I purchased the car in January 2014.
January 2014:

April 2015:

Everything on it was stock aside from:

• Greddy RS bov
• Greddy intercooler piping
• APEXi gt downpipe and exhaust system
• Intake w/ K&N filter
• Tokico Illuminia shocks
• Eibach pro-kit springs
• Large, ghetto stereo system
• GSC zero tick lifters (I added these, put took it to a shop because I was naive and held zero mechanic experience.)

That stock-ish life though

I will try to update frequently as I am always working on improving and maintaining the car.
Just as a disclaimer, the order in which I post some of these updates may or may not be in order. I have done many things at the same time or just over certain periods of time.

ENGINE WORK:
One fine evening, I decided to take my exhaust manifolds heat shield off. When I did, I found some green dust upon it.

Scared, I quickly brought up my laptop and searched everywhere for what it could be. Finally realizing it was probably coolant, and because everyone on the internet diagnoses almost every problem with a bad head gasket, I panicked. Still being an amateur in mechanics and being a poor high school student on Christmas break, I had to act fast. I chose to do the job myself. Because I was going to be in there, I figured I’d replace the timing belt and all those components at the same time.

There was a massive oil leak that disappeared after I changed all the gaskets.

I was very happy with the condition the pistons and head was.
I ended up choosing a Gates timing belt, GMB water pump, and oem head gasket and timing components.
I was told it was going to only take a week, well a week turned into 2 months. The car sat for so long I figured I might as well put in the Evo 3 16g that the previous owner gave to me. (That’s covered in a different section).

Here is how it sat after this arduous job.

COOLING SYSTEM:
The cooling system is sorta funny. Before I did any real modifications, I blew so many minor hoses mainly near the oil filter housing (This may or may not be related to racing).


However, one day I started overheating like crazy and after a diagnosis, I discovered that my radiator fan wasn't turning on except for a few seconds when the A/C was activated.Since I didn't want to try and mess with the ecu to get it to turn on automatically, I chose another route. I purchased basic electrical wire and a toggle switch from Advance Auto. I wired the radiator fan straight to the switch and then to the battery like so:

The connector on the fan has 4 slots for wires. I only had to use 2, since they control low speed and high speed (mines on high all the time). To figure out which wire to connect to, I just wired the fan to the battery without the switch to see which combination worked best.

There is a small LED I drilled a hole for in the dash so I know when the fan is on or off (You can see it to the right of the switch, it glows a yellow/orange glow similar to the dash lights. It's not too flashy and it works rather well).


There is a small hole that I found near the bottom of the battery tray and charcoal canister that leads directly into the foot space of the passenger side. I just wired everything through there.

Everything worked flawlessly, however, due to the car being 18 years old and some severe overheating near the radiator, the lip on the top of the radiator for the hose corroded completely off.

I made the mistake of trying to drive with barely any space for the hose to clamp to.

I saw this as a calling to purchase the Mishimoto radiator and hoses I always wanted.

The stock fan had a bit of clearance issue with my J-pipe for the Punishment Racing FMIC kit, so I just zip tied it slightly to the side. Everything else was plug and play, no issues with my Mishimoto radiator or hoses.
The aluminum radiator really cleans up the engine bay and everything looks a lot better in my opinion

What's that empty switch for anyway? I've never known.

RallyEclipse98 said:

What's that empty switch for anyway? I've never known.

Click to expand...

Not entirely sure. I read somewhere on DSMtalk that our cars were going to be supercharged and there was going to be a button to activate the supercharger, but they trashed the idea and turbo'd it instead. Not sure how true that is.

FUEL SYSTEM:
The only fuel modifications that I've done would be Evo IX 560cc injectors along with a Fuelab adjustable fuel pressure regulator and a Walbro 255lph fuel pump to support it.
The Fuelab adjustable fuel pressure regulator came with a metal mounting bracket, but there was no convenient place for it. I ended up using zip ties to the brackets holes and attached them to the A/C lines. I've had no issues, but eventually I'd like to mount it securely.

The white nylon hose that was T'd into the vacuum line goes to my boost gauge.


There's a hose that connects with a swivel fitting that fits onto the fuel pump housing. Well the swivel part was f***ed up so I wasn't able to reuse it. I went to the dealership and after half an hour of trying to get the guy to understand what I need, I learn that the hose is discontinued. So I went to Home Depot and I picked up a barb fitting. I cut the hose in half and attach each side to their respected connections. After using super human strength, I was able to slip the split hose onto each end. No leaks so far so I'd say this modification.

JackStieben said:

Not entirely sure. I read somewhere on DSMtalk that our cars were going to be supercharged and there was going to be a button to activate the supercharger, but they trashed the idea and turbo'd it instead. Not sure how true that is.

Click to expand...

Found it: http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-7188.html

Looks like it was most likely put there in case future models would need another space i.e. they bring in a new technology in the later years that needs a spot for its switch.

Cool build man. I'll be following

Currently installing steering rack boots, inner cv joint boots, wheel bearings and hubs for front, and a new sunroof with no rust and a good weatherstrip. Car will be tip top again soon. I'll upload pictures once I finish everything.

Wow gorgeous car man! I love the white it looks great!!!! Wish you were closer would love to see it

JackStieben updated 1997 GST


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JackStieben updated 1997 GST


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JackStieben updated 1997 GST


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Would like to see more updates. We have alot of DSM guys in central texas trying to revive our scene. Especially in Austin.

JackStieben updated 1997 GST


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Just some notes to help you out:

Your coolant fan issue is probably a dead sensor in the water neck by the thermostat. You should ditch the manual fan switch setup and let the ECU automatically cycle the fan. It's more of an idle fan anyways, as if you're overheating moving, you have water pump/radiator/some other issue aside from the fan.

If you plan on doing road course work with the car, you should put the heat shielding back on the exhaust manifold, or get a blanket. (Assuming you kept it off) Consider an external oil cooler. The small water/oil cooler has issues with heavy pedal work. It's not an issue on the drag strip or street.

I'd put something more on your valve cover than a breather filter, as they have a tendency to spray oil everywhere.

I hope you have some sort of fuel tuning system (eg DSMLink) with those injectors...

Finally, get more seat time with less power. The more power you have, the harder the car is going to be to drive well, which is very contrary to the DSM Lifestyle.

Good luck!

JackStieben updated 1997 GST


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JackStieben said:

Not entirely sure. I read somewhere on DSMtalk that our cars were going to be supercharged and there was going to be a button to activate the supercharger, but they trashed the idea and turbo'd it instead. Not sure how true that is.

Click to expand...

I read somewhere that it was for the switch to raise and lower the top on the spyders.

JackStieben updated 1997 GST


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Ordered an RM rear sway bar and some Prothane front and rear control arm bushings. I also freshened up my steering with new fluid. The car handles very well now and I'm excited to see how it'll turn with the new sway bar and bushings. Picked up a 2ga 7 bolt head which I will send off with the 92 block to get machined. I'll try to post photos if I can remember.

cait sith said:

Just some notes to help you out:

Your coolant fan issue is probably a dead sensor in the water neck by the thermostat. You should ditch the manual fan switch setup and let the ECU automatically cycle the fan. It's more of an idle fan anyways, as if you're overheating moving, you have water pump/radiator/some other issue aside from the fan.

If you plan on doing road course work with the car, you should put the heat shielding back on the exhaust manifold, or get a blanket. (Assuming you kept it off) Consider an external oil cooler. The small water/oil cooler has issues with heavy pedal work. It's not an issue on the drag strip or street.

I'd put something more on your valve cover than a breather filter, as they have a tendency to spray oil everywhere.

I hope you have some sort of fuel tuning system (eg DSMLink) with those injectors...

Finally, get more seat time with less power. The more power you have, the harder the car is going to be to drive well, which is very contrary to the DSM Lifestyle.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you! Yeah regarding the fan, I replaced every sensor by the thermostat. When I eventually swap engines I'd like to try to put it back to the way it was. The little breather filter is actually long gone, everything is hooked back up oem style. I'm tuned on a 98 ecu for the injectors, fuel pump, etc. I don't plan on adding more power as I'd like to milk the use of the 7 bolt as long as possible. I'm happy with power at the moment. I've considered an external oil cooler, I guess I can mount one down by the drivers side? Sort of opposite the stock SMIC? Hopefully during the summer when I can freshen up suspension a bit more I'm going to take it to some track days at either Harris Hill or COTA.

Haven't posted like this in a while. Recently became single and got a better paying job with nice hours. That only means one thing: Much more time and money for DSM!

Got the rear RM sway bar installed. Huge difference. Feels nice and tight on corners.


Ordered an aluminum coolant reservoir from Amazon. Working so far and looks nice, so I can't complain.


Mounted the boost controller to the radiator and started using thicker walled vacuum hose. Kept getting leaks from the mbc hoses.
(Excuse the zip-ties on the radiator. I installed the fans after I installed the radiator and didn't want to pull the radiator just yet to use the proper mounts)

Also replaced the PS pump, lines, and got a new alternator. Cleaned everything up a bit.


I went the pick n pull and grabbed a non-cruise throttle cable, great condition black carpet, and a ralliart driver side floor mat. All for $40 I'll post some in my next update of the mat and carpet when I install the carpet. Should be in the next week or so. I'm extremely happy with how the engine bay looks. Installing the FP manifold I have when I do the carpet.