tunedbysaturnsl
15+ Year Contributor
- 154
- 40
- Jan 27, 2010
-
Newport News,
Virginia
Well, my story of acquiring my Eclipse began shortly after my Galant was totalled. Long story short, a buddy of mine and I were at a traffic stop intersection when my 2003 black Galant ES was rear-ended during a hit and run. The whole back end and some of the right rear were destoryed. The city police never found who did it and to this day they have yet to fix that particular intersection even though they know it's accident-prone. (Makes you wonder where all the tax payer's dollars go.) My insurance company wrote it off as a total loss, unforunitely. The car had about 55k miles on it. With having payments still left on the car (it would have been paid off in March of 2011), I got a some money back.
With that money, I ended up taking and putting towards a new car. I decided I wanted a 2g eclipse, turbo, manual, and black. I originally wanted an all-wheel drive, but they seem non-existant where I'm at. But, I managed to hunt one down with everything I wanted including power windows, mirrors, locks, sunroof, tan leather interior, and in decent condition for the price I was looking to spend. At first, the guy thought he had another buyer, but the sale with him fell through so, that worked in my favor. So, it became mine the next day. A nice black 1997 Eclipse GST.
I've done a lot in the 11 or so months that I've had it. A lot of the parts I've gotten have been sheer luck. I'll list what I can think of and some details.
The car itself came with a JVC headunit, Pioneer speakers, and an Autometer vacuum gauge. Since I was going a different route, all of it was removed and given to my friend and his little brother. I redid the speaker wiring to enable the dash speakers (got a good condition set that weren't sun-damaged at the salvage).
Sometimes that I replaced weren't nessecary, but I'm a perfectionist.
Driver's Side Kickpanel. I could never find one of these in the junkyard, never!
Spare tire cover. The one that the car came with was all broken, probably from someone having sat on it. >.>
Trunk struts. Kind of a given since the hatch would knock me on my head when I opened it. And it's heavy, too.
Brake booster cap. The existing one was loose and had a failing seal so, that had to go.
Engine fuse box. I had to special order this one since they're hard to find.
Battery tray hold-down. It makes me nervous not having one. Don't want the battery flopping about.
Misc. interior trim, lights, and extra fuses/relays.
Rear wiper motor. Not a hard fix, but it was a pet-peeve not having it.
Power antenna. Getting the antenna itself was far more cheaper than the whole assembly and way easier.
DSM Link V3 & 95 EEPROM ECU. This was one of the first mods I did and I've been satisfied with it since.
Import Intelligence X-Tal Gauges, HVAC Faces, & Needle Kit, Orange. The gauges themselves were easy to install as were the hvac facing. The needle kit required a bit more time and planning, but none the less, a color mod.
Blacked Out Front Sidemarkers. Ok, I've seen tons of clean ones and my car was black so I spent a while searching for these. My buddy has blacked out sidemarkers on his '95 VW Golf III so, I had to have a set.
Projector-style head lights with halo-lighting rings. I can't remember the brand name right off the top of my head. I got these out of a local salvage year for a good price. One of the halo-ring contacts were busted by whoever tried to get them before me, but I managed to fix them. All I really had to do afterwards was get some bulbs and dehaze the lenses.
Z3 fenders. These I snagged just recently from a salvage years. They're made by VIS Racing. Need a bath though, but none the less a badass find. The car had been sitting there maybe a day tops. Talk about a lucky find.
AIT Racing Rear Bumper & Front Bumper. The rear is brand new, never been out of the wrapping. The front was used somewhat and in good condition. (I know how to fiberglass so it's not an issue to patch up a nick.) The front is like urenthane, I believe. Really nice and flexible. I got both of these from some local girl who was stationed at an army base here for not even the cost of a new bumper. A really nice steal. She just had to get rid of them because she had no space.
Gentex Auto-Dimming Mirrow W/Map-Lighting, Temperature & Compass. I had the "display" color changed to orange instead of blue.
Injen Spark Plug Wire Cover, Polished
Nology Spark Plug Wires, Orange (These took forever to find. All places seemed to only sell blue, red, or black.)
Bosch Spark Plugs
Zaklee Sightglass Cam Gear Timing Cover
Megan Racing Front Strut Bar
Megan Racing Rear Strut Bar
Megan Racing Turbo Down-Pipe (Not-Installed)
Megan Racing Lower, Rear Brace (Nont-Installed)
Powder Coated Valve Cover, JDM, Orange (No core charge needed.)
Ralli-Art Polished Oil Cap (Engine needed a new oil cap
anyway so why not get one with style!)
Stereo Headunit W/Bluetooth, Navigation, DVD, PiP, 7" Screen, iPod Control, Single DIN
Sony 6x9 Speakers, Fear
Sony Speakers, Front
Orange & Black E-Brake Cover And Shifter Boot (Had these custom-made.)
Momo Raptor, Chrome (I scored this off of eBay for like $10)
Chrome E-Brake Handle. Can't remember the brand though. Found in a smashed and muddy to hell Acura Integra in another junk yard. Probably the only good part left on it. Lol.
Orange/Black Carbon Fiber Fuel Door (Never seen anything like it.)
Blitz FATT, Black.
Blitz SBC-iColor Boost Controller, Black. (I've been very pleased with this so far. Gorgeous display and fairly easy to install.)
TI TI-5 18" Rims. I think I got the 7.5" wide rims. Got these on clearance along with a matching set of lugnuts. Haven't put these on yet. Have a nice set of Yokohoma S-Drive Tires to go on them soon.
Authentic European Taillights. I managed to get a fella from the DSM-World forums to send me a great set of EDM lights (orange-tipped). They look and work great. I did the resistor mod for them to function as intended. Probably one of the coolest yet subtle mods I've done to the car.
Authentic European Mirrors. I thought after I got the taillights, I'd look into the mirrors. Sure enough, I was on eBay Dutch and the same guy I got the taillights off of was selling the mirrors (from the same car). So, I snagged those, too. They came in dark green, but they're primered white for the time being. I did end up going a step further with them.
Since the mirrors didn't come with power-folding as an option, I sought out to bring that mod to my car. I snagged another set of mirrors with the power-folding mirrors from an Evo V (I think) car. (Again, on eBay, but this time US.) I had to do slight modification with a dremel on the folding motors to make them fit in the Eclipse mirrors' housings, but it wasn't a big deal. They work flawless light. All I had to do was running the wiring for the folding motors including the relay and the switch since the power-adjusting motors were already there.
I have more mods and plans in store though for next spring tuning season. Stay tuned.
With that money, I ended up taking and putting towards a new car. I decided I wanted a 2g eclipse, turbo, manual, and black. I originally wanted an all-wheel drive, but they seem non-existant where I'm at. But, I managed to hunt one down with everything I wanted including power windows, mirrors, locks, sunroof, tan leather interior, and in decent condition for the price I was looking to spend. At first, the guy thought he had another buyer, but the sale with him fell through so, that worked in my favor. So, it became mine the next day. A nice black 1997 Eclipse GST.
I've done a lot in the 11 or so months that I've had it. A lot of the parts I've gotten have been sheer luck. I'll list what I can think of and some details.
The car itself came with a JVC headunit, Pioneer speakers, and an Autometer vacuum gauge. Since I was going a different route, all of it was removed and given to my friend and his little brother. I redid the speaker wiring to enable the dash speakers (got a good condition set that weren't sun-damaged at the salvage).
Sometimes that I replaced weren't nessecary, but I'm a perfectionist.
Driver's Side Kickpanel. I could never find one of these in the junkyard, never!
Spare tire cover. The one that the car came with was all broken, probably from someone having sat on it. >.>
Trunk struts. Kind of a given since the hatch would knock me on my head when I opened it. And it's heavy, too.
Brake booster cap. The existing one was loose and had a failing seal so, that had to go.
Engine fuse box. I had to special order this one since they're hard to find.
Battery tray hold-down. It makes me nervous not having one. Don't want the battery flopping about.
Misc. interior trim, lights, and extra fuses/relays.
Rear wiper motor. Not a hard fix, but it was a pet-peeve not having it.
Power antenna. Getting the antenna itself was far more cheaper than the whole assembly and way easier.
DSM Link V3 & 95 EEPROM ECU. This was one of the first mods I did and I've been satisfied with it since.
Import Intelligence X-Tal Gauges, HVAC Faces, & Needle Kit, Orange. The gauges themselves were easy to install as were the hvac facing. The needle kit required a bit more time and planning, but none the less, a color mod.
Blacked Out Front Sidemarkers. Ok, I've seen tons of clean ones and my car was black so I spent a while searching for these. My buddy has blacked out sidemarkers on his '95 VW Golf III so, I had to have a set.
Projector-style head lights with halo-lighting rings. I can't remember the brand name right off the top of my head. I got these out of a local salvage year for a good price. One of the halo-ring contacts were busted by whoever tried to get them before me, but I managed to fix them. All I really had to do afterwards was get some bulbs and dehaze the lenses.
Z3 fenders. These I snagged just recently from a salvage years. They're made by VIS Racing. Need a bath though, but none the less a badass find. The car had been sitting there maybe a day tops. Talk about a lucky find.
AIT Racing Rear Bumper & Front Bumper. The rear is brand new, never been out of the wrapping. The front was used somewhat and in good condition. (I know how to fiberglass so it's not an issue to patch up a nick.) The front is like urenthane, I believe. Really nice and flexible. I got both of these from some local girl who was stationed at an army base here for not even the cost of a new bumper. A really nice steal. She just had to get rid of them because she had no space.
Gentex Auto-Dimming Mirrow W/Map-Lighting, Temperature & Compass. I had the "display" color changed to orange instead of blue.
Injen Spark Plug Wire Cover, Polished
Nology Spark Plug Wires, Orange (These took forever to find. All places seemed to only sell blue, red, or black.)
Bosch Spark Plugs
Zaklee Sightglass Cam Gear Timing Cover
Megan Racing Front Strut Bar
Megan Racing Rear Strut Bar
Megan Racing Turbo Down-Pipe (Not-Installed)
Megan Racing Lower, Rear Brace (Nont-Installed)
Powder Coated Valve Cover, JDM, Orange (No core charge needed.)
Ralli-Art Polished Oil Cap (Engine needed a new oil cap
anyway so why not get one with style!)
Stereo Headunit W/Bluetooth, Navigation, DVD, PiP, 7" Screen, iPod Control, Single DIN
Sony 6x9 Speakers, Fear
Sony Speakers, Front
Orange & Black E-Brake Cover And Shifter Boot (Had these custom-made.)
Momo Raptor, Chrome (I scored this off of eBay for like $10)
Chrome E-Brake Handle. Can't remember the brand though. Found in a smashed and muddy to hell Acura Integra in another junk yard. Probably the only good part left on it. Lol.
Orange/Black Carbon Fiber Fuel Door (Never seen anything like it.)
Blitz FATT, Black.
Blitz SBC-iColor Boost Controller, Black. (I've been very pleased with this so far. Gorgeous display and fairly easy to install.)
TI TI-5 18" Rims. I think I got the 7.5" wide rims. Got these on clearance along with a matching set of lugnuts. Haven't put these on yet. Have a nice set of Yokohoma S-Drive Tires to go on them soon.
Authentic European Taillights. I managed to get a fella from the DSM-World forums to send me a great set of EDM lights (orange-tipped). They look and work great. I did the resistor mod for them to function as intended. Probably one of the coolest yet subtle mods I've done to the car.
Authentic European Mirrors. I thought after I got the taillights, I'd look into the mirrors. Sure enough, I was on eBay Dutch and the same guy I got the taillights off of was selling the mirrors (from the same car). So, I snagged those, too. They came in dark green, but they're primered white for the time being. I did end up going a step further with them.
Since the mirrors didn't come with power-folding as an option, I sought out to bring that mod to my car. I snagged another set of mirrors with the power-folding mirrors from an Evo V (I think) car. (Again, on eBay, but this time US.) I had to do slight modification with a dremel on the folding motors to make them fit in the Eclipse mirrors' housings, but it wasn't a big deal. They work flawless light. All I had to do was running the wiring for the folding motors including the relay and the switch since the power-adjusting motors were already there.
I have more mods and plans in store though for next spring tuning season. Stay tuned.
