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Street Build '97 Eclipse AWD GS-T (2006 to Present)

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gofer

Moderator
8,152
1,441
Feb 18, 2006
South Gilbert, Arizona
After driving a '97 Eclipse GS in my high school years I realized I loved the DSM platform, I just wanted the 4g63t version of it. I joined the Navy in 2004 and after finally finishing boot camp and training I received my orders to San Diego, CA. I road tripped my N/T DSM from Colorado to SoCal in August 2005 and started my search for another DSM, preferably a stock 2gb 5-speed GSX. After multiple test drives and dealers asking WAY too much for the platform I wanted, I ran into an ad on Autotrader that I couldn't pass up. It was for a completely stock '97 Auto GS-T with only 71,000 miles on it and the price was right, so on February 16th, 2006 I bought my first turbo DSM. Little did I know how addicting modifying and working on a 4g63t was, and the rest is history.

I'm going to start this thread from day 1 of the build, eventually catching up to present day and adding any future modifications I do. Below will be a linked table of contents to every journal entry as well, making the thread a bit easier to navigate through. Stay tuned and enjoy! :thumb:

Table of Contents

--- 2006 ---

--- 2007 ---

--- 2008 ---

--- 2009 ---
--------------- A/T FWD to M/T AWD Conversion Project ---------------
--------------- A/T FWD to M/T AWD Conversion Project COMPLETE! ---------------
--- 2010 ---

--- 2011 ---

--- 2012 ---

---2013---
--------------- Tubular Rear Subframe Install --------------
--------------- Tubular Rear Subframe Install COMPLETE! --------------
---2014---
---2015---
---2016---
---2017---
---2018---
 
05MAR2006 - '97 GS to '97 GS-T Suspension/Tire Swap
The only modifications I had made to my '97 Eclipse GS in high school was to the suspension and wheels, giving it a more aggressive stance. Since I was wanting to turn the GS back to stock I decided I'd swap the suspension (Eibach Sportlines & Tokico Illuminas) over to the new GS-T, including the 17" Enkei CP1 wheels. It only took an ENTIRE day to do since this was the first time I had really ever worked on a car before, with the Chilton manual in hand I got to wrenching. Here are a few pics from beginning to end, to say the least the car was slammed and it scrapped on everything.

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08MAR2006 - HKS SSQV Blow-off Valve
After hearing the boost leak issues that the plastic 2g bov created, and the ricer in me, I decided my next mod to the GS-T was going to be a HKS SSQV. I was planning on running a recirc pipe to the intake however, my DSM was an A/T it wasn't going rich between shifts nor was I having idle issues. Eventually, after getting a hard time for it from numerous DSM friends, I broke down and installed the recirc kit.

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10MAR2007 - GReddy Evo II GS-T Catback Exhaust
After a year of keeping up with maintenance, mainly replacing CV axles unfortunately because the car was too low. :rolleyes:
I decided it was time to pick out an exhaust that looked good and would open things up a bit for the t-25. LOL
I was a broke 21 year old but, for whatever reason, I didn't use the classifieds to get the exhaust I wanted I spent full price for a GReddy Evo II from a local parts store. It looked good but because it went under the subframe there wasn't a whole lot of clearance to the ground, I started avoiding speed bumps at all costs.

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17MAR2007 - Deployment '07 - '08 Road Trip to Colorado
Duty calls, the ship I lived on (USS Nimitz) had two back to back scheduled deployments. The first one being in March '07 to Sept. '07, then returning to San Diego for 3 months and deploying again January '08 to June '08. I decided it was best that I drive my GS-T home to Colorado before deployment that way I could store it under a cover in a garage. It was a great road trip but the water pump failed 8 hours into it and getting parts in Utah on a Friday wasn't easy. :coy:

I know its not maintenance related but below are a few pics I took during the road trip home over the Rockies from SoCal.

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Deployment, anyone? :cry:

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30JUN2008 - Finally Got My Car Back!
I flew home to Colorado after deployment and ran out to the garage to pull the car cover off the GS-T and fire her up. While I was home on leave I did a oil change and checked fluids, everything was good so I started the drive back to SoCal. The car made it without any issues and I drove straight through so unfortunately didn't stop and take any pictures.

Here was the car, after I backed it out of the garage for the first time in a year and a half. To my surprise I had a new front bumper with a fresh paint job on it, the body shop sprayed the gray trim in the center though but it looked great!

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14JUL2008 - Got Rear-ended By A Yaris
Just two weeks after I got my GS-T back in San Diego I was rear ended on my way home from work. Luckily, the person at fault had insurance so the rear end got replaced and resprayed.

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19JUL2008 - Mitsubishi Owners Day '08 (Cypress, CA)
I got my car back from the body shop the day before MOD and the car looked CLEAN! After a few hours of touching up the engine bay, vacuuming out the interior, and putting the finishing touches on the exterior the car was ready for the biggest Mitsubishi event in SoCal. It was my first MOD ever so, to say the least, I was definitely excited! Here are a few shots I took of my DSM throughout the day...

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22AUG2008 - First Time At The Track (1/8th mile): 10.3 @ 71mph
After seeing all those big horsepower Mitsubishi's at MOD I became interested in how fast my DSM was, unfortunately being nearly stock and A/T I left the track in disappointment. With no better than a 2.3 60ft and trap speeds right around 70mph I couldn't believe how slow my DSM was, especially since I thought it felt so fast compared to my N/T.

Going to the track that night was a big learning experience and a bit humbling, considering everything I ran against walked right passed me. I think at one time I heard the announcer say, "I could push a chair down a staircase faster", just after I made a pass. :f-u:

I still had a great time, which is what got me hooked.

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24AUG2008 - SAFC II, Walbro 255, Denso 660's, Evo III exhaust manifold, Tial EWG, RRE down pipe, RRE 16g Install Kit, & Evo III 16g Install
After my DSM's less than impressive performance at the track I started looking into making my car a good deal faster. After reading, what seemed to be, hundreds of threads I jumped on Craigslist and found a local parting out their Spyder with all the parts I needed to upgrade to a 16g. Still not knowing much about my car I recruited my good friend Dan (sd_ff22) to help, which he did A LOT. Each step of the way Dan helped since really, I had no clue what I was doing.

After everything was installed and the SAFC II was dialed in for the injectors (no WB or logger) Dan and I went for a drive. The car wouldn't build any boost and it sounded like a supercharger whining when I'd get into the throttle. Come to find out the CL seller took my money and sold me a blown 16g that leaked around the CHRA, I quickly found a s16g that was new and installed it to make the car driveable again.

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08SEP2008 - Porting to Cure Boost Creep (Exhaust Mani, Hotside, and o2 Housing)
After replacing the Evo III 16g with a working small 16g I couldn't keep boost from creeping to 25psi before it hit fuel cut. :coy: After some research around the forum I found that possibly porting the turbine housing inlet and wastegate flapper could cure it, so I gave it a shot. While I was in there I thought I'd port the stock 2g collector, as well as the stock 2g o2 sensor housing.

I used a die grinder and double carbide bit to do the port work, don't forget to wear some gloves, eye pro, ear pro, and a dust mask before tackling any kind of port work.

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what is it lowered on?
The first suspension (shown in post #2) was Tokico Illumina's and Eibach Sportline springs. It was too low though, since then I've had to raise the car an inch to make it practical on the street. Looked great though.
 
20AUG2008 - Dan Wrecks His GSX
Backing up a bit here, my GOOD DSM friend Dan (sd_ff22) lost his '99 GSX around an Interstate on-ramp and went into the guard rail. Pictures of his NSW GSX can be seen in my MOD '08 pictures, it was a clean DSM with less than 80,000 miles on it. I know, potentially this has nothing to do with MY BUILD but just wait, I had to get my AWD 5-speed drivetrain from somewhere! Here are the pics of the wreck, R.I.P.! :pray:

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18OCT2008 - '99 GSX Black Leather Interior/Trim
After the dust had settled after the accident Dan decided to buy the car back from the insurance company and part it, of course after some coaxing by me. :D The first thing I got off of his AMAZINGLY CLEAN DSM was the black leather interior and trim, everything that was black I put in my car. I also pulled the '99 silver face gauges and different HVAC controls, now my '97 looked like a '99 from the inside.

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14NOV2008 - HID Install & Photoshoot
I got a good deal on a PnP set of 6k HIDs locally and thought I'd see how they looked in the stock headlight housing. After the install I checked the cutoff to make sure they weren't too bad, I didn't want to blind everyone in on coming traffic. After the install I cleaned the car a bit and took a few shots around San Diego.

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22NOV2008 - RVR Intake Manifold, 1g TB, and VR4 Valve Cover Install
I bought Dan's RVR IM and 1g TB from him, he also agreed to help me install it too which is always a plus if you've never done it before. A buddy had a grease/oil covered VC laying around in his garage and said I could have it, after some elbow grease and Simple Green it cleaned up well. Here are a few pictures that were taken during the install.

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28NOV2008 - Thanksgiving Hahn RC FMIC Install
Dan had a full HRC FMIC kit sitting in his garage when he wrecked his GSX, I bought it from him brand new/used and used my Thanksgiving weekend to trim the bumper and install it. Before and after the install I took a few shots of the DSM as well, can't help myself sometimes because it looks so good. LOL

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30NOV2008 - Thanksgiving Weekend AWD Brake Upgrade & SS Lines
I bought Dan's 2-piston calipers and rotors off of him earlier that month, but it wasn't until Thanksgiving weekend that I had time to finish painting them red and getting the pads I wanted. I drove up to his place to do the install and show him how the FMIC looked on the car, he was a bit jealous since he never got the chance to install it on his GSX before the accident. We also went out and did another photoshoot after the AWD brake install, some of the shots came out pretty damn good.

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