Looking to purchase '91 GSX, have questions

[RYAN762]

So I've always been into the V8 scene, mostly with trucks. Lately I've been looking for a car to play with and have been drawn to these 1g gsx/tsi's. So most of the stuff I've worked on has been N/A. I've got the basic understanding of how the whole turbo system works, but I don't know a ton about all of it.

So basically what I'm wondering is what your guys opinion is of what the car i found is. obviously you can't completely diagnose a problem over the internet but based on what the ad say I just want your opinion on whether you think that the guys full of shit or what he's saying is true.

Here's the ad:

"SHORT BLOCK- (6BOLT 4g63t Block)
-block was decked and bored .020 over.
-cyclinders were torque plated and honed. As well as mains were aligned and honed
- weisco forged .020 pistons 8.5:1 CR
- eagle H beam rods
-ACL main bearings
-ACL rod bearings
-ARP main studs
-ARP rod bolts
-Balance shafts eliminated
-New oil pump
-New oil pan
-fluidampr crankshaft pulley
-New dipstick and dipstick tube
-new oil pickup tube
-Mitsubishi timing components
-New hydraulic tensioner
- prothane engine mounts
-STM external oil cooler kit w/ stainless steel 8an lines
-Factory new external oil cooler housing
-ENGINE HAS 12,000 miles just barley broken in!!

CYLINDER HEAD

- cylinder head milled
- 3 angle valve grind
- stainless steel intake and exahuast valves
- BC 272 cam shafts
- BC valve springs
- BC titanium retainers
-hardened steel valve locks
-new upgraded lifters
-new valve guides
- Viton valve steam seals
- multilayer cometic head gasket
- stainless steel catch can
-ARP head studs
-also has new spark plugs, spark plug wires

DRIVETRAIN

-4 bolt rear diff (little over 100k on it)
-ACT 2600 clutch with street disc less than 500 miles
- fidanza lightweight flywheel
- New clutch fork, fulcrum ball, slave cylinder and master cylinder.
-stainless steel braded clutch line
-transmission was rebuilt 30k miles ago

TURBO/EXAHUAST and COOLING
- slow boy racing 60trim turbo on it.
-also comes with a functional 16g
-atainless steel ported exahuast manifold with Tial 38mm external wastegate
-stainless steel braded oil lines
-2.5" tubular oxygen sensor housing
-3" stainless steel downpipe
-3" thermal reasearch development cat back exaust system less than 1000 miles on it
-solid aluminum radiator
-new radiator hoses
-new thermostat
-new water pump
-custom coolant catch can
-front mount intercooler

FUEL SYSTEM, INTAKE, TUNING
-tuned on ethanol (e85)
- fuellab adjustable fuel pressure regulator
-AEM high flow fuel rail
-blue max 1550cc injectors
-walburo 255 fuel pump
-4" k&N intake
-front mounted intercooler 5" thick
-high temp silicon vacume lines
-hallman evolution boost controller
-DSM Link v3
-AEM wideband and boost gauge in pilar

SUSPENSION/BRAKES/RIMS

-2.5 eibach lowering springs
-new kyb struts
-energy suspension sway bar bushings
-front and rear strut tower bar
- New inner and outer tie rod ends
-ingalls adjustable rear upper control arms/camber kit
-ingalls adjustable front camber kit
-new front and rear brake pads and rotors
-new brake master cylinder

Rota torque hyper black rims!!

UPDATE!! This car held 155psi per cylinder starts everytime flawless. Pull strong!!! Smokes when you let off of boost alot of the smoke is unburnt ethanol that will be fixed in the tune, no oil in the turbo. Before you throw this car aside I ask you to ride in it and then try and tell me something major is wrong with it... nothing moves this fast with bad rings!"

I talked to him more and he said the cars currently tuned on E85 at 28 lbs of boost. says he has over $15,000 into the car and is asking $5000. seems like a fair price based on the others I have seen. Claiming 420-450hp.

My main question though, after talking to him some more, he said that the valve stem seals would need replaced and the tune would need to be tweaked to completely get rid of the smoke when letting off the throttle coming out of boost.

Is that something that happens or do you guys think he's full of shit and the turbo has blown seals? He also said that the current tune is a little rich but not so much that it would have and effects on the motor or cause any damage.

If i missed any needed just let me know, and thank you in advance for reading my giant wall of text.

 

[Purex2c]

For that price who cares if you need to rebuild the turbo? Leak down test along with the compression test should confirm the health of the engine.

 

[93AWDDSM]

My main question though, after talking to him some more, he said that the valve stem seals would need replaced and the tune would need to be tweaked to completely get rid of the smoke when letting off the throttle coming out of boost.

Is that something that happens or do you guys think he's full of shit and the turbo has blown seals? He also said that the current tune is a little rich but not so much that it would have and effects on the motor or cause any damage.

see if you can check the shaftplay on the turbo that's currently on it, or ask to see inside of IC piping to see if any oil...could be bad turbo seals, or turbo seals going bad.

I have bad Valve stem seals and when I idle for 2-5 minutes constant idle it puffs smoke but not in/out of boost.

EDIT: also if he says its running "rich" what is/are the wideband numbers under WOT?

 

[WES_393]

-ENGINE HAS 12,000 miles just barley broken in!!

The engine should have been broken in within hours. Actually, 12k is about 1/4-1/5 of the expected lifespan. Some have gone farther, most have gone much less. It all comes down to whether it was properly built, broken in, tuned, and maintained.

My main question though, after talking to him some more, he said that the valve stem seals would need replaced and the tune would need to be tweaked to completely get rid of the smoke when letting off the throttle coming out of boost.

Is that something that happens or do you guys think he's full of shit and the turbo has blown seals? He also said that the current tune is a little rich but not so much that it would have and effects on the motor or cause any damage.

The smoke is not from running rich. Ethanol combustion only produces Water and CO2. E85 also needs to be ran very lean or it will knock, foul plugs, and even contaminate oil. If the engine is somehow running that rich the engine has definitely been effected. It's much more likely that the engine is burning oil. Valve stem seals are a possibility but not likely. The turbo could be the issue. It's pretty old and likely being over oiled.

 

[RYAN762]

thanks for the help guys! all things I will look into.

Also when I go look at this thing, probably Saturday, I can pull the oil cap when its running and it will puff air out of the oil fill if the rings are bad, correct?

 

[JusMX141]

There's already a thread for this topic in the Hangout.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/hangout/285541-what-car-worth-car-good-deal.html