98 TSi AWD

[delta448]

delta448 submitted a new DSM Profile :

98 TSi AWD


Read more about this vehicle here...

 

[delta448]

Hey all, just a little introduction, since it's been awhile since I was more active on these forums.

This Talon was supposed to be the replacement for my previous drunk driver totaled black 97 TSi AWD. Somewhere between the birth of my oldest son in 2006 and the failure of my first marriage in 2014, this car became neglected.

Weeks turned to years and when I finally got settled in my new life and came back for it, the poor car had been dragged into a cow pasture by 2 of my uncles with a farm tractor where it had sat for about a decade.

It had rust issues when I bought it (bought from a guy who used it as a winter commuter from northern Ohio to his work in Detroit) and those issues got much worse. Now that I have 2 kids old enough to drive, they suddenly got very interested in that old lump dad had parked down on the edge of the driveway.

So I bought a welder and took over the garage. At least every other weekend, I'll have 3 or 4 young apprentices to laugh at me when a rusted bolt snaps and I bust knuckles, cuss, throw wrenches or to just be there to make fun of my wonderful mig welding technique, which will probably bring lots of questions about whether I'm developing Parkinson's disease or not.

Let's see where this leads.

Without further delay, here's the rust mess I'll hopefully be attacking very soon:

 

[92AWDHX40]

Most of us have been there save her you will.

 

[delta448]

After stripping the majority of the interior, we drained and pulled the radiator and fans. I even was able to remember how to remove the front bumper without breaking the tabs on the bottoms of the headlights.

Nice sized honeycomb there... very glad the prior inhabitants already vacated.

This car has California spec emissions, so I'm dealing with a few differences here and there I'm not familiar with. But this charcoal canister is definitely getting tossed. Was full to the brim with nasty 12 year old 93 octane. Which I promptly dumped all over my shoes while getting it out.

And here's where we left off for the day. Tomorrow should bring more progress when my 17 year old son arrives. He gets a pass for missing today since it's his HS prom.

 

[MindBlowin03]

Definitely hope to see this saved. You have a rare bird on your hands there. There were only 85 paprika red AWD Talons made in 1998. It can be broken down further with options but pretty rare nonetheless.

 

[delta448]

Thanks Nick, I have been a huge fan of your Talon for awhile. I just hope this one turns out decent, as I am certain it won't be done quickly or easily and is pretty unlikely to be near the caliber of yours. I actually have a pic you posted of yours saved on my phone for some inspiration.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/who-has-the-last-talon-ever-made.398408/page-2#post-152535380

One of the reasons I am going to make the extra effort here. This car may very well be one of the last half dozen or less AWD Talons ever built. Only 215 Talons for 1998 were AWD, the last of which rolled out the assembly line in the 1st third of Feb 1998. The VIN on this one says it was completed in the 2nd third of December 1997. So 5 one-thirds of a month before the absolute last AWD Talon.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Oh delta Same picture different name yeah you haven't posted in a long time.

 

[delta448]

Made some minor progress yesterday. Got the power steering pump pulled out of the way.

Then attacked the engine bay wiring harness. Tried to label everything as I went along just in case I'm not the only one putting it back together.

Also got the very annoying cruise control cables and mechanisms out of the way.

 

[delta448]

Progress has been slow for a couple of weeks. Almost every bolt is rust welded to some degree on the undercarriage. Check out the pile of rust and debris under the hub from pounding the rotors off with a ball peen:

Passenger side seems to be worse. Took an excruciatingly long time to get the 32mm axle nut off on that side. I tapped and picked at that cotter pin for over an hour before I just bent it back and forth enough to break it off in the axle so I could take the axle nut off. That'll need drilled out later if I reuse the axle.

Fought with the brake hose bracket bolt enough to make it very round. Used my wife's dremel to cut the head into a shape I could get a cresent wrench on.

Which brings me to about where I am now. Pulled off the upper control arm on the driver's side and got the tie rod end off of the knuckle, but the damper fork bolt has become one with the sleeve inside the rubber bushing in the lower arm. Pounded the crap out of it with a 3lbs hammer on the nut threaded out to the end of the bolt but it won't budge. If I try to turn the bolt head, the rubber bushing starts twisting instead and I'm probably gonna rip the sleeve off the bushing way before the bolt and sleeve part ways.

We also got most of the interior out of the way in preparation for the metalwork on the rockers.

 

[delta448]

I haven't been able to spend much time on the car lately. I have been working 6 days a week and then also on-call for work every evening acting as the off shift supervisor. The next 2 months will be like this as well as our other lead in WV is having surgery and will be out of work leaving me as the only option for staffing.

So I found a little time today to attack the frozen strut fork to lower arm bolt. Fired up the air compressor and went at it with a cut off wheel. I'll now be replacing the lower arm and bolt for certain. But at least I am moving forward.

Getting that bolt cut allowed me to remove the driver's side cv axle. Which other than hanging the AC compressor out of the way is all that is left to disconnect before pulling the engine and trans out. I am strategizing to keep the refrigerant in the AC system and hopefully it will be an easy reinstall. I do have the manifold, gauges, and vacuum pump if I absolutely need to disconnect it, but I would rather avoid it because messing with all that it is such a big PITA.

My son bought a headlight restoration kit for his old beater corolla, so I took the opportunity to freshen up the stock Stanley headlights. Came out pretty nice in my opinion.

 

[19Eclipse90]

What kit did you use for the headlights?

 

[delta448]

What kit did you use for the headlights?

Turtle wax brand kit. Very basic kit, has a clarifying solution, a polishing solution and 2 sealing wipes in foil packets. It also has 2 tiny little polishing abrasive pads with each side of those pads having different surfaces, so it's 4 abrasive grades on 2 pads that are about 2" square, you just flip them over to go to the next step up. I think the kit was like $15 at Autozone.

 

[flintoid]

Subscribed. My life is very similar to yours (kids, failed marriage, neglected project car). I've got some rust issues in my rear rockers that I'll be tackling. I'm very interested to watch you from the internet.

 

[delta448]

It's been a hectic winter this year. I changed jobs in early October in an attempt to start moving closer to family. The move to be closer to my siblings and elderly parents has seen very little progress due to circumstances that I cannot control. Meanwhile, I have been splitting time between my own home and staying with family due to the very long commute to the new job. So this project has been returned to the back burner yet again.

I have a handful of pics that I'll share here, but progress on this has slowed way down.


My youngest was really getting into his work.


We started wire wheeling, grinding and cutting out some rotten patches.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Welcome back glad you are saving her

 

[jesse12345]

I'm no professional by any means, but I found it alot easier to just cut up to that first indent in the rocker panel. I started doing it the way you did but just found this way a little easier. Keep up the good work saving these beauties.

 

[delta448]

I'm no professional by any means, but I found it alot easier to just cut up to that first indent in the rocker panel. I started doing it the way you did but just found this way a little easier. Keep up the good work saving these beauties.

I have been thinking that's what I should do when I get back to being in the same place where the car is a little more often. It's good to hear that from someone who has been here before. Your work looks really good, I hope mine gets at least close to that point.

I've turned some wrenches, but I have no real experience with bodywork and metal shaping at all, and very little experience with any welding processes other than stick which I never practiced enough to be very consistent at. The learning curve is steep for me here, so I appreciate any and all feedback or tips or tricks anyone feels like sharing along the way. Please don't hesitate to call me out on my ignorance. I will always admit when I am wrong or just don't know something.

 

[92AWDHX40]

I've been doing the same with my rockers.