my long journey

[mikEclipse99]

so i bought my 99 gst stock about 6 months ago. i drove it for a month, never got out of temporary tags, then the throttle got stuck at WOT for a good 5 seconds or more. i turned off my car as fast as i could but the turbo timer was still running so i shut that off as well. while the whole thing was happening it was just scary so it took longer to turn it off than it should have. when i turned my car back on it had a knock. that was the last day i drove it for about 3 months. a week later i started pulling out the motor to get it rebuilt. when i took off the TB there was a 2.5" piece of rubber stuck in it. where ever the hell that came from, i dont know. my friends dad owns a machine shop up in cleveland so he was the one going to rebuild it. i got all my parts, spent about $5000 on parts, took it all to the machine shop and he said it would take him about 3-4 weeks to finish. well i got a call about 2 weeks later saying that the pistons werent the right ones. i had bought them from a friends friend. they were supposedly wiseco 9:1 .20 over pistons but i have no clue what they really were. the machine shop also told me that i needed a new crank. so then i bought an eagle 100mm crank and wiseco 9:1 .20 over stroker pistons. a week later the machine shop got them and yet again they were the wrong pistons. extremepsi sent me the wrong ones. so another couple days passed by and the RIGHT pistons arrived at the machine shop. a week or so later he was finally finished with my motor. so in all it took about a month and a half before i got my motor back. we could finally start putting the motor back in. getting it back in wasnt so bad. after we got it in there was an oil leak. i finally located where it was leaking from and it was squirting out of the oil pump gear. the nut wasnt tight enough. so i fixed that then drove it for about a week. the throttle was still sticky like it was previously. i ordered a bbk 62mm TB and a new non cruise throttle cable and now the throttle is perfectly fine. two days ago my check engine light came on and then it started misfiring in cylinder 4. i ran a compression test and cylinders 1, 2 and 3 had around 140psi while cylinder 4 had about 40psi. it turns out the exhaust valve was leaking. i havent removed the head yet but its either bent or burnt. im removing the head tomorrow morning and taking it back to the shop to have them fix it. someday my car will not have any problems oh yeah i forgot...its a DSM. i still love it though. soon as i pay off my debt i can get a new fuel system and a new turbo. it now sits as a 2.3L stroker fully built. ive already dumped $7000 in it and havent even touched the turbo or fuel system...uhhh.

 

[BigSorn]

atleast now you have a great base to build up from.


good luck with the valve.

 

[gsxonthebeach]

How many miles did you have on your 1999 engine before you rebuilt it? just curious.

 

[FuelInjected]

wow, shit, and I thought i had problems with my dsm. i think that tops it off for me. good luck, hope it works out in the end for you.
i love my dsm.

 

[mikEclipse99]

before i rebuilt it it had 105k on it. now it has 1400 on it. we pulled the head today and the two intake lifters on cylinder 4 were off and laying in the head. therefore it is a bent valve.

 

[Kaotic_red]

well i hat to say it but i think you picked up a lemon. Once you get the head redone it souns like you should have a completely rebuilt motor. Now once that is completed i would look into getting the turbo and stuff done. After that it will be a beast.

 

[mikEclipse99]

yep kaotic, soon as i get out of my debt ill be able to get a fuel system and a nice big turbo...i cant wait . i want to break 400 or maybe 500hp once im done. im aiming for 500 but i will be damn happy with 400hp

 

[crimsonGST]

Well in a way this kind of reminds me of my story. Bought the car in the ATL. Drove it up to tennesee to visit fam. Got all the fluids changed and belts checked before the long drive back to Louisiana. It rained for 17 hours straight and I do not like the rain so I was only 50mph. Got it literally 5 feet from the Louisiana border and she crapped out on me. After two months of checking crap, changing things, and sitting bewildered as to why it would not get better. Someone suggested I change my PCV valve yesterday and now the car runs perfect

 

[talon96tsi]

With a 2.3l and the right turbo and supporting modifications and a good tune, 500whp wont be very hard to attain. good luck!!

 

[mikEclipse99]

what do you think is the right turbo? i want to get something big, but not too big. i also want the price for my set up; wastegate, turbo, downpipe or o2 housing to be less than $1500 ish and there are just so many turbos out there i dont know which to use.

 

[eclipsekid187]

you keeping your stock exhaust mani?

 

[mikEclipse99]

it has a tubular mani on it. was on when i bought the car. but when i upgrade turbos ill get a new one because i dont trust this thing haha