang, ive also had a 650whp GT500 and a TT 2014 5.0

But............... it all changed last week when i stumbled upon title subject 1992 Plymouth Laser RS AWD. This damn thing is honestly the nicest DSM ill have ever had and it took me 20+ years to find it hahaha. It was owned by the original elderly couple who bought it from 1992 until 2017. I bought it off the 2nd owner who had it for the last 2 years. I was able to grab it for $2500 with current tags, a current smog check (California boo), and in good running condition.

It feels like it's pulling timing at low speed before boost so i will dig into that and correct it, but overall it runs fantastic. Over the years i have (like most of us) stock piled endless parts for these cars. I could literally build 2 or 3 complete longblocks and 2 or 3 transmissions from the parts i have laying around.

Plans for this car are a high 11/low 12 sec street bruiser that lives on e85. I would like to run a good amount of timing (21-23*) with e85 and 21-25 psi boost.

Planned parts list for 375-400whp:

--VRSF 1G FMIC kit
--stock appearing billet 20g (i have the compressor cover and billet wheel sitting on my shelf).. just need to source a 16g in need of a rebuild, or machine my current 14b CHRA to accept the 20g wheel.
--ECM link
--EVO MAF
--1200cc RC injectors. (i have these sitting on my shelf).
--DW 340 pump
--Aeromotive FPR run off of stock fuel rail


That should be about it. If i missed something, please speak up! It's been a while since ive played with one of these.

 

[nismojones]

Always refreshing to see completely original cars out there. Good Luck I’m sure all of it will come right back
But don’t forget the clutch!( I’m sure those seniors wouldn’t be using heavy pressure plates)

 

[Devistatix]

holy hell, that laser is beautiful!

i miss my old 94 awd laser. was near mint condition, like yours. only had 90,666 miles, when i bought her in 2013. my current 94, is sort of that car's offspring. we swapped everything that was left from my wreck (lady ran a red light in a jeep compass and i T-boned her going about 45)... and here we are now

 

[gimmie11s]

Always refreshing to see completely original cars out there. Good Luck I’m sure all of it will come right back
But don’t forget the clutch!( I’m sure those seniors wouldn’t be using heavy pressure plates)

Clutch!! yes... ill definitely have to add that to the list.

What is a good clutch these days that is not so heavy it will cause my crank to take a walk?

holy hell, that laser is beautiful!

i miss my old 94 awd laser. was near mint condition, like yours. only had 90,666 miles, when i bought her in 2013. my current 94, is sort of that car's offspring. we swapped everything that was left from my wreck (lady ran a red light in a jeep compass and i T-boned her going about 45)... and here we are now

Thanks.. this car is easily the nicest dsm ive had. I look forward to making it better. Not many lasers out there! They are hard to find and usually lighter cars than their Talon/Eclipse siblings.

Any pics of your 90k mile Laser? Would love to see that one.

 

[Devistatix]

aside from a few imperfections on the bumper, it was in amazing condition. bought it from a family that had just moved to las vegas from alaska. supposedly it was freshly rebuilt, but could not pass emissions. turned out it was not timed properly.

3 days before that accident, some tweakers busted out my driver window and stole my cd player and tools... it was a bad week

 

[gimmie11s]

Wow that was a sweet car!

 

[gimmie11s]

Picked up an EVO MAF 399 today for 50 bucks.

Also getting a fresh set of tires tomorrow morning.

New front struts and hatch struts delivering Sunday.

 

[Devistatix]

new hatch struts are like an immediate 25% boost to your quality of life

 

[gimmie11s]

new hatch struts are like an immediate 25% boost to your quality of life

It's so true. They are like the 1st must-have fix .

Im stoked on the EVO MAF. I plan to retro it to the stock 1G aircan and keep the engine bay looking as stock as possible.

Might even pass on a FMIC and just upgrade the side mount with one of these that i modify to air to air. https://www.cxracing.com/liquid-to-air-intercooler-pump-water-to-air-intercooler/AWIC18

 

[gimmie11s]

Gave her 4 new shoes. Also installing new hatch struts and front struts today.

Also set base timing to 5* BTDC .... it was waaaaaayyy off and is much snappier now.

 

[nismojones]

Clutch!! yes... ill definitely have to add that to the list.

What is a good clutch these days that is not so heavy it will cause my crank to take a walk?

Shhhhh don’t talk about it, it’ll hear you and come running!
Jk you should have no worries with crankwalk. All the same stuff that used to work then still works now, and its all still available

 

[gimmie11s]

Ordered 340lph fuel pump and a 2.5” flange so I can fab up some 3” exhaust.

I’ll be running an evo3 o2 housing I found in my parts pile.....I guessed on the flange and got lucky.

Pics to come

 

[gimmie11s]

 

[gimmie11s]

A true DSMer can appreciate this. I’ve built more 4g63’s than I can remember so I know how important proper cam timing is on these cars.

When I bought this car, it was down on power, felt like it was pulling timing. It’s 100% stock, so not a rocket, but still I felt it should have had more power.

So I checked base timing. Was waaaaaaaaaay off and too far retarded. Fixed that but had to almost bottom out the CAS to get to 5* which got my mind spinning about cams.

Anyway... finally got around to pulling the belt cover and found this bullshit. SMH... oh well. Looks like I got me a little project tonight !

 

[gimmie11s]

Got cam timing corrected and car is good. Installed new gates OEM style timing belt while I was in there.

Since I’ve had it, the car has had a small intermittent miss at idle. On throttle it cleans up but very light throttle and idle, it’ll miss.... almost as if one cylinder has very weak compression. Odd because they all test at 145-155 psi so I knew that wasn’t the case.

Installed new plugs, wires, and cleaned throttle body and installed new TB gaskets. Set base timing and idle. Still missed at idle.

I tossed in a set of spare 450cc injectors I had laying around and boom... problem solved. Car now has a great idle right at 750 rpm.


Also got a new OEM spark plug cover.

 

[gimmie11s]

Started on the exhaust last night. Removed everything including o2 housing.

Installing evo3 o2 and all new 3” stainless exhaust. Got downpipe fabbed last night... should have rest done today.

 

[gimmie11s]

down pipe

 

[gimmie11s]

Got around to upgrading the turbo. Bastard (sleeper) billet 20g with a new 9 blade td05h turbine.

As i tore the old turbo off, i found out why my stock 14b wasnt hitting full spool until 35-3700 rpm . The car had an automatic exhaust manifold ! It also had a turbine housing that was badly cracked around the wastegate hold causing the slow spool. Not good!

 

[gimmie11s]

Assembly of the sleeper billet 20g. Had the rotating assembly VSR balanced at the local turbo rebuilding shop. Cost me $75 for the balance job.

Turbo specs:

9 blade td05h turbine
6 blade billet 20g compressor
new center section
new 7cm ported turbine housing with larger WG flapper

 

[gimmie11s]

So after realizing i had an auto exahust manifold, i bought a 2G repro (china) manfiold off of rockauto.com for $100.

These things come ROUGH... if you dont have a porting bit, dont bother buying it. The runners were real bad and some of the stud holes had to be elongated to get it to bolt onto the head.

Not a quality piece IMO, but for $100... whatever.

After some porting work, it came out just fine.

Pic 6 is after 5 minutes or so of porting.

 

[gimmie11s]

Car is running again although only on 10 psi with the 20g. It runs SO MUCH harder up top than the old set up (hard to believe, i know).

I also installed an AFC for tuning, hacked up the 1G MAF, and installed EVO 8 560cc injectors. Car runs very good!

All buttoned up

 

[Galant665]

Neat build. I had a 92 AWD Laser one owner car from a dealer in Texas back in 97. Windows were dark!! And probably the best tint job I have had a car with and in 6 years time still looked the same.
Sun had killed the clear. Hood had been painted. Front bumper also. I got a new Mopar OEM pumper for $320 then. Painted the whole car and got rid of the rocker panels. People argue with me that the wing was not factory on the car. And I had seen 92-94 AWD Lasers mostly without. New on dealers lots. I still have a mint set of Laser front seats and a nice rear back portion. I sold all my street DSMS, 1g and 2g and Galant VR4. Still had lots of parts. Then I found a 94 TSi little rough but no rust. Stock. Put it together. Painted it fresh OEM. Evo 3 turbo. FMIC. 3 inch turbo back. 550's. Pump and VPC. 264 cams. So much fun, Finally autoswapped it. Even more fun. Found a 93 TSI factory auto. Which I drive all the time now. Rust free Ca car. Lot dings. Interior is decent. Was stock. Cracked manifold. Did 14b then an evo 3 turbo 264s. Alamo SMIC. VPC injectors and pump. Thing spooled so fast. idling in traffic rod snapped and broke the balance shaft. Never seen one do that. Pull it out. It had a Hyundia 2g port sze head with the 1g intake. But the 1g water neck. Wouldn't have known. Everyone wants newer big power cars but seems like the simple DSM really is hard to beat.

 

[gimmie11s]

Neat build. I had a 92 AWD Laser one owner car from a dealer in Texas back in 97. Windows were dark!! And probably the best tint job I have had a car with and in 6 years time still looked the same.
Sun had killed the clear. Hood had been painted. Front bumper also. I got a new Mopar OEM pumper for $320 then. Painted the whole car and got rid of the rocker panels. People argue with me that the wing was not factory on the car. And I had seen 92-94 AWD Lasers mostly without. New on dealers lots. I still have a mint set of Laser front seats and a nice rear back portion. I sold all my street DSMS, 1g and 2g and Galant VR4. Still had lots of parts. Then I found a 94 TSi little rough but no rust. Stock. Put it together. Painted it fresh OEM. Evo 3 turbo. FMIC. 3 inch turbo back. 550's. Pump and VPC. 264 cams. So much fun, Finally autoswapped it. Even more fun. Found a 93 TSI factory auto. Which I drive all the time now. Rust free Ca car. Lot dings. Interior is decent. Was stock. Cracked manifold. Did 14b then an evo 3 turbo 264s. Alamo SMIC. VPC injectors and pump. Thing spooled so fast. idling in traffic rod snapped and broke the balance shaft. Never seen one do that. Pull it out. It had a Hyundia 2g port sze head with the 1g intake. But the 1g water neck. Wouldn't have known. Everyone wants newer big power cars but seems like the simple DSM really is hard to beat.

Wow thats awesome. Ive had 5 DSMs myself.. its an uncurable sickness. Just when i think im totally out-----boom back in.

What you want for the 2 front Laser seats??? Im in Vegas a lot................ PM me

 

[gimmie11s]

So AFC tuning was fine to get the car running. I actually had it dialed in nicely for idle and part throttle cruise. However the hacked 1G MAF did NOT like the 20g at anything over 10 lbs boost.

Out with the AFC, and in with ECMLink V3 along with an EVO 8 MAF. Also added new FIC 1220cc injectors and an AEM AFPR.

Car is now on full e85 and runs AMAZING! Good stuff.