Or when you accelerate and push down on your e-brake and the light goes off you have a loose handle. easy fix

 

The car looks really nice, well cared for. However with that said, as has been stated please do all the reliability mods before anything else. With 59K on the odo, somethings will start to bite you. Vacuum hoses, AST, radiator etc. Once those are done you can do the other stuff without too many worries. Good luck with it and keep us posted on your status.

 

"I was specifying a few things like the exhaust replacement simply because the car as it is, is EXTREMELY loud, to the point where I find myself not wanting to turn it on in my neighborhood, and also worrying about police. I'm surprised it passed the mass state inspection. "

what midsection are you running? I have a racing beat exhaust and my car was still loud as King Kong because I was running a straight midpipe. I bought the LG sound resonator from Racing Beat and had it put in by a local muffler shop. It keeps the car quite so long as I am not stepping on it. There are other options for that area, you should check into that as well.

 

Congrats, nice find! I purchased a 39K mile stock silver FD in Boston about 2 months ago. Haven't driven it really to avoid the salt but the time is just around the corner!

Would be interested to see where you go

 

You are a new owner and IMO you should own the car for at least a year before you make useless mods that can just add headaches to a car that is known to cause migraines.

On top of that IMO you should delete the AST ASP (that thing is green = old) stock ones are black just like all other plastic components in the engine bay BTW . Next get yourself a boost gauge and monitor your boost to make sure it’s in proper order. If it is then replace pre-cat with a DP, monitor boost again. If you are spiking get yourself a boost controller. Next replace exhaust with the RB. Check boost again…

If you want to stay relatively stock and worry free:
Replace rad with a fluidyne, and replace stock IC with a MED size SMIC, and a real cold air intake (closed box). Get AI to and stay at 10 psi and live with a rather reliable FD.

 

That time frame is like sitting up at stop light so your ok. The point is you need air flow to cool things down. The idling for however long does nothing for the oil temps. If you wanna buy it, be my guest it's your money. I'm just showing you the IDEAL way to treat the engine and turbos. Take it easy before you shut it down and you can spend that money on something more important like a boost gauge. By the way, boost gauge and downpipe where the 1st mods I did.

 

First thing you should do is open a savings account, put 2500 in it, and leave it there. You will at some point have to rebuild your engine. I'm just guessing, based on your other posts, you didn't check engine health before buying, so you have no idea how long it should last you.

 

I agree with everyone in this thread. Save up money cause you WILL need it sooner or later for repairs.

You don't need a turbo timer. On a stock to slightly modded car you only need a boost and water temp gauge.

That paint and interior you have looks amazing, no need to enchance what looks good already.

And start driving and learning about it. As time goes by you'll start to spend money to "customize" it persay. It may not be the kind of customizing you're thinking of but its the kind that's mandatory when owning these cars.

 

**** my ear that's a clean looking car.

Ditch those wheels, do reliability mods. Don't **** it up. Especially being a 95. Not very many of those comparatively.

And READ READ READ the forums. the faqs, the .... everything you can. I researched for years before buying an FD. And I am glad I did.

 

Ahem...not to thread jack, but since I am in a similar situation (and may as well not clutter the forum making another thread)...

1. When you mention "AST ASP", I know what the AST is, is the ASP something different? One of the first things I plan to do is replace the AST.

2. Reading through a few build threads, I noticed people block off certain things with block off plates. Is there anything on a stock car that should be blocked off which does not result in some negatives accompanying the positives of said procedure?

3. Someone mentioned replacing the radiator. Do the plastic ends come into play so early (in terms of mileage)?

4. I've read a few threads on radiator replacement options. I know the Fluidyne is one of the most recommended due to minimal modification to mount. Would I be able to keep all the stock panels with the Fluidyne? The Mazda Comp radiator seems to be drop-in, would that be a better option if I wanted to keep on the stock engine bay panels?

Edit: Also, what do people recommend for gauge holders? The most essential seem to be boost and water temp...I was thinking of maybe getting a steering mounted boost gauge, and one of those triple gauges on the dash/console. But in that case I would have a lot of empty holes haha.

 

More than you got.... Oh wait wrong thread

OP,
Take a summer to really read and research and plan out what you think you want to do. Personnally, I woul dreplace the school bus steering wheel(talk to Rich - GoodfellaFD3S) with a nice Nardi wheel and I would get rid of the BAJA 4x4 ride height with a nice spring shock or streetable coilover setup. These are easy to do and will start to get you familiar with using this site and your FSM... If you haven't downloaded this yet, stop reading and go do it..... seriously!


Beyond that. Research and read on the reliability mods and move slowly through your first year. THEN GET READY TO DROP SOME COIN!

 

Thats my bad its a typo ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

block off plates are typically used in single turbo applications.


My rad started leaking around the 80k mark. I had it fixed (I didnt really look at the forum back then)
and at the 130k mark the other end tank startet leaking.


not sure what you mean about panels? I have a fluidyne and all it fit just fine. All I did was break this little piece of plastic that was in the way, and turned the mountings on the rad around.

I like minimal gauges. I have a dual pod for my egt and afr. I use my boost controller as a boost
gauge, and my pfc to read water, air temps, injector cycle, and knock.