AMS Black Talon

[CrackedDSM]

Update #1: So, I had a giant pity party for myself yesterday, then decided it was time to cancel that shit and move on to useful stuff. So I adapted and overcame. Thus...this happened!

Last pictures of the old owner took for me of it on the "adapt and overcome" tow setup. Worked like a charm!

This is how it arrived to me. Holy sheeit is it dirty. Just look at it. Hmmm...

Let's change that shall we? Out comes the pressure washer!

I really like how this hood turned out man. Wow it is in much better shape than originally thought. Gonna hit it with some new clear/poly/whatever to make it look this good all the time.

Aaaand all dry. Zero elbow grease was applied, strictly just a pressure wash. The fine layer of dirt left behind comes off with my finger, so the next step later will be a good two bucket wash, followed by a ceramic coat to make it shine up nice and good. But honestly, it looks YEARS better than it did before! Got some spots I definitely need to touch up but otherwise, not bad.

Next comes the fun stuff, but more on that later. But man it feels good to have the car in my possession. Love how it sits, and the wheels will be changed ASAP. But, man. It's here!

 

[CrackedDSM]

So I couldn’t resist and ripped the valvecover off. Glad I did too because I got to repair the zaklee clear cam cover(needed some superglue on the mounting points, should be fine now. Lol) and I got to discover a few things.

1) this engine is ACTUALLY freshly rebuilt with zero miles. Super clean as hell. Those arp headstuds!

2) the cams aren’t delta DKS Regrinds, they’re Brian Crower stage 2’s. Can’t tell if they’re the old 272’s or the new 268/272 ones. Pictures attached either way.

3) this is the cleanest valvecover I have ever seen. It looks new! The baffles were popped off and rewelded back on too so it was professionally cleaned. Just look at it!

This thing was honestly so taken care of. Everything is like freshly rebuilt on it. Crazy!


Bonus photo: I love how the CF hood looks here man. Can’t wait.

 

[92Turbski]

Hell yeah, man, stoked for you! Looks like a killer find, too.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Scored this on facebook marketplace for like $35 shipped/paypal'd. I'm gonna run the car on a 2G MAF and use ECMLink's function to create me a SD map based on the MAF stuff. Plus it's got a little bit of history with me. My very first ever turbo DSM, had one of these on it. It was my first ever actual performance upgrade(combined with their UICP to match).

Behold!

View attachment 685567
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It'll definitely get cleaned up/painted...but it's a piece of DSM history. Dejon had great stuff, man. I'm excited. But I have NO CLUE what color scheme I want to go in the engine bay. I don't think I want red, but also definitely don't want black. Lol.

Hydro-dip that sucker! It will be VERY unique!

So I couldn’t resist and ripped the valvecover off. Glad I did too because I got to repair the zaklee clear cam cover(needed some superglue on the mounting points, should be fine now. Lol) and I got to discover a few things.

1) this engine is ACTUALLY freshly rebuilt with zero miles. Super clean as hell. Those arp headstuds!

View attachment 685727


2) the cams aren’t delta DKS Regrinds, they’re Brian Crower stage 2’s. Can’t tell if they’re the old 272’s or the new 268/272 ones. Pictures attached either way.

View attachment 685725

3) this is the cleanest valvecover I have ever seen. It looks new! The baffles were popped off and rewelded back on too so it was professionally cleaned. Just look at it!

View attachment 685726


This thing was honestly so taken care of. Everything is like freshly rebuilt on it. Crazy!


Bonus photo: I love how the CF hood looks here man. Can’t wait.

View attachment 685728

I haven't shown the DSMer's my CF hood for the Red 90 yet, but I have to clear coat it first. My best friend said he would do it for me! Thanks Todd!!! I believe mine is a Vader hood, it's still in the box from years ago!
Yours looks nice man!!!!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Hell yeah, man, stoked for you! Looks like a killer find, too.

Appreciate it brotha! It’s been really appreciated and taken care of. Just needs a few more things but the hard work was all done.

Hydro-dip that sucker! It will be VERY unique!

Interested. Not sure what I’d dip it. I think I’m gonna go with a red scheme for the engine bay so I may just repaint it red.

I haven't shown the DSMer's my CF hood for the Red 90 yet, but I have to clear coat it first. My best friend said he would do it for me! Thanks Todd!!! I believe mine is a Vader hood, it's still in the box from years ago!
Yours looks nice man!!!!

I do like the Vader hoods too. This is just a VIS OEM one and it’s pretty decent shape wise. It actually latches onto the stock latch but I am 100% gonna reinstall the hood pins. I don’t trust that CF latch hook for a single second.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Mine is a VIS also but I'm not sure which model it is. I need to find a picture I took ALONG TIME AGO.

 

[CrackedDSM]

So, not a huge update, but it IS an update at least!


Got a LITTLE freetime today and decided to check over things in the cylinder head to make sure it was all good, and to remove the valvecover studs and soak them in some rust remover. Boy am I glad I did that, as I've discovered a few things. Lol.


1) Upon taking the remaining studs I discovered they were the wrong thread pitch/size studs. And because of this....like 3-4 of the threads need to be fixed. So, helicoil kit and a new, proper sized valve cover bolt kit is on the way to replace the studs. Which is unfortunate, because I was actually kinda liking the stud kit that was on here. But man, it rusted in no time. These new ones I bought won't. So that's thing #1.

2) While I was removing some of the rusty studs from the head, I brushed against one of the cam caps and found...this.


Wow. BogusSVO/Dale Morss strikes again! I am so glad I found this or this could've been a disaster. Now that I've found this, I am gonna go through the rest of the engine with a fine tooth comb. Rod cap bolts, main bolts, all the timing stuff. The timing belt seems tight but just in case...don't want any nasty surprises.


3) Took the intake off the turbo and man. Is this compressor wheel pretty. It's not the biggest, but it's puuuurty.

4) Random ass picture of the VIS tag on the underside of the hood. I don't know why I took this picture but now you're required to see it too.

5) My most favorite part about today...look at what came!

Compliments of @dacowgod and RIXRacing, my new ECMLink V3! It'll be a little while before I use it, but it's good to have it. UPS legitimately lost this damn thing for a little while and had no update or ETA on a time, and I had to get a friend involved, and Ricky himself too. Bastards! (UPS, not my friend or Ricky. Lol)


But, all in all, pretty good day even with some of the "discoveries". Lol. Found a complete set of Torque Solutions shifter base bushings, brand new rotors for all four corners(with pads) from PowerStop, etc. So next update will hopefully be me installing the front axles(which I also found two brand new ones in the car! Still in box and in the wrapping! Even included some roaches for no extra charge. Mmmh. Crunchy.) and installing the new brakes/rotors, and getting her ready to be on the ground permanently.

Thanks for the views and any comments fellas. And man...always double check behind any machinist or anyone that's assembled your engine, even if you trust them. Stuff happens.

 

[CrackedDSM]

One last update of the day. Short and sweet, but I couldn't take it any longer. I did a mod that lost me about 50+ HP, and I am not even a little bit sorry.

Here it is....ready?

Before...

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat can you guys SEE how much pollen is on this car? This is honestly less than a weeks worth. A F**KING WEEK! And it's not even summer or spring! This is why I am heavily considering painting this car white, or silver. Because pollen is a straight gangster around here...anyway..on to the mod.

After! Less horsepower never felt so good.

Honestly, so much better. The stickers were really clashing with the paint scheme for me, and honestly I'm just not a fan of stickers. The ONLY exception, is the "jealous?" sticker on the bottom in the center. I was really gonna keep it, but it was cracking/fading and starting to come off with just the pressure washer. I'll 100% get another one though, just to troll people. I know this isn't a McLaren or some kind of high dollar supercar, but it'll irritate them just the same. And I am all about that.

 

[92Turbski]

Damn, looking good already! Good call, that would've drove me insane, too. Hahaha

Working on the 1G and the scarcity of certain parts has me thinking, amd wondering of there's a *1G most wanted* type of list on here. It would be cool to pool resources and get some items manufactured based on interest.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Damn, looking good already! Good call, that would've drove me insane, too. Hahaha

Working on the 1G and the scarcity of certain parts has me thinking, amd wondering of there's a *1G most wanted* type of list on here. It would be cool to pool resources and get some items manufactured based on interest.

I'd be down AF. I worry about that every single day. I swear on God I will learn how to be a machinist and take out loans for a CNC machine and make billet parts for this car if I have to. Lol. Even if it's only for me and only for my car.

 

[92Turbski]

I'd be down AF. I worry about that every single day. I swear on God I will learn how to be a machinist and take out loans for a CNC machine and make billet parts for this car if I have to. Lol. Even if it's only for me and only for my car.

Right! Now with 3D scanning and, getting a decent part to scan, might be easier than ever to make it happen. We don't need any exotic stainless for example a filler neck, just a freshie will do. Lol

 

[CrackedDSM]

Really would like to get rid of these things. It’s killing the vibe. Seats kinda getting hard to find around me though. And I’m not about to get ripped off by Stevie Miller again, I tell you that much.

Really wish I could find someone to trade me their seats and steering wheel for my seats and steering wheel.

Right! Now with 3D scanning and, getting a decent part to scan, might be easier than ever to make it happen. We don't need any exotic stainless for example a filler neck, just a freshie will do. Lol

100% agreed. I think people way overthink it sometimes.

 

[CrackedDSM]

So, I've got a rare day off from work(s), and decided to dig into the harness and poke around the car a little more. The local shop that did the work on this car, has a less than stellar reputation and I can honestly see why...a lot of this stuff is just hacked together with butt connectors and male/female spade connectors. Not a drop of solder in sight. Ah well, just stuff to fix and make sure it's right. It is kind of turning out to be a mild basket case though, if I'm honest.



First thing I found was this. 2G MAF plug wired into the OEM harness. Which is kinda nice, if I'm honest. I was planning on running a 2G MAF anyway to get it first started/get a SD map made via ECMLink V3. No pictures of the other parts of the harness, but pretty much the AEM 5 bar MAP sensor, and AEM/GM IAT sensor are both not spliced into the harness. They were just ran separate wires all the way to the ECU, and then the wires were cut at the ECU and butt connected in that way. Couple male/female spade connectors too. So it's kinda awesome to discover that the stock engine harness is RELATIVELY uncut, minus this little gem here that I'm 100% gonna check/solder/fix.



These next pictures are honestly a mystery to me. I have no clue what these connectors are for, why some wires are cut from them, or if they're original. They look original but I have no damn clue what they could be for.







These photos are just of the power steering setup. I first thought the lines might've been looped and the PS deleted, which would be a huge dealbreaker. I am only gonna street drive this car, and I am not about to have to deal with no PS. Thankfully after reaching out to the OG owner, the line was just removed and PS system drained because a full flush was planned(also found an OEM PS line in the trunk, new in bag. Woo!)




Last pictures are kinda lame/uneventful, but I uploaded them so might as well use them. So there are pluses and minuses that I've found so far. The wiring at the ECU is atrocious, and they charged the OG owner of this car like $1500 to wire in the gauges, wire in the EMS, and give a "base map" tune. For $1500 I'd at least want some damn electrical tape around the plugs on the ECU. I mean really!



The mass on the left hand side is for the radio/headunit, which is a disaster too but honestly that's like...very last on the list of priorities. But, it could be worse. Worse part is gonna be finding the old wires and rewiring them into the ECU plug, but hopefully(HOPEFULLY!!) there's only like 4, maybe 5 to do that. If I absolutely have to, I will find the wire at the actual plug in the ECU and just run a new wire directly to the ECU.


The last thing, not pictured, is the idiotic placement of the hood pins for the CF hood. They're directly over the radiator brackets/radiator! So they're gonna have to be filled in on the hood and moved to a better spot or I'm gonna have to get something custom made involving the brackets. Which is just as stupid IMO. But meh. Could be a lot worse!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Alright so I did more digging, and it's not as bad of a basket case as I thought at first.

1) Those spade connectors are actually for pins 6 and 14. Not installed by the shop in question. It's designed so if I switch between a 90 ECU and 91-94 ECUs, I can just quickly switch them over. This is pretty awesome!

2) There's only 3 actual input wires(Pins 4, 8, and 12) on the ECU that I need to fix/resolder. The other three wires(pins 17, 23, and 24) are just sensor ground/power wires and aren't actually cut, they're just spliced into. Even if they are cut, it's easy to fix.

3) As a result of tracing wires and looking into ECU pinouts, I have found the problem as to why the tachometer on the gauge cluster doesn't work. Someone severed, interrupted, or for some reason accidentally cut the white wire that goes to ECU pin #109, and is the tach input to the ECU. Which splits, and goes to the dash. The wires been messed with before(for some reason), so it's either been cut there, or is missing in the dash. Either way, I can just run a new wire from Pin 109, to the gauge cluster. Don't need a $50+ dash harness(and I don't need to pull the dash!)

So that's great news. I don't need an entire engine harness! Yay! Don't need to pull the dash! Yay!


One thing it's 100% gonna need though, is the fuel feed/sending lines addressed. It's got some thick custom hose running to/from the tank, but they hang down a little lower than the transfer case. This is absolutely unacceptable, and needs to be fixed first. So...guess I'll add a complete tank to rail, and rail to tank line kit to the parts list because I'm not about to mess around with something grabbing the line and ripping it/causing a fire.

 

[Dericsh]

I like that bracket the made for the FPR!

 

[19Eclipse90]

1 - ignition timing adjustment connector
2 - my bet is cruise control, easy tell is if it has 4 blue wires with various color stripes
3 - harness connector to solenoid pack (fpr solenoid, EGR control solenoid, and purge solenoid, pack often removed when a vacuum line delete is completed)

 

[CrackedDSM]

So, super huge mega update. Boy is there so much here.


/sarcasm.


Got a couple parts in today that I'm happy about. Still waiting on the GAWD DA** helicoil kit that apparently takes 2.6 billion years to get to me because the United States Postal Service is run by inept, greedy pieces of sh...*Ahem*...as I was saying, I'm still waiting on the helicoil kit, but as of now that's like the only thing I'm waiting on at this point.


1) Behold! Good old bonehead performance. I've used these guys for legit like 12-14 years for bolt kits, fuel pump kits, rewire kits, and etc. They always have great quality stuff for amazing prices. This is their stainless allen head Valve cover bolt kit. It also includes the spark plug cover bolts AND bolts for the cam cover/upper timing cover! They even include a little allen wrench in the proper size which is nice, but I have the right size socket thankfully. I just like how these look and at like $13, it's a steal.




2) Just a simple little coupler and worm clamps allowed me to mock up the Dejon Tool 2G maf in a 1G pipe, and see what size filter I need. Fits JUUUUUST perfect, so obviously a new(not dirty) air filter will be on order ASAP. But, this is also a hint as to what color scheme the engine bay is gonna be. Some might not like it, but IDGAF. I'm gonna go red/black. Red pipes(intercooler, intake, etc), and black couplers/black accents. The VC is gonna be red with black letters. But, all in good time.




Holy reekrus does this engine bay need to be pressure washed. That may honestly be one of the next things I do. Fully degrease and power wash the engine bay. Any tips/tricks from any of you guys that have done this? Cars obviously not in running condition so it'll have plenty of time to dry out, but still any "just in case do X" would be appreciated. (Also, I'm gonna try from now on to just insert thumbnail sized pictures that you can click on/expand at will. Upload a bunch of full sized giant ass pictures seemed to be not a fun experience. IF you guys liked the full size pictures and not the thumbnails, lemme know and I'll go back to that.

I like that bracket the made for the FPR!

It's growing on me admittedly. I may have to trim/make it nicer though, but I admittedly like it. I might even just clean it up/make it look newer and cleaner. IDK.

1 - ignition timing adjustment connector
2 - my bet is cruise control, easy tell is if it has 4 blue wires with various color stripes
3 - harness connector to solenoid pack (fpr solenoid, EGR control solenoid, and purge solenoid, pack often removed when a vacuum line delete is completed)

View attachment 686504

You are legitimately a legend. I appreciate it so much, you've no idea. Much love, no ****.


Okay maybe a little ****.


Edit - use your imagination as to what word has been censored.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Official to do list. Not in any kind of order or anything, just as I thought of them. Might add a few more things too but it’s pretty complete here. One day maybe I’ll transfer the list to here and cross it off here as well as in person but eh. Maybe not.

Bam!

Full size image on this so it can be read easier.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Ordered the complete driver's side auto seatbelt system from a guy in CO. The price was suspiciously cheap, and I paid through Venmo "goods and services". I am expecting it to be too good to be true, but also...I kinda want to just try out Venmos dispute function without committing fraud. So if he screws me, it'll be a real test.

If he's real and it comes and we're all good then hey!

Win-win really. Either way I'll keep yall updated.


Edit: also ordered the half shaft/drivers side axle carrier bolts I needed. This time from extremePSI though. Looking forward to doing some work on this thing in about a week!

 

[CrackedDSM]

RockAuto can suck my male reproductive organ. Not even kidding.

Had some spare time today after work and got my helicoil kit in finally. So I fixed the couple VC bolts that had an issue(god Helicoil is easy. But I'm an idiot and have no idea how to use the tool until after I was done. Might redo one hole now that I figured it out), and figured hey, why not just go ahead and install the VC gasket dry and see if its gonna fit. Here's where I need to stop and rewind.


These absolute morons at RockAuto sent me the wrong VC gasket. I ordered a Fel-Pro model VS50041R. I have ordered them before a lot. They always come on a cardboard sheet wrapped in plastic.

This piece of shit came just in a sealed bag, titled with "sealed power" and not Fel-Pro. It looked close to the right gasket with bigger holes. This is gonna be important later. But I figured maybe it's just been revised, and moved on.

Fast forward to a few moments ago where I try to install it. It's for a hyundai sonata black shaved VC with the gigantic studs. They have a much wider/larger gasket channel than our Mitsu valvecovers do. Even after a few minutes of shoving and trying to force it in, it's never gonna fit. So I'm thinking hey, it's the wrong part no big deal...I reach out to RockAuto and #1 you can't just talk to someone you have to use their terrible ass automated system. Which immediately told me that it was unable to offer any kind of refund or any kind of exchange because I opened the product. How the f*ck can I tell it's the wrong part if it looks identical until you install it? And it was in a ziplock bag the size of a matchbox, so it was completely balled up and not easily identifiable anyway.


So yeah. I've got a couple VERY nasty worded letters out to whoever I could actually reach, and we'll see if they make it right. If they don't, I'm going nuclear because their return system has always sucked, and they've always been scumbags at giving refunds. If they f*ck me over, I promise I'll reach out to a couple youtube guys I'm pretty sure all of you know, or have heard of(one has just recently outgrown Motortrend and Top Gear as the #1 car channel via subscriber count on youtube) who both owe me favors, so everyone hears about it.


So yeah, as of right now I'd caution any of you to order anything through RockAuto right now. Unless they really make it right.

 

[CrackedDSM]

After two days of fighting with them, they’ve decided to finally refund me my money.

On a side note if anyone has a black Hyundai “shaved” VC, you can have this VC gasket for free. It’ll work for your applications just not mine. Reach out to me with your address and I’ll throw it to you for free.


Comparison photos incoming. The gasket with the recess is the OEM mitsu gasket. The fat holed one is a Hyundai one.

(The Gundams do not approve)

 

[pauleyman]

Interesting, after all this time I didn't think the hyundai gasket was different and i have owned a hyundai cover before. I've also never had a problem with rockauto returns even if I tried to install the part. They have a checkbox for if you tried to install it. Their database isn't 100% (who's is?) and there are some errors here and there. They also don't distinguish between turbo and 420a all the time and honestly the parts stores don't either. I'm just careful to do my research on part numbers if I use them. For my DSM I don't buy much except belts, hoses etc but on the rest of my fleet I buy a lot. Yes I've had issues but in each case I thought there was a reasonable explanation. I think I've only had 2 issues in probably 500 parts or more.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Interesting, after all this time I didn't think the hyundai gasket was different and i have owned a hyundai cover before. I've also never had a problem with rockauto returns even if I tried to install the part. They have a checkbox for if you tried to install it. Their database isn't 100% (who's is?) and there are some errors here and there. They also don't distinguish between turbo and 420a all the time and honestly the parts stores don't either. I'm just careful to do my research on part numbers if I use them. For my DSM I don't buy much except belts, hoses etc but on the rest of my fleet I buy a lot. Yes I've had issues but in each case I thought there was a reasonable explanation. I think I've only had 2 issues in probably 500 parts or more.

Cool. I know exactly what part number I need for the Felpro VC gasket. There's no other research I needed to do. The hyundai VC's that are red and look identical to a DSM one use the same VC gasket as a DSM.

The black ones that come half-shaved and use really thick studs require this gasket. There are multiple generation of hyundai VCs that bolt onto these heads. There was absolutely no checkbox, and if you do a little googling you'll find a bunch of people saying the same thing. That they got sent the wrong part, and the returns system was a nightmare.


Regardless, it was their f*ck up and glad they finally decided to fix it.

 

[CrackedDSM]

After some searching, it's this one. 98 Hyundai Sonata GL, came with this VC.

Also here's a thread showing part numbers and bolts required, etc.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/hyundai-valve-cover-info.387318/

 

[pauleyman]

yeah I've owned that one. I knew you what you meant by the thicker cover etc. I might not have ever used it so I didn't learn what you did. I can't remember.