New guys

[Disrupter]

My cousin and I just happened to find 1903/2000. We have been looking for a project car for quiet some time, it was originally supposed to be a Miata or 3-series we could use for auto-x/track days. I found this randomly on craigslist stating it has ecu related problems. After reading a bunch of newbie stickies we decided we would bite the bullet and see what we could do. The car has a few dings on the drive side of the car, but is pretty clean for where it has been sitting. The car was listed with no mention of vr4 or galant lol. We got it for a steal in hopes we can get it into running condition before we do anything performance related. We know the ecu was unplugged and potentially not working, it was in a known flood zone of Long Island so we took the seats out and the carpet to see what we had to work with since there was no noticeable rust on the car. Not sure how long the car has been sitting but it needs a thorough cleaning outside and inside, we will change all fluids and upgrade all vital connection with upgraded lines. I own a 3000gt VR4 and have a bunch of spare parts I will be using on this car (evo560cc injectors, Supra Pump, Front Calipers, and a few other odds and ends). We both have been reading up and learning since we honestly don't have much mechanical skills, but with the help of youtube, walk-throughs, and friends we will work through this. The game plan is to perform a leak down test, compression test, and replace all fluids, check for spark and replace all belts before trying to crank it. I am going to take a look at the ecu and if it is even repairable since the outside case looks like complete sh*t, or find a working eprom unit to replace it with. Hopefully once we get her running we will focus on suspension and brakes before going in deeper. Hopefully we made the right decision going with this diamond in the rough... it looks better at night lol.

My other VR-4 before and after:

 

[jnava]

Great find, do you mind saying how much you paid for it to be considered a steal?

 

[Disrupter]

a few hundred bucks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif, he was on the verge of junking this beauty. Seats were dusty and moldy but once we wiped them down they cleaned up very well. Since we are going for race car, we will be selling a lot of the stock pieces that are in good nick.

 

[jnava]

a couple.......That's a great find. Good luck and I think you'll enjoy this project.

 

[faqinshiet]

Welcome! Awesome! Keep us updated on the progress!

 

[Disrupter]

Also if anyone has any pointers for a bunch of newbs please let me know, a plan of attack, where to start, how to go about modding the car. Anyone in NY that could give us some tips to get it running when we get there. I asked a DSM guru on another other forum I frequent and said "Treat everything like its broken", so for right now that is how we are looking at it.

 

[Disrupter]

Quoting jnava:
a couple.......That's a great find. Good luck and I think you'll enjoy this project.



More than a couple, but still too cheap to be honest. We split it amongst ourselves, but the previous owner just gave up on it.

 

[iceman69510]

Looks savable. Welcome aboard.

 

[Disrupter]

List of problems that need attention:

Front and rear brakes are seized - 3kgtvr4 calipers will be installed once I get the kit including SS lines and fluid, may replace master or upgrade.
Clutch is nonexistant (Floor) - will replace with SS line and flush system and check for leaks at the slave/master
ECU - Need to get the ecu checked out, rebuilt, or replaced. Will any 1g ecu work? am I looking for specific ones? I will likely go dsmlink at some point so any eprom unit for a 1g dsm would work?
Trunk stuck shut - will check mechanism or HULK SMASH
Shifter is stiff! Haven't really played around with this because the clutch is laying on the floor, will check linkage and change fluids. Anything else I should look at?
Engine - No idea if it even runs. Will perform compression test and leak down test. Replace belts, spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, fluids, oil filter, check/clean/treat fuel tank, replace critical lines (not in any specific order). If anyone knows how we should go about doing this, I feel like getting it to crank would be better than replacing all these things and it not cranking or finding out the motor is no good?

 

[tektic]

Few hundred bucks ? How did I miss this? What town are you in?

3kgtvr4 calipers will need much bigger wheel offset
Any 91+ dsm ecu will work but maf comp, boost gauge idle speed and a few other little things are different.
Shifter is stiff! Usually rotten cables
Drain the fuel tank add fresh gas when ready to test.

 

[Disrupter]

Sweet! thanks for the info. Cars in Hicksville currently. Again it was very very very poorly advertised on craigslist. Not sure how I came across it when I was looking for a 2-door rwd car lol.

 

[tektic]

None of your pictures are working. I think I did see it in December. He never gave me a price and I didn't pursue it further.

 

[Disrupter]

Weird the pics are working on my phone and desktop.

 

[GSTwithPSI]

Probably because the permissions for the photos on whatever upload site you used are set for you alone to view. Make the pictures public rather than private...Problem solved.

 

[marvinmadman]

I can only see the last 2 pics

 

[GSTwithPSI]

^ +1

 

[Disrupter]

re-hosted hopefully they are now visible. Thanks guys!

 

[ApexHunter]

Looks fun. I'm looking forward to having a good workspace in the future to tackle a project like this...
Nice 3kgt, love the pic with the MIB flying saucers, haha.

 

[marvinmadman]

All pics are now visible

 

[turbofonz]

I would just send the ECU out to ECMtuning and have them look at it. They're really the best with them, and have them socket it too for when you get ECMlink installed.
Stiff shifter, I can almost guarantee it's the shift lever on the trans. Take off the 2 12mm bolts and it'll come off. The bushing likes to get nasty and make it hard to move. Make sure you don't drop the plastic spacer that goes between the other arm.