Thanks for the offers and effort guys! AWD DSM 1 had a spare that got me going last night! Huge thanks!

Everything is back together. I found my slave cylinder blown out so I need to bleed the system and re-adjust the clutch pedal now that I'm not making up for a broken TB.

Should be on the road tonight!

Took some clutch pedal adjustment, and may need more...

I did get to put about 15 miles on her before I put it back in the garage for the night. I couldn't put my foot into it until I get better gas in it.

Come on FRIDAY!

If you run into issues I've got a new in bag mitsu slave cylinder I'd let go for cheap.

Soooo? How's she shifting???

The talon is shifting great now. I wouldn't mind it feeling more indestructible and definite in each gear, but that would be a perfect world.

The facts are that I am able to hit 2nd, 3rd and 4th at 8000-8500 without hesitation!

Last night I made some runs. I missed 4th on one run but I may attribute that to lack of seat time recently. The run after that I consciously made sure it was in 4th gear before releasing the clutch and all was fine. It didn't take that long, but I decided not to try to coordinate my speed shift with my clutch foot until I get more seat time.

Right before putting her away, I launched it in first gear and that duration seems much longer now. It way have been the excitement or the dizziness from the launch but I missed a gear then too. The car felt a little out of shape for a minute or two after that one but what a glorious pull.

What gear are you missing? Third? I replaced the centering spring with a new Mitsu part and really helped make the shifter a lot more defined, especially the 2-3 shift.

I re-adjusted my clutch pedal today. I didn't miss a gear all night. so I think thigs are good with the transmission now. Thanks for the tip though. If I run into more problems I will look into that.

Oh it's getting sick now to realize how much power this is in the real world...away from the bench.

It has been a glorious weekend of racing (World series at Cordova )

The most intriguing detail is how much your perception of standards changes as the power level goes up. Factory cars once understood to be fast, now seem to barely be moving under acceleration. Races that used to be gear by gear and wheel to wheel have turned into a thousand RPM or two of acceleration to blow by the struggling competitor like a show of dominance.

Don't get me wrong it is HILARIOUS to see and here about the look on these guys faces when a stock looking talon rips by them with the 44mm Tial waste gate screeching 'Race Car' in the midnight air. At the same time I now have an idea why faster guys may not have wanted to race me back in the day. I kind of feel pompus even talking about racing this way. Kinda takes the fun out a bit. Makes me feel dirty...

So for the most part I will continue my hunt for faster cars...and there are plenty, because in the grand scheme of things a car at my level is not all that fast. It just looks that way next to mildly modded street cars which I may still blow by occasionally just for fun while it lasts.

Kicks
Did you actually race during the World Series this weekend? Wish I could have made it.

I'm no where as fast as you...but I kind of know what you're talkin about (pompous). I love the look on the guys in my Super ET class when I DRIVE up, run 12's and DRIVE home. I'm the only one in my class that's not trailered and looks stock, and a 4 cyl! Even when I lose, it's a small moral victory.

I installed the heavier Waste Gate spring again. Now that I have the MBC getting boost reference right from the turbo housing it's working perfectly. I was able to turn the boost as far down as 12-13 and just for checking purposes I flash boosted the system to just over 30psi.

It wont be the most scientific, but with 118 octane I should be able to gradually turn the boost up on race day until it can't take anymore. That is if I don't go fast enough to get kicked off of the track first.

For reference I was having to install the lighter waste gate spring to get any boost below 15 psi before I changed the boost reference point. At that point I was referencing boost right from the intake manifold (After the TB). The difference is night and day in controllability.

Plus no major boost leaks to speak of yet. We will see how it goes Friday.

I smell 11.50's...

Please tell me that you're not selling this car, Marcus. I really hope that you come to your senses and keep it.

HA... Most people (Non DSM folks and family) think I am now coming to my senses. As you can tell I haven't paid much attention to them over the years.

In this case I have built a 4-cylinder 'Sports car' with the ability to pull down an 11 second pass without doing anything but adding high octane fuel. A car that will beat all but the elite stock performance cars down the quarter mile and hang with most in handling.

The DSM is a great platform and seeing how long it took me to get to the 11's on the shoulders of all those that have gone before me makes me wonder how long it would have taken without the support of groups like this one and the experiences of all our fellow DSM owners.

The Talon is now what I would want most in a car of this platform, but it has built a level of distrust in me. I am now willing to settle for a much more humble commuter sedan or truck with a race car to build for weekend fun. Selling the Talon will help me get rid of some OLD debt that I need to clean my credit up with.

So just send over a cashiers check Kris and I'll park the Talon over at your parents house!

I think I know what you mean about the distrust part....

Just as soon as I find that misplaced 10g's I had laying around I'll be sending over the money because 10K for that car is a heck of a deal.

Thanks Kris, very much appreciated.

I know you have first hand knowledge how much this stuff costs. Heck anyone could add up the list of parts and see that it comes up to a lot more than the selling price. That's how it goes though, and I would like to move the Talon as soon as possible for previously stated reasons.

Man, I finally get mine out of the garage this past weekend, and here you are selling yours. We'll have to meet up sometime before it sells and run 'em.

I haven't had a whole lotta luck selling mine, but I haven't been real aggressive about it either, plus I don't have a time slip on the new setup. Best of luck to you on the sale!

Sorry to hear about the sale, but I have to admit I'm on the side of thinking you're making the right decision. Selling mine was one of the better vehicle decisions I've made just because of the amount of "distrust" as you put it, that I had for it.

I don't know...I would only let "distrust" be a factor if it was my daily driver. Otherwise, it's a "toy" and if it breaks, it sucks, but as long as it doesn't keep me from going to work it's OK.

I don't think many have had the bad run of luck that I have had. So when I say distrust, it's just that feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop when things seem to be going good. I wouldn't say that I distrust my Talon. Like any vehicle with the HP modified to almost 3 times it's stock level, you have to expect some factory items to fail.

Marcus, I can hate you for doing it, but when it was my car and my money I did the same thing. Best of luck to you. Coming up soon....Project racevan...think about it

Sorry to hear about the sale ODT... wish I had the money to swipe it up, that car has been a staple in the community since the beginning...

That'd be an interesting trade.... something worth thinking about anyway.

Well, at least your luck hasn't been as bad as mine.

Long before the stroker motor saga, my future vision was to build the Talons performance to match or defeat any factory stock vehicle in acceleration. If you know me I usually measure acceleration by the quarter mile.

Today I found some fresh numbers posted in the October 2007 Motor Trend magazine that really brought a smile to my face...

2007 Porsch 911 GT3 RS Quarter Mile: 12.2@115mph for $140,820 as tested
2007 Chevy Corvette Z06 Quarter Mile:11.8@121mph for $75,175 as tested
2007 Dodge Viper SRT10 Quarter Mile: 11.7@124mph for $90,145 as tested
2007 Lamb Murcielogo LP640 Qtr. Mile: 12.0@123mph for $379,000 as tested

Compared to:
1992 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD Qtr. Mile: 11.8@122mph for $9,800 current purchase price

All vehicles were tested on DOT approved rubber. Looking at the mph, all vehicles could possibly benefit from slicks with about the same results. Also all vehicle save for the Murcielogo have a top speed just under 200MPH. By judging the Talons speeds to date I feel that it could fall in the same catagory.

Sure each of the above vehicles are far and away more luxurious, exotic, make a statement, and have the ability to make women drool at the potential amount of money they can suck out of the owner of said vehicle (which can result is a side effect of glorious sex). These vehicles probably also have a more comfortable ride and may, just may be able to handle the curves a little better. They may even be able to attain their level of power longer without maintenance or breakage. But at a stop light they will have to wonder, and suckle up to those other benefits to cure the sting from a locally built, daily driven DSM anyone could own!

Now that's what I call good salemanship!!!!


Jesus, my car's almost as fast as a 911...on a good day, when it's running!

A week or so ago, all this power led to another transmission blow-out. I have learned quite a bit more about the DSM transmission since. Some things that have been a real eye opener. Jon at TRE has been a huge help! I will post a special thread on this info in the near future when I have more time.

Currently it appears that when I broke my 3rd gear the first time, I apparently hurt the secondary shaft and center diff. teeth in a way that was not obvious. I was not aware that the secondary shaft and differential run together to drive the car at the third gear location ALL the time. So it took a bit more troubleshooting and a total blow-out in first gear for me to find out what was going on.

My center diff. gears and the teeth that match it on the secondary shaft are all but gone. In a statement of true strength the EVOIII 3rd gear is still mostly intact with only a few major divets from teeth flying around it.

I have a new EVOIII 3rd gear already, and new seals to put things back together with a used secondary and differential gear. As we went to assemble everything last night we found that the secondary and diff. gears that I was going to use are out of an 89-90 transmission and will not work. So now I'm on the hunt. Please see my DSMCentral exchange WTB AD if you might be able to help out.

Thanks!

email sent. i might have what u need!

I appreciate it TJ. I'll get a hold of you soon.

Thanks to Josh, Jon at TRE and TJ, the Talon is back on it's feet. Back and BAD A$$! HAHA It always amazes me at how quick tha Talon can make me forget all the repair time. A few seconds of half to full throttle and I've had my fix!

Jon at TRE got me a new EVOIII 3rd gear, TJ hooked me up with the proper AWD diff. and input shaft. Josh guided me through a transmission rebuild. I had it apart 3 times the first night and then I had to tear it out of the car and redo everything because a very small piece of broken gear tooth got stuck down in the slide shaft base. In doing so I have a very thorough knowledge of our transmission and it is shifting like BUTTA now!

The AWD diff. and input shaft that had been in the car the entire time I've owned it, is what gave out causing all this. The new EVOIII thrid gear actually heal up very well considering the other teeth on the diff. and input shaft were nearly all gone! With the fresh dif and input shaft there is a lot less back and forth lash as well as noise.

A couple of side notes:

Today I finally broke down and bought a decent daily driver/tow/hauler: 2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 4x4 with a 6.0 Vortech V8. Should get the job done.

Oh and TJ's brother has an awesome Lexus SC300 with the Supra swap. Beautiful!

I'll post pics of the trashed gears and the new truck as soon as I train the camera on them.

anything to get the talon back on the streets buddy! Now you owe me a ride!! LOL

Also, that wasnt my brother with the lexus its my friend Cory. You might as well consider us brothers though.

The lexus is also for sale now due to funding issues.

is he willing to trade for an 11 second Talon?

i can ask him. If you would wanna do a staight up trade then i would imagine he would give it a good amount of thought.

Ill ask him tonite when i see him and let you know.

Sounds like a nice tow rig Marcus. Pics or Die!!!

Check out the new thread for a picture of the rig.

Here are a couple pictures of the Center differential, input shaft and EVOIII 3rd gear that recently came out of my transmission. It's kind of hard to see, but there are virtually NO whole teeth left on the input shaft. Most of the teeth are missing from the diff. as well, while the EVOIII gear has all of it's teeth. Just some dents and nicks on EVO gears teeth. Pretty astounding that it held up so well.

Hmmm... You may have to fix the coolant leak and transmission problem first. Then once you have the maintenance done... you are going to need a bigger turbo. Hahaha

Well it looks like this year’s focus will be on road handling and refining the performance.

From a performance perspective I would like to optimize my tune with a dyno session by seasoned tuning veterans on 93 octane as well as a race gas tune. I will have these same vet's review my set-up for any minor corrections to reach new heights and street-ability with items such as better spool-up characteristics.

I've spoken with AMS and they can get me in within two weeks of calling for an appointment which is much better than I had heard through the grape vine. My only problem is that they require a DSM link or AEM to program with. So I have begun to look for a deal on a DSM link. I feel that the AEM is too expensive for my current needs and seeing the DSM link in Natedoggs car, showed me that it has most if not all that I could ever want in ECU tuning.

For handling I have spoken with Road Race Engineering. They obviously have direct access/relationship with Mueller who will set anyone’s DSM up with custom JIC's for around $4000! I'm sure this is a great set-up. It's the one they installed on Scott Gray's car for his SCC magazine coverage. However, I am still a cheap DSMer at heart and do not want to spend that kind of money. Mike Welch at RRE told me "...if you will be able to set things up your self we have been getting really good bang for the buck with the Megan coil overs. At ~$900 for the complete set they are very nice.
Made by the same manufacturer as Apexi's and Buddy Club." So I will be looking into these as an upgrade to my current set-up. If money becomes an issue I will just replace my rear Koni Yellows for around $300. The 2.5" Eibach spring combo and slip-on adjustable perches on the Yellows works pretty well, but I'm sure this set-up is a bit antiquated for great handling on the road track.

For braking I already had a set of '97 2G dual piston front calipers with custom stainless lines front and back all set-up with new EBC Yellow pads. As you may recall, I found a broken bolt in one of the calipers that was not able to be removed or repaired. Just this past week I received another set of 2 piston calipers from Scrapin-frame. These look to be in good shape with all the bolts working as they should. Only problem is that these calipers use a different type of fitting, so I will need to get back to Winner's Circle so I can get the correct pieces to mate to the calipers. There is also some maintenance I will have to perform which includes replacing the Passenger rear Caliper and possibly the rotor because it has been hanging up occasionally. (Cleaning and lubricating only partially cured the problem.) I also want to replace the brake booster either with a new factory unit or a custom hydraulic-assist set-up. Then before I button up the brake system it sounds like I should use a special brake fluid for road racing applications. I will have to do some research on this.

If there is any time and/or money left I would like to get some stickier rubber for all four corners.

I feel these improved details will help bring the Talon up from 'home built garage terror' status to an actual all out sports car contender.

Some competitive driving with a known power house showed me that the Talon already has handling skills well above average suspension that can be used at speed. The current tune also seems to make enough HP to overcome what I would consider very strong opposition. Handling, braking, tuning and tires should make things a whole lot better.

Honestly I would like to make a couple full weight runs down the quarter mile before calling it quits. It's obvious that my ET could be much better than the 11.8 that I posted with a 122MPH trap speed. My suspicions are that tire slippage is to blame for the slower ET. I also imagine that if I am having tire slippage, my MPH is also suffering. If that's the case, then tires may very well put the car into mid to low 11's all by them selves. On top of that race gas only improved my MPH and ET by a couple of tics last year. A good race gas tune should put things over the top! 10's may be a far fetch, but who knows?

I dont think getting your car in the 10's is to big of a task. I have read of many DSMers running ETs of that time or quicker with just the same or fewer mods but have an EXPERT TUNE JOB. Even though some of the fellow DSMers around the area are very well educated about the tuning process THE PROFESSIONALS are PROFESSIONAL for a reason.

I can say I think your car will be a 10 second car this year.

Not much to tell...
On and off throttle to stay on the rear bumper but not run over said power house.

I agree, but weight is surely a factor as well. I don't know too many DSM guys that haven't removed their interiors as well as a lot of other weight. My runs included most everything that comes stock on a DSM...even the spare tire and jack if I remember correctly.

I'm actually using Megan racing coilovers on the evo right now. I havent had a chance to really check them out since i put them on during winter pretty much, but so far i like them alot.

I probably researched for about 2 months before deciding to go with the megans. For under $1500 it's pretty much seems like the best set you can buy. Once it warms up a bit and i dial it in properly, you're more than welcome to give it a whirl and see what you think.

Thanks Kapoosh. I'd like to take you up on checking out the Megan's.

I bought a set of the Megans as well, for $900 they're hard to pass up. The Megans are identical to the low-end Apexi coilovers BTW.

Back to the brakes...

I've got the correct adapters to mount my 2G big brake calipers with my Earls Stailess Steel braided lines now. I'm going to pick-up a rebuilt passenger rear caliper or both before I start this upgrade.

I've also been told to go to Hoerr Racing in Peoria and Get $80 brake fluid that resists boiling!?! WOW. Does anyone have experience with this or know exactly what I'm talking about?

As far as my brake booster, it seems that the fix may be much more simple than I had imagined. With some searching on DSMtuners and talk I came to realize that there is a check valve in the stock hose to the brake booster! That explains why my booster keeps getting stuffed with boost, because I put a custom hose to the booster when the length changed with the FRH manifold! DOH! So I need to check with Mitsu on a new one. there's no way I've got that thing laying around in one piece.

In the mean time I'm going to drive this bad boy for a few days while the Sun is out!

Good info on the brake booster vacuum line. I've heard Motul brake fluid mentioned in SCC mag quite a bit on the race and time attack cars that they've covered. Don't know a whole lot more than that about it though.

Found this on Evosport. Seems to be what they recommend for racing. Heck of alot cheaper than $80.
http://www.evosport.com/product/proddetail...MTL.FLD.BRK.600

Well it's ben a LONG time since I have updated the project thread.

To make a long story short I've had some persistant electrical gremlins over the past month. I've had every bit of my wiring strung out throughout the car and I've corrected many many small issues. Most importantly and hardest to find was (1) pin connector that was not making contat at the ECU plug.

I buttoned it all back up a few days ago and have been test driving it on low boost until last night.

Yep you guessed it. The Talon stranded me in the rain!

It's nothing that serious. It pulled one of it's normal dieing at a stop light fits, but to make matters exponentially worse... the engine would not re-start. No crank...nothing. It actually was doing this a while back and I disassembled and cleaned the ignition switch.

Well today I got it home and tested it. The ignition switch is working fine because I'm getting voltage to the starter when the key is turned. So it looks like I need a starter.

Does anyone have a starter to sell?

Done. Got a new starter and we are back up and running like new again.

Good to hear Marcus. I've been by your house a lot lately. If you're needing any chip work done let me know. So how many of those chips did you scramble getting it working?

Haha I'm on number 6 of 6!

good news! did you end up getting a parts store starter or did you find a used mitsu?

I don't know anything about $80 brake fluid , but I was running synthetic DOT4 with absolutely no boiling issues... you would probably be good with DOT4 too.

the biggest thing on brake fluid is making sure it is fresh and free of any water (brake fluid is hygroscopic which means that it adsorbs water) <--- yes that is spelled correctly, look it up.