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

[Ludachris]

ROAD TRIP!!
Photos from Seattle, Bend, and Middle of Nowhere Idaho

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Maybe it's just the photos, but your rear camber looks like it's way negative. Might need some new rear tires after this road trip! Some adjustable rear control arms or eccentric bolts will help.

 

[ogAviJohnson]

Maybe it's just the photos, but your rear camber looks like it's way negative. Might need some new rear tires after this road trip! Some adjustable rear control arms or eccentric bolts will help.

Thanks. Finally made it to Denver area and will be attempting to address this, coil over adjustment, and alignment while I'm here.

 

[TCB91GSX]

Thanks. Finally made it to Denver area and will be attempting to address this, coil over adjustment, and alignment while I'm here.

Highly recommend Lakewood Alignment & Brake service, 1575 Allison St. 303-233-4681

Those guys kick ass with alignments.

Do you live here or passing through ?

 

[ogAviJohnson]

Highly recommend Lakewood Alignment & Brake service, 1575 Allison St. 303-233-4681

Those guys kick ass with alignments.

Do you live here or passing through ?

Thanks! Just passing through.

 

[TCB91GSX]

Thanks! Just passing through.

Nice, let me know if you need a hand adjusting those coilovers.

 

[ist dwa]

I really enjoyed looking through this thread, please finish the side moldings and complete car. This could be one of the nicest 1g in North America with the body work attention that was paid.

 

[AKbag]

Man it's so great to see this car getting out there!

 

[Ludachris]

Highly recommend Lakewood Alignment & Brake service, 1575 Allison St. 303-233-4681

Those guys kick ass with alignments.

Do you live here or passing through ?

When I lived out there I found a Firestone shop in Highlands Ranch that offered a lifetime alignment - and the guy would actually set a race alignment for me - I took it in a few times after adding new parts too! Most shops won't touch camber plates and aftermarket adjustment pieces. Doubt they still offer that.

 

[ogAviJohnson]

Few more pics from the 5000 mile road trip. Thanks to Justin Ackerman for the new custom alt. bolt spacer.

 

[arodgst]

Super Clean!!

 

[SnowmanFD]

I love everything about this!

 

[Xineth]

Hi everybody, I am now the proud owner of the DSM in this thread! I do plan to continue the build on this thread as I feel it's part of this cars identity. This is my first DSM and first project car and I have a lot of plans to turn this car into a reliable street monster. Updates will be slow as I do not have a huge budget each month to put towards the car and am active duty military and away from home a lot. It's also my first project and would rather take forever, making sure I do things right than rush things just to get it back on the road and end up with a rod through the block. I don't know what Smilinjay's endgame with this car was but I hope I can do him and the car some justice. I'll add some more current info to the car as some of it isn't found in the thread:
-It currently has a pretty moderate oil leaking coming from the valve cover (only place I have found so far) which is the first thing I am going to fix.
-Meth system is currently inoperable. My guess is a relay shorted as there is no fuse for it and it currently isn't connected. I planned to take it out completely anyway so not a big deal to me
-Major exhaust leak on the downpipe/exhaust flanges (warped heavily). Plan to take off whichever side is the point of failure and grind back down flat. Temporary fix as I plan to put a new system in there eventually.
-Needs a new radiator, lower core in current one is running out of life. Not that hard of a fix.
-E-brake needs to be adjusted (I can pull it up with 1 finger ). Found that left rear adjuster is sticking shut, won't that hard to fix.
-Tach doesn't work. Will tackle when I start doing electrical stuff as it's not a super big issue (hopefully it's just a faulty crank position sensor).
-Exhaust rubs heavily on the rear diff. Planned to buy a different exhaust eventually anyway so no problem there, also is not rubbing in a spot where it can damage the diff.
-Possible vacuum leak somewhere?? Haven't looked into at all but I definitely hear a whistle indicating a vacuum leak somewhere in the system
-Various cosmetic/interior stuff such as no driver side lap belt latch, no stereo, etc. These issues are the least of my worries right now but will eventually be taken care of.
That is all of the major problems concerning the car that I have found. Nothing super serious besides the oil leak/vacuum which hopefully doesn't turn into something serious.
Now that the car is up to date I'll kind of lay out my plans/goal for the car. As it is my first project car/DSM I'm not going to try to make insane power, but with the setup it currently has I can definitely make decent RELIABLE power. All my plans for this car will start being implemented after the major problems are taken car of:
-First and foremost go through every fluid in the car, mostly just for my own piece of mind.
-As stated above I plan to completely remove the Meth system. It doesn't work currently anyway. I know this will require a retune but I was already planning on doing that anyway which will come apparent with the rest of the plans on the list.
-Go down injector sizes, possibly to 850cc. 1050cc is overkill for the goal I'm trying to reach. Even with an upgraded fuel pump the system could still possibly be starved for fuel in certain scenarios.
-Plan to keep it tuned with speed density and implementing a BOV in the system.
-New exhaust system, whether it be name brand cat back or custom.
-Dual catch-can setup. It currently has the same one Jay installed with a crank-case breather tube going into a ginger ale bottle . Definitely plan to turn the bottle into a second catch-can and mount both of them where the current meth system is installed.
-I do plan to keep the 272/272 cams and would love to have a lopey tune. I am not knowledgeable enough to know if that'll bring the reliability down, if so I won't go for it.
-Replace current coil's with Megan Racing coils.
-Go through all the wire's and make sure everything is reading properly (hopefully I'll figure out what's wrong with the tach and won't have to source a working cluster)
-New downpipe? This will depend on how it looks when I pull it off the fix the exhaust leak.
-Possibly route a toggle switch in the cab for the radiator fans.
Those are the only things I have planned in the near future/will tackle first. All the various cosmetic stuff will come after I have a dialed motor. I prefer function over form.
Thanks for taking the time to read all the way to the end, I know it was a lot. I will say again, I'm not super knowledgeable when it comes to in-depth engine work so any advice/constructive criticism is welcome!

 

[ogAviJohnson]

Great to see it in your garage. I’ll be sad when you delete Justin and I’s Ginger Ale catch can though .

 

[BeatupVR4]

1Ga's will never not look sexy AF. Pop up up and down headlights forever.

 

[streetraceboi]

I dont think I've ever been happier seeing a car hop around a few times Usually they end up in the wrong hands and end up ruined. Im glad to see this one keeping on keepin on! Its nice to see! This car has had a journey for sure, but always ends up in good hands

 

[Xineth]

Hey everyone, back already with an update. Today's goal was to try to fix the E-brake issue, wash down the car/engine bay to try and pin point the oil leak and do a compression test. Here's how it went:

First off I went to the DMV to get it registered. I will be holding onto the plate as I'm sure this car lives in a lot of Alaskan natives hearts.

Next me and my buddy Shane (you'll be seeing him a lot) pinpointed the brake issue at first to be the left rear caliper adjuster. The entire adjuster was seized up and took a lot of WD-40 and grunts to get anything lose.

Also as you can see the soft brake line is starting to get a hole in it. It currently doesn't leak but I will definitely be refreshing both rear brakes with new rotors/calipers/pads eventually. The right side was pretty much fine, it was just the left that was bad. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be the adjuster but the entire piston in the caliper was bad which gives me even more reason to do a complete refresh. We cleaned it up enough so that we cant push the car anymore while the E-brake is on but it definitely isn't holding it on a hill (ask me how I know ).

After that we drove over to our local self wash and gave her a good rinse. The paint is still holding up very well, it looks great in person.

After that we came back and did a quick compression test just to see where we're at with the engine.

Also managed to pinpoint the oil leaks to 100% be coming from the valve cover, exhaust manifold and a tiny one at the bottom of the dipstick. As for the compression test I did 3 tests on each cylinder with 5 revolutions of the crank, here's what we got:
-Cyl 1 read 130 psi
-Cyl 2 read 119 psi (oof)
-Cly 3 read 149 psi
-Cyl 4 read 151 psi
Overall not terrible and pretty much what I expected. Cylinder 2 I may have to keep an eye on but 119 is not the end of the world. Cylinder 1 is also below spec/recommended but not terrible.
I plan on replacing all of the gaskets stated above which should fix a major of the oil that's leaking. We didn't get under the car and spray the underside as I don't have a lift and we also saw damp parts of the block under the intake manifold, it was just too hard to tell whether it was from water or oil. Hopefully I can source some gaskets and get them here soon so I can continue wrenching away at her. I will most likely post another update when that project starts which could be a while unfortunately.

 

[Xineth]

Hey everybody, back with another update. Managed to get a decent amount done but at the same time it feels like I didn't . Usually how it goes with car stuff. Anyway let's get into it.
First off I started tackling the oil leaks, so I took off the valve cover and the exhaust manifold to replace the gaskets. I ordered a new valve cover gasket from Fel-Pro hellyeah , brand new OEM exhaust manifold waffle gasket and ARP exhaust manifold studs from STM. Also grabbed a Vibrant O2-->Downpipe gasket from STM as well as I knew that was going to have to come off to get the manifold off. The stud's were kind of a "while I'm in there" type thing which I've noticed is starting to become a trend with me .

There was definitely a significant leak coming from the middle exhaust manifold stud, which after some further research makes sense. That stud supposedly leads into an oil gallery in the block, which would explain the leak coming from it.

The old gaskets were nasty. The exhaust manifold gasket was only 1 ply and felt like cardboard everywhere except around the holes (you can see the new O2-->Downpipe gasket in the corner there). I also checked the turbo for any shaft play and am happy to say it didn't want to move at all.

I put the new studs in with some ultra black high temp RTV for an even better seal so hopefully it won't leak from there again.

Unfortunately while I was taking the manifold off I found another major leak coming from the turbo oil feed line This isn't that big of a surprise as if I remember correctly Jay in the original build was having trouble getting a good seal on it. I plan to just thread it in as far as I can and put some PTFE tape on it and hope that stops most of it until I can come up with a better solution. I was also going to replace the gasket on the turbo side but none of the local auto parts stores had 1/8th" thick gasket aluminum.

I did not have enough time to finish today but I got as far as getting the manifold back in place with everything still disconnected. Nothing is torqued yet it's kind of just set there for now. I had to go buy a new toy to get enough clearance on the EWG pipe as it kept hitting the subframe while trying to put the manifold back on (my buddy was shocked I was even able to get it off at all ).

Unfortunately I will be out of town the entire month of May due to work so this will be the last update for a while. However, I have been stock piling parts for the next project which will be the power steering. I also bought a couple other miscellaneous things that I plan to do as well.

Brand new OEM pump and power rack! Also snagged a bracket as well.

That's all for now. I do have a request however. I can't find any information on what turbo is currently on the car. All I currently know is that it's some kind of 20g. The only markings I found were the numbers "78-11890" and the Mitsubishi diamond on the hot side of the turbo which tells me it's at least a OEM hot side. If anyone knows anything that would be awesome.

Thanks again for reading. It's a slow process but I enjoy every minute I spend wrenching away and can't wait to finish the build!

 

[T bags]

Amazing work and he details are their

 

[pat white]

i like what ur doing being thorough ...Reliability is a great goal

 

[Xineth]

Back again with another update, finally got to do some major work after being gone for a month. This time I finished putting the car back together so that I would be able to drive it. I decided to fix a couple more things in the bay that would be easier with everything taken apart as it was. So here we go:

First off I ordered a new radiator as the old one was definitely on its way out

Yikes (also ripped the meth system out, more on that later)

While I was taking the old radiator off I found out why the fans weren't turning on at any point while driving. Turns out, something was wrong with the thermostat in the rad, so I ripped it out and used the left over wiring from the meth system to route a toggle switch to the cab. It was a lot more complicated than it needed to be (the old relay from the meth system should have been working fine according to my multimeter but that turned out to be the issue).
Some other goodies:

Unfortunately the fog lights do not work so I'll have to trouble shoot that at a later point but its not a major problem.

Here's what the engine bay looks like now with everything back together:

Like I said in a previous post I plan to mount a dual catch can setup where the old meth system went and it looks like I'll have plenty of space to do so. The new gasket on the exhaust manifold fixed the oil leak there, the new gasket from the Downpipe --> O2 housing fixed the exhaust leak there and because of that the car drives and idles waaaaaaay better now. I am stoked with the results. However, it is still leaking oil from one place and it's starting to piss me off

Turns out the oil is coming out of the hardware threads as I made a whole new gasket for it and it was bone dry WHILE still leaking oil. I tried to tape the threads with PTFE tape and it fixed it somewhat but it is still leaking oil. I don't know if it used to be blind holes and the hardware just poked through the walls or what but my next step is to put RTV on it and hope for the best. That is the last spot that is still leaking. The car is definitely drivable and doesn't leak NEARLY as much as it used to but I still want it to get fixed.

That's all for now. My next project besides fixing that leak is power steering. As soon as I start tackling that I will update here again. I plan to take the car to a meet up in Ferndale, WA this saturday so if you're in the area come try to find me! Would love to meet some more DSMers in real life. Other than that, that's all I got for now.

 

[T bags]

Back again with another update, finally got to do some major work after being gone for a month. This time I finished putting the car back together so that I would be able to drive it. I decided to fix a couple more things in the bay that would be easier with everything taken apart as it was. So here we go:

First off I ordered a new radiator as the old one was definitely on its way outView attachment 664702
Yikes (also ripped the meth system out, more on that later)
View attachment 664703
While I was taking the old radiator off I found out why the fans weren't turning on at any point while driving. Turns out, something was wrong with the thermostat in the rad, so I ripped it out and used the left over wiring from the meth system to route a toggle switch to the cab. It was a lot more complicated than it needed to be (the old relay from the meth system should have been working fine according to my multimeter but that turned out to be the issue).
Some other goodies:View attachment 664706View attachment 664707View attachment 664708
Unfortunately the fog lights do not work so I'll have to trouble shoot that at a later point but its not a major problem.

Here's what the engine bay looks like now with everything back together:View attachment 664709
Like I said in a previous post I plan to mount a dual catch can setup where the old meth system went and it looks like I'll have plenty of space to do so. The new gasket on the exhaust manifold fixed the oil leak there, the new gasket from the Downpipe --> O2 housing fixed the exhaust leak there and because of that the car drives and idles waaaaaaay better now. I am stoked with the results. However, it is still leaking oil from one place and it's starting to piss me offView attachment 664710
Turns out the oil is coming out of the hardware threads as I made a whole new gasket for it and it was bone dry WHILE still leaking oil. I tried to tape the threads with PTFE tape and it fixed it somewhat but it is still leaking oil. I don't know if it used to be blind holes and the hardware just poked through the walls or what but my next step is to put RTV on it and hope for the best. That is the last spot that is still leaking. The car is definitely drivable and doesn't leak NEARLY as much as it used to but I still want it to get fixed.

That's all for now. My next project besides fixing that leak is power steering. As soon as I start tackling that I will update here again. I plan to take the car to a meet up in Ferndale, WA this saturday so if you're in the area come try to find me! Would love to meet some more DSMers in real life. Other than that, that's all I got for now.

Nice set up
Are you retaining the plastic drain plug for the radiator?

 

[Ludachris]

Back again with another update, finally got to do some major work after being gone for a month. This time I finished putting the car back together so that I would be able to drive it. I decided to fix a couple more things in the bay that would be easier with everything taken apart as it was. So here we go:

First off I ordered a new radiator as the old one was definitely on its way outView attachment 664702
Yikes (also ripped the meth system out, more on that later)
View attachment 664703
While I was taking the old radiator off I found out why the fans weren't turning on at any point while driving. Turns out, something was wrong with the thermostat in the rad, so I ripped it out and used the left over wiring from the meth system to route a toggle switch to the cab. It was a lot more complicated than it needed to be (the old relay from the meth system should have been working fine according to my multimeter but that turned out to be the issue).
Some other goodies:View attachment 664706View attachment 664707View attachment 664708
Unfortunately the fog lights do not work so I'll have to trouble shoot that at a later point but its not a major problem.

Here's what the engine bay looks like now with everything back together:View attachment 664709
Like I said in a previous post I plan to mount a dual catch can setup where the old meth system went and it looks like I'll have plenty of space to do so. The new gasket on the exhaust manifold fixed the oil leak there, the new gasket from the Downpipe --> O2 housing fixed the exhaust leak there and because of that the car drives and idles waaaaaaay better now. I am stoked with the results. However, it is still leaking oil from one place and it's starting to piss me offView attachment 664710
Turns out the oil is coming out of the hardware threads as I made a whole new gasket for it and it was bone dry WHILE still leaking oil. I tried to tape the threads with PTFE tape and it fixed it somewhat but it is still leaking oil. I don't know if it used to be blind holes and the hardware just poked through the walls or what but my next step is to put RTV on it and hope for the best. That is the last spot that is still leaking. The car is definitely drivable and doesn't leak NEARLY as much as it used to but I still want it to get fixed.

That's all for now. My next project besides fixing that leak is power steering. As soon as I start tackling that I will update here again. I plan to take the car to a meet up in Ferndale, WA this saturday so if you're in the area come try to find me! Would love to meet some more DSMers in real life. Other than that, that's all I got for now.

I just love that the fog lights were retained, and love the license plate frame even more.

 

[Xineth]

Nice set up
Are you retaining the plastic drain plug for the radiator?

The drain plug on the new radiator is a metal plug so I would say no

 

[T bags]

The drain plug on the new radiator is a metal plug so I would say no

Our came with the plastic one and it was a headache
Replaced and added Teflon tape and good to go.

 

[Xineth]

Quick little update as I did some more work while putting off starting the power steering.

First off I finally fixed (somewhat) all the oil leaks!! It took a couple of trips to ace hardware and re-tapping the threads (albeit without an actual tapper ) but the last oil leak is finally much more manageable. This pic is after driving around 100 miles round trip to the car meet up in Ferndale:

As you can see there isn't any oil coming out of the threads anymore, however now the gasket is pretty wet and the oil pan was a little damp with oil so now I think it's coming from the mating surfaces. At this point I'll take what I can get as this is probably the best it can be without dropping the pan and figuring out a permanent solution. It only leaks while the car is on and oil is actively flowing through the pipe so I'll take it.

Besides that I put on a quick release as the airbag was already deleted anyway. I loved that I was able to maintain the MOMO wheel as it's very period correct IMO and I think it looks awesome

Here's a photo someone took at the meet

The car drove amazing there and back, AFR's stayed around 13/14/15 and there was no major fluctuations in the oil pressure. I can't wait to get it tuned so I can really romp on it. Besides that I got some more goodies in the post in the form of a Forge Motorsport non-recirculating BOV and my braided brake lines for the upcoming brake refresh

I know the stock BOV is perfectly fine I just wanted one that didn't sound like a sneeze

Other than that I also plan to ditch the electronic boost controller and go to a manual one as the electronic one is disconnected right now anyway. If anyone has any info on how that works with a DSMLink V3 ECU it would be greatly appreciated.