AMS Black Talon

[CrackedDSM]

This just came. All the way from Canada, eh!

Looks like I’ll be rewiring the fuel pump here soon. I hate doing this but at least it’s straightforward. Lol.

 

[TheDude236]

Have you found a good installation guide/video? I'll be doing the same with an STM kit here soon and only have their written instructions to go off of. First time I'll be doing it too

 

[CrackedDSM]

Have you found a good installation guide/video? I'll be doing the same with an STM kit here soon and only have their written instructions to go off of. First time I'll be doing it too

I've done it before, but the first time around I used this one.

Fuel pump rewire

It's pretty simple. I'm not gonna drill out/wire it all the way to the pump itself, I'm just gonna cut the wire before/at the plug and do it that way.

Here's the 2G instructions just in case you're a 2G

http://www.raktron.com/fuel/rewire1.html

It's pretty straightforward though. On a 1G you're gonna be bent over for the whole time and it sucks. Lol. On a 2G I think you can just sit nice and comfy on the hard metal so it's a little better.

 

[TheDude236]

Man am I thankful for my 2g sometimes
Thanks man!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Sick as a dog but got a few more tiny insignificant parts today.

Thought this was cool. It’s not mint condition but it’s good enough to paint and retouch. It’s gonna be OEM colors. Black/red stripe.

Copper exhaust nuts and the mirage lighter duty spring for the OFH so I don’t need to port it for the BS deletion. Plus a spare OFH gasket in case I need it.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Man, trying to find some OEM seats is turning out to be a nightmare search. Either every set I find is in California or buttephook, WI. Anywhere 6-7 hours from me no one wants to come off their set. Or they have a whole car that I commit to buying and they sell it behind my back anyway.


I guess I’ll just keep these sparcos until something better comes along. Meh.


Edit: I listed the sparco's for sale on my local FB Marketplace, but before I did that, I did some research because I wanted to know what these actually are.


They're Sparco Monza 'road' seats, and apparently they're worth like $2k+ in mint condition. Those are the only ones I could find. Holy crap! Now I just need to find someone to pay me a meager $500 for them. Lol. But I thought that was interesting.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Just for giggles I put the interior /mostly/ back together, and honestly these seats are growing on me. The steering wheel has absolutely GOT to go, and it is. Gonna go straight to a moderator here, and he's sending me a 1G Talon OEM wheel in return. But other than that, I honestly think it looks good, man.

There are a few caveats to this, but first up..I think it looks great! Love that leather weighted shift knob, and how it looks. It's dirty AF bruh. But yeah, the caveats are 1) nothing is bolted in. It's all just kinda stuck there to see how it looks and feels. 2) That kick panel trim on the drivers side wouldn't go in...that's because I discovered AMS welded in a solid AF bracket for a staging/hydraulic brake level and boy is it solid. Those welds are amazing. Gonna be a PITA to cut it off, but it's 100% happening. Gonna need a new little carpet patch to go over it though, but eh, that's a fight for a later day.


So yeah. Just gonna keep these seats for now since they're actually pretty awesome(and apparently valuable?). Steering wheel is 100% going though. Once everything is fully adjusted and fully bolted in, I'll give it a nice thorough clean/shampoo and make it look all nice and great.

 

[CrackedDSM]

So this has been like, legit 12 years in the making. But I did this today, and I'm conflicted honestly. So I'll just post pictures and let yall decide. This one, or the leather weighted knob?

Don't judge how dirty as FU....uh...freak...everything is. But, what do you like better? This knob hooks up to a 12v switched source and lights up amber to match the OEM gauges at night. It fits pretty good honestly. The OEM knob is in my pictures above. This one isn't fully mounted as I didn't want to cut the boot open and ziptie it to this new knob until I was committed, so it'll look more smooth/seamless than the pictures show. But I'm conflicted.


The story if you're interested: I had this sent to me be a former friend like 12 years ago. He pulled it out of a log booked/certified rally car and sent it to me and I've kept it all these years. Multiple states, thousands of miles moving back and forth, even a trip to Africa. I never had a manual and was always an Auto guy, so it feels like fate. I finally have a M/T Talon that I can use this knob in, but I'm still conflicted.


Let me know your thoughts.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I’m stunned at what I just managed to score for this car. Stunned. I have to make a pretty far drive this weekend to go get it, but man am I excited for this. Updates as soon as I have them!

 

[Dericsh]

I like the story/history of the new knob so I would go with that one.

Also, if your parts score for this weekend is what I am guessing it is- I’m pretty jealous!

 

[CrackedDSM]

I like the story/history of the new knob so I would go with that one.

Also, if your parts score for this weekend is what I am guessing it is- I’m pretty jealous!

I do agree. It's just been with me so long, feels like a crime to not use it.

But, probably. If anyone knows me or knows my name on FB it'd probably be pretty easy to guess but man, talk about stoked!

 

[CrackedDSM]

I traded my Sparco steering wheel for an OEM Talon Steering wheel, and it ended up coming today. So I got right to work. Torqued it down to 25 ft/lbs, and enjoyed my work.

So much better. I can actually see my gauges now! Speaking of which, man something needs to be done about those gauges. That giant Tach needs to go, and what you can't see is there was two gauges right at the steering column that I already removed. They were quite dirty/smudged too. Just zoom in on the picture above and you'll see what I mean.

Screwed the bezels off, and wiped it down with some eyeglasses cleaner and a microfiber towel. So much better. Here's a little before and after for ya.

Oof. Now let's do something about those other gauges.

Much better!

Now let's install my 3-pillar gauge pod and see how it all flows together. While I'm here, let me rip that stupid Tach out and make some more room...

Obviously nothing is bolted down yet, because I still need to re-route the wires and clean stuff up. I'm also gonna get an OEM center vent or at least a single gauge center vent for the center console to make up for the giant hole that's there now. But overall, man it flows so much better. I love that stock wheel, and it's not leather wrapped so it won't peel or flake off or whatever. So much better I think.

More updates coming in the next few days/week or so. I made another fairly hefty purchase on top of what I am going to get from Orlando this weekend. So I'm beyond stoked. From here I shouldn't need to buy anything else aside from a battery/maintenance/various bolts. It's slowly but surely starting to fit my vision.


I also think it's cool that a moderator here got my Sparco, so it's going to a loving home! He can chime in if he wants or not.

 

[CrackedDSM]

It's the little things in life you gotta appreciate, folks. It's easy to fake the big stuff, but small things? Not usually faked.


Random, and infinitesimally small update that's not even worth mentioning ahead.


I got tired of seeing the little hole where the coin holder should go, so I put out a WTB ad for one. I bought some radio brackets from @jersygsx and without me even asking, he threw one in the box for me. I know it's not big, but that's pretty damn awesome.


Anyway it arrived in record time(legitimately ONE day from NJ To FL. Lol), and I popped it in just now. Everything still dirty AF, but man it's so much better.

He even left me a love letter on the package itself.

But yeah. Honestly shoutout to Jared. Great guy to deal with. Trip coming to Orlando this weekend so if anyone's near there and wants my Sparco seats for a sweet deal, let me know! Otherwise, see yall when I get back.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Alright so, the more astute of you would've already guessed my most recent purchase, but yeah. The trip is over and done, and here's what it was.

Black leather interior, baby! The driver's seat has some miles, but the rest look damn near mint. And these things are so comfortable! Shoutout to everyone who refused to sell me their seats, because without that I would never have been able to find these! Shoutout as well to everyone who had seats but were a little too far, you're cool too.


But, I got them all bolted in and installed, and God they're so comfortable. The vision I had for the interior is finally finished. I've got some lap-belts on the way, supposed to arrive today, when they do I'll yank the center console and then tighten everything down and it'll be buttoned up and done. So stoked. It looks so much better than before. Gotta love the OEM hotness.

There's still one more big purchase that's yet to come, but I think it'll be a week or two. They're notorious for dragging their feet.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Also: Huge shoutout to AEM. One of my gauges is an oil temp gauge, and honestly I'm not gonna monitor oil temps as it's never gonna be a track car or etc. So I did some research and this gauge can be used as trans temp, water temp, and oil temp and originally came with all those gauge faces when you bought it new.

I reached out to AEM to see if I could buy a pack of gauge faces for it, but was informed they don't sell them separately. However, the rep offered to send me whichever one(s) I needed and for free! So this came today, and I immediately switched it out. Now it's a water temp gauge!

Seriously AEM, you guys are awesome. It's the small things.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Found a complete set of belts, but only half of the set came in today. Was feeling like doing something, so I went to install the belts. I thought I would've had to go get some fasteners for them, but to my joy someone left all the fasteners still bolted up, just to nothing. Lol. So that made it easy! Not a whole lot of pictures, but it just felt good to finally actually bolt the center console down, AND have the shoulder belts bolted in and ready! Need to find some belt guide brackets off some junk seats, but it doesn't interfere with the operation of the belt thankfully.

So much better, man. It’s slowly coming together. Once I have the lap belts in my possession I can move on to getting the car running.


But, I’m curious if the more eagle eyed viewers noticed a difference in the center console between pictures. I got sick of the rusty and patchy trim ring around the cigarette lighter, so I pulled it out, sanded it and plasti-dipped it so it looked brand new again. I think it turned out awesome.

Before

After

Small progress is still progress! Woot!

After the lap belts go in I’ll be done with the interior for awhile. I need to fix a couple wires and the tachometer, but that’s not exciting enough for pictures. Once I start buttoning up the mechanicals and I start it though…that’s exciting!

 

[Stapl3]

Black leather interior

I hate your guts. If you ever, ever, ever decide to part with those, contact me.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I hate your guts. If you ever, ever, ever decide to part with those, contact me.

I don’t think these are ever gonna part from me, but just in case I will keep you in mind!

 

[CrackedDSM]

This came today. Thought it was really cool. Came all the way from South America!

Also, popped these in. I was missing the drivers side, and thanks to a clip from @BLACK'98DSM (seriously big thanks dude), it popped in and looks much better than before! And my God is this a better design that those PITA 2G mirror covers. Bleh.

And finally, these came!

FINALLY! The much needed and VERY hard to find lap belts(found a passenger side, driver's side everyone wanted $70 for). Ended up having to go to Ace Hardware to get all of the required fasteners for both sides, and all of the driver's side seatbelt rail. Then set out to install everything. Finally!


Before

Nothing in this picture except the seats are bolted down, and it was completely missing the seatbelts for both sides, shoulder AND lap. The steering wheel looked nice but it interfered with the gauges for SURE, and the seats just aren't my style.


aaaaaaand after!

God, so much better. It looks like a stock DSM again. And everything you see is bolted in and torqued down! I even popped out the cigarette lighter trim ring, and sanded it down/plasti-dipped it because that was annoying TF out of me. It might not seem like much to most, but man...this was a journey. It's nice to accomplish a goal you set for yourself and to see it finally come together is exciting.

The only thing in the interior left to do is cut that staging brake bracket out, bolt in the trim panels, fix the 3-4 wires, reroute the gauge wires to the a-pillar pod, and then mount/fix the driver's side door panel. I keep hoping I can find another one though, this one's kinda...rough...


Regardless, I feel accomplished as hell. Looks like a DSM again! Now I can focus on getting her mechanically reassembled and running!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Randomly, I ordered a 100 pack of these door panel clips from China. I don't need 100 of them, so if anyone needs some, holler at me whenever they get here and I'll just throw them in a bubble envelope and ship them out to you fo' free. I paid like $4 after taxes so, least I can do is give some away.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Man am I bushed. Finished bolting in the passenger side lapbelts(which was 10x easier than the drivers side for some weird reason), and then decided okay, enough is enough, and set out to mount the gauge pod, and re-route the wiring for said gauges. Easy right? Only take maybe 15-30 minutes right?

Oh. Oh God no. I was so shocked by what I found, I didn't even take pictures of the before. It was legitimately like a Rat King, or a giant mass of mating snakes. Just...balls and knots of wires everywhere man. There were butt connectors connecting wires to spade terminals which in turn connected to a vampire clip. I have no clue was going on. AND whoever routed these wires, routed like two parts of the plug for the gauges, through two different holes. So all those things combined meant I had to cut some wires, cut the entire mass/rat king/snake sex pit out, and just rewire the ground/power wires. It took ALL DAY to clean up the wires.

Believe it or not, that picture is about the halfway point man. The shop that did this had to have two people working on it. Guy #1 was awesome and heatshrinked/soldered every connection, and ran loom that looks identical to the stock loom to the cabin and was meticulous.

Guy #2 chugged a beer or twelve, said I can finish this in like 35 seconds, and made sure he didn't use a single bit of solder anywhere for any of the power and ground wires, and divided all the wires in every different spot he could, meeting in a giant ball right at the ECU behind the radio.

Thank God I have a butane soldering torch, because it made soldering child's play. Finally after routing, rerouting, checking, rechecking, fitting, REFITTING, and making sure everything fit snug and perfect, it was done. I am extremely freakin' proud of this because you can't see any wires, they're actually tucked underneath the OEM A-pillar trim and routed beside/behind the dashboard, and tucked/ziptied to the OEM harness. I even clipped that pillar pod in with no dual-sided tape. Clean AF if I say so myself(and I do, damn it. Lol)

I'm beat, and it looks like nothing got done..but everything is bolted up, tightened, fitted, and ready to go. It also cleaned up the wiring at the ECU by a LOT, which is awesome. It's coming together slowly but surely.

Hopefully some more exciting updates tomorrow.


Edit: God I need a good driver's side door panel. That's the only thing killing the vibe. Also, ideas to mount that oil pressure gauge somewhere else? It's not staying in the center vent, but I have no clue where to move it where it'll still look clean. Open to ideas.

 

[Dericsh]

Also, ideas to mount that oil pressure gauge somewhere else? It's not staying in the center vent, but I have no clue where to move it where it'll still look clean. Open to ideas.

I haven’t done this myself but I like the idea.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/cluster-ownage.379396/

 

[CrackedDSM]

I haven’t done this myself but I like the idea.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/cluster-ownage.379396/

Intriguing. I’ll consider it for sure. I’m hesitant to cut up my cluster though. I’ve been debating just putting it in a little gauge cup on the dash but that looks so tacky tbh. I may just do this. Have to think on it more.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Ordered these little headlight retainer clips on eBay, took about a month to get from China but they were like $3 for $25 of them. They claimed to fit a 1G and they roughly did, but the hole was too small for the headlight rod to go through, so I had to whittle it down until it fit. If I had a dremel it would’ve been way faster and cleaner but meh. It works. Before picture is in this build thread, here’s after. Also some comparison pics.

So much better now. No more floppy corner lense.


Note to anyone that orders these clips or wants them, they won’t just click in. You have to slide a flat blade screwdriver in and push the locking tabs outward so they catch the hole. Idk if the stock one is like this or not, but once I did this they were locked in place nice and good. If anyone needs a few clips hit me up with your address and I’ll send em to you free.


^ bonus video of how nice and tight they sit now.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Well now I’m stoked. I just found and bought these bad boys.

Now the interior matches the door panels and they’re like mint. Love it. Total surprise as I didn’t expect to find these and such prime examples.