View RSS Feed

sergechronos

The Beginning

Rate this Entry
Hey all, figured now that I'm getting serious into fixing the car up I'd start a build log. I first acquired the car from a guy here in East TN in July 2011. Traded him my 94 Wrangler for it, and can't complain as the 3/S Platform has been my dream car since I was little (my dad had a Conquest when i was growing up.) Had 163k on it when I got it, and was pretty bad about grinding 2 and 3, as well as having some ugly rims and dry rotted tires. Spoiler was deleted, but the holes were covered with duct tape. A previous owner had attempted to shade the turns and tails, and did a piss poor job of it. Power steering didn't work, AC was shot, paint was oxidized and faded all over..In short: it was a project car in the truest form.



In short order, I polished the crap out of it and did some quick spraying over some trim pieces that were unprotected for temporary covering.








Swapped out the crappy rims and tires for a set of Rota P45Rs I picked up from a member on 3si


Hurricane Irene hit during a drive down from NY and I hit some debris that put a dent in my oil pan leading to a tapping noise.




Made the mistake of telling my insurance company and that was the beginning of the end. The insurance company sent it to a dealer to look at it, and they said everything was fine, however they did a piss poor job of sealing the oil pan back up and it leaked oil like a sieve. During my removal of the oil pan and transfer case to fix it, my jackstand broke and the car fell on my chest. One medivac to the hospital later and I was released with miraculously no injuries.



Fear, and copious amounts of pain, kept me from getting back under the car so it sat for a month before I could get a shop to tow it and throw it all back together. I got it back from the shop just in time to attempt to make a trip up to NY, however halfway through the trip the transfer case locked up and stranded me in VA. After months of wrangling with Dodge to get them to honor the recall (eventually having to file complaints with the BBB and the NHTSA), they finally fixed it in May of 2012 (5 months after the failure). I went there to get it, and it still wouldn't work. Turned out to be a CAS sensor, although I didn't find that out till much later. Had it picked up and brought to a mechanic in NC that a member of my family said was good with Mitsubishis. After several more months before I could afford to pay him to look into it. Once we figured out it was the CAS sensor, I had it replaced and picked it up. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 2 weeks before developing a massive oil leak and large amounts of noise from the engine. Thus leading to my current position: An engine tear down and refresh, a new transmission, and an engine bay restoration.

At the beginning of this project/build current mods are 3sx DP, Borla Exhaust, Vac Reduction.

After careful deliberation, I have decided to dub this build: The Leviathan.

Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature without fear.
He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.

Submit "The Beginning" to Digg Submit "The Beginning" to del.icio.us Submit "The Beginning" to StumbleUpon Submit "The Beginning" to Google

Tags: None Add / Edit Tags
Categories
Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Tensecs2fame's Avatar
    Very lucky.. Best of luck with the car!
The 3000GT/Stealth/GTO Web History Project
3000gt.com
3000GT / Stealth International WWWboard Archive
Jim's (RED3KGT) Reststop
3000GT/Stealth/GTO Information and Resources
Team 3S
3000GT / Stealth / GTO Information
daveblack.net
3000GT/Stealth/GTO Clubs and Groups
Michigan 3S
MInnesota 3S
Wisconsin 3S
Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas 3S
North California 3000GT/Stealth
United Society of 3S Owners
3000GT/Stealth/GTO Forums
3000GT/Stealth International
3000GT/Stealth/GTO Event Pages
3S National Gathering
East Coast Gathering
Upper Mid-West Gathering
Blue Ridge Gathering