Stealth R/T Twin Turbo?

I just took a photograph. It's getting spark plugs and the rear coolant block gaskets. Working on the thing is like peeling an onion, you remove hoses and brackets so you can access the hoses and brackets underneath them, and so on until you finally get to what you're trying to access. Spark plugs means pulling the upper intake, coolant manifold means pulling just about everything else, since everything either bolts to it or goes across it.

I shan't speak of what removing the transmission is like. There's almost enough room for it to come out, and you can't rotate the trans to clear various things because the coolant tube runs through the notch in the bellhousing.

I much prefer working on German cars, that should tell you something.

The damn things are barely under two tons. That might not sound so bad now, but 20 years ago 4000 lbs was a tad heavy for a coupe that was tiny inside.

So basically what I'm reading is that the drivetrain would be better served if installed in a locost-style chassis.

that way the maintenance could be easier and you'll just have the important bits.

I wonder if they would be better off with a single turbo like te supra and RX7 peoples do?

My Sister dated a guy with a Stealth.. a pickup truck backed up over it's nose in a parking lot and more or less sealed it's hood shut until he could get it to a bodyshop for repairs

mad_machine wrote: I wonder if they would be better off with a single turbo like te supra and RX7 peoples do? My Sister dated a guy with a Stealth.. a pickup truck backed up over it's nose in a parking lot and more or less sealed it's hood shut until he could get it to a bodyshop for repairs

i think they have a great exhaust note for being both a V6 AND turbo

I am cheap. I buy crap other people cast off. I made the mistake of buying a 91 vr4 back in 98, it had 36k on it and a broken oil pump. $1k all in. No problem thinks I; I am pained to think how much I Actually spent. Oil pump had imploded, from pieces o' the turbo going through it. THEN, they towed it home. I put big turbos on it and got it all together and sold it off to the beginning of the f&f crowd. It was FAST, stupid fast but I was scared of what was next. If you have lots of patience and It is cheap I still wouldn't buy it. That is all.

Well gentlemen, I think we've found what it takes for GRM to finally not recommend a car...

I had every one in Southern Connecticut .At 4000 pounds, they're a Fat Eclipse. Stand in front of the open hood and attempt to see the ground. Five speeds are non user serviceable Getrags. The water pumps seize, which breaks the timing belt and they are inteference motors. The valve stem oil seals fail causing CLOUDS of blue smoke. I hate them. The plug falls out of the driveshaft yoke, locking up the transfer case.(recall) I motherberkeleying HATE them.

Osterkraut wrote: Well gentlemen, I think we've found what it takes for GRM to finally not recommend a car...

This is probably the most resounding NO I've ever seen for a car suggested on GRM. Looks like my gut instinct was right, and this is one to avoid.

I still see quite a few of these on the road, fwiw.

4g63t wrote: The water pumps seize, which breaks the timing belt and they are inteference motors.

wait-a-minute! They ran the waterpump off of the timing belt?!?

mad_machine wrote:

4g63t wrote: The water pumps seize, which breaks the timing belt and they are inteference motors.

wait-a-minute! They ran the waterpump off of the timing belt?!?

pretty common now from what I've seen. wife's beetle WP is ran off of the t belt as well
Some if not all nissan engines now are t belt driven WPs

well.. if people do the waterpump at the same time as the timing belt.. that is ok.. but how many people do that?

Me. But then I wasn't afraid to hand the owner a $2000 estimate.

mad_machine wrote:

4g63t wrote: The water pumps seize, which breaks the timing belt and they are inteference motors.

wait-a-minute! They ran the waterpump off of the timing belt?!?

Neons do it, so does VW and many others. I think BMW does as well?

Common practice to replace both the timing belt and the water pump at the same time.

I had the joyful pleasure of becoming the 3rd owner of a Glacier White Pearl '92 VR-4 I got for the measly sum of $2000.... It was my favorite car to date... I acquired the car from a friend that got it with 52k on it and frequent trips from Charleston, WV to Houston, TX racked up the mileage to 208,xxx when i got it. I had every maintence record from new (1st owner was a Dr.) The car had 238,000 when I sold it and required no maintence at all other than oil changes, and a new set of tires. I'd very strongly consider swapping my F2T MX-3 for one that was in good running condition, and that says alot because I freakin love that MX-3!!!!!! I added the HKS Filters, and a Sard Blow Off Valve and it was rather quite. I'm confident it'd dust out C4 Vette too... The only pic I have left of my Miata I traded for my '91 Corrado G60, and the $100 Stealth RT/TT Parts car...yes I did say $100, and yes it was complete, just had a rod throught the block...

turboswede wrote:

mad_machine wrote:

4g63t wrote: The water pumps seize, which breaks the timing belt and they are inteference motors.

wait-a-minute! They ran the waterpump off of the timing belt?!?

Neons do it, so does VW and many others. I think BMW does as well? Common practice to replace both the timing belt and the water pump at the same time.

maybe the older BMWs.. the new onestend to have an electric pump. The semi-older cars (m42 and above) have timing chains, so the pump is driven off of a belt

turboswede wrote: Neons do it, so does VW and many others. I think BMW does as well?

on the m20 engines they didnt drive the water pump with the timing belt, but the belt was tensioned off the pump's housing so replacing a water pump results in removing the timing belt and (hopefully) replacing it.

DrBoost wrote: In fact, the breakyness spread, according to him, too all of his other vehicles. Once he got rid of it, all his woes were gone.

That's no joke. That REALLY DOES happen

Sard... that's a name i haven't heard in awhile save for the STACK displays...

I loved 3000gts as a kid when they were newish.

As an adult and an auto tech i still love the styling and i like the interior and the view out of it and the handling is perfectly decent for fwd.

But I totally gave up on any fondness for the dohc twin turbo awd drivetrain. It would not be fun for me to own.

I have grown fond of the sohc 3.0 motor, though. At anything under 500 whp the sohc is a perfectly viable build. The simplicity of the SOHC engine bay is night and day vs TT AWD. The first time i picked up the hood on a SOHC i was shocked at how much of the ground i could see.

The sohc/5spd is still not that slow. I have that motor in my dynasty with less compression and worse manifolds and it just ran 15.2. From my experience watching the k-car people turbo them, they tend to trap 100mph or slightly more on 5 psi of non-intercooled, barely-tuned boost in a 3000lb car.

I want to build a turbo sohc 97+ 3kgt. Dunno when ill get around to it, though.

Awesome budget GT Supercar.

OK/Mediocre sports car.

I owned a Stealth ES for 4 years through college and after (Essentially same longblock, no turbos and FWD).

Awesome car for a young guy. Chicks dig it. If you're mechanically inclined the NA makes a nice, comfy DD.

Just change the timing belt before you go look at it.

yeah, you read that right.

a401cj wrote:

DrBoost wrote: In fact, the breakyness spread, according to him, too all of his other vehicles. Once he got rid of it, all his woes were gone.

That's no joke. That REALLY DOES happen

yeah, I used to be a regular on 3Si and a group of us started our own off-topic forum early 2007. Been through a few board updates since then, but still talk to that group every day. More than a few of them have had that Issue. It's kinda scary.

If you want to see a bunch of nicely done 3S cars, we do a deals gap gathering every summer. used to be almost just 3S but it's morphed into a cabin party weekend with sportscars.

turboswede wrote: So basically what I'm reading is that the drivetrain would be better served if installed in a locost-style chassis.

Probably not.

Even if the drivetrain were on a bench, most things are an access nightmare. There's just a ton of stand-alone coolant hoses and vacuum hoses and boost hoses, and hardlines for same, and it's all interspersed with stand-alone support brackets that get in the way of everything else. (The aft turbo - bellhousing - motor mount brace, for example. And I can't wait to have to do a starter on one, no idea how that thing is supposed to come out)

The engine would be best fixed by removing the turbos and throwing them away. Put a 3.5l shortblock under it and call it a day.

..anyway, these cars really make one appreciate modern engines' much more simple, integrated designs.