97’ GSX Auto Drag Build

[Mitsubishiown]

The car is a 97' GSX with an automatic transmission and 117k miles on it. It is literally completely stock and all maintenance was recently done on it by previous owner along with new tires. Absolutely zero strut tower rust and the car drives great. A lot of little issues with it but I am working on fixing them now. Also after getting it home I decided to check the rear diff and WOOOT I got lucky and it has the viscous LSD.

Current plans:

1) Swap from gray to black interior (everything except the seats because I don't have them in black)
2) Fix the alignment on the passenger side door currently rubs against front fender slightly when opening.
3) Put the stock spoiler back on
4) Wire up my HERTZ speakers
5) Replace the hood do to the big dent
6) Replace the carpet with new black carpet and dynamat
7) Cruise control removal

 

[Boomdeeze]

Did you buy the car?

 

[Vegas Smith]

Get rid of those ugly-ass rims too. Congrats on the buy.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Boomdeeze- Yeah picked it up the other day trying to get as much work done to it as possible before I go away to school.

Vegas- Yeah I will eventually, car is going to be in the garage for a long time so I'll keep them for now.

Installed the spoiler yesterday and started swapping the interior. Have to modify the stock speaker housing in the front to hold these speakers so a little hung up on that right now.

Today I removed the dashboard from the GST wasn’t too bad but some of the electrical clips are an absolute pain in the ass. Tomorrow I’ll take the dashboard out of my car and them Sunday hopefully have time to put the black dashboard in my car. Is there any maintance or maybe other things I should replace while the dashboard is off?

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Took the dashboard out of the GST yesterday, this weekend I plan on finishing the interior. Have to take the dash out of the GSX still. Also I need to order the carpet this weekend.

 

[Boomdeeze]

If your carpet is in good condition just dye it.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

If your carpet is in good condition just dye it.

The carpet is pretty nasty in my car and has a lot of holes so I’m just going to replace it. Finally modified the OEM front speaker housing to hold my speakers and got the door panels put back together. Nothing special but will take a pic of it.

I will be ordering my carpet from stockinteriors.com and going with the 801 black with the mass backing this weekend. Pretty sure I decided I am going to do the cruise control delete this week as well.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Suspension Plans:

Feals 441 or 441+ (from the reading I have done it seems to be the best option for drag/street need to research spring rates and valving now because I am lost)
Prothane Front/Rear Sway Bar Bushings
Prothane Front/Rear Control Arm Bushings
RM Rear Sway Bar
Polyurethane Front Motor Mount

Not sure if I am missing anything important that I should do but this seems like a good start and about what I was wanting to spend on suspension upgrades. I did get a chance to install the new Front Motor Mount!

Finally had the chance to install the speakers and door panels. Really like how they look although the door panels aren't in perfect shape. I have a lot of plans for this car just attempting to do all the research seems like I might end up doing a 6-bolt swap seems the way most people go when they plan on making 600-700whp. We will see I have a lot to learn!

Cruise control delete will happen this week as well.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Did more work on the car and also found more work in the form of rust! Trying to find as much info as possible on rust repair what worries me is the pinch welds and whatever that piece is behind the rear side skirt area being rusted out. Going to take out the seats and carpet to make sure he floor pan is fine and not sure on the rest of the rust.

On the bright side I replaced the drip molds I think they are called mine had chunks missing.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Parts that have been ordered:

1) JNZ Abs Delete Kit
2) 3g Master Cylinder
3) Wilwood Front Drag Kit
4) Feals 441 Coilovers
5) FRH Intake with S90 TB
6) Black Rear Seats

When I go home in 2 weeks I will be doing the ABS delete, cruise control delete, installing feals coilovers, and installing the front wilwood drag kit.

 

[Vegas Smith]

That's all?

 

[Mitsubishiown]

That's all?

Haha yeah, I am excited to start working on it. I need to order the rear wilwoods still and new rotors for the front because the rotors I have are 12.2'' and won't fit a 15'' wheel but I will install them anyways because its going to be awhile before I get 15's. I plan on getting a Paul Volk rear subframe as well but I need to decide if I am going to go with the 6 speed 3k GT rear diff or not. Haven't quite figured it out have to do a little more research on them.

 

[OH91awd]

Haha yeah, I am excited to start working on it. I need to order the rear wilwoods still and new rotors for the front because the rotors I have are 12.2'' and won't fit a 15'' wheel but I will install them anyways because its going to be awhile before I get 15's. I plan on getting a Paul Volk rear subframe as well but I need to decide if I am going to go with the 6 speed 3k GT rear diff or not. Haven't quite figured it out have to do a little more research on them.

unless youre planning on running 7s its really not necessary. there are plenty of guys going low 8s on the stock rear.

 

[motomattx]

I dont see how anyone could have taken one of these cars when they were clean and driven it in the salt and snow, just the sound of the rocks/salt smacking off of the paint on the car makes me sick when it happens to just my work car/daily driver, then on top of that the person that owned it had to have left the salt there winter after winter, I just dont get it, I wouldnt feel right doing that to ANY car, let alone a sports car. That to me would be like taking a Camaro, or Corvette, or GTR or Supra out in the same conditions and letting them just rot before your eyes. The proper fix is to draw a line around any rust and start cutting until its gone and then find donor panels either new or from a crashed unit and then start welding them back in and build her back up.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

unless youre planning on running 7s its really not necessary. there are plenty of guys going low 8s on the stock rear.

Okay thanks thats what I was looking for I just had read that they were a lot stronger and I don't plan on getting anywhere nears 7's or 8's. So I guess I will stick with the stock diff, thank you!

I dont see how anyone could have taken one of these cars when they were clean and driven it in the salt and snow, just the sound of the rocks/salt smacking off of the paint on the car makes me sick when it happens to just my work car/daily driver, then on top of that the person that owned it had to have left the salt there winter after winter, I just dont get it, I wouldnt feel right doing that to ANY car, let alone a sports car. That to me would be like taking a Camaro, or Corvette, or GTR or Supra out in the same conditions and letting them just rot before your eyes. The proper fix is to draw a line around any rust and start cutting until its gone and then find donor panels either new or from a crashed unit and then start welding them back in and build her back up.

Yeah its sad I wish I would have noticed before I bought the car but I'll just have to fix it now which is fine, should be a good learning experience. And yeah I will be cutting it out and welding in new metal, going to try and find a donor to take it from.

 

[motomattx]

If you can find a yard with a wrecked Spyder, they are likely going to have the best chance at good clean metal, as most of them are garaged in bad weather.

 

[Boomdeeze]

I would start reading auto build threads and plan out your mods for a target power goal or 1/4 mile time. It seems like you are throwing in parts that are not needed like the wilwood drag kit, upgraded rotors and pads would have been a lot cheaper.

You should really upgrade your motor and transmission before you go buying tubular subframes.

 

[OH91awd]

I would start reading auto build threads and plan out your mods for a target power goal or 1/4 mile time. It seems like you are throwing in parts that are not needed like the wilwood drag kit, upgraded rotors and pads would have been a lot cheaper.

You should really upgrade your motor and transmission before you go buying tubular subframes.

i couldnt agree with you more. ive read through this whole thread and dont really see any direction. that there can make a build extremely expensive.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

i couldnt agree with you more. ive read through this whole thread and dont really see any direction. that there can make a build extremely expensive.

Yeah I have an overall idea of my goals but like you said its not super clear, as I don't fully understand yet what it'll take to accomplish my goals. Essentially my thought is I would like to run 10s in this car to take it to the track with my dad and give us a project to work on together. I don't plan on making it a drag only car and would like to take it out on weekends occasionally. I know it'll be a rough ride but I don't mind. Not sure on what kind of power I will have to make to get it into the 10's but I am just trying to learn about the suspension and brakes right now. Its going to take a lot of money and time to accomplish these goals but should be a fun project.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

If you can find a yard with a wrecked Spyder, they are likely going to have the best chance at good clean metal, as most of them are garaged in bad weather.

Okay thank you, I will start calling around. I know last time I called no places near by had any but I am sure I can find something, not in a huge hurry.

I would start reading auto build threads and plan out your mods for a target power goal or 1/4 mile time. It seems like you are throwing in parts that are not needed like the wilwood drag kit, upgraded rotors and pads would have been a lot cheaper.

You should really upgrade your motor and transmission before you go buying tubular subframes.

Okay thanks, I have looked at a couple auto build threads but I need to start making notes of the things I find. The main reason I went with the wilwood drag kit is so I can run a 15'' wheel but I am honestly not sure on if other cheaper options could have done that as well. I also got a really good deal on them so that helped with the decision, $750 for the drag kit with ss lines and 2 sets of brake pads.

 

[Jerzm3]

Keep in mind the rear drag kit will eliminate the parking brake. Some wont mind being auto, but some dont like putting all the stress of holding the vehicle weight on the transmission’s park gear either. My personal opinion, wilwoods up front, evo in the rear. Call it a day. Focus your attention and funds on the heart and soul of the car/build (engin/trans) and use good quality parts and then build the car around THAT. You will find that much more rewarding.

 

[OH91awd]

Yeah I have an overall idea of my goals but like you said its not super clear, as I don't fully understand yet what it'll take to accomplish my goals. Essentially my thought is I would like to run 10s in this car to take it to the track with my dad and give us a project to work on together. I don't plan on making it a drag only car and would like to take it out on weekends occasionally. I know it'll be a rough ride but I don't mind. Not sure on what kind of power I will have to make to get it into the 10's but I am just trying to learn about the suspension and brakes right now. Its going to take a lot of money and time to accomplish these goals but should be a fun project.

honestly a solid 10 second auto car is extremely simple to do. ive went 10.89 so car on 26psi of boost on the hx40 and still have yet to turn it up. if you have any questions feel free to pm me and ill help you out the best i can man.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Keep in mind the rear drag kit will eliminate the parking brake. Some wont mind being auto, but some dont like putting all the stress of holding the vehicle weight on the transmission’s park gear either. My personal opinion, wilwoods up front, evo in the rear. Call it a day. Focus your attention and funds on the heart and soul of the car/build (engin/trans) and use good quality parts and then build the car around THAT. You will find that much more rewarding.

Okay thank you! I will look into the evo rear calipers, yeah I was planning on getting rid of the parking break but was on aware of the added stress on the transmission I will have to read into that before I buy anymore parts.

honestly a solid 10 second auto car is extremely simple to do. ive went 10.89 so car on 26psi of boost on the hx40 and still have yet to turn it up. if you have any questions feel free to pm me and ill help you out the best i can man.

Okay thank you! I will take you up on that and probably message you in a couple days I always have a lot of questions . My goal is to hopefully have it be some what reliable to where I don't have to fix shit all the time but we will see. Appreciate the help!

 

[OH91awd]

Okay thank you! I will look into the evo rear calipers, yeah I was planning on getting rid of the parking break but was on aware of the added stress on the transmission I will have to read into that before I buy anymore parts.



Okay thank you! I will take you up on that and probably message you in a couple days I always have a lot of questions . My goal is to hopefully have it be some what reliable to where I don't have to fix sh** all the time but we will see. Appreciate the help!

i havent had a rear parking brake in my car since i did my auto swap. never had an issue although i dont park my car on steep hills either which would be the only time youd have stress on the trans. ive had my car together for three years now and has never let me down (knocks on wood)

 

[Mitsubishiown]

This will be my last update post without pictures or without any work being done. Bought a used rear wilwood rear drag kit, FIC 2150 Hi-z injectors and VRSF intercooler. Going to be attempting my first ever engine pull tomorrow starting at 10 am so should be interesting. Having a buddy come over and help me but he has only done this once and it was on a completely different car. Should be a good experience! Will be dropping motor off at Whalen to get rebuilt while I am gone at school. Debating on removing a/c and EGR/EVAP (I dont have to pass emissions) and also just put in an order for a Paul Volk Tubular Rear Subframe but that will be a couple months. By time school is finished everything should be in place and ordered to start putting together. Will post some pics of engine removal tomorrow, assuming it comes out.