95eclipser's 1999 GSX - Street/Track Build - 2009-Present

[95eclipser]

@ec17pse I would like more info on this.

Im having a shop make me a mould for my racing hoods but they explained the process and its a long one to get right, a mould ofnthe oart then a mould from the mould and then the paet from the 2nd mould

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

@ec17pse I would like more info on this.

Im having a shop make me a mould for my racing hoods but they explained the process and its a long one to get right, a mould ofnthe oart then a mould from the mould and then the paet from the 2nd mould

Its a simple hood, im having the RRE vent in a stock hood where then they do their process and in return i get a 1 piece kevlar/carbon hood! I did not want to have it double skinned so it is purely for racing and i have to use 4 aerocatch pins. It just means if i crack one or break it i can have another made, but its going to be the lightest hood since its in theory just 1 skin.

 

[tylersevo]

While it was a slight inconvenience to have to go get new hardware to bolt the hatch on, the actual fit of the hatch to the body is pretty spot on (and I'm picky). Sorry if there was any confusion in my original reply.

 

[95eclipser]

While it was a slight inconvenience to have to go get new hardware to bolt the hatch on, the actual fit of the hatch to the body is pretty spot on (and I'm picky). Sorry if there was any confusion in my original reply.

No worries man. And if I need to use new hardware that's not a big deal to me. What I am more interested in, is the quality. Hoping it lives up to the hype and my expectations.

 

[95eclipser]

Build Update 8/21/17

The Carbon Hatch Finally Arrives.. The following info below is going to my be review and dealings with Carbonetics. I paid full price for this item, and in no way am sponsored by CN. In turn this allows me to leave a fair and honest review.

All major interactions, and Info with Sergio at Carbonetics.

1)Initial Order inquiry: I contacted Sergio on Feb 22nd, to get a price quote and estimated lead times on his CSL hatch. Response time was quick and I was quote a price within an hour of sending my message. The price for the hatch was $600.00 and residential Fright shipping w/ insurance was $390.00. Estimated Lead times 12-15 weeks (3-4 months). $300.00 down at the beginning and final payment when the hatch is completed.

Total $990.00

2)Order and deposit: After having him answer a couple small questions On March 1st I paypal'd the $300.00 deposit for my Hatch. From there the waiting game starts.

3)Order updates/completion/Drop off: After making the deposit on March 1st, I would occasionally reach out to Sergio at the beginning and end of every month asking for progress updates and if the current timeframe of 13-15 weeks was still holding. Sergio would usually respond with in 4-8 hours depending. I'm East coast VA and he is west coast Mexico / Cali, so our free times wouldn't always align correctly. March, April, May, all pass by with about the same response that were still on Schedule.

June 22, rolls around and I reach out to Sergio asking him for an update because that week put us at 15 weeks lead time. I received an update that the hatch would ship with the next two weeks. I think "great, my hatch is done and will be shipping soon." After that responses from Sergio became a little spotty because of MOD 2017 being on July 8th. Which I think is understandable since its a huge event a big opportunity to show off his product to a large audience.

Sergio gave me my final balance on July 5th, and I paid that balance in full on July 6th. I was told it would ship with the next two weeks from Monday July 10th. So that means the last week in July ish... On July 11th Sergio responds telling me they are back from MOD, and they are getting the hatch ready for shipment. On July 17th Sergio tells me they are shipping the hatch this week. I'm pumped and super excited, and tell him to supply me with tracking once it leaves. That weekend rolls around then the week, with no update. Then on July 25-26th I message him asking for an update. Sergio responds saying basically saying "Sorry, there was a delay and it will ship out Friday July 28th ." At this time I ask him to send me a picture of my hatch. Which he does, its a video showing a hatch with my name on it all packaged up. So I'm excited, there's my hatch packed up ready to ship after all this time. Honestly he is wearing a lot of hats it seems and I feel this is why updates and delays happen.

July 28th comes. Sergio says it is shipping out, and they are waiting on the carrier to arrive and pick up. No response again from him until Monday Aug 1st. Sergio lets me know that the hatch was picked up and give me the Freight carrier and my Pro #.

After this I check my Tracking on Aug 2nd with no real info posted. Called the carrier and there was a lot of bad information coming from both Uship(Broker) & Clear Lane (Freight carrier), they both were not communicating with each other. I called them multiple times, putting pressure on them to reach out to Carbonetics for pick up. After doing this for two days, I finally got the word that the hatch was picked up on Aug 9th.

5)Shipment delivery: This took about a week to arrive to Virginia, as I expected. I decided to pick up the hatch from the carrier doc in Stafford city, about 30 mins from me. They wanted to ship it to another location and then schedule a delivery time. And with me going on vacation end of Aug I didn't want to risk missing delivery.

Box was beat to hell, but the hatch was protected inside and made the trip with no issues.

6)Quality inspection: I broke the box down, and unwrapped the hatch right there inside the carrier dock. I inspected the hell out of this hatch. Every inch, every corner, and every lip portion I could. I was gong to make sure nothing was wrong with it before I took delivery.

My Review: The hatch was in perfect condition and looked great. Serigo knows what he is going with carbonfiber. I couldn't find a defect, chip, or scratch in the 15 mins I took to look it over. Its a work of art plain and simple.

7)Installation/Fitment (using OEM glass): TBD installing in September.

8)Final thoughts:
Product Quality: Very Good.
Price Point: Very Fair for what you are getting.
Communication: Needs work.
Fitment: I will revisit this later on.
Lead time: 6 months. Needs to reduce lead times.
Overall Experience: Product wise, I definitely would like more items like the hood and lip kit. But due to long wait times, communication. I am unsure if I would buy direct again. May look for used items. Besides what others have said you will get your product. Just be patient and wait it out.

Side note* I tried to pull glass out of the red hatch in the picture below and ended up shattering it instead. I was less then thrilled... Guess I don't know my own strength.

 

[Robert Matin]

That looks great. I plan to order one and some doors after the first of the year. I hope you post up some pictures of this once installed. Car is very clean.

 

[95eclipser]

Small update 9/11/17

My CompWork Fender Braces are on the way!!!! Can't wait to install them.
&
After suffering a small defeat from my first glass removal attempt. I decided to let a shop handle the next attempt... I dropped the carbon hatch, and donner hatch off Friday morning and it was completed that afternoon.
All and all good experience with the glass shop, really not much to say there. Just glad I had a spare hatch.

Pics (Planning to install it this weekend)

 

[95eclipser]

Build Thread Update 9/18/17: Part 1

So I have a good buddy of mine named Ray that lives down the street. He owned a EVO X up until early this 2017. Unfortunately there was an "Incident" with his freshly built HOP longblock that caused it to break a piston completely away from the pin. Due to a lack of help from the shop, and the fact that he just put a lot of time and money into this build. It left him in a jam where he could no longer put more time and money into his evo x. He ended up selling his evo x and all of his parts, and decided to take a break and look for a cheaper turbo car to build. (This is where I step in). I had a 70K Eagle Talon awd chassis just chilling I was looking to sell. Ray decide he rather build a cheaper DSM then a evo and buy a new daily.

So... Ray and I worked out the details, and I sold him the Talon shell and 6 bolt motor to get his project off the ground. We moved the car over to his house a couple weeks ago, but this Saturday we really started tearing into the car. Ray was already pulling interior items for weight. I degressed and pressure washed the engine bay, body, sub frames while Ray degreased, and washed the motor down. Everything cleaned up pretty good. We do need to treat some rust spots on the engine bay though.

Once we finished drying the motor we took off the valve cover to pull the rockers and threw away the stock lifters. From there we unbolted the intake manifold and tore down the timing side of the motor. Ray is going to do some paint work on the Block, Intake and Valve cover. And I started writing up a list of stuff he will need. Ray will also be dropping off the ALT and Starter to get them checked out. I'm sure they are fine but while its out, why not?

A lot more to come with this build. I will be posting as we get more done.

Now for Part 2 of this update.

I installed my Carbonetics Hatch!!
Quick run down on the install. I used OEM DSM glass, and had it transferred into this carbon hatch by a glass company. Install is very straight forward and you can use your oem bolts on the hatch. You will have to transfer your latch into the carbon one.
Fitment was good and the gaps between the body and the hatch are pretty consistent. The right side of the hatch/body is a little tighter, but still fit better then I thought it would and needed little adjustment.

PICS

 

[95eclipser]

Pictures continued.

 

[95eclipser]

Build Update: 10/2/17

It was a very productive weekend... that is the best way to start this update. At this time the Black talon I posted about a couple weeks ago is now for sale as a roller, you will see it posted in the classifieds soon. The motor we had planned to use, and was running only a month prior... was found to have "walked". I was honestly shocked to see this as I never witnessed crankwalk before since I got involved with DSMs. So Ray decided he is going to work on his mustang and it would be best, if I just sell everything.

Further more I picked up this non running Purple 99 GSX on Saturday as well. Car is has a 6 bolt motor swap. Don't worry the driveshaft was not installed while towing. (part out coming soon)

The rest of Saturday I spent installing the Compworks fender braces. Great Product, Quality is top notch, and install is very straight forward. I do recommend having someone help you with holding the door, and aligning holes up. I found the slightest miss alignment will pull on the bolt, and inner bracket. I actually started to mess up the threads on the bracket and bolt. I had to tap and chase them with my die kit, and then continued with the install. Overall the fender braces are easy to install, it just takes time to do this install due to how much fender stuff needs to be removed.

On Sunday I installed my Rear Upper Camber arms. Again a very straight forward process. All of my OEM bolts and nuts came apart without any issues. The weight difference can be seen and felt with these arms. Install was easy and all the supplied hardware is heavy duty and went in with out a hitch. Cant wait to dial all this suspension in.

I will be installing my bump steer and toe kit soon.. Then off to the alignment.

 

[95eclipser]

10/19/17

Nothing really new going on the with the car. Iv been focused on other projects. But I was able to drive the car and man what a difference i felt.

The front feels more locked in and responsive to my steering input. The rear feels solid and smooth, and almost as if it is planted more. Looking forward to getting the rest of my parts installed on the car.
As of now I am also thinking of swapping out my Magnus intake manifold and PTE6262 turbo kit. This turbo kit is so laggy and I want to enjoy Road racing and autox more, then straight line fun.

I plan to swap to CB ported EVO 3 intake manifold & and FP manifold. Turbo I am not to sure about just yet.. Still doing my research.

More updates to come.

 

[95eclipser]

11/3/17:

I will be going to WCF at MIR tomorrow. I am hoping to see all the DSM Evo guys run and break some records. I will post of my experience here.

Pics, & Video to come.

Thanks,

 

[95eclipser]

Update 11/9/17 Haltech World Cup Finals (Pics and Video)

All I can say is what and awesome event this is. So many amazing cars and teams coming together to break records, and push the limit of drag racing.

So WCF was streamed on Speed Videos site for anyone who was wondering. I started watching Thursday-Friday for test and tune and qualifying. I was able to see some really great passes using the stream as well as some cars break.

"Live Stream Pics"
First up Boosting performance EVO 8. This Evo currently trying to win the "7 second bounty" competition. The bounty is essentially a winner takes all comp for the first Evo that can break into the 7 sec field. The prize is a $17k or so payout. Pleas don't quote me, I don't know all of the details but essentially it is a cool way to make the evo guys push the limits of 8/9 chassis.

Sadik was pushing the car all weekend, but during test and tune he lost a trans. Check out the gear and clutch material go flying!! He was back up and running the rest of the weekend but was floating around the 8.0 field.

Boostin Performance GTR lost a rear diff at the launch. I'm pretty sure It didn't recover to run again the rest of the weekend. I saw it on jack stands while visiting the boostin tent.

Devin (Red Demon Boostin P)

Mike Wohler (Gastroker GSX)
I finally got to see Mikes gsx in person after watching it transform all these years. Didn't get to meet Mike but the car is awesome to say the least.

When I walked over to the (Gastroker tent) I found out why mike hade to pull off to the side after the launch. *Broken Tcas*.

Tcase Pics****

Video***

Jack M (Black 1G)

Trevor Holland (Holland Performance)

Jeff Bush (English Racing)

 

[Limegrntaln]

Wheew... Just spent who knows how many hours reading this entire thread. It seriously reads like watching a movie. So many twists and turns. I cant even count how many times you were going to get rid of your car, and didnt. Then got rid of it, and bought something else, only to buy another Minden Silver pearl, GSX. I bought my 1996, Minden Silver, brand new off the lot, in 1996, so, Im with you. Ive only owned 5 DSMs, but, I just keep wanting to come back to them. I definitely admire how many years you've been posting to this thread. Im tossing around the idea of getting a 97-99 GSX. Unfortunately, I haven't lived in VA since 1996, so, they are much harder to come by in California. I may end up sourcing an east coast car, but Im looking at shipping, and were talking $1-1,500. Scary is the rust. And parts are getting harder and harder to find, my big thing is going to be the absolute basics, like window seals, and all of that. Things that wear out. At this point, Im looking for a roller. Because I pretty much want everything new. I went through many of the issues you faced, along the way. Ill add divorce, and I just got done moving into my second house I had built, which was finished earlier this year.

I dont have any major plans for the car, as far as parts go. Ive been out of the DSM scene for years, selling my 97' Pewter Blue TSI AWD, back in 2012. Thats the last time Ive looked into parts or mods. My Lime green talon in my Avitar pic, I bought almost new, the car had 4,400 miles on it, and was about a year and a half old, in 1997, when I picked it up. Sold that in 1999. FP Green, and all of the supporting mods. Im looking at doing a frame off resto. Solid welding the shell. Shave and fill everything in. Rotisserie style. If I can find a color I want, I wont change the color. If I end up finding a Monarch Green or Celtic Blue, I will color change it. Not interested in any factory Colors except Kalapana, Minden or Oslo Green. 1996 Oslo Green, is by far the rarest DSM color in existence. Ive seen 1 GST in person, and 1 GSX in pictures. Heres a video of one.

If I find one I have to color change, I will color change it to Fashion Gray.

 

[95eclipser]

Wheew... Just spent who knows how many hours reading this entire thread. It seriously reads like watching a movie. So many twists and turns. I cant even count how many times you were going to get rid of your car, and didnt. Then got rid of it, and bought something else, only to buy another Minden Silver pearl, GSX. I bought my 1996, Minden Silver, brand new off the lot, in 1996, so, Im with you. Ive only owned 5 DSMs, but, I just keep wanting to come back to them. I definitely admire how many years you've been posting to this thread. Im tossing around the idea of getting a 97-99 GSX. Unfortunately, I haven't lived in VA since 1996, so, they are much harder to come by in California. I may end up sourcing an east coast car, but Im looking at shipping, and were talking $1-1,500. Scary is the rust. And parts are getting harder and harder to find, my big thing is going to be the absolute basics, like window seals, and all of that. Things that wear out. At this point, Im looking for a roller. Because I pretty much want everything new. I went through many of the issues you faced, along the way. Ill add divorce, and I just got done moving into my second house I had built, which was finished earlier this year.

I dont have any major plans for the car, as far as parts go. Ive been out of the DSM scene for years, selling my 97' Pewter Blue TSI AWD, back in 2012. Thats the last time Ive looked into parts or mods. My Lime green talon in my Avitar pic, I bought almost new, the car had 4,400 miles on it, and was about a year and a half old, in 1997, when I picked it up. Sold that in 1999. FP Green, and all of the supporting mods. Im looking at doing a frame off resto. Solid welding the shell. Shave and fill everything in. Rotisserie style. If I can find a color I want, I wont change the color. If I end up finding a Monarch Green or Celtic Blue, I will color change it. Not interested in any factory Colors except Kalapana, Minden or Oslo Green. 1996 Oslo Green, is by far the rarest DSM color in existence. Ive seen 1 GST in person, and 1 GSX in pictures. Heres a video of one.

If I find one I have to color change, I will color change it to Fashion Gray.

View attachment 528502

First off, thank you for taking the time to the read this thread in its entirety. I started this build back was I was a freshmen in college, and my ambitions were way too high back then... And I don't want anyone to take that as me saying, you can't accomplish the goals you set for yourself. Its just that I over built the car, and let my project scope creep further then it should have gone. Those two things, really killed the love for the car (97 gsx) when I finished it... I was pretty broke about the time it was done, but I had way to much invested & pride to just let it go. I tried to drive it but the insurance, and maintenance of a freshly built 2.3L I couldn't keep up with it. Tcase's would break, oil leaks, finding bolts backed out because of my solid mounts the list goes on. So I sold it... And although it sucked at first, it ultimately was the right thing to do. I learned a lot from that car. Things that I took with me to my other builds that came after.

Looking back I should have just dropped a stock motor in it, added bolt ons and enjoyed the car for what it was. But no, I had to have the 500hp awd dsm. Instead of growing with the car slowly, I swung for the fences right out of the gate. I hit my goal, but it came at a cost. When you look at the build break down I was probably 20k into the car, that was basically on jack stands for 3 years of my ownership... Then thoughts creep in like, "you could have bought an evo, m3, S2000 etc" If I could do it again I would still have picked the dsm for that time, but I would have attacked it differently.

I honestly didn't think I would come back to the dsm game. After selling the GSX I had an evo, which was so much fun in stock form. (again back to my point of enjoying the car) and my G37s. I sold the evo when I bought my house. You know life, and I was getting ready to turbo the GS7 at the time using a GTM TT kit. Unfortunately my G37 got totaled the month I paid it off. Kid rear ended in one night. Regardless a lot of stuff came out about GTM being a crap company, with product and support. So in hindsight I saved myself 8k or more by not have the G37 anymore. That was another fun car to own. RWD 3.7 v6 was nice and drove great. Bought a 2009 Jeep SRT8 after that. Now that is a car I want to own another off... Let me tell you that style and 6.1 hemi v8 is f***ing awesome!!!! Of course gas guzzler though

Anyways back to the DSM part... All of the old owners who would take possession of my sold GSX, would always pass my number around, and I would get calls now and then about it being for sale or just to get some questions answered. The last guy was about to sell it and I found myself in a good place, with some money.. and thought Hmmm maybe. I got back on turners saw all the new products and improvements so I decided to buy another one.
I missed out on my old 97 but I have this 99 now and it has been a lot of fun honestly.

I do always think of sell the DSM and buying something else, because after experience some other cars the DSM is really lacking in modern creature comforts. But how the GSX drives and the timeless look it has, is what always brings me back to it. Like I said, I enjoy building cars and trying out different platforms. Iv also been looking into Road course racing, so I might give that a try with the DSM. My neighbor who is an instructor at VIR and Summit tells me to try out the DSM but I should just go buy a BMW . He makes some good arguments and I do Love the Laguna Seca Pearl color on the E46.

But yes Oslo Green is an awesome color, I have only seen it in pictures on a talon though. I think if you look hard enough in cali you will be able to find one for sure. These cars are getting much harder to find super clean, and prices are starting to reflect that. Iv owned over 10 of them now, and everyone has had rust somewhere. East coast just eats them up. I also started hording some parts for my car. Rubber trim, interior items the list goes on. I wish I could have owned one of these brand new. That would have been pretty awesome in my book.

I like the Fashion Gray a lot. Seem a lot of car company's are starting to come out with their version of that gray tone. Iv seen people do resto builds on here and while it looks fun, I could only imagine the amount of hours they have into something like that.

 

[Limegrntaln]

Probably why Im also wary of getting another DSM. After owning 5 of them, and probably putting 20K in at least 2-3 of them...Do I really want another money pit? Well, the answer is probably yes. My problem is, I cant let anything get old. Im now in my early 40s, and Im on my 21st car. I was married for 10 years, and we always had 2 cars. There were many nice cars along the way. I commute far for work, so my daily is a 2017 Cruze Hatchback Premier RS. Its turbocharged, and even only being 2 months old, its tuned. And tuned, its a hoot to drive, on the highway. stock is 153hp 177tq, tuned is 215hp, 273tq. And it will get 40mpg. Surprises alot of cars, for sure. Its no a 500hp beast, but it also has all of the luxuries. leather, heated seats, heated steering wheel, Navigation, Apple Car Play, power roof, XM/ Sirius, blind spot, and the lane keep assist, steers the car back into the lane, autonomously. I kinda keep that turned off. Its a little scary feeling. 225/40/18s stock.

As for the GSx build. Like I was saying, I don't know what kind of power I want. It doesn't seem like there are as many turbo options for this thing, anymore. It doesn't look like FP is making their exhaust housings, anymore. Which is a little scary. Deciding to go with a stroker, or a high revver is another issue. Mine have always been 2.0s. Either way, I will probably end up buying an assembled long block, for the same reasons you had with yours. Something always leaked. No matter how much time I spent making sure the front cover was on, correctly, I always developed a leak. So, I will let someone like Magnus deal with it, I just want to drop it in. They do all of the machining, they assemble it, they degree the cams, they polish, balance and blueprint everything. I just want to drive it.

The body is probably going to be one of the biggest challenges for me. Like I said, I cant mess with anything old. Its just depressing. Whichever color I end up finding, will get repainted, anyway Even if its a factory color. All new hardware, seam welded, I had Thermal Exhausts on all of my 2Gs, love that exhaust. I have about $15K I can throw at it right now. So, that will probably get me started. But the T, case, trans, motor, rear end and prop shaft, are all going to be new. Probably go with a Magnus chromoly rear subframe. Im not sure I will have the patience to keep everyone up to date, like you did with this thread, but I need to source a good 99 roller, with all of the trim.

 

[tylersevo]

Finally got back on and figured I'd check in to see your review of the hatch. Curious as to why you decided to keep the window trim? Personally, I think it looks much cleaner and modern without. @Limegrntaln pm me on that 99 you're looking for..

 

[Limegrntaln]

Im going to attempt to source one locally, before I venture out of state. The shipping is anywhere from $400 to $1,400 depending on the distance. If I find something Im interested in, I may attempt to buy it. There is an ad for a complete 99 roller on craigslist, right now, which is only about 20 minutes from me. That will be my first attempt.

 

[95eclipser]

Finally got back on and figured I'd check in to see your review of the hatch. Curious as to why you decided to keep the window trim? Personally, I think it looks much cleaner and modern without. @Limegrntaln pm me on that 99 you're looking for..

Not sure I follow.. Are you talking about the rubber that fills around the glass?

 

[tylersevo]

Correct. I had my guy put spacers behind the glass to get it flush with the hatch. Looks much more modern IMO

 

[95eclipser]

Correct. I had my guy put spacers behind the glass to get it flush with the hatch. Looks much more modern IMO

I kinda follow what your saying but the dsm glass is not a modern design at all. So rubber is fine with me. Also it will stop debris and moister from getting inside. I don't mind it at all.

 

[95eclipser]

Update 11/27/17

Picked up the Boosted Fabrication cross-member bar during a Black Friday sale. Should have it in a couple weeks!!

Also took the GSX out to cars and coffee with some friends on Sunday.

Here is an AWD swapped spyder, and TT G35

And the Daily Driver Dream.... one day.

 

[Type1DSMr]

Great build man. I have a boosted fab cross member that I got during their group buy many months ago. It's a very nice piece. You should be very happy with it.

 

[95eclipser]

Update 12/4/17

I was able to work on the car a little bit this past weekend. I noticed a week ago that my clear cam cover was starting to rub against my cam gear bolts. I am missing the middle timing cover, and with my spark plug wires running right over the top cover it wasn't helping anything. So I decided to relocated my coil pack to a new spot for now. If I decide to stay with my Magnus intake, I will pick up the JMFab coil bracket to tuck it under the manifold.

I also Decided to install some solid shifter bash bushing I had sitting for a while now. I was still on the factory rubber bushings if you can believe that.... Feels a lot better matched up with my B&M shifter.

I also decided to add a rear trunk brace I have had sitting for a while. If anyone is wondering.. NO I don't know who makes it or where it came from unfortunately. I pulled it out of a talon I owned for a little bit, and just hung it on my wall for about a year. I think it looks great but it doesn't allow me to fold down my rear seats at all.

Also my buddy with the AWD Spyder, hit me up Saturday about a car meet that was going on in a rented parking garage. Sounded like fun so we rolled out to Maryland for the night. FIRST off I am really pleased with how the GSX ran and drove. Dave has a awesome tune on it. Put about 150+ miles on the car in stop and go traffic and 35 degree weather. It never missed a beat. I do need an alignment, and tires balanced though..

Both of our cars got a decent amount of attention. We were asked to line up for a quick photo shoot and video footage. Hoping it makes it into the final cut...

 

[95eclipser]

Build update 1/2/18!

Starting off this year right with a new DSM video for the channel! Click on the video below for a Quick run down on the Boosted Fabrication Crossmember. This Bar features a built in tow hook, optional jack mount, and of course built in lower motor mount. You also lose roughly 7lbs by running this bar.

Stock Crossmember w/ lower motor mount:
Weight 12lbs

BFab Crossmember w/tow hook and jack point
Weight 5lbs

Video: