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98 GSX Street/Drag/Show Car Build

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SPConlan

Probationary Member
13
3
May 25, 2012
Charleston, South_Carolina
Good Evening everyone!!

Background Info:

I've been in the DSM World in and out since 2012. I bought a Black '98 GSX in 2012 that i slightly modded with some bolt-ons and inevitably sold it in 2015. I sold it for personal reasons and never really thought that i would get back into another DSM.

Well that all changed about 3 months ago!

I purchased my GSX from a close friend which didn't have the time or desire to work on it anymore. At first I wanted to just completely strip the car down, gut it and make it full drag car setup. However, it still was very close to a stock GSX minus some bolt-ons and thought about just keeping it low HP and DD/Street car. In the end I decided to do a little of both. I decided to go for 450-500 hp (maybe 7-800hp in a couple years), full interior, no A/C, no P/S, full wire tuck/fuse box relocation, fully built engine build and a stock appearing exterior paint or vinyl wrap job. I used to own and operate a small powder coating company, Evolution Coatings. I once owned a '03 Evo 8 and decided to convert my entire house garage into a full blown Powder Coating and Ceramic Coating business. My Evo 8 then became a work of art and was a show car. Unfortunately, I do not operate or own any more powder/ceramic coating equipment. However, the itch to make my current GSX just as beautiful as my Evo is overwhelming. So I will be not only building my GSX from the ground up, but I will definitely be making it Show Car worthy. Most pick between Performance or Appearance when it comes to DSMs, but I'm doing both to the fullest.
 
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Unfortunately, I decided to start a build thread after a few of the initial steps of a build have already been completed. All the missing steps are common and in a sense useless to document for a build thread anyways. I don’t have any pictures of the following parts of my GSX Build:


- Removal of long block and transmission

- Disassembly of long block

- Removal of any misc. items in the engine bay



My build thread officially starts with the start of my engine bay shave, paint and tuck project. I’m also starting with all wiring harnesses in the engine bay, including a Fuse Box relocation.


I hope you all enjoy reading and following my build and please don’t hesitate to give any constructive criticism or advice that can help me save time, money and effort! I will do my best to answer any and all questions and be ready because I'm sure I'll have questions for everyone also.


ALSO!! All photos taken for my build can be found on my Flickr account. I didn't post every photo in this build thread. SO if you want to see more check my build albums!!

CLICK HERE for Build Albums
 
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Pre-Build Info and Parts List



Car's Basic Info:


1998 Red Eclipse GSX
156k Miles on Chassis
60k miles on '99 4G63 Longblock


GSX's Mod List (Prior to Teardown)

ENGINE:

1999 2.0L 4G63 Standard Bore 7 bolt
OEM 88mm crank
Stock Rods
Stock Pistons w/Rings
OEM BSE Kit
Full Fel-Pro Gasket Kit
Fel-Pro Head Gasket
ARP 2000 Head Studs
Stock Main Studs
Stock Rod Bolts
OEM Timing Belt/Pulleys Kit
OEM Water Pump
OEM Timing Belt Tensioner
OEM Front Case/Oil Pump
TopLine Main Bearings
TopLine Race Rod Bearings
Oil Filter Sandwich Plate
STM EGR Block Off


HEAD:

Stock 7 Bolt head
Stock Springs/Retainers
Stock Valves
Stock Cams
Stock Cam Gears


TURBO/EXHAUST:

MHI Big 16g
Forced Performance Cast Manifold
Internal WG (MBC set @ 18 psi)
SS Mini Oil Filter Feed/Return Kit
Stock 02 Housing
3" Thermal R&D Full Exhaust


AIR:

Stock IM
VRSF 3.5" FMIC w/2.5" Piping
Fake Greddy BoV
Injen Intake Pipe
Hallman MBC


FUEL:


Fuel Lab FPR w/Gauge
STM -6 Fuel Feed/Return Kit
Fuel Lab In-Line Filter
Walbro 450
FIC BlueMAX 680cc Injectors
Stock Fuel Rail


ELECTRONICS:

ECMLink v3 Full
ProSport EVO Series (Green/White) Digital UEGO Wideband
ProSport EVO Series (Green/White) Digital Boost -30/35psi
ProSport EVO Series (Green/White) Oil Pressure
3 Gauge A-Pillar
9mm Spark Plug Wires
NGK R BR7ES Spark Plugs


DRIVETRAIN:

Stock Transmission
Fidanza 7 bolt AWD Aluminum Flywheel
XTD Stage 4 Clutch w/ PP (eBay)
B&M Short Throw Shifter
Full SS Clutch Line


WHEELS/TIRES:

Mitsubishi GST Wheels
Generic Tires


SUSPENSION/BRAKES:

Stock Suspension
Stock Motor Mounts
ABS


SOUND:

JVC Single Double DIN Headunit
Blown Door/Rear Speakers


BODY:

Hood Strut Kit
Rear Wiper Delete
Rustoleum Black Paint for Engine Bay
 
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Engine Bay Shave, Paint, Tuck Project (Prep Stage)



About two weeks ago I started to remove the main engine harness and body harness from the car. I was able to fully remove some other items too.

- Full main engine harness

- Shifter cables

- A/C system

- P/S system

- ABS lines and unit

- All brake lines beside rear lines

- Full body harness


I have decided to hold off on the full interior and dash harness until everything on the outside is complete.

Here are some progress pics:

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I normally used Jasco Paint Stripper from Lowes, but I saw that Goof Off makes their own version too, but its Sprayable. It even came with its own spray bottle. It made it so much easier to apply with no need for paint brushes or anything else to evenly spread it around.

I eventually removed the full body harness after spraying down the engine bay that day/night. A lot of the sections of the engine bay that are bare metal is purely from the paint stripper and a paper towel. Eventually I went around to some of the hard to reach and thick areas with a plastic and metal scrapper to see how much I could remove.

I currently don't have any current engine bay pics because it has been raining for the past few days and possibly for another couple of days.

I will post more pics once its not rainy and I have some sunlight to take good pictures.
 
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Engine/Body Harness Project


After removing both harnesses from the engine bay, I decided it was time to start one of my favorite parts of making an engine bay clean and organized. I decided to list all of the connectors that I didn't need from both harnesses. Here's a list of some things I've already accomplished with the project.

- De-loomed engine harness

- Inspected all connectors and wires

- Listed all connectors I wanted to remove from both Engine and Body Harness (Shown Below)

- Removed unnecessary connectors from engine harness

- Relabeled harness

- Temporarily reshaped harness


I will now be working on the body harness and following the same steps from the engine harness.

Here are some progress pics of the Engine Harness:


Some of the tools I used:

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Connector lists for each harness (Stock list and then removed list):

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Before (Engine Harness):


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Connectors removed and harness relabeled (Engine Harness):

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Before (Body/Chassis Harness):

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Connectors removed and harness relabeled (Body/Chassis Harness):

38973358691_265158ff86_c.jpg

 
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Finishing up the body/chassis harness today. I'll also be starting to fill/weld all unnecessary holes in the engine bay.

Pictures will be posted tonight.
 
Updated the Engine/Body Harness Project post with better pictures of the connectors I removed.

I have 3 lists:

- Engine Harness Stock Connectors
- Engine Harness Removed Connectors
- Body/Chassis Harness Stock/Removed Connectors

Also posted pics of before and after of the body/chassis harness.
 
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nice start its coming along im going to work on redoing my harness as well agan.


Yes its a slow but steady process. It rained all last week and kept me from working on the engine bay. So I took the time to nearly finish up the harnesses.

The next step is extending all of the wires coming from the fuse box. Once I get that done I'll be ready to rearrange both harnesses for a more efficient route and re-sleeve them.
 
Great progress and good to see another DSMer in the S.C. area. I’m going the performance route on mine but I’ve always wanted to do this wire tuck just to make it easier working in the bay.
 
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