The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support ExtremePSI
Please Support ExtremePSI

Fresh meat

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GSXsmith

Probationary Member
14
7
Feb 1, 2021
MILFORD, New_Jersey
I’m new to a lot of things here.
First time Mitsubishi owner.
First project car.
First post.
Little mechanical skill.
Lots of acquired mechanics tools.

What I have recently bought: 1998 GSX automatic, doesn’t run, good amount of rust. I paid less thank $2k.

My story: I’ve always had an eye for cars, grew up around car shows, played every racing video game (eclipse was my go to car), and of course watching fast and furious. I bought this car because I wanted to teach myself how to work on a car, rebuild a motor, fix body damage, and have a solid understanding on how to fix cars. I always thought an eclipse was out of my price range but after recently discovering they are pretty cheap, plentiful in parts, seemingly reliable, and already being one of my favorite cars it seemed like the right fit for the job.

So I am now the proud owner of a GSX and I plan on spending a lot of time getting into this and ultimately touch every bolt and square inch of this car to get it back to a pure stock car that looks like it’s been sitting in the showroom since 1998.

In the first 24 hours I’ve found (so far) that the exhaust is completely shot (need a new OEM cat back). The rear emblems are missing. The area under both doors are rusting pretty good, as well as some fist size spots on the fenders. And best of all, the engine bay is caked in oil (looks like every gasket blew).

I know I will likely put in more money than it would be worth but I am spending the money to teach myself and have a productive hobby. I want to hold onto this car for a long time and have it become my future classic car that I can say I put my blood, sweat, and tears into.

any advice or help is always appreciated. And if anyone in the NJ area wants to come take a look and trade ideas over, I’m happy to meet some of you guys.
 
Welcome to the group. Looks like you didn't just jump in with both feet. You did a cannonball. Plenty of information here. Take a look at the resource pages.
 
"Seemingly reliable" is the catch :p if you take good care of the car and do your due diligence it will take care of you. Just be aware you will likely have to go through every paper and rubber gasket in the car more than once to insure the car is leak free

As for rust main areas of concern are under both front and rear strut towers and in the rear spare wheel well. The hatch drain tubes like to get brittle and break leaking rain water into the back. Is yours surface rust or does it go deep into the body?

I have an OEM turboback with new catalytic converter I was going to scrap. It needs some rust treatment, let me know if you can't find one locally and I can attempt to recover it and send it your way for the price of shipping. It passed Washington state emissions last year with no issues
 
"Seemingly reliable" is the catch :p if you take good care of the car and do your due diligence it will take care of you. Just be aware you will likely have to go through every paper and rubber gasket in the car more than once to insure the car is leak free

As for rust main areas of concern are under both front and rear strut towers and in the rear spare wheel well. The hatch drain tubes like to get brittle and break leaking rain water into the back. Is yours surface rust or does it go deep into the body?

I have an OEM turboback with new catalytic converter I was going to scrap. It needs some rust treatment, let me know if you can't find one locally and I can attempt to recover it and send it your way for the price of shipping. It passed Washington state emissions last year with no issues
Rust is surface around the strut towers. I never looked in the area of the spare, so I will definitely look. The body rails under the doors are not as bad as I have seen on this forum but it’s definitely there and rusted though.

Thank you for the offer on the exhaust. I will shop around for one local as I’m sure shipping will be high. If anything I will try to just pick up a cheap 2nd hand aftermarket as a placeholder while working on the motor. The current one is literally held on with wire, string, and what appears to be expanding foam insulation to fill the holes in it.

thank you
 
Welcome to the group. Looks like you didn't just jump in with both feet. You did a cannonball. Plenty of information here. Take a look at the resource pages.
I would say that I almost went into this blind. But I did some quick research and I figured for this price I could at least learn how to gut a car and if I get in to deep it will serve as a parts car. This forum seems to be very detailed and so far there seems to be an answer for everything.
 
I would say the plentiful parts assertion might be a bit optimistic, but 2G (eclipses 1995 and later) ate likely better than my 1g. On the bright side, I have observed that Jersey is now the DSM center of the universe. Seems like nearly half the members on this forum are NJ, NY, and PA, as are many of the specialty suppliers. Hopefully once covid starts to settle down you might even find some willing to give you a hand. It’s pretty much a hobby for all of us.
Good luck, and stay with it.
 
I likewise have a factory AWD exhaust that's in great shape that I want to offload, but even though I'm closer than Washington I'd assume shipping would still be prohibitive.

Yeah, it sounds like this one needs A LOT to get to a good place. Hopefully the not running and the oil leaks are not related.
 
Welcome!!! Sounds like you’re diving into the deep end off the bat. There’s a lot of information on here and the www. Good luck on the build/rebirth!
Thank you. I’m in it for the long haul, unless I catastrophically mess up. Then at least there’s going to be a lot of parts for sale on here.
 
I would say the plentiful parts assertion might be a bit optimistic, but 2G (eclipses 1995 and later) ate likely better than my 1g. On the bright side, I have observed that Jersey is now the DSM center of the universe. Seems like nearly half the members on this forum are NJ, NY, and PA, as are many of the specialty suppliers. Hopefully once covid starts to settle down you might even find some willing to give you a hand. It’s pretty much a hobby for all of us.
Good luck, and stay with it.
Good to know. I gotta find some of these vendors and start scouting for parts. Is there any page here that lists local vendors?
 
Last edited:
I likewise have a factory AWD exhaust that's in great shape that I want to offload, but even though I'm closer than Washington I'd assume shipping would still be prohibitive.

Yeah, it sounds like this one needs A LOT to get to a good place. Hopefully the not running and the oil leaks are not related.
I believe they are unrelated. From what I understand, I may just need to add some fresh fluids and give it a jump to see that it runs.
 
I love the showroom look reference. I sort of have the same dream, although mine will not look necessarily showroom to the trained eye, more of a sleeper, and I've been "researching" for more than 20 years now. You can never put a price tag on knowledge and the people here all all amazing and will help with anything you need. "There's no stupid question you don't already have the answer to," as my father would say.
 
I love the showroom look reference. I sort of have the same dream, although mine will not look necessarily showroom to the trained eye, more of a sleeper, and I've been "researching" for more than 20 years now. You can never put a price tag on knowledge and the people here all all amazing and will help with anything you need. "There's no stupid question you don't already have the answer to," as my father would say.
Agreed. By making stock I’m hoping it’s going to make someone THINK it’s a sleeper which is good enough for me LOL :sneaky:
 
Yes, I’ve had good luck with all of these at different times. JNZ gets my kudos for really excellent service. Rock auto is great for most stock replacements that aren’t actually Mitsubishi-branded parts. Many good offerings in the classifieds, too (shout out to jersygsx).
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top