99GS: What to do first

[rezalas]

Background: I've wanted to own a stock eclipse (97-99) for a very long time and finally had an opportunity to purchase an old 99 GS from a local individual. The car is in poor condition with only a few modifications (replacement rims, exhaust, CAI) which is what I was looking for (it's a project for me as well).

Issues: The problem I'm having is where to start really. I know it can run (I drove it 34 miles home) but I also know it idles rough and has black residue that it left on my driveway after running for a few minutes. The interior is damaged severely (broken pegs and brackets, lock cylinders laying in the doors, what smells like angry hobo sex in the seats) so I'm certain it needs replaced, but I'm also certain that the engine needs a lot of work (the engine compartment has signs of previous oil leaks). I definitely want the smell gone, but I'm not sure if I should spend time doing that if I'm going to have new parts sit there for months while I'm toiling away fixing whatever hate crime was performed previously on the engine.

Goal: I'd like to rebuild the car up to a showable quality vehicle. I'm not talking about competing, but I'd like to have something I can enjoy and work on in my spare time. I'd like to hear any views on where to start to reach this goal, and perhaps any suggestions for a good way to plan this out. I've been reading the forums and already have the manuals bookmarked to continue reading through them (there's a ton of info to learn).

Side note: I'm a software engineer and network architect by trade and not a mechanic, so I'm admitting up front that I have a lot to learn. If I missed any info that you need please feel free to let me know and I'll provide anything I can.

 

[92AWDHX40]

I would start be looking in the build section here and see some builds then youll have plenty of information to work with.

 

[rezalas]

I would start be looking in the build section here and see some builds then youll have plenty of information to work with.

I've been looking at a few of them today to get an idea of what other people are doing. I have quite a bit less garage space than most of the people here it seems I can figure something out for more space though.

 

[Alpha]

Welcome and GL

 

[rezalas]

Thank you

I decided that the first thing I'm going to do is strip out the interior and rework the inside. It's substantially simpler than working on the engine and will give me more time to make a decision on either fixing this one up or buying a new one. That, and I seriously want to get rid of the 'wet dogs mating' smell.

Either way I know that I want to hit a few milestones for fun (350HP would be nice) but I have a lot to learn and a ton of tools to plan out how to borrow / rent / buy. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, the journals have been giving me a lot of really good ideas and showing me problem areas that I wouldn't have planned on before.

 

[synthetek]

Either way I know that I want to hit a few milestones for fun (350HP would be nice)

Do you plan to build the motor and install a turbo?

 

[staxemw]

I would start on the motor first before i put any money into the rest of the car plus its sometimes fun to have a sleeper

 

[ed1380]

Hope you didn't pay more that $1000 for it and even that's pushing it

 

[Dxc545]

Ha ha you had a soup kitchen in your car? Id start with engine maintenance first.

 

[91-GS]

For the smell cheapest thing to do would be to spray it all down with odor remover. Go to a hunting store (or hunting section of walmart, if nothing else) to get the stronger stuff.

 

[gusu]

Rent one of Wal-Marts carpet extractor's that comes with the hose attachment. You will basically be steam cleaning your interior with a extremely powerful vacuum. I'd be surprised if the smell and any stains didn't away.

Make sure to presoak any bad areas and use the special shampoo they sell (it's really powerful and cheap).

I suggest pulling the carpet (easy) and the seats (Also very easy). It will be about a 30 minute project getting the carpet out and it makes a HUGE difference since you can cover the entire carpet easily. Don't forget to pull the back seat and do the trunk cover if you have it. Any carpeting you can easily get off needs to come off and be cleaned!

 

[rezalas]

Do you plan to build the motor and install a turbo?

I'd like to do so, yes. It doesn't have one at the moment, but I'm pretty sure it needs to be flushed and rebuilt to fix an oil leak that I'm pretty sure it has, so I might as well upgrade if I'm going to go that far.

Hope you didn't pay more that $1000 for it and even that's pushing it

I paid $1,600 for it, which was more than you'd suggest probably by $800 or so. But, it's been a car I've wanted ever since I sat in one for the first time and it's the best deal I've found in the area. Most of them in my area go for much more and have had a ton of crap work done to them already. I probably paid far too much, but I won't dwell on things I can't change.

Ha ha you had a soup kitchen in your car? Id start with engine maintenance first.

Yeah, the smell was pretty bad when I was driving it home; thank god the windows work! I've stripped part of the interior out already and I'm replacing the door handles, but I'm going to do a mix of the more critical interior pieces and engine work so that I don't blow the engine in the mean time.

For the smell cheapest thing to do would be to spray it all down with odor remover. Go to a hunting store (or hunting section of walmart, if nothing else) to get the stronger stuff.

There is an archery and rifle shop a few blocks from me that I can go to. I hadn't thought about that but it's a good idea.

Rent one of Wal-Marts carpet extractor's that comes with the hose attachment. You will basically be steam cleaning your interior with a extremely powerful vacuum. I'd be surprised if the smell and any stains didn't away.

Make sure to presoak any bad areas and use the special shampoo they sell (it's really powerful and cheap).

I suggest pulling the carpet (easy) and the seats (Also very easy). It will be about a 30 minute project getting the carpet out and it makes a HUGE difference since you can cover the entire carpet easily. Don't forget to pull the back seat and do the trunk cover if you have it. Any carpeting you can easily get off needs to come off and be cleaned!

If the odor remove doesn't work I'll strip it out and clean it, but I'm planning on changing the interior color anyway. It's currently a tan / black combination, and I'd like to move to a sapphire and maybe ruby. I'm not decided on colors yet honestly and that'll change a dozen times or so until I find something that doesn't look like complete crap.

 

[rezalas]

I would start be looking in the build section here and see some builds then youll have plenty of information to work with.

I'd like to start a build journal tonight with some of the pictures I've taken and repairs I've done. At what point in the process is it considered acceptable to start a journal? I've been documenting strip down and wiring repair, handle and cylinder replacement, and other such things. I've done some searching to see if anyone had a similar question, but nobody has posted about how much work (or how complex of work) should have been done thus far in order to start a build journal.

 

[jayson427]

Look up my journal it's called my 420a all motor journey. I made it just for guys like you starting out with a 420a. It's not the best but I was honest with my build and experiences.

 

[rezalas]

Look up my journal it's called my 420a all motor journey. I made it just for guys like you starting out with a 420a. It's not the best but I was honest with my build and experiences.

Will do, thank you!

 

[Mischif]

Does it have the 420a, or a 4g64. I though the gs trim was a 4g64?

 

[rezalas]

Does it have the 420a, or a 4g64. I though the gs trim was a 4g64?

I'd love to tell you. How can I find that info for you?

 

[Mischif]

Haha in that case your first priority should be to learn to identify the different engines. The 420a is a dohc, and the 4g64 is sohc.

 

[jayson427]

I should of asked before my reply Lol but since he was talking about putting a Turbo on I assumed it was a 420a. Is your timing belt on the drivers or passengers side? It's a 99 so it can't be a 4g64

 

[Mischif]

My mistake then. Could of sworn some of the hardtop 2gs had the 2.4 in it.

 

[curt-s]

Angry hobo sex smells different than regular hobo sex?

 

[rezalas]

Haha in that case your first priority should be to learn to identify the different engines. The 420a is a dohc, and the 4g64 is sohc.

Ah ok, so 2.0 DOHC, so 420a then.

Either there is a tool I don't know about, or exterior door handles are built to be installed with the glass out. Otherwise I need to hire an infant with mechanical skills, because I can't get the stupid opening mechanism rod to mount to the replacement exterior door handle. Any tips?

 

[Mischif]

Try using some screw drivers to help push the rods in. Its not easy and is a pain in the ass. REMOVE THE WINDOW GLASS! I didn't do that one time when i was replacing a lock cylinder and the screw driver slipped and tapped the edge of the glass and it shattered into a million pieces... literally. Usually i use a hand from the inside of the door to hold the rod in place, and then use a flat head going in through from where the window comes out with the other hand to pop them in place.

 

[BigRed12]

I would suggest:

For the interior, pull the seats and carpet and clean the shit out of them... Get a can or 2 of "Tuff Stuff" and spray it on the carpet and scrub the hell out of it. Then as far as the seats are concerned.. your best bet is to try and tuff stuff them too, and then get some odor eliminator and spray everything. While your carpet is out of the car, check the under padding and the floorboards for moisture.

Then, focus any funds you have on making it run properly. Honestly, one of the worse things is not knowing if your car is going to make your daily A to B.

Then once it runs properly then you can look as your go fast parts.

 

[rezalas]

Try using some screw drivers to help push the rods in. Its not easy and is a pain in the ass. REMOVE THE WINDOW GLASS! I didn't do that one time when i was replacing a lock cylinder and the screw driver slipped and tapped the edge of the glass and it shattered into a million pieces... literally. Usually i use a hand from the inside of the door to hold the rod in place, and then use a flat head going in through from where the window comes out with the other hand to pop them in place.

Thank you, the Haynes manual for the Eclipse doesn't have detailed descriptions of what the process requires. Honestly the 4 step process they list doesn't even detail how to get the rods out. The detail level towards the end of the book seems more like they were running out of pages on their cap limit and had to squeeze more info into less pages than they actually needed.

I'm going to remove the glass from both the doors to fix both handles tonight. I ended up fixing the steering wheel (it was 90 degree off) and working on some of the wiring instead of replacing the handles and lock cylinders like I wanted, but any progress is progress.

I also need to figure out somewhere I can get a security bold removal tool for my wheels, because the guy who sold me the car didn't give me the socket to remove them. They are pretty basic security bolts though, so I'm certain that I can find a socket to pull them (they are just round bolts with 5-6 concave rounded slots).