1998 Eclipse GST Complete Re-Build

[BossGreen]

i dont see why not bro as long as it fits inside the wheel well. I just put new tires on my over the weekend and i realized how much room i had when putting it on. you can fit 20s all day on these car as long as its not dropped on it ass low to the ground.

i looked at the pic there really nice rims bro hell ya. if you need any extra oem or turbo lines or etc. let me know ill throw you them for free just pay shipping there just sitting around in my shop. i got new turbo lines egr intake piping pressure plate stock flywheel and a few other random things.

Alright cool thanks man appreciate it!

 

[BossGreen]

So I finally got around to pulling the tranny and replacing the clutch. This was my first time ever doing anything like this and I'm pretty proud to say I did it all on my own. Took me pretty much a whole weekend because my ball joints did not want to cooperate. Lowering it down went pretty smooth with a little help from my dad. So when I bought the car the previous owner told me he replaced the clutch and didn't do it right so it wouldn't go in to gear. Me not knowing much believed him. He also told me that was the only problem with the car. Meanwhile the tires are bald, the paint on the wheels is chipped and just destroyed and I already had to replace all the gas lines between the tank and the filler neck because there was a hole the size of the head of a nail So this is what the clutch looked like when i got it out......something tells me he never did anything to it.

The starter looked like it hasn't been changed since 1998 I have a new one all ready to go in.

When I was going to unbolt the tranny to engine bolts I only found 3 of the 7 bolts that were supposed to be there. Does anyone know where I can get more bolts like those? After I got the tranny separated a little of this fur looking stuff was popping out of the bottom. Maybe the car was sitting before I bought it and a mouse was making a nest?

Finally Out!:hell yeah: I was so relieved. Needs to be cleaned up and painted for sure. Going to go with a aluminum look hopefully similar to the stock color.

I'll be replacing the axels while they're out.

My next plans are to get the tranny cleaned up and painted. After school on thurs I'll be doing that. Than I gotta order a new flywheel or have the old one resurfaced. Clean up as much of the engine bay I can and than put the tranny back in. I have all new brakes and an intercooler kit in my room waiting to go on and than hopefully I should be able to DD this baby!

 

[turbobird14]

Nice Find!! Especially for the price. My only suggestion, since your a college student and have high hopes for this car, dont replace what you dont have to. Alot of parts on these cars are either "they work or they dont" reguardless of how they look. A can of Break Kleen and some semi gloss black paint costs alot less than new parts and will yield the same result. Think about the slogan "if it aint broke dont fix it." Since you have big plans for this, ask any other DSM'er thats done a project, parts add up quick and money can really become an issue.

I would write down a plan of action for this car, a reachable goal, and a time limit to accomplish it. Once you do that, price it out. My suggestion is if the clutch which was supposedly "replaced" at one point looks like that, I doubt the proper maintenance has been done on it either. Thats where I would personally start your modding.

If a one off manifold and ball bearing turbo build is your budget than by all means tear it up! But if you wanna keep this a nasty street car that you can drive more than stare at in the garage, keep it simple! Just my .02

 

[97midlife]

Professional mechanic for ten year here. your axle looks fine, unless it is ticking/popping.
that is an oem clutch, he was lying to you. unless he looked the type to pay big money at a dealership, which is doughtful from everything else you spoke of. Starter looks oe as well. i just picked up a 97 gst for 350 and excited to get started on it. good luck!

 

[BossGreen]

Nice Find!! Especially for the price. My only suggestion, since your a college student and have high hopes for this car, dont replace what you dont have to. Alot of parts on these cars are either "they work or they dont" reguardless of how they look. A can of Break Kleen and some semi gloss black paint costs alot less than new parts and will yield the same result. Think about the slogan "if it aint broke dont fix it." Since you have big plans for this, ask any other DSM'er thats done a project, parts add up quick and money can really become an issue.

I would write down a plan of action for this car, a reachable goal, and a time limit to accomplish it. Once you do that, price it out. My suggestion is if the clutch which was supposedly "replaced" at one point looks like that, I doubt the proper maintenance has been done on it either. Thats where I would personally start your modding.

If a one off manifold and ball bearing turbo build is your budget than by all means tear it up! But if you wanna keep this a nasty street car that you can drive more than stare at in the garage, keep it simple! Just my .02

Yeah I see what you're saying. Just like the way I look at it I plan to own this car for a long time because I've always wanted a 2G eclipse. I definitely don't have big budget haha but like you said I'm trying to get all the maintenance done and than I'll do mods. Thanks for your input though appreciate it

Professional mechanic for ten year here. your axle looks fine, unless it is ticking/popping.
that is an oem clutch, he was lying to you. unless he looked the type to pay big money at a dealership, which is doughtful from everything else you spoke of. Starter looks oe as well. i just picked up a 97 gst for 350 and excited to get started on it. good luck!

I honestly haven't driven the car yet so I don't know if they're ticking or popping but the boots are kinda scuffed and what not so just gunna play it safe and get new ones. And yes the previous owner was a huge asshole who lied about the whole car. Good luck on your build also!

 

[turbobird14]

The cv shafts will function just like a u-joint. Grab the middle shaft area and the threaded area where the spindle nut goes and try to twist them back and forth (kinda of like if you were screwing a lid on a jar on and off) and see if you feel any play. If it feels solid than there good and don't replace them. If not....again....tear it up!

 

[cherrymane]

its all good the clutch is toast!!!! damn but another thing is which i learned the very hard way is dont skimp out on buying parts esepcially ones needed that are important. i found myself buying certain things twice becvause i wanted to take the cheap way out.dont go to light on the flywheel.11 pound is perfect for you i have one myself. get a decent clutch. i bought a fidanza flywheel and and a
F1 clutch and 2400 pressure plate stage 3 6 puck SPRUNG disc. it was a very good deal i paid a little over 3 for it and shipping was free. if interested PM me and ill send you the info. if your gonna tune it go for decent size injectors. i bought 560s and sold before i even put them on. you can squeeze about 300 hp out of them with a good tune but then your maxed out. go with 750 or 850 so you can play with them as you build your car in the future and they have a decent resale value !!!! i bought cheap intercooler piping off of ebay and copied the design and returned them and made my own with and exhaust machine. if you need a full intercooler kit of piping 2.25 or 2.50 or even 3 inch i can make them at our shop and sell them to you or whoever. even specialty peices as well. all for a 100 bucks and u pay shipping. cant beat that price and you can paint it whatever color you want. for your motor dont go cheap. i did and 3000$ later it runs good and will never go cheap again. i would stud the block and head so atleast you know it will all hold together until you go thru the hole motor rebuilding it whenver. so let me know or if you need help or question pm me if needed.

 

[BossGreen]

its all good the clutch is toast!!!! damn but another thing is which i learned the very hard way is dont skimp out on buying parts esepcially ones needed that are important. i found myself buying certain things twice becvause i wanted to take the cheap way out.dont go to light on the flywheel.11 pound is perfect for you i have one myself. get a decent clutch. i bought a fidanza flywheel and and a
F1 clutch and 2400 pressure plate stage 3 6 puck SPRUNG disc. it was a very good deal i paid a little over 3 for it and shipping was free. if interested PM me and ill send you the info. if your gonna tune it go for decent size injectors. i bought 560s and sold before i even put them on. you can squeeze about 300 hp out of them with a good tune but then your maxed out. go with 750 or 850 so you can play with them as you build your car in the future and they have a decent resale value !!!! i bought cheap intercooler piping off of ebay and copied the design and returned them and made my own with and exhaust machine. if you need a full intercooler kit of piping 2.25 or 2.50 or even 3 inch i can make them at our shop and sell them to you or whoever. even specialty peices as well. all for a 100 bucks and u pay shipping. cant beat that price and you can paint it whatever color you want. for your motor dont go cheap. i did and 3000$ later it runs good and will never go cheap again. i would stud the block and head so atleast you know it will all hold together until you go thru the hole motor rebuilding it whenver. so let me know or if you need help or question pm me if needed.

Thanks man. I appreciate the advice. I purchased a godspeed FMIC before realizing it was not a good kit so I may return it and than I'll be interested in that kit you can make. Would it be bolt on and as far as the color goes is that powder coated or painted? Does that affect its efficiency? Can you pm me the details on that flywheel or put it up here also? Thanks again

 

[geestoney]

Nice buy!

 

[BossGreen]

Nice buy!

Thanks! Yeah I'm happy with it

 

[BossGreen]

A little update, I got my flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch all mounted up and torqued down. I replaced the clutch fork, pivot, fork boot and the throwout bearing on my transmission. Everything's ready to go back in along with my new starter, I have a fmic kit I've been waiting to put in along with all new pads, rotors and calipers all the way around.

Now I have a question of opinion. The PO has a full 3in exhaust on this car, not sure of the brand but it has no catalytic convertor. It is all straight pipe except the muffler and tip all the way at the exit. There's one very large pipe that I was planning to get a 3in catalytic convertor and have it welded in. There's no small section that is where the cat should go and was replaced by a straight pipe, it's simply all just one long pipe from the down pipe to the exiting muffler. My question is wether you guys would go with welding in a cat or something else. Don't have a ton of money to get a good exhaust system right now and would like to keep the 3in exhaust. I don't really see any alternative with the setup that's on there now. What do you guys think? I can provide pictures if that would help. Also if I get the cat welded in does the O2 sensor go before or after the cat.....? Thanks in advance!

 

[97_4g63t]

You should have 2 o2 sensors. One right by your turbo and the other a ways back on your exhaust. More than likely it has a down pipe that eliminates the cat. You can look up some down pipes that don't eliminate it. Why do you wanna put a cat on? You bought an oem throw out bearing right? Just remember oem is almost always the way to go on basic parts. One of my sayings is quality over quantity. Looking good though bro. Pm me if you have any questions or need advice.

 

[BossGreen]

You should have 2 o2 sensors. One right by your turbo and the other a ways back on your exhaust. More than likely it has a down pipe that eliminates the cat. You can look up some down pipes that don't eliminate it. Why do you wanna put a cat on? You bought an oem throw out bearing right? Just remember oem is almost always the way to go on basic parts. One of my sayings is quality over quantity. Looking good though bro. Pm me if you have any questions or need advice.

Oh yeah OEM everything haha! I need a cat to pass inspection

 

[Pipnorcali]

I would just weld in a cat and see if it passes

 

[BossGreen]

I would just weld in a cat and see if it passes

That's what I was thinking. Thanks!

 

[BossGreen]

Some time in November I purchased a whole set of gray interior panels to do the swap for my car. Only paid about $200 for all the pieces and all though there's some pieces missing it was still a good deal and with a little more cleaning they'll look real good! Since the weather was real nice today in NY I decided to try to fill my tranny with fluid and bleed my clutch. Well I forgot I'd be needing a large hose to fill the tranny so I couldn't do that since I wouldn't have time to run to auto zone and get back to do it all before I had to go to work so I started to bleed the clutch when I realized I must have bent one of the hydraulic hoses for the slave cylinder since it was leaking brake fluid like crazy. New lines are already ordered and I'll be picking up a hose to fill the tranny. Since I had nothing else to do I decided I'd finally get all those gray trim pieces of out my hatch and work on the conversion and since it was like my third time install the interior I finished it real quick. I also test fit a spoiler I got from a member on here. It's in great shape and is going to be a Christmas present so it's not being mounted yet but I "test fit' it because I was too excited to see what it'd look like

Anyway! Out with the old in with the.....new to me! I still have a few small things to get like seat belts and the rear seats and than eventually nice racing seats, maybe spaarcos