97 TSi AWD :: MitsuStyle Rookie :: Up in Duluth

[RedG35C]

I know... The iPhone photo is awful. Anyways, the car is good from about 10 feet away, but in decent shape. Pretty well maintained and documented. Lots of miles, but runs really well considering. Going to be a great little beater. If I avg 25 mpg, the car will pay for itself in 20,000 miles in gas savings alone.
Plans... keep it as stock as possible. Debadge the stupid purple lettering. As things fall apart, maybe upgrade. No drops, it has to get over snow drifts in the winter.

What it needs... Stock Headlight Assemblies
Spare Tire Mounting Hardare
Drivers Side interior door plastic
Some 3M tape for exterior side plastic (It moves a little. Time to be re taped.)
New Stereo head unit with iPod jack
New Floormats. (yeah, those things are AWFUL)
EVO, Eclipse, 3KGT Wheels
A good once over by someone that knows DSM's inside and out to make sure it is healthy and get it there if need be. Thinking about just taking it in to Archer for an extended oil change.

What it is / has... fully loaded AWD TSi. Leather, Sunroof, power seat, oh and some special half repaired strut tower rust.

[RedG35C]

Alrighty. Finally got the beast detailed and it really comes out pretty clean for a car this old. I reinstalled the stock infiniti amp and the stereo is listenable. Can't get the CD Player to play burned discs... but really, I want an iPod hook up anyways. Will probably be ordering something to replace this with. I need a drivers side door handle bucket for it. Haven't taken the time to debadge the purple letters yet, but obviously the previous owner pulled the Turbo lettering off and said F it. I will finish the job. I need to get it out on the road for a couple trips to burn some gas through it and see how it runs over a longer period of time. Anyways, On to the pics:

[b00sted_spyder]

Welcome to style! Is that rust repair on the strut tower? The floor mats has to go. Otherwise clean car.

[RedG35C]

Yeah, previous owner "tried" fixing it himself. Will have to go to a shop on this one. And yeah, at this point... I have just pulled the mats out of the car. I don't even like looking at them.

[awd-drifter]

lovin' that wide angle shot of the interior. clean tsi!

EDIT:
Didn't notice your screen name till I looked at the pictures again. Welcome to the site! There's plenty of people here willing to help out Very nice DD.

[cmspaz]

Welcome, sir! Glad you decided to join up.

[RedG35C]

Went to take the brakes apart because I'm pretty sure that my driver's side caliper is froze up. Of course the freaking bolts are seized to shit. Such a pain in the ass. Rest of the components look pretty good.

Also spent a little time with the interior. Glued the spare tire cover brakets back together with a little Gorilla Epoxy. Replace all the missing clips and tabs in the car. And did a makeshift fix for the drivers door handle. Turned out pretty nice. Piece by little piece I plan to get this thing as original as possible. I need to get about 24-30k out of it.

I also think I am getting an inordinate amount of fuel dump. Looks like I am at about 10-12 mpg. I have a few holes in the exhaust and have a feeling that the O2 sensors are telling the ECU to throw more fuel than it needs. Not sure. Either that or moybe I am getting a ton of blow by... Or... or... or...

[scheides]

Very clean car! Welcome and keep us updated on your progress!

[RedG35C]

Got the 16V DOHC Purple lettering removed tonight and went to pull the wiper arms off to repaint them and... Take a guess... Seized. Seriously. Nothing frustrates me more as an amateur than parts that are stuck together. Drives me nuts. May as well buy stock in the company that makes pbBlaster, because I alone will increase their sales.

[goodhart]

Welcome!

[s1ngletracker]

looks like a nice car. I'd pull the plugs and look at them for an idea of how rich it is. Boost leak test, etc. But i'm guessing the real issue was the dragging brakes, that'll reduce fuel economy pretty quick.

GOOD LUCK!

[RedG35C]

^
Possible. Bit by bit. Slowly going to get through the car. Plugs actually look pretty good. I was thinking about replacing them (and the wires) anyway because I have no idea their age.

[RedG35C]

Car got new plugs, plug wires and valve cover gaskets today. Plugs had a little oily residue on them which worries me a little. But it was nice to get under the hood a little. Really need to the the caliper bolts off so I can drive the thing. Just a bitch... things WILL NOT BUDGE.

[blackawdtsi]

Originally Posted by RedG35C

Car got new plugs, plug wires and valve cover gaskets today. Plugs had a little oily residue on them which worries me a little. But it was nice to get under the hood a little. Really need to the the caliper bolts off so I can drive the thing. Just a bitch... things WILL NOT BUDGE.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-driv...bar-67933.html

I have one they use to make, which is 36". If it doesn't break 'em loose it will definitely break them haha. At least you're getting somewhere one way or another.

[cmspaz]

^ And if that starts rounding them off get a set of stud removers and pound one on.

And if that doesn't work... Sawzall the bolts off through the boot and get new calipers. Been there, done that.

[curt_gendron]

Welcome to the Mitsu world!! A little different than the Infiniti world.

[RedG35C]

Well. I've made progress... Or at least I think I have.

Dug through my tools and found that I have a 18" breaker bar. But it was a 1/2" drive and most of my sockets are 3/8". So I went and picked up an adapter, some liquid wrenches and came back home.


Ahhh RUSTY!

I was able to remove the bolts...


but also pulled this off in the process


Nice... So the rest of the bolts came off with a little work, but relatively easy. Now I'm left with a rotor that is seized to the freaking hub. Gonna try the bolt through the back trick later this evening or tomorrow. Any other suggestions?

Also found that the caliper is DEFINATELY stuck. One of the piston seals is shot and doesn't move. The other doesn't retract. The back side pad was down to almost nothing.


Anyways... progress was made!

[curt_gendron]

If you don't care about the rotors, use a sledge hammer. You my want to buy some 14, 17, 19, 21mm half inch sockets for the future.

[blackawdtsi]

No other suggestions than the bolt / nut trick need to be made.

I've pulled apart a bearing doing it. It'll work, just maybe not how you expected.

[RedG35C]

Yeah, I'm half thinking that I shoudl just leave the rotors. Other than the rust, they aren't worn that bad... But now that I have everything apart... I may as well just do it right? No sense in revisiting this a year from now.