1989 Probe GT barn find rebuild

[plx92]

Few more from sunday:

[plx92]

So after my least event, it was evident there was some kind of problem:



Oil seepage out of the cap, and several spots in the valve cover. First thought was blow by since the car has 155k and I spent the weekend beating on it at wot full boost.

Second thought was overly restrictive crankcase venting system. I had a vented catch can but still had a pcv and smallish hoses.

So, I did a compression test to start. Results weren't...great. But not too surprising. Going to go ahead and call it "good" for now since the car runs fine, doesn't really eat oil, and pulls hard. But a rebuild should be in the near future.



To solve my crankcase venting issues, I picked up some cheap fittings from eBay and took a stab at tapping a spare valve cover. My threading technique could definitely use some work But once the cover is painted I'll thread the adapter fittings in with some epoxy to make sure they do not leak.






In the grip department, the sport comp 2's were not quite cutting it. They took forever to heat up, and were margin when they did. In their defense, definitely not an autocross tire. So I had been looking around for something new. Taking some notes from Gavin and James autocross builds, 225/50r16 seemed like the optimal tire size and a logical jump from where I am now.

The motegi's I have now are great since they are light weight and strong, but I'm limited on tire width since its only 7" wide wheel. From my research and understanding, putting say a 225/45r17 on the 7" wide wheel, would result in a lot of tire roll in hard corning, not good.

So I did some measuring and test fit a friends FD 16x8 with a few different spacer sizes to figure out which offset was optimal.

Now, since I have AWR trailing arms, this reduces the inside tire clearance a bit over the factory trailing arms since they are beefier. I found that 16x8 with a +25-27mm would be the best fit with a 225/50r16. Obviously tire sizes fluctuate between manufacturers, but it was a good starting point.

The quest for a wheel went something like this, FD's were out since since i could not find a set cheap enough or that didn't require a ton of finish work. I don't have the motivation to refinish a set of wheels that weren't bottom dollar and buy spacers + hub rings, when I could theoretically just buy a new set for comparable money.

Low and behold, in the entry level wheel market I found 2, yes this right, 2 offerings that fit the spec, after weeks of searching. A cheap wheel made by a no-name company "Drifz, 308B Spec-R" and a new rotary forged option released this year by TSW the "Rifle" wheel. Come to find out, the TSW wheel, is already discontinued, yay.

The Drifz wheel weighs 25lbs a piece and is still a gravity cast wheel. Coming from a 16lb wheel, I would be adding close to 40lbs of unsprung weight, which I didn't really want to do. After mulling over my options for a few days, I almost pulled the trigger on the Drifz, then I found these for a more than reasonable price, in close enough to the spec I needed:




For rubber, I had planned on buying a set of Bridgestone RE-71r's however I found a great deal on Falken's Azenis RT-615K which have gotten good reviews and are the same performance category.



Long winded post over.

[BradsPGT]

A set of those Volk wheels came up for sale locally as well. Maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing (the little dimple in the spoke throws it off for me) wheel but for the price they were going for and weight/strength, they were a steal.

Speaking of wheel weights though, I sold the BBS RSGT I had (18x8) and they weighed in at like 26.5 lbs a piece. The new Fast FC04 flowformed 18x9 only weights 19lbs. They're a pretty impressive rim with an excellent price on them brand new. But they only make 17x8s at the smallest, 17lbs. I need to get out to the track soon and test these new wheels and the NS2R rubber I picked up....

Love this car though. And the fact that you beat on it regularly and its still looking so good

[plx92]

A set of those Volk wheels came up for sale locally as well. Maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing (the little dimple in the spoke throws it off for me) wheel but for the price they were going for and weight/strength, they were a steal.

Speaking of wheel weights though, I sold the BBS RSGT I had (18x8) and they weighed in at like 26.5 lbs a piece. The new Fast FC04 flowformed 18x9 only weights 19lbs. They're a pretty impressive rim with an excellent price on them brand new. But they only make 17x8s at the smallest, 17lbs. I need to get out to the track soon and test these new wheels and the NS2R rubber I picked up....

Love this car though. And the fact that you beat on it regularly and its still looking so good

Thanks Brad! I love the new wheels on your car!

Personally, I really like the classic Japanese multi-piece wheels and they fit the car well giving it a period correct style, this is probably the 2nd set I've come across that are in the right specs and the right price (the first were super advans). Perfect timing too. Problems/tweaks aside, I'm thoroughly enjoying the car now that I can drive the wheels off it.

[plx92]

So the tires turned into a bigger fiasco than I had hoped. Long story short, vender I bought from sent me 4.5/6.5 year old tires. I sent them back and they said they would ship new tires with more recent Dot's the next day. Didn't work out and ended up coming back with an additional cost blah blah blah, not acceptable so I canceled the order. Worked out for the better since i just ordered a set of RE71r's from tire rack instead, which will be an all around better tire.

Wheels also showed up and fit really well

[ErikLotter]

Is that a harbor freight compression tester? If so I've heard bad things about them reading about 60psi low if that's the case I would definitely go craftsman or snap on for the compression tester

[plx92]

Is that a harbor freight compression tester? If so I've heard bad things about them reading about 60psi low if that's the case I would definitely go craftsman or snap on for the compression tester

No It's a rental from autozone, I've tried two, same results.

[BradsPGT]

I take back what I said about those wheels. They suit the car beautifully

[M0rphine117]

Agree, I'm not a fan of the GT-Fs or whatever those are but they look great on your Probe! Wheels and coils are next on my list and you're making my search that much harder!

[Stanced4lyfe]

I have read through this whole thread and you have out done yourself sir! I wish I had all your talents to do half the stuff you are doing. Great job on the great looking car.

[plx92]

Thanks guys!

New rubber showed up yesterday, hoping to have them mounted Sunday (Thanks sean )



Currently have the car all apart, just installed the new valve cover and gasket last night, the oil pan has been resealed (what a pita) Still need to replace the timing belt and water pump and crank seal before it all goes back together. Hoping to finish that up this weekend as well. I'll get some pics once its back on its feet with the new shoes. Going to try to pick up a roof rack to haul the new rubber around with, the events I've been going to are 120-150 mile round trips and I'd like to keep the new tires as gummy as possible for as long as i can.

[plx92]

Rubber is mounted, should have a roof rack this weekend and also be able to finish the timing belt install. Can't wait to get the car back up and running.

[plx92]

After a few weekends of swearing, new water pump, tb, acc. belts, crank seal, and oil pan is resealed. Also installed the lightweight crank pulley I've had. Initial run around the block seems good. No leaks next morning or noises. Rubber is mounted and somewhat fit. Need to adjust the rear ride height a tad and fiddle with wheel spacers and camber adjustment. Rack is also fitted to haul the new wheels to events.

[89lxmorepower]

You got your rack mounted slightly different than I do. Cars looking awesome though

[plx92]

You got your rack mounted slightly different than I do. Cars looking awesome though

Thanks! any pics of yours? Which rack do you have?