Everyone, meet Gary, the grey Galant. A poor abandoned Galant vr4 that was sadly, unloved. Picked up by a tow company, sat in their yard for a while and eventially sold to your's truly.
Initally called the sh!tbox, because that's what i was, I eventually became fond of this turd and started to call it "Gary"
It was grey, or rather gray. But both were a play on "Gary". So it stuck.

This was the first auction car i had ever purchased. Unprepared and unaware, i still managed to finagle this turd out of the auction yard without damaging my truck or trailer.
Once aquired, the inspection began. Sooooooo much sun damage.
The paint? cracked and worn, the rear seats? literally the fabric cracked, peeling, melted and well... gone.
The window sealant? Also, literally, melting away.
The worst part: it didn't start.
Years(i'm assuming) left the car with damage to it's wiring and in an inoperative state. After fixing all the wiring, the car still did not start. I'll save you the diagnosis, but a spare ECU later and Gary fires up.

Small fixes here and there, and well, now Gary runs/drives and well, does car things.

Knowing i didn't want to put too much money into this, it stayed mostly as it was: 16g, 550cc injectors, ecmlink, 3.0 exhaust, bigger intake and a FMIC. Evo struts installed not by me and were ok, still on it, i'm not a total fan.
Fixed things as they broke for about a year.
Then. It hit. What to do with this car. We already have a 6g72 swapped into our rallycar(and it's still awd).
What about the Turbo model? For sure this will fit. For sure i can make it work. And welp.

I did.

It runs, it drives, it does car things and most importantly: it makes turbo noises.

What will follow is the build of this car. I tried to take pictures where i could, i have all the information i think necessary. Now this was a process. And so will this thread be. I wouldn't expect more than weekly updates.

So if a 6g72TT swapped GVR4 is your thing, buckle up and occasionally check back as i post the process, troubles, wins, fails and mods needed to make this dang thing work.

Here's a teaser pic of the final thing, and yes. I have been driving it. it does work. And boy howdy was it worth it.

This is the Build Thread for Gary, the gray Galant. Reply below.

Somehow, it looks less cramped than a 3000gt engine bay.

This is super cool. I hope to see this car in person since you are not far away from me at all. Plan on attending any of the Rocky Mountain DSM events?

Part 1: The Engine
I guess it's time to be inconsistantly consistant and update this post.

Well, as you know, Gary is getting a 6g72tt. The hunt for one began. No sense in trying to find a decent 3kgtvr4 that I'd only end up using the powertrain from. I'll try and find a damaged one- well, those also don't really exist.
For a few months, I would occasionally check marketplace and the many pages and eventually found the winner:
A complete 92 stealth rtt that the PO was trying to part out. I randomly threw out a request for the whole car. He took it. And despite the car only coming with wrx sti 18" wheels(read: no tires), it followed me home and was exactly it: Running(after a battery) and really not in a shape to care about taking just the powertrain.

Now, I had done a bit of a research prior to this to see if this was even possible. Step one: I already did a 6g72(NA) swap in our rally car. I knew the basic engine fit. What i didn't know is if the engine and turbos would fit. Everything is sort of modifiable, but modding the firewall wasn't on my list and I really, really, really, didn't want to go single turbo.

So what does any reasonable old person do? If they aren't as old as dirt, they search the web. Specifically the forums.
As suspected, no concrete examples and no finished results. Really nothing. Best i found was a thread on dsmtuners from 2009. https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/eclipse-talon-6g72tt-awd-swap-pics-added.350751/

Although the swap never followed through. This was a great example of what to was to be expected. This example, though, used a gto na trans that will last forever at their stock 220tq, but don't last long behind a NA engine with two turbos running low boost. This trans is effectively a 1g gsx trans behind a v6 bellhousing. My guess is they just don't like the torque of hte v6. Either way, it was good information and made me reallllllllyyyyy want to try and use the Getrac.
As the rallycar uses one of these gto na trans, i have a spare. So worst comes to worst, i can use it to line the engine up, make 3 mounts, then go about making the Getrac fit.

Onward. This isn't a post telling you how to pull and engine. Or securely install one. This isn't really a "how i did it" sort of post. It's really just "what i did".
I didn't get the initial engine bay picture, but just imagine the typical 4g63, maf intake, fmic, no ac and battery relocation- good? Too bad, because that's all you're getting because i don't have true "before" shot. Only several steps in.
Take engine out. Get sneaky photo of 4g sitting outside and 6g still in engine bay, peaking over.
Take out ABS- the FMIC that the stealf has runs right where the GVR4 abs unit is. Good thing it does work. Custom brake lines are easy. Out it comes.
Then take out power steering. Two options- electric assist or make the stealf unit work.
Get sneaky photo of two together.
Take engine out of stealf.

Proceed to question life.

Next step, drop it in. This is where pictures definitely don't quite exist. The process really was just: is this even going to work? The entire time, keep this reversable. There was a time when there was going to be a commitment, but "if it even fits" was definitely a requirement prior to full commitment.

So i did.
i left the power steering system with the stealf as that's an after thought(see above)
I left the ac comp and generator on the engine and proceeded to drop it in.
Welp, this isn't going to fit. Removed ac and generator(ac probably won't be going back in and generator already lives elsewhere on the rallycar).
It drops it- not fits, it drops in. Tight, but doable. This is with the Getrac.
Shimmy around, add my trusty screw jack to one side, the hydraulic floor jack on the other. Get it roughly where it is supposed to be. Measure timing belt side to frame referencing rally car. I found a neat thing: the 6g rear mount bolt hole is just about perfect with the galant rear mount. The engine mount is fully up against the right of the mount, but thats ok, a small spacer or proper acetal mount and we're golden. Slam a bolt in.
I used a piece of string from one strut tower to the other to line up the engine parallel to the body.
Unknowing if the trans mount is even going to slightly work, these were left out- both body and trans.

Few problems are absolutely apparent:
-the front 02 housing is literally sitting on the front cross member.
-the heater pipe(not hose, pipe) is about .25" from the rear turbo heat shield.
-the radiator is not likely to fit, even without the generator on.
-the generator is unlike to fit, even with radiator moved forward.
-the trans sits effectly further to the right side than the NA trans- i.e. shorter right axle and longer left axle than NA trans.
-tilt is incredibly important.
-Still unsure about the transmission mount. There are too many if's.

The solutions: Anything is modifiable:
-the front cross member can be remade or modded. The north/south bars built to suit.
-the head pipes can be changed- this will likely require a firewall mod(boo!)
-the scirroco rad has been used for ages, this is an option
-the generator is already relocated on the rallycar- also another option just dropped.
-axles, while expensive, can be custom made.
-I can reference tilt with either the rallycar or, conveniently, the wife's daily- a 98 3kgtv4
-mounts are able to be modded or fabbed. We already have to make atleast a driver side one.

I eventually found out that the trans mount is in the same situation as the rear mount- one side up against the stock mount with a gap on the other side(front).
I eventually removed the front crossmember and used some wood directly on the front engine mount bracket and lifted/lowered the engine to set tilt. I used a level on the radiator cap to set the engine tilt using my other examples. I eventually popped on the t-case as well to make sure it wasn't pointed up or down.
Then, made a driver side mount. With 3 mounts, we were able to remove the engine hoist and hang it for the first time.

Then, remove the engine for the rest of the mods needed to make this silly project work. Next time.

IHeartMyHonda said:

Somehow, it looks less cramped than a 3000gt engine bay.

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Probably due to the fact so much is missing: The 3k bay would normally still have the battery, the clutch booster pipes, the evap stuff, the factory airbox, the giant fuse block on the pass side. Stuff that just isn't there or has been relocated. The galant bay feels like it's got more north/south length, but not as much east/west.
I don't miss not having all the extras to work with though

shad0wsoda said:

This is super cool. I hope to see this car in person since you are not far away from me at all. Plan on attending any of the Rocky Mountain DSM events?

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I'm not super big into the meets and what have you. Only really because they typically fall on a weekend i need to get stuff done- the rallycar always calls for attention and if i'm not working on my own cars, i'm at work working on paid cars or doing housework.
If i find some opening once it's running a bit better, i'll try and make it out though.