Starquest newby check list

[jjohnson]

So I've been a old school v8 to get reliable power most my life, the other day I was thinking dam if there was a main section on this sight that no one could miss that covered how to and what parts u NEED to make the g54b as reliable as maby a Chevy 350 or ford 351 or a dodge318 wherever. Most of these cars died b cause ppl didn't know how or what to do to make them last. I think this thread should b reviewed and updated b made the first one u see as u come to this site.

[Komeuppance]

Keep oil in them, change regularly. Don't overheat, and keep your cooling system working properly. Fix problems before they get worse.

 

That's all you need to keep it reliable and make it last.

 

-Robert

[importwarrior]

i agree. most people that buy these cars are younger.

to me they really dont want to take the time to go over

a cars system mechanical and electrical systems.

 

if i buy a quest now that i am older and had 6 of these,

my first thought now is to check every electrical

connection in the engine bay, clean them die electric

grease them. check radiator fans make sure they can

suck some wind. make sure the fan sensors are wroking.

radiator inside does not look bad. i know you cannot see

everything. i rather replace the radiator right off the bat.

tbody gasket replace. new O2 sensor.

 

most younger people just want to buy and drive. dont have

the patience and or want to take the time to make them run

right. they just want to drive an awesome car.

 

the cars are 25 years or older.

 

even when i was younger i didnt know or take the time i should

have until something went wrong. that could have been prevented

if i took preventative measures.

Edited October 11, 2013 by importwarrior

[JAinsworth]

I think what jj is asking for is for us to review the thread on noobie checklist, update it, and put it on the top of the forum. We should also think about posting a duplicate in the Newbie section.

Jimmy

[Fuze]

Good idea.

You can keep a stock car running reliably if it's in great shape and meticloulsy maintained. Most SQs are part restoration project until you get to that point. They will never be as reliable as a smallblock chevy v8 is, just from my experience. It is what it is, you can't stop those motors.

[jjohnson]

I know, I've been on starquest sinse April . I was reading a thread about the Vegas meet and someone made a comment about these cars not being original w o the g54b . To each his own on that one, is a 57 Chevy all restored with an LS vet drive train worth less than one with with its original 6 cyl ? Or less desirable ? Depends on the buyer I guess. It got me thinking I have 2 cars my 87starion that I'm keeping and a conquest 88 no motor and needs a restoration I'd like to put a jz in that to play with then sell seems that buyers will pay more fur a jz swaped quest so that's the plan for that one. For now with my starion I'm keeping the original power train I know this is a good motor it's a stroker, it has a great crank shaft w large main and rod bearing surfaces , strong rods etc. I was just thinking it'd b nice if there was an organized build thread that had different build stages from start to maby getting 500hp . Then I found this thread lol daaaa, This thread is witten so well I just think it should be on the main page st the top of the list not hurried in the new owners section .

[TexasQuest]

Oh lord not that comment again lol. Can't preach it enough, maintenance before modifications.

[jjohnson]

I agree importwarrior and JAinsworth.

[jjohnson]

When I was looking for a conquest project everyone had something negative to say about the car, You can't get parts , the engines were junk, bla bla bla. We all know that's not totally true. I went to the Indiana meet this year and after talking to guys like nonstock /Eric , he's had his sinse it had around40k mi on it now he has 140 something and he said he beats the h$@:out of it and it still has the original block and internals. Now he has had to put a couple heads on it ,a tranny or two ,megasquirt and a couple turbos but a lot of that was learning mistakes.

[Aman]

Injector Clips

fuel filters/fuel bowl pickup tube in tank needs cleaning unless you're lucky

Steering socket coupler (maybe)

[Turbo Cary]

First thing you should do when getting a sq is change every fluid on the car. Regardless of whether or not paperwork shows it was done change it so you know it was done with the correct fluid and so on.

 

Check every electrical circuit and fusable link as well.

 

If it has been sitting a while drain the tank and check for rust/corrosion.

 

Buy an HID kit. I just purchased one about 2 weeks ago and I should have done it 4 years ago when I got the car. Having better visabilty will help driving at night plus they look good.

 

Check all bushings on the car, repack bearings if needed and do an alignment. Tires are harder to find and keeping the wear minimal will save you tons of cash.

 

Last but not least be happy with your car. We are fortunate enough to own one of the rarest and best looking cars of their generation. Don't get mad when people ask if its an rx7, celica supra, supra, 300zx, or a Daytona. People don't know about these cars and almost on a daily basis I get thumbs up and questions about it.

[SOTTY]

^Good post , these cars are a huge hit with the general public at any car show whether it be a Import or U.S hot rod/muscle event , the 2.6 like anything else requires maintenance , i have both a stock 88 SHP and a v8 swapped 89 SHP , the 89 is a HUGE crowd pleaser even with the "die hard" u.s muscle only types , what peeps do with their Sq is up to them and their own business , it's their car to do as they wish with , if doing a swap means keeping another alive and on the road then more power to them.

[TexasQuest]

+1. Just took 3 guys in their late teens at my work each for a joyride yesterday. They were super stoked and blown away by the car.

[Turbo Cary]

I'm 28. Got mine when I was 24 and I'm still the youngest guy in Charleston with one lol

[TexasQuest]

Same here. 29 now got it when I was 23. People at older car meets with mostly older owners are like "dang your too young to remember these cars when they were new." Lol

[tankbob]

Got my car while still in highschool at 18 because of my job I could afford to fix the car with help from the forums/my dad. I know plenty of friends who are way to lazy to get into fixing cars but they have no interest in old cars, anyone who wants a 25 year old car should be willing to get dirty on a regular basis. The starion definetly left me stranded or without a car for days plenty of times when it was my DD but now Ive got a second car.

[importwarrior]

my NEW first thing to change is the fuel conicle or AKA Cone Filter between the tank and pump.

the cars that are bought now a days have usually been sitting. so fuel related problems i have seen

seem to be because of this little filter getting clogged.

[freebird]

Everytime I get a new starquest.

I first check for them gas leaks.

no one wants a car that can catch fire, and the throttle body always has a gasket issue.

 

Get the car running smooth, either bad fuel filter,fuel pump,injectors,dirty tank and lines. Someone installs the wrong spark plugs so they need checked. TPS, isc, look over the harness for broke wires or unpluged sensors. Vacuum lines,clean turbo coolant and oil.

Change the 02 sensor,maybe check timming or even further to the timming chain assembly.

 

Then go through the rest of the drive train, checking rear end axles and mounts, trans mounts and all fluids.

 

by then the car should be running smooth and getting boost.

Then its time to remove the CAT's, install bigger exhaust and a better turbo, hardpipes and bov. So the engine can breath and boost safely.

I think the car can and will run a very long time if maintained and driven properly.

The 2.6 is a very good engine. I have had lots of great starquest's and enjoy the 2.6 turbo. But its is nice to have a v8 in one also....lol

 

Some people trash these cars by the way they drive them or just leaving them sit.

Ive ridden in cars with people that just seem to red line the rpm's for some reason and think its cool.

Take off real slow then hammer the gas and not shift to 2nd until 6500 rpm's!!!

Same person tells me i shouldnt dump the clutch to do a burn out cause it will hurt the car.

as with all cars, I think you need to feel and hear what the car/engine wants. Once you have one boosting properly and engine running great you know when something is going bad. Most of the time its and easy fix, but if you dont get to the easy fix when you should then thats when bigger problems occur.

[Fuze]

I know, I've been on starquest sinse April . I was reading a thread about the Vegas meet and someone made a comment about these cars not being original w o the g54b . To each his own on that one, is a 57 Chevy all restored with an LS vet drive train worth less than one with with its original 6 cyl ? Or less desirable ? Depends on the buyer I guess.....

 

I was just thinking it'd b nice if there was an organized build thread that had different build stages from start to maby getting 500hp . Then I found this thread lol daaaa, This thread is witten so well I just think it should be on the main page st the top of the list not hurried in the new owners section .

 

There's a lot of old guys that catch feelings when you change anything from stock. I think it's funny, I say mod everything and use parts form other cars if you want, whatever, that's hot-rodding, old guys should relate to that.

 

500 HP on the G54B, that would be a long, expensive thread.

[techboy]

I think what jj is asking for is for us to review the thread on noobie checklist, update it, and put it on the top of the forum. We should also think about posting a duplicate in the Newbie section.

Jimmy

 

To get back on point .... I totally agree w/ Jimmy. When I read the heading of this thread I knew exactly what the poster was talking. That Newbie Starquest Checklist is probably the #1 post on this whole site. It's think it's moved locations a few times since I've been here, and forget where it is now, but it's still here somewhere. I agree w/ the poster though - that thread should be one of the first things a new visitor to this site finds.

 

Before I bought my first Quest I copied that whole post and turned it into a PDF and printed it out. To this day it is in plastic in the front of my Starquest binder where I keep all kinds of notes and other things I've learned over the years about these cars.

[Starfighterpilot]

To get back on point .... I totally agree w/ Jimmy. When I read the heading of this thread I knew exactly what the poster was talking. That Newbie Starquest Checklist is probably the #1 post on this whole site. It's think it's moved locations a few times since I've been here, and forget where it is now, but it's still here somewhere. I agree w/ the poster though - that thread should be one of the first things a new visitor to this site finds.

 

Before I bought my first Quest I copied that whole post and turned it into a PDF and printed it out. To this day it is in plastic in the front of my Starquest binder where I keep all kinds of notes and other things I've learned over the years about these cars.

 

AW!!!! You're making me blush! Thank you for the kind words.

 

Here is a link to the post. http://www.starquest...showtopic=66449

 

You're right Jimmy, I have to go through that post and update it for additional info and things that I have learned since 2007 when I originally posted it and clean up the links which for some reason got corrupted. Me, my GF and the Old Broad have to get off of the road and I have to just take the time to do the updates. Hopefully in the next month or so - altho next month we are driving to Tulsa, OK from Atlanta for Thanksgiving with the kids. That will probably be the last round trip to Tulsa cuz my daughter has been promoted, and as a result, is being transferred to Salt Lake City next year. Then, instead of a 1800 mile round trip to Tulsa to see her and her family, it will be about 4000 miles for the round trip to SLC, two to three times a year. Gotta change out the SHP struts & springs, and some of the suspension & drive train "rubber" mounts before those trips, cuz that remaining stuff is OEM and is SHOT. But after that maintenance is done, the Old Broad can handle it like the Broad she has been for the last 465K miles.

 

However, altho she is an Old Broad, she has was NEVER "ridden hard and put away wet" for the 25 years that I've owned her since she was brandy new - or maybe that she's owned me.

 

I want to say this! I could not have put the miles on her that I have without the technical knowledge that I gained here on SQC; without Jimmy, Grant and Professor Quest's SOS Manuals; without getting the parts from 46 different Starquests through the SQC Parts For Sale Forum & PQ that the Old Broad needed throughout the years; without practically memorizing were to look in the FSM (HINT, HINT to you new guys) for the technical info that I needed at the time; and the physical assistance of Grant (pure-insanity) for twisting the wrenches on her now that it's becoming harder and harder for me to do the heavy wrench slinging maintainence myself. Old age is HELL! Thank You Grant! and Thank You to all of the Old Time Starquesters that helped me learn back when I was a Starquest NOOB and to the SQC'ers that sold me QUALITY used parts over the years.

 

Once again, jj, techboy & Jimmy, THANK YOU for the kind words.

 

For What It's Worth.

 

KEN