Then there was the salt missle

[Spleen8urLSX]

This is the Build Thread for Then there was the salt missle. Reply below.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

So this happened, traded a freshly machined block and a polished up crank to my good buddy @goonie90gsx for this thing. Was (and still is after winter) going to be a parts car for my other 1g and part out the rest when I’m done, but it runs good and I’m currently without a winter beater for this coming winter so why not just drive this thing!

Some maintenance is going to be required but with some pretty simple stuff from rockauto and the parts store along with all of the junk in my garage I can get this thing back on the road to commute to work in the salt months.

The good:
-it runs, real strong at that
-opened the hatch expecting it to come right back down and bust me in the head, but to my delight the hatch struts work!

The bad:
-Someone installed a Dayco auto tensioner, and it did what they do and it’s clacking and making a bunch of noise (timing would need to be done anyway and thankfully for warranty parts I’m not out much)
-Doesn’t stop, new front brakes are in order and seeing where it’s losing all of its fluid on the passenger side
-There’s new tie rod ends in the hatch so I’m going to guess the suspension is whooped
-Body is almost as rotted as the wreck of the Titanic, but the underside isn’t all that bad especially for spending it’s whole life in Michigan then Ohio.

Going to document it here for something to pass the time. Always wanted a beater 1g to drive through the winter then it hit me, I have just that so why not.

 

[99dsmer4g63]

Well I vote the name be changed from the salt missile to the shit missile. Just saying when I read the profile and you said the shit missile I absolutely grinned .

-Daniel

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Well I vote the name be changed from the salt missile to the shit missile. Just saying when I read the profile and you said the shit missile I absolutely grinned .

-Daniel

I can’t man my other 1g took that name already haha

 

[99dsmer4g63]

I can’t man my other 1g took that name already haha

Ahh I seen you say I would never do it in the shit missile and then later seen salt missile. Apparently I never looked at the blue cars profile to realize what you meant my bad.

-Daniel

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

So let me just say despite how dirty and rusty everything is it felt good to work on a DSM again for the first time in a while!

First things first, the most basic of things, I changed the oil. Wasn’t the worst I’ve seen but it was due for it anyway. Keep in mind this 6 bolt runs strong and will be finding its way into my “nice” 1g after winter, so maintenance is still key despite what a turd this thing has rusted to. Unfortunately I only have 3.5qts of Rotella conventional on hand and Walmart was sold out, so I told the wife to get the cheapest 15w40 they had. With that being said Mobil Delvac is what she came home with so that’s what it got. It will be changed again soon but looked pretty black so wanted something clean in it and didn’t care what it was. Let it drink on that with a new Denso filter I had on shelf for the other car that I haven’t needed for sometime, so that’s covered. Not that I believe in motor oil magically going bad over time, I’ve ran stuff on the same oil that’s been in it for 20 years if it isn’t due for a change or shows a reason, but the STP filter had been on there so long it was even starting to get rusty.

Next up was addressing the obviously bad auto tensioner. Tore into the timing side of the engine to find the cap the auto tensioner crumpled up and sitting under the balance shaft belt and the tensioner arm is indeed completely collapsed and resting on the body of the auto tensioner so that’s clearly the problem. Luckily, like when I have had this happen in the past, I found it had jumped but only a tooth (which would explain also why it seemed to run fine). Like I said this engine is a solid runner and has other purpose so I don’t want to kill it, and even if I didn’t have a reason I still don’t want to go trashing perfectly fine 6 bolt parts, therefore a full timing job will be done. Going to order the parts when I get paid again and will be able to button that up, balance shafts will be eliminated but not until it goes into the blue car so full service is getting done.

Last, earlier in the week I got the passenger side wheel off to see where it’s shooting brake fluid from. Turns out the short hard line between the 2 rubber hoses is rotted, so simple enough! Hoses are cheap from rockauto so I’ll be replacing those too along with the pads and rotors. My hope is other brake lines don’t start popping when I bleed them but I think it’s gonna be ok, I’ve done worse successfully.

Keep in mind I’m not doing this for longevity, just a parts car turned winter beater, then come February or March it will be a parts car again as the body is just too far gone. But that’s all for now, not much more to do until parts start getting here.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

So the plot thickens! Browsing it turns out this car once belonged to user knochgoon24 and he indeed has a vehicle profile of it. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been on since February of 2021. As you can see from his profile salt has really done its damage since his ownership in 2016 but sounds as if it was a very reliable car. Ironically, the timing belt and all of the components are getting replaced again. I know he’s not on here lately but if anyone knows him tell him I’d like to talk to him about the car, while there’s no hope of saving it I will be driving it for a few months and this engine will be going into my 1gb Eclipse as mentioned above so I’d love to talk to him.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Love this. Sad it’s been eaten too far by rust, and I love the header.

I miss having a n/t 1G. They’re so freakin reliable and just slow but fun. I need one in my life bad.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Love this. Sad it’s been eaten too far by rust, and I love the header.

I miss having a n/t 1G. They’re so freakin reliable and just slow but fun. I need one in my life bad.

And everywhere you look there’s even more rust! I’ve came across rustier ones at pull a part and this one isn’t quite there but it would take more effort than it’s worth plus solid pieces from other cars to make this one right. The worst is the core supports rotted out where the cross member bolts up so the front roll stop probably isn’t doing much, but 3 out of 4 are good enough to get me to work and back until spring! On the plus side it does have a wiper less hatch and that’s one piece that surprisingly isn’t rotted, I’m hoping the salt doesn’t get to that as I’d like to sell that in the spring.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Parts! Wasn’t expecting the rockauto order until Tuesday but hey I’ll take it. Unfortunately too late in the day and won’t have time to mess with it until next weekend if I decide not to go out to the shootout.