Here we go, another ST165 being revived from certain death.
The previous owner brought this car to Colorado on a flatbed. It languished in a field for at least a year from what he knew. I got this car for a comically low dollar amount.
My goal here was to daily drive this car. I knew she would break down, and parts would be hard to find...
But I was ready! This is not my first rodeo with fun, unreliable cars with unavailable parts.
I used to DD a 1988 Mazda 323 GTX, what a blast she was... right up until a rod exited the engine through the block.
Then it was a 1980 Fiat X 1/9, 1500cc 5 speed, water and vacuum operated chokes. Tuned by ancient black magic, and rusted through because it's a fiat.
I was ready for this.
My goals for this car...
I want it to be daily driveable. That is primary.
I want a solid 250 AWHP.
I want this car to handle at it's utmost!
Not unreasonable it would seem, but the triangle of fun cars is always in effect.
...........Fast
........../....\
......../.......\
Cheap ------- Reliable
You can only have two.
So when I bought her she ran. She ran a little odd though.
Hemorrhaging oil, very little boost, low oil pressure, overheating when run really hard, clunking the the suspension, riding like a 17 foot long cadillac on the ocean, and a slight smoke in the exhaust.
First things first, I got her into the garage and started looking her over.
No clamps on the turbo to intercooler hose.
Strange wiring everywhere. Seriously home made trash.
Only 3 nuts holding on the exhaust manifold, and missing nuts all over the exhaust and turbo.
Home made boost controller.
Home made heat shield for the straight turbo intake.
It goes on and on.
But the interior, it's glorious. It's the most 80's thing I have ever sat in.
BLUE. SO BLUE. EVERYTHING IS BLUE. The electric seat, sunroof, and windows work perfectly. I am straight shocked.
Works begins. I fail to take pictures. I fail to start a build thread until I am part way through a head gasket.
Thats where we are today.
Enjoy some pictures. Updates to flow for a good long while.
Here is a link the the start of my album (high res): http://imgur.com/a/KrfbD
After resizing these pictures 3 times, the forum is still cutting a chunk of these pictures. :shoots:
The previous owner brought this car to Colorado on a flatbed. It languished in a field for at least a year from what he knew. I got this car for a comically low dollar amount.
My goal here was to daily drive this car. I knew she would break down, and parts would be hard to find...
But I was ready! This is not my first rodeo with fun, unreliable cars with unavailable parts.
I used to DD a 1988 Mazda 323 GTX, what a blast she was... right up until a rod exited the engine through the block.
Then it was a 1980 Fiat X 1/9, 1500cc 5 speed, water and vacuum operated chokes. Tuned by ancient black magic, and rusted through because it's a fiat.
I was ready for this.
My goals for this car...
I want it to be daily driveable. That is primary.
I want a solid 250 AWHP.
I want this car to handle at it's utmost!
Not unreasonable it would seem, but the triangle of fun cars is always in effect.
...........Fast
........../....\
......../.......\
Cheap ------- Reliable
You can only have two.
So when I bought her she ran. She ran a little odd though.
Hemorrhaging oil, very little boost, low oil pressure, overheating when run really hard, clunking the the suspension, riding like a 17 foot long cadillac on the ocean, and a slight smoke in the exhaust.
First things first, I got her into the garage and started looking her over.
No clamps on the turbo to intercooler hose.
Strange wiring everywhere. Seriously home made trash.
Only 3 nuts holding on the exhaust manifold, and missing nuts all over the exhaust and turbo.
Home made boost controller.
Home made heat shield for the straight turbo intake.
It goes on and on.
But the interior, it's glorious. It's the most 80's thing I have ever sat in.
BLUE. SO BLUE. EVERYTHING IS BLUE. The electric seat, sunroof, and windows work perfectly. I am straight shocked.
Works begins. I fail to take pictures. I fail to start a build thread until I am part way through a head gasket.
Thats where we are today.
Enjoy some pictures. Updates to flow for a good long while.
Here is a link the the start of my album (high res): http://imgur.com/a/KrfbD
After resizing these pictures 3 times, the forum is still cutting a chunk of these pictures. :shoots: