'96 Eclipse street/strip/show project

[vr4scott]

Let me start by saying that with the many DSMs I've parted out, this is the only one I've held on to. This is also not completely in chronological order.

It all started with the first 2G turbo DSM I bought back in 2005 or 2006, a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse GST. It only had like 85k on it. I had it a year and spun a rod bearing, did a 6 bolt swap. Then the turbo died, put a Evo 3 16g on it, bought a fuel setup, and installed DSMlink. Then the clutch went, put an ACT setup in. Timing belt jumped, put a built head on. Over the course of about 3 years, little by little I replaced most of the drivetrain. I got halfway into the body kit install at one point and changed my mind. I did the 2GB conversion and painted the car.

About 4 or 5 months went by and the trans was tired of me giving it hell.

I was tired of replacing stuff and had collected enough parts to do an AWD conversion anyway, so I decided to get a little shop to rebuild the entire car and I needed more room to part out cars. So I rented a little spot to do so.

The disassembly started and the mess began to grow. (Not a lot of pics as I got right to work)

Using the profit from partouts, I'd gathered enough performance parts to make alot of people jealous. So, I guess it was time to start actually doing something with them.

I needed a clean canvas to start with so I tested out a satin black paint.

 

[vr4scott]

I didn't like how it wasn't consistent so I proceeded to wirewheel the engine bay to remove the years of built up DSM fluids and old paint. I considered just clearing over the bare metal but figured that was a bit much, even for me

After stripping the engine bay, I decided on a coating: Dupli-Color Bed Armor with Kevlar

Decided to remove all the stock brake lines and fuel lines, as they weren't in the best condition anyway.

Pulled the front subframe, coated it, and replaced the bushings with my own design.

Started adding stuff little by little back to the engine bay and front end.

Test fit for a power steering reservoir.

 

[vr4scott]

Finally decided on a turbo, ordered it, and got it in, pretty small.

Got the whole turbo setup ceramic coated chrome and black.

Did a little refurb to the engine. Replaced pretty much every bolt with new ones, powdercoated or ceramic coated everything, built a new head, new oil pan, had a custom o2 setup fabbed up, remote mount oil filter, saturn alternator mod, welded fitting to the valve cover, all new timing stuff and kevlar belts, added the ATI balancer, Avid mounts, new Tial water cooled wastegate, basically a whole lot of stuff I wanted :bird: and BoostX (John) hooked me up with a baller spark plug cover

I dropped off the beat up AWD trans I had been holding on to with Red97Talon (Jose) and had him build it up and I painted the case when I got it back.

I got a deal on the new ACT twin disk, so I ordered that along with a bunch of parts from the local Mitsu dealer and installed them.

 

[vr4scott]

It was finally time to install the motor and transmission, so I polished it up for fresh fingerprints and took the car off jackstands. I gave her false hope, haha.

Motor was in, so I started placing a few more things in the engine bay, finished the brake master cylinder upgrade, installed some braided lines in a few places, moved the fusebox, and installed the oil filter/cooler setup.

Got a little excited and put the front end together with the new carbon fiber hood (got it on craigslist super cheap because it was painted)

 

[vr4scott]

On to the AWD conversion, I stripped the underbody and hatch area of the car. Cut and welded everything necessary until the task was complete. Stripped and resurfaced the wheel wells, installed poly bushings everywhere, added coilovers and camber kits, and went over the driveshaft. BoostX and I designed and started producing the 2G AWD rear subframe bushings, installed those while I was coating the subframe. All new wheel bearings and ARP extended wheel studs. All new control arms, sway bars, end links, etc. Replaced everything.

 

[vr4scott]

Then it was on to the brakes. Got a set of front Evo Brembos on trade and bought a set of rears from Kris down in South Florida. Had the calipers Ceramic coated chrome and rebuilt them. Stock rotors wouldn't do so bought new ones and all new pads. Then fitted them to the car. Old rims fit the rear but not the front so got rid of them and picked up some Cobra rims that magically clear. I'll get some better rims eventually.

I ordered a few more parts and in the wait came up with a few side projects on the car. I decided to decrease weight, so I removed the the spare tire portion of the hatch along with the entire rear wiper setup. I then sprayed the bottom with professional rubberized undercoating. Most of the sound deadening in the car and power antenna have been long gone. Considering starting to remove wiring circuits at this time. Found a rare S7 gauge overlay kit brand new on Craigslist for cheap and installed it. Cleaned up the interior a bit the other day.

Still lots to do but it's all small and manageable. Just gotta keep up the motivation.

 

[sypherzero]

Helluva build man!! Keep up the good work!

 

[Maxthepersonz]

This thing is sick. Awesome job.