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New 92' 3000GT Owner, Questions, plans, and everything else

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1992 gt sl
1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  bboyalan 
#1 ·
Hello all, I am a college student from Akron Ohio that decided on a 1992 3000GT SL as a base for my first project car. I have only ever done minor repairs on cars before but am an engineering major and like to get my hands dirty so I am definitely jumping head deep into a project that I know will take a lot of time and cause a lot of headaches. The car I got is stock all but the hood it seems, it looks to have the EVO style carbon fiber hood, and from what the previous owner knows and what I see, that is true. It is a dead car that I got for $300, The last owner said they bought it broken but they think it was a timing belt jump that killed it. From what I have read on this forum, it sounds like the regular DOHC engines in the non-VR4 models of the GT are interference engines, meaning I will likely have to replace valves and or pistons(I think thats all worst case..?). Assuming I actually get the car working over time and it was only the issue they stated, I have big plans for the final product and am willing to sink probably 10k into it before the end of college if needed.

I plan on recording and taking pictures to document most of the way so I will happily share them here to document my journey with this car and hopefully inspire some other new owners.

Now I am not a car guy. Buying a dead car very well could have been a huge mistake, but I am here and happy to learn, I may have many misconceptions, may not know how complex my plans really are, etc... so bear with me.

I have made no decisions on upgrade order as I have to get it running first, but I plan to be one of the few to single turbo this car. I am planning on doing (probably by trial and error) my own exhaust manifolds to make this come together. I will also note, that I do not plan for turboing to be near one of the first things I do to the car. I just want to keep in mind that it is a goal and make other upgrades (or repairs) accordingly. I wouldn't want to replace something that does not work, then a while later have to buy a better one because I am turboing it.

With that out of the way, I am looking to totally redo the interior of the vehicle, which I should not need much help or input on. The exterior is another story. There are several body kits online I have been looking at with HUGE shipping rates ($200+), which I kind of expect with parts that big coming from California, but I don't know if there are better options you guys would know about, if there are websites I don't know about, etc...

I plan on painting it myself with a few friends who have painted cars before. Their paint jobs turned out really well so I trust that shouldn't be an issue. My goal is to do as much of this project as I can myself, and not get any external/mechanic help other than advice, i.e. installations and such. I do expect to mess things up, and hopefully have some funny videos of me making stupid mistakes for all of you to laugh at.

I wanted to lead with the fact that I planned on turboing the car so I could base some of my other upgrades around it. It has been iffy finding how much boost this engine can handle with base parts, as I am not sure if the VR4 has tougher parts or what. My only friend who has turboed was a Cummins truck guy so his input here does not help a ton other than the basics of how a turbo works. I saw something on here I think about someone producing 22lbs of boost and not having an issue, others I see shooting for between 4 and 9. I am thinking I would want to go with a larger turbo and a decent bit of lag. I don't need super fast spool times as I am looking for a good high end. Since I will likely have to replace valves or pistons to get it running, would it be worth right off the bat getting stronger than stock ones to accommodate the fact that I plan on turboing? If the stock can handle a lor more than I think, or if the only thing I really need to upgrade is head studs, then I would be fine going to stock and playing with it, but most articles about single turboing the SL or N/A are VERY old and do not give me a lot of relevant info.

In terms of other upgrades I am trying to stick closely with the "must have" guide for new owners that is in this forum somewhere. It covers a lot of bases but since I have such a unique end product in mind I though getting specific input would be helpful.

After getting it running, my goal is to get the interior and exterior looking nice before I do any major performance upgrades, except coilovers, as that will also aesthetically change the car.

I look forward to input from this community, I haven't seen anyone my age around on here at all but I am hoping to get some good advice from people that know this car better than I have known any car. To any moderators of the forum, Please feel free to move this to the correct place if it is not where it should be or where I will get the most help. In the future I plan on making more posts as I progress through the build that will be more specifically placed in a category.

((TLDR: college student wastes money on dumb things he does not know how to use or do))
 
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#2 ·
Welcome.

That was a bit of a read for an introduction heh. Pictures would help tell the story.

Yes, your plans do seem a bit scattered and "unrefined", so you will want to do more research, make actual progress, and ask specific questions. Most of your questions will have already been answered on here.

Your first step is to verify mechanical timing at TDC; if that is good, then move onto a compression test. Nothing will really fall into place without a good, running base point.
 
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