Opinions and Info Welcome: Rebuild or ?

Hey Fellow DSM'ers...

Been on this site a long time. I'm glad that it's back online. I really value the varied experience of the members, and the stories revolving around this aging vehicle line.

My question is something that has been turning my mind these past few months.

My Talon hasn't been driven in a few years. Been turning it on, driving it up and down the driveway.

It needs work to restore it. Mainly the body. Some rust is eating the panels on the body. Underneath it's good. Some minor mechanical problems. Some transmission issues (I have to "feel" for the gears in my AT because they don't line up to the shift markers).

What can you guys suggest. I don't have time to do work myself. I have three kids and a wife that works when I don't. New engine (the old one was a timing belt victim). It's in miles (American Car imported up), with 110k miles. Modded.

With my family, the money is tight, but I do usually have about 2k of funds saved for my Talon (repairs and such).

In addition, it's now 20 years old...so I'm not sure how my insurance company will react to it this year. I understand that they may not insure her properly if she's not in "proper" condition.

This is the Talon, by the way, that carried my wallet a few kilometers to the supermarket after I had left it on the roof. I sometimes think I owe her. Some may remember this story.

So...thoughts and opinions of how to proceed?

2k isn't much if you have to pay for body work. I suggest for now maybe just sand off the rust and doing a POR15 or something along that line. Shifter not lining up could just be a simple adjustment. I say fix her and drive it.

I agree with Steve. You may regret letting her go. I know I would.

How bad is this rust though?

Maybe post some pics?

Grab some scrap steel and practice welding. I have some holes that I will be patching up shortly, this will be the first time I will be welding on a car, just spent the last month practicing and am ready to go.

There are different ways to weld depending on how confident you are, so decided based on that.

Is it in your name? If its not youll need it appraised

I'll try and get some pictures.

The hood has surface rust. The passenger side panel above the front wheel is deep.

The front skirt also has a crack where I ran over a raccoon near Prescott on the 401 when I lived in Ottawa.

And my driver seat has a hole in the leather, although my buddy told me that I could probably just get a new seat from the wrecker.

I have about $2k saved, but have put in a budget for $1.5k of year to operate this car.

Car's in my name...been mine since Sept 2000. Has a cool sunroof that's manual. Best car I've had, although the insurance is the reason I don't drive it.

Six stars and still almost $200 a month.

Yikes!

There's a member here who is in the insurance biz. Saved me over 2g's a year when I switched. Names Grant Redfern. Get a quote at least

Well.. First off man I understand the family thing and not driving the car for many years. I bought mine new Nov 91. Drove it daily till 99. I blew 5th gear synchro out the side of the tranny. Never had any other issue with the car other then a few broken clutches. So once I pulled the tranny I decided to pull the engine that lead to deciding to disassemble the whole car andf have it painted. Meanwhile I bought a condo, got hitched. 2004 was the year it hit the road again. 2007 we had a baby girl. car was a garage ornament. 2008 we had another baby girl. Car was a dusty garage ornament. 2009 my wife had a giant cell tumor in her femur bone had to have surgery. With 2 little girls and being mommy and daddy and trying to work I didn't even remember my Talon was in the garage. 2010 wife had to have another sugery to fix a bad bone graph. 2012 was the first year I really got enjoy my car for many years. But let me tell you I never plan on parting with it.

Sorry for the long story.

But fix her up and enjoy it man.

Oh and find a new Insurance company $200 a month is retarded.

I was at 489 a month in a 71 cutlass at 18..just before I rearended a lady in a drag race!

I was suspened for 3 years but it took me 5 to pay back my fines. Once I did .. they forgot my past record somehow.. and I insured a 84 tbird for 23 a month!


Now I pay over 200 a month for 1 talon.. 1 envoy and 2 drivers... and im about to put another talon on the road too!

Just replace the Front Passenger Fender. There's gotta be someone one here with a good condition one for CHEAP. All you'd need to do is paint it, assuming the colours didn't match. The hood would also just need a clean and paint. The two together really wouldn't be all that bad.

The insurance rate is definitely ridiculous though. I'm 23 and I pay $100/month for mine, no collision on it, though.

It's a shame you have a 1G. If it were a 2G, I have many spare fenders for ya! .

If you opt to get rid of the car, pm me

I have mint side panels (painted white) with zero rust. PM me for me details.

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Here are some photos.

I can see links for your photos on my phone but not on my computer?

Your passenger fender looks a lot better than mine. Take off the side skirt to get a look at the whole fender. If a replacement fender can't be found that could be repairable.

Your driver side fender and hood from what I can see should just need a sanding.

fixed

Thanks Alex!

What did I do wrong?

Check ur rockers out

She's still good, She's Still GOOD!

Everytime I think about ditching my 2G, she changes my mind by taking me on a thrill ride.

If you have doubts, take her for a spin and decide after that.

Just copy the address of the page the picture is on and remove the .html, your links had some tags in them.

WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU??? Your car is mint!!! plus you have all the help you need right here to make it last you

And Steve, glad you were able to show us pics.

I think you would be crazy to let it go, unless you're after a 2g AWD

But in all seriousness, that little work to restore it shouldn't be too costly or time consuming if you have the know how. What are your plans so far? Do you feel it worth your time and money because I think a lot of us agree you should keep it on the road

The only part that's crazy is the second part of this sentence

I agree, get both like me

Just get it fixed up. One thing that helps me decide on whether to go ahead is this: If you don't you'll either send it to the junkers (and hate yourself for it) or sell it to some kid that will try to get it working again, fail and again it ends up in a junkyard. Enthusiast do the work because they love the car, if you still like it and it still brings joyous memories, get the minimum to get it working again and fully bring it back to life as you go later on.

Nail on the head right there

And Bryan, I have a love for 1g's too..Just that the 2g's are faster looking

Edit: I really must start re-reading my post's before clicking 'submit'

Huh? I thought 1Gs were faster...

They don't have the same aerodynamics you nut bag!!!

Its the higher spoilers!

LOL faster looking, I like that!

The old Girl still starts well.

The entire question happened when I saw this 97 Talon on Kijiji. Went to see it. Really liked the car. Buddy wouldn't send it to be mechanically checked, so I got a little concerned.

Then I started feeling guilty that the Talon I always wanted was in the driveway and needed a "few bucks" to get her into pristine shape again. I started thinking how I could keep the old one and get a new one.

Then I saw this site back up, and viewed some of the pictures you all had. Made me wonder what to do.

I think that I have my answer now...it was there all along...just needed to bounce the query among others who love the cars.

My wife keeps on wanting me to scrap the car. It's a rare breed, mine is, in Canada. I have the American speedometer and the electric shoulder belts. Or so I think!

There also is an advantage in not looking fast when not moving (talking about the 2g). When I drove the 2g, almost every young gun revs at you at the lights, police officers (specially in Brampton) would always look for anything they could tag me on coming to and from a meet and wherever you go you can never really go incognito without being noticed. In my 1g, I just look like most people with a powerhouse under the hood. I can park without everyone noticing and it's comfier (personal preference) seat wise than the 2g. Each have their perks but I love 'em both the same Not to mention when you buy something from someone, think that at least 1000$ will automatically go into maintenance and repairing things they did wrong anyway.

or $6000 if the guy was useless and you don't have a garage.

^ Yowza!

That was my concern with the '97. It had no rust on the body. But the electrical was messed up. Some of the indicators on the dash didn't work (fuel, oil, OD, etc) and the stock alarm was wired, but not working. Plus I saw some stuff that my gut told me didn't look right.

Looked like someone had put in a showcase speaker system, and then just cut wires when they got rid of the car.

When a seller says they're too busy to send it to a shop for an hour, I get a little suspicious.

I would definitely avoid a car that is as hacked up as you make it sound to be. But in all honesty, when I bought my '99gsx back in '07, I knew it had a blown 7 bolt, wiring was a disaster sight, two alarm systems and neither worked, the stereo was out, brakes were seized, the list goes on..

I knew I was buying a project, so it didn't scare me away. I only paid $3,500 for the shell, near mint black leather interior (factory) and more or less all the electrical stuff worked (windows, roof, cruise)..And at this point (I kid you not, in and around the $15-$20k of maintenance and upgrades), everything is more or less new, and working. It took almost 3 years to get it road worthy but damn am I ever glad I saved this car. It's completely rust free and I store it through the winters to keep it that way.

The mods and maintenance keep coming. I think it will end when I hit 10's and a new crystal black pearl paint job. Then I just have to worry about maintenance, tires, brakes sh!t like that.

Holy sh!t Mike! I had no idea you put that much into it.

I should shut my mouth about this puppy sucking my soul and $$$, since I only picked her up for $2K all in, plus $2K so far in being ripped off here and there for maintenance and things, and finally another $1K or so in parts and correct maintenance more recently.

Haven't touched wiring or the body. She needs work.

I wonder if OP can do the work himself or has to go to a shop?

Mike did you do all the work yourself?

Not at first, I bought the car and had it towed to Dan @ HP Autosport who put in a '91 tsi 6bolt I picked up for $500. Got it running well, drove it for about 5-6 months before storing, then I started getting dirty.

Relative to that, at the time, I didn't know how easy it is to swap an engine in these cars especially going from a 2g to a 1g. Since then, I've NEVER paid for another mechanic to do any work on the car.

Count yourself lucky Michael, I bought my 2g for 13gs when I was 22-23. Granted it was mint in and out and had a kit I liked (I like kits :p) with new tires/brakes and an OEM bumper as an extra but then add to that all the mods I put in and I'm about where Mike stands. More in the 20k area though

Yeah it wouldn't have been that bad if that wasn't the total for the first month of owning.

Holy shoot, Dan @ HP Autosport's 2G that he sold was sick! Whoever bought it is lucky, hope they treat her right.

He only charged $5!? Damn.

Gui, at least it was clean!

Great stories guys.

OP...keep her! Don't let another DSM go to the junkers that's salvageable. If she's too far gone, then she's too far gone, but not too many white 1GBs around.

Edit: I've noticed that I'm slowly getting some passion back after wrenching on her myself. It's satisfying to be able to fix something yourself.

I think I'm going to do the 2G window rattle fix that's written up on dsmtalk. When I close my door with the window cracked open it sounds like it's about to shatter. lol

You make me feel bad for griping about a few thousands in repairs for my beast lady! LOL
If I didn't have three kids, and a wife that worked P/T, I would have picked it up as a project.
But 2k to me is like 10k for a single person...

Too bad Dan is an arrogant asshole without an ounce of respect or dignity, but let's not get into that.



I bought my car for $550, so I've got you all beat. Mind you, the timing belt had skipped teeth so it was more just a shell (entire interior was in pieces piled inside the car), but a clean 1GB shell at that, with a power sunroof that seals and has no rust around it. I've since replaced or rebuilt pretty much everything on the car and have a full factory leather interior for it that's been sitting for over a year waiting to go in.

I don't know how much $ I've dropped into it, but little stuff like fluids (oil/tranny/coolant/etc.) definitely adds up the most easily. I'm definitely still in the $x000 range still, though. Just not sure what that x is, but my guess is between 4.5-6.5k, tops.

I would agree with you there Sal, but I gotta say, he sort of helped me out in a way. Between him and I, we had our differences, and a lot of it had to do with prices of his parts and labour. Another thing that troubled me A LOT, was the day I picked up my car, the lug nuts on all four wheels weren't torqued on and I literally almost lost all my wheels on the highway.

There's a few other things too but I won't get into it here. Plus I'm pretty sure he still checks this board from time to time.

And G, after this season, I'll be into 25-30g's. FML!!

But, it's my hobby and it's been my dream. So I can't really put a price on that!

Steve, I know you're a family man, and don't let the car interfere with that. It's just not logical by any means. It's passion and joy that drives us to keep these cars going. So if you plan to keep it and not yet start your restoration, at bare minimum, sit it up on blocks if it's not moving anytime soon, get it off the grass (moisture), or roll the damn thing to avoid those bald spots, and start it up every now and then to keep those fluids moving.

I do save about 2k a year for this car...with the intention of restoration. So I think I will move forward. A few indicated that they do things a bit at a time. I think that's how I'll handle this, and use this site to find some items as I need them.

It's true...when I drive that car, it's so fun. Having people try to cut me off in the FU lane. Kids pulling along side and asking me "Is that a Talon TSI? WOW!". Speaking to other Talon-philes on this site.

I'll post some updates in another topic as I get them done...and ask for advice from you all.

Thanks again guys!