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1995 Talon TSi AWD: automagic

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onefast2gdsm

10+ Year Contributor
866
6
Aug 30, 2010
millersburg, Pennsylvania
To start off, heres a little history, which will describe how I got the car, etc.

2 years ago, I purchased a 1997 eclipse gs-t for 1500, body was ok, original 7 bolt, bone stock. I slowly modified it over a period of time, and last year i did a full build, including a 6 bolt block, evo3 16g, upgraded fuel system, ecmlink, etc. After putting 10k miles on it, my buddy came to me with an extraordinary question. He asked if i wanted to swap my 5 speed fwd drivetrain for his auto awd. At first I was reluctant because of the thought of automatic, but after some thinking I agreed. After weeks of discussing things over, we thought it would be easier just to trade cars and keep all the stuff i put into the gst. This means I had to completely strip 2 vehicles within a few days. And this is where the build starts.

Heres a rundown of what I plan on having in the car:

Engine:
6 bolt block, .020 over, fully balanced crank
1g cylinder head
1g throttle body
fiav delete
brian crower 272/272
brian crower stage 1 springs/titanium retainers
magnus heat barrier intake gasket

Turbo:
Holset hx35w
stock holset housing
tial 44mm wastegate
erl knockoff manifold (tubular)

other stuff:
8 point cage
jegs racing seats
10 gallon fuel cell
5 point harnesses
power steering delete
heater core delete
ac delete
abs delete
stripping wire harness of uneeded wire
airbag system delete
exhaust out of front bumper
sound deadner delete

My goal for the car is to remove as much weight as possible. I want this to be a fast car that i can OCASSIONALY take on the street. My plan was to get this finished by the shootout but that is now out of the question due to money.

On to the pics.

Before i stripped it
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Work ive done so far:
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So far I have stripped the harness to what i want right now. Once the motor is in, I will be cutting and soldering the sensor wires to length to make the bay look a lot cleaner. I have to regasket the motor, send the 1g cylinder head to the machine shop, put new main & rod bearings in, and arp rod & main bolts. also might repaint the motor. I hope to start reassembling the interior soon but i dont want to start until i get money for the 8 point cage.
 
Pulled the pan on the motor. Took off number 3&2 rod caps. Bearings have no scores on them and neither does the crank, but it has a weird wear pattern, visually you can see it on the bearing but you cant feel it by running your finger over it. Ill take pics tomorrow of it.
 
Took all the wiring out of the car and started spraying the interior where i removed sound deadner. I need to beat the floor in under the coloumn as the PO decided to jack the car up improperly. Next i will be dropping the rear subframe and taking the gas tank out.
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Installed the 1g steering wheel. A lot lighter and better looking, and no airbag! I have to beat the floor board in and then im going to start reassembling the interior piece by piece to get a feel for where i want things to go such as gauges, switches, wiring etc.
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Shaved the compressor housing because of the internal wastegate mount and glass beaded the compressor and hotside. Going to powdercoat the compressor black.
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Found out the car was rear ended and the rear passenger quarter was replaced. I took a porta power and got the quarter pretty much lined up correctly. Gotta do some body work but atleast the bumper pretty much fits how it is supposed to.
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Also finished painting the inside of the car.
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Ordered my engine bearings, front case gasket kit, rear main seal, water pump gaskets, transmission gasket and filter and front axle seals. Gotta find where to get transfer case seals. I will start body work once i get some bondo. Just going to flat black it for now, till i can save money for the paint i want.
 
I received my bearings, and after some long thought last night, I decided to order some ARP rod bolts. Still waiting on a call from the parts store on the seals and gaskets I ordered. I am going to buy vht flame proof clear and ceramic coating for the turbo. I also sent out my 6 bolt cylinder head to get milled, pressure checked and hot tanked.
 
I received my bearings, and after some long thought last night, I decided to order some ARP rod bolts. Still waiting on a call from the parts store on the seals and gaskets I ordered. I am going to buy vht flame proof clear and ceramic coating for the turbo. I also sent out my 6 bolt cylinder head to get milled, pressure checked and hot tanked.

Good call on the ARP hardware, the build looks like it's going well. Keep us informed!:hellyeah:
 
Started to "ceramic coat" the hotside and cold side of the turbo with VHT flame proof cermaic based paint. I like the way it looks and im on the fence about coating my manifold. I have a couple more hours till its safe to handle and bake them in the oven.
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This is my first time ever DAing a car. I still have to do the roof and engine bay, bumpers and side skirts. Im focusing on the body so i can fix any low spots or dents.
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Thank you for the replies guys. The body work is probably going to go smooth being most of it was done by the po. My hatch is from my gst so i have to weld the spoiler holes closed. Im going wingless. Any thoughts on that?
 
Ordered my engine bearings, front case gasket kit, rear main seal, water pump gaskets, transmission gasket and filter and front axle seals. Gotta find where to get transfer case seals. I will start body work once i get some bondo. Just going to flat black it for now, till i can save money for the paint i want.

jnz should have the seals or the dealership.
 
Got more done tonight. First, i welded the holes for the 2gb eclipse spoiler. I grinded the welds down as flat as i could. After that i used 220 grit on the DA to sand the hatch down.
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Theres whats soon to be a rot hole on the passenger rear part of the hatch by the quarter. Im probably going to cut it out and replace it with new metal.

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Lastly, i finished the roof and a pillars. Stupid me forgot that talons came with black tops and i couldnt tell whether or not i was sanding down to gloss black or not. It hit me halfway through DAing it, LOL. So most of the roof is bare metal, but its all smooth. Keep in mind i dont know of the po used spray bomb or actual car paint (i think its spray bomb because the engine bay has spots that werent hit, like under the radiator mount tabs on the rad support) so i used 80 grit to DA whatever was flat black. The hatch was from my previous gst thats why i used 220 on that.

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I still have to do the mirrors but that will be done with the sideskirts and bumpers. Im going to pull the windshield , quarter windows and hatch glass when i spray the car. Still debating on the panda look, gloss black, flat black or hemi orange with a black top. Leaning towards hemi orange depending on how the body work turns out.
 
Looks like your super motivated. Body work is looking good so far, stick with it!:rocks:
 
OK, got some more done. Put the struts in the car, took it off the jack stands and pushed it outside. Took the blow gun and got all the paint dust off. I found a few spots that need sanded but its no big deal.

I decided to degrease the engine bay since every time i went to sand it the sand paper would get clogged with grease. I went to the local food store and picked up 2 cans of heavy duty easy off oven cleaner. I covered both fenders with plastic, duct taped the holes in the engine bay from inside the car and started spraying the oven cleaner. If you use this stuff, i heavily recommend wearing a mask even outside because this stuff is NASTY. I couldn't breathe standing outside. After letting it sit for a few minutes i took a brush on the heavy greased areas and hit those areas again with the cleaner. Let it sit a little while longer, then powered up the pressure washer. I highly recommend wearing goggles because if you get the cleaner in your eye it stings bad, ask me how i know. I used only one can of cleaner, and all i can say is wow. It literally took every piece of spray bomb off along with grease. Theres some spots i gotta get that were hard to reach, but for 4 dollars a can this stuff is worth it. Theres a little bit of strut tower rust i have to fix, you can see in one of the pictures.


Engine bay before:
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Engine bay after:
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Pics of the DA work in the sun:
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Awesome man, that oven cleaner rocks for decreasing. The scent is pretty insane and will make you cough/sneeze if you take a nice breath of it.

Nicely done!:hellyeah:
 
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