Showcar Build 95 Eclipse RS turbo show car build

[jesse12345]

Well I've still been disassembling the car and the more I take apart the more work I see I have to do. Im pulling the engine and giving it to my buddy. I'll build one for this car and make sure everything is super clean since I'm going for show quality. I'll continue to fix all the rust and clean/paint everything.
I will probably super scrub the engine bay and just re-paint it black and tidy up all the wiring. The wiring is another hot mess I'll need to dig into, the wiring and ecu was all moved to give it a cleaner look. I will say it looks good but everything is on the transmission in a jumble.

Things have been moving kind of slow since I've been rebuilding my deck. I'd love to spend more time working on these cars.

 

[jesse12345]

Tonight I got the front subframe ready to be dropped. I found out all 4 coils have been cut to get the right amount of drop so ill be replacing those. Everything seems like it's in good shape but it's all super dirty so I'm on the fence with either replacing it all or just cleaning it all up. Either way progress has been made within my stupid busy life.

I also received a new old stock kenwood radio from 2009. The stereo system in this car will be something you'd see in the early 2000s cars (dare i say like in the fast and the furious). I won't be cutting any stock parts or adding anything crazy to the door panels or anything. I want it all to be a clean quality type show car.

This car is something 16 year old me would have wanted which I did have my senior year. I remember my dad and I ripping out the Lambo door hindges since it was to ricey for me. So I know what I like and don't.

 

[jesse12345]

I finally had some time to pull the engine today. My next goal is subframes dropped so I can fully fix any and all rust. Then ill clean everything up and get things painted and or replaced. Right now I'm swapping the engine that was in my car into my buddies. I'll be using his stock never touched engine as the built replacement.

 

[jesse12345]

I'm finally starting to get some parts in. I decided to do the triple gauges in the vents instead of the 2 I was running by the stock gauges. It's a show car after all so it being a little flashy is sort of what I'm going for. I still have alot of rust to fix unfortunately but getting parts in for the build are definitely motivating me.

The second picture shows the engine that was in my car with the turbo now lives in my buddies wife's talon in a stock configuration. I ended up giving it to him for free since I don't know the history on it and I've sort of put it through the ringer. It runs great and now has zero leaks. It should have alot easier life moving forward. The swap actually went super smooth, I just pulled both engines with the transmissions attached.

I'm honestly just itching to drive my car again, I miss the manual. I also miss the 420a it's actually such a simple motor to work with and work on. Anyways now that I'm finally done swapping engines I can get back to working on my car. Not really much of an update. Just showing what I've been up too.

 

[jesse12345]

Alright so I'm back to wrenching on the rusty rs and man I feel like I made a ton of progress today. Im finally attempting to fix this roof from that dreaded homemade sunroof job. If I get it how I like ill be happy if it fails then im cutting the roof off my talon and thats that. As to how I'm fixing it I'm using panel bond and creating a lip down the same metal thickness and then ill panel bond the "plug" I cut out. I'm not sure how it'll look or what I'll run into but I'm giving it my best, and crossing my fingers. Of course I'll have to bondo the seam and any imperfections unfortunately.

Next on the list was the absolutely gummed up trans that's been staring at me for a few weeks. I scrubbed most of it but there's still plenty more to scrape off. I did notice on the fork 1 out of the 3 hooks that attach to the ball is either broken or is it normal to be shorter? I'm guessing it's broken and ill have to find a new one. Either way I'm super pumped to be getting this much done in an evening. The transmission will be getting painted but I'd like to make sure it's pretty spotless first.

 

[jesse12345]

Today I got the windshield out of the talon in preparation for the roof removal that's soon to come. I've decided to use this car as the doner only because it does have some rust in areas and I'm just not real happy with the front end swap I did. There's alot I wish I would have done differently but that's okay because it'll be donated for a good cause. I'm just waiting on a special tool to remove the rear windows. The dash will also move over the the rs. I didn't know how mint it was so I'm super happy about that.

 

[jesse12345]

I was able to start painting the transmission. I'm also starting to strip the talon so I can cut out anything I need for the rs. It's going to be alot of work but the rs has alot of history and meaningful value to me so that's why I'm doing this.

 

[jesse12345]

So aside from cleaning up parts and sanding and painting brackets, I've still been picking away at these windows. I honestly have zero clue how you body guys or glass guys get these out. I've bought special tools to get these out and dang it's been wrecking me. Anyways I'll get them eventually when I get a chance.

 

[jesse12345]

I'm working my way from front to back now since it's winter. I ordered a used harness off ebay and since I'm going to be re painting the engine bay, I decided to remove a bunch of stuff like the harnesses. I'll be sanding and fixing rust in preparation for the repaint. After that I have everything I need to rebuild my 420a that's been sitting in the corner. I will be scrubbing every part that I can along the way. If everything goes how I want it to by spring, I'll have the doner car back in my garage so I can continue the roof skin swap. I'm trying to keep things organized.

 

[chrysler kid]

I read all 4 pages, and you never really said why you are saving this rusted eclipse with quarter panel damage and a butchered hole In the roof, you said it was just sentimental? Care to clarify, or did it just belong to some one who was close to you and you want to see it finished as a momento

 

[jesse12345]

My buddy from school owned this thing for many years and I actually said I was going to leave it how he had it. After the honeymoon phase wore off, my ocd got the best of me and there was just so much wrong I couldn't stand it anymore. Everyone told me to just leave it be but as you can see it's not in great shape. The outside looked good but what people couldn't see is what bothered me. It seems like everyone of these cars I get either has bad rust or damage from an accident, I got both on this one. My talon is clean but it's a Frankenstein and that really bothers me more than fixing rust so ill just swap everything over that I can.
The real reason for me and why I'm doing this is because I had an eclipse rs for my first car in 2010 so this rs really brings me back and I don't mind wrenching on it. I'm doing everything I wanted to do back then, now. I'm deciding to do all this for me and not what everyone else thinks I should do.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Everyone told me not to build my RS too. But I did anyway. There's no monetary reward, but a reward of joy. That's what I went for.

 

[jesse12345]

It's not going to be fast by any means but it'll be fun. The rs will always hold a special place within me. I remember the very first time I ever wrenched on a car and it was on my 96 rs. I did a valve cover gasket by myself and man was I proud. So these cars bring me great joy especially the 420a ones. They almost mean more to me because I'm not really into making a fat ton of power, just enough thats enjoyable.

 

[jesse12345]

I'm making some really slow progress but it's progress. I got the front subframe dropped and boy did it fight me. I don't think it's ever been dropped and there's about 230k on the odometer. Everything is going to be getting a deep clean and paint.

The other wire harness I ordered came in today. I'm going to slowly clean and restore all of it. I also ordered those zip ties with the clip so everything snaps in like factory again.

I'm trying my hardest to stick with the front and not move around. Once I have the front done, I'll move on to other things. I don't want a billion parts scattered everywhere so this is me trying to stay somewhat clean and organized. New year new me.

 

[jesse12345]

I've got a pretty big update on this car and my projects moving forward. This car will be my last and final project and right now it's literally my only project. I'm going to take my absolute time on this thing to make it perfect. That being said I can't make it perfect without a doner and that doner is my talon. Every last part I need will be cut off of that car and become one with this car. I'm going to cut out the rockers and all and weld them on to the eclipse. It's going to get all new seam sealer too. It's a confusing process especially since I'm deciding to do it to my rs. In my eyes they all mean just as much to me whether it's a gsx/gst or gs/rs. I just enjoy to work on them.

With all that out of the way I did drop some very rusty bolts and brackets into some rust desolver over night. They actually looked like I pulled them out of the titanic before they were cleaned up. I will say they did clean up really nice, aside from some pitting that is out of my control. I also cleaned up the subframe a little but under some of the spunk, there's rust, so ill have to figure out what kind of paint I should use that will hold up.

Anyways I'm trying to do little things everyday to the car to keep me moving forward. My motivation to work on stuff has really took a dive these past couple of years. Between work and kids it's hard to juggle everything in between. I've had to cut alot of other hobbies just to keep this one which to me is the most rewarding.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Alright "Mr Nostalgia", let's see what you're made of

Following to see the build for sure.

 

[jesse12345]

I'm going to need all the motivation I can get! It's going to be an awesome build and I'm super pumped.
I appreciate the follow and you know there's going to be some nostalgia going into this too.

 

[miliman13]

In my eyes they all mean just as much to me whether it's a gsx/gst or gs/rs.

Respect

 

[Ineedboostman]

Keep up the hard work. At the end of the day its for your gratification we can only provide words of motivation.

 

[jesse12345]

I like that and I appreciate that. I appreciate everyone stopping by and encouraging the build. Motivation is big time key for me since I have alot going on.
This isn't the nostalgia build but having a 420a as my first car really brings back some memories when I'm working on this one. I can't stand to see it in such bad shape, I just have to dig in and love it. It's going to be alot of fun.

 

[jesse12345]

I started to tear into the rust where I don't necessarily need my doner car to fix. You won't see it but I'd like it to be as nice as I can make it. So far I'm pretty happy, it could be better but I'm not mad.

 

[jesse12345]

Pretty big update on the rs. I spent most of the day disassembling the car from front to back. Bolts are snapping left and right and the cancer seems to keep growing as I dig in further. That's okay though since I have a rust free doner. There's not one thing that can get me down. I am a little concerned about how hacked up the wiring is after I got the dash out. I swear my gsx is the only eclipse I've ever had that didn't have fricked wiring. I'm going to see if I can't snake the one out of my talon and use that instead since it's in better shape. Anyways my next step is to get the windows removed and get that roof skin peeled off.

I'm also thinking long and hard on whether or not I should just re paint the whole car. The windows are going to be removed and the whole car is stripped down. I'm thinking I do the body work and sand the whole car then bring it over to my buddies to have it professionally painted. I do like the color and I do want it to look the same. I'm just really thinking about my options. I'd like to just do it right the first time.
I'm also going to steal the strut towers off the talon, it makes more sense then to artistically try to patch what I have. I could do it but then again I have rust free ones.

Ignore the mess in the car I did clean it all up and vacuum it out.

 

[jesse12345]

The interior of the car is pretty much fully gutted at this point. I removed just about everything. The next thing to remove will be the other rear quarter window and the front windshield.

 

[jesse12345]

I got the rear subframe dropped which was pretty easy. No real fits on stuff tonight. I did get smart and started using heat to get bolts out. All the bolts I snapped I just heated up and threaded them through with a pliers. It was all very easy surprisingly.

I'm going to make some sort of contraption to get the car up higher and so I can't strip the car inside and out easily. This thing is getting the complete works and it actually is making me excited. I'm going to push the limits of what I can do.

 

[UniversalUnreality]

From a fellow Minnesotan, I'm longing for the spring time to get started on my Eclipse again, waiting on funding for the parts is always rough one for me, might need to make the garage heated so I'm not restricted to about 3-4 months of good solid progress. Great work so far!