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98 GST build - finished

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SeaveeDSM

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238
37
Dec 22, 2008
Miami, Florida
About 3 years back I had done pretty much all the bolt-on mods possible on my original owner '98 GST. The car ran great for about 2 years and then in January 2010, to make a long story short, a broken seal on a rubber hose on a vaccuum hose caused a boost leak and after some other issues I killed the engine with a broken rod that cracked the block down near the girdle. Car sat covered for a year. Finally got the time and funds arranged to get the car up to the Orlando DSM guru - Jose Clavijo - for a complete rebuild including a new '99block that he had up there waiting for me.

Yes, I had the option of a 6-bolt build but I am not scared of crankwalk on the late model 7-bolts with their 3-piece floating thrust bearings. My old 98 block had 120K+ miles on it and no CW. The 98+ 7-bolts all use 3 piece floating thrust bearings and in many ways the same engine as the EVo III, which are not known for CW either. I don't wan't this thread to turn into a 6-bolt vs 7-bolt debate please - and its already done on my car so if you want to debate that please create another thread.

First a quick note on the guy doing my build - Jose Clavijo. I was referred to him by the folks at JNZ Tuning who I've bought a lot of parts from. I simply did not have enough faith or trust in ANY of the local performance shops here in Miami to do the job of this magnitude and I had neither the time, tools or the advance mechanical know-how to attempt this on my own. Jose has been heavily involved in the DSM world for many years. He does this entirely on the side from his full time work unrelated to DSMs. Don't let that fool you, the guy isa wizard and can do ANYTHING on DSMs. I can't say enough how great the build experience has been with him. Just as JNZ and the many posts in the link below say, the guy really knows his CHIT, is a straight shooter, 1000% honest and totally reliable. See some of the positive commentary dating back to 2003 about him here: Great Guy: Jose Clavijo (aka Red97Talon) [Mechanical, fabrication, DSMLink] Jose's email addy if anyone in Central Florida wants to contact him: awddsm97[at]gmail.com replace [at] with @.

Now on to my build details.

I'm again the original owner and plan to keep the car very long term - maybe someday pass on to my son when he grows up. My objectives were to try and get around 400HP at the wheels and balance performance with drive-ability and longevity. Jose dyno'd it just this morning on a dynojet dyno and its at 411 wheel hp, 350 ft/lbs torque at 5,200 rpm on E85 and boosted at 22.5 PSI. While he is confident I could easily and safely boost it to the high 20s, I am choosing to stay right here as I am FWD and again want to preserve longevity. Will post pics of the dyno slip and dyno testing later today after Jose emails them to me

EDIT Picked up the car this past Saturday. We changed the old Greddy "long route" FMIC to a Punishment Racing short route FMIC and ran the car again on the dyno - no other changes to the tune. We were pleasantly surprised to find that change alone picked up nearly 20 horsepower! The HP was up to 429. Here are the initial and second dyno run:
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END EDIT.

I'll be picking it up either this coming weekend or the following and post detailed pics of the engine bay (the ones currently in the gallery are the old build). The only pending items to do now are replacing the existing FAL radiator fans with some stronger SPAL fans (about 40% more CFM) and also replacing the current Greddy "long route" FMIC with a short route Punishment Racing FMIC.

Bolt-on Modifications/ engine bay upgrades: FP HTA68 turbo with turbine housing ceramic coated // EVOIII intake manifold // FP air intake // greddy RS bov // stock 2g tb // PR fmic // FIC 950injectors // walbro 255 fp direct wired // Aeromotive fpr // FP cast and coated racing exhaust manifold // Evo III o2 housing – ceramic coated // Greddy Evo II 3" exhaust w cat delete // electronic boost controller // prothane front-rear motor mounts // fluidyne radiator // two SPAL puller cooling fans – 11" #30102800HO and 12" #30102038
// optima red top battery // AlterStart 150 amp HO alternator // JMF SST spark plug cover // JNZ tuning white powder coated valve cover // RRE Catch can


Engine Management: ecmlink (V3) // AEM UEGO wideband (rear o2 location) // GM MAP sensor // stock MAF retained // autometer boost gauge // E85 and 93 octane gas tunes


Engine Internals: '99 7-bolt short block // 2G head w 3-angle valve job // fp2 cams // GSC beehive valve springs, titanium retainers, chromoly spring seats // supertech valve stem seals // topline 3rd gen revised lifters // ARP L19 studs // Mitsu OEM steel headgasket // Wiseco 1400HD pistons 0.20 over // Eagle H beam rods // new Mitsu OEM crankshaft // ARP main and rod bearings // ACL Aluglide 3 piece thrust bearing // full balance shaft delete // new OEM timing belt, tensioners, pulleys, water and oil pump, oil pan and oil p/u tube // all other hoses, lines, belts OEM new


Drivetrain Modifications:
FWD GS-T // OEM new 5 speed manual with Quaife LSD installed // ACT 2100 clutch // ACT streetlite flywheel // SS full clutch lines // new OEM clutch master and slave cylinders // rebuilt steering rack


Suspension Modifications:
BAER front Big Brakes // slotted OEM size rear brake rotors // eibach pro kit springs // tokico illumina shocks // front strut tower brace // exel 18" rims // Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec 225/40/18 tires //


Cosmetic/other:New OEM leather GST steering wheel and shifter boot // OEM new sunroof glass (from Dodge 97 Avenger – no longer avail at Mitsu dealers // new carpet / new headliner // new drivers side leather seat reupholstery – exact OEM match // OEM black dash with tan interior // '99 OEM white gauge cluster // red LED gauge & dash panel lighting // new aftermarket stock OEM- match headlamps // painted 2 years ago in Mitsu EVO IX Wicked White – originally Northstar white // Pioneer Premier head unit & amp, 4 Pioneer speakers, 2 pioneer tweeters in oem dash speaker location, Kenwood 12" sub

UPDATED ENGINE BAY PICS added later in the thread.

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These exterior shots are from about 2 years ago. The car looks still exactly the same as its been under a cover for a year. The pic above at the Sunoco station was on 6/18/11.

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Wow! That's the first 2g i've seen that's as clean as my first (98 GST bought from original owner who babied it to perfection). Props man! Love a clean, well built DSM!
 
Welp that car makes my 98 eclipse gsx looks like a big stinkin pile of dog poop. Very nice ride man congratulations.
 
Great build Rick. Sorry I'm in on this thread late, I just saw your dyno results posted in the gallery and thought I'd come in and take a look.

I know you're trying to keep things conservative so the motor lasts but I think you'd be surprised what just a stock bottom end can take and yours is built. Seem's like you enjoy your setup but if you ever get that itch to turn up the boost to 30psi I bet you'd see a HUGE difference in power. My HTA68 didn't wake up until after 25psi, just something to consider. :)

Great job and clean DSM.

:dsm:
 
Great build Rick. Sorry I'm in on this thread late, I just saw your dyno results posted in the gallery and thought I'd come in and take a look.

I know you're trying to keep things conservative so the motor lasts but I think you'd be surprised what just a stock bottom end can take and yours is built. Seem's like you enjoy your setup but if you ever get that itch to turn up the boost to 30psi I bet you'd see a HUGE difference in power. My HTA68 didn't wake up until after 25psi, just something to consider. :)

Great job and clean DSM.

:dsm:

Totally agree. Great build, but you'll really love her when you turn up the boost. At 25psi my Red felt like a dog so we went to 35 on pump and added some timing and she really came alive. Now on e85 and it's a whole other animal :thumb:
 
Awesome car man. Out of all the things to notice on your car, I can't help but noticed what you have under the battery tie down. What is that? Foam? I have the same battery and did something similar, only with cardboard though.
 
Awesome car man. Out of all the things to notice on your car, I can't help but noticed what you have under the battery tie down. What is that? Foam? I have the same battery and did something similar, only with cardboard though.

Its actually some thick rubber material that I cut into rectangles. It is some kind of industrial sound deadening rubber material and very dense - sort of like dynamat but thicker and heavier. I got it a long time ago and still have a big sheet of it. On top of the battery its two pieces laying on top of each other on each side and it provides a good grip for the battery holder since the Optima is a little shorter than a standard water battery.

Thanks to all for the kind words on the car btw it is most appreciated.

I have to update the front pictures of the exterior. I had cut - but subsequently have vastly improved (I think) on the initial effort - which was a bit rushed and didn't visually flow well with the hood, etc. - some vents above the radiator opening to help with my coolant temps. They made a HUGE difference on the temps. I took the fascia earlier this week to be re-painted and just picked it up and re-installed it this afternoon but it was a little rainy so no pics. Will do so tomorrow.

I'll also take some interior pics and post them. I have the interior pretty much brand new looking with everything intact and working - even down to the ashtray and drink holder. I've never been a smoker and never allowed it in the car but the lid on the originals busted when one of my little kids climbed around the console. After a long and fruitless search for ones that were not messed up at junkyards I gave up and bought the bullet and got 'em both at the dealer about 3 years ago - expensive as crap. They may no longer be available now - like alot of parts.

Amongst my favorite interior "additions" was snagging a couple of years ago at a salvage yard a Mitsu OEM white gauge cluster from a '99 Eclipse - $100. Very rare to find one of those. Also the full red LED interior gauge and dash panel lighting is nice - I even did the little light inside the ashtray and the one around the back of the cigarette lighter.

Maybe I spend too much time on the car - my wife has started to give me even more dirty looks than usual when I do work on it, while neglecting her honey do household chore lists :p

EDIT July 10, 2011: Here are some interior shots from this morning:

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And the repainted fascia with the bumper vents trimmed more to flow with the hood line better:

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very very nice... where did you get all ## stuff for the BOV (upper IC piping and BOV)???.. or was that gotten by someone else.
 
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