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

[buddahboost]

I spy a spare 4G63! Nice coilovers, like a boss!

Why did you get rid of the FD wheels for the Evo8's? I thought everyone wanted the light FD's?

 

[Smilinjay]

Nice work! Most people would have given up with that much rust. Looks like you aced your auto body class Looking real good.

Haha thank you! I certainly considered giving up, but im really glad I saw it through.

I spy a spare 4G63! Nice coilovers, like a boss!

Why did you get rid of the FD wheels for the Evo8's? I thought everyone wanted the light FD's?

Yep, that's the block out of my old car (the one that I was told was "built" ) and the stock head off of my current car. I may just have future plans for it...

I really liked the fd wheels, but I couldn't justify getting extended studs and spacers for a 16" wheel as I may be going with bigger brakes in the future. Also I really like the fitment of the evo8's with the slightly lower offset.

 

[Maes]

Looks really great keep up the nice work!

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

A lot of hard work done here looks like it's paying off. The car is looking good! Nice work!

 

[Schmegma]

Good work ! Makes me not miss doing body work at all!

So why didn't you run the map sensor off the intake manifold?

 

[Smilinjay]

Thanks everybody for the kind words! Really helps motivate me to finish it.

Good work ! Makes me not miss doing body work at all!

So why didn't you run the map sensor off the intake manifold?

I didn't run the map sensor straight off the intake mani because by the time I figured out that I was going to run speed density the manifold was already on the car. And tapping into it then would've gotten metal shavings in everything. The brake booster line seems to be working well for now and its pretty inconspicuous.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Nice man I tapped my im and cleaned it out really good took a bit but everyone has there way of doing it.

 

[Smilinjay]

Not much to report, but heres a little bit of an update. Ive put almost 500 miles on the car so far, and all is good! There are still all sorts of minor leaks and issues that im working through but the car is running great. It pulls pretty decent too considering the super conservative 14psi and 8 degrees of peak timing. Ive been taking it to quite a few meets and local events and the car seems pretty well received . Oh how I missed driving a dsm!

 

[Maes]

Looks good. Are you going to be putting in the rest of the front lenses?

 

[Smilinjay]

Looks good. Are you going to be putting in the rest of the front lenses?

Yea I am. I actually took them out because the car was getting a little hot in traffic on a really warm day. Wanted to see if a little extra airflow helped.

 

[Maes]

Good idea did it help any

 

[Smilinjay]

Good idea did it help any

Yea quite a bit actually. Im still planning on running another pusher fan here soon though.

 

[Smilinjay]

Coolant overflow mounted where the stock smic was.

Got my hands on some clear side markers.

Looped my power steering lines. I love how much room it frees up in the engine bay.

 

[buddahboost]

Looks awesome! What overflow is that and how much?

 

[Smilinjay]

Looks awesome! What overflow is that and how much?

It came off my old car and says "jaz" on the top. It looks like it was pretty cheap since its just a plastic resivoir.

 

[Smilinjay]

5th time is the charm (hopefully) trying to get my oil drain to seal without leaking oil. This time im switching to an fp blue drain tube, and all new oem bolts and gaskets. I even used a bit of rtv... Normally I avoid the stuff like the plague.

Stupid Alaska roads, the underside of my car gets so filthy.

Took it to a buddys to give the engine bay a good clean with a power washer.

The car is now currently down because I had to send my downpipe to a machine shop to have the flange machined flat (it was leaking and throwing my afr's off). I was also having some issues getting the car into first gear, and it appears my master cylinder was the culprit. So new master and slave are soon to come too.

Oh yeah, new axles are going in too!

 

[Smilinjay]

 

[AKfrankenstein]

Good read!! Just went through your whole build and I'm glad you stuck with it! Those evo 8 rims do look better then the FD. Giving me all kinds of ideas and inspiration to get mine built this winter. I remember when I saw your old car on craigslist I think selling some stuff. Very sad man. Glad that didn't discourage you. Maybe I'll see you on the road this winter

 

[StevetotheH]

Love how clean everything is. The Doge sticker amused me thoroughly. I have a full shop and have trouble keeping things as clean as you were able to in your home garage, kudos for that.

 

[Smilinjay]

Good read!! Just went through your whole build and I'm glad you stuck with it! Those evo 8 rims do look better then the FD. Giving me all kinds of ideas and inspiration to get mine built this winter. I remember when I saw your old car on craigslist I think selling some stuff. Very sad man. Glad that didn't discourage you. Maybe I'll see you on the road this winter

Haha thanks man, its been a long project. And its still far from done .. Whats your name? Thought I knew all of the dsmers in ak

Love how clean everything is. The Doge sticker amused me thoroughly. I have a full shop and have trouble keeping things as clean as you were able to in your home garage, kudos for that.

Hahahahaha someone finally noticed the doge sticker! A buddy of mine had a batch of those custom made so of course I had to put one on the dsm. And yeah, im very particular about keeping things clean. Mainly because constantly working on a dirty car makes it 10x less fun

 

[AKfrankenstein]

Josh Lopez. Lived in anchorage and fairbanks for the last 5 years and now I spend my summers in skagway as a locomotive mechanic and be back in anchorage for winters.

 

[StevetotheH]

Hahahahaha someone finally noticed the doge sticker! A buddy of mine had a batch of those custom made so of course I had to put one on the dsm. And yeah, im very particular about keeping things clean. Mainly because constantly working on a dirty car makes it 10x less fun

If you're ever in Northern California and need some cash you are welcome in my shop any day. Everything that comes through these doors gets a bath first. Keep up the good work!

 

[Smilinjay]

Josh Lopez. Lived in anchorage and fairbanks for the last 5 years and now I spend my summers in skagway as a locomotive mechanic and be back in anchorage for winters.

Ah nice. Yeah it would be cool to have a meet up of some local dsmers sometime

If you're ever in Northern California and need some cash you are welcome in my shop any day. Everything that comes through these doors gets a bath first. Keep up the good work!

Wow haha I never thought I would be getting offers like that because of my lil build thread! Funny you should mention that because im considering moving to cali for school in the next year or so. Anyway, I appreciate the kind words man .

 

[AKfrankenstein]

Hell yeah we will have to do some midnight snow drifting which is my favorite. Are those new valve cover baffles or did you just clean and Re weld the old one?

 

[Smilinjay]

Hell yeah we will have to do some midnight snow drifting which is my favorite. Are those new valve cover baffles or did you just clean and Re weld the old one?

They are the original baffles. Just cleaned up and put back they way the factory installs them (sealant around the perimeter and peen the stubs back so they are mushroomed and hold the valve cover in place). The removal is kind of tedious but I just followed a tutorial on this site.