1g Talon refresh. Goal is a nice 450ish whp daily driver

[shdwmsk]

shdwmsk submitted a new DSM Profile :

1g Talon refresh. Goal is a nice 450ish whp daily driver


Read more about this vehicle here...

 

[shdwmsk]

Was looking back in my phone and had a thought to update and to be honest, start my build thread. So, probably gonna be a few posts in a row to get caught up.

Purchased Nov, 2019 with exactly 125,000 miles when I got back to my house after purchasing it off a Craigslist add from Wisconsin For $3,5k. As far as I could tell, bone stock.

Had a few issues,
Interior smelt like mouse piss on hot days
No headliner material, shell was there, but bare.
Clutch pedal initiated right off the floor, but drivable.

So, I completely striped the interior, shampooed and pressure washed all carpet and plastics. Removed last mouse nest above headliner. Before reinstalling everything, I lined the interior with Killmat off Amazon, and a 1/4" layer of closed cell foam for sound deadening. Doing this to the roof had the largest impact to inside noise. Unfortunately no pictures. Also replaced speakers with some random pioneers I had laying around and a new head unit with Bluetooth.


April 2020, installed DSMLink. ECU was sent to ECMtuning by previous owner to get capacitors replaced (supposedly, looked good to me). Installed Deutchworks 255lph, 850cc injectors and a fuel labs AFPR. Stayed MAF for now.

 

[shdwmsk]

May 2020,
Installed new clutch, stock equivalent, nothing fancy, flywheel resurfaced and new stiffer clutch fork.

Can kind of see the transmission, sitting on floor in front of 2 wheel dolly. This did not fix the clutch pedal issue btw.

September 2020,
Pulled rear suspension to refresh/rebuild. Also rebuilt driveshaft, Installed solid carrier bearing mounting bushings. Installed KYB adjustable struts on all 4 corners. Also replaced noisy rear center section with an even noisier B1H center section with LSD.

October 2020,
Rebuilt shifter. (Only picture is pre-rebuild unfortunately. Will grab one next time center console is removed.) Used a rebuild kit with brass bushings. No more slop, nice shifter feel.

December 2020,
Started to get a entire car shake at ~65mph while in 5th gear only. With discussion from this forum I was led to remove the end cover off the transmission and inspect everything. Found out that the needle bearings for 5th gear had flat spotted. Replaced and all is good with 5th. 5th gear synchros on the other hand...

 

[shdwmsk]

Aug 2021
New wheel goofin.

September 2021,
Replaced knock sensor looking into phantom knock issues. Stock one was gooey so replaced with one from same year Galant. The lead is slightly shorter and the connector had a tab that needed to be cut off. No issues so far.

 

[shdwmsk]

October 2021,
New exhaust time.
Old exhaust:
Cat delete done be myself previously. Insides had broken and rattled.

New, Stainless turbo back. O2 housing and down pipe were from RTM racing, Modified to have a V-band connection. Initially was a flange connection, but it did not line up anyways. Magnaflow 3" 1 into 2. Have since installed the tips to extend past bumper.

Same time I changed all the charge piping to Aluminum 2.5"? tubing and silicone couplers. I also changed the side mount intercooler in/ex pipe sizes to 2.5". Easier to remove and weld new ones on vs buy reducing couplers. Still need to remove and powder coat these. Along with the valve cover. someday...

Changed over to speed density at this time and installed a MAC valve for boost control through ECMLink.

 

[Turbski91]

Jealous of how clean the exterior of yours looks. I have the same car, but it’s been resprayed by the previous owner, and it wasn’t the best job.

 

[shdwmsk]

March 2022,
Changed interior lights over to LED. Also changed dash lights from yellowish to red. Photo shows difference. Have since completed gauges, HVAC controls and most of the interior lights. Need to finish all the small buttons. Only issue is now the blue doesn't show at night on the hot/cold range.

Sometime around here I removed my clutch pedal assembly and rebuilt it. Installed new brass bushings and had to reweld the arm back onto the shaft. It was welded when I removed it, but it was welded in its worn out position. Unfortunately no pictures. Truthfully it was anytime after the exhaust install.

January 2023,
Stock turbo quit wanting to spin, so replaced with a 16g from RTM.

July 2023,
Holley RetroBright conversion,

Feb 2024,
Replace flex pipe on downpipe due to leaking.

 

[shdwmsk]

March 2024,

Got stuck in my driveway trying to back out. think it was 8-10in if I remember. Tires aren't the most aggressive for winter. Cool picture though.

For the last year or so, only the passenger headlight would pop up/down. So I replaced the caps in the headlight control unit, not the issue but didn't hurt.

Turned out to be a bad splice in the wire for powering the headlights down. The splice was hard to get to, hiding behind the washer fluid bottle filler neck. Repaired and everything works great. Also lubricated all joints.

 

[shdwmsk]

Jealous of how clean the exterior of yours looks. I have the same car, but it’s been resprayed by the previous owner, and it wasn’t the best job.

Thanks haha, The pictures do it justice, believe me.
I do plan on painting it sometime. Thinking that heavy metallic red on newer Mazda's and flat black, keeping with the stock scheme.

 

[Capt Obvious]

Great work so far. The condition of yours reminds me a bit of mine, especially the paint.