MichaelSuch submitted a new DSM Profile :

For Travis


Read more about this vehicle here...

First off this thread is mostly for me to track the progress of the car and remind myself why we do what we do. For the friendship's that these cars have created and the memories made.

Travis Whitehead was a local DSMr that passed away in a motorcycle accident on May 18, 2015. I've only spoke with Travis a handful of times during various St. Louis car shows and events. I heard of his passing from other local DSMr's and even though I was not close to him I was still disheartened. I had always wondered what would happen with his 1992 Eclipse GSX. He was one of the few in the area that stuck with the Auto trans and was actually racing it in local events. You can read his obituary here.

Fast forward to July 17, 2018, I found an ad on Craigslist. It was a 1992 Eclipse GSX that was being sold as his sons unfinished project as his son passed away 3 years ago. I immediately knew who's car this was and called right away. The ad was listed for 11 days and I had expected it to be sold. When I called his father I asked if Travis' car was still available. He said it was and I had asked if there has been much interest in it. He stated there were several younger guys (kids) asking about it and stated they didn't know much about these cars. At that point I told him I would purchase it but needed a couple days before I could make it there. He agreed to hold it for me and I was there 2 days later. When I arrived the car was exactly the way Travis had left it. The fuel system and turbo kit was removed for upgrades. Travis' father knew a little about the car and had planned to put it back together, but he never had time. He said the bottom end had eagle rods and a locker was just put in the transmission. He had a new JMF top mount manifold that Travis had never seen, it was found in front of his door after his passing. The turbo he was putting on was a Precision 6766 that appeared to be in very good condition. He included everything that he thought was for the car which was a lot of new and extra parts.

When I brought it home I pulled the valve cover to find dual valve springs and Kelford 272 cams. I used a bore scope and the pistons were indeed forged, I could not see the part number from what appeared to be marks from a scotch brite pad cleaning up the carbon on top of the pistons. I looked under the car and seen the torque converter was painted red and a Kiggly flexplate. I contacted Mike @ Sinister Speed and he said Travis was the original owner of a Spoolinator converter and it made sense now as to why he had not heard from Travis in years. I contacted ExtremePSI and they were able to send me Travis' invoices, the bottom end did indeed consist of Eagle rods and Wiseco 8.3:1 .020" over pistons. The invoice date was from 2011. After going through the car a little more I found the original owners manual along with the window sticker and some paperwork. It appeared that this car was purchased in 2013. His dad said he had several of these cars before this one and he had gotten out of them in order to find the right one to build. The engine may have been a build for another DSM that he kept for this one. Travis took extremely good care of this car. It has 119,469 miles and was repainted during his ownership. Almost all of the parts he had for the car was new and he did not cut any corners on the build. It was top notch stuff and for the most part everything is there. Judging by the parts he had (PTE6766, JMF bolt in fuel cell, Fuelab Prodigy external fuel pump) he was building it for big power. I just hope I can put it back together the way he would have wanted it and continue racing it. That is all for now, more updates to come and I will try my best to keep up with pictures throughout the process.

Reserved

Reserved

I would of cried and hugged the parents probably. Such a young guy.

Im glad another dsm'r got this car. I wish the best of luck and looks like you are on a good start for the build.

That's a touching story. You stay in touch with the parents at all? Hope the build goes well, can't wait to see it back on the track!

That was the first time I met his parents. My girlfriend went with me and she talked with Travis' mom the whole time while his father and I were loading the car. I have his fathers number saved and he is hoping to see some pictures in the future.

I'll be visiting the track he went to with the car for sure. It will be the perfect place to test without the local group I race with knowing about another AWD in the works. I don't want to bring it around them until it is completely ready.

Work has been super busy and with the holidays there has not been much time to work on the car but I managed to move it to a small single car garage at my buddies house with heat. It tucked away nicely in there.


I picked up a few goodies for it as well.
FIC 2150s
Fidanza adjustable cam gears
Kiggly crankshaft trigger plate setup
Fuelab 10an in/out filter


I was able to get the cam gears and injectors installed, replaced the water pump, replace the fuel filler hose and mount the jmf fuel cell. I hope to get back to it next week. Spring is right around the corner!

Awesome! Definatly following this one!