gotta do a rebuild

[dimebag120]

dont know if this is the right place for this... but... i can get over lookin stupid...

so, i'll be honest im pretty new to tuning... so heres the deal...

my dad (straying from his normal personality) decided he would buy me a 97 Talon Esi as a gift after i finished Basic... ran great... minor oil leak but i could live with that... after a while... i pulled it in my garage to replace the hub... then.. discovered after 1 night, i had a nice puddle of oil on my floor... so.. i replaced the normal culprits... still the leak.. its been lowered so its hard to get under and look like it was coming from my VC... well... discovered it was a blown head... so... gunna go ahead and rebuild... nows where i want ya'lls help... i got a budget of $3500... at this time.. what would ya'll suggest i do while i got the engine out to get me in the 10's and still be a daily driver... if ya'll think thats possible haha... (any suggestions are welcome)

 

[BogusSVO]

good forged internals and a good set up wet nitrous system, would be the quick and easy way... others will say go turbo....

3500 is not much of a build budget to get a 10 sec car, double that and you may get close...

 

[Melbowski]

dont know if this is the right place for this... but... i can get over lookin stupid...

so, i'll be honest im pretty new to tuning... so heres the deal...

my dad (straying from his normal personality) decided he would buy me a 97 Talon Esi as a gift after i finished Basic... ran great... minor oil leak but i could live with that... after a while... i pulled it in my garage to replace the hub... then.. discovered after 1 night, i had a nice puddle of oil on my floor... so.. i replaced the normal culprits... still the leak.. its been lowered so its hard to get under and look like it was coming from my VC... well... discovered it was a blown head... so... gunna go ahead and rebuild... nows where i want ya'lls help... i got a budget of $3500... at this time.. what would ya'll suggest i do while i got the engine out to get me in the 10's and still be a daily driver... if ya'll think thats possible haha... (any suggestions are welcome)

What do you mean by blown head exaclty? Like blown headgasket, or the timing belt jumped and your head internals are trashed? Are you planning to rebuild the whole engine, or just have the head redone? If the whole engine, then why exaclty are you planning to rebuild it, did the engine seize up, or does it still run and have good compression? If it's just the gaket, just replace the gasket and drive it; if it's the head, make sure the pistons are alright (likely have no damage or a minor scuff) and if they're in good shape find a head on the forums for cheap (like $100) and swap it on with a new belt and drive it. If whole engine is trashed, buy a used one from the forums or Craigslist and drop it in.

If you're thinking of rebuilding the motor, pass on it; the 420A isn't really worth dropping a ton of money into (no offense intended) so don't waste your time. Assuming the motor still runs, just replace what is broken, throw on a new timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, and move on.

As for making it a 10 second car, your best option is to fix it cheaply, sell the car and then take you mod money, combine it with what you sold the car for and buy a nice 97 TSi or TSi/AWD. Hell, you may even have money left over for some mods, and making the 4g63t roll 300hp reliably (not a 10-second car or anything, but still plenty of fun) as a DD isn't overly expensive (in comparison anyway), just don't cut corners.

Making the 420A into a 10 second car (hell, a 12 second car) is neither viable nor cost-effective. There is little point in trying to make a slow car into a quick car, when you could just make an already quick car into a fast one for less time, money, and work. Overall, it will be money well-spent and you'll be happier in the long run.

On a side note, please change your vehicle info into "'97 Talon N/A" or "'97 Talon ESi"; N/A is naturally aspirated, N/T while used for "non-turbo" is improper. Also, please clean up your spelling and grammer as per rulle #7, as the mods can and will rape you for it. Not trying to be mean or anything, just wanted to let you know before you get into trouble for it.

 

[dimebag120]

yeah.. didnt really think it would... but.. its a start.. and i figured id go ahead and blow the 3500 while i had the engine out...

well.. thats honestly a good bit of help.. i was thinking of fixing it then selling the car.. but.. it would piss my dad off and after 19 years of barely knowing him.. id rather keep it just to make him happy.. i might go ahead and buy a 4g63 and swap.. but since i have this car, i figured i would at least try. but as far as whats wrong; it isn't seized, and i already replaced the gasket, and its still pissing oil. and i know how to fix it. but do not want to make self look stupider than i already have trying to explain it. but either way. i'll have to drop the engine to fix it. so, i figured while i was at it. and have the money that was set aside for this, i would go ahead and play around a bit.

 

[bagged420a]

What do you mean by blown head exaclty? Like blown headgasket, or the timing belt jumped and your head internals are trashed? Are you planning to rebuild the whole engine, or just have the head redone? If the whole engine, then why exaclty are you planning to rebuild it, did the engine seize up, or does it still run and have good compression? If it's just the gaket, just replace the gasket and drive it; if it's the head, make sure the pistons are alright (likely have no damage or a minor scuff) and if they're in good shape find a head on the forums for cheap (like $100) and swap it on with a new belt and drive it. If whole engine is trashed, buy a used one from the forums or Craigslist and drop it in.

If you're thinking of rebuilding the motor, pass on it; the 420A isn't really worth dropping a ton of money into (no offense intended) so don't waste your time. Assuming the motor still runs, just replace what is broken, throw on a new timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, and move on.

As for making it a 10 second car, your best option is to fix it cheaply, sell the car and then take you mod money, combine it with what you sold the car for and buy a nice 97 TSi or TSi/AWD. Hell, you may even have money left over for some mods, and making the 4g63t roll 300hp reliably (not a 10-second car or anything, but still plenty of fun) as a DD isn't overly expensive (in comparison anyway), just don't cut corners.

Making the 420A into a 10 second car (hell, a 12 second car) is neither viable nor cost-effective. There is little point in trying to make a slow car into a quick car, when you could just make an already quick car into a fast one for less time, money, and work. Overall, it will be money well-spent and you'll be happier in the long run.

On a side note, please change your vehicle info into "'97 Talon N/A" or "'97 Talon ESi"; N/A is naturally aspirated, N/T while used for "non-turbo" is improper. Also, please clean up your spelling and grammer as per rulle #7, as the mods can and will rape you for it. Not trying to be mean or anything, just wanted to let you know before you get into trouble for it.

This guy haha...

Let me go ahead and get a little rant in myself..Okay, don't sell your car just to buy another fwd. The only reason to consider buying a car with the 4g in it is if its AWD. There are 420a's in the 10's and by the way a 12 sec 420a isn't hard to reach.
With 3500, you could build for boost or spray. Decide what you want. Then build accordingly, the rebuild (assuming everything is fine with the motor and head) will run about 12-1500 if you do it your self. that leaves you 1500 which is a good start for a nice turbo set up. Don't try and swap a 4g into what you have it isn't feasible. It can be done, but its not worth the money or effort.
And the above poster makes it seem like a 300whp 420a isn't realiable, well I've been running mine as a DD for the past 4 years with no major problems. But hey, what do I know.
And the vehicle info just so the above poster knows is a set selection. The site gives you only one option for N/A's and thats N/T. Which would still be correct, because if its non turbo then its non turbo.

EDIT: Can't believe I missed the part where Melbowski was throwing out rules to you, which is ironic because he broke the one about telling you to sell your 420a and get the 4g63...

 

[Melbowski]

To the OP, I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. My opinion by far is not the only one, and if your heart is set on making the 420A into a beast it is certainly possible. With the right amount of cash combined with the right parts any car can be a 10 second car, it's just usually easier and in some cases cheaper to start with an already proven platform. There is definitely an added bonus of the feeling of accomplishment when you do it yourself to a car that is not often thought to hold that level of performance.

By all means, put the money into it and build your car up, especially if it will help strengthen the bond with your father. There are plenty of 420A powered DSMs that could spank the turbo models. In whatever direction you choose to take I wish you luck, and look forward to seeing your build in the future!

Also disregard my suggestion to change to N/A, most forums I frequent let you type it in, I neglected to notice that this forum does not. The grammar however still holds (it's rule #5 here, been at DSMTalk too much lately ) I just don't want you to get a warning as I saw it was your first post. Definitely throw some pictures up here too, 2gb Talons are sexy! Previous owner put an Eclipse front on mine, and I just found a Talon bumper to return it to its former glory. Again, good luck to you man, and keep us informed on the progress.