TheWormForEver Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 OK, so I've taken a mean tumble down the rabbit hole of the Starquest world and I am in it now for better or worse. Nobody likes long posts so I'll try to keep it short. I have an '87 Starion that I bought for $140 bucks with a blown engine. The car has not run for years. I just picked up my rebuilt longblock from Dad's shop last Friday, and now need to get moving on the project and fast! Oh yeah, it's an ESI-R, 5 speed, 129K. What I have: 2.6 Longblock build by Dad @ Engine Machine Service Weisco forged pistons, new NJV head (alabama), Oversized SS valves, balanced rotating assembly, new stock cam, new oil pump, schnider springs, BSE kit done, ground and polished crank, overbored .020, etc. etc. Pretty much everything done from oilpan to valve cover, front pulley to rear main seal. Also got my hands on a 240mm flywheel that Dad resurfaced for me. I have a new alternator, and front wheel bearings, and that's about it for new stuff, the rest is all stock parts from the car itself. I also have a big barn to work in with all the tools i'll need to work on the car (pneumatics, shop crane, 2 roll away chests packed full, power tools, blah blah blah.) What I need: Guessing that since the car has been sitting, pretty much all the other parts are fubar right? Replace them all correct? So I need to know where to go for parts for this thing, because after going to the auto parts stores up town where I have been buying parts for years, I have never been treated so coldly, poorly and downright rude before in my LIFE! Ended up at autozone, only had a few parts, prices ASTRONOMICAL!!! So If replace everything I'm gonna need water pump, fuel pump, fuel injectors, distributor, sensors, PS pump, radiator, CV halfshafts, LSD Parts, MAF, Turbo, Exhaust, Steering column parts (Dad),rotors, brake calipers, brake lines, bearings (rear), clutch, clutch slave, etc etc............................ You get the picture. Can any of this stuff be bought new? Can this be done for under $5K? Where can parts be purchased? I keep running into dead ends. I come across some stuff, but not alot. A co-worker told me about rockauto.com but that stuff seems to be for the flatbody non-intercooled model. It did ask for me for either an "N" VIN code or an "H" VIN code. I tried both. Why? my VIN code has both an N and an H in it. I'm gonna need some advice. Any help is appreciated. Also how do you guys feel about the brake rotors on Ebay? R they good? seems like a good deal to me when i get told brake rotors will run me $120 each from the parts store. Let the fun begin LOL!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyW Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well Welcome to the nieghborhood! Parts can be found it just takes some searching. Troll around here and watch for parts and also ebay quit oftern NOS parts will pop up. Your best bet on alot of stuff will be Good used parts I think to stay within the 5 grand. as long as your diving into the brakes you might as well start the search for struts as well, they are getting harder and harder to com by. I'm in Erie so if your ever in the area stop on by, my garage is always opened for Starquests Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer_amx Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 First thing you need to do is Go Here and register..... starquest.i-x.net Once you have registered, you will then be able to view the "S.O.S. Save our Starions forum" Read Everything. As far as all the other parts you wanna replace, just about everything is available pretty cheap So If replace everything I'm gonna need water pump, fuel pump, fuel injectors, distributor, sensors, PS pump, radiator, CV halfshafts, LSD Parts, MAF, Turbo, Exhaust, Steering column parts (Dad),rotors, brake calipers, brake lines, bearings (rear), clutch, clutch slave, etc etc............................ Some of the items you listed, you can rebuild youself such as, distributor, PS pump, CV halfshafts, & LSD Parts, just read the S.O.S. manual Sensors can be checked using methods in SOS, used replacements can be had from "for sale" section in the forums, new can be had from mitsu or parts houses like autozone. Some of the items can be bought aftermarket... fuel pump: the stocker and stock replacemant is junk, upgrade to a WALBRO 255LPH, It will deliver more fuel when you add mods, I forget cost but I used to see them on ebay for 120ish Fuel injectors: You can either test the factory ones you already have, order new mitsu units for 300 a peice, order trilogy turbo replacements for 300 a set, or order Delphis (same as trilogy) for 140ish a set, I dont remember the part numbers for them though. Radiator: your factory radiator can be rodded out for around 80 bucks, upgraded aluminum versions can be had for around 300ish, I have also seen brand new replacements on ebay for around 100 Turbo: There are several aftermarket suppliers of replacement and upgraded turbos for these cars, with the most popular being Forcedperformance, type "starion" in the search section. Clutch: there are tons of aftermarket clutches for these cars usually in the 300-500 price range, whatever you do, stay away from factory replacement clutches from places like autozone, they are complete garbage, ACT and SPEC are examples of good clutch manufacturers Exhaust: exhausts can be had from several sources, the most immediate in my mind would be *DM exhausts, you could also have something made at your local exhaust shop Look in the group buy section for Mookeeh, he sells tons of stuff for these cars ect ect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emagdnim Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 If you need me to check any OEM items just call the number in my sig and ask. you can email me or PM me here as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 I'm going to put up pictures as soon as my girlfriend will go back to her house and pick up the USB cord for the digital camera. Thanks for all the input guys!!! ALSO, I dropped the gas tank last night and it's in pretty bad shape. LOTS of rust particles on the inside! Looking to figure out the best way to clean/recondition/seal/coat the inside of the tank before this starts pumping fuel into my new engine. Let me know what your thoughts are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 (edited) Inside of tail light lens, gonna be restoring this, In case anyone was wondering how I got my taillight lens apart, I baked it in an electic oven for 25 minutes at 200 degrees. Softened up the glue and i was able to pull it apart... Edited July 9, 2008 by TheWormForEver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6679/img028rk1.jpg Here is the inside, reflectors very dirty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3950/img031sr0.jpg Yeah pretty bad shape, I know. http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1730/img030tv7.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/851/img033wh7.jpg Got a lot of work ahead of me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Tons of rust in gas tank, currently reading PQ's SOS manuals on this one... http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6191/img036ob4.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/469/img037nb4.jpg no way am I letting any of this get into my new engine... http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5387/img035uj4.jpg Project continues to grow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ordered a walbro high fuel pump today, $120. Wanna have enough fuel to pump into this... http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5983/img048mw0.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Had my work cut out for me... http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/497/img042pm2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Getting that condensation out, rust all gone inside nice and shiny... http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/280/img057tn4.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Curious if anyone has tried this one... I had a feeling that a fair portion of where condensation was getting into the tank was from the outside of the tank flanges, only a very tiny bit of the actual gasket seals on the bulge on the inside of the pickup and tank gauge flanges soo... http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/4213/img059vd2.jpg I soldered them up around the outsides... http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1386/img058yn5.jpg Not the prettiest solder job ever but who's gonna see right? http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/4797/img060gn6.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Coated the entire tank with underbody rubberized coating (Sherwin Williams Industrial & Marine rust preventative primer coated first, naturally) http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6189/img062aw8.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Ready for fitment... http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8511/img063mj7.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Walbro fuel pump, yay!!! http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9322/img064kp7.jpg I used tinning flux on every electrical connection, and tinned every lead. The electrical on this was soo bad. Used heat shrink on everything too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Started to do a little bit of cleanup in the engine compartment, cleaning away the nastiness... http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8761/img044rm8.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Sorry about all the out of focus crap, spending my cash on the car not "other" toys... http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6444/img043sd5.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Gonna mount the gauges here I think, .... http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/3623/img065wz4.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 The color on the faces of these guages is almost dead on to the Starion's. I freaking love how well they match... http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6015/img066jd5.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWormForEver Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Looking to route the gauge sending lines through here. Anyone know of a 12V dimmer circuit near here that I can tap into to have my gauges dim on the factory switch??? http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4785/img067ki2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosierquest Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Good work man. Im Jellous, been wanting to start a resto on mine for a while now. Keep it up. PS I know there is a post about what wire to tap into. Look in the faqs maybe installing a boost gauge in the factory location post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Be carefull, I have read on here that the factory dimmer switch won't tolerate any other light connected to it. You can tap into the ashtray light but it does not dim. Dad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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