97 GSX Build

[mattasi]

First things first, a little history. I bought my first eclipse when i turned 16. I worked a paper route to save up for it. I am now 25 and on my fifth DSM. I am very deticated to these cars, and driving any other car would just not be the same. I continue to learn new things about DSM's everyday thanks to dsmtuners.com. I am starting this blog basically, for the DSM community, and to help keep track of my progress. Oh and of course to read your comments. I currently have a Silver 97 GSX with a fully built 6bolt longblock motor pushed by an old school FP green turbo on ECM link v3. It made 389hp tuned by Lucas @ English Racing in washington. On 8-25-2011 my motor spun a rod bearing , so I am pulling the motor out and the complete build begins....haha...And by complete build, i am talking about a new English racing zero mile 6 bolt motor longblock, with built head, new stage 4 Sheppard transmission, new ACT 2600lb sprung 6-puck clutch kit, new OEM master/slave cylinders ect, repaint engine bay stock silver, and all other parts cleaned/painted or replaced by new parts. New steering rack, tie rod ends, end links, knuckel kits, upper and lower control arms, sway bar bushings. Turbo rebuild. Power steering pump rebuild. A/C delete. Prep Intake manifold for SD bundle kit. Install Inovative MTX-L wideband I just got in the mail. After everything is back together and working, it will be going to English Racing for a SD tune I currently have the stock maf.

Picture of the beauty before tearing it down...

I started out by removing the oil pan to take a look at things and found this.

Here is some of the bearing material in the bottom of the oil pan.

Valve cover and air intake/intercooler pipes removed.

Me wondering what I am getting myself into haha...

Almost ready to remove the motor.

Engine Hoist ready to go.

Here we go.

Almost there, hope the chain doesn't break ..

Another view.

Transmission is off.

Ready to drive the motor to Engish Racing about 3 hours away from me.

 

[danielsl1999gsx]

Haha awesome another 97 Silver build! who will be #4? Gl with the motor!

 

[mattasi]

Turbo rebuild kit came in from Kamak Dynamics.

Old Parts

Done!

 

[mattasi]

This is the engine bay just after the motor was removed.

Started to unclip the wire harness from the body.

Removed everything from the wheel wells.

Removing the front subframe.

Degressing.

Not that it matters because it will all come apart anyways, but I got the whole clutch line/assembly out in one piece.

Sanding out defects.

Etch primer on the bare metal spots. And then spot primer over the etch primer.

Etch primer and spot primer sanded and ready for high build primer.

Outside the paint booth.. ...

Primer coat#1 (I did two coats)

Underside of hood before picture.

Hood after etch primer.

Painted stock silver!

 

[andrewshowers]

Very nice, It looks good so far!

 

[dsmtwins2g]

paint booth Ftw wish i would have done the same but didnt have the patients.looking foward for more.

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

Badass.. I'm doing practically the same build on an identical car other than mine is a 7bolt still. Good luck with the build amigo.

 

[mattasi]

paint booth Ftw wish i would have done the same but didnt have the patients.looking foward for more.

Here is a quick video clip of the paint booth set-up. About $45 in plastic, couple bucks for a vent, and a box fan. Oh and staples.

MVI_1666.AVI - YouTube

 

[mattasi]

I took the small three hour drive and went and picked up the motor. Very happy so far.

What I had done to it, 6 bolt longblock, build by English Racing / Wiseco HD 1400 Forged Pistons 9:1 compression / Eagle H-Beam Rods / ARP Head Studs / OEM Crank / ACL Race Bearings / Head upgraded with GSC valve springs, TI retainers, Chromoly seats, Supertech valves with the 4-angle intake valve grind and the 4-angle radius exhaust valve grind / HKS 272 intake and exhaust cams / HKS adjustable cam gears / Cosmetic hg /


It's coming along, pics below. Oh and the crate it is sitting on, I custom made for this engine to fit into perfectly. I needed a way to strap it into my truck. I doesn't look like much but it is very functional and strong.

 

[Archer Fabrications]

i just finished doing this exact same thing on my green GSX, i wish i had repainted my engine bay... but simple green will have to do... my motor is already dropped in and running. just put 58 miles on her

 

[eclipse001]

Haha awesome another 97 Silver build! who will be #4? Gl with the motor!

Maybe im lucky #4??

Lol sorry dont mean to thread jack but it looks great so far best of luck to you on the build keep us posted!

 

[mattasi]

i just finished doing this exact same thing on my green GSX, i wish i had repainted my engine bay... but simple green will have to do... my motor is already dropped in and running. just put 58 miles on her

Nice, so time for the first oil change then.

 

[mattasi]

Got my Sheppard Stage-4 transmission in yesterday. Everything looks great, I can't wait to try this thing out! I got the stage-4 build, but I had them use a 4-spider center diff instead of welded for better street use, since this is a street car. I had the EVOIII 1st and 5th gear sets installed. The EVOIII 1st is 11% taller than stock and will let me go 45mph instead of the stock gear that is maxed at 39mph. The taller 1st gear is stronger, allows you to get off the line better for drag racing, and is also more useful in short track or auto x racing and makes it more feasible to shift to 1st for the slower corners. The EVOIII 5th gear provides a quieter ride and saves gas. At 55 MPH, the stock ratio has you at about 2500 RPM, where the taller 5th has you closer to 2000!

I got the main order from JNZ in a few days ago, can you scope some of the goodies in the pic below?

 

[dsmtwins2g]

Gaskets,gaskets,and more gaskets.

 

[NWHTanK]

How much did the suspension arms set u back?

 

[Alan11]

Awesome. How much was the Stage 4 Shep and the Evo III gears.?????

 

[mattasi]

Gaskets,gaskets,and more gaskets.

gaskets aren't goodies , How bout the fluidamper, or the inovative mtx-l wideband

How much did the suspension arms set u back?

I got knuckle kits for both sides from Extreme psi, it includes the knuckle and both lower arms, $109 each side.
Then the upper arms came from JNZ at $107 each so around $400 for all the suspension arms....

Awesome. How much was the Stage 4 Shep and the Evo III gears.?????

The build I had done, including shipping both ways, came to $3010

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

hey man just a quick question.. how much did it cost you to have the engine sent in and built completly like you did? My guess is around $1500?

 

[mattasi]

hey man just a quick question.. how much did it cost you to have the engine sent in and built completly like you did? My guess is around $1500?

Closer to $5k...I dropped it off and picked it up.

After getting all of these new parts in, I have been just cleaning/painting other parts like the front subframe, windshied wiper assembly, motor mounts, break/clutch lines and small brackets ect.... I am buying new zinc plated bolts as I put things back together. If I can't find the bolt I want then I buy the OEM bolt from Mitsubishi. I try to do something on the car everyday, even if it's small so that progress doesn't stop till i'm done with this build. Here is a short video of removing the front subframe bushings. After I get the front subframe done with new bushings and paint I will be moving onto putting the breaks lines back on.

MVI_1746.AVI - YouTube

 

[mattasi]

This weekend I finished sanding and painting the front subframe. I am doing all the misc parts in flat black, like break lines, brackets ect...

Cutting out the metal rings from the burnt out bushings.

Misc flat black parts.( see the motor mount in silver? I think it turned out nice

Painted the front subframe frame flat black, now I need to press the new bushings in.

After the bushings are installed I will move onto putting the break lines back onto the car.

 

[CCK90tsi]

what a beaut man! looks killer! only way to do it!

 

[mx730md]

looks really good keep up the good work

 

[buhay6]

holy crap.....can you do my 1G eclipse for me? jk
Great job man I'm jealous, and good job on the updates very thorough!

 

[1SLOW93TURBO]

Good job and nice parts list! I love seeing clean builds! Keep up the good work

 

[mattasi]

Thanks for the encouragement and nice comments. I tried to install the subframe bushings last night with no luck, bent my c-clamp. And installing them with a rubber hammer is a joke. My friend happened to stop by last night when trying to install them and so he is going to help me out, by making me an aluminum tool to help press the rubber bushings in without damaging them. So hopefully they will be installed tonight so I can move on to other things. So last night I went ahead and installed the wiper assembly, painted, you guessed it flat black. New bolts and fender washers of course