Street Build 1G Build: Return of the DSMer!

[Vegas Smith]

Hey Vegas what are your 2023 goals for the car?

None of your business pal.
JK
Just to get the car finished and dynoed. I'm just waiting on the bottom end to come back. All the new projects are buttoned up and the car is just waiting. For the rest of the car's life the goal is to just cruise around, get on it a bit and take it to meets/events. I'm not a track guy.

 

[1cleangsx]

That’s awesome. Pretty much my goal as well, I’d like to take mine to the track once to see what it would do, but I think having not “raced” it is one of the biggest reasons it’s not broke

 

[92AWDHX40]

Exactly parts are hard to come by not worth me breaking anything else.

 

[Vegas Smith]

I've been waiting for the short block to be assembled for 5 months now. That's all I've been waiting for. Car has just been sitting for maybe 7 months?

I've really been doing some soul searching and trying to determine if I should partout the car or not. The wait for the new engine isn't what has caused this but maybe helped me see a world where this project didn't exist anymore. I'm going 6 years with the car and barely ever drive it not because it broken (coincidentally it is now) but because I'm always improving it. I think if I do decide to finish it the car will be an epic DSM. It's painful to think about finishing the car and selling it because it has been such a big part of my life. It would suck to have to part this thing out too; tons of parts and expensive parts that might be hard to sell. I don't know, I'm still giving the decision some time.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Keep it and come back to it later. You'll miss it and parts you won't get funds back .

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

I’m in the same boat, have had a freshly machined block and everything to assemble it sitting here over a year, keep changing my mind on what I want to do with it and often wonder if I only keep it because I’ve sunk so much money into it. Paid $3k alone just to have the thing painted and only got to drive it a few times in 2019, made some changes and got it retuned in early 2020, broke it a week after I got it tuned, been apart since. I think it stems from going from enjoying it every summer to doing other things every summer since it’s been apart and not caring too much about it. Crosses my mind to sell it all off but then I remember I still spend my time here so I must care to an extent, I still throw money at it on a regular basis, so that tells me once it starts coming together what I want to do it’ll come all the way back to me. If I were you I’d put together what you got and see how it makes you feel. In my case I don’t know if I have it in me to break mine and fix it every other weekend like I used to.

 

[1cleangsx]

I can relate. Owning a highly modified/built DSM is a roller coaster of highs and lows. I joke with my co workers that driving the car I get just as much anxiety as I do excitement for the same reasons. You put countless hours and thousands into something that’s not even guaranteed to run or make you happy, I’ve contemplated selling mine, but I know if I did I’d just lust day and night over the next fun car. Vegas I would agree with Vic, let it sit, live your life and come back to it. Naturally I love seeing DSM YouTube content and it never fails the comments are always loaded with guys reminiscing over their old DSM they wish they still had and never sold. The WORST thing you could do is part it out. Im sure you could find it a good home with a new owner who would appreciate it, but I think you should KEEP it

 

[We're on Boost]

I don't know, I'm still giving the decision some time.

I think, wait until you've been driving it again for a while. Don't decide anything before then. I don't drive mine very often but the upside of that is, every time I do drive it, it's crazy all over again. Even just driving it around the area. I'm not treating it like something to break and rebuild every 2 years like some guys have done. I'm treating it more like how Nico Rosberg feels about this old Ferrari F40 which I could never afford. The other thing besides driving it is that other guys who know anything about cars, they all know there is something special about this car. About half of the new friends I've made in the last 8 years or so are because of this DSM and all the mods to it.
Starting video at 1:50 --

 

[90'AWDTalonFroggy]

If you can afford, have the space, and manage to let it sit until you get the itch again, I would go that route. You have been an inspiration to many, including me. We know how much you love that car, just hard when there is so much other things in life that always pop up. I have a 90 that has been sitting since July of 2015 with no motor, always storage kept, whether I paid for storage, had it at my landlords, or till I had my own garage to store it. I have everything ready to go but the short Block needs to be put together. I was going to sell it because of lack of time to tend to it. My ex wouldn't let me, she said if I did the money was going back to another talon. Cuz it is my dream car, and knows they are important to me. This one is rust free too, so that helps. So I won't let it go, one day I'll get to it. I have a 92 as well, motor was pulled for over a year just to do upgrades that I didn't get too due to kids being sick with covid and flu consecutively last year. So I put the motor back in last weekend just so I can drive it this summer. Needless to say don't part out or sell it, I think you will wish you never did.

 

[Ludachris]

That's the trouble with a car that is a constant project - by choice or not. If it's always in pieces and hardly driven, it turns into a dream that never materializes, and before you know it, you might lose the passion for it and find other projects to fill that void. And/or sometimes, what we're looking for in a project just changes over the years.

As others have said, if you can hold on to it, I'd do it. You never know if you'll be in a position to do it all again later and get another car this far along - especially with the prices people are asking for cars in good condition, the availability of OEM parts, etc, etc.

 

[Vegas Smith]

I think what has happened is the car doesn't really fit my lifestyle anymore. My wife has never wanted to ride in it, and I can't take my son in it. Those are the people I spend the most time with. I used to drive around town in the Kia and think man, I wish I was in the talon but nowadays I ask myself the same question and it's no. I'm sure a lot of it is having the car down for so long that you forget how much fun you had. Thanks for all the responses!

 

[pieceofcloth]

I think what has happened is the car doesn't really fit my lifestyle anymore. My wife has never wanted to ride in it, and I can't take my son in it. Those are the people I spend the most time with. I used to drive around town in the Kia and think man, I wish I was in the talon but nowadays I ask myself the same question and it's no. I'm sure a lot of it is having the car down for so long that you forget how much fun you had. Thanks for all the responses!

But ATM your son can't ride. Maybe convince yourself the vehicle is a future investment? Lol and don't invest anymore into it. Idk, I get you've been in the game for so long and are ready to move on. Especially if you can't share it with your family atm

 

[CrackedDSM]

Maybe the answer is neither sell it or let it sit.

Maybe go in reverse? Make it less powerful, and more streetable? Something your wife will want to ride in and something your son can ride in safely?


And if you get bit by the "racecar" bug, you could always get something else to satisfy that itch. I don't think more power is always the answer. Sometimes having a fun, slow, but comfortable car that you can enjoy 3/4 of the year beats the hell out of something that's ridiculously fast, that you can only drive very occasionally.


Hate to keep mentioning it, but that was a revelation for me when I got the edge. Got it tuned, and honestly it's so much fun, but it's something my whole family can ride in(and want to ride in) in absolute comfort. I can take it cross country, but I can also to the strip and run some low 13's or maybe very high 12's if God himself makes my damn tires stick to the pavement. Slow AF for sure, but it's something I can enjoy whenever I want.

That's kinda been my build plan for my DSM too. It'll be faster than the Edge for sure, but I'm not out for a world-beater. I want something that I can get in and enjoy and drive wherever I want and not have to worry about how hot it is outside, or how my ears will be after the droning of the exhaust, etc.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

You do bring a valid point there. My kids are actually a big reason I keep mine, when it was just me my wife and our oldest (she’s now 10) we spent a lot of time together with my car, I even have pictures of her in it when she was 8 months old when I first bought it, she’s pretty much grown up with it and would be heart broken if I got rid of mine. Of course now being we’re a minivan family (4 kids) we won’t ALL be able to go enjoy it the same, it still has been a family activity for us when it does what it’s supposed to do. That has actually been a struggle for me was I was getting to the point the potential was there to NEED a cage and was pricing out cages, but it made a road block as if I went to that extent then it’s no longer kid friendly with no back seat. Sure a 90s shit box isn’t the safest thing to tote kids around in, but when I was a kid my dad had a good handful of cars and I remember the same types of memories with my dads 64 Falcon he had since he was 13 and his 64 Galaxie xl 500 and of course by the mid 90s these 60s cars with no seat belts weren’t the safest thing to tote kids around in either, but in the same light they weren’t every day drivers. Made for memories like my dad picking me up from school in 1998 in that Falcon, then teachers asking me the next day what year my dads Nova was. Long story short I love that my kids make those memories with my DSM and my Ranger I made with all the old cars my dad had, and that enough makes it hard for me to consider selling as I remember I was absolutely heartbroken when he sold his Falcon even as a young adult (2008).

Not to thread jack but funny story about that 64 Galaxie. Back in the early and mid 90s the local “cruise in” was right around the corner from where I live now and my dad and uncle used to hang out there on a regular basis. That Galaxie had a factory 390 in it and anyone that knows Fords knows those 60s FE engines ran hard in their hayday. Leaving that cruise in one night my old man was in that Galaxie and found out the hardest way what a DSM was. A certain well known dsm pioneer in a certain 1ga that paved the way for a lot of us and had a lot of parts developed on it drug that Galaxie right down state route 57 one fine summer evening.

 

[GST with PSI]

I've really been doing some soul searching and trying to determine if I should partout the car or not. The wait for the new engine isn't what has caused this but maybe helped me see a world where this project didn't exist anymore. I'm going 6 years with the car and barely ever drive it not because it broken (coincidentally it is now) but because I'm always improving it. I think if I do decide to finish it the car will be an epic DSM. It's painful to think about finishing the car and selling it because it has been such a big part of my life. It would suck to have to part this thing out too; tons of parts and expensive parts that might be hard to sell. I don't know, I'm still giving the decision some time.

I've gone through all the DSM stages of grief, and selling out is the only one that still gives me trouble.

The last time I got close to selling out was when the car was down for an extended period of time. Much like you, I went without it, made other things a priority, got focused on family, other projects, fitness, work, blah blah blah. I remember going through the 40 Facebook groups I'm a part of, looking at clean cars and parts to gauge what all my junk might fetch in the current market. While doing so, it dawned on me that if I removed myself from all the FB groups associated with DSM parts, tuning, forums, bullshit, and such, I'd pretty much have zero reason to go on FB, ever. Same with my IG; 98% of my feed is DSM related shit. I've dedicated so much time to this platform, it's now an irreversible part of my life. And with it, filled with the relationships I've built around the platform, many of which will last the rest of my life.

Personally, I also suffer severely from VR-4 FOMO, which is to say, I'm afraid all the clean examples are gone/sold, and I'll never find another clean example like mine. The other big thing for me, is when I did the brunt of my build, it was at a time in my life where I had the time to dedicate to it. I'm not sure if I'll ever have that kind of time again, and if I do, it damn sure isn't going to be spent wrenching on this shitbox (***I reserve the right to retract this statement later***). For me, the time investment was a one time thing, and I'll never get anything close to a worthwhile monetary return on that. I can continue to build the car doing little things here and there, which is easy. But for me, starting from the ground up will never happen again (or more accurately stated, I don't want to).

The last thing I'll say, is my willingness to sell always goes waaaaay up when the car is broken. After much ass pain, I always seem to fix it, telling myself as soon as I do, this 4 door shitbox of a problem will belong to someone else. Then, out on the street when all cylinders are finally firing, I rip out of first gear, bang second, hear that turbo spool, and the bi*** slams me back in the seat. It's always in that moment that I fall back in love with the car. I then move once again from depression to acceptance, and the car earns itself a few more months under its current ownership parked safely in the garage.

My advice: Get your parts, put the car back together, and then make a decision post 3rd gear pull.

 

[Vegas Smith]

@GST with PSI sell me your 61-56 and I'll consider keeping the car...

 

[GST with PSI]

@GST with PSI sell me your 61-56 and I'll consider keeping the car...

It's still sitting in my garage brand new in the box, along with all the Morrison hot parts.

With inflation, I'm not sure you could afford it.

 

[Steve93Talon]

I'm in the same boat. I think I had my G30-770 before you got your new turbo and I still haven't gotten around to installing it. The car is absolutely perfect as a street/strip machine. Light, reliable, stupid fast, great spooling, handles and brakes well. But I rarely drive it. I put power steering back in and ditched the fixed back seats for some EVO 8 Recaros hoping it would motivate me to enjoy it more. Nope. I haven't had it to the drag strip in nearly a decade. I focused on my tin can trailered 14b car for the past few years but once I got my 10 second slip out of it I parted it out and sold the shell.

I can jump in my C7Z, drive to the track on stock tires with the AC on and the stereo playing Sirius, navigating with CarPlay from my phone, run 10s back to back, and drive home on 93 octane, completely stock. It's got mag ride, cyl deactivation, and stealth exhaust mode so I can cruise it like a Prius if I want, or throw it in track mode, turn off the nannies, and carve up a road course. There's less and less reason to want to drive an old 90s car anymore.

Despite all of that, I still can't bring myself to sell it and I still think about making time for the next phase of the never finished project that is owning a DSM. The focus for this year is getting a friend's DSM back together after being apart for over 15 years. The goal is to bring it out to the shootout, and I may drag my car along too. Maybe it'll have a for sale sign on it...

 

[slugsgomoo]

I think the most fun of these cars (aside from the fact that they can be such a hoot at stop lights, and surprise so many) is that they're getting rare, and because of that cool- I went to a show last year and none of the new stuff was getting much attention unless it was absolutely garish, but the classic hot rods, and the 80s-90s cars were getting a ton of love. The funny thing is my Galant is now older than my dad's 66 Corvette was when I was a kid (427, black/black coupe... I think we both regret him selling that one), and it's neat to see my now almost 5 year old really getting into cars. Having something old and rare is kind of cool and special in a way that new stuff isn't-

That said, if I don't get to spend time driving the car this summer I'm 100% parting it out

 

[We're on Boost]

Having something old and rare is kind of cool and special in a way that new stuff isn't-

I by chance bumped into Scotty White, the SCCA Northwest Regional Director, at the grocery store, where we talked about his stock C8, his race Viper, and my 1990 Talon. The car he was most interested in talking about was my Talon. Pretty funny! But it's great whenever something like this happens. Which it does surprisingly often.

 

[Vegas Smith]

I'm in the same boat. I think I had my G30-770 before you got your new turbo and I still haven't gotten around to installing it. The car is absolutely perfect as a street/strip machine. Light, reliable, stupid fast, great spooling, handles and brakes well. But I rarely drive it. I put power steering back in and ditched the fixed back seats for some EVO 8 Recaros hoping it would motivate me to enjoy it more. Nope. I haven't had it to the drag strip in nearly a decade. I focused on my tin can trailered 14b car for the past few years but once I got my 10 second slip out of it I parted it out and sold the shell.

I can jump in my C7Z, drive to the track on stock tires with the AC on and the stereo playing Sirius, navigating with CarPlay from my phone, run 10s back to back, and drive home on 93 octane, completely stock. It's got mag ride, cyl deactivation, and stealth exhaust mode so I can cruise it like a Prius if I want, or throw it in track mode, turn off the nannies, and carve up a road course. There's less and less reason to want to drive an old 90s car anymore.

Despite all of that, I still can't bring myself to sell it and I still think about making time for the next phase of the never finished project that is owning a DSM. The focus for this year is getting a friend's DSM back together after being apart for over 15 years. The goal is to bring it out to the shootout, and I may drag my car along too. Maybe it'll have a for sale sign on it...

This is an interesting post because it highlights some weird social issues involved with import cars. For example, you say that there's less and less reason to drive an old 90's car anymore, but it's interesting to note that nobody says this about old muscle care or more expensive imports like the FD rx7, supra etc. I think it's because DSMs have always been in this category where they aren't prestigious, and they aren't worth much, so we always have to justify to ourselves/others why we have them.

For example. I don't think many people feel the need to justify why they drive their old corvette, Camaro or truck because in America it's just understood that driving/owning those type of cars is an acceptable hobby regardless of how slow or old their technology is. But if I tell someone I'm building an eagle talon they tend to get confused and I have to explain that it's turbocharged, AWD and about 650hp which will beat the shit out of pretty much any car they've ever laid their eyes on. Then it gets their attention and makes more sense to them. If I don't explain my build to them, I might as well be building a 100hp fwd ricer for all most people know. And it's not like some 75 Camaro is faster, safer, more technologically advanced or smoother drive; it's only that it is an accepted vehicle by mainstream America. Nobody has to justify why they eat pizza. Everyone likes and accepts pizza but if you eat sushi, you'll have to explain yourself from time to time.

Anyways....

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

That is a good way to look at it and makes sense laid out like that. I got a lot of that from the old dudes at work until they seen what exactly I was doing along with them recalling one of our machinists had an auto 1ga going deep 12s on a 16g some years back. You first say “Eagle Talon” and you get “oh I remember those” followed by a look you can tell they’re assuming some body kit and wing and big wheels on a car I think is fast. Stuff like Supra’s and 300zx’s are starting to get looked at in a different light even by those who don’t understand it.

 

[1cleangsx]

I’ve had 2 different people offer to buy my car just passing by when it was sitting in the driveway, also had some blonde follow me to the car wash just to check it out.

 

[1cleangsx]

The car NOT me

 

[GST with PSI]

But if I tell someone I'm building an eagle talon they tend to get confused and I have to explain that it's turbocharged, AWD and about 650hp which will beat the shit out of pretty much any car they've ever laid their eyes on. Then it gets their attention and makes more sense to them.

I've definitely experienced this.

To that point, I can only offer this: I don't really talk a lot about my car being featured in Super Street magazine or on the Hoonigan Channel (what is now Larry Chen's Auto Focus channel) on here, on Social Media, or really anywhere. But, when people ask about my car, I always literally just say "Google 500hp Galant" with no further details. Then, when they realize it's been featured in Super Street Magazine, on the Hoonigan Channel, blah blah blah...Suddenly they are instantly interested asking all the questions. But, even with all the allure and fame (and I say that as loosely as humanly possible), the Galant just doesn't get the same recognition or acknowledgment as a Shelby Mustang Restomod, a basic bi*** MK4 Supra build, or a 17 rotor R-X7. It's only cool to a very small select few who know what the car is and truly appreciate it for those reasons. I think the same principal applies to the DSM family of cars, just to a lesser extent (certainly when compared to the VR-4 ).

My point is, of the Galant VR-4's out there, my Galant is one of the most hyped up (hyped up is not synonymous for best) builds in existence, and 99.99% of people could still give a shit less about it. That's true for most of the popular DSM builds as well, many of which are well done, popular, and have a decent following...But still don't even come close to attracting the same amount of attention from a crowd. Hell, IMO, even Boostin's Demon doesn't get the attention I think it deserves compared to other platforms achieving way less.

Sorry boys, at the end of the day, sushi is all we ever gonna be.