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dtownmikebrown

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  • Posts

    38
  • Joined

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Profile Information

  • Location
    Lansing
  • Gender
    Male

Previous Fields

  • Zip Code
    48911
  • Model
    Starion
  • Type
    ESI-R
  • Model Year
    1987
  • Transmission Type
    Manual
  • Interior Color
    Dark Red
  • Status
    On the road

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  1. I've got $500 and a battery. I can be there in an hour!
  2. I think the ETACS is fine because everything that it's supposed to control is working, and nothing's acting weird other than the radio. I'll have to take a closer look at the inside of the radio, I guess.
  3. I've got a stock radio inside my '87. ' A few months ago, almost everything was working fine. I had the radio on and when my friend opened the passenger door it turned off. Later I found out that I had the trickle charger hooked up backwards. While I had the dash out of the car to clean up after the mice, I popped the bottom panel off of the head unit and found that one of the fuses was blown. I replaced the fuse. Since then I've replaced all the fusible links and serviced all the grounds. Now the dash is back in and to my surprise everything is working flawlessly except for the radio. Even a few features that didn't work before, like the rear defroster and the adjustable intermittent wipers, are all functional. Now the radio turns on, but no sound comes out. The backlight that operates along with the rest of the interior lighting system now comes on, but many of the lights for the radio itself (LCD backlight, EQ lights, etc) that worked before don't turn on with the radio anymore. The clock is working and it still tunes to stations and saves presets, so I know it's getting power. So, what's the verdict? Is it dead?
  4. Sounds like a good goal to shoot for. I'd definitely like to attend if I can get my car together in time.
  5. Moving right along! I'm really interested to see what you come up with for the v-mounting. Do you have any other projects that you're referencing, or are you doing it from scratch?
  6. Nice. Can't wait to see some pics. I've seen quite a few other Michigan people (myself included) active on the SQC forum in the past few months. Maybe it's time to organize a regional meetup, eh? I also found mine in a barn over the winter and I'm in the process of rebuilding and restoring it right now. Drop me a line if you need any help.
  7. Yes, you guys both recommended I do that already on my previous thread and I agree that it is an excellent idea. I tried to get them loose with a flare wrench, PB blaster, a torch, and I can't get either of them to budge. They're stuck on, HARD. Since I'm discarding the old lines anyway, why not just cut off the lines right above the flare nuts so I can get an impact socket on them?
  8. Seeing as how I've had to read the entire FSM cover-to-cover at least twice by now, I think it's time for me to stop spamming the newbie section and start up a proper restoration thread. Here's the back story. I had been interested in owning a Starion for a while, and I happened to stumble across one left behind in a barn a few miles south of Lansing, MI. The asking price was irresistible, so I picked it up. From what I gathered, it had been sitting there since 2009. The previous owner did get it running again, but not for long. I don't know how long it had been sitting before he got his hands on it. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a pretty friggin long time. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c331/dtownmikebrown/Starion/1655169_10151989778821659_754050729_o.jpg All it needed was some new rear brakes, a fuel pump, and a secondary injector, and it would be good to go. I figured I'd get it fixed up quick and have some fun with it over the summer before embarking on the full restoration project over the winter. That was the fantasy, at least. Of course diagnosing one problem led to another, which led to another, and so on. Ultimately, I had to pull the engine and transmission for a full rebuild. Same thing happened with the interior, where one funky smell led to another, and I ended up having to pull the entire thing apart. Multiple ecosystems were uncovered. Fascinating stuff. It's been an adventure so far. Every single seal, gasket, o-ring, vacuum line, you name it, I never found a single one that wasn't at least questionable. Many of them were completely shot. I guess that's what happens when you leave a car sitting in a barn indefinitely. Meanwhile, the secondary injector was one of the only things that DID work properly. Right now I'm waiting on the machine shop to clean and inspect my block, head, and rods. My new goal is to get it all back together (hopefully on coilovers) at least a week in advance of the Labor Day autocross at Grattan Raceway. I'd say it's ambitious, but not impossible. The biggest obstacle right now is the $$$. Either way, this thing will be going fast and looking good long before the snow flies.
  9. OK, I'm gonna do what I should have done months ago and pull the motor. I really don't think there's anything wrong with the bottom end, but I was planning on building it anyway so now seems like as good a time as any to get the block all checked out, do the BSE and timing chain service, add some forged pistons, etc.. I'm planning on hoisting the block using two head bolts, some larger washers, and about 3.5 feet of high test chain since the head is already removed. I've looked around and it seems like some people on here have had success using that method. So far I've drained all the fluids, took out the radiator and water pump, removed all the hoses and electrical connectors, took out the AC and starter. Also removed a total of 4 bolts between the block and and the transmission, and freed the bolts for the motor mounts. Seems like it should be ready to go, so what am I forgetting? Is there anything else holding things together underneath that I'm overlooking?
  10. Haha! All these little problems keep uncovering bigger and bigger problems. Can't wait to see what I find next. I made a mess of the head trying to drill out the broken exhaust stud, and then while I was pulling out the last one I discovered that the entire back of the engine block was covered in oil. I couldn't tell whether it was all coming from the valve cover or not so I decided to just buck up and take the head off like I should have in the first place. Here's what I've found so far... I'm not sure how much of the oil in cylinder #4 spilled in there while I was taking off the head, but that's definitely one source of the oil leak. There may be others. Maybe now would be a good time to pull the engine and do a full rebuild. Then again, maybe not. Either way, I'm gonna need a new head now.
  11. Nice! Yours was obviously far better cared for by the previous owner than mine was. Great to hear that one in good condition gets the seal of approval from a first time driver who knows the difference. I brought mine home on a trailer, so I had no idea what it would be like to drive. When I finally got it running again, after about 10 minutes of street/highway I came to the conclusion that it was the worst handling vehicle (sports car, truck, minivan, you name it) that I had ever driven in my entire life. I blamed 70% of it on worn out struts and bushings and the other 30% on crappy tires. Gives me a little extra motivation to get mine sorted out.
  12. Uggh. I went to replace the leaky exhaust manifold gasket and I found a crack in the manifold. Then I broke off one of the studs inside the head. I thought drilling out the old stud and re-tapping the thread would be a fairly easy process, but apparently it's even easier to screw it up. I think I bungled it pretty bad. I'm afraid that if I take off the head now it's going to turn into a big, expensive "while I'm at it" job. I was already planning on building the engine, but I kinda wanted to wait until the summer was over. DMNDSTAR87 and I own 87's. Therefore, 87 is the best year. In all seriousness, I think that in 89 with SHP is probably the best you can do for a starquest in stock form. Good question. I'm not sure what's going on there. When I tested it myself I remember it reading just under 3Ω. I'll have to check it again before I hook everything back up.
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