92 Eagle Talon AWD

[schmitty_z]

This is the Build Thread for 92 Eagle Talon AWD. Reply below.

 

[schmitty_z]

After some debating I decided to create a build journal to document the progress on my 1G talon. This car was a roller, has no engine/transmission/tcase/driveshaft/rear differential. Last registration sticker shows 2015. It had clearly been sitting outside for a while by the time I got to it. Thankfully, no major rust concerns. Attached photos show condition when I picked it up in August of 2024, and then after a quick wash to get all of the grime off.

 

[schmitty_z]

After an exterior clean, I got the car in the air to begin pulling the rear bumper, crash bar, fuel tank and rear subframe. The stock fuel tank was in amazing shape, no snapped studs or internal rust. However it will be replaced with a fuel cell. The rear subframe and suspension components were definitely a bit crusty, but all came out pretty smooth. It appears someone tried to cut the rear axle in half, unsure why… the bolts came out very easy. I would love to eventually replace this entire unit with a tubular subframe.

 

[schmitty_z]

Next was removing the trailing arms, control arms, sway bar, etc then pressing out the old bushings and ball joints. A degreaser bath for all components being re-used, then many many hours with a wire brush/wheel and abrasive disks getting all of the surface rust and old coating knocked off of everything to prep for paint. I was afraid one caliper was a lost cause, it seemed locked up. Eventually I did get it free after a long battle with penetrant and some perseverance. I rebuilt my rear calipers using the guide found on this site. First time ever taking one apart. I somehow missed taking photos of the rear caliper rebuild process, it was definitely one of the most difficult pieces so far. You can really see the extent of the rust in these photos.

 

[schmitty_z]

Now that some pieces were painted and had new bushings/hardware I was finally starting to feel like I was making progress! Extremely satisfying to bring these parts back to life. This isn’t a restoration, or a show car, I just try to make things go back together better than they were before. A local friend took care of welding up my Volk toe eliminator kit on the trailing arms. All bushings are from Energy Suspension. Upper control arms are from 3SX.

 

[schmitty_z]

I also knocked the surface rust off the undercarriage and threw a few coats of matte black on, including the wheel wells. All fasteners have been replaced with new yellow zinc coated. Still have a few pieces I need to order. I’m currently tackling all of this same process on the front end of the car, about 50% done with that section and will update as I finish. The rear subframe is NOT “ready to install” here, just thrown together for mock up and to verify which fasteners I still need. Looking great so far though! Updates will probably not be extremely frequent as I have my first kid due next month, but as I knock things out I will be sure to post. I already have the fuel cell and 10pt cage kit ready to be installed once I get it back on all 4 wheels to go to the fab shop. So things will get interesting! I’ve also snagged a 4 bolt rear differential, transfer case, and a forward facing turbo set up with hood exit.

 

[DreamChaser7]

Great work so far man. Interested in selling the fuel tank?

 

[schmitty_z]

Great work so far man. Interested in selling the fuel tank?

I would, but prefer local pick up on it for sure . Located near Charlotte NC.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Where did you find the rebuild parts for the calipers I have volk stuff top upper znd toe eliminator kit and his first front on my dsm he's local great guy great job

 

[schmitty_z]

Where did you find the rebuild parts for the calipers I have volk stuff top upper znd toe eliminator kit and his first front on my dsm he's local great guy great job

View attachment 762745

RockAuto! They have all the seals/clips/boots/slide pins available. Volk makes some nice parts for sure!

 

[92AWDHX40]

Thanks I have 2 sets now to rebuild one for my current project.

 

[DreamChaser7]

I would, but prefer local pick up on it for sure . Located near Charlotte NC.

I’ll have to see if a trip to NC is possible in the future.

 

[schmitty_z]

A few more things I left out. Braided brake lines from JNZ, Subframe connectors from BoostedFab, kirkey seat + mounts from WhiteShedSpeed, cut “speed holes” in rear bumper, and mock up of the 10gal fuel cell that I’ll be using. It will be mounted using the factory studs similar to the JMF unit. Love the way it peeks out under the rear bumper! (Mock up was done prior to cutting bumper)

 

[92AWDHX40]

He's a great guy the owner of boosted fabrication I hung out with him in Ohio at his booth at shootout.

 

[schmitty_z]

He's a great guy the owner of boosted fabrication I hung out with him in Ohio at his booth at shootout.

It’s definitely a goal of mine to bring this car to the shootout at some point, seems like it’s a great time!

 

[schmitty_z]

Front suspension teardown. The front crossmember and bars will be replaced with a tubular unit. Burned out the subframe bushings. Sourcing a manual rack seems to be impossible these days so, I will probably do the “flyin miata” mod on my rack. Removed old bushings and ball joints from the control arms.

 

[92AWDHX40]

I have a manual rack looking forward to seeing how it feels really soon .

 

[schmitty_z]

Haven’t had any time to wrench on the DSM lately. Had to get tires changed on my daily driver and my Evo. Now it’s finally stopped raining but they both need oil changes so, that comes first . Then more rain for the rest of this week so… anyway, here’s the front subframe with fresh paint and bushings, and control arms as well! Next steps are: rebuild/paint front calipers, remove coilover springs for blasting/powdercoat, and then tackle the front knuckles. I actually plan to replace the front brakes with drag brakes, but that’s after the car is up and running, so until then I don’t want to look at crusty calipers .

 

[schmitty_z]

Finally got a break from all the rain and had a few hours free to go work on the car. Wish I had a garage at my apartment complex, would make this a lot easier! Car is stored at my parents house currently, so I make use of their garage (I paid for half of it anyway, I deserve to use it!! ) Hopefully once my son is born and we are a bit settled I can get back to house hunting and don’t have to commute 30min just to do some wrenching. Anyway, trying to get these calipers cleaned up. Made a lot of progress, the brackets are finished. Now to remove the pistons and replace the boots and seals! Should hopefully have these wrapped up this weekend.

 

[schmitty_z]

Haven’t seen these pop up often so, jumped on it while it was available! Thanks to performancepartout I now have a transmission

 

[schmitty_z]

Well, I was able to get one of the calipers finished up. Sadly, the left side caliper is seized. Let it soak in penetrant overnight, put some heat to it, just wouldn’t budge. Thankfully, rockauto seems to have some pretty cheap replacements available!

 

[schmitty_z]

Knocked these out while I had some free time today. These are for the steering rack and control arms. Are the steering rack brackets factory? One is very different from the other. Also, here’s a pic of my transmission on its way to me!

 

[schmitty_z]

I spend a lot of time reading other build journals on here and DSMtalk just to keep myself inspired with the build, but man… it’s like a double edged sword! . I get excited for what’s to come, and also stressed about doing all of it haha. The build I have planned for this car is beyond my level of knowledge for sure. But there was a time where pulling an engine/trans and reinstalling seemed like an impossible task, and I’ve now done that so many times I can’t count. My biggest stress at the moment is a point that’s far away, but I can’t help to let it consume me. Creating my own engine and chassis wiring harness. The harness that’s in my car currently is hacked up in a few spots, and I’ve never even laid eyes on a running 1g DSM engine bay in person to familiarize myself with what goes where to know what I’m even looking at . I’ve done my fair share of minor electrical work, but definitely nothing to that extent. Here’s a few photos showing the state of the engine bay and harness before I got around to cleaning and then pulling all the suspension components out.

 

[JV93]

I had a crack in my windshield and removing mine by myself was not something I’d do again . This post gave me some much needed motivation to keep it going at the pace I’m going at. Sadly I got some bad rust spots that I need to fix. I’m doing basically the same as what you’re doing with your suspension and subframe. My mustache bar bolts broke as you can see in my pics . Luckily I messaged a guy who was selling a mustache bar on eBay and asked him if he had the bolts instead. Got those coming in the mail! Im just stressing about all the painting i have to do. What are you doing for your brake lines and fuel lines?

 

[schmitty_z]

Im just stressing about all the painting i have to do. What are you doing for your brake lines and fuel lines?

I have the JNZ braided brake line kit, otherwise keeping most of the factory hard lines as they’re in good shape. My car is thankfully non-abs. For the fuel side of things, I’ll have a single -10 from the fuel cell to the pump, and then -8 feed and return. Looks like you’ve got a lot of work on your hands for sure . I probably won’t bother painting my car, at least not until it’s fully sorted and making passes haha! My main goals for this year are just getting the roller finished! So after all the suspension is taken care of, need to get the fuel cell modded to be “bolt-in” and filler neck done, and have the cage done. I’ll focus on more drivetrain stuff next year!