1999 GSX Black Betty

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

So this week I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off to get ready for my first race of the year on Sunday. I had to buy a used rear toe arm because all the new toe arms are custom ordered. I finally got one Thursday night and had it put in last night while getting the car aligned. Fronts dialed in at 2.4 camber and an 1/8th inch toe out up front. The rears have the same toe because the one arm is still frozen with 1.7 of camber. Hopefully I'll be able to change these sometime this year and actually get what I want in the rear.

I also needed rear brakes pretty bad. I went out and bought rear evo brembo's and rotors which I installed today. (Yes, I will be redoing my wheels sometime this year)



Small review of the FEAL suspension. Driving around town or on a back road these things are awesome and I'm hoping for the same results on the track. On the highway they seem pretty bouncy. I still haven't played with the adjustments for highway driving just yet so before I make an official review I'll do a little more highway testing to hopefully get that solved. Other then that I am extremely impressed. They are not a hard ride at all and still grip very well.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Had my first race of the year on Sunday and the day didn't go as well as I wanted it to. On the way to the event the car went lean and my check engine light came and stayed on. Checked link when I got to the track and turns out it was a misfire. I turned the boost down a few pounds each run until is stopped breaking up at 17-18lbs. That wasn't all that bad because that have me time to really concentrate on the new suspension and adjusting without overdriving the car much. We had a total of 14 runs which also helped out a lot and now I think I'm close to being fully dialed in as far as getting the car to rotate evenly balanced. Finished 6th out of 9 in SM and was expecting to not do well to figure out the car again.

This morning I swapped out spark plugs for new BPR7ES and it cleared up and I was able to turn the boost back up while watching my a/f ratios. I parked the car for a few hours and when I got into it to move it I started to get a very loud tic from the middle of the upper head. I took the valve cover off and everything seemed to be working properly. Took the plugs back out and rotated the motor by hand and it was spinning freely. That's a huge relief so I did some research and it looks to be a lifter going bad. I ordered 3G lifters and hopefully this will go away. Should be here this week but I probably won't be able to get to it for another two weeks because I'm going on vacation.

 

[Kaj2gDSMspyder]

That's a clean dsm right there! Always nice to see some auto cross dsm. Maybe someday I'll run autocross/circuit as well.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Thanks man. Put a lot of time and effort into the car. Autocross is something you should definitely try. Look into the SCCA and find a region by you.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

A picture form Sundays event!

 

[GofaST4life]

Yeah buddy!

Sunday was a damn good time.

You've got plenty of time to get her back up before the next event. Speaking of the next event, If going to be much much longer than the last one. The course I made is going to be a blast!

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

99ECLIPSEGSXDSM updated 99ECLIPSEGSXDSM's Eclipse GSX


View updates to this DSM profile...

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Yesterday I took my time putting in 3G lifters, ARP headstuds, and some HKS 264/272 cams. I need a retune now but I took it for a little spin around where I live and just normal driving I love these cams. It's not so jerky anymore when you left off the gas at low RPMs so everything feels much smoother. I haven't gotten on it because I'm a little worried and waiting for the tune.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

So my lifters finally calmed down a few days ago and got to put a quick safe tune in it Sunday morning right before my 2nd regional event of the year. We had to take a lot of timing out of if. Only running 6-7* of timing but even with that link is estimating 320whp. I know that's just an estimate but that's pretty good for not much timing.

As for the the race we had 6 runs total and in the morning I was still trying to figure out the car so I wasn't doing all that well running a 51.6 when others where running around a second faster then me. After break I had my friend Aaron ride with me and he helped me out a little bit by shaving about a second off my time. Running a 50.7 and putting me back in the running to place. I finally finished with a 50.3 in 3rd place in our street modified class. Finally starting to think I'm slowly starting to get used to the new suspension and am starting to really like it.

Here's a few pictures from the event.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

So I have a said, but at the same time exciting update. A few months ago I decided to swap the 20g on to the DSM. The swap was the biggest PITA because everything went wrong. Bolts snapped or stripped and leaks from everywhere. After I sorted everything out, I took the car for a test drive to see how the setup was working. I got into boost and in a split second I seen my boost gauge hit 30+ psi and I let off instantly. As soon I lifted I herd a pinging noise that came from the motor. Went home and did a compression test and cylinder 4 was very low. I figured I bent a valve so I took the head off to assess the damage.





After realizing my valves were good, I realized there was something wrong with the bottom end. I thought it was blown piston rings because of skratches on the cylinder wall.



Decided to pull everything to tear the block apart and this is what I found.





Here's a picture from where the rod hit the block.



So after realizing I'm gonna have to put more money into this then what I wanted, I decided to go all out and try to produce a a torque monster for a very fun street setup and autox car (might be a little much for autox but screw it). The parts are all ordered for my 2.3 stroker motor. The block was decked and bored over .02 and I'm picking that up tomorrow morning after work. Crank should be here soon and waiting on bearing from them being on back order. I went with wiseco 9.0:1 stroker pistons and eagle rods.





On a whim I decided to check out my turbo just in case and what I found really upset me. The new compressor hit the housing and bent some blades and screwed the compressor housing up.



After seeing this I said screw it, lets do some more research and have decided I'm gonna go with a TD06H turbine wheel in a 6cm Hotside. From what I've read this turbo works extreamly well on a 2.0 and spools around 3200. Everyone that has ran one that I've talked to say its their favorite 20g that they have run. Also herd that on a 2.3, it produces A LOT of torque and that's my end goal and this thing will spool like a t25 but with a lot more power. Also decided to go external wastegate and picked one up. The previous owner didnt know what spring was in it so ill have to find out that but I painted it and I have to say it looks very good.



I'm hoping to have the car back up and broke in before winter comes, so I'm planning on having another update here pretty soon. Hopefully with good resualts.

 

[GofaST4life]

Dude, this is going to be so much fun.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

I hope so. Kind of worried because its the first motor I've ever built.

 

[GofaST4life]

I hope so. Kind of worried because its the first motor I've ever built.

Your not alone bud. I got you.

 

[hurricanecris24]

Im curious to see how your setup performs with the new turbo and stroker, i can't decide between a td05h or td06h 20g for autocross on my 2.4....good luck with your new motor

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Im curious to see how your setup performs with the new turbo and stroker, i can't decide between a td05h or td06h 20g for autocross on my 2.4....good luck with your new motor

I personally won't be able to give you feedback until next race season but I don't think you can go wrong either way. I think mine might be a little too much for autocross but I want a car that puts a smile on my face when I drive it weather its at an event or on the streets. GofaST4life runs a 05h on a 2.0 and does very well

 

[GofaST4life]

Im curious to see how your setup performs with the new turbo and stroker, i can't decide between a td05h or td06h 20g for autocross on my 2.4....good luck with your new motor

On a 2.4/2.3, I really don't think it will matter. Your going to spool very fast either way and make some damn good TQ for AX. The power will basically always be there.

I personally won't be able to give you feedback until next race season but I don't think you can go wrong either way. I think mine might be a little too much for autocross but I want a car that puts a smile on my face when I drive it weather its at an event or on the streets. GofaST4life runs a 05h on a 2.0 and does very well

Oh stop it....

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

99ECLIPSEGSXDSM updated 99ECLIPSEGSXDSM's Eclipse GSX


View updates to this DSM profile...

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Ok guys, I know it's been awhile, again but he's an little update. I know it's taking a while but after loosing my job, then finding another, and possibly being laid off again, money has been tight so it's taking a lot longer then I want it to. I have everything ready to go and I'm gonna be working in the garage this weekend and get most of it done. Hoping to at least have the motor all put back together and dropped back into the car. Plus I bought a few extra goodies so pics will be coming very soon.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

99ECLIPSEGSXDSM updated 99ECLIPSEGSXDSM's Eclipse GSX


View updates to this DSM profile...

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

99ECLIPSEGSXDSM updated 1999 GSX Black Betty


View updates to this DSM profile...

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

99ECLIPSEGSXDSM updated 1999 GSX Black Betty


View updates to this DSM profile...

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Well putting the motor back together didn't go as planned. My buddy had some issues that would allow him to come and it was my birthday weekend and other friends wanted to take me out. So I decided to put the motor together a different day. Last Friday I drove 2 hours to my buddy Aaron's (GofaST4life) house to get my engine stand so I could. Couldn't stay long but it was great to see him and how Wendy is coming along. Anyways I get the motor all set up and start grinding down the rings. On my third cylinder I started grinding down ring number 2 and this happened





Pretty annoyed about it but I have another set of rings on the way. Should be here Monday and ill hopefully grind it down and then have the head put back on. Slowly but surely she's coming but she's putting up a hell of a fight .

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Well, the piston rings came in today, which is weird because today is Easter (happy Easter everyone) and I got too excited to not do my final ring today. So I ground my ring down and put it in the block. I didn't feel like stopping at all. Put the ARP head studs in and my cousin helped me lift the head up and slide it over the studs. We torqued the studs in sequence then I bolted the valve cover on. I still need to do the oil pick up, oil pan, and the entire front of the motor but I'm happy that I got to work on the motor because it was so nice out. The heart of Betty is coming along nicely.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Last weekend my buddy Aaron came into town and helped finish things up to drop the motor in but things didn't go as planned. We had the entire engine assembled and ready to be primed and then we noticed the oil pump was hard to spin and it wasn't priming. Took the oil pan back off and pulled the front case and realized that the balance shaft was catching on a bearing after the lube would wear away. So I bought a BSE kit and some new gaskets along with a new set of oil pump gears just to be safe. Here's a picture of everything before we started to prime the motor.



As soon as my parts come in Ill be tackling this head on and have it ready to drop in soon after! Also, thanks to everyone that rated my build. It means a lot.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Long time coming, but I do have an update. So I put the OEM BSE kit in and buttoned everything up again. Tried to prime the motor and it still wasn't priming for some reason so I took the pan and oil pump back off and rebuilt the oil pump. After that I put everything back together, again, primed the motor but pumping the oil into the OFH like someone suggested to me and that worked great. I also took a drill to the oil pump gear after the motor was primed to make sure the pump worked correctly, and it did. Next was putting the clutch on and buttoning up the tranny. That went pretty smooth, but I also had two extra pairs of hands that that helped a lot. Next was to drop everything in, and it was kind of a pain, because of the new motor mounts, and just getting everything lined up with not a lot of sunlight left in the day. I got it to a point where the engine was secure in the bay and came back to finish it the next day. Got everything bolted in the next morning, and got it ready for all the other things I had to do. Ran the new clutch line, bleed the huge brakes I put on, put the t-case on, subframe, ect ect. The car went together pretty nicely after the engine was in until about 3 weeks ago when it was time to start it up. I plug the connector into the OBD2 port and couldn't connect at all. No matter what I tried it wouldn't work, so I tested pin 16 and it was only getting 7-8volts when it should have been getting 12. I've tried tracing it back, trying a new 12v sieve and nothing is letting me connect to link. I'm having a local guy that's very good at wiring come over on Friday to check it out. It makes me cross my eyes so I said screw it but all in all, Betty it one step away from being started and I'm so pumped. This car is gonna be a monster.