The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support ExtremePSI
Please Support STM Tuned

GSX AutoX Street Mod

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

I have been using the GSX for AutoX now for a little over 2 years. I am still hooked and am ready to take it to the next level. The car is classed in good ol' Street Modified (see mods in profile). Decided to start using this build thread to keep tabs on what I've done/am going to do. I am going to dive farther into SM competition now that I've decided to move onto Hoosiers. Current plans for the off season are:

275 Hoosier A7s on 17x10 RPF1s

Accusump system to keep oil pressure in check

Upgrade to Feal 442s with 14k/7k split (If they do for the eclipse, don't see on the website. Will inquire via email).

Stage 3 built transmission with front LSD

Evo rear LSD (bolt in for the non LSD rear from what I've read)

Mild aero: Wing and front splitter

I'm sure I'll think of more as the winter progresses. My local SM class is basically the FRS/BRZ crowd on E85. The competition has been good but I want to go for RAW wins now as well as more National event appearances. I'll link some of my runs from this year. My local courses are run on a smaller lot (Read - tight and low speed Miata courses).
 
Last edited:
Some of the parts are starting to roll in so I've got an update:

IMG_20171125_163121996_HDR.jpg


Picked up a wing from Megan Racing. It might not make much downforce but it was cheap and dual element. The angle of attack I can get is pretty steep too so I should gain something. However it is only 4 sqft whereas the rules allow for 8sqft, so more of a beginner wing and it was cheap so why not. I'm a fan of aero. I am going to make some custom supports in AutoCAD to get the wing where I want it. The rules say no higher than 6in above the roof line so somewhere around there.

IMG_20171129_185200_097.jpg


Also, got my non-LSD rear diff out and sent off to TRE for some goodies. Got it cleaned up and rebuilt. The best part is it is now an LSD Diff with the addition of an EVO LSD. Then the EVO LSD was upgraded with the 12 disc MAX Lock upgrade that TRE does. Also their heavy duty billet side cover was added. I can't wait to see what effect that will have.

IMG_20171129_184501_179.jpg


I will also be adding the 3qt Accusump as some added protection based on some of the other guys with wide sticky tires. Still have to order the electric valve and hoses.

IMG_20171129_073711_109.jpg


My favorite item is the custom splitter I am making. The Street Mod rules for splitters say no more than 6in forward of the bumper as viewed from above, no wider than the bumper viewed from the front, and can't extend farther back than the center of the front wheel. I took the bumper off and made the template out of cardboard and it's going to be pretty big. I'm going to make it again out of
lexan so I can hold it up underneath the car and see where I can mount it at. It will be mounted to something rigid not just bolted to the bumper. Once I figure out how I'm going to mount it I will make it out of Alumalite. Alumalite seems to be the go to material for a light relatively cheap splitter. Some splitter rods supporting the front to somewhere on the chassis. Making the pieces myself is my favorite part.
 
IMG_20171202_154155963.jpg
This weekend I got the diff bolted back in. It was a pain since it was just me and a floor jack, but it is back in. Forgot to order some Diaqueen for it though so it will be a couple of days before it gets here.

IMG_20171201_205420247_HDR.jpg
IMG_20171201_215200163.jpg

Also got the splitter cut out of lexan. I had to duct tape 2 pieces together because Lowe's didn't have 4x8 sheets. I also wound up making an 'X' shape on each piece with some angle iron. This stopped it from being so floppy. I propped it up to the bottom of the car with some PVC pipe I had laying around. Then the hard part of figuring out where to mount it to. I am going to use where the frame rails extend into the bay. There are a few holes under there already threaded so I'm trying to use those to make it easy. I am also going to drill 2 holes on each side of the beam that sits in front of the radiator. I marked where holes needed to be drilled on the lexan so I can drill them out. I have to make the supports that connect the splitter to the frame. Hopefully this week I will have the supports under the car done. Then I will be using 4 splitter rods through the bumper to the front of the splitter and it should be on there.
 
I got the supports I wanted under the car done. I am going to add a couple more towards the outer sides of the bumper as it is pretty far with no support. But right now as it sits it is strong even considering the floppy lexan. The two big crosses are to keep the lexan supported while I was figuring out mounts. I'll be ordering 4 splitter rods for the front. I will put two out wide and two on each side of the intercooler. I also think I am at a far enough point of this working to order a sheet of Alumalite. You can kind of see the support uprights. The PVC just holds the edges up where the splitter rods will be.
IMG_20171206_201438822.jpg
IMG_20171206_201531558_HDR.jpg
 
Christmas update:
Finally got the Alumalite ordered and to the house. I got a 4 x 8 sheet for under 150 bucks so I'm ok with that. Also got a few miles on the new diff when it was kind of warm out.
IMG_20171231_144120451.jpg
IMG_20171231_162452897_HDR.jpg

Laid my Lexan template onto the Alumalite and traced it out, including mount holes. It's a pretty big piece, roughly 4ft x 6ft, but only weighs 10 lbs.
IMG_20180101_182352851.jpg

Mounted the splitter and the rods. The rods I got were too short to do anything with but I spliced 2 together and it works out great. They connect at the top where the bumper bolts on to. I used the 2nd and 4th holes out of the 5 for mounting since I only use three bolts to hold the front bumper in anyways. I am happy with it. I just need to get some longer bolts and some nylon nuts so nothing unscrews itself. The front of the splitter will have to be removable since I don't have a trailer and this will be low to the ground. That's the next step.

I will be painting it black too. They only had white. It's too cold now to spray paint it so that will wait.
 
Looks great! SM gets all the fun rules.

Thanks! I've been studying your build thread for ideas haha (the oil accumulator might save me an engine). Keep dominating up there. Have you ever tried going to a National event? The fully prepared SM cars are wicked.
 
Thanks! I've been studying your build thread for ideas haha (the oil accumulator might save me an engine)
Just don't do what I did and fill the accusump with air instead of oil.
I remember running at the LFUGC "pad" back in 2007-2009, no big dips to catch that new splitter of yours.
Too bad they don't run at the UK lot anymore, that was a pretty big lot.

Looks great! SM gets all the fun rules.
The dark side of the force is calling to you.
 
Last edited:
Just don't do what I did and fill the accusump with air instead of oil.
I remember running at the LFUGC "pad" back in 2007-2009, no big dips to catch that new splitter of yours.
Too bad they don't run at the UK lot anymore, that was a pretty big lot.


The dark side of the force is calling to you.

"Power. Unlimited power!"


The pad is pretty nice but just can't quite stay in the 16g sweet spot all the time because it is a bit of a smaller lot. We are trying to get UK back this year. we are going to be proposing a collaboration with the UK Formula SAE team. They get to use the timing equipment on Saturday we get the lot for an event on Sunday type of deal. Hopefully it works out.

I also have been thinking, now that you bring it up, how the hell do you fill the Accusump up without draining the engine?
 
IMG_20180108_195131340.jpg

It finally is above freezing again so now I have some motivation to get cracking. Since the front splitter has to be removable, I went ahead and cut basically right behind where the bumper would sit. I cut straight edges because of how I'm going to hold the two together.

IMG_20180108_195439193.jpg

This is basically my plan for combining the two pieces. I'm going to use 2 in aluminum strips and rivet them to the part that will remain under the car. And then on the slanted cut sections there will be a latch of some kind. So the aluminum strips and the splitter rods in front will hold the splitter up and the latches will hold the front piece to the piece permanently mounted under the car. The splitter rods will be attached to the front piece of the splitter using a hitch pin. I should be able to just undo the two latches and pull out the two hitch pins on the splitter rods. Hopefully less than a two-minute ordeal. It sounds like it should work but we will see.
 
I also have been thinking, now that you bring it up, how the hell do you fill the Accusump up without draining the engine?
It involves over filling the engine and then using the airvalve on the accusump to suck the oil into the reservior. Then check the level on the dipstick and add more to replace what is in the accusump & lines. You just need to make sure that the Accusump has purged all but 5-10 psi of air out, before sucking the oil in. I didn't do that, so I didn't have enough oil in it to protect the motor.
 
Even easier than that....

Fill motor with new oil. Start and let warm up a few minutes. Add 2 more quarts. Start again and turn sump switch on and revv to about 4,000 rpm. Hold revs for about 30-45seconds then flick sump switch to off. Accusump should now be full. Check oil dipstick and top off. Done.
 
Even easier than that....

Fill motor with new oil. Start and let warm up a few minutes. Add 2 more quarts. Start again and turn sump switch on and revv to about 4,000 rpm. Hold revs for about 30-45seconds then flick sump switch to off. Accusump should now be full. Check oil dipstick and top off. Done.
Sounds easy enough. Thanks guys.
 
IMG_20180109_221722248.jpg

Well here it is. Got the front splitter to a useable state. It's made out of Alumalite, which is corrugated plastic sandwiched between two thin plates of aluminum. I used the Lexan template to cut it out. Of course the splitter never would have survived getting out of the driveway or going over a bump bigger than 2 inches so it had to be removable. The main undertray stays bolted underneath the car while the front part of the splitter is removable. There are 2 hitch pins holding the splitter rods onto their mounting points on the splitter. I am using 2 draw latches to pull the front piece against the undertray section. I used 2" aluminum strips to create the slot on the undertray to receive the front splitter. All I have to do is undo the two latches holding the two splitter pieces together and pull out the hitch pins for the splitter rods and it's off. Takes about 2 minutes to get on and 2 minutes to get off. Success. I took it out to my local Mexico and put it on. It's still a little higher off the ground than I was hoping. I am going to replace the current mounting brackets with something more rigid. I will be able to make them an inch longer all around to space it down.
IMG_20180109_221833490.jpg

This is a side profile. The Alumalite is only 1/4" so the widest section is about 1/2".

IMG_20180110_172921158.jpg

Undertray section mounted to the car. I want to add a few more supports toward the rear but it holds well now.

IMG_20180110_173645142.jpg

On the ground. It will have to be spaced down because it's too high now and the ride height will be a little higher for the Hoosiers.

And of course some other pics. Can't wait until the sun isn't almost set by the time I get home.
IMG_20180110_175834367.jpg
IMG_20180110_175920578.jpg
IMG_20180110_180003940.jpg
IMG_20180110_203119_060.jpg
IMG_20180110_180056252.jpg


I have some aluminum C-channel that I want to put on the front edge to help protect it. Also, paint it black. I want to mention also that all this stuff I got from Lowe's other than the Alumalite that I had to order, so nothing too crazy.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20180110_175818096.jpg
    IMG_20180110_175818096.jpg
    206.7 KB · Views: 192
  • IMG_20180110_175940211.jpg
    IMG_20180110_175940211.jpg
    186.8 KB · Views: 183
  • IMG_20180110_180056252.jpg
    IMG_20180110_180056252.jpg
    245.6 KB · Views: 206
  • IMG_20180110_180003940.jpg
    IMG_20180110_180003940.jpg
    171.4 KB · Views: 178
  • IMG_20180110_203119_060.jpg
    IMG_20180110_203119_060.jpg
    185.3 KB · Views: 191
  • IMG_20180110_175902161.jpg
    IMG_20180110_175902161.jpg
    183.4 KB · Views: 211
  • IMG_20180110_175920578.jpg
    IMG_20180110_175920578.jpg
    183.5 KB · Views: 224
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top