After about 6 combined years of owning 2 of the same car (Ford Escort) I felt it was time to get a car with a better aftermarket and reputation. Plus I was sick of knowing exactly what and where every parts of a escort was without looking at the car. Figured it was time for a new direction. Hence came the DSM.
It was a friends of mines Dad's car. Yousta belong to his daughter. I been in it a couple times when she owned it when she would pick us up from the bar at 4 am. But that's besides the point. She no longer drove it and it sat around rotting away for awhile so I figured I'd snatch it off his hands. He wanted $400 for it. Was a 1990 Plymouth Laser Non-Turbo with 76,000 miles on it. Unfortunately an automatic but I wasn't planning on that for long.
Here it is rotting away just before I bought it.
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At the time of purchasing it had frozen brakes, a bad CV shaft, tires with belt seperation, and idle issue from sitting. So the basics to make it move on its own properly had to be done. Fresh Pads and rotors all the way around, new axle, some new tires (Dunlop Direzza 101) and a couple minor odds and end such as a fresh tank of gas, fuel filter, new plugs.
At this point she was running a bit better and I couls sit at a light and not stall out. Next came the preventative maintenance that every DSMer must go through at least once. All new timing components and waterpump. Then while I was at it I ordered up a cheap ebay strut bar and bought a lot engine degreaser.
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Also cleaned the interior a bit since I'm pretty anal about how the inside looks and keeping it clean.
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Not long after this (2 weeks maybe) I decided it was time to replace my crack up exhaust manifold and replace it with a little bling. So out came ebay again with a 4-2-1 header. Think I may have paid $80 for this thing. Also bought a new OE cat since the original was pretty clogged up.
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After that the car sounded pretty dumb with a full length header and a stock clogged muffler so that was hacked off and replaced by a ,once again, ebay muffler. Was going for a stealth look so got this block dual tip. Sounded pretty good. No rasp or anything. Just growl.
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After a while I chilled out since the wife wanted to start saving and whatnot. So I did some cheap/free stuff. Got a new valve cover gasket, got rid of the cruise control, painted the valve cover. Oh also forgot to mention that at this time I purchased a 92 eclipse with a blown headgasket for $50. It was a manual with a black interior and that's all I wanted it for.
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Donor:
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So the swap began and the hunt for some other odds and end to make the MTX swap complete. clutch, flywheel.
3 pedal Auto???
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I think a clutch master cyl. goes there...
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So the swap was completed within the course of 2 4 hour days. Did the pedal swap one day in 4 hours. Then the trans swap a couple days leater in 4 hours. Pretty simple and straight forward. So in the process I figured I liked the eclipses rear bumper more since it sat lower much like a lip kit would. So I swapped that over as well. Little hole drilling but that was about it. Also while doing the swap I decided to be a man and try no power steering. I figured the hell with it. I like a clean bay and that'd be one less thing to worry about. Same thought process went toward the AC. So off they went.
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Now that pretty much bring us as to about an hour ago I just took some fresh pics. Since the last set I have powdercoated a couple things and tried cleaning the engine bay up some more. Pay no mind to the salt. I would wash it but my hose is frozen.
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OH HAI!!!
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Future plans. This spring I plan on a paintjob and I wanna do a bit of boost. So Im gradually hunting down stock DSM parts to do about 10 psi on her then I'll leave her alone for awhile.
It was a friends of mines Dad's car. Yousta belong to his daughter. I been in it a couple times when she owned it when she would pick us up from the bar at 4 am. But that's besides the point. She no longer drove it and it sat around rotting away for awhile so I figured I'd snatch it off his hands. He wanted $400 for it. Was a 1990 Plymouth Laser Non-Turbo with 76,000 miles on it. Unfortunately an automatic but I wasn't planning on that for long.
Here it is rotting away just before I bought it.
At the time of purchasing it had frozen brakes, a bad CV shaft, tires with belt seperation, and idle issue from sitting. So the basics to make it move on its own properly had to be done. Fresh Pads and rotors all the way around, new axle, some new tires (Dunlop Direzza 101) and a couple minor odds and end such as a fresh tank of gas, fuel filter, new plugs.
At this point she was running a bit better and I couls sit at a light and not stall out. Next came the preventative maintenance that every DSMer must go through at least once. All new timing components and waterpump. Then while I was at it I ordered up a cheap ebay strut bar and bought a lot engine degreaser.
Also cleaned the interior a bit since I'm pretty anal about how the inside looks and keeping it clean.
Not long after this (2 weeks maybe) I decided it was time to replace my crack up exhaust manifold and replace it with a little bling. So out came ebay again with a 4-2-1 header. Think I may have paid $80 for this thing. Also bought a new OE cat since the original was pretty clogged up.
After that the car sounded pretty dumb with a full length header and a stock clogged muffler so that was hacked off and replaced by a ,once again, ebay muffler. Was going for a stealth look so got this block dual tip. Sounded pretty good. No rasp or anything. Just growl.
After a while I chilled out since the wife wanted to start saving and whatnot. So I did some cheap/free stuff. Got a new valve cover gasket, got rid of the cruise control, painted the valve cover. Oh also forgot to mention that at this time I purchased a 92 eclipse with a blown headgasket for $50. It was a manual with a black interior and that's all I wanted it for.
Donor:
So the swap began and the hunt for some other odds and end to make the MTX swap complete. clutch, flywheel.
3 pedal Auto???
I think a clutch master cyl. goes there...
So the swap was completed within the course of 2 4 hour days. Did the pedal swap one day in 4 hours. Then the trans swap a couple days leater in 4 hours. Pretty simple and straight forward. So in the process I figured I liked the eclipses rear bumper more since it sat lower much like a lip kit would. So I swapped that over as well. Little hole drilling but that was about it. Also while doing the swap I decided to be a man and try no power steering. I figured the hell with it. I like a clean bay and that'd be one less thing to worry about. Same thought process went toward the AC. So off they went.
Now that pretty much bring us as to about an hour ago I just took some fresh pics. Since the last set I have powdercoated a couple things and tried cleaning the engine bay up some more. Pay no mind to the salt. I would wash it but my hose is frozen.
OH HAI!!!
Future plans. This spring I plan on a paintjob and I wanna do a bit of boost. So Im gradually hunting down stock DSM parts to do about 10 psi on her then I'll leave her alone for awhile.
. Good luck with your build!
