Saved a spirit from the scrap yard

[turbo84voyager]

A few months ago I picked up a 92 spirit from a co worker whose mechanic told him to junk. It's a 2.5 tbi with 96K but was his mother car and was garage kept and very solid. Only 1 spot of rust below the gas door. The guy recently replaced the radiator, hoses, exhaust and front brakes. The engine developed a miss and the mechanic like many mechanics would rather not tear the engine apart and said scrap it. I picked it up for a very resonable price and pulled the head. Which to this day I still cannot figure why these guys would not want to do a job like this, they are soo easy. It had a burnt valve. I gave the head to my machine shop with a set of valves I had and had a valve job done. I threw it all back together including new head bolts, all new belts, thermostat, new coolant, oil / filter and new plugs. The thing runs great. My plans were to turn around and sell it but I am now thinking twice about it. The cylinders had no ridge and all crosshatch was on all cylinders, the engine is quiet and the paint is shiny. Im thinking it might not be a bad way to buy me a year or 2 from having to buy a new vehicle since my Subaru DD has 130K and is going up fast.

[Dodge Aries K]

You're worried about your Subaru having 130K? I've had a few with over 200K, original engines and transmissions, that still ran absolutely perfect. Also know of a few with 300K+ still original everything.

[blk86trbo]

Congrats on the new Spirit...might as well enjoy it for a while, Spirits seem to be a comfortable vehicle :nod:

[turbo84voyager]

Im not worried about the subaru. Last year I did the timing belt, cam and front crank seals and resealed the oil pump and trans service and paint. This year I threw on a new set of Goodyear eagles and new struts. So it should be good for a while.

I am limited to 5K a year on my 89 mini to be exempt from emissions inspections so all of my and my wifes other driving is on the subaru.

[Dodge Aries K]

Man, emissions inspections blow. I hope the Spirit works out okay for ya. Tip of the day... for a lot more comfort than the not so great base seats that are probably in that car raid a LeBaron Landau at the junkyard. Bolt in and enjoy "Baby New Yorker" comfort.

[WickedShelby88]

Yeah I can vouch. Karl had an amazingly nice spirit. Or was that the acclaim? Lebaron sedans do make nice donor vehicles for comfy parts as do acclaim LX's.

[Dodge Aries K]

I had both a Spirit and an Acclaim. The Spirit was the automatic car I put Chrysler Imperial seats in and the Acclaim was the stick shift car that I put "power enthusiast" J body seats in. Glad to see the Spirit go, regret selling the Acclaim.

[Mr overkill]

i have a few customers that have subies they will go over 200k in a heartbeat if you take care of them the only realy problem with 90;s ones is the head gasket leaks oil in the drivers side rear bottom other then that take care of it and DRIVE HER the one customer has gone past 225k

[bfarroo]

I love my Spirit for DD duties. Bought it with 130,000 miles and have put over 70,000 on it since. Over 200,000 miles and still ran and drove great. The trans was starting to give up and the engine leaked some oil so I pulled the motor and trans to freshen. Stock bores were still in spec but the crank was not. Turned the crank, installed all new gaskets and seals, honed and installed new rings on the stock pistons and put back together. The turbo was still tight even. Got a low mileage 413 from a daytona and installed that with the backyard mods done. It's all back together and ready for another 200,000!