Should I buy this Syclone???

[its turbo time]

Hey I just saw that my neighbor has a syclone for sale, not sure what year it is but it looks pretty nice. The engine is out of the truck and in a couple pieces but other than that it looks like it's in really good shape. He wants $5000.00 for it, is that a fair price? I heard that they run into alot of reliability issues and just wanted to get a run down on what is good/bad about these trucks.

 

[Boston GN]

From what i know: Rods are weak, not much of a top end, and are a PITA to work on. Other than that, cool trucks

 

[Tom87GN]

I had a Typhoon for a while a few years back.

The motor has weak spots, as indicated by Boston Boy, but they can be made to be very quick and fast, along with reliability to boot.

The comment about them being a beyotch to work on is correct also. I had to remove both front wheels and go in through the wheel wells to change the spark plugs. I'd say that's a PITA....

A Sy for $5K if all the parts are there from the motor and trans, then it's a decent deal, depending on the shape of the body and undercarriage.

The key is to know whether all the pieces are there, because some of that stuff on the motor is hard to get these days. I'm sure a few others who are members of this board and own Sy's/Ty's will chime in soon.

 

[SYTECH]

Syclone

I to had the pleasure of owning a Syclone and a Typhoon before i bought a GNX

I bought my Syclone for 5,000 with 72K miles on it

Truck was complete & running, but had sat little used for the past 4 years

If the motor is a stock 4.3 they can be made into be pretty consistent low 13 second trucks with very minor tweaking

Truck bed carrying payload is 500 lbs (weak point)

Syclones are not to be used for towing (weak point)

All wheel drive launches at 14 psi is a blast (good point)

Consistent 1.7 sec 60 foot times on street tires (not even DR's) (good point)

0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds (good point)

0 to 60 in the rain in 4.8 seconds (good point)

Tranny is a 700R4 (weak point) and has a syclone / typhoon exclusive valve body (expensive / hard to find) that unknowing tranny builders like to swap out without your knowledge / permission)

Stock prop shafts (for front differential) are ok for stock, but if you start modding the hell out of the truck (weak point)

You need (2) driveshaft safety loops for the track (driveshaft / propshaft)

The stock turbo (mitsubishi - 4 bolt - TD06-16 is very small and peters out on the top end (but is fun from 0 to 100 mph

Aftermarket mods to the 4.3 are not as noticeable as with the GN's

My Syclone stock ran a 13.9 in the 1/4 mile at 101 mph

I put on a TD06-20G turbo, 50 lb injectors, chip, colder plugs and next time out it ran a 14.5 at 97 mph (bigger turbo, more fuel, but I did not change the stall convertor and it spooled like crap)

Chips are not as cheap as with the buicks

Most Sy/Ty's use whats called an Ultimate Chip ($450.00) (bad point)

Body cladding is very hard to find (big bucks) if you are missing pieces or have broken pieces

The truck was fun, not a whole lot of room, soft tonneau cover prevented me from keeping anything valuable in the back, I played with it for about 6 months, cleaned it up real nice, and sold it for $11.5

Syclones are getting harder & harder to find

The Sy/Ty folks have great forums, and like people that own GN's, they tend to be fanatics about their vehicles

Im not sure i would spend 5K on a basket (engine) vehicle. Personal choice though

Good luck

Ray Fletcher

 

[its turbo time]

I haven't had a chance to look at it very close but the body looks like it is in great shape. I do not think the seller would try and screw me either because he lives just up my street and has even helped me with my previous cars. He said he would throw in another turbo as well and everything I would need to get it going again. I'm going to go up to his house again tomorrow and ask more specific questions and actually take a look at the motor. It just really seems like a half way decent investment as far as cars go because the blue book on them is just over twice what I will be paying. I'll let you guys know how it goes tomorrow.

 

[Purple87SS]

If you got the money, do what Larry the cable guy would do and "GIT'R DONE!"

 

[Raist103]

be careful if you are not building the motor yourself i would stay away. most people can not rebuild the 4.3 even a big gn builder on the se coast built mine and it did not last 1500 miles. and i was told he is top5 gn builder, just most people dont know what they are doing with them. and when ?ed him about it he just said i dont warrenty race motors. i found a local syty builder who helped me out and went through the entire engine with me and i got to see all the mistakes that were done. so like i said if you are not going to do it i would wait to find one running.

my ty went 13.1 @ 102/3 with a chip, afpr, and icpump everything else was stock. so they do run well but that was after 2 years of tunning and learning for myself.

www.syty.net has many great people on it that can help out do some searching on there before you buy anything.

pm me if you have any ?s

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

To be completely honest.....

NO!

BW

 

[sy733]

To be completely honest.....

NO!

BW

 

[jwaller]

if you dont want it I'll take it. pls email me if your not interested. 5k is a dael for a good truck. get the motor back together and it's worth more than double what he's asking.


once you get to working on them they aren't any harder than anything else you just have to find the tricks.