Daily GS Turbo Build

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

RJ_IS_BATMAN submitted a new DSM Profile :

Project Batmobile


Read more about this vehicle here...

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Hey Everyone!

My name is R.J and wanted to start documenting the start of my 1998 Eclipse RS build. I picked up the car for $500.00, as you can see from the photos below the car had been sitting under a tree for about a year. Previous owner got the car from a friend and the car had a lot of performance upgrades so he basically took all the performance parts and put most of the stock parts on this eclipse and let it sit.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Update: Heres some pics of the car finally at home and being washed off a bit and the interior cleaned up. Spent a few days looking for replacement transmission cables and saw they run for about $200.00 used on eBay. Ended up going to pick your part and picked them up for $7.00. Got them installed and transmission is connected and shifting. Going to start the body work this upcoming week once some supplies arrive in the mail.

View attachment 599370

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Quick Update.

Pulled the fenders and bumper off to start the bodywork and spraying primer onto these pieces. The front bumper had 2 major cracks that i had to fiberglass and need to finish off with some fiberglass filler. Fenders have been primered and are currently being block sanded and having the filler work done to it. Also washed the inner fenders with some dawn soap and just scrubbed the area and was surprised how clean it came out.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Update: Got the whole front end in primer and was able to save with a headlight restorer kit. Pretty happy with this update. Time to move towards the doors and get the whole rest of the car then moving to the wiring and then engine.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Another update, got the passenger side all primered, going to pickup the side skirt pieces I’m missing later tonight. I was able to find the rear backseat privacy liner at the junkyard today, some missing trim pieces and finally got the tach plastic I was missing. Interior is now 100% complete

 

[lasershark]

moving right along!

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Ok so update!

Was able to get the car turned on! Finally got everything installed in the engine and it turned on the first try! Needless to say my son was excited .

also finished up the primer work I’m getting the car primered now time to block the body.

On a test drive ran into the transmission not wanting to shift untill any gear but first. I had replaced the shifter cables but now it won’t move at all..I’m afraid the transmission might be gone. Thinking of picking up another transmission at the junk yard while I attempt to rebuild this one.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

And a video of the car running, one of the pulleys, either the ac, ps or tensioner needs to be replaced.. it’s whining!

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

So had a few free hours to work on the car yesterday, turns out one of the shifter cable retaining clips popped out which caused the transmission to come out of gear and not shift properly.

5 mins later car runs smooth! Will be buying new bushings for then shifter and engine side in a week or 2 which should stop all play with so ever in the transmission.

Next thing I did was go through the engine bay and removed all the extra wiring the car had. HID wiring, Sub Wiring etc.. has a nice little pile of wires I pulled and that in turn fixed my issue of popping fuses and got my gauges and all lights working finally.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Another update!

Have not been able to take this car for a complete drive as of yet... just a few drives for a block or 2 before something brakes ...

quick vid of the car running... right after this video the recently replaced ac/ps belt just fell apart.. not sure what happened.. so currently at a stand still... debating if I want to pull the engine to replace gaskets and seals and redo the timing belt as I’m not sure the last time it was done.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

I think i was able to solve my accessory belt issue, I found this article

https://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=Deleting_Power_Steering_Tensioner

Which should help the belt from slipping off in the future

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Another update!

So I have gone through my 2nd set of shifter cables, I guess these were already on there way out when I pulled them from the donor car in the junk yard. Thankfully I had another set. Added in some upgrades bushings for under the hood and car shifts smooth!

also finished primering the car. Not sure why it looks like the passenger door is dented but there’s no dent at all. It only looks like that when the sun hits the door like that it’s so odd. Just need to add on the side skirts and body is pretty much done.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

After a few months of no updates...

my transmission bell housing cracked without me knowing and while driving it started popping out of gear.

So here’s where my car stands.... literally on jack stands haha. Putting in a new suspension and sourced a replacement transmission from an 05 dodge neon

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Nice to see some updates! Sorry to hear about the cracked trans. Luckily Chrysler put them in alot of cars.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Another quick update, I have a feeling this hub assembly and axel are gonna be rusted together and it’s gonna be a pain to get off

 

[AWD-Tony]

Map torch, penetrant and heat that sucker up.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Don't go crazy with the air impact. It would make things way worse if you strip it. But luckily they make the nuts out of a softer compound than the axles, so you could cut it off if needed.

I prefer to use a breaker bar to remove axle nuts. Sometimes I add a 5ft piece of fence pole to it for extra leverage. PB blaster works magic on things like this. Even WD-40 helps a little.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

I got it off without a problem, let PB Plaster soak in for 2 days. I also used a breaker bar and placed the car on the tire to hold it in place while turning the nut.

I bought a 10 ton puller from harbor freight to take out the axels and it removed them within seconds.

Heres some updated pics, the axel is stuck in the transmission at the moment which Isn’t a big deal since the transmission is gone and I have another one I’m dropping in.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Passenger side is done, just need to remove the ac condenser and I can pull the engine for a refresh and paint

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

You might as well do a timing job since you're going to have the engine out anyway. These are interference engines after all.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Thats the plan, got a complete timing kit that im going to install, I was contemplating replacing the head gasket while i got the engine out but never done a head gasket before so not sure if i want to tackle it this time around.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

It wouldn't hurt to do the headgasket too. Hit me up if you decide to, and I can give you some pointers. In a nutshell the 420a is much simpler and easier to work on than the 4g.

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Engine is ready to pull out, drained the oil and no traces of coolant so that’s a good sign, I was worried with the miles on the car it would have a leaking head gasket

 

[RJ_IS_BATMAN]

Got the engine pulled out and started to remove everything from the block and got the transmission off.

The transmission was missing 1 bolt and 2 of the bolts that were on were nearly all the way off, when I removed the clutch this part of the clutch was blocking the flywheel bolts, had to pry it off with a screwdriver.