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DSMnation's GSX and GST Restoration (HD photos)

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95DSMGSX

10+ Year Contributor
176
20
Dec 17, 2011
morristown, New_Jersey
Little About Me

Hi everyone! My name’s Andy. I love Mitsubishis, along with DSMs and their history. And just like a DSM, I’m a Japanese American. I’ve been lurking around this site for some time, but never thought about keeping a journal until now. Instead of a build thread, I’ve decided to track the progress of restoring my ongoing collection of stock Mitsubishis. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be into DSMs today if my dad didn’t buy a brand new 1995 GSX Eclipse back in 1994, the year I was born. That was the car I grew up with, learned to drive with, and made me appreciate the advantages of AWD and a turbocharged engine. (My father still owns the car and has surpassed 200,000 miles on a stock engine)

Growing up, my dad took me to a lot of muscle car shows. And seeing all those older guys sit by their car priding on attributes like “matching numbers” and “complete authenticity” inspired me to appreciate restored and original cars. With that being said, I hope to be that old guy in the future still sitting next to his classic, all original, DSMs, inspiring a new generation of DSMers. So read on and enjoy!

And if you’d like to see more exclusive content on these cars or DSM history you can always check out my blog on Instagram, @DSMnation!
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The First Purchase

It was December of 2010 and I was a junior in high school looking to buy my first car. I’ve saved up about $5,000 from work and I’m dying to buy and build a full-blown “race car”. By this time I’ve lurked on DSMtuners so long and read so many build threads I had clear picture what I wanted. But when the time came to buy a car my best option was a listing on Craigslist. A bone stock 1996 Mitsubishi GSX Eclipse with 44,000 original miles for $4,800. Now I know that seems like a deal I couldn’t pass up, but at the time I was a dumb young kid that wanted just the 2Gb iconic look and a manual transmission. Damn am I glad now I didn’t pass up on this rare gem. Over the years the 2Ga look has grown on me so much I've promised myself to never sell this car until the day I can’t drive. Jay Leno, among other car collectors, always regret selling their first car, well that’s not a mistake I plan on making. So here are photos from the day I purchased my first car. :thumb:

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Trunk shocks were so blown the trunk needed to be held by the cover.
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2Ga stock fog lights ftw!!
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This poor car was in serious need of TLC...
 
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May 26, 2012 - Carpet Cleaning

So at this point I’ve enjoyed my GSX for a little more than a year now, and despite having only 47k miles, the interior needed some cleaning. I decided over the weekend to gut out the car and clean that stained grey carpet. You have to remove the front seats and other interior trimming to get the carpet out. Once I pulled out the carpet I did the following:
1. Vacuumed the carpet of all loose debris
2. Power-washed the carpet
3. Place the carpet in a bin of hot water, with a gallon of Simple Green and a gallon of Zep Carpet Cleaner
4. Wait overnight
5. Pull carpet out of dirty, soapy, water and power-wash again. Repeat steps if needed.
6. Lay carpet out in the sun to dry fully.
6. Spray Dupli-Color grey Vinyl & Fabric spray in even layers.
7. Scrub carpet while spray painting to get the color deep into the fibers.
8. Dried the carpet and replaced back in the car

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At the end of the day, I was quite pleased with the results. The color was spot on and really made a difference in making the interior look a whole lot cleaner. The best tip I can give is to make sure you brush the carpet while spraying even layers of paint; it gives the carpet a softer feeling, not crispy.
 
That was a good find, any major plans with the car?
 
That was a good find, any major plans with the car?
Thanks! I was quite lucky to have found such a DSM. My plans are to restore the car, while preserving as much original paint as I can. All oem parts, and aftermarket only if I really have to. The engine bay and the underbody really need some attention, as well as the top of the car.

Another method after soaking the carpet is to pressure wash. Gets it super clean :) they also make dye you can use works nice if you have major spots. Looks really good bro! ;)
Power-washing really does the job! The carpet has held up very well and still looks as clean as the day I finished this. And thank you!

Finally u made a thread on tuners! LOL I haven't seen the car in awhile man where u been at?!
LOL bruh...where have u been at?! How's that racecar going?? Just work and school have been keeping me real busy lately. But I figured it was time for me to start a thread of all the past work I've done so far. I'll be sure to put up the pics of our cars on here!
 
MAY 31, 2012 - A Gem in Town

I was cruising down a two way street in my 1996 GSX Eclipse when I shouted to my brother, “Look at that over there!” In the corner of my eye, I spotted a silver Mitsubishi Eclipse by those iconic tail lights. She had the turbo-model high spoiler and was sporting a nice set of stock chrome wheels. From the looks of it, the car seemed so unmolested. I thought, “Could this be true?! A DSM that isn’t ruined with a Blitz body kit, a 5 inch cannon exhaust, and a paint job that makes the car look like it’s been through hell and back.”

I pulled right over into the Super Foodtown parking lot and parked right next to the car, like any DSMer would instinctively do. I got out of my car and checked out as much as I could. The paint was like something unseen before. Not a single blemish, scratch, nick, or dent in sight. It was almost as if I went back in time to Normal, Illinois and she just rolled off the assembly line. After I picked my jaw up off the ground, I took a look underneath. Not a bit of rust was to be found! I thought I struck gold at this point, but as Billy Mays would say, “Wait! There’s more!”

And what I saw I just wasn’t ready for. I peeked through the window to read the odometer. 47,500 miles! Just a few miles more than my GSX at the time. I looked around even more. 5 Speed manual. Check. Black leather interior. Check. Chrome wheels. Check. Factory mudflaps. Check. At this point I was wondering, what guy owns this beautiful 1999 GS-T Eclipse?? (Black leather seats was an option available only in 1999.)

I waited around to see the man walk back to his car from the grocery store. But t’was no man. An elderly woman with an armful of grocery bags was making her way in my direction. As she paced to the back of the car to open the trunk, I ran over to help her lift up that heavy hatch and put the groceries away. After scoring some brownie points I couldn’t help but bombard the poor old woman with so many questions about the car.

She explained her husband bought this car brand new back in 1999 as a Valentine’s Day gift for her. She loved the car. She told me she would only drive it in the summer on nice days and garage it the rest of the year. When I asked her if she would ever sell the car, with a faint smile she said, “join the waiting list kid”. And that was it. As she drove off into the distance, I thought that would be the last time I see such a DSM.
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June 2, 2014 - Striking Gold!

Back from college, home in New Jersey for the summer. It was good to be back in my GSX after months of no driving. It was the afternoon, the sun was out, and I was spooling around town. Then I spotted a silver Eclipse, parked right on the side of the road outside my old high school! Could it be the very same DSM from two years ago?? I slammed on the brakes and pulled right over to see this baby again. Well, what do you know? The car was just as perfect as I remembered and had a big FOR SALE sign!

I knew I had to buy this car before some Monster drinking, flat-bill cap wearing, COD playing teen with mommy’s bank account ruins it with eBay bolt-ons. The odometer was still at a very low reading of 52,000 miles, but the selling price was just out of my budget. I had to give my bargaining skills a shot so I called the owner to meet up later that day. Turned out the owner lived up the street right next to mine!

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(Weird panel gap fixed...don't worry!)




Good deeds really do go a long way. As I pulled up to the owner’s house in my GSX, the woman was instantly reminded of the time I helped her with her groceries. Her reason for selling the car was that she hurt her leg and could no longer drive stick shift. I told her I may not be able to offer the highest price, but at least I can offer a good home/garage and a promise to take care of her precious gift. She knew I was genuine and thanked me again for the time I helped her years ago as she handed over the keys. With the exchange completed, I took some photos of the car in its original condition and drove off down the street to its new home.

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(If you zoom in, you can read the odometer. And +1 for the owner covering the oem floor mats with aftermarket ones since '99!)
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(Engine Bay could use a good cleaning...stay tuned!)
 
That's awesome when kind acts have a way of coming back to help you as well.

The car looks fantastic - even the slightly dirty engine bay. Looks like an honest kind of dirty. And those headlamps... perfect! You can tell it never spent too much time out in the sun.

Looks like her balljoint must have snapped and thrown the wheel into the fender. Dang balljoints LOL.
 
That's awesome when kind acts have a way of coming back to help you as well.

The car looks fantastic - even the slightly dirty engine bay. Looks like an honest kind of dirty. And those headlamps... perfect! You can tell it never spent too much time out in the sun.

Looks like her balljoint must have snapped and thrown the wheel into the fender. Dang balljoints LOL.

Yes the "petina" was honest, but definitely wasn't detailed since it came to the dealership in '99. Luckily the GS-T has never been driven in the rain either! Glad you like the cars and the thread! Cheers.
 
You're only 3 years behind in your updates. Keep up the random updates LOL

The 2ga cars took the worst hit of the fast and furious time

Never thought i would find my highscool car again, but it's the exact same car as the one I had growing up. It's a time machine driving it.

You know what bugs me the most, I can't find a stock radio head unit anywhere!

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April 11, 2016: GS-T Detailing

All original, and from 1999, the Minden Silver Pearl paint has held up extraordinarily well. Although always garaged, the car could use a good detail. The results of a great clay-bar and wax 2 day treatment left me stunned. The color of this car really does change hue in different lighting conditions; the silver occasionally can exude an almost bluish pearl tint.

I bought a nicely weighted carbon fiber shift knob and put the original in the glove box to prevent any further wear.




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You're only 3 years behind in your updates. Keep up the random updates LOL

The 2ga cars took the worst hit of the fast and furious time

Never thought i would find my highscool car again, but it's the exact same car as the one I had growing up. It's a time machine driving it.

You know what bugs me the most, I can't find a stock radio head unit anywhere!

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That's is a beautiful 2Ga you have there. Is it still like that today, with the swirly wheels and all? Unfortunately, fast and furious did take a lot of those away, but the rarity now makes it all that much better.
 
That's is a beautiful 2Ga you have there. Is it still like that today, with the swirly wheels and all? Unfortunately, fast and furious did take a lot of those away, but the rarity now makes it all that much better.

Still stock appearance wise. Like I said the 2ga bodies are technically rarer than the 2gb models which sold for an extra year more than the early models

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Hi everybody,

I decided to give the 2G GS-T a walkaround since some people were asking to see more of it.

The car doesn't need a whole lot, really just some detailing here and there. Enjoy!

The GSX is still undergoing its never ending resto...

 
SOS Calling on all DSMers!

I am currently restoring my 1996 GSX Eclipse and in desperate need of the oem rear hatch MITSUBISHI decal. I know this has been discontinued for a while and vendors have now run out.

I am looking to see if a DSMer out there may have one, I will pay a good price for it. The part # is MR716496

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I am sure there are replicas available however I wanted to use OEM parts only for this restoration to keep it very authentic. Figured there is a DSMer out there that might have one saved.
I am sure there are replicas available however I wanted to use OEM parts only for this restoration to keep it very authentic. Figured there is a DSMer out there that might have one saved.
Sorry, newb here. Are they just vinyl lettering?

I do lots of vinyl decals and could make a replica.
I am sure there are replicas available however I wanted to use OEM parts only for this restoration to keep it very authentic. Figured there is a DSMer out there that might have one saved.

I do appreciate you offering your services however, if need be I will use it.
 
July 25, 2018: Mitsubishi Garage Tour


Over the summer I decided to record what the current state of the Mitsubishi garage looks like. Over the last few months I've been busy cleaning out and painting the garage. Got some cool LED lights on the way so I can actually work on the cars at night.

 
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