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New Owner of #1899/2000

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Mike - Get the S1's foo!

kama1 - Thanks a lot man. Off topic, but I'm Vietnamese. Got much love for Pinoy. Check out the orchids in your country. So many nice ones and I even grow a few natives myself. Also, make sure you snorkel and check out your country's exotic reefs. Way too lucky my friend. I like to keep tropical stuff in order to bring another part of the world closer to me. I've had Pinoy eggrolls before and they were pretty good. They can hold a candle to Vietnamese ones.


Car is at Archer Racing now. They will get my car up to temp, check timing, boost leak test, and go from there. Got other things needed to be addressed like a missing bolt for the driver's front control arm, cross-threaded bolt on north/south support bar, oil return line leak, cap rear-steering lines, and maybe parking brake adjustment. Hopefully all goes well, but you never know with my luck.
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Sup DC? I believe your bro, Chim, played around my car back when it was owned by Charlie something. Just curious, what nationality are you guys? We need to get the MN guys like Nartanian, xaisoboun, OEMGeoff, abc123, John with the crazy car, and maybe jcgalntvr4-244 (I think he said he has family in Maplewood) together some time. Wisconsin has a good crew too. I go back home to Eagan pretty often, but haven't made it back to the cities in the G since it left Blaine.
 

kama1

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2007
Messages
278
Location
q.c. philippines
Sad to say i havent been near orchids for soo long.my mom used to have them all over our garden.
I miss being near the water,manila just sucks the life out of you.
Check out bolinao if ever your here.
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
kama1 - That's cool your mom grows orchids. My mom does too, but I do it on another level. I'll let you know if I ever go to Pinoy land. Be prepared to hook me up with some parts though. Love your build thread too.


Got a call from Archer this morning saying that I passed the boost leak test and my timing is off by one tooth at the crank. We had a feeling that the car ran like sh*t by being off a tooth, but cased closed. Alternator belt was way too loose, so they got the tension up to spec as well. We were a little afraid to fry the alternator, but it appears to be fine. Waiting on a new OEM tensioner to come in. My buddy accidentally broke the pin on the first one and we reused the second tensioner after I bent the valves on the old head. Archer recommended that tensioners should not be reused from race experience. Probably looking at a 4 hour job on re-timing and throw in a few more for the other stuff I mentioned.

I also talked with them about a 5 lug swap and they recommended buying all new assemblies to make things easier to work on in the future. This sounds like a good idea, so I am heavily considering this. Car should be ready mid-next week.
 

blacksheep

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
15,485
Location
Urbandale, Iowa 50323
Archer Racing? They still in business? Man, I have not heard them being mentioned in such a long time! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
f*** yeah they're in business. Pretty much all Vipers now after the discontinuation of the DSMs in '99. I've seen Dr. Panoz's personal vehicle being serviced. I think it was an Esperante. The veteran mechanic said he preferred to work on the DSMs. Pretty cool cars that roll through. Not much of a tuner scene, but they are the go-to guys in Duluth. John Archer wanted to sell me all the DSM sh*t they got for $12,000. It's nice they got tons of old and new OEM sh*t I can pick through. It makes me feel like American Pickers. I can get the stuff for dirt cheap sometimes because cash is king! They have saved my ass a few times with parts I needed, so much thanks to them. Most of the good stuff is long gone though. I'm glad you know your sh*t blacksheep. And to think this shop is local to me. If only this was the 90's. I would have been in the primo location for DSM performance. The wins speak for themselves.
 
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minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Good and bad news.

The shop fixed my timing, oil return leak at the pan, cross-threaded bolt on north/south bar (driver's side), topped off coolant, flush/filled diff, missing control arm bolt (driver's side), and a bunch of loose bolts (from when I worked on it last). The idle settled way down and was hunting between 1200 and 1400rpms. They said it was probably ISC, but they didn't have one laying around. Had my buddy Charles drive it home since I am a beginner at stick and didn't want/know how to deal with the idling issue. He's a truck and crotch rocket guy, so I thought that he would be a good guy to bring her back. Me and my roommate have been nagging him to get a tuner for no reason. Anyways, off it went for the first time since the bent valves mishap. It felt good to see it driving from behind. Hahahaha.

Car had a check engine light, which was odd. I had checked the codes since I last tinkered with the G and nothing came up. Something was not right. When it got home I got my computer out to see what was wrong. Three MAF related codes pop up. I have seen this before. The guys at the shop did not plug my MAF back in. Plugged her back in, still idle hunted, but we took her out anyways while warm just to make sure things were proper.

So began the test drive/break-in with me in the passenger seat. Well off the bat my buddy Charles says that the car drives much better. We both have smiles on our faces. I have Link up and running to check out the basic display features on a stream. Things seemed normal. It was kind of misting out, but we had the windows down and damn can you hear the EIII whistling. Awesome. The stock BOV can be heard quite well also. Awesome. We did some light throttle pulls and engine decel for quite a bit. In between shift the rpms like to stay high instead of drop unless Charles blips the throttle and it unsticks. Got the car back on the 61 Express back into Duluth. A truck was coming in hot and Charles looks at me and tells me this fool is not getting by. With just a little bit of throttle we were boosting wastegate pressure and boy you can tell this car will be a beast. About 20 miles on that run. Seeing my buddy smiling and laughing was fun. Now I need to feel that myself once I fix some things.

A week went by with the car sitting and I tried to start up the car when some friends stopped by. Checked the base settings on link and I had the 450s selected with 2G MAF. The car had 560s installed. Changed the setting in hopes the car would idle better, but it was idling high in the 2K range. Felt uneasy to take it out again, so started to take the 1G turbo TB off. What the f***? Going to get my spare N/T TB rebuilt by Steve Monroe. Chose Steve because he puts himself out there as a stand up guy. Some of the other companies don't have a face to them. I also have something bad ass coming in the mail as a "while I'm at it" upgrade.

Still need the power steering rack capped off with the Earls AN fittings and caps. Noticed that the car is leaking a little oil at the oil return again and some at the oil cooler line fittings on the OFH. Need to go over the car again for leaks. High idle could possibly also be power steering not being hooked up and ABS (needs to be unplugged).
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Got my N/T TB back from Steve Monroe. Sent my TB out Monday and got it back today.

Worksheet:
*Inspect
*Disassemble
*Clean & bead bast TB & parts
*High PSI air blast media removal from all openings/follow-up probe of openings
*Paint all steel parts
*Taper/polish thick lip of TB entrance (Did not bore to 65mm)
*Chase BISS screw threads & install new BISS screw & o-ring
*Install & lube shaft seals (Upgraded to "Uber Seals good to 40 psi for precaution)
*Install throttle plate
*Loctite throttle plate screws
*Install throttle level assembly
*Install FIAV using new o-ring gasket, screws, & washers
*Test sensors (ISC & TPS replaced)
*Test throttle plate for smooth operation

The revised ISC I had on the old TB was internally corroded. The TPS was replaced too, but he didn't specify why. Both sensors are warrantied for a year. I also got four correct-length bolts and a new non-OEM gasket supplied by Steve. Chose not to delete FIAV with block off plate. If it turns out to be an issue later, then I will do the VFAQ free-mod. Looks very nice.















Decided to take a huge, but much needed step and removed the stock intercooler setup. Taking off the front bumper was a pain due to a few broken bolts. One of the previous owners tried to take it off before and must have gave up after shearing bolts. One of the two thick bolts removed from top. Thanks for that... Well after some dremeling, we got the bumper off. Both fog lights had every screw stripped and rusted, so we had to dremel the side bracket to get them out. I got one bracket off on the PS side, but sheared two out of the three bolts. God damn it. I'm going to let my buddy do the other side. He seems to have broken less bolts than me.

The oil cooler leaks a bit, so that's why I have the towel there. I will drain the oil and make sure everything is nice and tight before the oil cooler gets sandwiched. The oil cooler should not be the same size as the intercooler though. Aiyahhh...


Comparing said aiyahhh intercooler to my moon boot. Aiyahhh...
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Got a giant package in the mail. Came with the extra coupler needed to work with the N/T TB and they removed the elbow flange. BOV flange is for GReddy. Decided to get the intercooler anodized classy and sleeper. Couldn't get gloss black to go with my whole theme, but the wrinkle black piping is still very nice. It is supposed to be more durable, which is why they got rid of the gloss option. Robert was great to work with and even gave me a little discount. Thanks so much. Hacking to come. No turning back now...



 
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pot

Staff member
Joined
Oct 28, 2003
Messages
1,573
Location
Fayetteville, NC
I Like the first picture, has the leading edge vibe going on. Is that an ETS unit? Good stuff mang. Also, good bet on Steve Monroe. He puts other throttle body restorers to shame.
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Lots of updates to come, but I am way behind again.

Back in July, I got the ETS kit installed to the NA TB without a hitch after Robert at ETS relocated the BOV for me. Installed a used GReddy RS recirculated BOV to the new location and am using a Home Depot spa hose for the recirc tube. The tube is somewhat ghetto and it bothers me a lot. Will probably try to get a metal recirc pipe made and use couplers on both ends.

Also, tried to fix my leaking oil cooler setup by using Permatex thread sealant for oil and tightening it all down. Relocated it too, so it wouldn't be behind the new intercooler. Had to remove the A/C fan, which I forgot to mention earlier because the lines for the oil cooler kit wouldn't reach to the passenger side. Gets decent flow from the grille area now.



Took the car out late July for a shakedown. Had my buddy Charles do the driving again. He took it easy for about 30 or 40 miles doing break-in because the car is still not tuned yet, just a base tune from link. Like I mentioned before, I can't drive manual yet. My friends convinced me to take the car down a few mile flat stretch to try to learn a little. Killed the car a few times, but no bucking really. Felt so good to be able to drive my car for the first time since I've owned it. That feeling is priceless. Got nervous, so my other friend Moses took the car for a spin. He got on it a little bit once the freeway opened up to see what she was made out of and that's when this story goes south. The BOV purged at 4K rpms and then white smoke starting pouring out the hood. Limped the car back a few miles and cars behind us must have been worried.

The head gasket must have blown... Oil was all up under the hood and pooled up in the VC area. Everything I had cleaned had become dirty once more. This is not what I was expecting. Opened up the radiator cap and cappuccino was all up in it.


Started breaking everything down to replace the OEM MLS with a 1.2mm HKS head gasket. Had the head sent in to Miller Hill Machine Shop for checking and resurfacing. The head was off .004. Before putting everything back in, my other Matt friend cut off part of the power steering bracket that gets in the way of the exhaust manifold, so I can drop down the head with everything connected on top of the studs. No contact issues anymore and probably no exhaust leak since the head can sit square with the larger casting of the Evo III mani. I believe the 2G and EIII mani are thicker flanged on the far right side. There must have been an exhaust leak from that area because carbon deposits had accumulated.


More to come later once I get reorganized. Still months behind on updates though.
 

minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Here's a pic of the ETS kit installed. Also, I got OEM AMG corners and had them wired up by my buddy Charles to replace the Curtis corners because I got a RS Evolution Spec bumper. It also clears the intercooler nicely.



Replaced every single vacuum line minus the brake booster hose with blue silicone from SiliconeIntakes.com. RRE could not get a kit for me in blue anymore. Ordered as a general kit. Also, replaced all the coolant hoses with a kit for 1G DSM from RTM. Since the radiator hoses are for 1G DSM, I had to trim the hose a bit going to the t-stat housing. Have yet to put on the lower, but I am assuming it might need to be trimmed as well to fit. Lastly for hoses, I replaced the windshield washer ones with new clear hose. You can see where I have the BOV and recirc tube located too.



Had my Mitsubishi valve cover restored since it was ruined by a shitty sandblaster. Ordered up a new laser cut baffle from Kevin Kovatch, a freelancer on DSMTuners and owner of CompWorks. My buddy Matt took the old baffle out and had his work do the cleaning, blasting, welding in of baffle, and re-coat. Turns out they did a bad job welding in the baffle once I went to test-fit. Since there was contact with the cams, I had to order another baffle and have someone else do the work properly. Sent the valve cover to Detective Coatings and they did an excellent job removing the poorly welded baffle and put in another one. After another coating of gloss white and some polishing of the letters, I am very happy with the outcome. Replaced the Bonehead oil cap with the Evo cap and I like it.





HKS 1.2mm Stopper head gasket. This was a pretty spendy item, so I hope it will help.



This is from a while ago, but thought I would mention it. Since I am using the 2G O2 housing, the NTK oxygen sensor I'm using gets in the way of the lower heat shield. Took a small notch out to clear.



GReddy radiator cap to replace the old OEM one.



RS Evolution front bumper. I wasn't planning on getting one so early, but it just happened to be available on ebay shortly after my buddies helped me trim the crash support on the USDM bumper. Will get the most flow to the intercooler, which I consider an upgrade and it's light. I didn't cut the slats out of the USDM and I will not cut the slats on the RS either. Love me some slats. Bumper is in pretty nice shape too and no cracked end caps, just a bunch of tape residue. Need to get the fogs wired up as well. My buddy Charles should be helping me on that. Picked up some JDM brackets from Curtis, which are very nice. I couldn't get a wider shot of the bumper since my garage is cramped, so these are just teasers. The look of the black intercooler against the black slats will really keep it sleeper.







Brand new parts acquired unless noted(some parts were replacements during breakdown because I don't reuse gaskets):
OEM intake manifold gasket
OEM 4-layer exhaust gasket
OEM t-stat gaskets
OEM fuel rail insulator(lost one during removal)
OEM valve cover gasket set
OEM tensioner
Koni Yellow 1G fronts, 2G rears(fronts are inserts and need to be installed still)
Refurbished OEM 1G AWD rear hubs (sent to JNZ to blast, coat, and install new wheel studs)
OEM front hubs, all seals, and all wheel bearings(basically everything needed for 5-lug swap brand new, but not installed)
OEM 1G Dipstick(old seal was sh*t)
Bob Dole's hood struts
DSM Brembo slotted rotors front and rear
Project Mu Type NS400 front and rear pads
JNZ ABS delete kit with non-ABS prop valve
Non-abs reservoir and cap
Techna-fit stainless brake lines with black covering for sleeperness
MAP Oil return stainless kit
Certified Muffler 3" Stainless kit w/ high flow Magnaflow cat and dual tips(muffler and tips have been powder coated flat black for sleeperness)
OEM timing cover bolts
OEM accelerator, brake, and clutch pedals (old ones were worn badly)
Earl's -6AN Caps and -6 Male to 14mm x 1.5 (everything needed for P/S blockoff)
Blue Gates kevlar A/C and alternator belts
OEM power steering belt
OEM 7cm turbo gasket
OEM 190F thermostat (old one was non-OEM and 180F I believe)
Momo 350mm Monte Carlo steering wheel with Momo hub (purchased way back, but forgot to mention)

Used parts acquired:
'89 Underdash
Cusco front strut bar
Interior piece above driver door and rear driverside door(old one was cracked)
AMG spark plug cover
StarQuest open leather headrests


Probably forgetting something since I've gathered a lot of parts... More updates to come.
 
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minneSNOWta

Well-known member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
363
Location
Eagan, MN
Thanks Shane. If I would have kept the valve cover red, then I would have also went with the Toda timing belt and red everything else. Since I am using the Zaklee timing cover, I felt that the whole color theme should revolve around the belt color. The GReddy RS BOV is even blue at the recirc fitting, but that will be hidden. Always liked the panda theme, but wanted blue accent. The damn Cusco bar has blue ends too! I like how some guys went with the HKS purple theme like James Foster and this was my take on a GReddy blue theme. Couldn't find compatible GReddy cam gears, so went the Fidanzas. I don't like mismatched colors in the engine bay really for aftermarket parts. The car is still more about go than show, but I want it to be show capable. It's also more of a street car, but I want it to be track capable too.

GSTwithPSI - The kit including shipping, anodizing, and powder coating was $945. Robert was super nice and gave me a 3% discount. Best time to buy the kits is during Black Friday or during their holiday sale. They even offer military discounts on the regular.

I also want to mention that the CM exhaust had a stainless bung welded in. Hooked up the AEM wideband sensor and also have the failsafe gauge powered up and connected to read boost as well. Still need an AEM oil pressure gauge. Both will go in the '89 underdash pocket, so the car appears stockish even with the Momo steering wheel. The 2G knob keeps it stock looking too. Will need to have a plate made to house both gauges though. I like having two gauges in one, but we will see how it works. Later on, I might actually try to get the failsafe feature of the gauge operational. With Link, I am going to change the stock boost gauge to a coolant temp gauge and I will be all good on gauges.

Hooked up the Greddy Profec B Spec-II boost controller to power and installed solenoid, and lines. I will have to relocate the solenoid closer to the turbo though. Was hoping the controller would fit in the ashtray, but it doesn't close all the way. Still need to install the HKS turbo timer.

Replaced damn near every bolt in the engine bay with stainless. Also painted all 3 horns, brake reservoir bracket, cruise control unit, misc. brackets, radiator support brackets, and hood latch assembly. Some of these pics are from this past summer. Need to get new clamps all around still. The reservoir is still the old one, but will be replaced later.













Back in September, I met The_Big_Weave aka Mike Weaver since he moved up to Duluth. He's a cool guy who has owned a few of these cars. It was fun to shoot the sh*t with someone who knows these cars. He ended up coming over again in late January to help with setting timing since I put the head back on. One of my cam gears was off from the factory and it made things difficult for us. We had some issues spinning the crank by hand, so we aborted and took the timing belt back off. My buddy Matt and I took the exhaust cam gear off and re-aligned the marks to be at 12 o'clock where they should be instead of way off at 4 o'clock. The dowels were in the proper position though. In earlier pics you can see it's off, but Archer Racing was able to time it correctly for me back in the spring by making their own marks with a sharpie and using a timing light. Torqued each of the 5 lock bolts to 48 in./lbs. and used Permatex red thread locker. Will get the gears degreed later too, but need dyno time, which means a 2.5 hour drive to MAP.

The belt has been set back on and my marks are perfect. All I have to do now is set the tensioner properly, install alternator belt and tension, and wait until spring to fire her up. Will need to find a tuner and try to get most of the new parts installed after like the brakes (want new replacement calipers and will paint black), suspension, hubs, and wheels/tires. Larger than Evo injectors, Supra fuel pump, and AFPR are also on that list too.

A couple of my car buddies in-town are moving to Portland in June. They helped me quite a bit and I really want to hoon around with them before they go. Matt H. drives a modded bugeye and Dalas a '88 FC NA. Matt. H was my roommate for 9 months. Not the same Matt I mentioned way, way earlier. We were able to get a lot done and I'm so thankful to have friends around. The other Matt is Matt G. and he is who got me into this platform. He moved away a couple summers ago to get a job at MAP in their turbo department. After a year, he wanted more money and ended up getting a job at Denso North America doing vehicle testing. I'm very happy for him. Thanks to Charles too for helping me all-around.
 
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manikbastrd

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
660
Wow! Just read through your thread. Great to see someone trying to do things the right way...Seems like you have been having some bad luck though. Don't give up, when it runs right it will all be worth it!!!
 
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