Autocross Build: Classy Street/AutoX 97 GSX

[whiskeyturbo]

Hello everyone,
Recently picked up a 97 GSX in pretty rough shape and plan on rebuilding it to a clean DD/AutoX machine. As an example here is a pic of the brakes I took off today ``

(Yes, the rotor on the left is split in half and the pad is worn past the metal)


Although it is pretty rough it did come with a nice list of goodies including: big 16g, SAFCII, LC-1 Wideband, a bunch of greddy goodies, and adjustable shocks all around to name a few.

So anyway to catch up on the things I've done up to this point, I started by stripping the interior and getting rid of everything I deemed unnecessary and all associated paraphernalia. This included A/C, Heat, Airbags, rear wiper, windshield sprayer stuff, electric antenna, and all the controls/wiring/vents etc. I ended up with a nice big pile of trash and I'm sure I lost over 100 pounds of weight as well



Interior assembly is coming together slowly as I don't have everything I want for it just yet. Got some new black carpet, a 3 gauge pillar pod, and a few necessary gauges. Eventually ill get a touch screen radio, fiberglass some gauges and switches where the a/c controls used to be, make a fiberglass cover for the passenger airbag spot, etc but that's on hold for more essential things like idling and not stalling at every stoplight!!

So today I checked out the IAC and TPS which both seem to be bad.. IAC reads 42.5 ohms on all 4 spots where it should read around 30 ohms, and the TPS is good when throttle is static but when I move the throttle the TPS doesn't read anything.. Those are the only two things i've checked related to the idle/stall problem but we shall see if they fix the problem. Almost forgot I got rid of cruise control and am in the process of canning the a/c lines in the engine bay as well. This pic is pretty close to how it was when I got it. again

[hereitcomes]

Great start! At least you get to bring the car back to great DD/fun status. I shall subscribe to this! Keep the pictures coming, as every little thing is great.

[mattasi]

So in autocross what class are you planning to run? I am interested because I am looking for a 97-99 GSX to make into an ESP autocross car. Good start so far!

[whiskeyturbo]

I would love to start in ESP but for better or worse in building it for street modified since its already modified to that level (big 16g, dsmlink, etc.) I'll probably be running slow compared to most of the other guys in SM but oh well only one on the track at a time right?

[GSXTasy005]

Those brakes look terrible. Who let them get that bad?

But in all seriousness, your car appears to have a similar setup to mine when I bought it. I see there's a 1G intake manifold on it. This can mean 1 of 2 things, it has a 6-bolt swap, or it has a 1G head swap (which is what my setup was). I too was having idle/stall issues with mine. Turned out to be caused by the MDP sensor not having a good vacuum seal. On the 2G intake manifolds there's actually a spot to mount the MDP directly to the intake. When you swap you will have to find a way to make the little nipple on the sensor read the vacuum/boost levels inside the intake manifold. It's difficult to see in that small pic, but you should add that to your list of things to check.

There's a guy on Youtube who does an excellent job of repairing (mostly his own) DSM's and there's alot of useful information in there.

Check out his TPS test/adjustment here

and his ISC test/replacement here

[whiskeyturbo]

Originally Posted by GSXTasy005

Those brakes look terrible. Who let them get that bad? Previous owner!

But in all seriousness, your car appears to have a similar setup to mine when I bought it. I see there's a 1G intake manifold on it. This can mean 1 of 2 things, it has a 6-bolt swap, or it has a 1G head swap (which is what my setup was). I too was having idle/stall issues with mine. Turned out to be caused by the MDP sensor not having a good vacuum seal. On the 2G intake manifolds there's actually a spot to mount the MDP directly to the intake. When you swap you will have to find a way to make the little nipple on the sensor read the vacuum/boost levels inside the intake manifold. It's difficult to see in that small pic, but you should add that to your list of things to check.

There's a guy on Youtube who does an excellent job of repairing (mostly his own) DSM's and there's alot of useful information in there.

Check out his TPS test/adjustment here

and his ISC test/replacement here

Thanks for the info! I checked the ISC correctly it is bad. As far as the MDP it's just hanging out next to the fuel rail. It's connected and has some sealant where the hose meets it. I just paid for an ISC and TPS from a member here on tuners

Realized another problem today on my way to Lowes to make a boost leak tester, when I push in the clutch at idle, i hear a very fast ticking noise.. After a little searching on the forums i found it might be the throw out bearing. I do have an act 2100 in there right now and possibly an act TOB which I hear is garbage. It grinds into 2nd and 3rd right now so I was planning on sending the tranny to shep anyway so when I do hopefully a new throw out bearing fixes this noise. If anyone has any ideas for other things I can check I'd appreciate all suggestions as I'm trying to go over this car with a fine tooth comb.

-WT

[mattasi]

I have had a TOB go out on me, but it only makes noise when you don't have your foot on the clutch pedal, and then the noise will go away when you push down the clutch.

And I am running the Shep trans it's a good one

[whiskeyturbo]

Well as it turns out my car does in fact have crank walk.. When I press in the clutch i've been hearing a fast tapping noise, and as it turns out its not my TOB as I was hoping.. I had a friend press in the clutch and I saw the crank pulley moving and I think its hitting on the crank sensor making that noise. So, it's officially time to pull the motor..

[jtmcinder]

Ever considered trying to create a 4B11-powered SM 2G? I'm sure there's a few totalled Evo Xs by now. Of course, flipping the engine around may be difficult....

[whiskeyturbo]

Originally Posted by jtmcinder

Ever considered trying to create a 4B11-powered SM 2G? I'm sure there's a few totalled Evo Xs by now. Of course, flipping the engine around may be difficult....

Interesting idea but no, i'm not planning on doing that kind of surgery on this car. I am leaning more towards getting a 7 bolt with split thrust washer design. I haven't taken this one apart to see what it has but it was built in January of 97 so I don't think it has the revision. I've got Ross pistons and Eagle rods in it now, I also have a spare crank and acl bearings so hopefully I can pick up a new block and rings, etc. and swap a revised block in there and not have too much down time.

[whiskeyturbo]

Alright so progress has been a little slow since I can't seem to find a 98-99 block at any junkyards or online for a decent price so it loos like i'm going to rebuild what I have and hope it runs and doesn't walk. hardy har anyway upon teardown I found out why my car was dying every time I pushed in the clutch.. two couplings that were completely torn all the way around


and


So I decided to sell the Greddy fmic kit and go ahead and get a PR kit. I know it may seem strange to some but I really don't like how the greddy kit is routed. I'll have that and some other items listed in the marketplace by the end of the day. Whenever I get time to go rent a cherry picker ill have the engine out, most likely this weekend. Here is how it sits right now.



Not much of an update but I have been putting in some work on it.. Next one should be after the block is prepped and I get some suspension parts.

[Coldsou]

Yikes! Those couplers have definitely seen better days...

[Dstratt01]

Subscribing to this. I look forward to seeing what all you plan on doing for suspension and horsepower gains. i also want to turn my tsi awd into an autox car but that wont be for a while.