My DSM Saga. Part 1

[impactspoon]

I am new to the DSM community, I got a great deal on a 1995 Eagle Talon TSI (or at least what I thought was at the time). I picked it up for 800.00, it has 250,xxx kms on it and was told that it needed a rear wheel bearing and the paint on the roof is a little faded. The drive from the buyers house to work made obvious that the clutch needed to be replaced but other than that drove well. When I got a chance to pull it into my bay at work, I put it up on the hoist and had a good look at what I was dealing with. First things first, I popped the hood and found that the previous owner had equipped the motor with a vent to atmosphere bov and an Injen cai. There were leaks present near the power steering reservoir, valve cover and around the oil filter housing. So after I got it up in the air I shook the wheels down and found that it needed two wheel bearings (driver's front and passenger's rear) Driver's outer tie rod, two front lower control arms and two upper control arm bushings on the rear. I have done the wheel bearings, the rear being the single most godawful wheel bearing I have ever done, getting the axle shaft was the worst part. Am going to do the tie rod end and the lower control arms this coming pay. So I take it for a test drive and it starts squealing like a bi*** and snaps the belt for the crank, water pump and alternator. So I put a new belt on and cleaned up the pulleys, started it up, ran great but as soon as the cooling fans kicked on the squealing returned! Thusly I put a voltmeter on the battery while it was running and it read 11.8 volts. So the alternator is pooched. Next pay I plan on modding the Saturn alternator to fit the car. My wife just got a digital camera, so the next time I have to do something to the car I will post pics too.

I will have more soon........ from what I have read the saga has just begun.

 

[jakeachy]

as long as you treat it well and maintain it, it will treat you the same.

 

[impactspoon]

I see that is the trend amongst most noobs and DSMs, mod the piss out of them before you bring them up to par. Such is the case with the car I got, very poorly maintained... for the price of the bov and cai all of the issues that need to be addressed would not be an issue!

 

[Eagle192]

i bought a n/t talon for 800, but it had rod knock, so i think you got a good deal, atleast yours drives

 

[stagen]

No kidding dude, a 2g TSi for $800. I've seen shells go for that much. Good deal indeed. Good luck with getting everything up to par.

 

[impactspoon]

The Saga continues. So recently Ive done the outer tie rods, all 4 lower ball joints, front brakes, new clutch and the alternator ...but the squealing still continued. Again, I brought it into my bay and put it up on the hoist ( I think the car does this s@#t on purpose because it enjoys being in the shop). To my dismay it was the crank pulley making all this rukus. It had separated into 2 pieces, so I ordered up an Unorthadox Racing UDP and that was the end of that. BUT, shortly after that the car slowly began overheating slightly. So I started with a cooling system pressure test, which it failed. The car would only overheat under load, next I removed the rad cap and started the car...low and behold the coolant was foaming like it had rabies. This usually means head gasket, but just to be sure I checked the coolant for hydrocarbons and, well.. yeah....it failed that too. So now I have amassed a big dirty list of parts to get her all fixed up and going again. thus far I have ;

Water pump (with a metal impeller)
Top end kit ( incl. head gasket, valve seals, all other top end gaskets)
New head bots
Timing belt
Timing belt tensioner
Thermostat
Oil pan gasket ( I recently found out its leaking)
Used timing belt cover (as the old one took a beating from that crank pulley)

plus a few other things I picked up from the bone yard ( WHICH, by the way, my girlfriend WILLINGLY came with me and actively helped me harvest parts from the one 97 talon we found....just had to put that in there, ...and honey, if you are reading this, I want you to bear my children)

Door handles and hatch lock ( with a key that my awesome Natalie found!)
Hatch support rams
Some interior pieces
and a 97 front bumper cover that is kind of smashed but I should be able to work my mojo on it, it does look so much better than the 95.

Thank you for reading and I will post progress, hopefully with pics soon.

Eric

 

[wishgst]

goodluck man. this is what dsms are alllll about

 

[DSM1G90]

this is what dsms are alllll about

..esp, with a rig that has 155k miles on it (250Km/.62=Miles) it's bound to have repairable issues that, when all done, can still make a sweet ride out of it.

Definitely, called a "hobby."

good luck-DSM

 

[gsxtreme1987]

Thats a bad ass deal man!

 

[viperlp01]

My girlfreind is finally starting to like my dsm ... I guess it took volk te-37s and window tint.... Kinda an expensive way to make someone like something ... Shit you spent 800 dollars and you got your girl loving it alreasy ...

 

[osnoozeo]

My girlfreind is finally starting to like my dsm ... I guess it took volk te-37s and window tint.... Kinda an expensive way to make someone like something ... Shit you spent 800 dollars and you got your girl loving it alreasy ...

i wish i could say the same, my ol lady hates my talon!

i feel your pain man, when i bought my 95talon, i had to fix tranny, clutch. rack, and tons of other things and list still continues, but the car is running great now and about 5-6grand later

 

[RayBan GST]

good buy and good luck with it



you said that your wife just bought a camera and then your girlfriend helped you out in choosing the parts , your girl friend is your future wife?


again good luck and its really a good buy

 

[tjbiker031]

Yeah its def. a labor of love. My wife hates my car because theirs something that always needs to be fixed, but loves it when it is working right.

 

[IceMinion]

In all honestly, sell the car, concentrate on your career and education, drive a civic or a corolla until you get rich, then drive the bently, better then spending 10 years working on these damn cars, wasting all your money with nothing to show for it.

, ill keep driving my DSMs forever because I have invested too much money to quit now!

 

[whiteAWD]

**My wife just got a digital camera, so the next time I have to do something to the car I will post pics too.


**plus a few other things I picked up from the bone yard ( WHICH, by the way, my girlfriend WILLINGLY came with me and actively helped me harvest parts from the one 97 talon we found....just had to put that in there, ...and honey, if you are reading this, I want you to bear my children)



please tell me these two ladies are the same person????

 

[kris_stewart10]

If not he is my hero Good Job buddy....

 

[SethA]

;

Water pump (with a metal impeller)
Top end kit ( incl. head gasket, valve seals, all other top end gaskets)
New head bots
Timing belt
Timing belt tensioner
Thermostat
Oil pan gasket ( I recently found out its leaking)
Used timing belt cover (as the old one took a beating from that crank pulley)

Eric

If you are doing a timing belt and a oil pan gasket I would eliminate the balance shafts while you are at it if you want to. Read about porting the oil bypass and or modifying the pressure relief valve if you do the BSE. If you are doing the top end you could do cams too.

Seth

 

[oldman420]

Check out your ecu too, being a 95 you might be lucky and have an e-prom

 

[Dsmj89]

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the world of the endless money pit hobby hehe.
After you get her all fixed up and up to par with maintenace, what plans do you have for her ?

 

[evileclipse909]

Idk if you all noticed but his first posts mentioning the wife were almost a year old. Also something funny my friends dad told "A wife will do nothing but bi*** about your toys, while a girlfriend will get down and dirty and help clean and wax them"

 

[aaronhawk60]

Man you got a great deal by the time you get all the stuff up to par you are going to have a great car that you know is sound

 

[webconnect]

In all honestly, sell the car, concentrate on your career and education, drive a civic or a corolla until you get rich, then drive the bently, better then spending 10 years working on these damn cars, wasting all your money with nothing to show for it.

, ill keep driving my DSMs forever because I have invested too much money to quit now!

Haha that one stung me a little bit.

 

[whiteAWD]

evileclipse909 Idk if you all noticed but his first posts mentioning the wife were almost a year old. Also something funny my friends dad told "A wife will do nothing but bi*** about your toys, while a girlfriend will get down and dirty and help clean and wax them"

ah yes, this makes more sense now!!! DEE DEE DEEEEE

 

[impactspoon]

Ok, I'm sorry. Perhaps I should shed some clarity on this wife/girlfriend issue. Yeah, that post was last year. I've since become invested in a new relationship, 5 years is a while....we were common law. BUT, my girlfriend helps me move past that by being an active part of my hobby, which is badass....if I may say. So there you have it.

 

[whiteAWD]