This is the Build Thread for Saving a DSM Legend: 1998 Eclipse GSX Restoration. Reply below.

Back in the year 2000, my first car was a 1995 Eclipse GS-T in Everett Green Metallic... I loved that car. It met its end in college when it was totaled due to a flood. On and off over the years i have considering trying to find another eclipse but due to life, kids, etc it never became a serious pursuit. I enjoy a good project and over the last 4 years or so i have had various different restoration/build projects in the garage. I recently just finished a 1997 BMW K1100 Cafe Racer project and had someone buy it off me so I started to consider what might come next. As I was perusing marketplace I came across a cryptic add for a "Mitsubishi eclipse manual" with no price and 2 crappy pics. I saw the factory GSX wheels in the pics and sent the guy a message (not expecting any reply). To my surprise, he responded and offered to facetime with me and show me the car.

Long story short, it ended up being a 1998 Eclipse GSX, 114k original miles with what looked like a few modifications. The owner didn't know much about the car other than that he bought it off of someone 8 years ago with the intent of restoring the car but instead it sat in the corner of his shop. I'm a sucker for a project so I decided to go for it and roll the dice.

As I said before it has been about 20 plus years since i was in the DSM world. I know enough to be dangerous but have relied on @IHeartMyHonda (fellow local DSM'er) who has been a wealth of knowledge. I got the car home and started to dig into all of it and it seems someone spent a decent amount of money modifying this thing probably 10-15 years ago.

It seems to be a highly optioned example as it sports ABS, leather interior (in surprisingly good shape), sunroof and the rear LSD. I sent a bunch of pics to @IHeartMyHonda and he has helped with identifying all of the modifications.

Here is a list of what we have found so far. I'll follow with some pictures as I am sure many of you might see some other things as well.
No rust on the strut towers (front and rear), no rust on the rocker panels or in the wheel wells... just some surface rust on a few suspension components... really a solid car.
Exterior paint has left the chat... clear coat on the upper half is compeltely gone, hood has surface rust from missing paint in areas.
6 Bolt Swap
ARP Headstuds (waiting on a borescope to confirm stock internals or not)
VRSF Front Mount Intercooler
20g Turbo w/ external Tial Wastegate
GReddy Type RS bov
Injen Intake
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator
Bigger Injectors (will be taking them off to clean and confirm what size)
Fuel Pump (I am guessing it has a bigger fuel pump due to the aftermarket regulator, need to pull it to confirm)
Apexi Exhaust
Tokico Shocks w/ Purple Springs (TBD on brand)
No name strut bars (Front/Rear)
Gates Blue timing belt
AEM Wideband
Manual boost controller
HKS Turbo Timer
Monster Energy Coolant Overflow... this made me laugh and definitely dates the build
Short Shifter (TBD on what it is, but definitely has something)
DSMLink (TBD on which version... appears to be a V2 cable, but will be pulling the ECU to confirm)

The owner also sent along a spare turbo that was in the car when he bought it... turns out its a Holset HX35 and seems to have never been used!

I am sure there is more but this is what I have found so far... onto the pics!

Rolled the car into the sunlight at the owners shop... she looks rough, but there is potential!





Finished the deal and got her loaded up on the trailer for the trip back to Nashville.



Made it home!

















Let me know what you see, excited to bring this GSX back from the dead!

The more pics you sent, the more jealous I got. I'm looking forward to the progress! @TheDude236 , is also local and I'm sure would also be jealous

IHeartMyHonda said:

The more pics you sent, the more jealous I got. I'm looking forward to the progress! @TheDude236 , is also local and I'm sure would also be jealous

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You're correct as always! What an absolute steal! Very similar story to my eclipse GSX I picked up recently except yours will actually be super fast! Mine has a little bit more rust sadly but man I really like that car! Maybe we'll both finish our cars in time to make a Nashville C&C one time

IHeartMyHonda said:

The more pics you sent, the more jealous I got. I'm looking forward to the progress! @TheDude236 , is also local and I'm sure would also be jealous

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You were a massive help in landing this project, thanks so much!

TheDude236 said:

You're correct as always! What an absolute steal! Very similar story to my eclipse GSX I picked up recently except yours will actually be super fast! Mine has a little bit more rust sadly but man I really like that car! Maybe we'll both finish our cars in time to make a Nashville C&C one time

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Thank you sir, I would love to hitup a C&C! Need to get this thing running first...here is my list so far.

Figure out what version of DSMLink it is currently running
New battery
Use DSMLink to pump out the bad fuel
Remove the injectors to clean them and replace the dry rotted seals
New fuel filter
New spark plugs
Borescope to see if the internals are stock and see what condition the cylinder walls / valves are in
Test compression
Then we can see if she will turn over!

If anyone has thoughts/ideas on what else to check before seeing if she will fire up, please share them!

Boozer said:

You were a massive help in landing this project, thanks so much!

Thank you sir, I would love to hitup a C&C! Need to get this thing running first...here is my list so far.

Figure out what version of DSMLink it is currently running
New battery
Use DSMLink to pump out the bad fuel
Remove the injectors to clean them and replace the dry rotted seals
New fuel filter
New spark plugs
Borescope to see if the internals are stock and see what condition the cylinder walls / valves are in
Test compression
Then we can see if she will turn over!

If anyone has thoughts/ideas on what else to check before seeing if she will fire up, please share them!

Click to expand...

highly unlikely the fuel pump will work.
Get rid of that front strut tower bar. Notice how close it sits to the timing belt? First good rock on that motor and it contacts the gear and both belt and gear are gone. There are better bars out there if you want one.
I would take off the valve cover, rotate it by hand and look for damage. There had to be a reason it was parked. Check mechanical timing before ever hitting the key. New belt before that is also a good idea.

pauleyman said:

highly unlikely the fuel pump will work.
Get rid of that front strut tower bar. Notice how close it sits to the timing belt? First good rock on that motor and it contacts the gear and both belt and gear are gone. There are better bars out there if you want one.
I would take off the valve cover, rotate it by hand and look for damage. There had to be a reason it was parked. Check mechanical timing before ever hitting the key. New belt before that is also a good idea.

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10-4 thanks for the tips.
Already removed the front strut bar!
I removed the valve cover and found the ARP headbolts.. also found 2 lobes with some scarring. Did some quick searching and found some hotly contested threads arguing whether scarring on the lobe matters or not with the rollers... would love to hear your opinion!
They appear to be 1g cams but unsure.
Here are the pics...

Next cars and coffee is 4th of July. I'm betting it'll be an insane turnout. Even if you're not driving the GSX, it would still be cool to go.

Paul had some good points. Even though it has a good brand of timing belt, there's a solid chance that it's suffered some dry rot from sitting for so long. I have a few upper timing covers, too.

I personally wouldn't run those cams or rockers. Surely a fresh set of stockers would be cheap...ish.

pauleyman said:

I personally wouldn't run those cams or rockers. Surely a fresh set of stockers would be cheap...ish.

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Rockers will be free. I have a couple of sets in my garage and live ~30 minutes away. Cams on the other hand, I'm much more limited in spare parts.

IHeartMyHonda said:

Next cars and coffee is 4th of July. I'm betting it'll be an insane turnout. Even if you're not driving the GSX, it would still be cool to go.

Paul had some good points. Even though it has a good brand of timing belt, there's a solid chance that it's suffered some dry rot from sitting for so long. I have a few upper timing covers, too.

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I'm in for C&C on the 4th. I can always just bring my daily. And y'all are probably right, will plan on swapping the TBelt as well.

pauleyman said:

I personally wouldn't run those cams or rockers. Surely a fresh set of stockers would be cheap...ish.

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10-4, will do some research on cams to see if it makes sense to upgrade from the stock ones with the mods that are on the car.

IHeartMyHonda said:

Rockers will be free. I have a couple of sets in my garage and live ~30 minutes away. Cams on the other hand, I'm much more limited in spare parts.

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You are too kind!

nice find! and those cams are definitely not worth the risk.