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Street Build Project Final X

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Aproductions

10+ Year Contributor
2,124
50
Aug 11, 2009
Allentown, Pennsylvania
I have been in the DSM game since I got my first car back in 2007 with a 1999 GS-T. Over the last 8 years I have had a handful of these cars ranging from GS-T, GSX and even a Galant VR-4 and never really documented the builds. After searching for what seemed like years for a clean GSX to daily drive I stumbled upon the perfect one for me.

I made a few phone calls and went to see the car which was actually pretty local. The car has been locked away since 2007 in a garage left to be forgotten. Long story short the son moved across the country and lost interest and the father had power of attorney. Of course I was thinking in the back of my mind the car would need some work from sitting so long but the combination of the aftermarket parts and the clean rust free shell had me sold.

It was exactly what I was looking for and the last year for the eclipse Gsx. My new project - Final X.


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Clean man! You gonna make it a beast ;)
Thanks and yes the goal is to have a reliable fun 16g awd car. Looking for around 350hp.

One thing that I am already noticing is how much the aftermarket scene has changed with these cars. This had some old school custom long routed front mount so it was the first to go. I installed a new vrsf with ngr bov. Overall the install was pretty easy I had to cut the rad support and I also went ahead and put in a 3 piece black grill. The grill really helps to keep the fins from getting bent and fills the holes on the sides. Other than that I just did fluids and a new battery and she fired right up. I went with the heavy shockproof for the rear and transfer case and the redline mt90 for the transmission.


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Small update- I had to put different tires on today since the other ones were made in 2004! I put on 225/45/17 Yokohama's and got an alignment and while I was in there I painted the calipers. The car has tein basic coilovers and aem front rotors.


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It is never easy with these cars but I finally installed the poly motor mounts. The transmission mount ended up getting stripped so I dropped 3 mounts and lowered the motor so I could get to the trans bolt holes from under the car. I went with 3 full poly mounts (used a 1g full poly for rear rollstop) and a bulfab crossmember.

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I could not stand the lag for the car being a daily driver so I installed a Evo 3 16g with a Megan racing o2 housing. The 50 trim that was on it was fun but I barely ever spooled it up all the way. I am running 25lbs now with the 16g.

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I ordered a bunch of parts to help refresh the car a little. fuel filter, egr delete, fuel injector seals, intake manifold gasket and throttle body gaskets. I had to do a double take on the car it has a 6 bolt head, 2g CAS and a 2g block:confused: To top it all off I have a blown heater core so I need to find some time to remove the whole dash

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Nice little update.

My pinion seal was leaking on the rear diff and from what I read it will keep leaking unless you replace the bushings in the subframe and diff too. The whole rear came out pretty easy for doing it alone. I just dropped the exhaust, disconnected the driveshaft, ebrake cables, control arms and then hit the 4 nuts on the subframe.

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After that came the fun of torching out the bushings on the subframe which made a huge mess.

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Then I drilled small holes in the differential bushings which made it easier to cut out the metal sleeves.

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While the rear diff was out I installed new axle seals and replaced the main pinion seal which was the one leaking.

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The new differential seals went in easy for not using a press. I cleaned all the holes well sanding them smooth. I put a big socket over the bushing and went to town with a big hammer. You need to take your time getting the bushing straight and then you can work it in more.

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I got everything back together for the most part and it was ready to reinstall

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Then I went ahead and rebuilt my shifter with the new nylon bushings and I also went with the solid shifter base bushings and solid under hood bushings for the cables.

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I topped it off with some new hardware for the driveshaft.

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UPDATE:

I just about finished putting the in the rear and then I decided to add poly bushings in the rear arms. I had a prothane kit just sitting around that I forgot about. Install was easy but time consuming. Same deal as the subframe you have to torch the bushings and then saw the sleeve. After that you just lube and install the poly bushings and collar. During that time I ran into some issues with what seemed like everything (2 steps forward 1 step back). The new exhaust would not bolt up, the axles were seized and the ball joints were worn. First I installed the intake manifold with the new gaskets and injector orings for my FIC 750s. I also found a stock heat shield and threw that on too.

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Now back to the axles being seized in the knuckles. A 10 ton press was not working with heat and all the torch/rust penetration in the world. I ended up getting a set of strictly axles, OEM hub/wheel bearings and at the same time I got the tubular toe arms from 99gst_racer in the classifieds.

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My current exhaust was an apex down pipe with bottleneck to a RSR catback with 2 resonators and then the muffler. I did not like the bottleneck or the sound for that matter so I upgraded. I ordered a STM catback and a brand new punishment racing downpipes(cat delete).
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Now comes the problem with the fitment between the 2. Both companies claim to be bolt on meaning the downpipe should bolt to a factory catback and the STM should bolt where the cat would end. To me it looks like the punishment downpipe is the one that is off and they have not responded to my email. I ended up going back to STM for the downpipe and the test pipe.
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You would think the headache would be over but you couldn't be more wrong. The STM downpipe will NOT bolt onto a Megan racing o2 housing. I figured the whole exhaust should be the same brand so I called STM and they had a nice recirculated o2 housing so I picked that. I wanted the spool sound over the loud dump sound as this is a daily for me.
I do not have the detailed pics of everything but here is the exhaust on and running sound clip (272 HKS)
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I got the car re-aligned because the new adjustable toe arms and now it rides like its on rails. I will say these arms are made really well and its nice they are rebuildable and I won't have to order another whole arm like stock. I then ordered the Dsmlink V3 package and rebuilt the throttle body with new seals and a bypass plate. During the alignment I saw that I had an axle seal leaking which must have gotten nicked during install. I went back in there and installed another one and added more redline heavy shockproof to fill the differential yet again. Then I started one of my least favorite projects....the heater core replacement.
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Couple FBOMBS and shaking everything around and the heater core box comes out. This core deserves a special place in hell.
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When I finish the dash install I am going to be doing the following:
1. boost leak test
2. tune the car with Dsmlink
3. grind/paint and install brembo's with EVO X wheels.
4. install a lip on the front bumper
5. install bumper support brackets from boostedfab
 
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I love the direction you're taking with the car! I have a feeling I may end up regretting switching from the evo 3 16g to the fp hta green.
 
Update time!

Got the dash back in without too much trouble and went ahead and did a boost leak test. I fixed the 4 leaks I found and just need to retest after the weather clears up. I also went ahead and installed the boosted fab bumper support which makes everything line up better (no pics yet). I also got a shaved valve cover, clear timing cover, and a custom carbon fiber spark plug cover with SS hardware. I still need to tune and install the Brembo calipers.

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i just bought that spark plug cover as well LOL. off dude from fb. hey that exhaust is different, i have never heard that one before. poor deal with the fitment LOL. sounds like it was a pain in the butt. i am going to be purchasing a new heater core, care to share a link of the one you bought?
 
I haven't updated in awhile but I recently got a few more things done to the car. I installed the FP manifold and took care of the snapped bolt in the head. I tapped it and then did a helicoil and installed new forced performance hardware. I decided to put the Precision turbo back on with the FP intake because I missed the power.
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I also went ahead and cut the front bumper out to increase flow to the front mount intercooler. It wasn't too bad I just took the bumper off and used a rotary tool with a cutting wheel on it. I installed another lip to replace my HD lip that lasted a day.

Before and after
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Last I installed a strut bar and got a SS fuel line from the filter to the rail because the stock banjo line is pretty restrictive. I put on the Greddy catch can that I still need to run the lines for.
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Finally got the brembos done! I kept putting it off because I did not have the time to test fit them and tap the holes. Bonehead performance coated them for me and they came out amazing. I rebuilt them using the girodisc seals and installed pretty easy. I also went and installed a nrg hub, quick disconnect and new steering wheel.

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Update!

I forgot to post the final pictures of the Brembo calipers installed with the new Evo x wheels. I did have to roll the fenders because a am lowered. Other than that these wheels fit the car perfectly.

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I ended up powdercoating them black just a couple days later to help set off the red
Brembos. This photo is from yesterday and we got a pretty big snowstorm here. This car can get through anything.

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The biggest news is that I am fully going to build this car and I bought a bigger turbo (HX40 .82 T3) and matching manifold for it. Huge shoutout to archer fab for the beautiful manifold and hood dump!

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Starting tearing into the DSM last weekend and am ready to pull it on my next day off work. Drained all the fluids, pulled the radiator, turbo and manifold, exhaust, transfer case, intercooler piping and the axles. I also had JMF weld a spare oil pan for the HX40 (-12an) I love that their shop is local they do :thumb: work. I also bit the bullet and picked up a new Tial 44 MVR wastegate for the hood dump.
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Pulled the engine on Wednesday. My plan is to put it on a engine stand this weekend and then put the built engine I have on my other stand so I can transfer the parts easier. I am also going to be painting the engine bay, replacing the worn front suspension and installing aluminum subframe inserts. The next update will be after this weekend.

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Did not have much time yeserday but I cut the sleeves out of the subframe and installed the aluminum bushings. Then I started on installing the poly bushings in the front control arms. I ordered the RM swaybars, fuel lab filter with SS filter and abs delete lines with a 3G master. I still need to find a 3G brake booster.

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I went to the "u pull it" yard this weekend and they had 2 3g eclipses there. I scooped both masters and brake boosters just in case there was an issue and also because they were cheap. I will be putting a set up for sale if anyone is interested.

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I went to the "u pull it" yard this weekend and they had 2 3g eclipses there. I scooped both masters and brake boosters just in case there was an issue and also because they were cheap. I will be putting a set up for sale if anyone is interested.

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FYI the galants and lancers for those years have the same booster, and the lancer has the cooler looking reservoir. i have the galant installed, and its literally the same as the eclipse, yet at the yard i went to, they were $25 vs. $45 for the 3g for some reason... same part number! oh and the connector from the 2g resi was the same as the 3g so you dont need to swap wires or anything.
 
I have the engine fully assembled/timed now.
Manley Hbeam rods, Manley platinum series pistons, ACL bearings, ARP headstuds, EVO 9 valvetrain, Delta 272 cams. I noticed last minute you are not supposed to use helical gears with a BSE so I ordered straight cut ones and quickly swapped them.

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I also got the engine bay painted using the factory silver minden pearl with a 2k clearcoat.

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