Wintermute

I'll take it.

Bought some Stedebani suspension bushings from him. Paid a fair price and he shipped them out quickly. I would not hesitate to do business with him again.

I'd be in for one set of torque tube bushings.

Understood, no problem.

I'll take the suspension bushings.

I'm down for the oil feed line, clutch line, ABS delete line and the brake lines. All in clear.

I'll take the 2 rear 8"s if no one else has gotten to them.

Wow, that sounds pretty disgusting. Guess I should be glad they don't do that around here!

Haha, ours isn't that bad. They put down waaaaaaay too much of it around here though.

Yeah, I have a lot to get done. I think I have most of the parts I need though. And thanks! Me either! Hoping to get it going by spring time. Definitely not going to be a winter car, don't want to subject it to the salt they put down around here.

Made some progress! Things have been going a bit slow since I've mostly just been collecting parts, but I got a few things worth mentioning done in the past few days. Pile o' Parts http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5176111976_54eb2edd9b.jpg I've gotten my new 89 tranny put together with new seals and gaskets. It's ready to go in as soon as I get the crossmember thing figured out. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5175505517_b7fb111a96.jpg Decided to paint the grill black to go with the Starion badging. Not sure if I'll go with a gloss or flat clear coat yet, if I clear it with gloss it will be the only shiny thing on the car aside from the wheels! http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5176112700_a0d6c9287a.jpg Need to solder the speedo sensor wires, they were barely connected at all when I pulled it off the old tranny. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5176114030_bb9ea24c3b.jpg Also discovered another stupid thing the previous owner did: painted over what looks like a nearly perfect coat of factory red with white spray primer! Didn't even bother to scuff it (or do any other prep work AT ALL) either, so the primer is chipping away in many spots. I've picked up a few cans of white primer and some sand paper so I can touch it up and at least make it all one color. I don't know why he would have covered up the factory paint since it looks so good in the spots I can see though. That worries me a bit. I got the interior torn out to clean and so it would be out of the way for fixing the frame rails. Again, all the paint looks great and I haven't found any more rust. I think I'm going to leave the rear seats out and make some kind of parcel shelf in the back. 'Nother stupid previous owner story (that I unfortunately forgot to take pics of): the radio was only screwed in at one corner, the rest of it was supported by some old dish rags shoved underneath it! Things I still need to do at this point: fix the frame rails find a better way to mount the tranny replace diff mounts install new flywheel, clutch, and tranny After all I get all that done and a few other basic maintenance things, she should be drivable. Who knows what's going to happen from there!

Black shirt with white lettering would be perfect for me.

I would definitely buy one of the Starion ones if it were to come in black.

Is this still available? PM me with details if it is please! Thanks!

Updates! First off, I've gotten the old transmission torn down. Mostly. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5049093086_48646b5559_z.jpg In the process though I've realized I really don't know what I'm doing AT ALL when it comes to rebuilding a transmission... so I'm now in the market for another one. Shoot me an email /PM if you have one (manual only)! Thanks guys! For what it's worth, it looks like it spun a bearing on the main shaft. I think the gearset is okay, but I haven't been able to get it completely apart to look at so I'm not certain. I just don't have the tools I need to do that. So, yeah. I'll be better off just buying a working one. I'm also going to get a new clutch and pressure plate, probably just an OEM replacement for now. Looking at Exedy for that. How do I measure the flywheel to see if it's the 225 or 240 though? I don't know which one the previous owner used when he swapped in this transmission and every measurement I've taken of it hasn't been close to either of those numbers... Here's a picture of the casting marks on it in case that can be used to identify it: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5048473819_a401757e7f_z.jpg To answer the question about the tranny cooler: the one on the driver's side is actually a sub-condenser for the AC. According to my FSM (best $15 I ever spent!), it only came in automatic transmission cars. There was a tranny cooler but it was on the passenger side. Unfortunately, in the process of tracking that down I discovered that my AC compressor isn't actually connected to anything except for that cooler and the accessory belts. Oh well, weight savings I guess. I prefer driving with the windows down anyway!

That's the plan! I don't know who Dave is, but I don't feel too bad now after looking at some other build threads on here. Still disheartening though, seeing as I have no welding /fabrication skills myself. Ah, my mistake. Are there two tranny coolers then? I noticed another mount bracket on the passenger side of the car with lines going to it, but no cooler. I just kinda assumed the other one was an oil cooler. I live in Pendleton, about half an hour northeast of Indianapolis. Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome! I'll post updates as they come. Might tear apart the tranny tomorrow and see if it can be saved...

Nope, just this one. Said he traded a 240sx to a friend for it. Maybe saw the same things I did and wanted out? He lived on the outskirts of Fort Wayne.

Yeah, she's really a Conquest. The last owner just put that Mitsu badge on there after he (spray) painted it. I may stick with it though, I kinda like the Starion badging better than the Conquest stuff. Thanks for the warm welcome!

Figured I may as well make my first post here a good one, so here's my story and my car. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5042320057_c1f9b7c529.jpg She's an 89 Conquest TSi, and my first real project car. In fact, more of a project than I thought I was getting. I also own a Chevy Cobalt (my daily ride). I did a few things to the Cobalt, but pretty quickly realized I was wasting my money. There was no way that car was ever going to have the performance or presence I wanted, not without spending ridiculous amounts of money and making it completely unreliable. Also, FWD... eww. So; I decided to buy a better platform. I've always loved the lines of the Starquests. After some craigslist searching I even found a few in Indiana! Most were non-running parts cars, but one showed promise. An 89, and the seller swore it was rust free and had a straight body. I was excited! I would finally have the real car I wanted so badly! A few days (and sleepless nights) later, I convinced my dad to drive me the two hours to go see it. I brought cash. The only way I wasn't driving this car home wass if it wasn't physically possible (for that case, I brought a tow strap... call me determined). The car looked okay and seemed to drive fine, so I handed over the cash and he signed over the title. Everything was going great, the car was mine! Disaster. Driving home on the interstate at 80 mph. Drain cap on the transmission falls out(!?). Tranny eats itself. Car doesn't like the idea of going forward anymore. Decides it prefers sitting on the side of the road. At this point, we're about 50 miles from home and it's getting late. Leaving my new car there just isn't an option, so we called a towing service. Pricey, but got her home. Where she sits now. The next day I go out to the garage, hoping to start working on her. Hoping that maybe just the clutch went (didn't know yet about the drain cap) and I could be driving her again soon. Nope. Jack her up, and see this: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5042954678_11ac4e16ee.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5042953838_9e67707351.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5042328511_d41ddce7be.jpg Terrifying! I drove this?! It gets even better... http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5042329563_c7cf377f0c.jpg There's something missing from that picture... something probably pretty important... Oh. Yeah. The nut on the lower control arm. And it just gets better and better... The car wasn't always a manual. The last owner did a terrible hackjob of a manual swap. No wonder the pedals seemed oddly spaced... and just wait until you see the bracket he "fabbed" up for the transmission. And I do use that term loosely, thus the quotes. This. This... abomination: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/5042949690_68fed345c4.jpg"> Truly, top shelf engineering went into this. And by that I mean alcohol from the lowest shelf. The sheet metal pieces offer very little support. The tranny was just hanging there. Notice the relief "cut" into it for the speedo cable? Looks like he just attacked it with a drill until he got bored: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5042327059_76ab5f84c2.jpg"> You can't see the worst of it. But yeah... this is pretty bad. This is more work than I signed up for. I'm in a bit over my head. But hey, there are upsides. The engine ran fine, no smoke, held oil pressure, no overheating. The bodywork is in pretty good okay shape. The interior smells awful but is in pretty decent shape. Oh, and... She's mine! I can save her. I will save her. It will just take more work than I wanted. Phase I of this project is just getting her back on the road. This means repairing those frame rails and rebuilding /replacing the transmission. Phase II probably involves paint and bodywork, and Phase III (in the distant future where I have money) may involve a 4G63. But for now, uh... hi! More pictures!