Where to start?? 97 RS Make over

[leesmawley]

Just picked up a 97 RS yesterday on a pretty good trade. Some home stereo equipment for the title and keys. This is my summer project ...well maybe a little longer. Let me give a brief rundown and ask for suggestions.

420A engine....leaks a little oil from valve cover...idle's a bit high at times...not consistent so far. Trans is auto and shifts smooth and doesn't seem to have issues. Mileage on both unknown....od reads 201k. Overall under the hood seems ok. A/C works great as well.

The interior and body are rough. The door panels and most of the interior parts have been painted silver. WTF With a spray can....and not very well. Actually...looks like ass. Seats and dash are descent.

Body needs work..primer and paint eventually.

Suggestions on where to start?? What to look for to make sure i don't just want to part it out?? Should i do the engine work and checks before starting o the body work....or do the body first.

I've got a couple of parts cars in the area that i can get stuff cheap as well.

I want to make this my daily driver...and a head turner.

 

[MaKaPhiLLy]

Do your engine maintenance first. Then your body work n interior.

 

[ktgurl87]

I would honestly start with under the hood first. My car looked like straight booty while I was trying to get her running right. Change the oil, get you a new VC gasket, do a tune up. Idle being high could be something as simple as spark plugs being gapped wrong. That's how it was for the GST. Sucker was idling REAL high, like 1500 or better. Fixed the gap and she calmed right down.

As for the interior, someone spray painted all my interior parts silver also. I just happened to have a spare car sitting that I swapped interiors with. If you've got parts cars laying around, I'd try to snag some interior bits from those.

As for exterior, get your under hood problems fixed first. Then, even if all you did was the body work and just primered it, it will look 958487 times better.

But like I said, I'd worry about it running right first, especially if you want it to be a DD. That will also give you a little more time to think about exactly how you want it to look.

Hope I helped, and welcome to Tuners.

 

[gofer]

The first thing you need to do is a complete tune up. Replace all worn belts, including the timing belt. If the timing belt hasn't been replaced within the last 60k miles, or you're not sure when it was last changed you'll want to do it now. If it breaks, you'll be pulling the head and replacing your valves because they're bent. You'll also want to change out all filters, fluids, worn hoses, spark plugs/wires, and worn/leaking gaskets. Check the compression, do a leak-down test, check your ignition timing, etc. Do all of the checks that your repair manual tells you to do, speaking of repair manual you do have a repair manual already, don't you?

It sounds like your cars already a head turner, just for all the wrong reasons. Doing all the above will give you an idea of how well the car was maintained by its previous owners, you might find that things weren't in as good of condition as you originally thought.

 

[eSCAPEist_]

I would honestly start with under the hood first. My car looked like straight booty while I was trying to get her running right. Change the oil, get you a new VC gasket, do a tune up. Idle being high could be something as simple as spark plugs being gapped wrong. That's how it was for the GST. Sucker was idling REAL high, like 1500 or better. Fixed the gap and she calmed right down.

As for the interior, someone spray painted all my interior parts silver also. I just happened to have a spare car sitting that I swapped interiors with. If you've got parts cars laying around, I'd try to snag some interior bits from those.

As for exterior, get your under hood problems fixed first. Then, even if all you did was the body work and just primered it, it will look 958487 times better.

But like I said, I'd worry about it running right first, especially if you want it to be a DD. That will also give you a little more time to think about exactly how you want it to look.

Hope I helped, and welcome to Tuners.

+1 on that. Word.

 

[leesmawley]

Thanks for the advice. I do have the service manual. I've already used it several times on my daughters 99.

The guy i got the car from said he had the timing belt and water pump just replaced. The belt looks brand new under the cover, so i'm hoping that is fact.

I'll get the fluids changed, new plugs and gaskets and see how it does from there.

I'll see about posting picts as i go... picts to help other newby's and give some of you guys a good laugh.. It'll be an adventure.

Thanks again

 

[phunny]

All guys (and girls ) have given you great information so I just want to see some pictures of this beast.

 

[brandonwh64]

All guys (and girls ) have given you great information so I just want to see some pictures of this beast.

Yes we def need pictures!