Rebirth of a SC2 coupe
 

INTRODUCTION

Hey everyone, I'm Aaron and this is my new ‘94 SC2 coupe, Aloura. She has 154k miles and bone stock. I purchased her for $400. She sat in a hay barn for 20 years. A friend of mine bought her to learn how to drive a stick and ended up frying the clutch. This guy has no mechanical experience whatsoever and decided to try and tackle the job. Well in doing so he tore up all the suspension components during removal, installed the clutch backwards and even after taking it apart a second time to fix it, still managed to have no clutch. For some odd reason he thought he had a bad slave cylinder and attempted to replace it but didn't refill the hydraulic system correctly and we'll, still had no clutch and decided to give up on it. That's where I come in and gave him an offer to haul it away. And that's when she became mine. Most everything is in decent condition but does need a few things. Has a busted out rear drivers side window, needs tires and a battery and needs the hydraulic lines burped and filled correctly. Interior is actually very nice for just sitting in a barn all those years. I thought the leather would be dry rotted but it's still really soft. Got a few plans for this project and going to put my main focus on suspension and looks. I will be boosting her as well but not to an extreme level. My goal is going to be 200 at the wheel with a clean look to make a fun daily driver and civic killer. Everyone in my town runs ****ty civics and think just because they have a loud exhaust and a body kit they are a race car. Now I am a civic owner but my civic has been tuned and has more than just a muffler. However, I want to pull up in something different and unexpected. I will be using this thread to document this project. This is my first Saturn so I know I may have questions and I have already read so much on this forum. Look for updates in the coming weeks.

https://i.postimg.cc/dhnnhjDs/IMG_20..._120403513.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/McFDDZyg/IMG_20..._120412580.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/ZBnQbDcz/IMG_20..._120430495.jpg



https://i.postimg.cc/1nbv9RXD/IMG_20...2_BURST001.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/p5DppkWq/IMG_20..._120452244.jpg

Love the color on that bad boy. Like derf said in the other post, make sure you check the oil weekly. The DOHC's are NOTORIOUS for being oil burners. The SOHC I had in mine didn't use any oil at all. Kind of strange.

Any ideas to why the burn oil?

Oil control rings
valve guide seals

Umm I could swear the car was a 93 back when you joined........???????? ?

Lol! Yeah until I got the title lol

So I'm starting to scout out suspension components and I'm having a hard time finding lowering springs. Everything is for the 96-2001 models. Would springs for those models fit properly on my 94?

Based on what I can find, the front ones are the same, but NOT the rear ones. IDK what the change would be.

Thanks for your response. I'm still doing some digging to see if I can find a set of springs made for my car because trying to retro fit a different year

Welcome to ownership of a first-generation coupe. The mods that did exist are mostly gone. Even the spare parts needed to keep it running are are mostly gone. Many are the same as second generation but many are not.

1) H&R Sport Lowering Springs Saturn SC/SC1/SC2/SL/SL1/SL2 (90-95) 54340 appear to fit a 94 Sc2

​https://www.redline360.com/hr-sport-lowering-springs-saturn-sc-sc1-sc2-sl-sl1-sl2-54340​​​​​

H&R springs pt # 54340

2) https://www.sparktecmotorsports.com/bg-79-1-001.html. 91-02 ???
Assuming part # bg-79-1

Your best source for everything you need to turbo the car is a part out by someone on Sixthsphere.com (these are die hard and very knowledgeable s car dudes. If you act like a jackass or answer questions with guesses as a newbie, you will be banned. Takes a while to earn respect around there but they are a nice group of people that know their shayt. And the vast majority of them have turboed their s cars but are reaching an age where they want to move on.

​​​​​​Please do NOT say I referred you.

Use only ngk 5643 copper plugs unless you enjoy unnecessary P0341 codes, misfires, and such. 36k miles change. Change your PCV valve now before you blow out the cam cover gasket. If you don't clean the EGR valve at this mileage, by the time it throws a code it will be too gummed up to save.

Sorry for the off topic advice. Just passing it on as it comes to mind.

So today I decided to take the clutch hydros off and fill and bleed them. Was a messy job but I have clutch pedal again. I thought maybe by some chance that's all that was wrong with the clutch but it seems the guy that replaced the clutch installed it backwards. 🤦 So now I have to pull the tranny and install it the right way. Blah... I just hope that's what is really the issue.

I hate when that happens.

I usually take a pic of anything I'm about to disassemble. But that's just me.

Ive found many replacement parts for the car so I'm not too worried about keeping it running. I met a guy on sixsphere that lives in my city that has a 95 SC2 coupe that's going to let me pull as many parts as I want off it including the rear glass I need. I'm Iot really going for a ton of power or even a ton of boost. 5lbs and I'll be happy. I'm focusing on the cosmetics, ride comfort, audio and style of the car more than anything. This will probably be the last winter my VW will see so I'm going to need another daily by spring, maybe summer. Any suggestions on other things I should pull off the donor car before he crushes it? Any hard to find parts maybe? Appreciate the response

Power door lock switches, power window switch, center console three button pod (defroster, fog lights and probably s s blank.

Power window regulators. You will likely not have another chance to get these as spares, so do.

Spare factory fogs.

I'd say multi function switch, but I believe the steering wheel has to come off. You can still get those aftermarket.

Tail and side marker lights front. Don't force them until you see how they are held in. Cigarette lighter housing, trim ring and associated wiring harnesses. Headlight wiring and plug which the wiring goes to. Headlight motors (RandL are not identical).

Think of it as your own personal limitrd time only salvage yard. If you truly plan on driving this indefinitely, build your parts cache now.

That means body panels, other exterior stuff. You'll be likely searching long and hard to find a first gen in a yard as they have been thoroughly stripped by now and the rest of the car crushed.

Hell, maybe buy it as a parts car

No beefed up internals needed for 5psi boost. Good move.

Doing some research on megasquirt today. There's seems to be many options. What would be best for my car? Only going to run 5psi of boost. Don't plan to do very much more than to the motor other than maybe replacing internals.

If you are going to replace internals, you might as well put in forgrd parts and run higher boost. Otherwise it's a cash sink you don't really need. You can run up to I think 7 psi on a stock DOHC. So no need to beef up internals just for that.

No experience with megasquirt but I have always heard that anything higher than a 50 shot risks engine damage.

Also, it is not advisable to highly boost or run nitrous on a tired engine like yours, as the existing wear can lead failure more quickly than for a younger engine. At least that's what I've read

Started tearing it down today and found some interesting things. Coil packs will need replacing. They are very corroded. Upper motor mount looks a bit worn so I'll be replacing all if them just for good meaures. Guy didn't even tighten down the ball joint castle nuts all the way nor did he put a pin in them 🤦 Forgot some tools at home and started to run out of time so all that's left is to pull the tranny off the block and flip the clutch around. Going to check the throwout bearing too just in case that's installed wrong as well... Installing the new rear window glass next weekend as well. Once I get the clutch situated I'm going to put everything back together and test the clutch. Then back up in the air for suspension work in the coming weeks. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sat...24cb17981c.jpg

Been years since I've seen a Teal Coupe...;)

Too bad the paint isn't that great. 😑

You'll get to it.

Please repaint it that same stock color.

Only car I've ever seen that color, and because of the body lines of the 1st Gen coupes, it works with out looking girlie.

In contrast, the sedans look dopey in that color, especially w the black bumpers

Still a different kind of car.

Go to a salvage yard and get the heat insulation piece for under the hood. Paint will last much longer.

So something seems off about the passenger side CV axle. I somehow recall there being some kind of bar bolted up to the frame that the axle connected to. I think I maybe read this or seen it somewhere. Removed the axles today and the passenger side axle didn't have that. Was just a regular CV axle.

Can't comment on CV axles.

Another random piece of advice:. Have your differential pin welded. It is a known weak spot, and since you are going to run boost, you want to address this.

So I figured it out. There's an intermediate shaft that runs under the motor to the driver's side where is attached to the tranny. So that's all good. Found the axle boot is damaged so I'm gonna have to order a new boot. Axle still looks like it's in good condition.
About the diff pin, I'm guessing I'll have to remove the tranny to have this done right?

Also I found this today. Still in good condition. I've heard these are hard to come by. May come in handy.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sat...d5273f6d35.jpg

What did you find? Nothing came through.

I've seen a few of those and never thought about grabbing them. If I ever have need to go to a salvage yard again, I'll see if I can find a few.