Street Build '97 Eclipse AWD GS-T (2006 to Present)

[gofer]

Good thing you scanned through it, I'm afraid how long it would take someone to read every single entry beginning to end, I've been trying to catch up to the present day ever since I started the build journal and I'm still almost a year behind.

Thanks for the compliments though, I appreciate it.

 

[boost97gst]

Gofer, i apologize if you covered this already. So one can remove the vertical bracket and the hood latch(obviously have to use hood pins)?? That would free up some much need room for a fan on my car. I know you have CF hood but could this be done on a stocker?

 

[gofer]

Of course. Same as a CF hood, you just cut/drill out the location on the hood you want to install the pins/latches. The CF hood I bought was used and already had the aero catch latches installed, I just had to locate the pins in the frame to keep them down. You can see the location of the pins in this engine bay picture, they're on the frame going over each headlight (they're anodized red).

One's just to the right of the hood support post and the other is just to the left of where the hood support post clips down.

 

[boost97gst]

 

[92AWDHX40]

Thanks, Vic. There's a HTA68 in the classifieds right now if you're trying to pick one up. It spools quick and with the right combination of parts it will pull to redline.

I saw it gotta get some other stuff done this month im going to have get the turbo and cams and some more fuel, and see what can do im sure ill be happy with the results. Speed density, some brian crower cams, walbor 450 and some fic 1120s all on the shopping cart.

 

[miliman13]

Gofer, i love the car.!!! as a 2g owner with an original factory red, I look at your build and feel motivated. I hope to have mine as pretty and red as yours.

 

[gofer]

It's easier to make it prettier but getting the same red as my car takes a lot of post processing in Photoshop.

 

[95talongirl]

So, so , so clean. Keep up the great work.

 

[jmitchem702]

Absolutely beautiful

 

[gofer]

16JUN2013 - 20AN Fitting Woes
​

Unfortunately, things came to a halt soon after getting the AFCO radiator installed. It was great, it seems like every piece of the puzzle was falling into place and I was almost out of the woods until I filled the cooling system with water. Nothing but leaks and in the worst place it could be, out of the back of BOTH Earl's 20AN 45* fittings, so there was nothing I could do about it. The worst part about it was the cost, if Earl's doesn't cover these I'm out $180 and they're brand new.

​

I spun the hoses around with the straight fittings on the radiator and just for a sanity check I filled the radiator one last time to see if the straights would leak. Go figure, they held the water just fine so it was definitely the 45* fittings causing the problem... I held them up to the light and took a shot, you can see daylight through the backs of both of them. Great.
Initially I thought maybe the 20AN bungs on the radiator were the problem, maybe they were sealing to the inside of the fitting properly. I took some 1200 grit sand paper and smooth the radiator bungs on the sealing edge and tried again with the same result, a nice steady drip from the bottom of the upper/lower 45* fittings. F*CK!

​

I got on the phone with Summit, unfortunately they wouldn't replace the fittings because they have a 90 day return policy and I've OWNED (not used) them for over a year piecing together parts for this install. The offered to sell me new 45* fittings for $50/ea (down from $90) but I'd like to get them replaced for nothing since they were defective from the factory. I contacted Earl's and their sales rep said to send them and and they'd investigate the problem, determining whether or not they could be warranted or not.

In the meantime, who knew the OE upper/lower rubber hoses would work just fine?

​

​

 

[92AWDHX40]

Hey corey is the fp manifold coated and by who thanks.

 

[gofer]

Yes. http://azcustomcoatings.com/performancecoating.html

[DOUBLEPOST=1409147282][/DOUBLEPOST]

20JUN2013 - BC Adjustable Cam Gears
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I had been meaning to get a set of these for a long, long time so I could play with timing advance and see if I couldn't get a little more out of my baby turbo. At the moment though, I've got no reason to pull the timing belt so, until then or I'm feeling motivated, they'll be a nice set of paperweights collecting dust on the shelf in the garage.

The sure do look nice though!

 

[Ludachris]

Great, hope I don't suffer from the same bad luck with the larger size AN fittings I've had sitting around for years.

 

[PickleRick]

Bummer to see that your radiator setup didn't go as well as planned Corey. But glad to see you're still updating your build. Love your car everytime i see it!

 

[A_USER_NAME]

Great writeup on the afco radiator, I don't know how I missed your setup. Iv been thinking about switching to one for a few years now, yours by far gets me in the right direction. Always good to see a fellow Az DSMer!

 

[gofer]

Thanks. Glad I could help, I was winging it and things seemed to fall into place without a ton of fab work which is nice.

Be sure to get a decent fan on there, these desert temps are too much for the AFCO without a fan that can operate efficiently. I recommend this Perma-Cool from Summit, if you use it as a pull fan it's good for 2350cfm and reversed as a push fan it's good for 1880cfm. It never hurts to duct it either...

Summit Perma-Cool Fan

 

[Lyle Corpse]

What wheels do you have on in the first picture? I can't find them anywhere[DOUBLEPOST=1416849742][/DOUBLEPOST]

In regards to my last post, it was this picture I'm talking about.

 

[mustard95tsi]

What wheels do you have on in the first picture? I can't find them anywhere[DOUBLEPOST=1416849742][/DOUBLEPOST]

In regards to my last post, it was this picture I'm talking about.

These appear to be off of a Mazda RX8.

 

[Lyle Corpse]

These appear to be off of a Mazda RX8.

They look similar, thank you! I would've never thought to look at Mazda wheels

 

[gofer]

They're Enkei CP1's, I got them when I was in high school back in 2002 so you may have a tough time finding them as they've been discontinued for a few.

Google Search : Enkei CP1

 

[Lyle Corpse]

They're Enkei CP1's, I got them when I was in high school back in 2002 so you may have a tough time finding them as they've been discontinued for a few.

Google Search : Enkei CP1

sorry for the late reply, but thanks! I just searched and I couldn't seem to find any for sale, but I found some that look similar. Again, thank you for your help!

 

[2G Josh]

looks awesome brotha.

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

Still my absolute favorite build on this forum. Props.

 

[gofer]

Back in Nov. 2011 Paul (99gst_racer) started asking for input on building 2g tubular subframes as he was going to start building them, he just wanted opinions from the DSM community on what they were wanting to see. I quickly subscribed to the thread and followed what Paul and the suspension experts on our site were proposing, really hoping that one day if he did ever build them I could get my hands on a subframe.

If you're interested, here's the discussion thread that Paul started --> Tubular rear subframe - Input needed​

After several months of emailing Paul, I talked him into building the "street" version of his tubular subframe for my 2g and letting me R&D it. I did have one request though, I asked if he could build it to clear a F*F steel girdled rear diff cover and he agreed.

I'm just going to cover the install of the subframe that I started on June 25th, 2013 but Paul completed it and sent it out to me in Aug. 2012. Here are photos from the day I got it in the mail, along with the tubular LCA's, toe arms, and F*F steel diff cover.

Unfortunately, my move from San Diego to Phoenix was still in progress so I had to wrap this thing back up in bubble wrap and wait until I had space and time to do the install.

A few specs about the subframe that Paul built...

The stock rear subframe (with LCA's and toe arms attached) weighs in at a 58.7lbs where as this .095" 4130 chromoly subframe (with LCA's and toe arms) weighs just 26.3lbs. Paul's first 4130 chromoly subframe was a drag only version with a thinner (.065") 4130 tubing that weighed 3.3lbs less overall and doesn't retain the rear sway. This streetable tubular subframe saved approximately 32.4lbs.

25JUN2013 - Chromoly Tubular Rear Subframe Install : Part I​

There wasn't much progress made the first day of the install, most of my time was spent getting the car jacked-up and organizing my tools/parts to complete the install so I wasn't digging through tool boxes and drawers trying to find stuff. Besides that, if you've never been to Arizona in June let me tell you that a garage gets pretty damn hot when it's 115* outside so it makes it tough to do anything to the DSM in the summer. So, with a gallon of water and a few wrenches I got to work...

Of course I had to take a picture of the subframe rolled up behind the car first to stay motivated.

The first day I spent out in the garage I made decent progress for just a few hours of work. I pulled the rear tires, dropped the back half of the exhaust, and pulled the rear sway bar before calling it a day.

 

[BoostedBeaver]

Love the use of the creeper I had no clue there was that much weight difference between the stock unit and the tubular version he is producing.

P.S. now you can post another update

Robert