Street Build 1g build - The Real Life Trials and Tribulations of building a DSM

[Anfurnyy]

Finished the alternator swap. Clipped off the old terminal and crimped on some new ones. I say new ones because i didnt have a new ring terminal that would accept TWO 8ga wires at once. I used 2 single 8ga ring terminals. Hopefully this works. Soldered them on for better connection too.



Moved over to trying to fix this damn coolant leak/drip from the thermostat housing. Its always dripped since i got the car up and running. Im not 100% sure where its coming from but after today my Hunch is that the Housing is cracked.
I pulled out the Temp sensor for the Dash, and plugged the hole with another bolt temporarily. I wrapped some teflon tape around the threads and screwed it back in. Yes i know this is an NPT fitting so it shouldnt need the tape but i wanted to make sure that, that sensor wasnt what was leaking. Got it all back together and started the car up to make sure the alternator was good and it was.

Swapped out the battery ground to the Firewall/chassis. That was easy to do, dont need to explain that one.


Started the car and let it run for awhile monitoring battery voltage for when the fan kicked on. Idling with the fan off the voltage was like right at 14.0v, and when the fans kicked on it only dropped to like 13.8, and then back up to 14.0-14.3. Looks like the alternator is working good so far.

let the car get up to temp and checked thermostat housing again and its leaking bad still.. I tried to tighten all the nuts, but they were all pretty damn tight already. When i tried to tighten the top 2 nuts, it REALLY started pouring out the bottom of the housing. Basically right off the bottom bolt. I tried tightening the bottom nut and that didnt work..i took a few videos of where its leaking but i cant really tell exactly where its leaking from. Only that its coming from somewhere above the bottom nut on the housing.

I know its not the gasket as i just swapped that gasket out before i dropped it off at the body shop with a new one.

My buddy has a new housing and a new gasket he is going to let me use and im going to get it swapped out tonight after work so that i can still make it to the show tomorrow morning.

*looking at the video again i think i see the crack. right above the bottom nut*

 

[AWD-Tony]

I'm sure you'll find the source of that leak. It's comparable to Niagra Falls

 

[KCDsmDude]

I couldn't figure out why I was leaking coolant from my housing, after taking it off and inspecting it, there was the tiniest hairline crack in it around where one of the bolts threads in. Tightening made it worse.

Pull the housing and look for small cracks at different angles.

 

[Anfurnyy]

After work today got right down to removing the housing. Not sure i would need to explain that, since its like 3 nuts and a couple hose clamps.

Got it removed and Checked the suspected spot. BINGO. Big ol crack.
Ran out to my buddies and picked up his spare that he had. Its a bit rusty and corroded.. so im going to pick up another one to swap it out with i think. For now i cleaned this one up a bit and sent it!



The new housing must have been from another 1ga because although its from another turbo car, the ports are different. and in fact there were:
1x Extra Barb fittin
1x 3/8th NPT port
1x 1/8 NPT port


I capped the spare barb with a vacuum cap and 3 zip ties (sorry guys), used a 3/8ths npt allen plug for the big one, and plugged the 1/8th npt with a funky 1/8th npt bolt from my N/A Lower housing.

My plan is to see if i can find a housing later on so that I can relocate all the wiring to the back (firewall side) of the housing to make it cleaner up front. I think maybe the N/A housing might work best for this?
Anywho, I got the new housing installed and no issues after that.

This morning I get the car ready for the Mission 22 show, let the car warm up a few min and then leave for the show (15 min away, maybe) i start driving and small amount of smoke out the hook, doesnt worry me too much. Probably just residual from leaking coolant and such. I come to a stop and smoke starts ROLLING out of the hood. Now im worried. Rush into a parking lot nearby, turn the car off and pop the hood, freaking radiator cap popped off... i think in my haste last night i forgot to 1) either put the cap on at all, 2) not twist it all the way so it locked in.. Luckily i brought a half gallon of water (regular tap) just in case, and it took it all. Cleaned up the bay a tad with some oil towels i had in the car. Everything went very well after that point. Car drove pretty great, and i didnt have a single drop of coolant while, or after the meet.

I got 2nd in the "Import Classic" group behind my buddy with his 91 that built. There were a total of 40 cars that attended.




Here's to owning a DSM

 

[Anfurnyy]

My replacement T case from RixRacing came in yesterday and oh boy.. it's uh.. it looks rough to say the least.. the shield? Where the yoke slips in looks like it might have taken a beating during shipping and it's a tad wavy in some spots. Is this an item that can be replaced? Maybe I can swap mine from my current Tcase.


I'm learning more and more than the other use parts out there are not as clean as the parts that have been on or with this car for the most part..

I also took the 5 or so minutes to get my rear wiper delete installed too. I won't lie, it was a very snug fit and it was kind of a PITA to snap in but it's in there! While I had the back panel off the hatch I noticed that my rear defroster connector snapped off the rear glass. Is there any way to fix that or re-attach it? I don't plan on driving this car in the winter much, if at all but that might be nice to have. I popped the metal element out of the end of it and stuffed the connector back into the hatch for safe keeping.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yep looking good though man.

 

[TheRippedNerd]

After work today got right down to removing the housing. Not sure i would need to explain that, since its like 3 nuts and a couple hose clamps.

Got it removed and Checked the suspected spot. BINGO. Big ol crack.
Ran out to my buddies and picked up his spare that he had. Its a bit rusty and corroded.. so im going to pick up another one to swap it out with i think. For now i cleaned this one up a bit and sent it!
View attachment 633924
View attachment 633925

The new housing must have been from another 1ga because although its from another turbo car, the ports are different. and in fact there were:
1x Extra Barb fittin
1x 3/8th NPT port
1x 1/8 NPT port
View attachment 633929View attachment 633930

I capped the spare barb with a vacuum cap and 3 zip ties (sorry guys), used a 3/8ths npt allen plug for the big one, and plugged the 1/8th npt with a funky 1/8th npt bolt from my N/A Lower housing.

My plan is to see if i can find a housing later on so that I can relocate all the wiring to the back (firewall side) of the housing to make it cleaner up front. I think maybe the N/A housing might work best for this?
Anywho, I got the new housing installed and no issues after that.

This morning I get the car ready for the Mission 22 show, let the car warm up a few min and then leave for the show (15 min away, maybe) i start driving and small amount of smoke out the hook, doesnt worry me too much. Probably just residual from leaking coolant and such. I come to a stop and smoke starts ROLLING out of the hood. Now im worried. Rush into a parking lot nearby, turn the car off and pop the hood, freaking radiator cap popped off... i think in my haste last night i forgot to 1) either put the cap on at all, 2) not twist it all the way so it locked in.. Luckily i brought a half gallon of water (regular tap) just in case, and it took it all. Cleaned up the bay a tad with some oil towels i had in the car. Everything went very well after that point. Car drove pretty great, and i didnt have a single drop of coolant while, or after the meet.

I got 2nd in the "Import Classic" group behind my buddy with his 91 that built. There were a total of 40 cars that attended.
View attachment 633926View attachment 633927
View attachment 633928


Here's to owning a DSM

its not a build DSM without a few zip ties and bungees absolutely beautiful!

 

[Anfurnyy]

I couldn't figure out why I was leaking coolant from my housing, after taking it off and inspecting it, there was the tiniest hairline crack in it around where one of the bolts threads in. Tightening made it worse.

Pull the housing and look for small cracks at different angles.

Yeah this was my issue as well. I must have hulked the bottom nut down a little too hard

its not a build DSM without a few zip ties and bungees absolutely beautiful!

Thanks! Got that right haha

 

[Anfurnyy]

So not a single drop of coolant since putting the new housing in. It's been on my list of things to do for a very long time and it's quite the accomplishment for me to have this car not leaking anything.

Yesterday I got my internals and oh my it's got me fired up. Also, here's a shot of all the goodies I've been hoarding for when this gets rebuilt again.



Today I started tearing off the side moldings to replace the 3m tape and panel clips with new one(s). I didn't plan on doing this until later down the road but I got bored.
I don't have the clips yet but I ordered them online.
The part number for them is mb696120
I picked up 2 25 packs of these:
Amazon product ASIN B07BHDQ9KM



I have a meet this Saturday that I'm trying to get to.. soo hopefully the shop tomorrow I'm going to has some clips that will work.. or hopefully somewhere else in town does.

Popped off the rear quarter/ side skirt and holy shit. Look at that bondo. Buddy thinks is a rust repair? Like maybe they replaced that part of the wheel well with a new piece and just said "screw it" and there the Bondo on after since it isn't shown? Idk. I'll be smoothing the big edge out before I put the moldings back on. Nothing super out of the ordinary on the front quarter or the door. I CAN tell that this has been done before though because there are quite a few non OEM clips used.

While looking at the vent on the rear quarter, it actually looks like it's functional but I couldn't figure where it goes? There's a little rubber flap that folds up and then it goes somewhere. Any ideas?

Here's what I'll be using for 3m tape, and picking up some adhesion promoter tomorrow. If I get this done before Saturday, I definitely won't be doing the other side until I have the other clips I think..

I also picked up new interior door card/ cover clips as well. Here is the OEM part number, and you can get them from Mach V here:

Mitsubishi Lower Door Clips 1G DSM

These clips get old and then the lower part of the door never seems to stay put. You end of smacking it back down until the door is opened again and it pops out. Maybe you've tried using some of the clips from other panels only to find they don't work. Sold in a set of twelve to cover both door...

machv.com

 

[AWD-Tony]

None leaking dsm is a unicorn
I've been looking everywhere for those clips and tried two sets of generic clips which didn't work. Just ordered them. Not happy about $9 shipping . Thanks man!!

 

[Anfurnyy]

None leaking dsm is a unicorn
I've been looking everywhere for those clips and tried two sets of generic clips which didn't work. Just ordered them. Not happy about $9 shipping . Thanks man!!

I know right! After owning 2 subarus, 2 z31's and now this.. im tired of looking at leaks.
I think i did find a great site for all our fasteners needs though. Check out this next post.

 

[Anfurnyy]

i think i found a solid source for our all of our body clips and what not. Ill try and list them out with their part numbers and link. I can try to get the amount of these clips as well and update this later. Maybe ill make its own separate post if there isnt already one.

Here is the main site:

Automotive Retainers, Clips and Fasteners - ClipsAndFasteners.com

Your one-stop shop for universal automotive retainers, automotive moulding clips and interior trim fasteners. Shop today and save on free shipping for all orders over $99!

www.clipsandfasteners.com

$100 Gets free shipping

Interior Door Panels:

Chrysler Trim Panel Retainers Jeep Eagle & Talon

Chrysler Trim Panel Retainers Jeep Eagle & Talon

www.clipsandfasteners.com

(These appear to be the same as the ones I attached above)

• Trim Panel Retainer
• White Nylon
• Top Head Diameter: 13mm
• Middle Head Diameter: 16mm
• Bottom Head Diameter: 18mm
• Stem Diameter: 10mm
• Stem Length: 14mm
• Replaces: MB374270, MB374271 Chrysler Laser, Dodge Stealth, Jeep Eagle & Talon and Mitsubishi Eclipse & Montero 1989 -
• 15 Per Package

Interior, below the rear quarter window:

Mitsubishi Interior Trim, Bumper & Grille Push-Type Retainer

Mitsubishi Interior Trim, Bumper & Grille Push-Type Retainer

www.clipsandfasteners.com

A- Pillar:

Mitsubishi Pillar Trim & Air Inlet Grille Retainer

Mitsubishi Pillar Trim & Air Inlet Grille Retainer

www.clipsandfasteners.com

Side moulding Exterior: (50 total required for both sides, 25/ Entire side)

Mitsubishi Moulding Trim Retainer 11mm Stm Lgth

Mitsubishi Moulding Trim Retainer 11mm Stm Lgth

www.clipsandfasteners.com

Interior Door panels? (Bigger Stem size,

Mitsubishi Trim Panel Retainer With Sealer MR322000

Mitsubishi Trim Panel Retainer With Sealer MR322000

www.clipsandfasteners.com

• Trim Panel Retainer With Sealer
• White Nylon
• Top Head Diameter: 12mm
• Bottom Head Diameter: 16mm
• Stem Diameter: 8mm x 8mm
• Stem Length: 14mm
• Replaces Mitsubishi: MR322000 Diamante, Eclipse, Galant, Montero & Outlander 2000 -
• 25 Per Package

 

[AWD-Tony]

Thanks for listing them! I might pick up some of those push pins for the interior.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Thanks for listing them! I might pick up some of those push pins for the interior.

I just ordered 60 of the exterior body molding clips, and a set of the interior A pillars overnighted. I'll let you guys know if they work well..

 

[Anfurnyy]

So clips came in today! Went to work on the Mouldings right after work.

I ordered 4 kits of these (60 total):
https://www.clipsandfasteners.com/M...-Retainer-11mm-Stm-Lgth-p/a19320.htm?CartID=4

and 2 kits of these (30 total):

Mitsubishi Pillar Trim & Air Inlet Grille Retainer

Mitsubishi Pillar Trim & Air Inlet Grille Retainer

www.clipsandfasteners.com

Both of which worked perfect! Unfortunately, the retainers on my A-pillars for my clips are pretty much all broken off so both my driver and passenger side A-Pillars basically fall down. Ill need to find a solution for that as you cant really easily find those parts anymore. I ended up using some of the interior clips for the trim cover right next to the rear seat on the passenger side. These worked perfect there too.

I did replace ALL clips on the molding with the new ones that came in today.

Finished removing the double sided tape yesterday with a 3m eraser wheel which works great, just a little awkward to get into some of the corners right. It looks like obviously these panels have come off before and when they put them back on they used some sort of really hard Urethane on some of the parts? that was a bi*** getting it off the paint on the car.. i didn't get it all completely but most of it. That crap you have to use a razor blade an literally cut it off the paint.

I prepped and leaned the paint with Believe it or not, Glass cleaner. Not windex.. actual glass cleaner. I went with Invisible glass and it worked wonderfully. I also picked up some adhesion promoter too. My body guy uses Fusor Adhesive Promoter. This stuff was insane. Basically MIST it onto the Molding, not the body and then stick the tape one. I kid you not, as soon as the tape even grazed the spot you spray its glued down, so i had to be extra careful. I did have to double up my 3m tape on pretty much every panel though as the stuff i bought wasn't thick enough i guess. I used the Adhesion promoter between the layers of the tape as well.


The rear molding/side skirt was first to put on, and that went really really well and it turned out really great! only issue is right under the door open and close switch i don't think i used enough tape as there is a gap. Not sure if this is a common thing or not, but i'm really happy with how that molding turned out.
Next up i went to the Front molding on the front quarter panel. In Hindsight, I think i would recommend either A) Doing both the rear quarter/ side skirt AND the front quarter together, or B) Doing the front quarter first and then the rear quarter/skirt. Reason being, they kind of interlock together and if you have the side skirt on first, it doesn't give enough flex to be able to twist it to meet up with the front quarter. I was able to basically slide the front quarter on from front to back first, clip in the 2 top clips, and then twist where they interlock at underneath, and THEN push in the last bottom clip. On rear side of the front quarter, you can see the tape pulling away from the body panel so i'm assuming i put tape where i wasn't supposed to. I only followed where there was tape previously, so obviously that must have been wrong. That's about the only thing wrong with the front quarter.


The Door Molding was very easy to do, but somehow i messed this one up the worst. The tape and everything on the back side went great. didn't have to double upon this panel. Basically i just got so gung ho to get the molding on the car that i didn't bother to Perfectly line up the molding to sit flush with the actual door. So there's like a 1/8th" gap from the end of the molding to the door.. don't get me wrong the molding looks much better on the door. Its sucked in a bit more and it doesn't really look like its stuck on there anymore. I may sometime in the future go back and pull this one back off and redo this one if it bothers me that much (probably will knowing me)




So it looks like I'll be going to cars n coffee tomorrow morning!

All in all i'm happy i did this but i'm also happy it's done with. I'm not looking forward to doing the other side, but at the same time ill be excited to.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Made it to the meet yesterday!
Car drove pretty well and everyone seemed to like the car! It was only a 2 hour meet but it got pretty packed.


Some neat cars showed up like a
1st gen Mini Cooper


A Gti-R


Another 1gb with an FP black setup


The owner of RentJDM in Vegas also showed up as well! Craig is actually from Sturgis just 20 miles north of my town and he's well known around. He brought one of his 3 r34s to the meet.

Afterwards I went and helped a buddy the rest of the day pull his clutch in his Paxton 5.0 car, and swap in a Mantic twin disk.


I did notice that on the way to the meet right when I pulled in I smelled some sort of burning fluid like oil or maybe gear oil? It looks like maybe my T case seal is leaking again.

 

[TheRippedNerd]

dude i love vicariously living through you and this build dope car show btw!

 

[Anfurnyy]

dude i love vicariously living through you and this build dope car show btw!

Thanks man! still more stuff on the way! going to build the motor this winter, maybe rebuild the Tcase and wrap it a secret color

 

[TheRippedNerd]

a secret color?....do a olive green i painted my Ducati that color and it was beautiful! but im also obsessed with the Green Arrow so? maybe if i get sick of my white ill go Olive Drab Green?

 

[Anfurnyy]

It's been awhile since I've done anything with the car. I basically drove it back from the last meet and parked it because there were something's I really wanted to address before driving it anymore. I've been working on this car for a year now almost non stop and just needed a break to work on my house and tidy up some financial stuff.

Back to it!
First order of business was to figure out what the hell is going on with this whine. I figured it was the Tcase since it was run out of gear fluid, and boy was I right. My plan was to basically take the internals of the replacement I got, and put it inside the old housing that came off the car because it is much much cleaner than the replacement I've got.


I pulled the replacement apart just to make sure everything was good and it is (thankfully). I did the same with the old one just to see the damage. It's pretty bad. Safe to say I don't think I can use this Tcase housing at all, at least the center section that contains the bearings. Here's what I found. Basically right when I popped off the front housing, part of the bearing retainer/ cage literally fell out..

I knew it was going to be pretty bad. I finished popping off the rear housing and checked out the gears and they are pretty messed up. Chunks missing on a few of the gears on both the input shaft, and coupler for the trans.




I'm really surprised that the Tcase didn't completely lock up, but I'm happy it didn't.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Yesterday after work, i went back to work on the T-case. I used a drill and a couple wire wheels and wire cup to clean off all the crud off the replacement tcase. I put it back together for the most part to keep all the dust and stuff from going into the housing and what not. The last thing i wanted was to get all that stuff that im cleaning off, back inside this one and ruin this one too. i bet i spent a good hour or so with different wheels and what not trying to get everywhere as much as possible. Some of the little valleys are just impossible to get into with wire wheels but it cleaned it up as much as possible.

I wasnt sure what color i wanted to paint it, but i knew that i wanted it to look new. I ended up using the same "Aluminum" paint that i used on the transmission. I didnt really prep the trans that well, but i scuffed up the tcase decent with the wire wheel and a green scotch brite pad before hand, and then cleaned it off with brake cleaner. 2 coats of this aluminum paint and it looks great!



I painted a few of the bolts that i had in the case, but i think im going to take them out and clean them to make them look a little better and "new" ish. I might just order all new bolts too. dont know yet.

Anyways, today im hoping to get the bolts cleaned up and the tcase pulled back apart, cleaned out, new fluid, timed correctly, and sealed back up. I'm going to buy a new breather for it, as well as spare set of seals I think. I used the old front housing from the old Tcase, with the new rear and middle housings. So the old front housing already has a new seal and I'm going to try and pop the other new Seal out of the old housing since it's new and re-use it.

heres a before and after for comparison:

 

[bgold87]

Looks awesome man! I've got my motor off to the machine shop, went with the same pistons and rods you did, that's what my builder recommended and boy are they pretty! I know what you mean about them being inspiring.

Have you done anything with your suspension? I wanted to pull my subframe to clean and paint it and found every bushing to be in bad shape, wanted to see if you have messed with any of that?

 

[Anfurnyy]

Looks awesome man! I've got my motor off to the machine shop, went with the same pistons and rods you did, that's what my builder recommended and boy are they pretty! I know what you mean about them being inspiring.

Have you done anything with your suspension? I wanted to pull my subframe to clean and paint it and found every bushing to be in bad shape, wanted to see if you have messed with any of that?

Im super stoked to get them in! Cant wait.

As far as i know, all thats done as far as suspension is POSSIBLE lowering springs, and rear upper control arms. Everything else as far as i know is stock. For sure, if you're going to pull it apart and paint subframe stuff replace the bushings. Id also invest in a hydraulic press too for alot of those bushings. I do have plans to go through and replace the bushings as well, and pick up a few goodies to replace the subrames and what not with too.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Alright guys so i knew that i wasnt going to really drive this car much for the rest of the year. Between no A/C, and it just being hot and now the transfer case I decided to just start tearing the motor out and starting the actual build. I plan on using Micrometers for all the measurements and doing everything myself with the exception of the line bore for the main studs and Girdle. I want to be able to assemble this engine myself.

Theres a few things that I plan on changing when i put everything back together outside of the motor build. I realized after a test fit of this Magnus Mani that ill have to either relocate the battery, or lower it somehow.. im really not sure which is the better option. If I relocate it, it would just be right behind the rear seats and not all the way in the back. Trying to keep as much weight forward as possible.

Im also going to try and rewire my fan switched source as well and set it up with Link using the Evap solenoid, using that harness. This should be fairly simple, just wiring a relay in using the evap input to turn on the relay using the settings in link.

Im planning on moving the fuel pressure regulator to the drive side strut tower.

Ill Mount my Catch can to the Passenger side strut tower

I pulled the turbo and manifold off with the turbo attached as well, not sure if this was a mistake or not because now im not sure what im supposed to use to pull the motor out since i dont have any of the engine hoist brackets.. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Ive read a few posts about wrapping a strap around the exhaust and intake manifold but im not sure i trust the stock cast aluminum intake mani to hold the almost the entire engine and trans.

I absolutely hate draining coolant too.. my drain is stuck closed so i have to pull the lower hose and deal with trying to catch it in the bucket under the car. Most of the time its incredibly slow, and just runs down the subframes or whatever the hell is under the trans, and that sucks. I pulled the radiator and vice gripped that drain out and im going to try and drain it with another drain that has a hose fitting on it so its easier to drain.

 

[bgold87]

Put lift brackets back on. One by PS pump and one by TB. I had my manifold off too when I pulled mine and just used an exhaust stud. Kinda sketchy but I tightened as much as I could and it was fine. I pulled tranny and engine together. I got tons of pics so let me know if you got any questions.