Found a 1992 GMC Typhoon on Facebook and couldn't resist. I've wanted one of these since High School for no good reason. Most of the ones I've seen are in perfect shape and going for stupid money. This one has some flaws and at one point had a repaired title since it was stolen back in 1995. For me, that's perfect since I won't feel bad driving or modifying it. Here are some pictures from when it arrived in my driveway.
One of the first things i noticed is that the interior is not correct. 1992 seats should be narrower and have Typhoon on the headrests. Looks like after it was stolen it got 1993 typhoon interior.
Rust wise its not bad for a New England truck. Above the rear glass has some rust bubbles that will need to be addressed but the rest of it looks decent. Another nice surprise is that the truck came with a 3" stainless catback exhaust.
One reason the truck was cheap is that some of the body pieces are damaged or missing. The previous owner said was following a semi that had a tire blow out and pieces of the tires hit the truck. I think the front bumper might be fixable but I'll need to find the fender and rocker cladding.
Other reason it was cheap was the truck has a hesitation when trying to accelerate and is down on power. It also cranks a long time and sputters to a start. Prior owner threw some new ignition parts at it but during the test drive it felt like it wasn't getting enough fuel. First thing I did after unloading it from the trailer was check fuel pressure. I cycled the key a few times to try and build pressure but the highest it would go is 20 psi. When cranking it would drop to 15 psi and if i let it sit for a minute or two it would bleed down to zero. Running it went up to 30psi with and without the vacuum line connected to the regulator. Spec should be closer to 42 psi.
To test the regulator I wanted to pinch off the return line to see if pressure spiked but couldn't reach the line going to the fuel rail. When walking around to the back of the truck I got a whiff of fuel. Hmm, thought maybe its just a leaking line so I crawled around under it but didn't see anything dripping. Ok, guess I'll have to drop the tank to see if its any of the lines on top. I pulled off the plastic shield around the tank and was greeted with a crusty tank. Shield must have been holding a bunch of water and other junk against the tank for a while.
Looking closer I found it was leaking under one of the straps.
Decided to stop at this point and just order a new tank, sending unit, and straps. Still need to figure out which pump I want to go with.
Hells yeah. Boosty 4.3, much like. Bonus points for it being red. Plans?
Yes, yes, 1000X yes.
Fuel filter probably has chunks of junk.
You are living the dream of all the rest of us who wanted one back in the day and couldn't afford one. Carry on, Sir!
Other GM problem was - people who habitually ran around on 1/8 tank didn't realize the fuel pump needs to be surrounded in fuel to cool it, so the pumps went bad.
When it runs well, grab a cheap HF polisher and a whole bunch of squirt wax and go nuts. The paint may come back.
I think these are future, in not present, collectibles and you should take your time and fix it up right. They made so few of them and they are so cool, definitely worth saving. Congrats and Good luck!
759NRNG
SuperDork
8/21/18 8:23 p.m.
Whereas I would dearly love to take this away and use the innards for a MGB/GT repower much to everyone's chagrin 'cept MINE.....keep it real....the lack of underbody rust is amazing....carry on!!!
Friend of mine in into cyclones. They are quicker then they have a right to be. These are Grand National's part 2, they are only going to go up in value. Good luck with the build, nice to see someone saving one.
Great purchase. Always wanted a truck version but this is badass!
Thanks guys. So far the plan is to get the truck running correctly and take care of any rust then go from there.
The love for Tys are heavy! This is our shop truck. 
In reply to Professor_Brap :
Sweet, any mods done to it?
PseudoSport said:
In reply to Professor_Brap :
Sweet, any mods done to it?
Upgraded Fuel Pump
Intercooler Line Rerouted
Upgraded Prop Shaft
Rear Sway Bar
Turbo Back Exhaust
Gauges (Boost, Trans Temp, Fuel Pressure)
HKS Electronic Boost Controller
I-PKTROM2 Pocket ROMulator
Intake
This was peeking out while at a stop light today.
How rare is a green one...should I inquire?
akylekoz said:
How rare is a green one...should I inquire?
Depends on the year, ‘92 they only made 82 of them and in ‘93 they made 210.
Wow, so right after black in production numbers.
Speaking of productions numbers how many V8 pathfinders were made. I know of one and I have it.
In reply to akylekoz :
Well the rarest colors, there were only a couple made of, but the next rarest from green are the Blue ones.
In reply to akylekoz :
Might as well ask. Even if its rusty you can part it out for decent money.
I might drive to Michigan to *buy* it if it's green and priced right.
i just passed a white one here on a trailer in WV. I tried to link pic, but I can't get pics to work. It looked kinda rough, but a Typhoon is on my to own list! Glad to see it be saved!
Ok, fine I'll ask about it next time I go that way.
The hardest thing to find for this truck is the body cladding. I found one vendor that makes reproduction pieces in fiberglass but they are expensive. Fiberglass fender piece is $395, the outer rocker is $245, and inner rocker is $170. Sportmachines.net wants $650 plus shipping for a used OE outer rocker. Going to hold off on fixing the cladding until i get everything else sorted out unless I find a deal.
Dropped the tank and noticed the lines going to the sender are a little crusty. I cut them on the sending unit side so I could get better access to unthreading the lines if needed. Odd how the rest of the truck is decent rust wise but the tank and lines are in poor shape.
I was able to remove the rear lines without too much trouble. While I was under there I pulled the pump and lines for the OE air shocks that were long gone. Going to box up the pump and save it in case I ever sell the truck want everything completely stock.
Tried searching around for replacement line kits but all that's available is either the front lines to the engine or the rear lines for a 4 door Jimmy/Blazer. Might be able to cut down and reflare the 4 door lines but the bends looked different than my lines too. I decided to take a trip to my local dealer and see if they could look up the part numbers for the OE lines. When I tried to checked online I kept coming up with a dozen different part numbers. The dealer told me I need feed 15654188 and return 1564189 but they were both discontinued and no dealers had them in stock. I figured as much but I lucked out and found someone selling a NOS feed line on ebay. So far I can't find the return so I might just clean up the original and run it.
Now before bolting everything back in I'm going clean up any rust on the rear frame and floor then paint it with Rust bullet. It's not bad under there but while I have access to everything I might as well clean it up.
Honestly its cheaper to buy OEM body cladding than the fiberglass repops.
I wonder if Giant Purple Snorklewacker remembers the one that sat off Norther Blvd on Prestige Motors lot for years. Looked rode hard, put away wet and barely ran but I think he wouldn't come down from almost $10g... and that was maybe 10 years or more ago.
Pretty cool find, looking forward to the build progress!
