the fate of 73/1000....

[DynastyLCD]

so a few weekends ago, i picked up 73/1000. my first gvr4. supposedly needed a "transmission and an FMIC" and that was the lot of it. also that the car was remarkably clean. while it is a pretty straight body, mostly clean, she has her imperfections. the body has some rust... im not very happy. i drove 5 hours for what was guaranteed to be a clean car. i got a halfway good deal on the whole thing, i suppose if i have to part it out than i could make back what i paid. til then, shes destined to be the spare parts gvr4 beater.

so far i have:
cleaned out the tons of crap that came with
installed good used trans/tcase
installed good used slave, ss clutch line
new 255hp fuel pump
removed 16g for fpgreen setup
new shifter cables (there were none...)
1g shifter
cleaned up/removed all rigged wiring
removed A/C


so when i got the car... the fuel pump housing was out, the tank was full of varnished gasoline, the pump had definetly seen better days, no shifter cables, ABS unit leaks all the brake fluid, no radiator/brackets, so on and so forth. id love to find another belize green or summit white roller and swap it all into it someday down the line... ive got to enjoy this one first. or at least try.

the good news: the key i got was a curtis brand key!

i need to buy the rest of my 5 lug stuff, got a 4 bolt rear and subframe ready just need the front spindles now. need the non-abs kit too. also need to buy a yoke recall kit as mine is so rusted i couldnt slip the transfer case on it... oh well. and the fpgreen with the manifold gate does not like the full size radiator, so half size time it is. a set of injectors, afpr, a gm map, then the VPC i got layin around goes in. got to fab some FMIC piping, and install this evo8 FMIC ive had collecting dust for so many years! so many little bits and pieces. i just want to drive the effin thing! soon enough. thanks for checkin it out.

 

[GSX_TC]

Dont give up on it man, she could be real nice.

 

[DynastyLCD]

ive put in alot of work already. i plan on seeing how far i can go with it. the rust really does bother me though... it may not be repairable. i really dont think it is. i just dont want it to be a structural issue and be dangerous to drive. if thats the case, ill either part it or try and find another roller. this ones not a good nice car candidate. it will be nice for what it is, a spare parts whatever car.

 

[89Mirageman]

I feel your pain man. I bought a 91 GVR4 a few years ago and was told it was rust free. It was raining when the new owner met me with the car so I didn't get to check it out like I wanted to. My gut told me to pass on the deal but I didn't. Honestly I fixed some of the issues with the car but I just could not get past the rot. It taught me a lesson, that's for sure. I will never own another car from the rust belt unless its free and even then I'll part it out. Every bolt I tried to loosen on that car snapped off and after a few months I decided to just sell it. I lost some money and a lot of time but I saved myself some future headaches.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you're not happy with it now you probably never will be. I wish I could be more positive about it but I'd rather be honest with you since I've been there already.

 

[DynastyLCD]

updates: the fate of the car is for it to be a beater. upon closer and further examination, the rust isnt structural... yet. its going to be a budget beater, and it will go pretty good, all things considered.

got the old 4 lug, 4ws subframe out. boy am i glad. one of the ears that holds the subframe bushing was about to crack off because of how rotted the subframe is. the rest of the 4ws lines went too. what a fight that was! they either came off by barely touching them, or like the underhood ones, i had to really fight with them to get them free.

in its place went a very clean 1g TEL subframe with a MINT 4 bolt LSD rear, KYB's on 1g intraxx springs, and a set of 2g 16" GST wheels i got for dumb cheap. its slammed pretty good, i like it. the front struts/springs to match are in, just with the GVR4 strut tops. it looks very nice so far, i havent got the 5 lug spindles in yet (thanks Paul!) to do the swap and put the GST wheels up front but i like how it looks. the setup in the 1g looked almost too raked for my opinion, it still has a slight rake in the galant but it looks great! need to buy one strut to replace a blown one i found when i was swapping the springs around. also got a set of 5 lug drilled/slotted front rotors to top it all off!

FPGreen setup is all installed, all lines plumbed and re-worked. 255HP is in with all new nuts and a newer gasket. AFPR setup is in the mail (thanks mountaineerjeff!), got a fuelab filter (thanks Nate!) and i found a set of 680's locally. the plan is to run the VPC setup with the same injectors/pump/regulator i ran in my 1g that made 400 awhp. now i just need a wideband, an intake pipe, and an IAT sensor.

mocked up:

fully installed:

honda radiator is in, i need to cut the bracket i made and drill out the holes a little more and thats finished. the radiator hoses came from a 1g and only required minor cutting. with the outlet of the green, and the front engine mount, its a tight fit indeed.

the FMIC problem is the next on my list. i have a short route 1g FMIC kit, but i would need to purchase a Tial BOV. i also have an Evo 8 FMIC, and a turboxs RFL, which would require custom piping in order to work properly, however ultimately could cost less and require less cutting.

fixed the haggard wiring for the CD player, got to wire up an aftermarket head unit now. also fixed all the fuses, relays, etc. color change dash still works /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif that made me happy!

also continued my war against old musty smells and mouse crap. the worn and torn front seats were yanked out in favor of a much better condition set i got locally. adjusted the shifter cables and got my shortened 1g shifter centered. installed a 1g leather shifter boot as well. with the front seats out, and center console loose, i proceeded to vacuum everything i could on and under the front carpets. i also used orange clean and went to town on the center console, and everything the mouse residue touched. the rear seats also came out, and the rest of the carpet came up and got vacuumed/orange cleaned. hours invested into cleaning this pig out... ive found more random and disgusting crap than i could ever believe. i wish we had just stopped by a dumpster on the way home with this thing!

in this week/weekend's rounds of work, i found some good and bad things. one of the ebrake cables is snapped off, im missing a passenger rear caliper entirely, random nuts and bolts loose/missing, knock sensor wiring is busted, blown struts, busted this that and the other thing. i havent got the engine started yet, thats my only other real major concern.

 

[DynastyLCD]

the good, the bad, and the ugly. earlier this month i had made quite a bit of progress. on wednesday, 73/1000 fired up and ran! the engine included in the car is okay.... so far. i ended up using the 1g short route FMIC setup i had laying around, and borrowing a TiAL BOV from the blue car. it came out nicely, the only thing left to do is to cut the bumper up to fit.

you cant see, but i had to make a funky contraption to conjoin the FPgreen and the 2.5" piping. when i do the prothane engine mounts, im going to clock the turbo up to change the angle a little bit. the wastegate dump tube has been cut, i think im going to unbolt it and rotate it to change the pitch of the dump tube. right now it would be blowing on the LICP, and thats not good.

on wed. i got a fresh 4 gallons of gas, and tackled the last neccesities under the hood to start the car. i went to fill the gas tank, low and behold that damned rubber filler neck is leaking. cursed up and down for that mess. it stops dripping, i go to start it. no start. check under the hood, got no fuel pressure. turns out the CAS i had laying around was bad. dug through the basement, found a working one. installed, cranked for a long time, then finally started and was weak to run. i have my girlfriend start it while i look under the hood, fuel pressure is low and as soon as it would stall, it plummets. look under the drivers seat just about, and theres a steady stream of gas coming from the hard feed line. WTF.... i cannot get a break with this thing. so i find fittings, i disconnect the stock line from the sender (yeah it actually came off without breaking!) and i put the metric to AN adapter and a -6 male pushlok fitting. turns out im a few feet short of line to do another tank to filter. so i order some more line.

now today, this lovely saturday that everyone is freaking out about because of this stupid hurricane, i wake up bright and early as its my only oppertunity to register the car. get down there, pay my $92 to the damn state of CT for a damned temporary paper plate and 10 effing days to get emissions done... to come back and pay another $130 plus the $20 for emissions to get a real plate. JNZ says parts will be here wednesday... okay cool. just to get the brakes bled and situated and im good. so i go home after the DMV, and i have the rear on jackstands already. i fill the master, and i start to pump the pedal. resistance! yes! then spongyness... followed by a losing pedal. "maybe its just air" i thought, seeing as the system was bone dry for god knows how long. but no... one of the hard lines to the rear calipers has a hole in it and it will not hold any pressure. so now i need to buy brake line and make them from the prop valve to the rear calipers... wonderful. and judging by all the brake fluid bottles that came in the car, and the residue, im pretty sure the ABS unit is leaking too...

god i love this car. but i hate all this crap ive had to deal with along the way.
current list of stuff ive done to/installed on 73/1000:
- cleaned out interior hardcore, pulled out seats and pulled up carpet
- installed entire new driveline in car, including some hardware (d-shaft to rear diff)
- 4 bolt and DSM subframe, front axles, trans, t-case, driveshaft yoke, solid d-shaft bushings
- good slave cylinder, and 2g SS clutch line added
- new walbro 255 fuel pump & sender hardware
- radio wiring fixed, along with haggard speaker wiring
- random turbo timer wiring/other misc haggard wiring under dash removed/cleaned up
- new front seats
- 1g shifter & boot
- new shifter cables
- VPC/GCC setup installed with GM 3-bar MAP sensor
- FIC 650cc injectors installed
- Aeromotive AFPR kit
- Fuelab -6 filter with -6 pushlok feed & regulator lines
- 1g short route FMIC kit with TiAL BOV
- FPgreen setup, tial 40mm gate, FP 4" intake pipe
- half-size aluminum radiator and slim fan
- rear brakes including right rear caliper & now rear hard brake lines...
- front 5 lug FWD spindles & drilled/slotted rotors
- newer tie rod ends up front (pass side was mushroomed and had no castle nut...)
- eyeball alignment /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
- newer KYB struts, intraxx 1g AWD springs
- 2g GST wheels painted hideously cream white
- all plastics re-installed
- Alpine radio installed
- engine harness plugs fixed
- removed stripped in wideband sensor, retapped o2 bung
- removed all A/C, 4WS, emissions components
- smaller battery for use with FP 4" intake
- removed broken e-brake cables

heres some pics for you guys to enjoy. im hoping to be driving this thing in the next few weeks. thanks for looking!

 

[FlyingEagle]

RF upper strut mount. Ummm .... long term prognosis?

 

[turbofonz]

Looks good Phil. I'm really like the stance of it.

I might try some form of 1g springs on mine...

 

[CutlassJim]

Looks awesome! Definitely a bit of inspiration for some of us.

 

[DynastyLCD]

Quoting turbofonz:
Looks good Phil. I'm really like the stance of it.

I might try some form of 1g springs on mine...



thanks fonz! i really want to change something around though. i had these springs in my grey car (intraxx, IIRC) and it had a pretty badass rake, so i figured since 1g rear springs are shorter that it would level out. i think im going to search for some eibach 1g awd rears to try to level it out a bit, as the rear sits a little lower than i'd like it to.

BTW... this ones a piece compared to yours... youve got a gorgeous white one and im uber jealous! galant chris was tellin me about it when he picked up parts from you. got plans for it? or just gonna keep it a fresh cruiser?

 

[DynastyLCD]

Quoting CutlassJim:
Looks awesome! Definitely a bit of inspiration for some of us.



if only you saw this thing inside and out the day it got dropped off at my house, then saw it today....

 

[turbofonz]

Quoting DynastyLCD:
thanks fonz! i really want to change something around though. i had these springs in my grey car (intraxx, IIRC) and it had a pretty badass rake, so i figured since 1g rear springs are shorter that it would level out. i think im going to search for some eibach 1g awd rears to try to level it out a bit, as the rear sits a little lower than i'd like it to.

BTW... this ones a piece compared to yours... youve got a gorgeous white one and im uber jealous! galant chris was tellin me about it when he picked up parts from you. got plans for it? or just gonna keep it a fresh cruiser?



Have you driven it around yet? I'm curious to the ride being that low. I got Evo suspension and won't be sacrificing the shocks, but I have a feeling 1g springs will fit.

Mine's alright, it does clean up well though. Right now it's got an evo3 and speed density, will be getting a fresh head and cams and a few other things. Hoping for mid 12's all day every with a/c blasting

 

[DynastyLCD]

i havent driven it yet fonz. started it weds to find the fuel line leaking, and this morning after finishing the rear brakes, come to find out one of the hard lines is broken and leaking /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

frankly, if the money was there, id just do a set of coilovers and be done with it. that'd be the right way to do it. although i was suggested 2g upper strut mounts to correct the too low in back condition. gona research that and try it. would be nice to get it to level out. with the front struts being in good shape, i dont think it should bottom out unless i start flyin over some really rough surface... but the rears being tucked as they are, i do worry a little.

i will let you know by wednesday (hopefully...)

 

[transparentdsm]

gorgeous car, ill be moving to pa in 3 months or so, we should hang out.... i have all kinds of dsm toys myself.. i love all these types of cars and these motors are the best.

 

[DynastyLCD]

update: were doin good!!!

on thursday, i managed to work out all the kinks and gremlins within the setup. i had to fix two fuel pressure issues, a charging issue, and a driveability issue. the o-ring for the pump had stretched out and when i installed it, a piece of it had hung out causing all the fuel to leak past it. the FPR also wasnt changing fuel pressure output much, so i swapped in the Aeromotive unit from my 1g. finally got it running... although idle surging. the injector o-rings were so bad, i touched one of the injectors and it sprayed fuel at me. then the car wouldnt rev past 4k... got a CAS code, swapped that, all good. i took it around the block, it died on me because the alternator quit! so i ripped the practically BNIB alternator out of my 1g, and got back on the road. i put roughly 60 - 70 miles on it... then my girlfriend and i departed for the cape to go camping with her family. i packed up enough spare parts to rebuild it out there (so it feels) and all the needed fluids, and away we went. so far, were at 500 miles, and besides a squeaky belt, no issues what so ever!!! today the newer FIC 650's are going in with new seals, and the boost is going up from 15 to at least 20. then its the anxious wait for the wideband to come in the mail, and really tune it right!

and thanks to nickbuilt, i have 1g rods and 2g pistons to build a nice spare motor! so here comes the boost /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[transparentdsm]

car sounds like she is coming along just swimmingly, i love it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif

 

[donkeylips]

Nice, very similar situation to my 924/1000(also a rusty but decent looking BG). I just picked up a 1g AWD parts car to resurrect it as a beater.

 

[Boost4U]

Good looking car, I have the same suspension on my silver car.

 

[GSX_TC]

thats an awesome picture man

 

[Boost4U]

Bg car is favnumber's on Evo suspension and my silver auto vr4 slammed on dsm stuff. We are both jack stand racing at this time...