At a junkyard yesterday and saw 3 examples of these. Im interested in maybe buying the blue one as a project. I know the 2.6 SOHC car isn't much loved, but is MPI and a non jet valve head a way to make these a little more reliable? No noticeable rot, what else to look for? It is a SHP car with staggered wheels.
Anyone have personal experience with these?
Oooohhhh...just dripping with 80's goodness. One of my favorites of the decade, and in the color I'd want too. Never owned one, wish I had. My understanding is they had enough vacuum tubing to drive a patient man insane.
From what I know, they had issues with the head cracking between the 2 and 3 cylinder. The heads, if you can find them, are typically as much as the car. Most of these i've seen still on the road have had 4g63 engines swapped into them.
I wouldn't call them unreliable, or even a hassle to work on really. They've got some quirks, like any turbo car from the 1980's. I daily drove one for two years with no major issues.
The jet valve head isn't a major worry, as long as you keep the temperatures in check. MPI greatly improves driveability and power, but I remember the intakes being a touch pricey.
I thought the head cracking issue was a result of the jet valve, since the valve would expand at a higher rate than the head or something like that.
In general though, engine durability seems to be the number one problem I've come across with these. Otherwise, I think they're great. Very 80's interior, and there's a guy up in Detroit who has a very, very well built starquest with an LS that was, I think, in the magazine some time ago.
I still want one.
Read this: http://www.racetep.com/starhead.html
I have no actual knowledge, but that site is full of good info. If I remember correctly, getting a non-Jet valve head and soldering some connections which were clipped from the factory fixes like 90% of the problems, and then you have a pretty quick, great looking car. Folks there build engine packages getting up over 300 hp, which is pretty stout for a 8V 2.6, for something like $4k.
All I know is that I love the look of them and both of those colors on those cars are terrific. Pick them both up and make them work.
Yep, I've always wanted one, too. Also in that blue.
I have wanted one for a while as well, but they are starting to become victims of poor parts availability. As far as performance potential, the factory cooling and fuel injection systems are barely adequate for stock power. And MPI isn't exactly a bolt on conversion, it's gonna cost you to do it right. The recirculating ball steering sucks too. But they are gorgeous cars and relatively lightweight too.
When I started to ask around on the StarQuestClub forum about the using one as a HPDE car, I was warned that I better be a damn good fabricator or at least friends with one, and then given a long list of NLA parts. 
My plan is to get the blue one and the red with white bumper, and fix the blue car. Called to inquire about them, will contact me back. One has a bad engine, the other has a good one.
sent you a pm I'd be interested in the nonshp wheels
If you're want one, I would recommend buying both. You very well may need more from the 2nd than you think and you may be able to recoupe the second purchase price through parting out what you don't need.
I really want one with a 4g63 in it. So much 80's goodness.
DuctTape&Bondo wrote: My brother in law already got em sent you a pm I'd be interested in the nonshp wheels
Stock injectors like to leak, check the subframe for rot, finding a non cracked front bumper might be tough, and that's all I got for now.
The wheel whore in me is convinced the oem deep fat 5s are probably the best factory wheels ever.
The nicest one on the planet is still only $5-6k, save your pennies for one that was already done nice. The wrecked ones probably have some decent parts but no way worth fixing.
You should probably buy all of them just to be safe.....I haven't really met a starquest enthusiast who didn't have multiple parts cars.
Is the engine similar to the 2.5 Mitsubishi engine that Dodge put in the minivans for a while back in the '80s? We had one that cracked the head as well.
I've never driven a Starquest but they are the most 80s thing around.
Jeremy Clarkson destroyed one a few years ago in a TG challenge. I'm sure you can find it on YouTube.
Cuz -
I always thought they were cool, but yeah, parts are gonna be tough...
I have one for a Lemons car. It's a blast. I think these cars are way underrated. I love the blue one. The stock motor is a torque monster. 2.6 truck engine plus boost = wheel spin on command. They are very heavy stock, but it's not hard to lose a lot of weight. The factory interior is very 80's, but it's very well made with good materials. And heavy. In our Lemons car, we installed jet valve delete kits. The valve assemblies unscrew like spark plugs, and the delete kits just thread into place. Very simple job. I'd either stay mild with the stock engine. Our Lemons car has a stock 1G Eclipse turbo and MAF, 3" exhaust, and better intercooler piping. At 12psi, it makes good power. But before I'd mess with MPI, I'd just do a 4G63 or V8 swap.
I want one...that's all I know
Just want to get out there that the only reason the MPI swap is expensive is because people want and are willing to pay out the ass for original MPI manifolds. If you know someone who can fab up an mpi manifold and fuel rail onto a stock intake manifold (with flange, 2" of runner, and water box with everything else cut off) and then figure out the fuel management yourself (DIY megasquirt even) you could probably do it for way under a grand. Then again, there have been a good handful of 300whp TBI dyno slips over the years..
If there's a way to tune the stock computer to run each injector with the same PW, you could just batch fire all 4 multiport injectors off the 2 stock injector drivers.
I owned and ice raced one for a bit. They are great cars for the era. Owned a xr4ti at the same time. The merkur felt slightly lighter somehow. Still the conquest had a lot going for it in the driving feel department. The engine was tired but ran fine. I assume you are thinking long term ownership so just go into the project assuming that you are swapping as much as you can to more easy to find parts. For instance you can spend $xxxx in custom dampers each time or spend $xxxx on custom uprights that allow you to fit Mitsubishi Evo struts. If you enjoy the creation side of car stuff this sounds like a great project. Trying to just get a fun ride, this will kill your joy.
The other funky issue was the auto seat belts not working. There are some solutions to convert to fixed belts but don't remember them now.
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