Interior is now complete. Harness bar has been modified to fit the eclipse interior properly, which required the support rods to be extended. Sparco seats, brackets, and belts fully installed, and to top it off some brand new oem floor mats from extremepsi

Its been a while - I have been enjoying the DSM for the first time in 10 years, and it feels nice to be out. I am shocked at the attention it gets, especially from younger kids. I was recently approached by FASSLYFE magazine to be featured inside. This has always been a goal of mine, and from what I was told - it made the cover! I cant remember the last time I saw a DSM on the cover of a mag, so I am honored by their selection. Here are a few pics from the shoot.

The car looks great! I really like the Enkei wheels you have on it! What are the wheel and tire specs on that setup?

idkiliketurbos - sorry for the delay, I have not looked at this thread in a while. They are enkie evo 8's 18x8. I really do not remember the offset - they have been on my car since 2005 haha

New York's winter has finally arrived and the only positive thing about it is that I now have down time to work on the car. I have decided that I am happy with the power it makes, so I will stick with my current pump gas setup. This winter I will be installing a new tubular rear subframe made by NDD. a freshly rebuilt rear diff from TRE, new fuel tank by Vamos Design, and top it off with Boostin' Performance's amazing shifter setup.

The first piece of the puzzle arrived today - freshly rebuilt and beefed up rear diff, done by Jon at Team Rip. Along with a FF rear cover, and a Vamos design rear driveshaft loop. Very impressed with how it came out.

It's almost time for my tubular subframe to be shipped to me, so I began my tear down to get a head of things. This past week I successfully removed the stock rear subframe, and gas tank (for sale if anyone wants them). I am going to take the time now to address the undercarriage rust.
Replacing the stock tank with a Vamos design aluminum tank.

Floor tarped off and ready for rust removal and treatment.

Very interested in seeing the aluminum tank.

You had Jon Build your Diff? Good luck getting your core deposit back - I've been after him for months, if you can, wait to send in your core until he pays.

Jon did rebuild it, but I did not have a core charge. I had a spare diff that I sent him, so I was lucky. Sorry to hear your being held up. He does do fantastic work though.

How did you get in to Evans for a tune and approximately how much did it cost? That place is like 5 minutes from me, but I was under the impression he shut down that side of the business...

Um I hope you had the subframe people mock up the thickness diffrence for the drive shaft loop.

NWHTank - good catch. I did not! I hope it clears as the loop is much larger than the stock rear shaft. If not (and with my luck) I will need to modify it.

Well were the loop bolts to is were aftermarket or modded subframes mount to. You might want to give your builder a call or text and tell them you want to compensate for extra material on the drivers side of the diff.

It was time to concentrate on my driveshaft while my gas tank and rear subframe were being built. I decided to go with the Drive Shaft Shops 3.5" heavy duty driveshaft, this is something I've wanted for years. I was able to find everything needed to rebuild the rear section from JNZtuning, which consisted of new carrier bearings, new u-joint, and all new hardware. For the shaft itself, I started by removing all the scale and old grease. Then I applied rustmort which did a great job at dissolving the left over rust. Finally I coated it with PUR15 to protect it from this point forward. Overall I am very happy with the results, I just with DSS made an aluminum rear section as well, I would absolutely purchase it.

Ugh, I just noticed that the carrier bearing may be on backwards... looks like I'm going to have to remove it and switch it around. (First time doing them)

Thankfully I was able to turn the carrier bearing around without damage. I also realized I forgot to put on the bearing dust shield (carrier bearing noobie mistake). I wanted to show off these JMF caps I purchased as well. For 15+ years I have always hated the ugly white caps on our DSM's. They never stayed clean, and always look like crap. Thank you JMF for making such great parts - these look a million times better than OEM!

(For anyone wondering - DSS wants 30ftlbs on the allen bolts. Stock I believe is 22)

I plan to get those caps as well. Where did you get the billet brackets from?

Vegas - they are sold on here by gsx-dude. Great quality! He makes some great products for us. Send him a PM.

A little update on the Vamos tank. I received it finally and I must say, this thing is built so well. Pictures do not serve it justice at all. Unfortunately I do not think I will be using it any time soon - definitely not this season. I failed to do my research on the tank and before others make the same mistake I did, please allow me to outline the issues the tank has for me specifically.

1. This tank is made to be used with an in-line fuel pump, not a drop in the majority are using on our cars.

2. The tank is only 11 gallons (this is great for weight savings) but presents issues with fuel pump selection for street use. The problem is due to the lack of fuel capacity this results in excess fuel heating. Most pumps on the market want a minimum of 10 gallons within the system in order to keep the temps down. When the fuel temps go up then the pump can experience vapor lock an stop working. The only resolution for this would be to get a fuel cooler if the car is driven on the street, like mine is... ($$$)

3. Sourcing a gst fuel-level sender is proving to be a bit more challenging than I thought. Although I was able to find one, this was not an easy find, and who knows if they still work 20 years later.

Now, I don't want to bad mouth the Vamos tank at all. Its a great design, it fit into place perfectly and it is made with high quality materials. For my build, at this time I don't think its the smartest decision, so I'm going to shelve it for this year. If my car was used as a track vehicle only, I would 100% be happy with this purchase.

I would also like to send some thanks to Spoolinpos for helping me understand this tank fully. I was in the dark a bit and he took a lot of time PMing me information and answering my questions!

While looking at parts online I came across boosted fabrication's replacement license plate light bracket. We have all seen a 2g with their license plate lights falling from the back bumper, only being held on by their wires... On my old GSX I constantly had to tuck mine back up because the bracket was so rotted - well my current one was no better. I wanted to review this product, because of how impressed I was regarding fitment and install.
At first I thought I had to remove the entire rear bumper which I did not want to do, risking broken bolts etc... Well I was happy to find out this can be done in 10 min without removal of the bumper. All you need is a 10mm ratchet. There are 3 bolts holding on the stock bracket. These go directly into it, so just break them. I snapped the head off of all 3 and the bracket came loose without issue. Unplug the lights and you're all set. I opted not to use washers on the stock lights (you do need to drill them out to 1/4" holes to make them fit) because the washers overlapped the lens and I did not want to crack them. I then added LED bulbs and called it a day. This was a nice after-work install.
I think it was time for a replacement... The new bracket weighs less even compared to this rusted mess.
Drill stock housing bolt holes to 1/4", hardware is included. I opted for no washer and just used blue loctite. Led bulbs were added so hopefully I will never have to replace them ever again.

The bracket is easily snaked behind the rear bumper, and the access hole provides more than enough room to work without bumper removal. I will however get larger mounting bolt washers, as I feel they are a bit small for a plastic bumper.

I am still awaiting my rear subframe to be completed (order was placed in October...) So in the mean time I have been continuing my rear end restoration/freshening up. I never realized how common seized rear axles are on our cars. Mine was no different, both were badly stuck within the hub. I had a cheap axle pusher, which worked fine with the drivers side (along with some heat). The passengers side however was a different story...

The passengers side axle was so bad it broke the puller.


I attempted to use my hydraulic press, but the axle would not clear the base. So after some web searching I found this on amazon for $85. I figured to give it a shot.



I have to say this tool worked great. The axle did still require some heat for removal, and I needed to use the handle of my floor jack for added leverage, but it eventually popped out without damage (thankfully, because we all know how hard it is to find 2g rear axles) . Now I can reinstall the newly purchased rear bearings/hubs with the use of anti-seize of course.



Anyone interested in this tool it can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XD5P1B2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I really enjoy your build! Great looking car and hood to know about the Vamos rear DS loop possibly interfering with the new sub. I am going that route soon and have the loop already.

Thank you DSM98GSX, I really apprecaite it - I will definitely post pics of the driveshaft loop. Its quite large, so even if it sits a tad off-center I do not believe it will be an issue. Then again, What isn't and issue with these cars...?

I decided to give the AER valve cover a shot, since most aftermarket covers are in excess of $700. I was able to order a raw version, and the first thing I am going to do is shave off the horrible looking logo (in my opinion).I requested for the timing cover bolts to not be added, since I do not run an upper cover (I know, I know, not the smartest thing to do). My first impressions on the cover are honestly 50/50... It has a more updated look over the factory cover, and features removable baffles. However the cover in its entirety is not without issues.

My complaints are as follows:

The catch can fitting size are very odd... 12mm x 1.0 which make getting fittings difficult/impossible. It did come with two 10an fittings but they are an ugly purple color, which I do not want to use.

The mounting bolt holes are recessed, and it did come with hex bolts for install. However the recessed pockets are very narrow, and once powder coated with a wrinkle coat (which is thick) I think I may run into an issue. So these will need to be opened up a bit.

Spark plug cover does not fit... This is because I use the JMF cover, so it might not be an issue for others. In order to continue using this cover I will need to open up the center section, and this is going to be a bit difficult due to the size needed to be modified.

Hopefully with the alterations needed to make this cover work for me still works out to be cost-effective. If I have to spend hours modifying the cover, then pay to have it coated I might kick myself for not just going with a nice billet one instead. I will keep updating on this process for those who are interested in using this valve cover. (before I forget, this cover is listed on ebay and cost approximately $375 shipped).

This weekend I decided to tackle some more on the car, mainly the re-installation of my factory gas tank, which I decided to use for one more season. I however did not want to put back in place my badly rusted, and cosmetically ugly gas tank shield. I decided to grind as much of the rot away and again use por15 in an attempt to prolong its life a bit longer. I am very happy with the results, hopefully it holds up.