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My 1g DSM story: 1990 Tsi awd clean street machine

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Smilinjay

Proven Member
290
97
Jul 9, 2013
Anchorage, Alaska
Hey everybody, before I start off, my name is Jay and I am a high school student from Alaska. I work on my car into free time between school and work so please bare with me, I will try to give updates when I make progress. Also, if you see me doing something the hard way feel free to give advice, as I am still rather new to the dsm community. Anyway, here's my 1g story from the very beginning. Hope you enjoy!

It all started last summer. I was doing my usual search through Craigslist when I came across an ad for a particular 1g listed as "built 91' talon". The price was more than fair, and this picture was in the description.
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So after work I went and checked it out. The moment I saw it I knew I had to have it. The motor had 30k on a complete overhaul with the eagle rods and wiseco .020 over pistons, arp head studs, and many other goodies. Also had tein coilovers, 6 piston willwoods, and real gram light 57 pro's! With a 16g on 20 pounds it pulled hard, and was perfect for the streets.

A few days later, I had purchased my first car:D! I spent the next month or so enjoying the car. Sure, it was a bit rough around the edges but I enjoyed it for what it was. I was hooked on dsm's.
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Then on august 9th, I went to grab some coolant after I got off work and this happened
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I was going straight and a driver pulled out in front of me to turn left. I swerved to avoid her but she made contact with my fender. I was pushed over a median and flew about 100 feet to where I stopped on the sidewalk. My car was completely destroyed. Soon after I found out she was drunk.
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I was devastated. After a brief trip to the hospital, I spent the next few days sulking around. I knew I needed another dsm, but in Alaska clean 1g's are in short supply. For the next month I searched craigslist until finally, my persistence prevailed.
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For 1500 bucks it was mine
 
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Sorry about that guys, should be straightened out now.
 
That looked like such a perfect 1GOMG:(:cry:

Also your new 1G needs those exact same rims back on it
 
DAMN that sucks, It was beautiful too! The rim is probably out of round now, What was the rim and tire specs? It looked like a nice set up. Part out the old one and use that money to get this one running nice!
 
Yea the wheels are toast. Bent, cracked, you name it. They were 17 by 8.5 but im not quite sure on the offset. Im still looking for another used set as they arent made anymore. A lot has happened so far and I will bring the build up to speed later tonight.
 
wow the old talon was beautiful i think I would have killed the lady if I was you.
 
Was the lady taken into custody? Was she charged with a DUI or something? Were you required to testify against her in a court of law?
 
wow the old talon was beautiful i think I would have killed the lady if I was you.

Yea by far the worst night of my life. She didn't even bother to call the cops. In fact I never even really saw her... I had to crawl through the window, hop out with my face bleading and call the freakin cops myself :banghead:

Was the lady taken into custody? Was she charged with a DUI or something? Were you required to testify against her in a court of law?

Yes she was charged with a dui and she cant get out of it because she took a breath test. And yes I have gone to court and testified. They are trying to get her with felony assault on a minor.
 
The 90' talon was the polar opposite of my 91'. It was almost bone stock with 98000 miles and a leather interior. Although it had not been driven hard, it had spent a large portion of its life sitting. It was clean and ran decent, but it was in desperate need of some tlc. I got the car home and started to figure out my plan.
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I wanted to build a cleaner, and meaner version of my old car. I would get to the "mean" later but first I had to take care of the "clean". Conveniently, I was taking (well I still am..) a collision repair class with a full shop equipped with pneumatic tools and a down draft paint booth. So a fresh paintjob was in the near future. But first thing's first, the car was I desperate need of a new clutch, and soon the inevitable happened.
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So in went an act 2100 clutch kit. This would hold me over just fine for the meantime, and was perfect for a stock car. This car was my main form of transportation, so I drove it around in this form for a few months while I waited on insurance money. And I have to say, its a balst to drive in the winter!:hellyeah:
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Of course, like any 23 year old dsm, a few things broke..This kept me plenty busy.
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Finally, it was my turn in the shop. Let the bodywork begin!
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hood had to be stripped due to rock chips
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More rust than I was hoping for.. But either way, its gotta go.
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That brings us to the present. Ill try to keep the updates coming quickly.

:hellyeah: !! JUSTICE !! :hellyeah:

So she, or her insurance better be paying some good money !!!!
man, chicks are dangerous enough on the road, with out the assistance of phones and alcohol.
(note) this is not to include female DSM'rs or all chicks just almost all of them ;)

Yes haha we were both insured by the same insurance company, so my insurance gave me a very fair amount of money. And the buyback was cheap too!
 
Small update, ive hit a little snag in my build. My car has far more rust than I would have thought in my optimistic stupidity :ohdamn:.. I have been hacking out all of the rust for the last week or so and I think I have gotten it all. Thankfully, my old car was 100% rust free, so it will be donating its rear wheel wells and a good portion of its rocker panels.
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Cutting up an old fender to use as a patch panel on one of the rear wheel wells.
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Sorry for the blurriness, but this id the bottom of the fender.
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Taking parts off when it's 5 degrees outside SUCKS :cry:. Have you ever seen such a sad sight?
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I also found a replacement drivers side door, which I soon found out was full of bondo.
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That's all I have for now really. Fortunately, when I finish with the rust my car will be ready to go into primer. So believe it or not i'm getting kind of close, as long as all goes as planned.
 
Ok, I finally have a pretty substantial update on the body work. Ill just let the pics do most of the talking.
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It took me a few passes with the bondo to get just perfect, but all of the filler (including the fiberglass) is only about 1.5mm thick.
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Yep, even my patch panel has a patch panel:hmm:
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And yes, I did grind the rest of the pitted areas down before spreading the kitty hair.
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Oh yeah, my 20g came courtesy of steve93talon:hellyeah:
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The door had a crack here so I welded it then fiberglassed it in. This is why you never buy used parts in the dark..
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Im glad I caught this when I did, because surface rust was beginning to form on the inside of the rocker. Should be savable if I go at it with a wire brush.
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That's all for now. Once I get the new patch for the rocker welded in it should be ready for primer. On a side note, here's a talon ad my buddy found in an old magazine:hellyeah:
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Nice build so far bro, sorry for the loss of the old dsm. The best thing is your ok and back in the saddle LOL! You should por15 all the metal you don't want to rust again. Its amazing stuff and works very well to stop and keep rust away, definetly worth doing!
 
I had to go through the same thing on my talon, cut the lower half the panels off from the front wheels to the back wheels on both sides. Then had to sand blast and get all of the rust off and coat it to keep it from coming back.
good work so far, body works a good skill to learn thats for sure. Shame about the first dsm, I loved the rims on it.
 
Thanks guys. Yea it always sucks to lose a good dsm...especially a rust free one haha. I'm bummed I didn't find out about por 15 earlier because I could've sprayed it before I put body filler on. Oh well, ill still spray it along the rockers and pinch welds before I primer them.
 
When I started reading I was like wow thats a sweet 1g. I think I would of had to choke a bi!tch.:ohdamn:. She could of killed you. Im glad to see your still stick with the build and your ok. I love the level of body skill your putting into this. I do not have the temperment for it.
 
Oh man, I'm surprised you aren't in jail for killing a drunk broad...I would have waned too. Good thing our 1g's have a 4/5 crash rating so you can build another clean one!

Haha well I was furious to say the least.. Yea, any way you look at it, it still SUCKS, but im trying my best to move on in life and learn how to build a car for myself.

When I started reading I was like wow thats a sweet 1g. I think I would of had to choke a bi!tch.:ohdamn:. She could of killed you. Im glad to see your still stick with the build and your ok. I love the level of body skill your putting into this. I do not have the temperment for it.

Thanks man, I really appreciate the positive feedback. Imo, anyone can do this kind of work if they have enough patience and time!
 
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Well I finished up on the rockers this week. All my repairs are sealed and ready for primer. Feels sooo good to be done with rust!
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I did spread and sand a layer of fiberglass before bondo here, just forgot to take a pic.
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One last pic of the driver side for good measure:sneaky:
 
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