99 GSX Rebirth/Clean-Up/Build

[Vegas Smith]

Honestly, the car looks completely stock; especially the engine bay. Not impressed.

 

[bettfootball]

A couple pictures from the shop that is doing the downpipe!

I asked them to quote me on a full set of pie cut SS intercooler pipes and it is very tempting......

1 by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

Peace!

 

[bettfootball]

Yo!

So I got my downpipe fabbed up last Friday and trailered it to my new house. The shop did an excellent job.

They at first told me it would be about 25% more expensive than they quoted me because they didn't know they were "fabbing up basically half of the entire exhaust" which was a little annoying considering they were replacing an off the shelf Apexi downpipe. They said it would be "absurd" to make a downpipe that long in one piece. Oh well, I got it all done out of stainless with no cat/test pipe. On to some pics!

Here it is all done to show how much was actually done.

Here are some welding progress pics, keep in mind this was a one-day turnaround.

Here is a pic of it installed showing the o2 sensor placement

Then I got it towed home to its permanent spot in my garage.

Just missing the catch can!

The engine had a horrible whining sound that I was starting to worry that it was some timing components or something rubbing, but the engine was perfect before I pulled it, so I was confused. Turns out the Harmonic Balancer took a dump, I finally replaced it with a Dorman unit, will maybe save up for an OEM unit, but we will see. The whining is completely gone though!

Next up is a horrible squeak which i'm assuming is a vac leak somewhere.. But the intake manifold is completely torqued down, and I really don't have any vac lines except BOV and FPR... So annoying.

I go the car idleing at 800 RPM and its rock solid. Crazy especially because I'm just running a bare TB, no ISC/FIAV.

Oil pressure is looking fantastic, as well as idle AFR.

There is new gas in it but I bought two containers of fuel system cleaner just for added piece of mind.

I need to wrap up the brembos this week and get it on the road!

Peace

-Brady

 

[PartoutDSM]

those welds

 

[Doubleot]

Love that dp! She looks amazing!

 

[bettfootball]

Love that dp! She looks amazing!

Thanks! I'm glad I finally just splurged on getting some custom stuff fabbed up. It was pricey but its nice to have 3" and v-band up in the engine bay so there are no chances of leaks which I felt I was ALWAYS getting with a standard o2 housing 2-bolt flange setup. I'm gonna see how long this brand new reman alternator lasts, may have to fab a shield or get the DP coated/wrapped. We will see!

 

[bettfootball]

Starting to get annnooyyyeddddddd. All I need to do is install the calipers and bleed the brakes/clutch line. This is the second Matco Tap i've broken. The first one, the guy said hed have it to me in two days, well it took him 3 weeks. I kept saying to myself "I'll just buy another one online or something" but then I would talk myself out of it by saying "well, the matco tap will probably be here tomorrow anyway, i'll just wait"

Took three weeks....

Well that one just broke on me. I have the brackets tapped and used them as alignment in this picture. I've tapped DSMs before for brembos, I swear i'm going perfectly straight, coming out and then back in slowly, repeat, using lube etc. I ordered one on amazon instantly when I broke this one. I just want to take this for a drive already!

Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

I'm going into the mountains all weekend for my girlfriends birthday, will resume next week. I just wanted to make it to at least 2 cars and coffees this summer... Bummer. Good thing weather is nice year round here, can't wait for some winter cruises (no salt here, barely any snow in Denver).

Also, my s90 leaked bad... I had another s90 laying around that I threw on and the vac leak stopped. I can't find much info about the seals for an s90, so I will probably just try to get some sort of code off the seals when I take it apart. Bummer.

Peace!

-Brady

 

[bettfootball]

Yo Yo Yo,

So I got off my ass and started wrapping up the GSX.

I got all the brembos mounted. I still need to paint them all but I prefer to do this after they are all bled and mounted to avoid chips. A little extra time spent masking but I've chipped too many sets of brakes to piss me off enough that its worth the time spent masking on the car.

I attempted to bleed the brakes and clutch line but need to spend a little more time doing it. I think i'm going to purchase some type of brake bleeder tool to speed the process, all of the lines were completely dry so its taking some time.

I did drive the car about 20 feet but ran into some issues.

1. My (what seems like) 65th Autozone Alternator has zero miles on it and won't charge until 3k rpm, and then screetches HORRIBLY after I rev it up to 3k. I cannot stand this shit. I am so close to spending the couple hundred on an OEM unit. I am tired of having alternator problems.

So I backed the car out of the garage, and then, since my alternator does not charge, the battery died. So I pushed it back in the garage. I did wash the car outside though and took some pics. Pulled the jeep behind it to jump it.

A couple small things to get done and she will be on the road!

Peace

-Brady

 

[181161]

car is looking really good! quick question! do you think youll have clearance issues for the cas when you install the catch can?

 

[bettfootball]

car is looking really good! quick question! do you think youll have clearance issues for the cas when you install the catch can?

Thanks! If you look at my previous pictures, I've already had a catch can on this setup, it clears fine.

 

[Mitsubishiown]

Just read through your whole build and wow it’s awesome! Honestly getting me excited for the future when I am finally able to land a nice GSX. Currently trying to be patient and find the right one but it’s hard when I see builds like this I just want to get stared . Two more years of college for me and I’ll have my doctorate but until then going to be buying parts on little to no income. Excited to continue watching your build.

 

[bettfootball]

Well I got a couple things wrapped up, and few minor hiccups.

I got all the brakes bled-ish, still kind of spongey so I will have to give it another round of bleeding.

I took it for a drive after the brakes were bled and got about 50 miles on it paying close attention to the gauges/engine bay checking for leaks etc.

The plug on my water pipe has a pinhole leak, super annoying. So that will eventually have to come off. I have a coupler wrapped around the pipe and clamped down tight to avoid leaks for now.

I also have a tinnyy exhaust leak on the top right corner of the exhaust manifold. This is due to the Punishment Manifold not allowing you to get a socket on the farthest Stud in the head, I'm going to have to figure something out, I have the ARP studs that use a 12 point nut, I'll have to switch this to a regular hex nut. It just involves pulling the entire manifold off a little from the head so I can get the 12 point ARP nut off the stud, there is zero clearance between the stud and the manifold as it is now.

I have a small oil leak coming from the OFH, I think its just a loose fitting.

Now this brings me to the maiden voyage....

I had about 50 miles on the car, (keep in mind I had a full new tank of gas and fuel system cleaner in the tank) I was coming up a small hill and the car completely shut off fuel. It just stalled out on me basically. I had to pull over quickly into a half construction zone/half shitty old brick building parking lot.

Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

I thought maybe something came loose etc etc. I reset the computer, checked all plugs, TPS, CAS, IAT, plug wires, coil pack, all ignition related items. Nothing.

The car would crank and start over for 3 seconds then die, pressing the gas killed the engine.

I then thought the fuel cleaner gunked up the filter, so I changed that, nothing. Then I swapped out the CAS with another I had, nothing. Then I drove back home to grab a spare TPS and coolant sensor switch.

When I got back to my car, the parking lot was full, and an old lady (owner of the building) was charging $30 per spot for Rockies Baseball parking....

I told her I left a sign on the car saying I would tow it if need be, and to call me. She didn't see the sign, and called her tow company that charges 400 a tow.

I quickly told her that I would pay the cancellation fee ($50) and would pay for a parking spot ($30) so I would not be stressed about leaving my car downtown in a sketchy alley.

I pretty much spent my whole day messing with the car and called it a day, she said I could come back in the morning.

I showed up at 7AM and got to thinking.. I replaced the plugs and saw they were completely fouled out. So I know the injectors are WORKING and since the car started up for a second the ignition/compression was there. I knew this was going to be something STUPID. I have had 2 OMNI Power MAP sensors break on me, I unplugged the sensor and plugged it back in and it started right up.... Oh well, I'll probably end up getting a spare just to have in the car. I don't understand how these keep breaking. Do I need to remote mount it instead of having it on the intake manifold?

Anyways I got it home. This thing spools up and takes off like a jet at 4k rpm, I'm on 10PSI (wg pressure) right now until I iron out the kinks.

Also, I forgot how f***ing shitty this thing drives with the solid mounts and stiff suspension .

Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

Peace!

-Brady

 

[Vegas Smith]

Every time something bad happens I assume I blew the engine or something, but it's always something small.

 

[bettfootball]

Every time something bad happens I assume I blew the engine or something, but it's always something small.

I know, same thing here haha. I built this engine in highschool, still running great! But its always in the back of my head.

 

[copenhagen6123]

I did a complete rebuild/restoration on my car and have ran into many small issues since getting it to the tuner. I feel your pain

 

[bettfootball]

So I made some tweaks the other night.

The eclipse has some faulty plug connectors, the TPS/ MAP/ water temp switch all wiggle loose while driving.

I will purchase new pictails from OHM racing to solve these issues.

My next issue is the water pipe leaking, I will plan to switch to a 1g therm/water pipe setup to fix this problem.

My next issue is a small oil leak from the OFH it seems. I will get another new gasket for that.

I did order ANOTHER OMNI MAP sensor, this will be the 3rd one I've had that has become faulty.

After that we should be good to go to get tuned!

-Brady

 

[bettfootball]

Just wanted to take a second to give OMNI Power a quick shoutout. Everything you read online will be about how they are faulty etc etc and they just go bad for no reason.

While I agree that they bust for no reason after 1000 miles, Bob the owner takes care of you, send it in and he will send you a new one no questions asked. Its obvious that he himself is not putting these things together and in order to be made cheaply things need to be outsourced.

I bought a new 3 bar and will send in my current 3 bar to be exchanged for free. So I will keep a spare with me at all times, and send in the bad one.

 

[Vegas Smith]

Surely you want a 4bar for over 30psi?

 

[bettfootball]

Surely you want a 4bar for over 30psi?

Since I'm a 99 with the blackbox ECU, I'm setup for SD on Omni 3 bar from when I was living in Iowa. I am not going to tune my car myself, and hope to switch to link, for the time being, I will stick with the 3 bar, at altitude that gives me up to 27 psi here at 5300 ft above sea level.

I will stick with the 3 Bar until I am making the jump to link! I don't have my tactrix cable or ecuflash/evo scan anymore to change it to the 4 bar anyway.

-Brady

 

[tunernewb92]

Where did you get your little black plugs for the bolt holes. Also where did you get a grommet that fits in the windshield wiper wire hole above where the battery is stock. I'm looking to fill some of these in since my wire tuck is done.

 

[bettfootball]

Where did you get your little black plugs for the bolt holes. Also where did you get a grommet that fits in the windshield wiper wire hole above where the battery is stock. I'm looking to fill some of these in since my wire tuck is done.

They are all MITSU plugs. There are plenty of threads on here that show the part numbers. Just search firewall plugs mitsubishi or something.

 

[bettfootball]

UPdate:

So I got a new MAP from OMNI and it did not fix my issue.

I was super confused, but then I swapped plug wires and CAS and it fixed my problem.

Still running super rich though, needs a tune.

I also polished one more wheel, holy shit that takes forever. My fingers hurt BAD.

I have some weird ass noises coming from the rear, maybe axles/bearings. Idk. I don't really want to put anymore money in the car right now.

Here are some pics.

The manifold is starting to get some color. I have 200 miles on it.

I also got a new security camera in the garage.

Peace

-Brady

 

[bettfootball]

Haven't really done anything to the GSX lately. Took it to a cars and coffee event which was cool, no other dsms there though.

I'm working on a friends eclipse so mine isn't getting much attention.

Things I need to do to mine;

-Fix coolant leak (may involve me switching to a 6 bolt setup)
-Fix small oil leak at CAS
-Fix small oil leak by OFH. (thinking its just the OFH gasket, its not in the timing cover thats for sure.
-Fix passenger side bumper attachment
This involves bending the fender and bumper mounts so the "edge" of the fender/bumper is what is touching. This has been messed up for so long the metal lip on the fender is protruding down, and the surface on the bumper is warped up, so there is a large gap. I need to trim the fender liner and FMIC fitment.
-Get a catch can from Gamble
-Get a tune!
-Polish the rest of the wheels
-Paint brembos.

Thats about it!

Heres some pics. I love how small the eclipse is compared to a "normal" sedan hahaa.

Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

Here is my Jeep up next to the GSX

Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

Peace!

-Brady

 

[95eclipser]

I don't really want to put anymore money in the car right now.

I completely understand this feeling man. Its hard when you try and do it right the first time, put in the time and funds just for issues to still come up. Then its more money and time etc...
Glad you got it running and driving though. Car looks great!

 

[bettfootball]

I completely understand this feeling man. Its hard when you try and do it right the first time, put in the time and funds just for issues to still come up. Then its more money and time etc...
Glad you got it running and driving though. Car looks great!

Yeah its weird. I've just been spending a LOT of money each month for the last year or so and just want a break haha.

The only things I really look forward to with the car are car shows unfortunately. But I haven't even really seen another DSM in Denver before so no one even knows whats going on with mine haha. It wouldn't even be a lot of money to get the car in great mechanical condition right now, just want to be doing something outside instead of hanging in the garage!

I am glad that I can take my sweet time now fixing the super little things though. Now that it is running and driving!