Baby's got back!

[dsmboost420]

not a fan of the venting on the bumber, but original owner thats sweet that must felt good to buy that brand new i had a dream like that once... hahah

 

[sharkbait689]

How many miles does it have? Im curious to know how much of whats happened on my 92 talon is from normal wear and tear and whats from the idiots that owned it before me

 

[SeaveeDSM]

@ Shark, before the engine rebuild I had about 120K miles on it. I had it painted about 2 1/2 years ago. I've driven it hard at times but for about 1/2 its life it has not been my only vehicle. Also I was 34 when I bought it new at the dealer and am now 47, so I wasn't so young that I beat the piss out of it and took pretty good care of it.

I have had to keep up on alot of the parts that wear or rust and the things our cars are susceptible to - new oem steering wheel, reupholstered the driver's side seat, new sunroof window and frame assembly (with another brand new spare sitting in a box etc, etc, etc.

Just yesterday I spent about 2 hours replacing my ageing and slow power window regulator and motor assemblies on both windows, for example. Got 'em for $100 brand new for the pair! from:
Mitsubishi Eclipse Window Regulator at 1AAuto.com

I was skepitcal that these were any good based on that price but indeed they are brand new and complete with the motors and work perfectly - my formerly slow windows now haul ass. The install took me 2 hours, about an hour hour and a half on the first side (taking off more shit than I ended up needing to) and about 30 minutes on the second as I had by then figured out how to properly.

 

[Trav83]

Your Eclipse is absolutely gorgeous, but I have to agree with most people here that the front cut out doesn't look quite right, it needs to flow with the bumper a little better.

I think it would look better like this...

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I don't have photoshop, I had to use MSpaint so it's not perfect but you get the idea


BTW I love your rims, what kind are they? They look a lot like mine but with more spokes (and bigger of course)

 

[dsm144]

Man I love that vent it looks super sharp I think. I was actually thinking of doing something like that and that gives me a better idea of what its look like! Nice car!

 

[DSM PaNiK]

*Whistles*

 

[SeaveeDSM]

Your Eclipse is absolutely gorgeous, but I have to agree with most people here that the front cut out doesn't look quite right, it needs to flow with the bumper a little better.

I think it would look better like this...

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I don't have photoshop, I had to use MSpaint so it's not perfect but you get the idea


BTW I love your rims, what kind are they? They look a lot like mine but with more spokes (and bigger of course)

OK, the more I looked at it the more I agree the straight cut across the top doesn't flow well with the bumper. So this afternoon I recut the vents a little more, on the top corner of each vent I went up 1/2" higher so it follows the line of the bottom of the hood a little closer. I thought about cutting it even higher still but then its so close to where the fascia starts to get more horizontal that it might have been a problem with bending and adhering the SST mesh nehind it. Is this better now?

NOW:

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BEFORE:

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The rims are from a company called Exel and the model is "Fame" in their "Hyper light" silver color, 18". They actually were very inexpensive but I don't think they are made anymore.

 

[Trav83]

An improvement, but the left and right top ends of the cut still need to be going upward a little more so that the distance between the top of the cutout and the hood is the same all the way across.
Also the bottom is straight when it should slightly curve like the top. I think in order to really make it look good, you would have to start over with a new bumper, but I know that's not exactly convenient.

Bottom line is you have a great looking Eclipse (nicer than mine and most other members on this site) and I wouldn't worry about it too much

 

[2GbTalonGuy]

I'm not a fan of the vent at all. Other than that the car is gorgeous.

 

[96awd]

I happen to love the car. Vent's look good, just not a fan of the mesh. Car looks to be in pristine condition and I'm jealous of it.

 

[SeaveeDSM]

An improvement, but the left and right top ends of the cut still need to be going upward a little more so that the distance between the top of the cutout and the hood is the same all the way across.
Also the bottom is straight when it should slightly curve like the top. I think in order to really make it look good, you would have to start over with a new bumper, but I know that's not exactly convenient.

Got it. I made the last adjustments yesterday - super easy with painter's tape and my dremel with the small drum sander and 60 grit wheels, finished with a dremel SST brush for really fine work and then hand sanded the inner edges with some 120 grit. Came out pretty much exactly like your MSpaint mock up. The fascia is being repainted today and will post another pic later in the week when its back on.

Some don't like the SST mesh but what would be a decent alternative material other than just leaving it completely open - which really doesn't look good IMO.

Again these vents were a necessity here in Miami with my mods and the FMIC obstructing the radiator, plus I have A/C which is an absolutely necessity here.

 

[dsm-unleashed]

Im usually not a big fan of white, but this would be an exception... Very Nice

 

[e_miller81]

Very Clean. Do you think the vent helps cool the car better?

 

[SeaveeDSM]

Very Clean. Do you think the vent helps cool the car better?

HUGE difference - dropped at least 13-15 degrees, especially in stop and go traffic with the A/C on or at higher highway speeds. The PR FMIC really is a big obstruction and while I never actually overheated I did not like the temps always in the upper limits of what I see as safe for the long term (206 to 213). And that was even WITH a fluidyne radiator and two very strong SPAL fans in place and with both my prior build and the current engine build wih basically everything including the block new.

For those with only the factory temp gauge - which is set up so that it basically sits in the middle once warmed up and then does not not move higher at all - until the temps go WAY up - like over 215 (might be even more like 220 - can't remember the exact # but its quite high). But basically between about 180 and 215 or 220 ish that stock temp gauge needle doesn't move. So some people thus think they have no heat issues going on because they don't see the factory gauge move when in fact they may be regularly and constantly operating at the upper ranges of "normal" temps.

With ECMlink, one can actively monitor the temps across a much broader range and I saw that I was consistently at the upper ranges of "safe" temps and I did not want that for the sake of my engine's longevity.

The vents literally dropped my coolant temps about 13-15 degrees and it was readily apparent on ECMLINK. Look at the front bumper venting and positioning of the FMIC on the Mitsu Lancer Evolutions - there is a reason Mitsu designed it that way.

Will have pics of the final version up on the weekend (assuming the body shop finishes the fascia which is supposed to be Friday). It sort of has an Evo-ish look to it now.

 

[edsgst]

Love the car...love the vents too

 

[Satabird88]

Sick car man. I love those wheels. Something about white is just so nice and clean.

 

[AwD4g63TsI]

Love it. Only thing I'm not a huge fan of is that mesh cut out in the front bumper. Everything else...flawless imo

 

[2gSX018]

I dunno why but i am a big fan of white on the eclipse. Very clean car, nicely done!!

 

[Gostlrs]

Nice looking ride...

 

[95talongirl]

absolutely beautiful... that is all!

 

[Mike02rt]

Your Eclipse is absolutely gorgeous, but I have to agree with most people here that the front cut out doesn't look quite right, it needs to flow with the bumper a little better.

I think it would look better like this...

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I don't have photoshop, I had to use MSpaint so it's not perfect but you get the idea


BTW I love your rims, what kind are they? They look a lot like mine but with more spokes (and bigger of course)

^^^^ Nailed IT.

 

[SeaveeDSM]

OK, here is the actual newly trimmed and repainted front fascia from this morning - I think it now flows alot better now with the hood lines. Made the upper outer edges curve more closely with the bottom of the hood line and also added a little more curvature to the outer sides and the bottom. Thanks for the suggestions and constructive criticism!

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Here are a few interior pictures from this AM too:

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[Trav83]

Need a straight forward front shot in order to really tell. Nice interior, very clean

 

[SeaveeDSM]

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[1gtalon93]

very clean