Scuba_Steve
10+ Year Contributor
- 152
- 1
- May 28, 2009
-
Colorado Spring,
Colorado
Hi everyone,
My name is Steve, and I am glad to be a new member to this board. I don't have a huge amount of automotive experience, and I have never touched a DSM vehicle, so I admit I have quite a lot to learn. Luckily, thanks to message boards such as this one, so much information is easily accessible. I have been reading for weeks now!
I am in the Army stationed at Ft. Hood, TX, although I am currently in Iraq. Some of my other hobbies include family time, video games, guns, scuba diving, and my 120 gallon coral reef aquarium.
So what got me interested in DSM. As of a few weeks ago, I hadn't even heard the term before. I had decided that when I got home from Iraq this deployment, I wanted to have a sports car/project car waiting on me. I had been looking for that perfect buy for the perfect price for a while. My wife told me they were having an auction on post for cars that had been put into storage, but not claimed for years. So I had her get me a list of everything sporty with a manual transmission. The only thing that really stood out were 4 eagle talons. I had remembered an old friend raving about his former AWD talon that he drag raced (street). So after doing some research I found that the TSI AWD was definitely the way for me to go. Only one of those talons met that bill. A 1991 with quite possibly the worst paint job known to man. IMO, I perfect little sleeper to get my hands dirty with. Being an auction, I figured I could get it for a steal! I was shocked when she told me that one of the 100 or so car dealers buying everything in sight paid over $1200 for it. Now this is a car with an unknown history, horrible tires, no radio, and bone stock. Thank god, probably not the best car anyways; now at least, I had my sights set. Back to the searching process...
Only a few weeks later, I had finally found something on Craigslist. It was the exact same car, only better in nearly every way imaginable. Again, thank god I didn't buy the first one! A few days, and $1400 later, that car was sitting in my driveway, waiting for my return!
So on to the car... After all, the intention of this thread is to be my build log, not only my introduction. As I stated, the car is a 1991 Eagle Talon TSI AWD. Now I haven't actually seen many of these features, so I'm going by the description given to me and the observations of my wife who has limited experience with cars. From what I can tell, the car is very far down the upgrade path, near stage 2. First of all, I was told that most of the emissions were bypassed. In Texas, we have vehicle inspections, but it is just visual and a brake test. Next, Autometer boost and AFR gauges in a pillar dual pod. So as far as I know, only wbo2 and maybe egt are needed. The next part leads me to my first very newbieish question.
1. The car has a Megan Racing 3" cat back exhaust. Nothing is said about the cat itself. How is this normally installed onto a stock 2.5" cat?
Regardless I definitely have the intention of replacing the rest of the exhaust with 3" pipe. I was told he was informed by the state inspectors there is a suspected hole in the stock downpipe. They can tell this by the sound it is making, therefore it is not passing inspection.
Logging and A/F comes next. The car has what appears to be an S-AFC. The only actual text on the face is Apex-i, and for a bit, I thought it was a V-AFC. I was looking at pictures of an S-AFC II (I was told it was second gen), and it didn't look right, then I saw the V-AFC and freaked out a little.
I'm going to have my wife check the sensor settings to find out for sure. Included was some type of palm pda, although I still haven't gotten specifics on that. I assume that it is fully setup for monitoring.
2. It was advertised as having a "socketable ECU". Someone please fill me in on exactly what that should mean, although I have a pretty good idea.
Next, I was told the engine was professionally rebuilt about 1000 miles ago, a $1200 job. I am having one problem with that statement now that I can see it better.
3. Shouldn't a few of these parts be cleaner than they are on a newly rebuilt engine?
I plan on finding a 2g manifold to replace the nasty looking one pictured. The turbo is hard to see in the pictures, but I am told it is a MHI EVO 16G turbo. My wife said she could not find any markings on it to properly identify it.
4. What should I have her look for specifically to help identify it correctly?
Lastly, the car has Eibach drop springs. I have read this can actually be a bad thing, but hopefully with proper adjustments I can make it good. The seller did inform me of a few problems that would have to be taken care of soon. Front ball joints, tie rod ends, struts, and the right outer half shaft boot.
5. Does the car only have 2 of each of these things, and is there any reason I should also replace the left half shaft boot as well?
So onto my plans for the car immediately after I return. I want the car to be running in the best shape it can be, and me not have any questions on when things were last done.
I. Change fluids
a. Oil
b. Tranny
c. Transfer case
d. Diff
e. Antifreeze
II. Replace belts
a. Timing
b. Balance shaft
c. Others if needed
III. Replace filters
a. Air
b. Fuel
c. Oil
IV. Replace ignition parts
a. Spark plugs
V. Replace steering parts
a. Front tie rod ends
VI. Replace suspension parts
a. Front struts
b. Front ball joints
VII. Replace drivetrain parts
a. Front half shaft boot
VIII. Replace exhaust parts
a. Exhaust manifold
b. Wideband O2 sensor
c. Downpipe
d. Catalytic converter
IX. Replace intake parts
a. Intake pipe
6. Can anyone think of anything I missed, or any parts I missed that is needed for the changes above (that normally wouldn't be included with the part)?
Now this is all done on a very tight budget. I am estimating well under $1000 for all of the above work to be done myself. I realize this seems low, but I am pretty confident I can do it. Now I know there are still other upgrade that the car will need, but I have to start with what I can afford. With all that being said, I am going to wrap this up for now. I look forward to all of your responses!
P.S. As you can see, I have included all my questions in blue and numbered them for easy reference to the answers. I have a feeling Blue will be seen a lot, both in questions and... other things...
My name is Steve, and I am glad to be a new member to this board. I don't have a huge amount of automotive experience, and I have never touched a DSM vehicle, so I admit I have quite a lot to learn. Luckily, thanks to message boards such as this one, so much information is easily accessible. I have been reading for weeks now!
I am in the Army stationed at Ft. Hood, TX, although I am currently in Iraq. Some of my other hobbies include family time, video games, guns, scuba diving, and my 120 gallon coral reef aquarium.
So what got me interested in DSM. As of a few weeks ago, I hadn't even heard the term before. I had decided that when I got home from Iraq this deployment, I wanted to have a sports car/project car waiting on me. I had been looking for that perfect buy for the perfect price for a while. My wife told me they were having an auction on post for cars that had been put into storage, but not claimed for years. So I had her get me a list of everything sporty with a manual transmission. The only thing that really stood out were 4 eagle talons. I had remembered an old friend raving about his former AWD talon that he drag raced (street). So after doing some research I found that the TSI AWD was definitely the way for me to go. Only one of those talons met that bill. A 1991 with quite possibly the worst paint job known to man. IMO, I perfect little sleeper to get my hands dirty with. Being an auction, I figured I could get it for a steal! I was shocked when she told me that one of the 100 or so car dealers buying everything in sight paid over $1200 for it. Now this is a car with an unknown history, horrible tires, no radio, and bone stock. Thank god, probably not the best car anyways; now at least, I had my sights set. Back to the searching process...
Only a few weeks later, I had finally found something on Craigslist. It was the exact same car, only better in nearly every way imaginable. Again, thank god I didn't buy the first one! A few days, and $1400 later, that car was sitting in my driveway, waiting for my return!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
So on to the car... After all, the intention of this thread is to be my build log, not only my introduction. As I stated, the car is a 1991 Eagle Talon TSI AWD. Now I haven't actually seen many of these features, so I'm going by the description given to me and the observations of my wife who has limited experience with cars. From what I can tell, the car is very far down the upgrade path, near stage 2. First of all, I was told that most of the emissions were bypassed. In Texas, we have vehicle inspections, but it is just visual and a brake test. Next, Autometer boost and AFR gauges in a pillar dual pod. So as far as I know, only wbo2 and maybe egt are needed. The next part leads me to my first very newbieish question.
1. The car has a Megan Racing 3" cat back exhaust. Nothing is said about the cat itself. How is this normally installed onto a stock 2.5" cat?
Regardless I definitely have the intention of replacing the rest of the exhaust with 3" pipe. I was told he was informed by the state inspectors there is a suspected hole in the stock downpipe. They can tell this by the sound it is making, therefore it is not passing inspection.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Logging and A/F comes next. The car has what appears to be an S-AFC. The only actual text on the face is Apex-i, and for a bit, I thought it was a V-AFC. I was looking at pictures of an S-AFC II (I was told it was second gen), and it didn't look right, then I saw the V-AFC and freaked out a little.
I'm going to have my wife check the sensor settings to find out for sure. Included was some type of palm pda, although I still haven't gotten specifics on that. I assume that it is fully setup for monitoring. 2. It was advertised as having a "socketable ECU". Someone please fill me in on exactly what that should mean, although I have a pretty good idea.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next, I was told the engine was professionally rebuilt about 1000 miles ago, a $1200 job. I am having one problem with that statement now that I can see it better.
3. Shouldn't a few of these parts be cleaner than they are on a newly rebuilt engine?
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I plan on finding a 2g manifold to replace the nasty looking one pictured. The turbo is hard to see in the pictures, but I am told it is a MHI EVO 16G turbo. My wife said she could not find any markings on it to properly identify it.
4. What should I have her look for specifically to help identify it correctly?
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Lastly, the car has Eibach drop springs. I have read this can actually be a bad thing, but hopefully with proper adjustments I can make it good. The seller did inform me of a few problems that would have to be taken care of soon. Front ball joints, tie rod ends, struts, and the right outer half shaft boot.
5. Does the car only have 2 of each of these things, and is there any reason I should also replace the left half shaft boot as well?
So onto my plans for the car immediately after I return. I want the car to be running in the best shape it can be, and me not have any questions on when things were last done.
I. Change fluids
a. Oil
b. Tranny
c. Transfer case
d. Diff
e. Antifreeze
II. Replace belts
a. Timing
b. Balance shaft
c. Others if needed
III. Replace filters
a. Air
b. Fuel
c. Oil
IV. Replace ignition parts
a. Spark plugs
V. Replace steering parts
a. Front tie rod ends
VI. Replace suspension parts
a. Front struts
b. Front ball joints
VII. Replace drivetrain parts
a. Front half shaft boot
VIII. Replace exhaust parts
a. Exhaust manifold
b. Wideband O2 sensor
c. Downpipe
d. Catalytic converter
IX. Replace intake parts
a. Intake pipe
6. Can anyone think of anything I missed, or any parts I missed that is needed for the changes above (that normally wouldn't be included with the part)?
Now this is all done on a very tight budget. I am estimating well under $1000 for all of the above work to be done myself. I realize this seems low, but I am pretty confident I can do it. Now I know there are still other upgrade that the car will need, but I have to start with what I can afford. With all that being said, I am going to wrap this up for now. I look forward to all of your responses!
P.S. As you can see, I have included all my questions in blue and numbered them for easy reference to the answers. I have a feeling Blue will be seen a lot, both in questions and... other things...
