A Journey Incomplete

[fourgsixty3]

This is the Build Thread for A Journey Incomplete. Reply below.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Just a few photos for now. A more detailed plan will be posted later. Yes she's young and yes she has been fed a strict diet of rice but let's change all that.

 

[fourgsixty3]

This is my 1996 GST bought new in....yes you guessed it 1996. It is the first car I've owned. I think I had it for a little over a year before I got bit by the mod bug. Started with the typical things like an intake and exhaust which slowly evolved into trying to replace everything whether it made sense or not. Proof is in the photos above. Young, dumb and full of something the saying goes I think. I didn't know shit about cars back then, and in many ways I still don't, so off it went to TAD Motorsports for all the fast parts. TAD, for those who don't know, was a shop which specialized in building some incredible rally EVOs, etc. I'm not going to dive too deep into my experience there, but let's just say that ultimately I decided to part ways. I began to educate myself through research via car magazines, internet, word of mouth and trial and error.
The outcome, good and bad, is what you see here, a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T in Northstar White. I didn't like the 1995-96 body style so I bought an aftermarket body kit. It fit like shit but I thought it looked so cool. Of course it had the double decker rear spoiler which I removed because it served no purpose, started falling apart and looked really stupid. Wheels were 17x8 Racing Hart Tuners wrapped with 235/40 AO32Rs. Loved those wheels but I sold them to a friend when I decided to do an AWD conversion and a wide body. This was back in 2002 or 2003 I think when I put it up on stands and it hasn't been started ever since. Anyway the motor and body have about 33K mi on them currently. The motor is stock with just HKS 264 cams. When it was running, boost was supplied by an externally gated Greddy 18G turbocharger at 23psi mounted under an EVO3 manifold. Exhaust gasses were expelled via a HRC 3" eliminator downpipe fed into a 3" test pipe and a 3.25" Tanabe exhaust. The intake charge was cooled by a Greddy 24R intercooler. This setup produced 366 hp and 360 torque tuned via DSMLink on a Dynojet. Transmission was stock with a Quaife differential. I forgot which clutch I was using but I'm pretty sure it was a Clutchmasters kit with a lightened flywheel. Fuel was supplied by a 255lph walbro through -6AN feed line and a CLIMAX Racing fuel rail which fed the RC550 injectors. A Fluidyne radiator and a Greddy oil cooler kept the engine cool. Suspension comprised of JIC FLTA2 coilovers, RM swaybars, full ES bushing set, GAB front and Tengo R rear strut braces, RRE lower brace and Parker front spherical bearing LCAs. AP Racing/Stillen 4POT front BBK and upgraded rear rotors/pads were responsible for stopping duties. Interior consisted of Sparco Supersport seats, Sparco steering wheel, Sparco shift knob and a full complement of Greddy gauges.
The current plan, first and foremost, is to get her back on the road. Unfortunately, I will most likely overthink, overbuild and overspend during this entire process. Sounds like fun. So......let's begin. I am trying to do some research but I've been away for so long it's really quite exhausting. Powerplant will most likely be a 2.3L stroker. I'd like to ditch the stock MAF and run SD through DSMLink. Not sure about the turbo at this time but will most likely stick with a MITSU style turbo, an FP Red or Black for now. I have a Vamos fuel tank so the plan is to run a-8AN feed and -6AN return. Obviously big injectors, fuel pump and rail capable of running E85. GSC R2 cams with Kiggly high pressure springs. Looking at Magnus intake manifold with a ROSS throttle body and an ETS intercooler. I have an EVO3 transmission which needs the front Quaife LSD and 4 spider center installed. Need the transfer case and rear differential reworked. Have a full set of VOLK suspension arms, FIBA rear upper arms. Still need the VOLK rear subframe and a FIBA front subframe. Keeping the AP Racing BBK up front and just got the TCE rear BBK, 3G MC. Have a set of TE37s 17x9 +15 wheels which I will most likely be replacing with something in the 18" variety with a better offset. Body will be getting the OEM treatment with some carbon fiber pieces I'm currently waiting for. Rework the interior so it's functional and remove the current color scheme. Relocate the battery to the rear. That's it for now I think. This will be a slow process but I will be updating and asking many dumb questions so be nice.

 

[Jonnyeclipse]

Nice write up. I am in the same boat you are. I just got my Northstar white 95 GSX out of its 14 or so years in a storage unit. Rebuilt the engine, installed ECMLink V3 and did all of the maintenance Can’t wait for summer. I will be following your progress.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Nice write up. I am in the same boat you are. I just got my Northstar white 95 GSX out of its 14 or so years in a storage unit. Rebuilt the engine, installed ECMLink V3 and did all of the maintenance Can’t wait for summer. I will be following your progress.

View attachment 651910

Nice. You are way ahead of me. At this point I'm sourcing parts and trying to come up with a plan. Once it warms up I'll dig in and have more updates.

 

[jesse12345]

Wow man that is one clean car. Keep at it ill be following.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Wow man that is one clean car. Keep at it ill be following.

I appreciate it. It's time I reverse the mistakes I made with it. I know it's gonna take time and money but I'm ready. I used to have most of the tools needed to perform most of the work myself but I borrowed them and haven't seen them since. I also had quite a bit of knowledge about these things but what they say about not using it and losing it holds true. I'm actually excited about relearning it all and getting to learn new things.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Ok. After countless hours of reading and research I think a PPG gearset is the way to go. Do it once and do it right I guess. I should be able to recoup some of the costs by selling the unused EVO3 assembly. It's only money though, right? Waiting on the weather to warm up to pull the motor so I can clean up the harness and engine bay. Still trying to decide whether to keep my 17" TE37s and run some over fenders or get 18s with a less aggressive offset. I really don't want to cut into the body. Slowly collecting parts. Long road ahead. Opinions and advice welcome.

 

[Jacob5se]

Can't wait to see the progresss on this build. I love the whole story.
If you'd have some old school parts for sale, lmk since I might be interested

 

[fourgsixty3]

Can't wait to see the progresss on this build. I love the whole story.
If you'd have some old school parts for sale, lmk since I might be interested

Thanks bud. Looking at your mod list it doesn't seem like you really need anything. It looks like a complete and clean car. I will let you know for sure though. Unless you want a C-West carbon fiber GT wing, but I don't think you need one of those.

 

[Jacob5se]

Thanks bud. Looking at your mod list it doesn't seem like you really need anything. It looks like a complete and clean car. I will let you know for sure though. Unless you want a C-West carbon fiber GT wing, but I don't think you need one of those.

Haha nah man, I think I'm good with a stock high rise
If you have that radiator hose from the photo and would ever want to part your ways with it lmk, I really like it.
Also, would you mind sharing a part # for AP Racing calipers?
I also believe we talked on instagram as I was amazed by amount of real parts on your car.

 

[fourgsixty3]

That's a Greddy radiator hose kit. If I decide to get rid of it I'll let you know. The AP Racing brakes are a Stillen kit. I'll have to see if I still have the paperwork for them but I got them a long time ago and Stillen no longer sells it. Yeah that's me on Instagram. I hate social media but it seems it's the preferred way to communicate, research and find info these days. Ugh.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Finally got my order from Carbonetics. May not use some of the pieces. We'll see.

 

[EclipseOfTheHeart97]

! Your drip rails are perfect!
I agree - nice write up and story. Encouraging me to move a bit faster with my build. My '97 GST has 7000 original miles and i'm just working on getting it running first. Fuel tank still had old fuel from (probably) 2008 and was just a rusty mess.

 

[fourgsixty3]

! Your drip rails are perfect!
I agree - nice write up and story. Encouraging me to move a bit faster with my build. My '97 GST has 7000 original miles and i'm just working on getting it running first. Fuel tank still had old fuel from (probably) 2008 and was just a rusty mess.

Thank you. Do you have any pics of your car? It's very rare to find these cars with such low mileage.

 

[EclipseOfTheHeart97]

Thank you. Do you have any pics of your car? It's very rare to find these cars with such low mileage.

These are from 3 years ago. Unfortunately I didn't listen to my dad about covering the with a car cover and the clear coat is starting to flake. Paint under the clear looks good, and the only rust i can see is literally a 1/4" spot on the hatch.

Today I installed a new JC Whitney/car parts dot yawn fuel tank, a fuel lever sender i bought from Rix Racing, and some Power Stop Z23 brakes and rotors. (dads car sat for 12 years with the same old fuel. old fuel EATS EVERYTHING)
Waiting for a new fuel pump hanger to be delivered, and then it's ON to troubleshooting the electrical issues caused by the little fn rats and bunnies eating my wires in the engine bay. Soy wire wraps = rodent treats. Little shits!

So many questions:
-CTSV Brake swap
-AWD swap?
-GST/AWD wheels/tires set up
....I'm new here and i know i should spend some time reading past posts to gather the info. Damn 9 to 5 !?!!?

 

[fourgsixty3]

Beautiful car. A little TLC and it will be as good as new.

 

[fourgsixty3]

So my Racefab oil pan showed up. It's very nice.... except for the shipping damage. The box could've used a bit more padding. Just saying. Can't catch a break.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Some wood and hammer did the trick. Might need a little more convincing but it looks much better.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Since I lost my entire drivetrain in the tragic TMZ shop fire I had to start over. I was able to convince a local to part out the car he was selling. I would've taken the whole thing but I don't have the space unfortunately so I took the transmission and t-case. He wasn't able to pull the rear differential before it got super cold out so that's a project for another day. The plan was to build a PPG, retain the EVO3 5th and sell the new EVO3 1-4th to recoup some of the costs. Currently I'm undecided whether to keep the 2G 5th or go all out PPG 1-5th as sourcing an Evo3 5th is proving difficult.

Picked up some stuff from Boostin and was able to source some spider gears from Neat for the center. Just need the TMZ cross shaft.

Also pieced together a whole DSS set of axles and driveshaft.

So yeah, piece by piece it's getting there. Currently Bobby is almost done with the front subframe and Paul just told me that that the rear subframe will be getting done in January. Once Tim is up and running again I will drop off my transmission for him to work his magic.

 

[Canadian_CD9A]

Nice pile of parts you're building there again. I might have a 5th for you, give me some time.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Nice pile of parts you're building there again. I might have a 5th for you, give me some time.

Many thanks brother. Yeah it was either sit there and cry or keep it going. Well there's no crying here.....ok maybe a little.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

The frame should be back with me early next week. So once i cleaned the threads out and get it all mounted together i can get it boxed and shipped out. So i HOPE... By end of next week its out to you dude.

 

[fourgsixty3]

The frame should be back with me early next week. So once i cleaned the threads out and get it all mounted together i can get it boxed and shipped out. So i HOPE... By end of next week its out to you dude.

That's awesome Bobby. Thank you.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Bobby's frame is here and she is pretty. Also got Bobby's rear anti-sway bar brackets for OEM and Evo bars.