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pauleyman

DSM Wiseman
9,302
3,543
Nov 19, 2011
oklahoma city, Oklahoma
There was a motto during the first ten years or so when the cars were new, "go fast with class". This was in response to idiot honda owners with stripped interiors and home depot plumbing parts under the hood. Sadly this now seems to apply to many dsmers. Let me tell you something, stop supporting this ebay chinese crap. If you cant afford it youve picked the wrong hobby. Buy from reputable vendors who make quality products and do not waste their time with lots of technical questions when you are not buying from them.
There was a time that you simply didnt see a janky dsm because the owner wouldnt allow it.
I cant tell you the number of times ive had some janky dsm owner ask me for help without doing any work or diagnosis on their own (not unlike this newbie section). I dole out experienced advice for free here because I choose to. Vendors who are trying to feed their families are not. To the newest inexperienced guys just starting out we expect newbie questions...for a little while. Those of you that have been around awhile you have no excuse. You dont know how good you have it now vs the early days when there was NO information because it had not been done yet. If you want to see these cars supported then support the vendors that are laying out blood sweat and tears to get it done. If you cant afford it then suck it up and go home until you can.
 
Most DSMs out there are in need of a restoration, and nobody buying a DSM these days is going to do that. Whether it's due to lack of funds or just lack of caring, or a combination of both.
Check out my car. Full rotisserie restoration. Complete fp turbo set up. Not a race car by any means, but it's clean and mine. I've actually seen a few dsm's going under the knife lately. The condition they are in, most of them need it just to have a solid foundation anymore.
Agreed. There are some nice cars in ohio. The evo 3 that came the year before last (I missed this year, so don't know if it made it again) caught my eye especially.
 
Check out my car. Full rotisserie restoration. Complete fp turbo set up. Not a race car by any means, but it's clean and mine. I've actually seen a few dsm's going under the knife lately. The condition they are in, most of them need it just to have a solid foundation anymore.
Agreed. There are some nice cars in ohio. The evo 3 that came the year before last (I missed this year, so don't know if it made it again) caught my eye especially.
You're obviously one of the few. Kudos!
 
Comparing car cultures doesn't really compare. The closest car to a dsm would be the wrx in terms of being meticulous about maintenance and detailed for repairs. Join nasioc and I'm sure you will see the same type of posts you see here.


The ls1 boards though anything goes, and as far as forum databases ls1tech.com is the best forum hands down to learn about cars. There are detailed write ups for everything and anything you can do with an ls1. That being said I would trust any mechanic to do a water pump or timing chain on a gm ls1, not the same for a mitsubishi timing belt job though. My own personal ls1 has had a USED cam in it now for 80k miles and survived ten years of my torture.

I was on the old dsmtuners, you think it has gotten worse? Hah! Back then the most common answer was RTFM and the most common posts were "where can I get a good blitz bodykit"

If anything the aftermarket is too supportive for these cars. If I needed a tune I would trust a wideband and dsm link more than any import tuning shop who is going to charge you big bucks for a tune but that's just me. Hp tuners the logging software for gm costs about $600 for a basic kit and $120 per vin for an unlock code
 
I will second the WRX bs. I was at cordova over the summer, and I had to race a kid with a wrx and the full ebay treatment. His car kept blowing off couplers on his ill fitting ebay fmic. He was so mad that he had to race against a car that ran 10's, and possibly a gtr that runs 9's. I saved my car for the finals and made a blistering 15sec pass, and beat him badly. It's like dude get your shit together.

Give it a few more years till the GTR is 10yrs old and it will be the same for them. It's society's fault, no one takes pride in anything and craftsmanship is dead. Forum jockeys can't tell between a pretty picture and something that works.
 
Agreed above. I have the punishment racing fmic and it dosent fit the greatest granted since the bov rubs on the hood, but it came on the car. I would like to change the out the intercooler to ETS core, but I'll keep the piping.

But I don't want to feel like I'll be shamed to wander the desert for 40 years , and put in a burlap sack and beaten with a rake for using a Lower end kit. I agree we should all work together to turn people onto better quality parts, offered by Supporting venders. Like the wiring kits from OHM racing, how sweet are those!
 
If I may share my 2 cents (though it's not worth much) as y'all are a lot more knowledgeable then I am.

It's more then just the car industry. Everyone buys stuff from china, as it's cheaper but that's why our economy is way lower then what it was. (Off topic)

As for DSM's now that they are 10+ years old young kids can afford them, as when I was 20 I could afford 1500 to get my GST. Young kids can also afford Chinese knock off parts. So they do, just to say I have this and that ....... I decided at a young age to buy quality parts regardless what it is for. Example would you trust a dentist that charged 200$ for a root canal when they cost around 1000$ or so. I wouldn't but their are some who would.

I have had my car for 5 years and have been learning ever since. I don't make enough money by any means to do what I want. But that doesn't stop me, I save and buy genuine parts made by people that take pride in their work. Not a 10yo from another country that the part has a 50/50 shot of coming bad from manufacturer. My car still needs a paint job desperately but it runs 100% finally.

I will never sell my car as I plan on keeping my GST for ever. I will paint and learn how to paint on this car. I will swap and learn how to tune on this car. Most likely from OG's on here. I save and save until I can buy my parts. Then I save my good parts until I have all of them to do what I want. I wish more kids could do this but most everyone wants what they want and want it right now. I see it all the time, and everywhere.

If a customers heat doesn't work and I need to order a control board they always ask how soon, I say not sure maybe a week or so. then ask can I make it get here quicker like they control the part stores delivery process.

I just hope I can still buy good quality parts when I get the money to buy whatever when I'm ready. As I am not selling this car and will only get more of them as I start to make more money in my field. (Soon going to commercial HVAC) peace be with all of you and hope the DSM world never leaves.
 
Owned my car since 1998, not cheap to maintain and build these cars I will tell you that! Buy good parts car lasts a long time!! It's just common sense to me . Lol I try not think about the amount of money I have dumped into this car for the thrill of the hobby. I could have bought a mid 2k Porsche 911 turbo. That's what it costs buying good parts from motor ,drivetrain,rims and suspension on these dsms. SMH!!
Still have to give her a nice paintjob. If one can't afford to do the performance upgrades I advise folks to just do maintenance a 6bolt and keep everything else stock. Car will last a long time.
 
Not patting myself on the back, but you need to get your $hit straight.
That's literally ALL you did in that post. Good job leaving out the political rhetoric, giving site administrators hell that provided the opportunity for you to sell things and dispense "real world" knowledge via this forum, and generally wear your ass as a hat.

Toodaloo, sweetie!

Next we can work on visual car identification to fix your Toyobaru confusion.
 
i myself love this platform because of the availability and cheapness.
I believe you must be careful picking your parts, a lot of the time you are better off keeping your stock components.
There are always going to be newbies who are going to ruin dsms with garbage parts. i have bought two 1gs in the last few years that came with maf translators and no wideband. neither car ran decent when i bought them, although they were both solid drivetrains. all these kids gotta do all the sick mods but wont do the maintenance.
however, this is not a bad way to pick up some side cash, buying fixing selling dsms.
 
1. I'm 43 years old, not a "kid".. and I find that most vendors/shop owners are in their 30s. nice generalization though.

2. asshatery at it's finest. he doesn't own a dsm, doesn't want to, yet wants to tell others how to own theirs :rollseyes:

You don't own a dsm because of the other owners? what a sad way to live, letting other people control your life..... that or it's just a lame excuse to own a Hyundai

If I see one more 2g with a flat billed hat owner, and plastidip wheels that's ITTT!!!!:banghead::mad: I am selling it all!
 
Ok that is pretty funny.
Props to Chris for this site, as well as all the mods and wise men. I would've probably junked my car without it.
If you can afford it, I suggest you become at least a supporting member of this site.
I suspect most of us have saved a lot of cash by borrowing from the knowledge base here or using the classifieds.
 
If it wasn't for this site idk what I would have done ,
I bought my laser to fix it up (first car btw) and guess what it's the best decision of my life.

I've learned so much in the last 2 years it's unbelievable it's all on this site !

Not everyone's about Chinese cold air intakes ,rims ,bov lowering springs , flashy seats ,body kits ect... I literally laugh when I see lowered cars with neg camber and massive spoilers an its front wheel drive yet hah

I've been hoarding "factory" parts in my closet to bring my laser back to factory (turbo delete)
I'm literally only missing engine internals but money is tight
And I'm doing it right the first time

Sad to say if it wasn't for me this laser would be a cube somewhere in China being turned into some crappy turbo or some crap hah

People always say my cars to old (older than me ROFL) blah blah blah sell it blah blah blah by a caviler
I like my laser I've never seen one being drivein in my city ever it caught my eye and I'll never give it away when I no how much work I've put into it

Sorry if I'm off topic dsm for life!
 
I agree , I love my dsm and I'm in the middle of a full restoration. It was the first big purchase I've ever made and that was 13yrs ago.
I've held onto the car knowing it's not worth much to anyone but myself. It hasn't ran it 4yrs and before that it rarely did either. I stuck with it because I loved it and still do. I didn't have the funds before or knowledge before to tackle a full on restoration but after 10yrs as a master technician I'm ready.
Every platform has this problem I'm a member of focusst.org my daily is a 13 st this is there to. My st is very modded and if parts were as cheap for it as for a dsm it'd be even more so. Where I live there are no dsm left running around on the streets. Which is fine but I know when I'm done it will be the nicest I could make it. I'll never sell it I'll probably pass it to one of my son's when they get older.
 
If anything, we should applaud the dsm community for being cheap. Although our platform is outdated and we won't make it onto the YouTube video pulling 5 cars on a 1000hp supra in Florida, you still can have a fun project car for a few grand. Back in the day you could could have a competitive street car that could take on v8s with minimal mods. People didn't need to fully restore the car to race it. I just read the 4g63 book written by RRE where they talk about free mods and switching out 1g and 2g parts. Well, nobody wants to do that shit anymore. every suv on the street has more hp than a free mod dsm now. Guys want to be competitive for cheap now but the hobby has passed us by. My god, you have 60k camaros now with 5-600 stock hp. The cheapos are just trying to compete.
 
I have never seen another 2ga or 2gb Tsi where I live. Therefore, when I see people craning their necks and looking at the back of my cars I feel I'm representing a very unique community. I am obsessed with my dsms. I care about them way too much. I fell in love when I was in high school and 1gs were new, and many years later I finally got turboed and never looked back. My mechanical knowledge has increased 10x over because of these cars and this forum. My day is not complete unless I do something to my DSM. I value the experience of the wise men (especially responding to one of my posts) like a little girl at a Jonas brothers concert.
That being said, both of my DSMs are daily drivers, and I prefer to enhance what was originally intended for my babies. I still have stock turbos, and when one blows I will replace it with a rebuilt t25. I am perfectly happy with my power. I originally planned to build my awd, but due to losing one job, moving to a place with no garage and my gf needing a car, the awd is now her DD.
I've bought tons of eBay crap, and except for intake, exhaust and light bulbs I've been disappointed. I've lucked out finding quality parts used.
Unfortunately everything is made in China now, even well known brands.
Not sure where I'm going with this, but the point is I'm a "thrifty" dsmer. I take my time and find the quality parts I want for as cheap as possible.
 
Cars (and builds) are a direct reflection of their owners. It doesn't matter if your building a $500 dollar DSM or a $500,000 Lamborghini, both can be equally botched by idiot owners. Since there are far more of us with $500 bucks laying around, you see botched DSM builds far more often. We can sit around all day and discuss the stereotypes of this community, and of others like it. Bottom line, there's little any of us can do to prevent idiots from acquiring DSMs and ruining them with Ebay parts, hackjob repairs, and worthless modifications.

Personally, I save money and cut costs where I can. If that means buying some things off of Ebay, I do, so long as the part(s) do not compromise the performance and quality of my build. I support our vendors when I can, but like most, this is just a hobby to me. I have no interest investing tens of thousands of dollars into a 20+ year old car that's worth more in parts than it is whole. If that makes me a DSMer, then so be it. As Chris mentioned, I build DSMs because I love the platform.

Whether I'm installing an Ebay radiator, or Work Meister wheels, I'm proud to say my build is a reflection of me, and I'm not ashamed of a single thing under the hood of my car. If you can genuinely be proud of a hackjob build that's Ebay'ed the the max, put on that flat billed hat and build on I say. Just don't come crying here when you're pushing your shit down the road, sweating through your skinny jeans and extra tall tee.
 
its not even the ebay parts that are the problem. Its the hackjobbers who try and reinvent and re-engineer their cars with duct tape, sh**ty welding, and generally poor mechanic skills. My OCD can kick in hardcore. LOL If I see a DSM with new rims and a shiny exhaust, but pealing and failing paint, I go bonkers.
I do understand and agree however please just dun lob everyone that does not have a perfectly in shape car that meets that criteria into the mix.

For my self I have Rims and a Shiny Exhaust and pealing paint. LOL However to put into perspective budget does count specially now a days.
Car has mechanical issues I am trying my damn best to restore using as close to OEM or equivalent as possible. For me the mechanical reliability outweighs the paint job LOL specially since I do not have any connections or painting tools or knowledge so it will cost me around 1k just for a decent paint job. I will refuse to go to like maccos for a cheap crappy 300 single stage finger paint job LOL.. So i need to tackle the most important parts first on my budget.. and When I bought my car ( rescued from Previous Owner) It already had them rims and Shiny Fart Cannon LOL..

FYI, I was not implying that you directly meant this for someone like myself but you can see how someone in my shoes could read this and become let down and demotivated about their car.
 
DSM = Doesn't Spend Money....

To be honest, there have always been cheap DSM'ers.
it's just a lot easier to cut corners and pinch pennies now with all the knockoff parts that are available. I'm not saying you need to eat Ramen for weeks to afford car parts, but you need to spend wisely and do your research. For example, I have an Autometer dual gauge cluster bezel that I bought years ago when it first came out. There was no cheaper alternative, and essentially, no alternative at all. It cost me twice as much as as one on ebay costs nowadays. If I had to do it again, of course I would buy the Glowshift (or whatever) brand; it's just a piece of blow-molded plastic. I was "cheap" and the first exhaust I put on was a Pacesetter cat-back. Now you have these $100 ebay exhausts that get a lot of positive reviews, but the Pacesetter actually cost me about twice as much and fit way better. I actually have an ebay exhaust now, and have had multiple different exhausts, but that's another story.

What bothers me more is when someone buys a DSM for cheap with plans for a 400-500+horsepower build, but lacks the finances or knowledge to do it. I mean, how can you expect to double the stock output of the engine if you don't even know how to do basic maintenance, or the basics of how an internal combustion engine works? My favorite - questions about what turbo/injectors/etc. for their 5 billion horsepower build, but then posting elsewhere how their car's making this funny noise/smoking/not running right.....
 
I'm a newbie, but have managed a Ford Parts dept for 20 years and have always preached to the Ford masses not to go aftermarket cause you get what you pay for. I have owned my ride for 8 years and am attempting to get it back to original condition. I will be asking a lot of questions or researching in here. Just wanted to say I appreciate all the info and experience represented. There are many shops (including local dealerships) that don't know nearly as much as some of you guys.
 
If I see one more 2g with a flat billed hat owner, and plastidip wheels that's ITTT!!!!:banghead::mad: I am selling it all!

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I may be interested in doors, tail lights, and headlight assemblies.......
 
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