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New n00b in the DSM world

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gunnermaiden

Proven Member
72
1
Jul 27, 2016
Phoenix Area, Arizona
So I randomly decided to pick up my old gearhead habits after a 3 year hiatus now that I'm settled in after a cross country move to PHX (and thank goodness I've grown out of my "rice" phase now!). I went out and bought the first car under $1000 that runs and drives (and passes emissions) but I wanted something a lot different from my last project (formerly a CB7 Tuner). Well I think I really hit the nail on the head with a DSM being different from my CB7 and I also have no clue with what I'm doing on this car LOL. I live at a complex with no garage access that is very against car repairs on the property so that's what's going to make it even more fun, which is also why the car really HAD to run and pass smog when I bought it.

The Cons:
So, the interior is scary as all Hell. Piles of wires and modules everywhere yet everything still works. Random floating wires that go who knows where all throughout the engine bay too. Improperly installed aftermarket headlights that is going to take a PHd in engineering to get and re install them properly. Doors don't open from the outside and the key tumblers are busted. No door panels, only pieces of carpet left (looks like they were cut out for no apparent reason). I'm pretty sure the driver's door is about to fall off the next time it gets closed a little too hard. Poor tint job, looks super ratchet. The front seats are broken. No A/C, not sure what's wrong yet, which is a big deal in AZ. IT SMELLS AWFUL and it sticks in my ridiculously long hair all day. What's remaining of the carpets and seats is questionably stain ridden, quite gross. The carbon fiber hood that's currently on it is in rough shape, lots of filled in cracks. Looks like the former owner had a fly-off incident with it. The paint job is bad, real bad, been painted over the original paint improperly twice. Window seals are all busted, so the interior leaks which probably contributes to the smell. Missing exhaust hanger, rattles like a mofo, mostly annoying I guess. It looks great in pictures on the outside, but do not let the picture fool you! It's completely different in person. (The picture provided was the day I brought it home right after purchase)

The Pros:
Engine is strong with no leaks! Passes emissions/smog! Transmission is smooth and strong! All the most major, expensive components are in good, strong shape. It starts and drives every time and has no issues during driving. No rust! I actually managed to find a project car that runs well for under $1k and I'm quite pleased with that since really that was the only thing I actually cared about the most.


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So why am I here?

I'm here to learn anything I can. I want to restore this car to it's real beauty and make it comfortable to drive. This is an extremely fun car as I've already learned on the drive home with it, and I don't want to give up on this project out of frustration and lack of knowledge like I did with my last project. I am a total n00b when it comes to DSM's, and unfortunately, body work and wiring too. I plan on doing a complete body and interior restoration and I'm looking to harvest all the information I can find. I'm also looking for local garages around the valley in case I run into a problem with my property and finishing this project. I plan on doing a lot on my own for the sake of the learning and doing process but it's always good to be prepared, I think. And who knows, maybe others in a similar living situation can learn some workarounds through me
 
Nice , I did the same , paid 2g for a runner , finally started finding mechanical issues here and there , just post up pics and what your looking for the dsm ers on this site are crazy knowledgeable on these . They are already helping me out for sure
 
Welcome to the forum's !! If you have any questions the answers are definitely here!!
Nice , I did the same , paid 2g for a runner , finally started finding mechanical issues here and there , just post up pics and what your looking for the dsm ers on this site are crazy knowledgeable on these . They are already helping me out for sure
Welcome, you will definitely learn a lot owning a dsm period! I became a very good mechanic due to my first dsm. Patience will be key in owning a dsm. Good buy on the Gst looks good.

Hey thanks guys! I will be posting pics of the interior soon, I'm currently hunting down parts and not really getting anywhere. eBay hasn't been much help and I can't seem to find the right parts car on my local Craigslist. I scanned around on here too but it looks like a lot of the posts are pretty outdated. I liked rockauto.com when I was building up my CB7 but it seems limited on the Eclipse. I can ship to a commercial address, wondering if anyone has a good website to get larger parts from? Right now I'm looking for an entire dashboard assembly, AZ heat and former owner negligence split mine in half o_x. Also wondering where I can find OEM leather seats, I dug for hours online, had a few leads but got stopped in my tracks
 
Same boat here picked up my first dsm having hard time using dsmlink
 
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Look in the classified section of the forum's. Look under the parting out. I'm a "probationary member" as well so we can't comment on the thread, but you can PM them.
 
I'm currently hunting down parts and not really getting anywhere. Right now I'm looking for an entire dashboard assembly, . Also wondering where I can find OEM leather seats,
Depends on the color, oem black leather is pretty hard to come by, grey and tan will yield better results... Try http://millerimportparts.com/ he goes by stangmurdera on here, https://www.facebook.com/millerimportparts/
Great looking GST will be fun for ya!

Look in the classified section of the forum's. Look under the parting out. I'm a "probationary member" as well so we can't comment on the thread, but you can PM them.
Replying to classified ads on this site isn't available to anyone to reduce clutter, PM is the only option if you are inquiring about an item.
 
So here's some pics of the interior (wasn't kidding when I said it was rough):

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The driver's side seat is busted, it flops. I'm replacing the entire interior with black leather seats and black carpets/door panels, etc. Also replacing the steering wheel as I really don't like it that much, and the turning radius is surprisingly not that great with it.

Unfortunate news as well. Worked on getting the A/C working today, started with a recharge since I had no clue where it stands. Upon digging around, there was no power to the A/C. Dug deeper and found loads more issues with the wiring, much worse than I thought -- I don't know what wires are hooked to what and there seems to be a lot of missing ones as well. Lots of things unhooked with no homes, either. Drove it out anyway and that's when I realized how bad the wire job really is. Sometimes, it bangs through all the gears fine. Other times, like today, it won't shift into third (it's an auto). Unfortunately I discovered that whilst on the freeway which was far from fun. I got it home fine and now I'm digging into research.

Advice for the people stuck in not project-friendly living situations:

The problem is I cannot get into major repairs like this with my living situation, but here's what I've come up with for the solution: I'm working with a local restoration garage where we cut a deal together. If I get the parts myself and help out with the repairs, they cut me a deal on labor costs which is beyond awesome. The problem: the garage is 30 miles north, so more freeway time it is with no access to a trailer. So super-slow freeway driving it is!

Also, for my own resource digging I called three random transmission repair places to "get a quote" and gave them minor details to which they all agreed that it's electrical and all refused to touch it, which is fine, really.

Also wondering at this point... entire transmission and engine rebuild cheaper then trying to keep it going? It's at 177xxx original...
 
Oh I should also add I want to add a turbo, though not sure exactly what kind of turbo yet.

Depends on your power goals, I've read the 16g turbo (be it the small, evo 3, or big version) is one of the best for street driving and around 250-350 wheel horsepower depending mostly on your supporting mods and tuning. Before you go for a different turbo determine what you want to do then write it on paper (or keyboard) and price it all out, it will help in the long run. If I were you I would start small, do A TON of research and go from there. Look up some fp turbos and maybe some holset versions. Read and learn as much as you can.
 
New noob... Isn't that like ATM machine, or PIN number?

No A/C in Phoenix? That'd be my first priority.

After that, I'd make a list of the stuff wrong affecting driveability, and address the stuff easiest to hardest. That will allow you to use your time at the garage more efficiently.
 
Depends on your power goals, I've read the 16g turbo (be it the small, evo 3, or big version) is one of the best for street driving and around 250-350 wheel horsepower depending mostly on your supporting mods and tuning. Before you go for a different turbo determine what you want to do then write it on paper (or keyboard) and price it all out, it will help in the long run. If I were you I would start small, do A TON of research and go from there. Look up some fp turbos and maybe some holset versions. Read and learn as much as you can.

I did a couple hours of creeping on this site earlier today on the topic. I'm going to do a key dance to see everything that's wrong with it and go with a decision from there. Lots of good stuff on here and definitely going to on here a lot just stalking the threads. Definitely appreciate all the replies I get, too!
 
New noob... Isn't that like ATM machine, or PIN number?

No A/C in Phoenix? That'd be my first priority.

After that, I'd make a list of the stuff wrong affecting driveability, and address the stuff easiest to hardest. That will allow you to use your time at the garage more efficiently.

LULZ at your first comment ;)

I haven't driven the car since the day I tried to fix the A/C because it majorly sucks sweating balls in the PHX heat inside a hot car, especially at stop lights. I'll be doing a key dance to get an idea of where I need to start. After some more stalking on this website I firmly believe my transmission is due to a bad solenoid. I'm not entirely sure where to start with my A/C yet, with no power to it the wires could be messed up just about anywhere, and that means I could probably be wrong with the solenoid theory on my transmission.

If it's one thing I've already learned on this site, (and from an ex-best friend that owned a GSX) DSM's are really picky about their wires. :idontknow:
 
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