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Street Build Last of the Barcelona's (98 GSX)

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CountryDSM

Proven Member
177
22
Dec 13, 2012
Chandler, Arizona
I thought it was time that I finally create a build thread. I'll give a quick history of how I got the car, it's current condition and progress, and plans for the future.

I was a massive F&F fan as a kid, and the eclipse was the car I wanted when I saw the first movie. As I neared the age of driving, I soon realized the Skyline, Supra, and all these other cars I loved were not a realistic option. A quick search on craigslist proved the eclipse to be oddly cheap and something I could afford. Back then when I had the understanding of a car through video games, all I knew was that Paul drove it in F&F, so it had to be good and fast.

I found a low mile 98 GS at 16. It was very clean and stock, minus a cat-back. I focused on a nice sound setup and wheels once I quickly figured out what the 420a was. Once I realized that the GST/GSX was the route to go, I began looking. Here is a picture I just found yesterday on craigslist of it for sale. 5 years later and the motor is blown and it is trashed. Sits sun rotting.
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Picked up my current GSX about a year later once I sold the GS. I was still not knowledgable whatsoever in the world of DSM's and had much learning to do. I had never seen the Barcelona Red color before and I fell for it hard. It needed paint correction and maintenance, but was fully loaded and almost all stock minus an eBay 16g, FMIC kit, BOV, and exhaust. 98 with 110k miles. It was stock before that, but the seller just bought all of that and put it on. I had no idea about eBay parts back then. It made the right noises so I was sold. I was lied to in terms of what maintenance had been done so I did overpay, but you live and learn.

I took the car to Chad @ 3D Motorsports (Built the 3Dx Evo on 1320) when I first got the car. I had no idea what was going on when it started doing what DSM's do best. Giving a shoutout to him as chad helped me in a big way and got me to where I am today in terms of knowing it inside and out.

Fast forward to now about 4-5 years later. Busy with school, so it will see almost all of it's upgrades and changes during the summers. I did not document the cars progress and new part pickups well at at all, so I am going to jump into a current rundown and start from here.

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When I saw Gofer's E85/68HTA setup and success, I decided to follow a similar route. My goal with the car was to make it the Eclipse I always wanted from the factory, which yes you might say would be similar to the Evo. I wanted to be 12 second quick, reliable, have Evo styled aspects like the brembos and interior, plus have all the amenities.

Quick overview of current setup (forgetting things, will update) :

Power : Tuned on V3 with E85. 28psi/Conservative timing. No AWD dyno nearby. Still on MAF. Ported JusMX style HTA68 w/ 20g billet wheel. Holset internal gate, external dump. 3in Exhaust + Vibrant muffler. FP manifold. PR FMIC. Stock block. Head has been cleaned/decked and has new seals, ARP studs, Cometic HG, lifters, and Delta 272's.

Fuel : 1000 ID Injectors. E85 450lph. Fuel Lab 818 + -6an lines. Edelbrock/SX performance AFPR.

Drivetrain : Stock other than Redline fluids, shifter bushings, and a South Bend DxD Drag.

Handling : Ground Control Coilover + Koni Yellow kit. Paul's (99gst_racer) adjustable tubular toe arms. Bronze DR-31 17x8 +35 235/45. Bunk Kumho all seasons that like to spin and I will be replacing.

Almost everything is working as it should and nothing is removed. It has full interior, CC, P/S, A/C, all of it. Actually, the antenna motor does not work and I will probably never get around to that.

Here is my remaining list of what is left to finish on the GSX - SSL MR+ Edition LOL. I plan to have most of this done within the next 2-3 years.

We only have a 1/8 mile here, so I'd like to make a trip to a 1/4 mile and grab a time in the 12's.
Double Din with a good speaker setup all around.
Cipher Tan Leather seats. My passenger side is coming apart.
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Evo 8 Steering Wheel.
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Repaint Front and Rear Bumper, Hood, and Side Skirts.
Strictly CTSV Brembo Kit + Evo Rears.
Worst part about the car. RUST. Needs wire wheeled and a new undercoating. Plus strut towers replaced and repainted.
Dynomat trunk, reduce rattles.
Engine bay heavily cleaned, powder coating, new bolts, etc.
Create new trunk storage holder. (Using Bradydings method)
Find a remote key that will actually program.
JNZ Driveshaft Rebuild Kit.
A/C could use a recharge.

From here on out I will update the progress of the car, most of which will be tackling that list.
 
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Thank you man I appreciate that! I don't plan on selling the car as I don't need to, and won't get enough out of it to warrant that. I have a permanent place for storage so it's not a concern for me. They just keep getting more and more rare.

I'll post bay pics when I get the chance, it's probably the least polished part of the car and I have let it fall behind on the priority list, so it will be addressed soon LOL.
 
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Went for a photoshoot. Was rained out, but we made the best of it and I actually like the wet shots. Something different :dsm:

Will be going back out for the sun/sunset shots. Need that real Barcelona color to come out.

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Quick Update:

Participated in the Ice Cream Cruise (car show and racing event at local racetrack) here in Nebraska last weekend. Surprisingly I placed in the Top 50 for the car show. There were over 500+ cars there, so it feels good that a DSM can still be appreciated. I also was one of few DSM's there I believe.. maybe three total? Also ended up roll racing most of the day Sunday on the new Speed Density and Southbend FF Ceramic/CC Chromoly setup. Car felt great on the new combo, but in the future l'd like to try twin disk.

New paint on the bumper, filled license plate holes, and lip gave the car a fresh look. (Lip is impossible not to scratch on our roads)

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It's been a long time since I've posted an update, but figured I'd let you guys know I'll be starting to get DSM content out on Youtube if you want to follow the build and other antics there.

A buddy of mine has the exact same 98 Barcelona GSX, but with a much larger turbo. We just got it on the dyno, so if you want to see what it made give it a view! FYI he ran out of injector at 6.7k RPM, so you can imagine that number will end up much higher with another 5 or 10 pounds of boost when the 2150's go in.

 
Love the car! I am from SW Iowa and have spent many hours in Omaha, and I'm pretty sure I've seen you at ICC in years past!

Appreciate it man! Yeah you definitely have, I've been there every year except 2018. There aren't too many DSM's that roll race so I try to be there to represent. If you see me next time say what's up!
 
^ Was going to ask about that as well. I love those seats since they match the OEM color very well.
@CountryDSM 2018 was the most DSMs I've ever seen at ICC, I believe there was 4 or 5 of them. I was drooling over them while all my buddies where checking out the 2 McLarens that came LOL.
 
It has been quite some time since I have updated this thread, so here is what I have been up to so far. This is the last look that the DSM had in 2018 and I was ready for some changes.


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First things first. The hood had rock chips beyond repair, the drivers sideskirt was hurting, valve cover needed a refresh, and the door handles were a bad repaint. Priority number one.

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This is raw OEM P75 Barcelona Red Pearl Metallic before it's mixed. Pretty wicked looking.

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I decided the build needed a name. Buster (BUST3R as the E was taken in Nebraska) seemed about as fitting as it could get. I'll be posting frequently on Youtube soon, so the name also needed a logo. This is what the final came out to be. I'm pretty happy with it.

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Here's the car with plate.

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Youtube Banner Background.

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After this I had a fun situation take place. My alternator bracket bolt that goes into the block through the waterpump had broken. Was worried about getting it out at first, but welding a nut to the top did the trick. It was time for a new gates waterpump, timing belt, and OEM style radiator. I powdercoated my A/C fan shroud black, intercooler pipes a dark metallic gray, and the new TiAL BoV a light bronze to match the heat blanket.

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Also, these electric mowers are solid. This thing is crazy quiet compared to my DSM LOL.

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Continuing build in next post, ran out of images allowed in one reply.
 
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Drove this thing to Powercruise in Brainerd, Minnesota. It's a great event if you've never heard of it, but will be shooting for Proving Grounds next year. I straight up had never driven this thing for more than a 2 hour road trip. This was a combined 20 hour trip by the end of it. No trailer. Yeah it's slightly risky, but it was once a normal car after all, right? Things were surprisingly good, minus my alternator tensioner bolt for the belt adjustment that fell out. After that road trip I realized how nice having my A/C was (still have it, just ran out of time to fix it before the trip) and how uncomfortable the stock seats were. They'll be getting replaced soon.


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My buddy Jesus brought his 630whp 2g. All was great until he sheered the teeth off of 3rd. He was hurting some feelings before that though, I think he had just about every race. U-Hauled it home, ouch $$.

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I also got hit by a 240 on accident when his power steering went out, unfortunately it did spider the paint and rough it up. He was cool about it and paid for a fix.


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Now it's time to start diving into what I've wanted to for some time. That included introducing the car to a nice set of black chrome powder coated rear Evo 8 Brembos with Slotted StopTech Rotors and JNZ Tuning Braided lines. Thank you Detective Coating for the good looks. The fender wells and surface rust need some cleaning up soon.

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I love the 2g wing. I also love the look of Dyesuperman's 2g without the wing. His build was always such an inspiration to me when it came to clean.

Soooo, for now the wing is no more. I am currently working with a buddy in body repair to take care of the holes and then get it ready for paint. I removed the rear windshield to do this, but I will not be able to get the same look of the trim that came stock as it's unavailable. I'm hoping it doesn't look too off, but we'll find out soon.

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Oh also, I mentioned how I didn't like the stock seats and have been wanting an OEM tan leather evo style replacement. I went ahead and took a chance on some well reviewed Summit Racing bucket seats.

Are they a cheaper seat? Yes. Are they comfortable? Better than stock to me. I couldn't source another affordable option for a tan leather evo style seat. Cipher Auto was sold out and I've seen less positive reviews regarding the seat I was looking at. I could have had an evo seat custom wrapped I suppose, but that's quite a bit.

Without going to a OEM tan RSX/S2000 seat, this is what I ended up on. I can't comment on longevity or true quality until I get some solid seat time. They do look good though. I'm currently figuring what I will do for brackets.

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I'm stoked to finally pick up the CTSV front calipers. They look amazing, but will be PC'd match the rears. Off to get black chromed they go. Here are some pics out of the box. It's hilarious how large these are if you compare a stock front caliper next to it in person.

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I had tried to do as much as I could for the paint on my own, but it needed help from an expert. I had the car fully paintless dent repaired by a friend and then paint corrected and sealed. I will need to repaint the rear bumper soon, but she's looking pretty decent on the new shoes.

Time to get the newly painted front bumper and lip back on, the new front brake setup, side skirt extensions, and the exterior should be close to where I want it.

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Wow, that paint finish is stunning! Maybe the camera glows it up a bit, but still wow!

I found these pictures to be an inspiration to hurry up and finish my painting so that I can start on the cutting and buffing.

Great job on the car :thumb:
 
One day my paint will look this good again.. Hopefully at least LOL
Are you going to make it to ICC this year? I wont be able to since they have had to change the dates so many times. Poor guys can't seem to catch a break with the flooding.
 
What rims are those? They look like Rota Boost's, or did you get some genuine Advans?

I searched everywhere for almost a year looking for a used set of Advan RG3's in the spec that I needed. Overseas, you name it. Considering those are 600 a wheel brand new, I just couldn't justify that cost, so I chose these. They somewhat mimic the RG3.

Avid.1 AV26 18x8.5 +35 on 245/40.

They are just for street/show, I'll use a light wheel when I race because these bastards are a good 23 lbs per wheel. I haven't seen a single DSM run these so I figured I'd give them a go.
 
Oh those RG3's, they are just fantastic if one could get their hands on them. I loved those wheels since forever. Those Avids look really nice though, the car looks great!
 
Are you going to make it to ICC this year? I wont be able to since they have had to change the dates so many times. Poor guys can't seem to catch a break with the flooding.

Yes sir. The flooding has been rough and I'm bummed we can't roll race.

I will definitely be there though. I'd like to earn a VIP spot and win some bling!
 
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