The $400 97 Talon Awd Rescue

[black91awdturbo]

Project cars are always slow to come together thats why the are projects ... You got a steal on a really really clean car, see it through and get the rewards of driving this car! If you sell it you will regret it right away i am sure of that.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Sounds like you've had some rough luck. Sort of sad to read. Here's to hoping things improve for you.

I wish it would. The big delay was the acl and learning to walk again. Who knew I would have to do that again. That put the car on its biggest delay. Hopefully it will be running soon. Also need the Civil Engineering market to pick up. Market has been dead the last 3 years with very little work for someone with a no PE. Cant get one till 2.5 more years of working. My biggest problem is not working. Kinda forgetting stuff I have not used now for 2.5 years. Might go back to school again to grab a few mechanical classes. At least there is work there.

Project cars are always slow to come together thats why the are projects ... You got a steal on a really really clean car, see it through and get the rewards of driving this car! If you sell it you will regret it right away i am sure of that.

Yeah I know. My first car has been a project car of 8 years. Died in 2009 with a rod knock. After failed used engines, failed new engines due to bad parts( Thanks melling oil pump that lasted 137 miles, cheap china crap), its currently been sitting for 2 years. Has a 385 Stroker LT1 with an oil pressure problem. Different engine than before. Its actually a pick and pull gold mind. But that is another story for another time. It has also made me not trust anybody on car parts. I want me to do it because if fails I can only have myself to blame. Even had bad machine shop work on that car. I have tried to sell the Firebird many times. Even after having buyers say I want it and never be seen again. I even turned down a deposit. That guy was never seen again. Maybe the Firebird is cursed?

I mean I think what is getting me is the time the talon has been sitting on jack stands. They were orange now they are a very faded peach color. I think it went onto jack stands around late April or early May of 2016. Before you know it might be on stands for a year in the driveway.


So onto some good news? After doing some research I found the Mighty Max trucks with the 2.0 should have the same crankshaft as the 4g63. Napa, Rock Auto, and Autozone use the same part number for the 6 bolt 4g63 and the g63b. Anyways two 2.0 trucks came into my pick and pull. Being I was having a hard time finding a crankshaft in budget I decided to make a trip. Got there and both trucks had engines. One had 137k but was missing a lot of stuff of the engine. It also had no body damage. Grill and headlight were missing but I think something was up with the engine. Red truck had 177k, but had a new cylinder head and was crashed in the front. Maybe someone was trying to make two trucks into one. Picture looked like they were on the same truck. Being they went on the yard the same day helps that theory. One was an auto and the other was a stick so the blocks were different. Anyways 4 hours later we had this. Was going fast but one starter bolt had to be a pain in the butt and took 30 mins to remove. Granted will say whoever worked on that truck never knew how to tighten a bolt. Lots of bolts started with no effort. Made sure to pay attention on the rod and main bearing caps. Those seemed to be torqued right.

Anyways result.



Got that out. Had standard bearings in it. Look to be originals. Some light light scoring. Figure it should clean up with a polish. Worst case I could have it turned since I already have .25mm under bearings for the other engine. Would make it nice and tight. Brought it home and side by side they look the same.

Can you tell a difference?



Bolts and pulleys go on just fine. Since both are internal balance no worry about that. Only need to steal the flywheel dowel pin as the might max did not have one. Bad crankshaft has one tho. Other than that I have a crankshaft. Not bad either was it was $68. Cheaper than anybody else wanted. So calling that good news? Need to get this project rolling again. Depending on bearings I will order a rack and pinion kit. Hope to have the crankshaft at the machine shop later this week. I am going to mic it best I can at the house. If its on the loose side I may take to Columbia and just have it cut. That way I can have a nice tight engine on the bearing side. Guess more to come in the next few weeks.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Well crankshaft needs to be turned. Will save a few bucks on bearings. Problem is finding a local machine shop that does it. Only one I have herd that can is 45 mins away and will not answer the phone. So may just take it to Columbia. Started lapping valves. Got 3 of the exhaust ones done before I had to do something else. Will say lapping valves SUCKS. Some grit got down into the third valve and it took forever to get it out. Only 13 more to go.....

Before



After



However found some bad news. Cylinder head has a scratch on the deck right at the sealing surface. So the money pit strikes again. Looks like the head is going to need a trim.




More money so even more set backs. I really considered just stopping. I think I could just get enough to get the other project car done. Anybody interested in this thing for $1400. I think that is what I have in it. Debating throwing it back up for sale. First I need to make it a roller again. Even that is hard as the wheels do not have tires on them. Really starting to not like this car. Project cars have their up and downs but this one has been nothing but downs for the last six months. Even on the engine rebuild section I should just get it honed and throw a new set of piston rings in it. That way it would be 100% rebuilt. Something in the back of my mine says that the compression is going to suck and I will be back to square one again. Going to finish the valve lapping. However after that I will be stepping back and debating on what to do.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Well got the rest of the exhaust valves done. They were the only ones leaking on the water test. Intake look really good so going to leave them alone. As for now I am putting the car back up for sale. Enthusiasm left the building months ago. Granted now watch the car not sell.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Well ended up selling some stuff again. Tax time came and people bought a few things. Something says I should fix this car. So I am going to find a machine shop this week. Also debating a full rebuild. I am only piston rings away. Going to look at the bores tomorrow and make a decision. Today I ordered the seal kit for the rack and pinion since the miller unit was a bust. So going to rebuild the cars original unit. Probably going to list the other unit up for sale. Also need to call Mitsubishi to get a few other small parts.

Also while craigslist hunting found a guy about an hour and a half away with some rims and tires off a 02 eclipse gt. They look like the 17x6.5 from the 2gb gsx. Anyways they are supposed to have almost new tires. They also have the lug nuts since Mitsubishi loved being different. If so I can have a set to roll around on as I do not like the 18s. Plus my rims are the knock off of the knock off. Made in Taiwan from the mid 2000s at best. So Worried about strength especially if I take the car to an autocross or two. That and South Carolina has crappy roads.

Hoping to have the engine in the car on the weekend of April 8th. Lets see if we can finish this car.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Well went up today and got some rims and tires. Came from a 2002 Eclipse Gt. Have almost new all seasons. But since its going to be a daily driver they will work. Got the factory lug nuts and the spare. I did not have a spare so this could be used. But progress. At least now I could put it back on the ground again.

 

[boostdawd]

Glad u decided to continue through with the project!

 

[96Formula6spd]

Another small update. Got my rack and pinion rebuild kit in. So I can now do that at some point. Will probably happen next week. Was also autocrossing over the weekend. Since I was in Myrtle Beach the local pick and pull gets more older cars. They also had these.



Raided a set of calipers and brackets from a 2006 Outlander. One of my calipers has a seized piston. Anyways for right now I can swap the calipers out. But then I have the brackets to move to the Outlander rotors. Got lucky there as the car had been on the yard since 10-29-16. 4.5 months and it was mostly complete. Also was able to pick up the top section of the battery tie down. Bolts were all gone but was at least able to get it from the one convertible car on the lot.

Now I need to make a run to the machine shop this week. Would be nice to drop stuff off while I head to Florida for 4-5 days.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Well the crankshaft is at the machine shop. Guy said its been a long time since he had seen a 6 bolt 4g63 or any 4g63 crankshaft. Said crankshaft looked good. Found the right place as they only do crankshafts. $110 and it should be done next week. Next I went out and looked at the bores.









Bores look very tired. Especially for an engine with about 12k on it. Lots of up and down scratch marks. Granted the hatch marks are still good. So I was thinking about ordering rings. However if you look at those pistons they have 855 in the part number. Being a stock bore is 85 this caught my eye. If you copy that part number into google you come up with this.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wis-6559m855

Those are Wiseco pistons and are 85.5mm. Good news I have some nice pistons bad news they are crappy for compression. Probably going to be around 8:1. Yuck I forgot how low these engines are in compression. Would have been nice for some 9.5:1. Oh well since they are a surprise that is nice. Buddy who is a parts guy said that is 100% how Wiseco marks their pistons. The $400 car that keeps on giving. So now the question is to do a full rebuild or rock these as is.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Just to make an important note for you.... If you got that spare tire from a 3g eclipse, please make sure it's a full size or a donut spare that is tall enough. Since they didn't come awd, and if it's not the proper height, you'll damage your awd system.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Just to make an important note for you.... If you got that spare tire from a 3g eclipse, please make sure it's a full size or a donut spare that is tall enough. Since they didn't come awd, and if it's not the proper height, you'll damage your awd system.

I did its not going to work. Its about 2 inches to short or more. That and it does not even clear the brake calipers. So useless for me.

 

[spyderdrifter]

That sucks. Glad you checked first.

 

[96Formula6spd]

Well more bad news.....does this car ever have good news? Pistons are trash. Pulled them out after posting another thread about it. Piston bores are scored. Probably going to have to bore it to 86mm or more as its 85.5 now. Bleh never ending money pit this car. Still not even working on any suspension bits or driveline stuff that may need work later down the road. To not post all the pictures here are a few.

All four pistons out.



Mmm deep scratches. Also check out that ring gap. Should be 180 degrees from each other. Well they all came out like this. Was not a fluke thing.



Who needs piston skirt coatings anyways. Its all gone on this side. Can even see deep scratches to the top rings. Could understand on a high miles car or something with loads of boost. But this engine had 12k miles and a t-25.



So now its back to the idea of rebuilding this engine. Guy who I am having the crankshaft turned at said I need to have the #3 main bearing looked over. Says it should be out of round. If so this could be a cause for other problems. Especially with no harmonic balancer I am surprised it lasted this long. If it was in budget I would be getting another engine and starting fresh. Something in the back of my mind says something I am going to miss is going to be bad on this engine. Then it will be back to a sitting car again.

 

[Andy0912]

Really enjoy reading this. Sorry you keep finding more things to do. Look forward to seeing how it comes out. Good luck!

 

[96Formula6spd]

Really enjoy reading this. Sorry you keep finding more things to do. Look forward to seeing how it comes out. Good luck!

Well I wish I would. So this thread will come to an end. Ended up getting tired of the car and not wanting to work on it at all. That as well as a lack luster budget I put it up for sale. A local DSM guy who has many of these cars needed a daily driver. I was debating on selling it still. However something on one of my other forums popped up. A 2002 Ford Focus SVT. $1500 running and driving with ice cold A/C. Ended up selling the talon on a Thursday and buying the Focus on Friday. This was about a month ago. I was sad to see the Talon go. Loads of work for coming out with a $300 profit. However I am loving having the focus around. So I guess I leave the world of DSM. Will probably be the last time I come visit.

 

[Andy0912]

That's too bad man. Well, thank you for the write up, and good luck to you.

P.S. I'm also the owner of a Ford Fusion and it's definitely the more luxurious reliable of the two so I can understand that haha

 

[96Formula6spd]

That's too bad man. Well, thank you for the write up, and good luck to you.

P.S. I'm also the owner of a Ford Fusion and it's definitely the more luxurious reliable of the two so I can understand that haha

With going back to school that will be 60 miles round trip and up to 5 days a week. Hoping to take the bus 3 of the days still makes something comfy the way to go. Been very happy with the focus. I am tires and a timing belt away from doing its maintenance. Really its only needed one vacuum hose a fuel filter and a set of spark plugs. Otherwise its been running nice and getting 29mpg. I am sad as the Talon was the one car I never finished. All my project cars over the years and ran and drove somewhere. But things must come to an end and it was time.