86 Starion: The way it should have been
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 4:08 pm
Hello everyone! I'm Alex from Vallejo California. I bought my Starion back in March 2011 and daily drove it for a while. The car had issues that presented themselves over time, mainly rust, but other things happened such as a dead clutch slave and torn CV boots. I got fed up with all the maintenance issues so I decided to restore the car.
Here's the car right after I bought it.
I stuck 'er in the garage and started tearing in
I pulled everything out of the engine bay and pulled the engine wiring harness out. Right now it's waiting to be cleaned up and painted. I didn't originally intend to swap the motor, but after I got it out I started thinking about it. I hate TBI with a passion, and the fact that the G54 is a truck motor really bothered the heck out of me. So I started doing research on motor swaps, looking at build threads, reading this whole site, etc. I was torn between either a small block Mopar or a 4G63. In the end the 4G won out in my mind for a few reasons, including practicality. The car was a 4 cylinder to start with and I'd like to keep it a 4 cylinder, it's just time to bring it into the 21st century.
While pondering engine options, I was busy working on the rest of the car. First off was the rear sub-frame
Before:
After:
During my usual haunt of Craigslist last week, I found what looked like a good deal on a 4G core, so I drove 2 hours to Salinas and picked up this puppy
I paid $250 for the short block and a 2G wiring harness. The block has ARP head studs, and the prior owner claimed only 60,000 miles on it. It's a 7 bolt. After I got it home I discovered a gargantuan hole in the oil pan. It looked like a punch hole from a junk yard, and paint pen markings on the block seemed to confirm that hypothesis. I texted the seller asking for the real story, but he maintained that it was pulled from a good running car. We'll see.
Pulling the main caps, I was pleased to see no grooving or evidence of crankwalk. However there appears to be a slight amount of pitting on one of the main journals. I may have to get the crank turned.
I expect progress on the project to be slow due to the fact that I am working on paying off my other car right now. But I'll post updates as they come. Most likely the next project will be the wiring harness.
Thanks everyone!
Here's the car right after I bought it.
I stuck 'er in the garage and started tearing in
I pulled everything out of the engine bay and pulled the engine wiring harness out. Right now it's waiting to be cleaned up and painted. I didn't originally intend to swap the motor, but after I got it out I started thinking about it. I hate TBI with a passion, and the fact that the G54 is a truck motor really bothered the heck out of me. So I started doing research on motor swaps, looking at build threads, reading this whole site, etc. I was torn between either a small block Mopar or a 4G63. In the end the 4G won out in my mind for a few reasons, including practicality. The car was a 4 cylinder to start with and I'd like to keep it a 4 cylinder, it's just time to bring it into the 21st century.
While pondering engine options, I was busy working on the rest of the car. First off was the rear sub-frame
Before:
After:
During my usual haunt of Craigslist last week, I found what looked like a good deal on a 4G core, so I drove 2 hours to Salinas and picked up this puppy
I paid $250 for the short block and a 2G wiring harness. The block has ARP head studs, and the prior owner claimed only 60,000 miles on it. It's a 7 bolt. After I got it home I discovered a gargantuan hole in the oil pan. It looked like a punch hole from a junk yard, and paint pen markings on the block seemed to confirm that hypothesis. I texted the seller asking for the real story, but he maintained that it was pulled from a good running car. We'll see.
Pulling the main caps, I was pleased to see no grooving or evidence of crankwalk. However there appears to be a slight amount of pitting on one of the main journals. I may have to get the crank turned.
I expect progress on the project to be slow due to the fact that I am working on paying off my other car right now. But I'll post updates as they come. Most likely the next project will be the wiring harness.
Thanks everyone!