Well, for those that don't know, I bought Malenko's 97 GSX for a pretty good deal (here's his old thread - pretty much the same looking except for the hood, color of the valve cover, and the wheels);
http://forums.2gnt.com/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=60&topic_id=27514&mesg_id=27514&listing_type=search

Thought I would give an update now that she is the new daily (and not a bunch of parts for sale ;-)).

While I am very happy with the deal and the car (nice ride that scoots around pretty good. Along with the winter safety of AWD), like most of these "deals" it takes a little bit to get her to daily status. Thom would have had his hands full in diagnosing and finding all the stuff that needed fixin'.

Probably the biggest problem was that the stock alternator ended up breaking down (it looks like due to the power steering leaking onto it) and putting 16 to 17 volts into the system (obviously regulator). Which, OK, one would have hoped that the 100 amp fuse would have burnt out in due time BUT, no she didn't. She just melted in place as the window on the fuse turned brown. Therefore, many other things had problems (that I'm still searching now).

But here's a basic list of the problems I had to fix for the great "deal"
1. Alternator - Saturn 95 amp Mod
2. Battery
3. Ignition timing - I'm sure related to the extra voltage
4. 100 amp fuse - Pull it out of the melted goop and replace
5. Fuse box - Haven't done it yet, but I also have burnt wires there
6. Turn switch arm - Replace arm. Works now, but on "hurricane" blink
7. Ignition transistor - we know why that went - 17 volts
8. Rewire fan back to stock
9. Rewire radio back to stock
10. Weld a piece in the exhaust pipe
11. Adjust idle screw - mechanically set for about 1800 rpm's
12. Rear hatch struts
13. Pull hood and sand out cracks and paint
14. Rear center piece replace and paint
15. Set of 4 wheels - He kept his to go on his TC
16. Power steering belt
17. (Edit in) thermostat

So yeah, pretty good deal, but definitely not a change the oil, fix a couple of lights kinda solution. I did spend some search time (and a little money) getting her back to almost snuff.

Just for those that were asking/curious.

MB

Nice.


You have too much play money :thumbsup

Not bad bullet thats a nice daily.

Originally posted by eclipse982nrRST
Nice. You have too much play money :thumbsup

Mark's like 80... he's had time to save up :P

Originally posted by cs82685

Originally posted by eclipse982nrRST Nice. You have too much play money :thumbsup

Mark's like 80... he's had time to save up :P

lol.......fucker.

Well, the biggest reason I bought it was because I could get it for a price that I could sell the 99 OZ for. Basically, just switching cars. Nowadays, play money is getting hard to find.

Originally posted by bullettdsm

Originally posted by cs82685

Originally posted by eclipse982nrRST Nice. You have too much play money :thumbsup

Mark's like 80... he's had time to save up :P

lol.......fucker. Well, the biggest reason I bought it was because I could get it for a price that I could sell the 99 OZ for. Basically, just switching cars. Nowadays, play money is getting hard to find.

I hear that. As long as your happy overall thats what matters,

Congrats, Mark.

Thats great his gsx is in good hands.

No way it's going to stay a daily. Not a snowball's chance in hell.

Bet Thom's pissed :)

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
No way it's going to stay a daily. Not a snowball's chance in hell.

Lol, I'd say something....but I know me too well :P.

Originally posted by DarkOne
Bet Thom's pissed :)

Actually he's cool with it. After finding out all the tracing and searching/fixing I had to do, he pretty much said he would have had a bit of a problem finding all that.

Well, since I've put over 1000 miles on her and have cleaned her up to just about where I want her to be (still need to pull the old tints and put in new ones), thought I would share her current condition;

Old cracked CF hood sanded down and painted;
I like it a lot more painted than CF. More "stealth" to it.

In this pic you can see the powder coated Talon rims with the painted calipers (that's right Rustoleum ftmfw!). I thought the Talon rims matched pretty nicely with the black powder coating:



And the back view (uh huh, fuckin' cold out) of the center piece that is no longer busted (my buddy painted a different one)


Still chasing little demons, but they are getting fewer and fewer.

Looks great Mark!

How does she handle in the snow?

gotta hate the lil' demons

Nice, I like the stock stealth look. Checkout mistu-media Mark, they would help you out with those lil demons. They know more about turbo cars than the Nt's just my opinion though. Congrats on your new dd toy.

This is worthless without a video, lol.

Thanks guys. Yeah, she cleaned up nice. Thom would be proud.

Originally posted by Ebster1085
Looks great Mark! How does she handle in the snow?

She handles with ABSOLUTE impunity. She could care less if there is snow on the ground EXCEPT for the fact that she is pretty low to the ground. We had a good 10" storm pass through here and I really couldn't take her out when it got deep. But other than that, a great winter car.

Yeah, finding the demons isn't really the problem. Waiting for them to pop up, that's the problem. You fix one thing and now you have to wait and see how that affects that sensors/wires/fuel pump etc. But its all good. She starts and runs every time.

I'm soo jealous. When we got that big snow two weekends ago I had my car out, and it was ABSOLUTLY terrible! I hadnt had her in snow since school and forgot how pathetic it is.

My driveway has about a 20* incline..took me a good 15 minutes to get her back in. Had to back all the way across the street and smash it up into the driveway..almost clipped my house!

Freakin badass Mark. I'm jealous and this is CBCC worthy without any doubt.

Nice resurrection.

Originally posted by xcasbonx
Freakin badass Mark. I'm jealous and this is CBCC worthy without any doubt. Nice resurrection.

Thanks Cas. I know you appreciate the blacked out look. When I picked her up, I put the stock silver Talon wheels on (Thom kept his) and they just screamed out for black powder coating. Huge difference. I thought that was the cat's meow

I couldnt be happier, I was ready to set the car on fire. He got the car after I dumped a shit ton of money into it to get it as good as it was when he got it.

Im glad shes not just a pile of parts.

Can I buy it back now?

Originally posted by Malenko
I couldnt be happier, I was ready to set the car on fire. He got the car after I dumped a shit ton of money into it to get it as good as it was when he got it. Im glad shes not just a pile of parts. Can I buy it back now?

Heh heh heh, Thom, Thom, Thom. Forgive him lord for he knows not of what he speaks.

Lol, I got ripped off! Yup, there was a burn in the butter on this one. Knowing you and knowing all the situations that preceded the event of my purchase, I'm pretty sure that you knew nothing of all of this, but, I got ripped off.

Though, because of the deal, I didn't end up behind, but I didn't really end up that much ahead either.

Let's start out with the aforementioned, anticipated stuff;

1. Alternator - Saturn 95 amp Mod
2. Battery
3. Ignition timing - I'm sure related to the extra voltage
4. 100 amp fuse - Pull it out of the melted goop and replace
5. Fuse box - Haven't done it yet, but I also have burnt wires there
6. Turn switch arm - Replace arm. Works now, but on "hurricane" blink
7. Ignition transistor - we know why that went - 17 volts
8. Rewire fan back to stock
9. Rewire radio back to stock
10. Weld a piece in the exhaust pipe
11. Adjust idle screw - mechanically set for about 1800 rpm's
12. Rear hatch struts
13. Pull hood and sand out cracks and paint
14. Rear center piece replace and paint
15. Set of 4 wheels - He kept his to go on his TC
16. Power steering belt
17. (Edit in) thermostat
18. Replace starter

Also, had to redo ALL connections with butt/heat shrink connection


Ok, cool enough anticipated stuff. Kinda went with the territory, Now on with the fun;

Started blipping/missing at idle. Didn't like the sound of it (and it gave me a reason to pop the head and check stuff out. Yeah, that's me all over, lol). So I pop the valve cover and see that I do indeed have ARP's. Cool.

Well, I had always had a problem with her smoking quite a bit (getting worse and worse). No big deal, she had been sitting so I figured valve seals were hard as a rock and here was an opportunity to get them done.

Well, it wasn't valve seals leaking. When I pulled off the intake and turbo, I found the problem. Turbo was toast. I mean TOAST. There is nothing there to save. Cracked exhaust housing, center cartridge was as loose as a tooth about to fall out. Both wheels hitting and spent. Up, down, in, out movement. All over. I think I could just pop it out of there with my bare hands if I wanted to. Now, I wasn't even boosting because she would break up like crazy above about 5psi. Figured it was the tune and I wasn't going to tune it until I had the demons worked out, so I just stayed out of boost. Well, I guess the tune wouldn't have mattered, lol.

Ok, no problem. Do-do happens. Probably had something to do with that garden hose that was used as an oil return line (yep, green garden hose). I worked some magic and got my hands on an FP Green that ended up costing me basically $550 with a "no miles" FP rebuild on it. Aight, let's pull the "Hesspower ported head with the three angle valve job".

If only I had a "Hesspowered ported head with three angle valve job" to pull, I would have. But NOOOO, I didn't have a "Hesspowered ported head with three angled valve job" on the car, lol. What I had was a basic no port welded-up head with a spark plug insert in one cylinder because that was the one where the valve head broke off and beat the crap out of the cylinder! (Hence the added welding)

Well, you know, I'd give Mr Hess a call and see if he could do this head for me, but there is one problem with that....he's dead!

Ok, time for a little autopsy (on the head that is. Oh yeah, it also appears that whoever put the head on decided that the ARP washer on one of the ARP studs does not go on the stud. It apparently, belongs on the intake manifold, lol) Pull the head apart and see that I was just starting to burn a couple of exhaust valves. As a matter of fact, it appears that they replaced the intake valves only. The exhaust valves were older. Much older (and worn). Kinda like the timing belt on this "replacement head" for the "Hesspowered ported head with three angled valve job" slipped and ate up the intake valves. So they replaced just them and welded up the head and put that on.

Well, that was one stinky thing to do. Let's inspect a little more; Pistons, correct. I had previously checked the stroke on the engine (when I first got it) and that's the correct crank (but then again, is it a 6 bolt crank? I'll be finding out soon enough because the ACT 2600 clutch is slipping - under low boost obviously - so that will need to be replaced. I'll count the bolts then, lol).

There were a couple of other little things that I can't remember right now (like the 255hp not being an hp. Checked the numbers) but they all seemed to be associated with doing the headgasket (even the turbo - which had been on for about 10k - should not have been nearly that bad. Almost like someone switched turbos at one point :scratch )

Meh, this is a bit long, but Thom, I'm basically telling the story for the entertainment value. Really nothing against you. I'm pretty sure I know what went on here.

BUT let that be a lesson to those out there. One of the problems with having others do work on your car.....you NEVER know what could happen. In addition, in buying a car, the seller may have a whole pocket full of receipts, but that doesn't necessarilly mean those parts are still on/in the car.

Ouch..

no no , that's good to know. I'm gonna get a hold of the guy; I don't want you to feel gypped at all on this, so if there's anything I can do to make it right, let me know. I spent like 11k to get the car, more to fix it (including the $2800 head shaving rape), and if what he said wasn't on the car I have a bit of a drive ahead of me.

Im super pissed about the turbo, I had my doubts about it being new, I should fwd you the emails that assclown sent me. Not a lot of people know the back story, but I gave him $1,000 deposit in like April for the car and ended up not getting the thing till like september. I didnt even put 10,000 miles on the thing when I sold it to you.

but like I said, if you need anything from me, let me know. I tried to be as up front and forward about the car as I could.


EDIT: HURRICANE BLINK! hahahaha Thats the one ricer mod I did that I liked, it makes the tail lights alternate instead of blinking at the same time! just replace the inner 2 most bulbs and it'll blink as normal.

I`ve learned the hard way about doing things myself. My motor was fine at 197k , burning only a half quart of oil evey 3k miles. I got an oil change done at a shop and the clown didn`t tighten the drain plug all the way. When I got home, I had one and a half quarts left. Now my valve guide seals are gone and I burn half a quart of oil a week. All we can do with used cars is fix things other people messed up.

Originally posted by Malenko
EDIT: HURRICANE BLINK! hahahaha Thats the one ricer mod I did that I liked, it makes the tail lights alternate instead of blinking at the same time! just replace the inner 2 most bulbs and it'll blink as normal.

Why you mother fu....., lol. I thought that the blinker relay was burnt up.

Hey, Thom, whaddya gonna do? Not much you can do about the situation. The little prick burned you (and me). OR the guy who did the headgasket burned you. Or you burned me. Or I lied and I bullshitted you.

You see where I'm going with this? Its a trail that can't really be followed right now, so let's just look at it as entertainment. Kinda funny to pull off the turbo and see a center section that looks like it would just fall out. Or to not find the ARP washer until I took off the intake, heh heh. Or pull off a beat up old un-ported head instead of the nice ported Hesspowered head. Just kinda makes me giggle like a school girl :*

1. Alternator - Saturn 95 amp Mod
2. Battery
3. Ignition timing - I'm sure related to the extra voltage
4. 100 amp fuse - Pull it out of the melted goop and replace
5. Fuse box - Haven't done it yet, but I also have burnt wires there
6. Turn switch arm - Replace arm. Works now, but on "hurricane" blink
7. Ignition transistor - we know why that went - 17 volts
8. Rewire fan back to stock
9. Rewire radio back to stock
10. Weld a piece in the exhaust pipe
11. Adjust idle screw - mechanically set for about 1800 rpm's
12. Rear hatch struts
13. Pull hood and sand out cracks and paint
14. Rear center piece replace and paint
15. Set of 4 wheels - He kept his to go on his TC
16. Power steering belt
17. (Edit in) thermostat
18. Replace starter Also, had to redo ALL connections with butt/heat shrink connection

Ok, so to continue with the addition of parts;

19. replaced the AEM "no lower than 47psi and leaking" afpr with an Aeromotive
20. Replaced the aforementioned Walbro with a new 255hp
21. Of course, replaced the turbo with a green.
22. installed a triple tree (Autometer boost with Prosports - volts and oil pressure).

Meh, I figured I'd make this a project log because it has basically turned into a bit of a project, lol. This way I can remember wtf I put in her.

On the bright side, up to 3500 miles now. I enjoy the ride :thumbsup

Sell it and buy a evo? lol

See you at the shoot out Mark. Good luck.


----------------------------------------
95 TSI AWD-500hp- sold
06 Acura TL- Pimpin aint easy
04 Evo Vlll- 10 sec beater

Built by me
Tuned by me
Driven by me

Originally posted by Remy
Sell it and buy a evo? lol See you at the shoot out Mark. Good luck.

Sell out, lol.

Hey Rem-dawg, my man. Good to hear from and see you out and about on here. But I do expect to see you on the strip for the Shoot Out...........

This thread has been entertainment for me. Its also been a little bit of a motivational piece as well.

I have not really put the TLC into the Eclipse like I use to back in 01. A couple of cosmetic dings when I parked it at the mall about 4years ago really discouraged me. Then the headliner started falling apart, back latch getting stuck, both door handles broken off, etc.

This thread has kinda made me want to start putting some love back into it instead of using as just a tool to get place to place...

-cms

Originally posted by bullettdsm

Originally posted by Remy Sell it and buy a evo? lol See you at the shoot out Mark. Good luck.

Sell out, lol. Hey Rem-dawg, my man. Good to hear from and see you out and about on here. But I do expect to see you on the strip for the Shoot Out...........

Yes sir. I will be racing. Gonna drive it down there, race and drive it home.
~knocks on wood~


----------------------------------------
95 TSI AWD-500hp- sold
06 Acura TL- Pimpin aint easy
04 Evo Vlll- 10sec capable.

CornBread Racing
R.I.P Shane aka Cornbread.
Racing will never be the same with out you brother.

Originally posted by Remy

Originally posted by bullettdsm

Originally posted by Remy Sell it and buy a evo? lol See you at the shoot out Mark. Good luck.

Sell out, lol. Hey Rem-dawg, my man. Good to hear from and see you out and about on here. But I do expect to see you on the strip for the Shoot Out...........

Yes sir. I will be racing. Gonna drive it down there, race and drive it home. ~knocks on wood~

Yup, real street racers do it with their dailies, lol.

My condolences again for Shane. He was good people.

Originally posted by bullettdsm
up to 3500 miles now. I enjoy the ride :thumbsup

So right around 10k we get some new action;




Now that's real damage :cheers :order

I can't say I've seen two rods smushed that bad. The rod on the right was found on the crosspiece inside my engine bay.

Cool, now I get to build it myself (it will go back to a 2.3)

Your telling me you got no warning signs? Bullshit. You broke it to show it who's the bitch. Now you can built it CORRECTLY.

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
Your telling me you got no warning signs? Bullshit. You broke it to show it who's the bitch. Now you can built it CORRECTLY.

:order (we need the rolling on the ground laughing smilie for ^^that one)

You sir are pretty damn close to correct :thumbsup

While driving around easy peasy (75-80mph) and getting some parts for the NA, I heard a top end rap start to come on quickly and I lost a cylinder. I immediately checked the gauges (oil pressure, water temp, boost and voltage) and everything was good. Hmm? I pull over and shut her down to take a look. Don't see anything outstanding but I remember that I have an timesert on one cylinder of the fake "Hessported" head that's on there. I figure that's it, but I have a stupid sparkplug cover on, and it is held down by allen head bolts (note to self; Carry a set of allens with me from now on, heh heh).

Screw it. I got a DSM buddy 2 exits down. I'll just run her down there on three cylinders and work from there (at this point, I'm thinking that maybe its about time for me to break down this engine and build it myself - cause I'm funny like that).

So I get back on the highway, and, an exit and a half down, I start to hear this loud, lower end rap - LOUD! (ruh roh) Maybe I should turn her off. Nah, it'll make it (at this point I'm in "fuck it" mode anyway). Strange, my oil pressure is down to around 35psi and fluctuating. Hmm? That can't be good, lol. In addition, I'm running on 2 cylinders now. Well, half of 300whp is 150whp, right? Keep going.....but wait, I got a big downhill to the exit. Cool. I shut her down and start coasting to the exit.

As I'm coming down the exit, I remember that there is a commuter lot off the exit. I just gotta make it under the highway and then I can coast to the.....oops redlight. Damn, I'm gonna need some power to run the red light so I don't get hit. She should have enough left in her. So, I pop her in gear and let out the clutch and then I hear the big BOOM! (but I made it through the intersection, lol). I look back in my rear view mirror and see parts of my engine gaily bouncing down the road saying, "We're free! We're free!" Then the inside of my car started filling up with smoke like I was in a "Cheech and Chong" movie. Couldn't see a thing.

So I managed to pull her over, walked back and picked up my gay ass block parts and went about getting her home.

What happened? I'm not really sure. It appears that the rod or rod bolt broke. If you look in the hole in the block, you can see that the rod journal is not bad at all. As a matter of fact, we're hoping that it can be saved (its at my buddy's shop right now). So it isn't like it got welded to the crank. :shrug

The head has no signs of problems. No bent or burnt valves (I had rebuilt it with SS valves previously anyway). The pistons showed no signs of contact or damage either. Strange.

Originally posted by electrohead
I've never seen damage that bad to rods... ever.

Agreed. Over the years I have broken down many, many junk or worn engines. I have yet to see rods this bad. Those babies are smushed.

Originally posted by bullettdsm
I look back in my rear view mirror and see parts of my engine gaily bouncing down the road saying, "We're free! We're free!"

Love this.

Wow... At least we know when you break something, it's epic...lol But seriously, what happened? More Gremlins show their ugly heads? I've never seen damage that bad to rods... ever.

That really is some grizzly damage! Good luck with the rebuild.

.........................:twitch


Jesus Christ Mark...

Holy shit. That's brutal. Must of been loud as fuck.

Originally posted by Babbz413
Holy shit. That's brutal. Must of been loud as fuck.

Yup, big hit in the firewall. Didn't go through though, lol. I'm guesing the rod was already broken/bent (at the neck) and then it got jammed in the block and forcibly spit out by the clutch being dropped.

Heh heh, fun is :thumbsup

Here's an idea: Build a 2G 4G63 non-turbo all wheel drive monster! That would be interesting. :D

+11111111111111111111111111111111!!!!!!

Im not gonna lie thats one of the best ideas Ive heard in a long time. Imagine it, it would have to be a first of sorts. For one, non turbo 4g63 2gs are JDM only. So to have one, whether built that way or not, in the US would be awesome. Granted, the AWD drivetrain would slow you down a bit, but if the rest of it is gutted, built engine running on megasquirt, (or DSMlink if youre feeling frosty), and make use of that AWD for launches, Id say you could have a 13 second, possibly faster all motor 4G. Baller-cakes if you ask me.


(Holy Commas^)

Originally posted by bullettdsm

Originally posted by Babbz413 Holy shit. That's brutal. Must of been loud as fuck.

Yup, big hit in the firewall. Didn't go through though, lol. I'm guesing the rod was already broken/bent (at the neck) and then it got jammed in the block and forcibly spit out by the clutch being dropped. Heh heh, fun is :thumbsup

rat tat tat tat tat da la tatat tat tata BOOM.


De je Vu?

Ok, a little progress done so I wanted to post it up to track it (since my buddy gets me the parts, but no receipts. Then again I gotta beg him to charge me so it works).

New parts for the 2.3 (ground crank though);



Proof of 2.4 crank;


Pistons etc. installed;


Proof that oil squirters will work with a 2.3;


In order for the oil squirters to be retained (and I could give two shits wether I kept them or not. I just kept them to show that it can be done), you need to do some slight adjustment to the angle and position of the tube (in other words bend it) so it doesn't hit anything.

Meh, a little progress.

Oh yeah, this was the first time I used the "button" retainers for the wrist pins (you can see them in the first pic of the box O' parts). Sweet little application, except I had a little trouble with a couple of buttons needing to be filed down slightly. Other than that, I likey :thumbsup

Nice progress will you be adding a schatter shield.

Originally posted by dalesmitsu
Nice progress will you be adding a schatter shield.

Lol, as stubborn as I am (with driving it while it was blowing up) I probably should. But as stubborn as I am (as in, no engine is gonna dictate what I put in), I probably won't ;-)