My first 4g63- '99 Soranno Red GSX Build+ Photoshoots

[boost97gst]

This is surprising. I didnt know that a welded center differential would do what you're describing. I thought it simply applied 50/50 power bias to the front and rear wheels. I mean, there are 2 differentials in an awd, correct? I can see if you welded a diff on a fwd it would cause terrible issues, but an awd? I am now thinking that I may steer clear of it. Maybe talk to IPT first.

Anyway, that car is perfect. Great work, looks immaculate.

 

[razrman8]

This is a great thread. A nice slow progression, which is the route most DSMers should be taking. Enjoy.

Car looks awesome! Keep up the great work!

Thank you both very much. It's definitely been my pride and joy, and to know there are people that appreciate the work put into it makes it all worth it. Thank you.

This is surprising. I didnt know that a welded center differential would do what you're describing. I thought it simply applied 50/50 power bias to the front and rear wheels. I mean, there are 2 differentials in an awd, correct? I can see if you welded a diff on a fwd it would cause terrible issues, but an awd? I am now thinking that I may steer clear of it. Maybe talk to IPT first.

Anyway, that car is perfect. Great work, looks immaculate.

I didn't think that it would cause the problems that it did either. It was worth trying out I guess, and somebody else later know down the road is liable to go welded center differential and have no problems with it. It just didn't work out for me, but I've read about people going welded diff and not having problems. As far as a daily driver, it's just not practical for my use.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[boost97gst]

Damn, just noticed. Youre not far away. I have a site out in Troy: Lincoln County Medical Center that i usually visit every month or 2. Gatewaydsm.org is kind of dead but ill hit you up in the spring when im ready to rock, if you dont mind. Id like to see that thing in person. Should have a street monster on my hands by then if the build goes well over the winter.

 

[razrman8]

Damn, just noticed. Youre not far away. I have a site out in Troy: Lincoln County Medical Center that i usually visit every month or 2. Gatewaydsm.org is kind of dead but ill hit you up in the spring when im ready to rock, if you dont mind. Id like to see that thing in person. Should have a street monster on my hands by then if the build goes well over the winter.

Ahh, I know exactly what you are talking about. Lincoln Co. Medical Center is in the town that I live in, well lived in. GDSM is pretty dead, I don't really post much on there, but it's nice when you need a local resource. I would very much so enjoy showing you the GSX if I was home. The Air Force currently has me stationed in Idaho. The car is still is Missouri, but I couldn't personally show you the car. I guess I could update this in my profile.

 

[GofaST4life]

Awesome build man!

I love the red!


I'm in the same boat. I need to get a new clutch/fork/etc in my GSX, but i'm on the fence about taking the tranny out in my garage, or spending $600+ to have a shop do it.

 

[boost97gst]

Ahh, I know exactly what you are talking about. Lincoln Co. Medical Center is in the town that I live in, well lived in. GDSM is pretty dead, I don't really post much on there, but it's nice when you need a local resource. I would very much so enjoy showing you the GSX if I was home. The Air Force currently has me stationed in Idaho. The car is still is Missouri, but I couldn't personally show you the car. I guess I could update this in my profile.

No rush, brother.

I agree, i found a local guy in hamel, about 15 miles north of where i live. Usrname was whitetsi or onewhitetsi, somehting like that. Anyway, soon as my shop gets built(concrete TODAY WOOHOO!!!) hes going to help me with my awd/MT to AT swap and maybe a couple other things im not too familiar with.
It IS nice for locals and even though its dead, if you post up people actually do watch the site and will respond within a day. And it looks like mostly very experienced guys post up so its even better. I might start posting over there a couple times a week just to wake it up a little.

Ill pm you in the spring and see whats up. Again, nice build thread.

 

[razrman8]

20DEC2012 Transmission Pulled AGAIN Because of Unknown Vibration

I was getting a rattle noise under acceleration somewhere in the front driver area of the car. I do not feel it through the steering wheel, but rather the floor board. I had a broken carrier bearing bolt, so I replaced that and the car quit making the noise in a straight line. Now, the car only does it upon acceleration and when the wheel in cut to the right. The wheel doesn't have to be greatly turned, just slightly under acceleration will cause the noise. The noise level increases with acceleration.

Wheel bearing had been recently replaced, ball joints were good, axle didn't have much play. I was under the impression the axle will have a minimal amount of play, which is what I feel this one has, but I couldn't think of much else that could be the problem. All mounts were in perfect shape.

So my next thing I thought it may have been was something in the transmission? I know it was far fetched but I was STUMPED on this on. So being a professional at pulling the transmission out of the car that I was, I figured why not? I had to figure out this noise before I left for the military. Pulling the transmission showed nothing. So it was pretty much a waste other than being able to check over the clutch. So back in the car it went.

After a long period of time, I figured out what my noise ended up being. Come to find out there was only 1 bolt holding the bracket that houses the a/c compressor in. And on that bracket the tensioner pulley attached. Well when the weight of the motor shifted to the drivers’ side of the bay, it was pushing the bracket into the frame and causing a horrible vibration through the frame of the car. So I pulled the compressor and repaired my bolts that hole it all in and it was all better!

I do not have any pictures of this process, it was more of a get it done quickly kind of job. I didn't want to pull the transmission in the first place, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

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1JAN2013 Immaculate Chrysler Conquest

There was a conquest that had been for sale in my town for the longest time. I drove by it damn near every day to get to work. I decided to stop in and talk to him about it. Long story short, he has rebuilt it from the bottom up, only had less than 2k on the rebuild. The best part about it? I asked him how much he wanted for it, he only wanted 3k for it! I thought it was a steal. To this day, I wish I would have bought this car. It was perfect and I had always wanted one. But I guess you snooze you lose right? He ended up selling it while I was in tech school.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Nice conquest my buddy has a 2jz in his putting down 700 hp, great build keep it coming.

 

[razrman8]

Nice conquest my buddy has a 2jz in his putting down 700 hp, great build keep it coming.

Thank you. I only wish I was lucky enough to be able to purchase it. I skipped out on it, and now it's gone. Oh well I guess.

 

[maximum9898]

Nice looking car, I wasn't sure on the wheels when they were silver. But man that gloss black paint made the world of a difference. And that sure was a clean conquest I've always loved the look of those cars.

 

[razrman8]

25JUN2013 DKS Cams ~ HKS Timing Belt Replacement ~ 3g Revised Lifters ~ Purchase of Tein SS Coilovers ~ Misc. Maintenance

I left 15JAN2013 for basic military training, I was at Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas all the way up until March. While I was there I left the car behind with my father to watch after and keep running until I was able to have the car with me. After getting done with basic I was set off to Keesler AFB, Mississippi to start my active duty career where I attended tech school for about 4 months.

I couldn't help but think that I was wasting time with the car sitting and not getting any work done to it. The timing belt on the car needed to be replaced along with new water pump, o-rings, and other basic maintenance things. I had the car brought to a good friend of mine back home where he did all the work to the car that I couldn't being that I was away from the car. During this period I had the list of the following things done:
- DKS 272 Cams
- Cam Seals
- HKS Timing Belt
- New Water Pump
- 3g Revised Lifters
- New Balance Shaft Belt
- Clear Timing Belt
- New Valve Cover Gasket
(I'm sure that I am missing something from this list)


The car was down for a while, for he was working on this as a side project on top of working a day job. I can't say enough how appreciative I am of him taking on this job for me.

On top of all the work I had done to the car, I was also able to get my hands on a set of barely used Tein SS coilovers. I have been wanting to lower my car for the longest time, and have always gotten crap for it being a monster truck! Anyway, I didn't want to just put my car on springs, I wanted to go coilevers instead. To me it was a waste of money to buy springs, just to buy coils later on. Here is a picture of the coilvers.



Though all of this work had been done, I had the infamous "clunk" going on between shifting gears. Needless to say, my rear differential bushing were shot. As you can probably already tell, this was a hell of a job to tackle doing, so stay tuned for more updates and the install of the Tein SS coilovers!

Below are some of the random pictures that I had sent to me of the car and parts that I had ordered for it. I'm sorry I don't have that many, I didn't want to trouble too much as far as getting pictures, I was more concerned with the job getting done before I was able to come home after graduating tech school!

 

[lucas483]

very very nice!! them wheel tho i like them but idk did you repainted? oem paint? i need todo mine I LIKE YOUR CAR

 

[razrman8]

very very nice!! them wheel tho i like them but idk did you repainted? oem paint? i need todo mine I LIKE YOUR CAR

Thank you. As far as the wheels, they are plasti-dip. It's basically a rubber coating over the wheels that is easily removable, far from comparable to professional paint job.

 

[razrman8]

Sorry I have not updated the thread in while. Doing a lot of focusing on work, updating this thread happens when I really don't have much to do. Now, where did we leave off?

15JUL2013 Tein SS Coilver Install ~ Rear Differential Bushings ~ Rear Subframe Bushings

As stated above, I had the infamous clunking going on in the rear end when shifting gears, which of course ended up being the rear differential bushings. As you can probably guess, this was not a fun job to do, especially with the limited amount of time that I had home on leave. But no matter how much you complain, the job isn't going to do itself.

I knew that I was to have the rear end apart in the next few days, so I took advantage of some free time that I had to install the front coilovers on the car to get a jump start on them. Having the rear end out made for the most opportune time to install the rear coilovers. Some pictures from the front coilover install.





The debate was whether I wanted to go completely solid aluminum bushings or polyurethane. After doing some research, I found that a poly/aluminum combination was want I wanted to put in the car. I decided on the Split Motorsports Polyurethane Rear Differential Bushings for MAPerformance, they seemed to be the best for my needs, also without being expensive.

Link to rear differential bushing: Split Motorsports Polyurethane Rear Differential Bushings DSM 1995-1999 - Modern Automotive Performance




While having the rear end torn out of the car, I figured it would be senseless to not replace the rear subframe bushing while everything was accessible. So back on MAPerformance I went and ordered my Torque Solution DSM Rear Subframe Bushings.


Link to rear subframe bushings: Torque Solution DSM Rear Subframe Bushings (2G Mitsubishi Eclipse / Talon AWD 1995-1999) - Modern Automotive Performance

After acquiring all of the bushings I need, it was time for the disassemble phase of this project.





It was at this point when I finally stepped back and thought what the hell have I gotten myself into?




In all reality, the process of removing the subframe wasn't difficult. It was pretty cut and dry for sure, until running into the problem that one of the subframe bolts had busted the weld inside the body, allowing it to just spin and not let the nut back off. It took a while of scheming to figure this one out. The only option I really had was to try and get a weld on top of that stud to keep it from spinning, which would result in having to cut a hole in my trunk. I didn't want to, but it was my only choice. After getting the hole cut, we were able to get a weld on it to hole that stud in place, successfully allowing the nut to come off.







We got the rear subrame out and then removed the rear struts, leaving an easier maneuverable subframe. After some fighting, it was quickly figured out that it was gonna take a lot more than manpower to get these bushings out. But there's nothing a little heat can't cure right? This is literally how my entire night went, worked through the night trying to speed the process up. By the way, for those that don't know, this is a very smelly process of getting all of these bushings out, I advise doing it in a well ventilated area.




After burning, and burning, and burning, we reach the early morning hours of the next day. Came to the conclusion that we needed more heat on a higher scale. So we "slept" on it, I slept in a sense that I went home, mentally gathered thoughts for a bit, and headed back over to dive into it again.

Fast forward a few hours, I come back to continue the project and run into a slight set back. The OEM rear differential bushings are placed in what is essentially a metal sleeve when installed from the factory. After making a few phone calls, I was able to take the entire subframe to and older gentleman who runs a machine shop from his home. There I was able to take oxy-acetylene torch to every single bushing and get them burned out completely and take a wire brush wheel and wheel then ares to bare metal.

Next it was getting those metal sleeves out. With the assistance of the torch once again, we were able to heat up the sleeves until they were glowing red, cut a small piece out of it which allowed it to fold inside of itself, and beat them out. Success! I had everything out, wire wheeled, and pressed into the subframe in a matter of hours. The best part? The guy only charged be $50 to get all that work done, while previously I was quoted upwards of $200 and over a weeks wait to drop it off somewhere. I wish I had more pictures of this entire process, but time was of the essence as I had an appointment to get the car tuned relatively soon, so pictures weren't exactly my highest priority.

So here are some final pictures after getting everything re-installed along with the rear coilovers.

 

[Ejanes]

Great work, seems like a ton of tranny issues, nice ride

 

[razrman8]

Not really a big update on the car, but it is doing alright. I am stationed in Idaho and the car resides back home in Missouri. For the time being my father is taking care of it. Just last weekend my radiator took a crap on me. I think the problem came from the radiator just being old enough to the point where the heat from the coolant just made the inlet soft. What happens is that inlet gets soft enough to the point where it just breaks off inside of the hose, and creates a huge mess. Now the hunt is on for a new radiator. I want to go to an aluminum radiator setup and from what I have researched I am going to try out the CXRacing aluminum radiator they make. It's a gamble as to whether my stock fan is going to be able to be retained with this new radiator considering my j-pipe could very well get in the way, but I have all the time in the world to order slim fans if need be.

I am also looking into options as far as lowering engine bay temperatures to something a little more bearable. The debate is whether to get m FP manifold coated or order a manifold blanket. I am opting more towards the side of a turbo blanket for the sake of keeping all of the heat within the exhaust manifold itself. I feel like ceramic coating it is only going to retain so much heat until it decides to start transferring. This is the blanket that I have an eye on at the moment: DSM Manifold Blanket for Stock and FP Manifolds Eclipse Laser Talon – Turbo Performance Products

It seems to be pretty well built for exactly what I am looking for it to do.

If anyone has any comments or input as to my radiator, cooling, engine bay temperatures, etc., I am open to ideas.

 

[tylersevo]

I think I may be just the guy you need to solve your coating vs blanket dilemma Both a good friend of mine and myself bought FP manifolds at the same time, both have been on our cars around 10k miles and both are around 400awhp. I went with the Stage 3 ceramic coating from Darren at FFWD, while my friend went with the blanket from Turbo Performance Products. I must say I was jealous when after a couple hard pulls I could put my hand directly on the blanket without an issue. My manifold on the other hand was a very different story...so if you want all out functionality the blanket is your best bet. I love the way my coated manifold looks as well as performs so it is all just a matter of opinion. Hope that helped

 

[razrman8]

I think I may be just the guy you need to solve your coating vs blanket dilemma Both a good friend of mine and myself bought FP manifolds at the same time, both have been on our cars around 10k miles and both are around 400awhp. I went with the Stage 3 ceramic coating from Darren at FFWD, while my friend went with the blanket from Turbo Performance Products. I must say I was jealous when after a couple hard pulls I could put my hand directly on the blanket without an issue. My manifold on the other hand was a very different story...so if you want all out functionality the blanket is your best bet. I love the way my coated manifold looks as well as performs so it is all just a matter of opinion. Hope that helped

I am definitely seeking out functionality over cosmetics, granted a newly coated manifold would look oh so good. I appreciate the input on the blanket vs. coating ordeal, all the more furthering my opinion on getting a manifold blanket over paying to get coated.

 

[razrman8]

Wow, I can't believe that it's been almost a year since I have been able to update this thread with the DSM's progress. In it's current state, it isn't running. Imagine that right? I'll do my best to get this all updated here soon.

 

[EazyLoc]

Great build man. Love the progress. Definitely inspired me to do my dsm.

 

[razrman8]

Great build man. Love the progress. Definitely inspired me to do my dsm.

Thanks man, means more than you know. I contemplate ridding of it to buy something newer all the time. That's part of the reason I came back to this thread, needed to be reminded where it came from.

 

[bmxfelon420]

Why buy a newer car? Boooooring.

 

[razrman8]

Why buy a newer car? Boooooring.

For some reason I have this incorrect logic of, "The newer of a car I have the less problems I'll have with it". I know this is far from true, but I'd like to imagine it is. Besides, a part of me has always wanted an Evo, as I've always liked the 4 door aspect. But when I step back and think about it, it makes no sense to buy a newer version of my car that's going to cost more to maintain/modify anyways. Maybe I should just be content with what I have. Who knows.

 

[bmxfelon420]

For some reason I have this incorrect logic of, "The newer of a car I have the less problems I'll have with it". I know this is far from true, but I'd like to imagine it is. Besides, a part of me has always wanted an Evo, as I've always liked the 4 door aspect. But when I step back and think about it, it makes no sense to buy a newer version of my car that's going to cost more to maintain/modify anyways. Maybe I should just be content with what I have. Who knows.

Well you could kinda go down the route one of my friends did and buy a lightly modified Evo for a daily driver, and do all the heavy modifications to the DSM. His Evo has an intake, intercooler, exhaust, and E85 tune. He makes around 365hp i believe on that car? And then he has a 1g talon race car with an AEM EMS, Hoosiers, welded diff, built motor with an FP black. The car was in 11's with a 16g, i cant even imagine what he can do with the black.

 

[razrman8]

Well you could kinda go down the route one of my friends did and buy a lightly modified Evo for a daily driver, and do all the heavy modifications to the DSM. His Evo has an intake, intercooler, exhaust, and E85 tune. He makes around 365hp i believe on that car? And then he has a 1g talon race car with an AEM EMS, Hoosiers, welded diff, built motor with an FP black. The car was in 11's with a 16g, i cant even imagine what he can do with the black.

That would be ideal to me, thought I also try looking at it this way. If I am going to be paying X amount a month for a car as well as insurance, I could be putting that money into the DSM without being contracted into a loan. I've gone back and forth about it so many times. I guess I'll just DD my neon till I can't anymore.