Hey Nathan, you still working on your DSM? Or are you putting all efforts into the Evo?

What he said. ^^^

(I've been subscribed to this one for years...)

Its been a while

I just read through this thread a bit, and I would also like to see some updates.

But guys, he hasn't been active since 2018. Cross your fingers but he's most likely gone.

Ludachris said:

Hey Nathan, you still working on your DSM? Or are you putting all efforts into the Evo?

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dr1665 said:

What he said. ^^^

(I've been subscribed to this one for years...)

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92AWDHX40 said:

Its been a while

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BLACK'98DSM said:

I just read through this thread a bit, and I would also like to see some updates.

But guys, he hasn't been active since 2018. Cross your fingers but he's most likely gone.

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It’s been a while but I’m back! Over the past few years, I’ve been through a few different vehicle platforms, Evo’s, C4 Corvette, Overlanding builds on a Montero and two Sequoias, three motorcycles (V-Max and two Harley-Davidsons), and an ex-military Humvee. Through all this, I kept my 1g but unfortunately it just sat for years, baking in the El Paso sun with ethanol sitting in the tank.

Last month I decided not to buy anymore vehicles and instead to focus on my current fleet and getting everything back on the road and back in rotation for use. The DSM was first!


I tried to start it up, but the ethanol had done some damage. The pump was failing, and injector seals and fuel-line adaptor O-rings were leaking. I purchased a new Walbro 255, FIC injector seal kit (for the FIC 850’s) and drained the tank and refilled with fresh E-85. After that it started up and surprising runs super smooth!



Next, the El Paso Sun had eaten away my DIY rattle can clear coat. I know this is not traditional, but I was very impressed with the Raptor Liner I applied on my Humvee and decided to give it a shot on the DSM. I would hate to spend a bunch of money on a paint job have the clear be eaten away from sitting outside. I had some leftover tintable Raptor liner so just ordered the white tint and went to town. It turned and really great and I’m very happy with it.




Over the years I’ve been through several car covers, but the sun and wind always destroy them in short order. To help protect the interior, I just had all the windows tinted, 25% up front and 15% in the back. The heat also seems to have killed my passenger window motor, passenger power seatbelt, and my AEM wideband gauge, so I’ll have to address those too.



It’s probably been 10 years since I changed the oil in this thing, so I just bought the new synthetic oil and filter and I’ll be changing that this evening when I get home. I’ll also be cleaning the K&N filter, which luckily has been protected with a pre-filter leftover from my RallyX days.

Next is the brakes. I pulled the pads to repaint the calipers to find they were in rough shape. One of the rear pads was actually separating from the backing. I ordered a full set of PowerStop coated rotors and carbon-fiber/ceramic pads that should be here by the end of the week.

To celebrate getting it back on the road, I just ordered a new set of DSMtuners decals and entered it into the Low Class Militia Spring Fest event this weekend! More updates and pictures to come soon and I’ll try to keep this build updated better going forward!

Welcome back. And I personally like textured coatings for paint jobs, if done correctly.

That's awesome, thanks for sharing Nathan. Nice to see all the fun you've been having.

My friend has a two-door hummer military for off road use its cool.

Love the variation of vehicles! I'm in the same boat after a work bonus. Trying to focus on the current cars and stay off Craigslist/Marketplace.

The textured white does look sick and you did a great job with it.

BLACK'98DSM said:

Welcome back. And I personally like textured coatings for paint jobs, if done correctly.

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Thank you! I was blown away at how easy it was to spray the Raptor liner, keep it clean, and how durable it's been on the Humvee over the past 2.5 years. I was very nervous to spray it on the 1G but am very pleased with how it turned out.

Ludachris said:

That's awesome, thanks for sharing Nathan. Nice to see all the fun you've been having.

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Thanks Chris! Its been an adventure!

92AWDHX40 said:

My friend has a two-door hummer military for off road use its cool.

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This was originally a 2-door USMC M1123 variant. I have it in 4 door configuration with a Jeep bench seat in the back so my whole family of 5 can go out in it. We have take it all over Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, offroading and camping.

BeatupVR4 said:

Love the variation of vehicles! I'm in the same boat after a work bonus. Trying to focus on the current cars and stay off Craigslist/Marketplace.

The textured white does look sick and you did a great job with it.

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Exactly! Every time I buy something new that takes all my time and attention for 1-2 years and I keep getting further and further behind on my other vehicles. I'm trying to be more balanced and spread the love amongst the entire fleet.

Last night I changed the oil, Mobil 1 10w30 and a Wix 51381 filter. You used to be able to just walk in the auto parts store and get 1G DSM oil filters off the shelf, but I went to three different stores and no one had it in stock, so I had to order it from a hub. Even the oil filter catalog at one of the auto parts stores only went back to 2002. This is making me feel old.


Also, I forgot to add this to yesterday's update, but I also replaced the battery (it was 10 years old and would only charge up to 6 volts) with an Optima 25 Red Top and replaced the rear hatch struts (again!).

9!'clipseDOHC said:

Exactly! Every time I buy something new that takes all my time and attention for 1-2 years and I keep getting further and further behind on my other vehicles. I'm trying to be more balanced and spread the love amongst the entire fleet.

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Good to know it's not just me! You should start a self help group.

Looking good @9!'clipseDOHC

BeatupVR4 said:

Good to know it's not just me! You should start a self help group.

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Haha, I'm sure this effects a bunch of us!

1qkfwd said:

Looking good @9!'clipseDOHC

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Thanks Justin!

Last week my new brakes came in. The brakes on the car were good but the sitting had taken a toll. Rotors were rusted and one of the pads was separating from the backing plate. I installed PowerStop Extreme Performance coated rotors and carbon fiber -ceramic pads. It was a very easy install and then I took it out to bed them in properly.



I also cleaned and re-oiled the K&N air filter.


One final step before it was officially ready, new DSMtuners decals!


This weekend I entered my 1G and Humvee into Low Class Militia's Springfest 10 car show at the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. It was an awesome event with hundreds of cool cars and thousands of spectators. In addition to the car show, they had limbo and 2step competitions which were a lot of fun to watch! Right as we were pulling up to the entrance gate, the DSM shut off and wouldn't restart. I couldn't hear the fuel pump and then checked the power wire from the fuel pump rewire and the fuse was blown. I traced the wiring all they way back and couldn't fine any shorts but every fuse I put in would blow as soon I turned the key. I replaced the whole power wire just to make sure I wasn't missing anything and it still blew the fuse. I eventually pulled the fuel pump out to find the power wire in the tank had rubbed against the hanger and was causing the short. I wrapped it in electrical tape and added a piece of loom where the wire was touching the hanger and was finally back in action!








Unfortunately, the 1G didn't win any awards, but the Humvee took 1st place in the Offroad category. The museum staff even let me pull it into the hanger to get a picture next to an iconic WWII P-40 Warhawk which was the icing on the cake to a great event!



Yesterday, my wife and I properly routed the new fuel pump power wire and got everything put back together nicely after our field repair before the show. I also noticed a pretty significant oil leak on the timing belt side that I will have to investigate further. (Before anyone says anything, I have jackstands are under the axles.)


Lastly, my 20-year anniversary DSMtuners shirt came in this weekend so I decided to recreate a 21-year old picture from the day I first bought this car when I was 16. Its crazy how time flies!

It's good to have you back Nathan. And I love that shirt.

Ludachris said:

It's good to have you back Nathan. And I love that shirt.

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Thanks Chris! The design and fit of the shirt are both great!

I'm down to four main issues I need to address:

Idle Surge but only when the engine is warming up and also only when moving. Once I come to a stop, it idles perfect again. I pulled the ISC and tested it will a multimeter and with a visual inspection and its working great. I will perform a boost leak test to check for leaks. It seems weird to me that its only while moving though. What would allow the tires rolling to affect the engine's idle?

Difficultly starting when engine is cold. It seems I am losing all fuel pressure when the engine is off, thus taking a lot of cranks to get fuel back up to the rail to start. I do not see any external leaks and I have already replaced the diaphragm in my Buschur/Aeromotive FPR to no avail. I just added an Aeromotive one-way check valve on the inlet side of the fuel rail but that didn't help anything either.

Oil Leak on the oil pump side. I haven't started digging into this one yet.

Passenger auto seatbelt stuck in the forward position.

I made some great progress today! I decided to track down the oil leak so I removed all the accessory belts, pulleys, and timing belt cover. It was an oily mess behind the cover. I cleaned everything up and then ran the motor to identify the leak. It turns out the nut on the oil pump sprocket had loosened a bit and that was the source of the leak. I cleaned the threads, applied blue thread locker, and torqued to the factory 43 ft.lbs. Afterwards I started it up again and verified that it was no longer leaking! Tomorrow I will put everything back together.




I also looked into the passenger seatbelt being stuck in the forward position. It took some trial and error but it turns out the door latch on the chasis side needed to be adjusted to activate the switch on the door side latch. As soon as I got it adjusted, the seatbelt started functioning again!

Lastly I made a trip to the local junkyard. They only had one 1g DSM, a base model Eclipse that had been out in the yard since June and is about to be scrapped. Luckily I and found a nice headliner and a few other little interior pieces. It’s been a while since I’ve had a headliner in the car and it looks great to finally be complete! Unfortunately though, the plastic mount for the drivers side sun-visor snapped, so I need to find a replacement (no luck at the junkyard).

9!'clipseDOHC said:

I made some great progress today! I decided to track down the oil leak so I removed all the accessory belts, pulleys, and timing belt cover. It was an oily mess behind the cover. I cleaned everything up and then ran the motor to identify the leak. It turns out the nut on the oil pump sprocket had loosened a bit and that was the source of the leak. I cleaned the threads, applied blue thread locker, and torqued to the factory 43 ft.lbs. Afterwards I started it up again and verified that it was no longer leaking! Tomorrow I will put everything back together.
View attachment 724339
View attachment 724340
View attachment 724341

I also looked into the passenger seatbelt being stuck in the forward position. It took some trial and error but it turns out the door latch on the chasis side needed to be adjusted to activate the switch on the door side latch. As soon as I got it adjusted, the seatbelt started functioning again!

Lastly I made a trip to the local junkyard. They only had one 1g DSM, a base model Eclipse that had been out in the yard since June and is about to be scrapped. Luckily I and found a nice headliner and a few other little interior pieces. It’s been a while since I’ve had a headliner in the car and it looks great to finally be complete! Unfortunately though, the plastic mount for the drivers side sun-visor snapped, so I need to find a replacement (no luck at the junkyard).
View attachment 724342

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I think @jersygsx had one up for sale recently..

9!'clipseDOHC said:

I made some great progress today! I decided to track down the oil leak so I removed all the accessory belts, pulleys, and timing belt cover. It was an oily mess behind the cover. I cleaned everything up and then ran the motor to identify the leak. It turns out the nut on the oil pump sprocket had loosened a bit and that was the source of the leak. I cleaned the threads, applied blue thread locker, and torqued to the factory 43 ft.lbs. Afterwards I started it up again and verified that it was no longer leaking! Tomorrow I will put everything back together.
View attachment 724339
View attachment 724340
View attachment 724341

I also looked into the passenger seatbelt being stuck in the forward position. It took some trial and error but it turns out the door latch on the chasis side needed to be adjusted to activate the switch on the door side latch. As soon as I got it adjusted, the seatbelt started functioning again!

Lastly I made a trip to the local junkyard. They only had one 1g DSM, a base model Eclipse that had been out in the yard since June and is about to be scrapped. Luckily I and found a nice headliner and a few other little interior pieces. It’s been a while since I’ve had a headliner in the car and it looks great to finally be complete! Unfortunately though, the plastic mount for the drivers side sun-visor snapped, so I need to find a replacement (no luck at the junkyard).
View attachment 724342

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Do you mean the latch mechanism in the door, or the actual striker on the door frame? Neither of mine will go back from the forward position and I’m trying to figure out why. The passenger side WAS in the locked position but when I opened the door it beeped and moved forward which is where it’s decided to live permanently.

DreamChaser7 said:

I think @jersygsx had one up for sale recently..

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I was able to find a metal bracket for the sun visor from another vehicle and make it work for now. I'll share a picture soon.

CrackedDSM said:

Do you mean the latch mechanism in the door, or the actual striker on the door frame? Neither of mine will go back from the forward position and I’m trying to figure out why. The passenger side WAS in the locked position but when I opened the door it beeped and moved forward which is where it’s decided to live permanently.

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The actual striker on the door frame needed to be adjusted. I had taken it off when I painted the car and when I put it back on it wasn't quite activating the sensor on the door side. It took several attempts to get it in the correct place so I left the key in the on position so after each adjustment I would shut the door until finally the seatbelt went forward as soon as the door shut.

I drove it to work yesterday and can confirm that there is no more oil leak!

Still working on the last two issues, idle surge when cold and not holding fuel pressure when turned off.

I decided to do something fun with the Eclipse, something I have never done with this car before in my 21 years of ownership. I'm going to take it on 1,800-mile long-weekend road trip! My plan is to drive from El Paso, Texas to Los Angeles, California! I'm going to drive all the way out to the coast, drive the whole length of Mullholland Drive, see the Hollywood sign, visit a few of the original F&F filming locations, drive the PCH down to San Diego, hit a few beaches, and head back to Texas.

Of course I am running E85, so I'm plotting my trip and fuel stops using the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center App. I will also be carrying 10-gallons of spare E85 in military Sceptor MFC containers. The longest stretch without an E85 station is 300 miles from El Centro, CA to Tucson, AZ.

To make the trip more enjoyable, I just ordered a new Apple Car Play enabled double din head unit and 4 new speakers. I also ordered a refurbished passenger window motor and regulator assembly because the last new aftermarket one I purchased is already shot again.

I'm hoping to take this trip in just a couple of weeks so stay tuned!

The more I think about doing this on E85 the more concerned I am becoming with availability of true E85. Some of the gas stations I spoke to carry FLEX FUEL and not true E85, which could be as low as E15. I'm seriously considering trying to find one of my old 91 octane maps to switch back to for this trip. It's been forever since I have messed with ECMLink though so I will have to dust off the cobwebs in my brain before taking that on.

Last night after work I got to work installing the new head unit (PLZ MP-902W) and rear 6x9 speakers (Cerwin-Vega XED693). The rear speakers didn't quite fit in the pockets due to the depth of the magnets, but I was able to use some spacers between the pockets and speakers to give them proper clearance. I bought the Metra 70-1743 harness adapter which made installation of the new head unit a breeze. I soldered all the connections and sealed them with heat shrink. It's great to have a working stereo in the car again, especially with all the added Apple Car Play features. I still need to install the door speakers and I just ordered a set of new dash speakers as well. It's coming together!

Which head unit and does it have HDMI?

curt-s said:

Which head unit and does it have HDMI?

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The brand is PLZ (Amazon). It was only $129 (with coupon) and has 4.5 stars so I figured I would give it a try. It does not have HDMI connections, but it does capability for both front and rear cameras. The big thing for me was Apple Car Play compatibility.