Finally found me a DSM but....

[Tunez4523]

First I want to say how glad I am to see that this site seems to be a no B/S type of forum unlike many car boards are. I have been tinkering and tuning cars for some 16 years as a personal hobby. Also before anyone asks, yes the Po-Po in my profile does mean I am a Police Officer. Does that mean that I don't like fast cars still?? Nope, that's why I'm here! OK, now that the BS is aside, here we go...

I have been considering getting a DSM product for some time now and after many talks, I think I may have found a decent deal but I am not 100% sure what I'm getting into. I have repeatedly been told that the Gen 1 cars are the "lesser problem" cars because of the crankwalk probs on the Gen 2 cars. With that, I have finally found a 91 Talon TSI AWD that is the dark blue top and dark grey bottom. The visable problems that I have seen on the car are these. There is oil on top of the valve cover and even built up into small pools. Also, the manifold has a few cracks in it but the car seems to run good. The car has a VERY nice stereo in it now but I could care less about that because it adds too much weight so it would have to go.

The guy is asking $3000 for the car but after reading the NADA and Kelly Blue Book specs, I would guess that he is a bit high according to the visable problems. I thought of offering the guy $2500 because I plan to have someone go through the motor anyway after I get it.

The main question here though is...... How much would a motor re-build typically run on these cars? By having to do that, am I going in too deep at that price? Also, I am sure that there are better manifolds out there to replace a cracked one. The car aside from that seems to be in pretty good shape and fits what I want as far as look and "build-ability" for the end product. I have all the time in the world to not have to drive it daily because my work car is a take home vehicle.

I know this is a long first post but I do want to make the same mistake as many others do when buying a car. I wanted to ask an experienced group of people before jumping in head first. A few of the DSM guys I know hang out on www.undergroundracing.com and a few here locally. I definitely appreciate all of the help anyone is willing to give and if all sounds good, hopefully I'll be here ALOT more often and driving a DSM soon. Thanks in advance for any help....

 

[DSMTommy]

Yea, the price is a little high, Talk him down if you can. As far as the oil on the valve cover, our cars are known to have the oil cap seals go bad. So that could be as cheap as getting a new cap. If you pull the plug wires out and no oil, then it's just your cap. And as far as the manifold, once you start building, you'll either want to go to a 2nd Gen port mani, or a evo mani. So if you like the car and can get it for a good deal, grab it. As far as rebuilding, you can get a good kit or go to a reputable rebuilder and get one done for a decent price. But until you really get you hands into it, i wouldn't jump into any parts until you read up on them and see whats going to work best for what you want.... Ooooh, and welcome to Tuners........

 

[paranoidTSi]

I think the crankwalk issue isn't as big as everyone puts it out to be..but thats beyond the point..the guy should drop it down to $2300, If he wants that much he better fix the problems with it.

Also, before you purchase it check the oil...yes it may seem odd to the seller but by checking the oil you can tell if the basic maintance has been done to the car, if its black or its low..then I would NOT purchase this car. In fact check all the fluids that you can access through the engine bay..if the guy acts weird about it or tells you no then forget it.

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by Tunez4523
the Po-Po in my profile does mean I am a Police Officer.

I'm a dispatcher.

I have repeatedly been told that the Gen 1 cars are the "lesser problem" cars because of the crankwalk probs on the Gen 2 cars.

Much more spoken of than experienced. However, they are very different cars between generations. The 1G feels much better built, but I personally love the feel of the 2Gs. And out of necessity, of course a 1G will be that much older.

With that, I have finally found a 91 Talon TSI AWD

At least that. If you have any sporting intentions, no sense in setting yourself up for a case of the wants.

There is oil on top of the valve cover and even built up into small pools. Also, the manifold has a few cracks in it but the car seems to run good.

Probably minor stuff. The 1G exhaust cracking is routine. Once you get rolling, do a good, long, medium pull up a hill at night. When you get to the top, pull over, pop the hood and look. Oooooo.

The car has a VERY nice stereo in it now but I could care less about that because it adds too much weight so it would have to go.

Bah, not enough weight to worry about.

The guy is asking $3000 for the car but after reading the NADA and Kelly Blue Book

Not especially applicable. You're dealing with a one-of-a-kind performance car that has no equal being built today.... and at a tenth the price of anything new you'd bother to drive home.

I thought of offering the guy $2500 because I plan to have someone go through the motor anyway after I get it.

If that's the plan anyway, you might want to consider a 2G if you like them. Do the 6-bolt swap to allay your [irrational] crankwalk fears.

Welcome to DSMtuners, take some donuts to your dispatchers.

 

[Tunez4523]

Sorry I took so long to get back. Thanks for taking the time to reply with the answers as well! I finally got to drive the car tonight and he said without the stereo he would take $2000. Here is a more detailed list of problems that I know the cars has but I do not know much about what they mean and how bad they are.

1 - The guy changed a head gasket for some reason and removed the balancer shafts. When he put them back in, one was wrong by a tooth, as he said. There is a HORRIBLE vibration from the motor from around 4000 rpm up. Makes it feel slow as a dog!

2 - He said there is something wrong with the carrier bearing and it needs to be "reset" or "re-seated" and greased up again.

3 - Crack in the wind shield. Nothing to do with performance but still money to fix.

4 - Cracks in the mainfold. Although it seems to be common, you have to be losing power through there some way. Not too expensive of a part but again, money.

5 - Valve cover gasket is leaking oil.

This probably means alot more to the "DSM inclined" that it does to me right now. I am curious to know how much it would be to repair those things and I really do not want to mess with them myself since I am completely new to these cars. I don't want to end up spending $3000 and up just to get it running "well". That wouldn't even be skimming the surface of getting fast. The plan was to buy this car if it ran smooth and sell my SHO to have plenty of money coming in each month to tinker with the Talon. I don't know enough to know if those problems are pocket draining in themselves and have NO idea who in the Charlotte, NC area could/would work on them.

Any more ideas?

 

[1993eclipseGS]

My windshield is also cracked. Where I live They are coming right ot my house and installing a brand new windshield for $175.

My ex. Mani. was also cracked. I picked up a 2g since its and upgrade in great shape for $100.. If you look on the trader you can find one cheaper then that i'm sure.

Sorry thats all I can help you out with though.

Rob.

 

[Tunez4523]

Any help is better than none, thanks for the reply....

 

[psychlow]

Personally, I think you're better off passing that one off to someone else and looking around further.

I got a 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD, which has a 4-bolt rear (stronger than 90-91) and a 6-bolt engine (less change of crankwalk) that has a cracked exhaust manifold and the (10%) smaller 13G turbo for $1700.

This isn't an insanely good deal, either - AWD DSMs are worth their weight in gold where I live, and I just happened to find this one locally. Much better deals are found out east or down south.

To give you an idea of how wanted DSMs are, I was just testing the waters by posting an ad for my older DSM. Within a week I sold my 1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD, that has no 2nd gear, a bashed up fender, faded paint, and a missing sunroof and mounts for $2,000, granted I'm including the used trans out of my '92 TSi when I replace it.

My point is, deals are to be had if you look hard enough. The best thing is to try to find someone that doesn't know what they have. That was the case with this 92, it seems. A used 2G exhaust mani, and a few mods, and this car should be pretty quick.