Reviving a TT from the dead and saving it from the grave...

[DJ_X_Factor]

So, I figured I'd start a build thread for my journey into TT land. I have had an obsession with the 3S platform for as long as I can remember, and well before driving age, and the first gen Stealth R/T TT was my favorite of the group. I have been a 93 Stealth R/T owner for 9 years and have loved my car, and dumped lots of cash, blood, sweat, and sometimes tears into the thing, won trophies at car shows, ran it down the infamous 4 lane drags at ZMax, and have overall had a great 3/S ownership experience.



Then I got the brilliant idea to take the car down for a full restoration of sorts since it was quickly approaching 250K on the ODO. New 6G74 engine, custom paint job, custom bumper, etc. and do it all myself. Well, that was 4 years ago, and the car sits as a 85% painted shell (with interior installed) that needs full reassembly. The project hit SO many delays because life has a funny way of getting directly in the way of your hobbies and goals. I had 2 more kids (already had one) in that timeline, and as such, moved houses...three times. The second move was to a townhouse without a proper garage, so my amazing in-laws offered up their garage for storage and project continuation. There the car sat, and I got most of the paintwork done on it, but by the time kiddo #3 arrived the project went on full stall out. It sat dormant for over a year in my in-laws garage (did I mention they're amazing?) and every few months I would look in on it and say I'd get back to it. Move #3 into our forever home (we were renters up till this one) was it, this was going to be the revival of my project! Wellll, the house needed (still needs!) renovations, the garage is filled to the brim with overflow from the move(s), and there was no way I was fitting a car in there. Now we forward yet another year, and enough was enough. I spent a full weekend organizing, throwing out trash, and getting MY garage back into MY possession instead of being overrun with boxes and boxes of family stuff. Yay! The very next weekend, I rented a uhaul trailer, and made the move on my car. I got it, and all the parts home in my garage on a Saturday and I was over the moon. I couldn't wait to start the long road ahead of getting it back up to par! I casually worked on it for two weeks, wet sanding the clear coat that never got wet-sanded years ago, and generally taking an inventory of my parts that were scattered all over. Right around that time, I stumbled across a thread over on the other 3S boards, and it changed everything. Everything. You could call me certifiably crazy for the change, actually. It turns out, Lord Warlock was selling his beloved 1991 Stealth R/T TT due to unfortunate life circumstances, and he had been trying to sell it for almost 6 months with no luck. I read through his whole sale thread found here, and found that his car had some very solid history, a new mitsu engine, 13G Turbos, Stillen DP, a Borla Catback, and plenty of other goodies to go with it. The problem is that the car had been sitting for 8 years! Warlock (Nathan) basically had gotten to the point that the car was going to be scrapped if no one bought it. A part of me screamed inside...I couldn't let this car go to its grave! So I PM'd him, told him my back story, told him about my car and it's story, and then shot him an offer I was sure he wouldn't take but was all I could afford.

Within hours, he responds to let me know he accepts the offer! This was on a Thursday, and on my oldest son's birthday, who also happens to be named Nathan (coincidence or destiny?) so it was like the stars aligned and I HAD to do this deal. So, once I coaxed my loving, understanding, annoyed wife into letting me do this crazy, stupid, insane thing, I called Nathan and let him know I would be there the next day. Mind you, I live in Myrtle Beach, and this car lived in Jacksonville, Florida so needless to say, it took some major last-minute planning. I reserved a uhaul trailer, called my boss and told him I needed to take care of some "personal business" and took Friday off, and then proceeded to not sleep the rest of Thursday night out of pure unadulterated excitement. I woke up bright and early, and tired, and loaded my Flex up with everything I'd think I'd need to get the car loaded and hauled back, then ran to Uhaul to get the trailer, then a pit stop at the bank for the cash, and then off to Jacksonville! 6 hours later, I roll up to Nathan's house and get to lay eyes on my prize. Well, it wasn't exactly how he'd described it, however, it was close to what I was expecting, just with a much rougher paint job, and a bit more "time" on it than I thought I'd visually see on a car that had been garaged for 8 years. Nonetheless, for the price I was getting it at, and the fact that I had already driven 6 hours, it was go-time and I handed over the cash.

The next THREE HOURS were pure, hard, back-breaking labor getting the car out of his garage. He had said it would be easy to get out and up on a trailer...he may have stretched the truth a bit. The car had all 4 tires flat, and it was wedged up against the side of the garage so it wasn't a straight shot backing out, and the car was surrounded by stuff. Nathan is, unfortunately, battling cancer and did not have the strength to help, but I was ok with that and came prepared for just about anything. He was awesome in at least guiding me on where to put things, while telling me stories about the car and his other cars, and he THANKFULLY had wheel dollies to get the car up on and moved away from the wall. So I finally get the thing to a point where I can fill the tires with air, get it rolling, and get it lined up with my trailer. Next comes winching the thing up on the trailer on my own, with a single come-a-long (thank goodness I brought it), and by the time I got the last click in place I was soaking wet with sweat, dirt, grime, and pride. We then proceeded to gather up various parts and pieces, and this guy was more-than generous with me. I think he knew what this car meant to me, and what I was going to do with it, and so he hooked me up. Once we were done in the garage, we went inside and he sat me down at his kitchen table and laid out a folder FILLED with paperwork. This man saved EVERY receipt on the car since the day he bought it in 1994 from the Dodge dealership, including his original purchase receipt. He had bought the car with 31000 miles on it and had owned it ever since. I had the full history of this thing in my hands, complete with every receipt from the dealer where they installed the new mitsu engine, the upgraded turbos, the upgraded fuel pump, and a WHOLE lot of other stuff. He maintained this car very well in its day, and he had the paperwork to prove every bit of it. This alone made it that much more worth all the effort I put into making this purchase, and getting this thing un-buried and loaded onto the trailer.



So I journeyed back to SC, much later than I had planned, and rolled into my driveway around midnight. What a day. I got the car unloaded, took the trailer back to uhaul, and ran home to collapse into bed. Before I fell asleep, I had the realization that I had not even SAT in the car! I barely looked through it in all the excitement of the buy, and just knew that I had got the *right* car for me.

Now, let's fast forward after a very busy week and my first chance to really get to know the car. Nathan had told me that this car would just need minor reconditioning to get it running. I had my doubts. My doubts were correct. The very first thing I did was open the gas cap and smelled. Yep, old gas. Great. He swore that I'd just need to drain the tank and throw some fresh gas in. I had my doubts. My doubts were correct. I drained the tank, and it came out deep blood red...mayday Houston. Once I drained the tank, I popped the inside cover and proceeded to removed a tree's worth of leaves and debris from that cubby to find the fuel hat. I popped the nuts right off (good sign!) and pulled the hat out as far as the line would let me. Well shit, rust. Lots, and lots, AND LOTS of rust.



I let it sit for the day, and then returned the next to try and break the lines loose so I could pull the hat out entirely. And I did. And I found more...RUST. The tank was a goner. That upgraded fuel pump was toast. The Fuel hat was pretty much a goner too.




Time to drop the tank! 20 minutes later, tank is out. There's no hope for this thing.

(Continued...stupid word count limit!!)

[DJ_X_Factor]

(Continued...)

Lucky for me and old buddy had given me a spare tank he had sitting around and I had held onto it ever since. He stored it properly, airtight with mystery oil inside. I cracked it open and to my wonder it was still in damn decent condition. It needed cleaned out, de-sludged a bit, and the fuel hat needed refurbed, all of which I did. It is essentially fully prepped and ready for a new pump install, then back into the car once that's finished. I went ahead and placed an order with the Ninja for a new Walbro 255, a new SS tank-to-hardline hose, and a fuel pump hotwire kit while I was at it. I've also cleaned out the hardlines (which were surprisingly clean) and prepped the new fuel filter for install.

The next problem I knew of was that Nathan had mentioned the clutch pedal having no pressure. He casually mentioned that one day, after it sat for quite some time, he jumped in it and realized the clutch pedal just wouldn't go down, so in a fit of rage he decided to put all his fury into that pedal and slam it to the floor. Suddenly he had a limp pedal and no clutch engagement. And he left it at that. Fast forward to present day and it's my turn to investigate. I crawl under the dash and inspect the booster assembly. All seems well, but the clutch pedal obviously has no pressure whatsoever, and then I managed to spot fluid coming from behind the clutch booster. Great, Master Cylinder is shot. Ok, so what caused it? On to the engine bay and I go straight to the Slave. I pulled it out and yank the boot off the piston rod. One look inside tells me everything I need to know. Rusted solid. So, my theory is that the Slave was siezed, so when he pushed all his fury into that clutch pedal the fluid had nowhere to go except right out the Master cylinder seals. So another order to the Ninja for an OEM Master and Slave set. I went ahead and got accessory belts and a new fuel filter while I was at it, because they were obviously needing replacement as well.

Now, I've started prepping the engine bay for a 60K service, removed all the intercooler lines, yanked battery tray and fluid reservoir, and a bunch of other smaller things. I'll be doing a radiator replacement (I had an aluminum racing one already sitting waiting for install in my other Stealth), a Vac reduction, EGR delete, and I'm probably going to go ahead and try to replace and/or upgrade as many other things as I can think of, already have, or can afford, while I have it apart. I plan to continue this thread as all my progress goes on, with as many pics as I remember to take, but I wanted to at least get it started before I forgot all the details. Hopefully will have this old girl up and running in the next month or two. I also plan on doing full body resto, interior swap (transferred from other Stealth), full audio system (transferred from other Stealth), and the works on the inside. Luckily, my original Stealth is a 93, so all the work and most of the parts I put into that car over the years will transfer right onto this new one. I can finally say I'm a TT owner, saved a car from the grave, and will have my dream car when I'm finished!!

[Hans@GZP]

Nice! Doesn't seem like it needed that much work. For the price he was selling it at, it sounds like you got the good end of the deal still.

[DJ_X_Factor]

I certainly can't complain (maybe whine a little?) with the deal I got. It definitely needs more work than what he'd originally described to me though. That, and I just plan on doing as much extra preventative on it while it's down so when i turn the key it'll be solid and worry-free (as a TT can be!)

[DrGonzo]

So when you going to pull the dash.... LMAO!!

[gawdzinner]

holy hell, that fuel system and tank are a nightmare! A good lesson learned for guys that park their cars for a long time.

thanks for taking the time to post up your story! I started a minor restoration on my 93 stealth r/t tt and now i have a pile of parts and a shell of a car! Time to stop and just put it back together to drive again.

[DJ_X_Factor]

So here comes an update! So far I've completely refurbished the fuel system with that spare tank I had sitting around. I completely refurbished the fuel hat assembly, removed and cleaned all the electronics up, then installed a new Walbro 255, a hotwire kit, and a stainless braided tank-to-hardline hose. I gave the tank itself a lot of love inside and out as well. I'm happy with the results and it should prove to extend the life of this car for a long future.

Fuel Hat and Pump Asseembled




Fuel Tank Refurb





(Continued due to count limits...)

[DJ_X_Factor]

(Continued...)

Painting the tank! I used Rustoleum Gloss Black Ceramic on top and a Black Rubberized Undercoat on the bottom half.








Now that the fuel system is up to par, I changed focus to digging into the 60K service. I decided that, although all the parts were new when it was parked, it would be good insurance to go ahead and replace pretty much every external part I can that I think would need it after sitting for this long. So far I've got the rad pulled with hoses, all the engine bay intercooler hoses out, and the entire 60K disassembly finished. I also swapped out the valve cover and plug wires while I was in dis-assembly. I am waiting for my aluminum "Stealth R/T" plug cover to dry since I painted it to match my new Red/Black color scheme that this car will end up in.

Radiator Out!



(Continued due to count limits...grr.)

[DJ_X_Factor]

(Continued...)

Almost ready to pull the T-Belt



Looking a bit empty in that bay...


Water Pump Out and mating surface getting cleaned up


New Pump In!


I also swapped out the Power Steering Pump with a newer one so I could convert from V-Belt to a ribbed belt.


I swapped out the front valve cover with a powdercoated one I have. I also changed out the plug wires with red MSD's. The transition to my Red/Black color scheme begins!




I have a brand new set of Cross-drilled & Slotted Rotors for all 4 corners as well as ceramic pads to go around, new stainless braided brake lines for all 4 corners, a CXRacing SMIC kit with all the polished piping on the way from 3SX, as well as a CXRacing Adjustable 14kg Coilover Suspension on the way to get this thing dropped to a proper stance and handling right!

Next up is continuing the re-assembly of the 60K service, swapping out the rear plug wires (haven't pulled the plenum yet so I only did the fronts), installing my new aluminum dual pass radiator, and about 1000 other things. More updates will come again soon!

[DrGonzo]

Are you going to be repainting the car?

If I were you I would hit that engine bay with a power washer while you have it all apart. Will help to clean things up.

Also add to your list change out all of the rubber hoses, Vacuum, Cooling, Etc. I can almost guarantee they are all bad and will save you a lot of headaches later on down the road.