I bought this 87 Starion in April 2005. The body was absolutely destroyed after being out in the famed Mayfest hailstorm of 1995. Since then, it sat around and was poorly maintained. It took a ton of work and manhours, but it looks and runs like a dream now. I have wanted one of these since I first drove one in the early 90's, and now I finally got one.
Just got back from the Dyno - at 25 lbs of boost and a 100 dry shot... 393HP / 486 ft/lb Torque
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNsXmdNkGQc
Here are some pics of her in the body shop - that was a long 9 weeks!!
Suprisingly, the interior was in really good shape. The leather was kind of hard, and the leather seats have been replaced with grey/black cloth that I got off an 89 parts car. The factory stereo has been replaced with an alpine cd/mp3 player, and new autometer gauges. Dual gauge a-pillar mount with fuel pressure and temp gauges, and replaced the inaccurate boost gauge in its stock location with an autometer 20 psi gauge. Going to have to replace that with a 30psi one soon... ;)
The mechanics were a complete disaster as well. It was only running on 3 cylinders, the secondary injector was shot, had oil leaks all over the place, and the exhaust manifold was leaking as well. There were dozens of vacuum leaks and it ran like utter garbage. All of that has been fixed now, and with a powder coated valve cover, all new gaskets, hoses, and vacuum lines, chromed OVCP with blow off valve, intercooler hard pipes in chrome, 3" exhaust from the turbo back, profecB electronic boost controller set at 25 psi on an EVO Super 16G turbo, and complete standalone engine management by fuel injection pro, it is finally running like a champ. :) Had to upgrade the stock clutch and flywheel because even after replacing it with brand new OEM stuff, there is way too much torque now and it was slipping all over the place. Went with a lightened 240mm flywheel and Spec stage 3 clutch, 6 puck. Absolutely awesome combination for this car.
Here are some BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER pics of the engine bay:
And got a dry Nitrous kit installed now too - running the Zex air charger which injects the Nitrous in through the front of the air filter where there is a fitting for the nitrous jet. Seems to work quite well. Added a 2nd wet stage for that extra kick.
And the controls - arming switch, bottle heater, purge, and dummy light telling me the system is armed.
And I finally got the interior swapped out - I got rid of the old hard and cracked black leather, and now have 89' black/grey cloth seats front and back. Much easier on the body in this Texas heat in the summertime. I have the 86 manual seatbelts sitting in a box - just need to find the time to install them. I hate those auto belts.
And here is how she looks now... all body work completed, new Starion decal set (in the Conquest font) from moto-ron -thanks Ron! And I re-did the wheels in a matte black.
Head and Motor work back from the machine shop:
AND HOW SHE LOOKS AS OF TODAY:
MPI Conversion - completed with modded EVO Super 16G turbo, nicely polished... currently running at 20 lbs of boost. Also relocated the MSD behind the header panel, and relocated battery to the trunk. Add to that a 100 + dry shot of nitrous, and it gives it a nice extra kick and keeps the intake temps way down... A recent trip to the dyno yielded 370 hp / 463 tq to the rear wheels.
Thanks for taking the time to look.
Please feel free to rate this ride and let me know what you think. I am always open to critisism and suggestions.
Thanks!
Posted by: 2000pontiacfever
06/25/2009, 09:06pm
hey man, me and some guys are having an all Mitsubishi car show on saturday, july 11, 2009 in Longview on the corner of Gilmer road and loop 281 in the old hobby lobby parking lot behind walgreens at 11AM to around 4PM or whenever everyone leaves. We'd really like to see your car there. Maybe ur thinking about not attending because you might not think ur car is show worthy, or its all stock, or its dirty, or perhaps you have a little damage, we dont care what the case may be, we want you and your car there. For more information, you can call or text Logan at 903 539 0760 anytime. Hope to see you there!!