Will this motor be going anytime soon?

[Wolfgang]

I know every motor is different, and there's always a chance that the motor could blow up the next time I stick the key in but under the assumption that nothing unexpected happens does this motor combo look "drivable" without worrying about breaking things?

JE pistons and 1g rods
Super big 16g
7 angle valve job (is this a typo?)
ARP head main and rod studs.
HKS 274 cams.
HKS vain pressure convertor
HKS electronic valve controller (anyone want to explain what that is?)
HKS fuel equalizer
HKS mega flow intake
HKS upper throttle body elbow
HKS hard intercooler pipe
HKS 3 inch turbo air intake pipe
255 lph pump
550cc injectors
full 3inch exhaust
2g ported exhaust manifold
ACT 2800 clutch
Jun flywheel
Data logger with color palm.
NGK plugs and wires.

What do y'all think?

 

[sjwelna]

Breaking things is directly related to the condition of the motor and how much you beat on it. I think you need to do a lot more research on exactly why you want all of these various upgrades. Looks like you have a bias for HKS........ You have a few typos in there too.....

-Steve

EDIT: I also forgot the most important factor when it comes to breaking things: how many effigies you burn to the dsm gods.

 

[Wolfgang]

Breaking things is directly related to the condition of the motor and how much you beat on it. I think you need to do a lot more research on exactly why you want all of these various upgrades. Looks like you have a bias for HKS........ You have a few typos in there too.....

-Steve

EDIT: I also forgot the most important factor when it comes to breaking things: how many effigies you burn to the dsm gods.

The reason why I ask is I'm actually planning to buy this car. The motor and turbo have 7k miles on it, the tranny has 14k miles. Chassis has 140,000 miles on it. The car has all listed mods plus different mods like suspension, wheels and tires, S/S clutch and brake lines, etc. etc. so I was just wondering if this motor was setup right. The motor was built by a speed shop so I'm not worried about some idiot putting this thing together in his garage. I was just curious as to if this car would be reliable or not.

 

[Darksyne]

No one can answer this question based off a list of specs.

I'm not trying to give you a hard time but think about it, how would anyone here know how reliable this car is? The fact it has 7K on the engine is a good sign that there's nothing majorly wrong, but buying a used car is always a crap shoot. All you can do is inspect it the best you can to increase your odds.

Gimme a sec, I'll get a second opinion

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Take that as you will

Good luck!

 

[99gst_racer]

It sounds like it was built with some good parts. And as long as you trust it was put together properly, then you only have to ask yourself one question. How was it driven? Was it launched every stoplight for 7K miles?? If you motor was built properly, and it was broken in and driven with some sense, then make the purchase.

PS. - How much are they asking for it and what year?

 

[Wolfgang]

It sounds like it was built with some good parts. And as long as you trust it was put together properly, then you only have to ask yourself one question. How was it driven? Was it launched every stoplight for 7K miles?? If you motor was built properly, and it was broken in and driven with some sense, then make the purchase.

PS. - How much are they asking for it and what year?

91 GSX, he's asking 8900 OBO.

Any suggestions on what I should offer? (I'm new to DSMs and not quite sure what the car is worth - it's got 140k on the body / chassis)

 

[Turbolaser4528]

way too much money, pick one up yourself, most likely you can get one for under 2 grand and do all your own modifications and it will come out cheaper, and you will know it hasnt been abused since it has been you driving it. You could get a 2nd Gen for that kind of money.

 

[Wolfgang]

way too much money, pick one up yourself, most likely you can get one for under 2 grand and do all your own modifications and it will come out cheaper, and you will know it hasnt been abused since it has been you driving it. You could get a 2nd Gen for that kind of money.

I was considering offering him 6k in cash. Is that a reasonable offer, or is that too low? I need some DSM tuners expert advice!

 

[Darksyne]

I was considering offering him 6k in cash. Is that a reasonable offer, or is that too low? I need some DSM tuners expert advice!

The price is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. As much as people want this to be true, a modded DSM doesn't really bring a whole lot more money than a stock one. $8900 is high for a 1G, but he's probably trying to get his money back out of it.

Without seeing any pictures of the body, just looking at the specs I wouldn't pay more than $5K for it. But I also don't like buying already heavily modified cars.

If you're new to the DSM world this may not be a good car to learn on unless you are familiar with tuning a VPC.

BTW.. You never got an answer to this, the HKS EVC is a boost controller.

 

[Wolfgang]

The price is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. As much as people want this to be true, a modded DSM doesn't really bring a whole lot more money than a stock one. $8900 is high for a 1G, but he's probably trying to get his money back out of it.

Without seeing any pictures of the body, just looking at the specs I wouldn't pay more than $5K for it. But I also don't like buying already heavily modified cars.

If you're new to the DSM world this may not be a good car to learn on unless you are familiar with tuning a VPC.

BTW.. You never got an answer to this, the HKS EVC is a boost controller.

First, let me thank you for the answer about the boost controller. I didn't want to ask again, but was still very curious as to what the hell that thing was! :laugh:

Anyway, he's got a stereo in there, and a very nice alarm in there as well (2 way FM transmitter with the pager keychain thingy) and the paint is black with a silver racing stripe and 40% tint all the way around. He says the body is in great condition. Thanks for all the advice, and I'm not familiar with tuning a VPC but I can always learn, and I'm a quick learner. Once again, thanks for the information, and with a great forum like DSMtuners.com (I'm new to the board, so I'm just finding out how helpful the board really is) I'm sure I'll have all the help I need with any obstacles I may run into!

I'm going to go check this car out on Sunday, so I'll post an update. Look for it in here, for anyone that's curious to know! (unless that would be against the rules?)

 

[Darksyne]

I'm going to go check this car out on Sunday, so I'll post an update. Look for it in here, for anyone that's curious to know! (unless that would be against the rules?)

Definitely let us know how things turn out, and we always like looking at cars so pics would be great


One more suggestion, if you are new to these cars you may want to post in the regional forums to see if someone would be willing to go with you to look at the car. Someone who's been involved with these cars for a while can spot things that look out of place a little easier.

Good luck!

 

[paranoidTSi]

The problem I would have since it has a hefty amount of aftermarket parts on it, I would be worried that the car has been beatin' to death. Even with a fairly new motor did the guy break it in at all or did he just beat it in?

You also have to consider that 140,000...while not very bad for a 91..is still quite a lot on the body. You will probably have some suspension problems in the future. So be prepared.

I personally wouldn't get it because I would prefer a stock DSM at least you would know that nothing was messed with.

 

[IamCool]

I say don't get it either. You can get a stock one and invest the rest of your money into it. When you mod it you will know if it is done correctly or not. Plus i don't think anyone wants to sell there car if they recently invested a lot of money. About the speed shop...the mechanic are also human so there is a chances of also making mistakes.

If you like it so much then tell him to give you all the paperwork for the engine, turbo and what he has done to let you know what you need to do.

I say no proof of paper of all his major parts/works then don't get it. He could be lying..

save yourself the trouble and get a stock dsm.

 

[PGTred95]

Being that you're new to DSMs I'd pass and keep looking for a nice stocker. The experience you gain in building and tuning a car from scratch will be invaluable in the future depending on what you want to do. Stick w/a stock car.

 

[kyledykstra]

I'd say it depends on what you want to do, do you want to just play with it and have fun, or dig into it's guts? My first DSM was a high 12 second '90 AWD a friend of mine built, it had 2nd gen pistons, 2g mani/o2 housing (ported), a 16G, 2.5" downpipe/exhaust, 650cc injectors, walbro pump (rewired), and head work (if I'm remembering right, this was like 4 years ago ), a 4 bolt rear end, and he had just rebuilt the tranny. I paid $5000 for it, and the body wasn't in the greatest shape, but I was looking for a fun car to drive, and this one fit the bill perfect.

Eventually, I decided I wanted to build a car myself, so I could learn more about my DSM, so I sold that car and picked up a very nice and unmolested '90 TSi (see sig), I had just finished all the maintanance-type stuff and some minor mods, when it got rear-ended, so then I got a '93 TSi, and that's what I'm working on now. While just jumping in and going fast as hell was a blast, I'm enjoying building my own (slower) car much, much more

*edit* and I wouldn't worry about the 140K on the chassis, especially if he's replaced all the suspension stuff, my '90 had 175K on with with about 15K on new OEM suspension, it still felt nice and didn't squeek or rattle at all. Your biggest problem is probably going to be blowing up the rear end if it's still a 3 bolt.

 

[evolvd_talon]

you could probly find a newer, stock car with less mileage for less than 1/4 the price, and then use the rest of the money to build it up, if you know what to do with that money, you will have a strong motor in the end. then again, if you get newer than 92.5 you'll have to deal with a 7-bolt block...i hate the 7-bolt, im doin a 6-bolt swap as soon as i can afford it

 

[Wolfgang]

I'll be sure to bring my digicam on Sunday. It takes some nice quality pictures, even though it's only a 2 megapixel camera.

Anyway, the problem with buying a stocker and putting my own mods in is 1) I don't have the money needed to pay for parts. My budget is limited at about 6k. That includes car and all necessary parts. 2) While I may know quite a bit about cars and how to do things I'm afraid I wouldn't have enough experience to start building up a solid motor.

Next up is the suspension - it's got all new suspension components, so I'm not worried about those problems. What I am worried about is the steering - you guys know much more about DSMs than I do. Will the ball joints need to be replaced? Anything like that?

Also - I'm heading over to the regional forums in a minute.

Lastly - I have heard from many people that a modified DSM does have a possibility of being beaten on, but then again so does a stocker. No one ever said you couldn't beat the piss out of a stock DSM. They are fun cars in their stock form as well!

 

[Darksyne]

What I am worried about is the steering - you guys know much more about DSMs than I do. Will the ball joints need to be replaced? Anything like that?

The 2G's have the issues with ball joints. All the AWD's have an issue the the Transfer Case Yoke seal. Here's what to look for:
http://www.tmo.com/today/faqs/xferleak.htm

Run a compression test also.

 

[LousyDriver]

If you think the car is worth 6K, buy it.

If you bought another 1g car and rebuilt the engine, and put all those mods in it, you would easily spend that much. So if that's what you really want, buy it.

However, it does sound like the guy might have unrealistic expectations of what the car is worth. Take a good, long drive, long enough to get used to the car and notice all the things that might be wrong with it. Look it over completely, and listen carefully to the engine. If anything sounds off, take your money else where. But if it's all good, then you might just end up with a great car at a good price.