dsmspoolin
15+ Year Contributor
- 90
- 3
- Mar 20, 2004
-
San Diego,
California
DRIVELINE/BRAKES/HANDLING
SUSPENSION AND WHEELS- In 2005 I started out with Eibach Pro-Kit springs on AGXs. That was good enough for me at the time. I feel that is how the car should have came from the factory as far as ride height and handling. With that suspension I ran an 18x8.5 +35 wheel with no clearance issues. In 2009 I found a set of used Ksport coilovers for $400 for a GST. The rears were shorter then the AWD coilovers which allowed me to go lower. Slapped those on but found out the fronts were blown. I replaced them with the newer black version shock replacements from Ksport. At that time I fitted 18x9.5 +35 XXRs with a 225/40/18 tire and it was stretched but cleared with little rubbing in the front.
While upgrading my brakes to CTS-V Brembo calipers (which Ill talk about later) I realized the off set of the +35 XXRs would not clear the face of the calipers. After a lot of measuring and fitment trials I ended up going with Rota Torque in Yamaha black 18x9.5 +22 offset.
The back side of the spokes barely cleared the Brembos. Both wheels will not clear the spring perch of regular struts, coilovers are needed. With the 9.5 wheels some trimming of the rear trailing arm seem is needed. I trimmed and re-welded it together and has been good since 2009. I pointed this out in the pic of the rear trailing arms somewhat down the page. The front upper splash guards were removed. I eventually stepped up my tire size from 225/40 to a 255/40 which gave me about 9.5 on contact to the ground per corner and love it but needed to make all that meat fit the fender wells. I had to teach myself how to pull, roll and flare the front fenders and rear quarters using a heat gun and Eastwood roller. Not easy at all. The first rear side I did came out bad. There has to be a relief cut in the upper rear wheel well. If not, the quarter panel will buckle as mine did. When I did the other side I made the relief cut first and it came out good. Here is the ugly buckled side of the rear.
In 20I2 wanted a better quality coilover set up and decided to go with Koni sport adjustables with a pieced together coilover assembly. Starting with the rear first, Koni discontinued the Sport rears for 1G AWDs. I used 2G rear AWD Koni sports. They are a little shorter but install just fine. I ordered Eibach springs 2.5 diameter 7 tall in a 430 ft/lbs spring from Ground Control. I used QA1 coil over sleeves, top hats and threaded perchs. I had a friend machine an additional snap ring step a little lower than the two that come machined from Koni.
Rear upper adjustable control rods from a 3000GT were installed. This put my rear camber almost back to zero degrees.
Next was the Jay Racing active toe eliminator kit welded in to the rear trailing arms. My oem bushings were shot and I was blowing through rear tires like crazy. This part changed the whole feel of the rear end handling and I love it. Huge improvement.
And here is a pic of the final rear suspension as of now. Also threw poly bushings for the rear lower control link. I have helper springs that I need to install to keep the spring seated when at full droop.
Now for the front. I sourced two spare front oem struts to hack up and prep for the Koni sport inserts. Again went with QA1 coil over sleeves and lower threaded perches. I bought the QA1 top hats but ended up not needing them once I received the Ground Control camber/castor plates. Ground Control also supplied the front Eibachs 2.5 diameter, 7 tall and 450 ft/lbs spring rate. Summit Racing provided the Eibach 2.5 helper springs with the seat and 2.5 thrust washers to prevent binding when turning.
Ground Control initially sent me the wrong upper mounting plates pictured below. As well as the wrong size bushings. They stepped up immediately and shipped out the correct bushings and upper plate. They have always been very helpful in assisting me with this build.
I painted the modified strut housings with some mil spec polyurethane gloss yellow to match the rear Konis. They came out looking great.
Then the alignment.
BRAKES- I had already done the big GSX brake upgrade but 1, they would still fade out and warp under hard braking and 2, I just wanted sexier brakes behind those big 18 wheels and something a little different than the typical Evo Brembo upgrade. I found out that DSMtuners user KMV made caliper brackets for both the Evo Brembos and the Cadillac CTS-V 4 piston Brembos which are a little bigger. I ordered a pair of his brackets with hardware for $110. I ordered the calipers from gmperformancepartsdirect.com for $130 each. Evo X slotted rotors for $270 13.9 diameter I believe, Evo X pads for $90, Stainless steel braided lines for about $120 but you have to have the front lines made with a banjo fitting to the caliper. OEM pin, shim and spring kit from Mitsubishi for $100ish. They are the same size for the CTS-V calipers. I have to say that KMVs brackets and spacers have perfect placement centering the caliper over the rotor. A little modification needs to be made to the lower portion of Brembo caliper in order to clear the bracket and spacers. It doesnt affect the structural integrity of the caliper and can be done by machining or a porting tool. After installing everything the pedal pressure just wasnt enough to push that increased volume of fluid and felt soft and spongy. I pulled a 3G Eclipse brake master cylinder out of the junkyard which bolts right up for $20. You only need to bend the hard line to the cylinder to make it work. These cylinders have a slightly larger piston bore and push enough fluid for these big 4 piston calipers plenty. Since then I NEVER have brake fade. Driving in Southern California they definitely get used but I also put them to the test ALL the time. If you are planning on running 18 wheels, I dont think you can get a better big brake kit for the money. Not to mention an OEM Brembo caliper. Total spent I believe was just around $1k. Here is a pic of the brakes first installed. I have more detailed pics of the brackets, spacers and the small area on the back of the caliper that needs to be removed in order to clear. Im on Deployment in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as Im typing this and do not have access to all of my pics but will update when I return.
The rear brakes as of now are only upgraded with a pair of Powerslot rotors.
DRIVELINE- In 2010 I picked up a well priced TRE stage 2 23 spline trans an hour and a half away. I installed it with a local clutch companys clutch here in San Diego that held a little more than an ACT 2100. At the same time I bought a new oem throw out bearing, pivot ball, clutch fork, master cylinder, slave cylinder and a stainless braided clutch line. Filled with Redline MT90. I added shifter base bushings as well as shifter cable bushings to the combo and love how it feels shifting.
I had to source a matching 23 spline Transfer case and was hooked up by a friend for $75 and is still going strong always with Redline Shockproof.
Early 2012 I found a Southbend Kevlar clutch set up with only 1k miles on it for $200 from a local guy parting out. At this point the stock flywheel was only stepped to .610.
I love this clutch. Pedal pressure isnt bad at all for a clutch that can hold 600+ ft/lbs TQ. But even after multiple adjustments it wouldnt fully dis-engage at higher RPMs which happened to a couple other local guys running the same clutch. Months later one of those DSMers figured out after pulling his trans over and over that with the Southbend Kevlar clutch the flywheel needs to be stepped to .625 in order to fully dis-engage for smooth higher RPM shifting. Just before deploying I was able to pull the trans, clutch and flywheel to step it to .625 but did not get to run the car before I left.
A little previous to this I snapped a 3 bolt axle inside the rear differential. I found a complete 4 bolt rear end to swap in days later.
While I did the 4 bolt swap I did some exhaust work also.
I'll upload the rest of the build a little later, and sorry for some of the 90 degree pics...ish got a little crazy trying to make this build thread .
SUSPENSION AND WHEELS- In 2005 I started out with Eibach Pro-Kit springs on AGXs. That was good enough for me at the time. I feel that is how the car should have came from the factory as far as ride height and handling. With that suspension I ran an 18x8.5 +35 wheel with no clearance issues. In 2009 I found a set of used Ksport coilovers for $400 for a GST. The rears were shorter then the AWD coilovers which allowed me to go lower. Slapped those on but found out the fronts were blown. I replaced them with the newer black version shock replacements from Ksport. At that time I fitted 18x9.5 +35 XXRs with a 225/40/18 tire and it was stretched but cleared with little rubbing in the front.
While upgrading my brakes to CTS-V Brembo calipers (which Ill talk about later) I realized the off set of the +35 XXRs would not clear the face of the calipers. After a lot of measuring and fitment trials I ended up going with Rota Torque in Yamaha black 18x9.5 +22 offset.
The back side of the spokes barely cleared the Brembos. Both wheels will not clear the spring perch of regular struts, coilovers are needed. With the 9.5 wheels some trimming of the rear trailing arm seem is needed. I trimmed and re-welded it together and has been good since 2009. I pointed this out in the pic of the rear trailing arms somewhat down the page. The front upper splash guards were removed. I eventually stepped up my tire size from 225/40 to a 255/40 which gave me about 9.5 on contact to the ground per corner and love it but needed to make all that meat fit the fender wells. I had to teach myself how to pull, roll and flare the front fenders and rear quarters using a heat gun and Eastwood roller. Not easy at all. The first rear side I did came out bad. There has to be a relief cut in the upper rear wheel well. If not, the quarter panel will buckle as mine did. When I did the other side I made the relief cut first and it came out good. Here is the ugly buckled side of the rear.
In 20I2 wanted a better quality coilover set up and decided to go with Koni sport adjustables with a pieced together coilover assembly. Starting with the rear first, Koni discontinued the Sport rears for 1G AWDs. I used 2G rear AWD Koni sports. They are a little shorter but install just fine. I ordered Eibach springs 2.5 diameter 7 tall in a 430 ft/lbs spring from Ground Control. I used QA1 coil over sleeves, top hats and threaded perchs. I had a friend machine an additional snap ring step a little lower than the two that come machined from Koni.
Rear upper adjustable control rods from a 3000GT were installed. This put my rear camber almost back to zero degrees.
Next was the Jay Racing active toe eliminator kit welded in to the rear trailing arms. My oem bushings were shot and I was blowing through rear tires like crazy. This part changed the whole feel of the rear end handling and I love it. Huge improvement.
And here is a pic of the final rear suspension as of now. Also threw poly bushings for the rear lower control link. I have helper springs that I need to install to keep the spring seated when at full droop.
Now for the front. I sourced two spare front oem struts to hack up and prep for the Koni sport inserts. Again went with QA1 coil over sleeves and lower threaded perches. I bought the QA1 top hats but ended up not needing them once I received the Ground Control camber/castor plates. Ground Control also supplied the front Eibachs 2.5 diameter, 7 tall and 450 ft/lbs spring rate. Summit Racing provided the Eibach 2.5 helper springs with the seat and 2.5 thrust washers to prevent binding when turning.
Ground Control initially sent me the wrong upper mounting plates pictured below. As well as the wrong size bushings. They stepped up immediately and shipped out the correct bushings and upper plate. They have always been very helpful in assisting me with this build.
I painted the modified strut housings with some mil spec polyurethane gloss yellow to match the rear Konis. They came out looking great.
Then the alignment.
BRAKES- I had already done the big GSX brake upgrade but 1, they would still fade out and warp under hard braking and 2, I just wanted sexier brakes behind those big 18 wheels and something a little different than the typical Evo Brembo upgrade. I found out that DSMtuners user KMV made caliper brackets for both the Evo Brembos and the Cadillac CTS-V 4 piston Brembos which are a little bigger. I ordered a pair of his brackets with hardware for $110. I ordered the calipers from gmperformancepartsdirect.com for $130 each. Evo X slotted rotors for $270 13.9 diameter I believe, Evo X pads for $90, Stainless steel braided lines for about $120 but you have to have the front lines made with a banjo fitting to the caliper. OEM pin, shim and spring kit from Mitsubishi for $100ish. They are the same size for the CTS-V calipers. I have to say that KMVs brackets and spacers have perfect placement centering the caliper over the rotor. A little modification needs to be made to the lower portion of Brembo caliper in order to clear the bracket and spacers. It doesnt affect the structural integrity of the caliper and can be done by machining or a porting tool. After installing everything the pedal pressure just wasnt enough to push that increased volume of fluid and felt soft and spongy. I pulled a 3G Eclipse brake master cylinder out of the junkyard which bolts right up for $20. You only need to bend the hard line to the cylinder to make it work. These cylinders have a slightly larger piston bore and push enough fluid for these big 4 piston calipers plenty. Since then I NEVER have brake fade. Driving in Southern California they definitely get used but I also put them to the test ALL the time. If you are planning on running 18 wheels, I dont think you can get a better big brake kit for the money. Not to mention an OEM Brembo caliper. Total spent I believe was just around $1k. Here is a pic of the brakes first installed. I have more detailed pics of the brackets, spacers and the small area on the back of the caliper that needs to be removed in order to clear. Im on Deployment in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as Im typing this and do not have access to all of my pics but will update when I return.
The rear brakes as of now are only upgraded with a pair of Powerslot rotors.
DRIVELINE- In 2010 I picked up a well priced TRE stage 2 23 spline trans an hour and a half away. I installed it with a local clutch companys clutch here in San Diego that held a little more than an ACT 2100. At the same time I bought a new oem throw out bearing, pivot ball, clutch fork, master cylinder, slave cylinder and a stainless braided clutch line. Filled with Redline MT90. I added shifter base bushings as well as shifter cable bushings to the combo and love how it feels shifting.
I had to source a matching 23 spline Transfer case and was hooked up by a friend for $75 and is still going strong always with Redline Shockproof.
Early 2012 I found a Southbend Kevlar clutch set up with only 1k miles on it for $200 from a local guy parting out. At this point the stock flywheel was only stepped to .610.
I love this clutch. Pedal pressure isnt bad at all for a clutch that can hold 600+ ft/lbs TQ. But even after multiple adjustments it wouldnt fully dis-engage at higher RPMs which happened to a couple other local guys running the same clutch. Months later one of those DSMers figured out after pulling his trans over and over that with the Southbend Kevlar clutch the flywheel needs to be stepped to .625 in order to fully dis-engage for smooth higher RPM shifting. Just before deploying I was able to pull the trans, clutch and flywheel to step it to .625 but did not get to run the car before I left.
A little previous to this I snapped a 3 bolt axle inside the rear differential. I found a complete 4 bolt rear end to swap in days later.
While I did the 4 bolt swap I did some exhaust work also.
I'll upload the rest of the build a little later, and sorry for some of the 90 degree pics...ish got a little crazy trying to make this build thread .