Anyone know much about starions/conquests?

[RandomGuy]

Anyone know where I can get a test pipe for my 83 starion. (off road pipe)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...sPageName=WDVW

anyone know if that'll do?

thanks in advance.

[SilverJester]

there's not a hole lot of aftermarket for those cars. And the only stuff they make for them is usally really expensive due to such low demand. it's probably best to make one. A friend of mine has a conquest and he just opted to make his own exhuast.

[Kalifornia087]

random guy... can't really help you much with that, but i wanted to ask you if starions/conquests were pretty reliable... i know they are pretty sweet cars and i love the styling, but do they run long or are the motors shitty?? i have a line on two of them i might be buying (86 + 87 parts car) for Cheap... thanks, -Austin

[Scooby Pilot]

I have an 89, I bought in Feb. its my project car and was in really good shape as far as the body goes. The only unreliable part of the car is the injection system. It utilizes a throttle body injection with a primary and secondary injector. This system runs ok if you do not modify it too much, I think around 280hp is pushing it for example. There are plenty of cheap and not so cheap injection alternatives.

Parts arent allt hat expensive really, not compared to other cars i Have modded, there are actually quitea few vendors out there.

www.starquestclub.com can help

Shawn Pasley

[paulblackgsx]

If you've got questions about Starquests, definitely check out Starquestclub.

Worse comes to worse, you can have someone make you a test pipe (most places won't do it on the car, but if you take them a cat they can match flanges/size too you shouldn't have a problem). There are a few companies that still specialize in Starquest parts that can help you out.

[HiPSI]

random guy... can't really help you much with that, but i wanted to ask you if starions/conquests were pretty reliable... i know they are pretty sweet cars and i love the styling, but do they run long or are the motors shitty?? i have a line on two of them i might be buying (86 + 87 parts car) for Cheap... thanks, -Austin

motor itself is pretty solid, although the head doesn't flow all that well and they like to crack if you run it a little too hot. injection setup sucks ass, fuel distribution in the manifold sucks and it's hard to really upgrade without going to a full MPI setup with standalone. the karmann-vortex MAFs in those cars tend to break, and surely do not get along with BOV's vented to atmosphere. the valves float very easily on a stock motor, so you can't really rev the thing high unless you replace the valvesprings and even then the 8 valve head just doesn't flow all that well with the big 2.6 motor. basically don't expect to go fast or make big numbers without a grip of cash to spend on it.


it's a cool car to play with, but unless you got one that was kept nearly immaculate it will be a bit of a headache or a total nightmare to try and daily drive. if you keep it stock and keep tabs on everything on a regular basis you'd be ok, but if you want a car you can leave alone most of the time and just tinker when you WANT to, better get a honda .

[Scooby Pilot]

Yep very true. As with most of the performance oriented or "specialty" cars of the late 80's early 90's they take a decent amount of maintenance.... but so does any car you drive hard. Dont expect to turn up the boost and make a ton of HP, it does take work and money.

Mine was advertised as mint... when I got it..wasnt as mint as I was led to believe...but the body was straight and was mechanically in good shape. I bought one with high milage since I was pulling the motor anyway.

you HAVE to do the routine maintenance...change the timing/ balance shaft chains around 100k, change the oil ect. But once again thats with any car. Having mechanical ability helps out a lot too.

I personally love the car and can't wait to get it back together, I am putting a heater core in mine right now lol.... what a cluster that is...just a real PIA actually.

There is plenty of performance to be had in the car you just have to work to get it

[Kalifornia087]

motor itself is pretty solid, although the head doesn't flow all that well and they like to crack if you run it a little too hot. injection setup sucks ass, fuel distribution in the manifold sucks and it's hard to really upgrade without going to a full MPI setup with standalone. the karmann-vortex MAFs in those cars tend to break, and surely do not get along with BOV's vented to atmosphere. the valves float very easily on a stock motor, so you can't really rev the thing high unless you replace the valvesprings and even then the 8 valve head just doesn't flow all that well with the big 2.6 motor. basically don't expect to go fast or make big numbers without a grip of cash to spend on it.


it's a cool car to play with, but unless you got one that was kept nearly immaculate it will be a bit of a headache or a total nightmare to try and daily drive. if you keep it stock and keep tabs on everything on a regular basis you'd be ok, but if you want a car you can leave alone most of the time and just tinker when you WANT to, better get a honda .

yeah i have done a lot of reading and research on all the aspects of them on Starquestclub.com, and i decided not to get them... i am going to look at a 240 soon LoL go figure

[Niggerian]

nah man Starions arent horribly unreliable at all... just a lot of guilt free mods... the engine is a big engine dude. 2.6 right. As stated above the head is really bad... it utilizes jet valves = mad unreliable for you.... just replace the head with one from a caravan = great upgrade (300 bux for a remanufactured one w/ warrantee) and get a freakin Pro2 TB fuel setup(800 bux)[comes with new ecu, injectors throttle body, etc]... and a bigger dsm turbo like a super 16g (~400 bux) and an open downpipe (~100 bux) ud pass the 300rwhp mark for CHEAP and reliable power too , given its well taken care of... as with all cars. starions are the shit man and they're unique.. dont go 240 thats the next mexi-car

pretty much the mods are guilt free cuz they are replacing shit that are bad or will go bad VERY SOON. The mods on starquests yeild mad HP gains

[Scooby Pilot]

Well no matter what you do to any car you have to be able to tune it and the biggest down fall of the Starion is the ECU. I am personally going with a Hurricane 2 injection system, but thats me. i am not trying to do it cheaply and throw it away per-say ( not that cheaper methods arent as good ) its just the way I want to do it. I wouldnt use the Caravan head, or rather I am not going to. the Marnal head is the best casting, you can get it bare for about $350. no biggie there. What sucks is trying to find an aggressive cam that will work with the factory hydraulic lifters. i am going to convert to mechanical, its not going to be my daily driver. other problems areas are the balance shaft adn timing chain tensioners... they arent a problem BUT mainaining them is the key. You have to change them every 70-100k miles or you are asking for trouble. I just caught mine in time.