lex
10+ Year Contributor
- 54
- 0
- Nov 29, 2010
-
Cuba City,
Wisconsin
The journey has been going for the last few years. I blew up the motor on my 91 Eclipse on my 21st birthday. My cousin was supposed to rip the engine apart and put it back together for me so I could use the car again as a daily driver. This became even more necessary when I bought my 2002 Monte carlo in 2006 and wanted to keep the miles off the car because I purchased it with under 50,000.
I finally got fed up with my cousin who never got anything done and the car went to my fiancees father, who has been a mechanic for about 20 years. I figured that he would be able to put the engine back together and I would be able to restore the exterior.
Money has been tight the last few years after we suffered a permanent layoff in 2009 from our jobs within months of purchasing a house. With the help of unemployment and financial aid we have been able to make it through two years being without jobs, full time students and paying for the house and toher expenses.
Last year(2010) I started to look for another early 90's DSM in good condition to rebuild that car as much as possible. I found a 94 Eagle Talon in Madison WI for 1700. It had 200,000 miles and a 5 spd which would save me the trouble of having to switch the transmission out. Being a 94, it had the fixed headlights and I am partial to the pop-ups. Last year I started the under-detailed task of switching the 94 front end of the Talon to the look of a 90-91 with the help of my 91 Eclipse. This has proved a learning experience for me as I have never done anyting of this size in a car project, and it will be the last.
This year I have managed to locate the front grille/garnish off a 91 Talon, they are hard to find. I am in the process of purchasing a new bumper cover and a friend of mine is getting me fog lights off another 94. I can live with the slight difference.
For the interior I swapped out the center counsel in the 94 for the 91's because it is more appealing to me. I also swapped out the front and rear seats because the 91's are two toned and look better than the 94's one plain color with slight tears.
Come spring break I plan to finish the car by getting a new windshield put in, the front finished and the car painted black.
Well went down to the in-laws this past weekend(2/19)to both check to see if the car had the wiring harness for the factory fogs and give the brackets to the father-in-law to take like a decade worth of rust off and straighten out a slight bend. Was VERY happy to find the harness was there. Just need the switch a friend has to put in the empty space in the dash bezel. SO CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING BREAK!!
(3/7) SO READY FOR THIS WEEKEND! found out this morning that my finacee will not have to work so we be heading down to her parents MUCH earlier in the day on Sat. Many thanx to Bud92gsx+ for the fog lights to help a car have a good stock look as well as getting me the crucial fog light switch. Going to have my work cut out for me with finishing wiring, putting front end together, welding, sanding, prming and painting. Almost non-stop work for a few days time. Up for the task, just need to get it done. Last chance before summer, and I cant wait another few months for my car!
3/19 Spent 5 days with the in-laws geting more of my car done. Didn't get nearly as far as I thought I would. Pretty much got the lights and things in. Have to install headlight motor wiring and I should be ready to put the car back togetherHad to cut metal off the Eclipse and the rocker panel on the drivers side to give the Talon what it needed. Picked up brande new bumper on Thursday on the way home. Local Mitsubishi dealer estimated over 200 and I didnt break 180, SWEET! Ill be ready for the next time I go down. Intend to put the car back together and add the fog lights on, had to switch out the actual bumper because there is a width difference in the 90-91 and the 92-94. Now ill have to drill the bumper to make the holes for the fog light brakets. Also have to drill holes in the Elipse fenders for the Talon trim.
(4/8) Heading to the in-laws directly after school for a little over 48 hours to get as much work as possible done. Hopefully get the headlight motors wired in, the rocker panel on the drivers side switched out along with the quater panel pieces replaced with metal off the Eclipse. After that its drilling the holes for the fog brackets in the bumper and getting the last part of the spoiler off the car to start sanding on 4/9. Found out I needed a new slave sylinder so I decided to replace both slave and master because of low prices. Should be a productive weekend!
(4/11) The weekend was productive. I managed to get 95% of the car sanded down and am looking forward to this weekend to get the job finished and the metal swapped out to finish and get parts sanded and ready for priming. I also want to get the headlight motor harnesses wired in to have functional headlights once again. On Sunday morning I also got my clutch master cylinder switched and am in the process of switching out my slave cylinder. The closer I get to the end the happier I get!
(5/15) Got back today from Iowa. Didn't manage to accomplish very much because of other peoples stupid problems. I did get the passing control realy wires out into th engine bay. Next weekend should get the circuit finished and have functioning popup headlights.
Been a little while since I added anything to my blog so I thought I would. I finally got my popup lights working and hardwired into the car.
I finally got fed up with my cousin who never got anything done and the car went to my fiancees father, who has been a mechanic for about 20 years. I figured that he would be able to put the engine back together and I would be able to restore the exterior.
Money has been tight the last few years after we suffered a permanent layoff in 2009 from our jobs within months of purchasing a house. With the help of unemployment and financial aid we have been able to make it through two years being without jobs, full time students and paying for the house and toher expenses.
Last year(2010) I started to look for another early 90's DSM in good condition to rebuild that car as much as possible. I found a 94 Eagle Talon in Madison WI for 1700. It had 200,000 miles and a 5 spd which would save me the trouble of having to switch the transmission out. Being a 94, it had the fixed headlights and I am partial to the pop-ups. Last year I started the under-detailed task of switching the 94 front end of the Talon to the look of a 90-91 with the help of my 91 Eclipse. This has proved a learning experience for me as I have never done anyting of this size in a car project, and it will be the last.
This year I have managed to locate the front grille/garnish off a 91 Talon, they are hard to find. I am in the process of purchasing a new bumper cover and a friend of mine is getting me fog lights off another 94. I can live with the slight difference.
For the interior I swapped out the center counsel in the 94 for the 91's because it is more appealing to me. I also swapped out the front and rear seats because the 91's are two toned and look better than the 94's one plain color with slight tears.
Come spring break I plan to finish the car by getting a new windshield put in, the front finished and the car painted black.
Well went down to the in-laws this past weekend(2/19)to both check to see if the car had the wiring harness for the factory fogs and give the brackets to the father-in-law to take like a decade worth of rust off and straighten out a slight bend. Was VERY happy to find the harness was there. Just need the switch a friend has to put in the empty space in the dash bezel. SO CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING BREAK!!
(3/7) SO READY FOR THIS WEEKEND! found out this morning that my finacee will not have to work so we be heading down to her parents MUCH earlier in the day on Sat. Many thanx to Bud92gsx+ for the fog lights to help a car have a good stock look as well as getting me the crucial fog light switch. Going to have my work cut out for me with finishing wiring, putting front end together, welding, sanding, prming and painting. Almost non-stop work for a few days time. Up for the task, just need to get it done. Last chance before summer, and I cant wait another few months for my car!
3/19 Spent 5 days with the in-laws geting more of my car done. Didn't get nearly as far as I thought I would. Pretty much got the lights and things in. Have to install headlight motor wiring and I should be ready to put the car back togetherHad to cut metal off the Eclipse and the rocker panel on the drivers side to give the Talon what it needed. Picked up brande new bumper on Thursday on the way home. Local Mitsubishi dealer estimated over 200 and I didnt break 180, SWEET! Ill be ready for the next time I go down. Intend to put the car back together and add the fog lights on, had to switch out the actual bumper because there is a width difference in the 90-91 and the 92-94. Now ill have to drill the bumper to make the holes for the fog light brakets. Also have to drill holes in the Elipse fenders for the Talon trim.
(4/8) Heading to the in-laws directly after school for a little over 48 hours to get as much work as possible done. Hopefully get the headlight motors wired in, the rocker panel on the drivers side switched out along with the quater panel pieces replaced with metal off the Eclipse. After that its drilling the holes for the fog brackets in the bumper and getting the last part of the spoiler off the car to start sanding on 4/9. Found out I needed a new slave sylinder so I decided to replace both slave and master because of low prices. Should be a productive weekend!
(4/11) The weekend was productive. I managed to get 95% of the car sanded down and am looking forward to this weekend to get the job finished and the metal swapped out to finish and get parts sanded and ready for priming. I also want to get the headlight motor harnesses wired in to have functional headlights once again. On Sunday morning I also got my clutch master cylinder switched and am in the process of switching out my slave cylinder. The closer I get to the end the happier I get!
(5/15) Got back today from Iowa. Didn't manage to accomplish very much because of other peoples stupid problems. I did get the passing control realy wires out into th engine bay. Next weekend should get the circuit finished and have functioning popup headlights.
Been a little while since I added anything to my blog so I thought I would. I finally got my popup lights working and hardwired into the car.
