1997 GS-T that became an X, 14 years of history together

[turboglenn]

Well, most have probably heard my talk about it but i bought this car when it was 8 months into it's first lease and was terminated because the kid who got it dropped his grades after getting it. The car had about 18k miles on it and was on the showroom floor with the oddly enough placed "GSX" stickers on it.. I didn't know a lot about DSM's but i knew that meant AWD!!!

So some haggling, bargaining and back and forth BS that's typical of a nebraska car sale and i had her for 15,995.00

For 3 days i babied her around loving the new car smell, also found some wires where a kid did a crappy job running an amp, LLA and sub (which i quickly replaced with my own, lkeeping the rest of the infinity system untill just this year) I replaced the stock CD/Tape deck 3 times!!!!!!! (lucky DSM friends didn't want em )

Before 24k miles had struck i did the usuall.. K&N FIPK, THermal R&D catback with test pipe, 550's, SAFC II and a 16G (old big one)

Then by 26-27k miles i bought a griffin core and some sparco end tanks and duplicated a FMIC setup i saw on bushur racing (i wasn't gonna pay some one else to weld the tanks on sheeet)

Then even before 30k miles my previouse work with stand alones and hondas/fords took over my thoughts and my frustration with the OEM knock sensor had me ripping out the ECU and isntalling a Haltech E6K system (no KS to pelase )

The car was still on pump gas and about 20-21psi at this point, taking out about ANYTHING i came across on the streets even in FWD mode, and i was loving it, but of course i wanted MORE....

I went and ordered some denso 720's from road race, then later went to Majestic Turbo for an aprenticeship that was supposed to land me a job there back in 2001..that's where i built my t3/t4 57 trim with 360* thrust bearing, bought a t-netics cast t3 manifold, and a tial wastegate..

I was so stoked that as soon as i was back from the trip i put the car on the lft at a shop i used to help out at (not naming them at this point) and in one night i put the 57 trim, manifold and WG on and fabbed up a ghetto DP with no flex section I was smoking 3rd gear on pump gas (one wheel wonders of course) and scaring anyone who dare rode in the car (this is still 2001 mind you)

Then in august 2001 i was in a tragic accident that almost cost me my life and abilitly to walk (which is partially what i bi*** about being crippled todaybecause of) this stopped my move to Waco Tx and Job with majestic but i kept on working on cars and building my eclipse while working a corporate management job in auto parts

Soon i got the itch for the 1320 and after 2 dissapointing nights on street tires wheel hopping all over i saif F87k TTHIS and got some slicks and poly engine/trans mounts installed... Next 1/4 mile was low 12's all day (clicking off 12.2's - 12.4's at only 19-20psi on a mix of pump and low lead avve-gas) and then with a little more agressive foot the following year on the same boost and gas but a better tun i went 12.08 @ 119mph ( I was stoked, i made the DSMtimes.org list!!!!! almost like 5th or so iIIRC)

I kept the car mainly stock apearing it's entire life aside from lowering springs some years back and for most cases it looked like this pic, but shiny'er

Then with the "meats" on her this was the attitude she took on

The only real clue there was any power behind the car on daily use was the view from the front here

plus the 2 a-pillar gauges (EGT and boost) and the shift light on the a-pillar too (love that bright light )

This will have to pause for now i'm tired and need meds and have stuff to do buyt i've been wanting to start this "history of my GS-T and me" thread since the new area popped up

edit: ONE QUESTION: OEM silver or the new painted BLack wheels..what's better looking? i can't make up my mind please vote or say your thoughts
here's the black wheels

 

[NWHTanK]

As far as the wheels i have the same problem. I have another color which makes three to deciced, gold. The car is black but has a biege intierior.

 

[tfaulk21]

Black wheels look good as Hell. And I don't usually pick black but it goes great with the burgandy

 

[NWHTanK]

On your car the black looks good. I inquried about tires and i think it was a 225/50/16 would work and get u a little lower and a wider foot print. I havent got to that point but maybe a wheel spacers for the back, I just dont care the way the factory wheels are tucked in the rear becuase of the suspension. Those are are my thoughts. ...

 

[turboglenn]

Thanks for the input on the wheels, i painted the stockers when the OEM ones got too beat up from curb checks and brake dust (not to mention impact socket damage around the lug nuts) so i painted them toyota tacoma metallic black and cleared them up

The tires on there are 225/50/16 and i have to run spacers on the back or they touch the upward reaching part of the knuckle (fit fine in GST mode)

Just when i see the OEM silver RIms i almost want to paint them back but everyone says the black fits the car so maybe i'll freshen them up or something this summer or winter (got a set of 2 spares, so i can do a set at a time )

although my damaged spine is loving the OEM suspension (went back to mitsu shocks and springs during the swap cause lowred hurt me really bad in the slow bumpy areas and on big interstate hits) BUt i hate the "high-rise 4x4 look" it has now - of course i went with some heavy springs when i dropped it too, i had 250 rear and 375 front.. Now i'm thinking about using the rear 250 lb'ers on some front tokikos and just modifying the rear shock/sp[ring a little more (i plasma cut 1/2 of the smallest coil off each one to lower it after seeing the front...the nice thing is plasma is so fast and cool they didn't even get too hot to touch so the temper is still good except for maybe 1/4" from the cut at most (i love plasma cuting)

I almost want air bags on it just so it can sit low but raise up and be cushony when i'm driving it

 

[NWHTanK]

Ah if u worried about damaging ## wheels get a set of tunner lugs. They grab the inside instead of the outside.

 

[turboglenn]

Oh, I aint scurred of a little daily driving wear and tear, If it rusts or breaks i can usually replace or fix it, if it gets ugly i cna usually paint it.. save for blocks, trans, and other parts the average fab guy can't duplicate i'm not too worried about much except keeping her on the road and some what pretty (new interior and paint will come eventually but probably once i get a new high MPG DD and gut this and put a race paint job on her and gut her out.. I'll keep the side glass and tint so it looks the same but there's gonne be nothing but a cage, bottle, harness and basics inside at some point i hope

 

[307dsm]

The color of ## car is just beautiful...
But I say black rims look better unless u get some gsx
Rims...
And u got to keep ## car for life....

 

[dragonov_elite]

I like the rims being black but i also think some evo 9 rims painted black would look even better. imo .
Some day ill be in the area and have to buy you a few drinks and bs about dsm's and life .

Car looks great

let's see some more pics and some custom fab'd parts .

 

[turboglenn]

Thanks 307dsm, I'd love to get some 17's, butthat might throw off my "faux GS-T" look (i kinda like apearing to still be FWD to the masses who want to test me at lights)

As for keeping it for life, that's prety much the plan, I'll keep it and keep repairing and upgrading it till the day i move onto something else (only if DSM/4g63 parts become extremely rare and expensive) or the time when my ragged old body just gives up . I figure i already own it, for now it pulls double duty and since i've AWD swapped it, it can eventually be the exact race car i've wanted to build for ages. I doubt i'll go full out drag car though, i'd rather do a street/strip/road course "supercar" type theme with it.. always thought about leaving the OEM dash and console too.

I've always wanted a either a 1977 porsche 930 or a detomoso pantera (which probably won't happen) so this will be my substitute, even if the drive-train ends up in some tubular framed kit car, i always want to keep it registered,insured and plated just for "those days"

I think it would be sick to have a car that could be "weekend daily driven", do a high 10 sec 1320 at best and stick the back roads with the best of what's coming off the production line in the coming years

Like i've called it before, now that it has the AWD platform, it's kinda my "poor man's porsche" And i think of it like some of the porsche club cars and their owners i know and did work/pit/tech for in the past.. They toss numbers and some R1's on them and go play at the track, on the weekends they don't race they put radials on and go play (and around here cops really don't mess with anything "truely built"), now if it's ricey, neon and wing'ed to the moon they'll yank ya over and check ya out, but we have so many cool supercars from the millionaires on the roads around here that you REALLY have to be messing up to get in trouble.

It's a good thing i'm a metal fab guy and have a metal shop of my own (small one) but even if i stay disabled as i am now i can always get sheet metal, and materials to repair/rebuild the unibody

 

[Awdspyderman]

keep the black wheels, BUT FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST GET A DOOR INSERT on the passenger side=) it bugs the hell out of me when i see DSM's missing either a door cap, side skirt or DOOR INSERT If you need one i got a teal green one you can have to put on. Other than that i can't wait to see what AWD feels like also=)So keep the posts coming man. good luck

 

[307dsm]

Thanks 307dsm, I'd love to get some 17's, butthat might throw off my "faux GS-T" look (i kinda like apearing to still be FWD to the masses who want to test me at lights)

As for keeping it for life, that's prety much the plan, I'll keep it and keep repairing and upgrading it till the day i move onto something else (only if DSM/4g63 parts become extremely rare and expensive) or the time when my ragged old body just gives up . I figure i already own it, for now it pulls double duty and since i've AWD swapped it, it can eventually be the exact race car i've wanted to build for ages. I doubt i'll go full out drag car though, i'd rather do a street/strip/road course "supercar" type theme with it.. always thought about leaving the OEM dash and console too.

I've always wanted a either a 1977 porsche 930 or a detomoso pantera (which probably won't happen) so this will be my substitute, even if the drive-train ends up in some tubular framed kit car, i always want to keep it registered,insured and plated just for "those days"

I think it would be sick to have a car that could be "weekend daily driven", do a high 10 sec 1320 at best and stick the back roads with the best of what's coming off the production line in the coming years

Like i've called it before, now that it has the AWD platform, it's kinda my "poor man's porsche" And i think of it like some of the porsche club cars and their owners i know and did work/pit/tech for in the past.. They toss numbers and some R1's on them and go play at the track, on the weekends they don't race they put radials on and go play (and around here cops really don't mess with anything "truely built"), now if it's ricey, neon and wing'ed to the moon they'll yank ya over and check ya out, but we have so many cool supercars from the millionaires on the roads around here that you REALLY have to be messing up to get in trouble.

It's a good thing i'm a metal fab guy and have a metal shop of my own (small one) but even if i stay disabled as i am now i can always get sheet metal, and materials to repair/rebuild the unibody

Yeah you are right if u get the gsx rims then for sure peolple will know u have an awd car..... i wish i could turn my car into awd but for 1g i think its not that easy.. but yeah for sure keep your car for ever now its rare to se a nice looking dsm, because yours if one day you wanna sell it... you got a buyer......

 

[3BarDSM]

Personally Id go with a little higher gloss on the black. Car looks great wish I could be as attached to a car to keep it longer than a year . Keep up the good work.

 

[turboglenn]

Personally Id go with a little higher gloss on the black. Car looks great wish I could be as attached to a car to keep it longer than a year . Keep up the good work.

that's just a healthy coat of brake dust, don't mind that any they do shine up well when washed, i just took those after some engine work one day (pics with the black wheels) they have been painted for about 2 years now or so and holding up pretty well but the fronts (on rear in those pics) are getting a rough surface to the clear from the hot brake dust. nothing a scuff and shoot with some spot/panel clear can't clean up though

WEll, A littl update, although out of the time line of the story..rebuilt both front calipers tonight (paid and ordered the kits weeks ago and remembered to pick them up tonight.

This time i used the caliper paint you brush on and i must say i'm impressed!!! I just wish i had the freehand skills to put "tokiko" or something on them like my GSX-R calipers

I still have to tighten the bolts up, gravity bleed the system and mount the wheels but i'm in so much pain i'm on hour 4 of this project taking it as i can handle it.. i'll post some android pics in a bit since it's the highest megapixel camera i have

I have never had good luck/results with spray painting calipers but these came out nice, but brushing on 4 coats did take a long time as well as waiting for them to dry so i could put the new seals and such back in....

err..hate chronic pain, my car would be fully restored and i'd be back in a new house from surgery this past march but isteai'm stuck in this scenerio.. get this bi*** running and head eastward, not stopping for 1200 miles and i could be back HOME

 

[turboglenn]

Boy, the DSM gods are putting me through the trials of faith bigtime with "bitchy" (her nickname when she's bad) this summer i've suffered from

2 timingbelt failures (one failure and one a/c belt failure causing to jump time)

1 clutch disk exploded

1 caliper froze eating one wheel bearing and burning up half the new one

1.5 wheel bearings (se above)

And today the flywheel bolts backed out enough to make an audible (very audible and very scarry) sound that freaked me out and forced me into a one nighter pull/ re-install of flywheel/clutch and re-install trans and associated parts.

Also suffered numerouse electrical failures from old wiring that i should have done away with years ago (OEM Mitsu stuff that's cooked from turbo heat)

my 57 trim finally was so worn i could face putting it back on but that brought on the nice upgrade to the PTE6776RS duall ball bearing unit that really kicks ass (but still bigger than what i want especially now that i'm AWD)

Oh, and almost forgot very early i the summer i had a CV axle snap at the hub splining while taking my doctor for a spin in the car (didn't even do it at a good time, i wound out second and it let loose in the powerband up top before i even hit 3rd gear) Had to bring air tools and a bottle of c02 with a special regulator to do the repairs roadside instead of forking out money for a tow

But I have to admit, the E85 driven and AWD tracted beast has been an absolute blast to drive, getting sideways on wet days through the 1-3 gears and being able to do "tokyo drift" style drifts in the snow at a private paved lot sure were pleasing after being FWD traction challenged for so many years. as well as being FWD pleasure limited, there's just no comparing an e-brake slide/drife to a real power slide/drift, not to mention being able to go anywhere i want to wihtout needing the big ass 8mpg '89 ford bronco with 351 and C6 combo (sold it and the guy got it impounded and never got it back within the first 2 months = dumbass him, he's lost a few very nice vehicles this way, all because of drugs and that he can't get over the fact his ex-wife will never wanthim again so he can't prioritize anything)

But i guess all in all there was a lot of give and take with this year in my DSM's life.. for all the trouble i had i got the AWD, the bigger brakes that come with AWD (as well as the rare early 95 bigger rear brakes with vented rotors) also got a LSD rear diff as well as a normal one and stock suspension to go back on which has made my ride much more comfortable (i suffered some injuries that make rides in low tight cars no longer enjoyable) And i got the bigger turbo , now if i could just sell it and get an 8 blade hx-35 or hy-35 and some 1450's like i've been planning all year (break downs keep putting it off) then i'd be happy as hell.. hell i'd be happy to have a 57 trim compressor wheel, stage III t31 turbine and a fresh 360* thrust bearing to build me anothr 57 trim to run (sacrificed the other parts of it for another project cause the comp wheel was ate up) still have the CHRA less turbine/comp wheels, also have variouse turbine housings and a good 57 trim machined t04e compresor housing that will all fit my current setup... it was laggy but not like this 67mm is

well, back to working on the car..from the trans removal, flywheel work and re-intall the list of what's left untill i can go buy cigarettes

front to rear member 2 x 17m aand 2 x 14mm

t-case 5 x 17mm

left CV bracket 2 x 14mm + 1 spacer

down pipe 3 x 13/12 combos + 1 13mm v-band

2 x 17mm for rear roll stop mount

front roll stop 1x 14mm nut/bolt combo

dust cover 2 x 10mm

right CV boot and left boot also

right wheel

right splash guard 2 x 12mm

 

[turboglenn]

Well there's been a lot of updates since i last wrote this so i thought i'd throw some pics up

Siince the original post i've put on

My custom HOlset (hx40 compressor/hx35 turbine, h1e chra)

changed to 1600ccinj's

changed to a cyclone intake manifold

and just last night and today i finished the latest project of moving the fuse box into the front bumper to make roomfor some catch cans and clean things up a bit

I also made a positive vacume catch for the VC vent that's _8 from VC to can and -6 fro can to intake pipe (the small "disk" on top of the can is a custom multi stage baffle i milled out) my voltage distribution block busted so i either need to wrap it in rubber heat shrink ot geta new one at this point (not to mention cleaning all the crud that was hidden behind the fuse box)

I also heat wrapped the upper radiator hose since it's so damn close to the manifold, here's the bay as it sits today.. i needto clean it still

other than that i've just cleaned things up and last night i finished the re-smooth and re-polish of the valve cover i started years back

Here's the VC, it was looking much better till e85 sprayed on it and i touched it for hours with greasy ass hands

The car has also gotten a much bigger intercooler (greddy unit made for a supra rated to 1150cfm & supposedly 1psi drop at that flow)

 

[bigbird94]

Nice, clean, car.

How do you like the cyclone intake manifold? How is it being actuated?

 

[turboglenn]

Nice, clean, car.

How do you like the cyclone intake manifold? How is it being actuated?

Thanks, I've had it since it was a lease termination with only a tad under 20k miles

THe cyclone is being activated by a PWM output on the haltec ECU, It has 4 PWN, 2 digital, and 2 analog inputs/outputs. The PWM's have the option built right in to run a dual runner manifold, I just had to rig up a solenoid (i think it's the OEM FPS -the one with 3 ports, maybe it's boost or EGR, i took them off a year after getting the car so i can't recall)

There's no resevior at all which i thought would be an issue but the lines and the fact iput some larger 3/8ID lines and adapters to hok up the solenoid hold enough air tht even with the engine off it takes a little over 4 minutes for the manifold to lse vacum and open the seconday runners

FOr the street i love the cyclone, no notable loss in top end from a standard 1g turbo intake but a TON more low end and mid-range torque to be had (not to mention helping with spool) It's one of the best things i've done for daily driving with a larger turbo (of course my custom holset spools rather fast anyway)

The only down fall was finding a place to mount the coils, and making the area by the intake cam gear rather tight when trying to work o0n stuff down by the AC compressor