Tina's Turbo (1990 Laser RST)

[Tina94]

This is the Build Thread for Plymouth Laser RS Turbo. Reply below.

 

[Tina94]

Ok so just took some pictures and assessed the car overall. It has its share of rough edges but it’s a really solid platform to build on. Really minimal rust. Paints not great but serviceable, tires are shot, struts are shot, timing belt has some major deflection, etc. But it will clean up super nice. The interior is immaculate! No rips, fading, cracking anywhere!

First goal is the timing belt and all that stuff. Any tips appreciated, wondering if the service interval is longer for the fancy gates or hks belts.

 

[Tina94]

Finally got to get into the garage and inspect the Laser today. Took out the alternator so the timing belt can be replaced, took out the wheel liner, cleaned up and painted the power steering pump and did a little repair on the hood heat shield. Just ordered the timing belt kit and all related belts and gaskets. Looking forward to getting all of that done so I can move onto the cosmetic aspects of the car! Also wanting to get the gross turbo piping out of there and replace it with metal piping. Day one done! Excited for the next work day!

 

[pauleyman]

Before you get too far you don't need to take a lot of stuff to do timing belt. Alternator could have stayed

 

[Tina94]

Before you get too far you don't need to take a lot of stuff to do timing belt. Alternator could have stayed

Thank for the tip! Figured it might be in the way but wasn’t sure. I was actually wanting to take it out anyway to do a deep clean, repaint the alternator case and refinish the brackets.

 

[pauleyman]

You might check this. Don't know how good of a mechanic you are.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/are-you-afraid-to-change-a-timing-belt-you-shouldnt-be-after-you-read-this.450253/

 

[Tina94]

You might check this. Don't know how good of a mechanic you are.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/are-you-afraid-to-change-a-timing-belt-you-shouldnt-be-after-you-read-this.450253/

Sounds good, thanks. And not very haha.

 

[pauleyman]

Sounds good, thanks. And not very haha.

We all start somewhere. If you're competent enough to change a timing belt you're way ahead of many.

 

[Tina94]

Was able to get a little bit done today. Refinished the alternator and scrubbed a lot of gunk from the transmission. Hoping to spot any leaks because there was like 1/2” of grime all over the top and front of the transmission case.

Also refinished the power steering pump and the brackets I pulled yesterday. Cleaned up all the hardware on the wire wheel and used an aluminum infused spray paint for the silver bits.

Not super exciting but it’s these little touches that hopefully will yield a nice finished product!

 

[pauleyman]

Wow what are you using as a solvent? That's impressive with a trans still in the car.

 

[Tina94]

Wow what are you using as a solvent? That's impressive with a trans still in the car.

This was only round 1! Ran out of time before I was truly happy with it.

Just zep degreaser and a series of little brushes. Then blew off the sludge with compressed air and reapplied degreaser. For tougher stuff I use super kleen, and for the toughest stuff I use super kleen wheel cleaner.

Gotta be careful with super kleen wheel cleaner though. Don’t want it to sit on any surface for too long (like weeks I mean if you don’t rinse afterwards) and probably don’t want it on plastic or rubber for more than a few hours or so before rinsing. I ran the process lines for the wheel cleaner at one of the plants where they make it and it eats through even 304 ss in pretty short order. Redid all the lines in 316 and I’d put money in it eating through any welds with imperfect purges or even a little excessive heat. But boy oh boy does it clean! You could see how it cleaned the concrete from any little spills or drips.

Anyways, rant over, it’s an incredible product when used correctly.

 

[pauleyman]

Which zep please.

 

[Tina94]

 

[Tina94]

Happy New Year! This weekend was a productive one. I was able to delete the emissions from the car completely; took out the egr and charcoal canister and all the vacuum lines. I also took out the battery box support, cleaned that up a bit and practiced my painting on it (still working on my spray paint skills haha.) I decided to use VHT Engine Metallic spray paint in Black Pearl for this. I’ve never done paint with metallic flakes before on any projects, however I was really going for something fun but subtle with this car and I really love how it turned out!

Today, I took out the intercooler and found a ton of corrosion on the inlet and outlet pipes. It was so bad there were holes in it.

Since that was a bit unexpected, I guess it’s fmic time. I also took out the intake and got rid of the silencer ring and the intake snorkel, cleaned up the gross gunk that was caked on and in it.

So within 24 hours of posting that I was going to keep the stock intercooler if possible and wasn’t going to butcher the intake, I’m buying an fmic kit and have butchered the intake. Hahaha, that’s the way life goes sometimes. Also, this amount of timing belt deflection cannot be normal…can it? I hope nothing is damaged. We’ll find out when I pull the cover off!

 

[1cleangsx]

I don’t have a “spec” of normal deflection, but that looks normal to me, when the oil drains back to the pan and out of the lifters the cams “relax” , freaked me out too the first time I noticed it, if you were to start your car and then shut it off the belt would be tight again.

 

[Tina94]

I don’t have a “spec” of normal deflection, but that looks normal to me, when the oil drains back to the pan and out of the lifters the cams “relax” , freaked me out too the first time I noticed it, if you were to start your car and then shut it off the belt would be tight again.

Huh, I never would’ve considered that but that makes a lot of sense actually. Totally thought my tensioner was shot! Lol

 

[Extrabones]

Before you get too far you don't need to take a lot of stuff to do timing belt. Alternator could have stayed

Idk if this helps (i'm no expert), but years ago back in 06' I rebuilt my engine, and my mechanic had us go the Mitsubishi dealer for the timing belt, he said they had a special timing tool. He was retired with 30+ years experience at Toyota and Ford. And he had rebuilt several 1G DSM engines at that time, but he was keen on driving 30 miles to the dealer in my case. It seems pretty straight-up to me with clearly notched ridges etc, but he said if it was off by even a single notch it could destroy the engine. Again idk

 

[pauleyman]

Idk if this helps (i'm no expert), but years ago back in 06' I rebuilt my engine, and my mechanic had us go the Mitsubishi dealer for the timing belt, he said they had a special timing tool. He was retired with 30+ years experience at Toyota and Ford. And he had rebuilt several 1G DSM engines at that time, but he was keen on driving 30 miles to the dealer in my case. It seems pretty straight-up to me with clearly notched ridges etc, but he said if it was off by even a single notch it could destroy the engine. Again idk

Yes you are correct. Those timing belt tools have been available to us for quite some time. One tooth off destroying an engine is a little exaggerated. Several teeth will bend valves at a minimum.

EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts

There are many vendors that sell the tools in both oem and custom versions. I don't use the cam lock tool much anymore and if I have it I prefer the oem (or equivalent design) tensioner pin tool that has a socket hole in it rather than a hex head style tool. I posted the hex head tool just as an example. Google search will turn up lots. Stm. Jay racing. Ams etc.

Happy New Year! This weekend was a productive one. I was able to delete the emissions from the car completely; took out the egr and charcoal canister and all the vacuum lines. I also took out the battery box support, cleaned that up a bit and practiced my painting on it (still working on my spray paint skills haha.) I decided to use VHT Engine Metallic spray paint in Black Pearl for this. I’ve never done paint with metallic flakes before on any projects, however I was really going for something fun but subtle with this car and I really love how it turned out! View attachment 683750

Today, I took out the intercooler and found a ton of corrosion on the inlet and outlet pipes. It was so bad there were holes in it.View attachment 683751 Since that was a bit unexpected, I guess it’s fmic time. I also took out the intake and got rid of the silencer ring and the intake snorkel, cleaned up the gross gunk that was caked on and in it.

Corrosion like that is pretty common. Worse in salt states.

So within 24 hours of posting that I was going to keep the stock intercooler if possible and wasn’t going to butcher the intake, I’m buying an fmic kit and have butchered the intake. Hahaha, that’s the way life goes sometimes. Also, this amount of timing belt deflection cannot be normal…can it? I hope nothing is damaged. We’ll find out when I pull the cover off!View attachment 683752

Yes this appears normal to me. Probably moot point as you're doing a belt anyway.

 

[Tina94]

Well I’m doing my timing belt and this is what I found: timing marks line up below the cam gear centerline and the cam dowels are never at 12 o’clock at the same time.

Before I go any farther, what’s my next move?

At tdc, oil pump, crank, and balance shaft are all lined up with their marks correctly and here’s what the cams look like:View attachment 683863

Now if I line up the cams as best I can, here’s what I get: View attachment 683864
Clearly below the centerline and clearly not at exactly 12 o’clock in the dowelsView attachment 683865
And now the oil pump and crank marks are now a bit offView attachment 683866

I think I’m going to:
-Set to tdc with everything as close as I can get it
-if oil, crank, and balance all line up correctly, remove the belt
- tweak the cams the little bit needed to get them right. Since I’ll be at tdc and all the other marks should be lined up, the cams should line up the way they’re supposed to, basically just one tooth off of where they are now.

 

[1cleangsx]

Check out these links, they helped me thru my first timing belt, hopefully they’ll help you as well

 

[Tina94]

Check out these links, they helped me thru my first timing belt, hopefully they’ll help you as well

Thank you, I haven’t seen that one yet.

 

[Tina94]

What a productive week! The old timing belt came off, the cam gears were cleaned and painted, the water pump was replaced (the original was actually in great condition, but it was such a pain to get in there, it might as well be replaced.) Today, I also started taking the front bumper off to install the intercooler and put the air intake back together. As of right now, the balance belt, pulleys and tensioner are all put back on, now it’s just a matter of waiting for paint to dry on the cam gears!

It’s been slow progress because I’ve been cleaning and painting everything before putting it back in, but the outcome will be so rewarding to see it all together!

 

[1cleangsx]

I remember how I excited I was to upgrade from the factory side mount to a front mount , definitely a classic upgrade

 

[Blindmouse]

Well I’m doing my timing belt and this is what I found: timing marks line up below the cam gear centerline and the cam dowels are never at 12 o’clock at the same time.

Before I go any farther, what’s my next move?

At tdc, oil pump, crank, and balance shaft are all lined up with their marks correctly and here’s what the cams look like:View attachment 683863

Now if I line up the cams as best I can, here’s what I get: View attachment 683864
Clearly below the centerline and clearly not at exactly 12 o’clock in the dowelsView attachment 683865

Timing marks are in wrong position on that pics!!

 

[Tina94]

So as I’ve been waiting on parts to arrive, I’ve been in a continual loop of rust converter, primer and paint on all the parts I can in the engine bay and for the bumper assembly. Basically every part that comes off gets this three step process . I’ve amassed quite a pile of freshly rehabbed parts that are ready to go on.

The exhaust manifold has given me the most grief so far. The studs were seized in there, two of the studs were broken off below the surface of the head (this was like this when the car was purchased), so nuts had to be welded onto four of the other ones in order to get them out. Still haven’t gotten the two broken ones out, but those will be a real treat . The turbo stud also needs to be removed. I’ve been soaking everything in penetrating oil for the past week or so, so hopefully this will make that chore easier. Whoever did this job beforehand had put in mismatched washers, bolts and studs, but the worst crime of all was that they had used one of those dreadful waffle texture gaskets that always blows out under boost.

In the mean time, the putzing around has been enjoyable and satisfying. I put in new headlights, a new fuel filter, and removed all the A/C hoses and condensor since I won’t be using A/C in this car. I also removed the radiator which was in pretty rough shape.

A lot of the hardware going back in is also getting replaced with stainless, Philips heads are being changed to Allen heads, etc.

I did get a new Mishimoto radiator in the mail today and it’s gorgeous! I’ll be sure to take a picture of the new one next to the old one for comparison. I have everything I need to get the new timing belt on so that will be this weekend’s project!