my first "build": 99 gst 425HP

[gstballa 42]

whats up, i have a 99 eclipse gst that i bought about 1 year ago that i cant seem to keep on the road to save my life. id like to blame it on the stigma of a DSM but i cant, more like a little to much "spirited driving". anyway i purchased the car and within about a month of owning the car my clutch went out, no big deal, i bought the car with 119K so i guess that was expected so i swapped my clutch with the help of a car lft (SOO CONVINIENT) and my uncle who is a professional machanic. So i get my car back on the road and then within another month i blew my differential though my bell housing, (damn wheelhop) the tranny came out once again but this time for a swap to what i assumed being a used shep stage 2 but i got shafted. it was no more than a aerosol overhaul on an old trans. Non the less i installed it ( with the lift and some help from my uncle). i decided to spend the money and get a wavetrac lsd to go in it so i did not have to worry about spider gears or torque steer. i drove my car for a total of about 10 miles my car instantly started running like a turd. at this time i was SOO damn pissed about another thing going wrong that i didn't even want to check it out. I bought a 99 accord for my DD and the car just sat in my garage.

Fast forward to this Jan.

my accord started shifting between 1st and 2nd hard at low rpm. i knew that was a bad sign so i sold the car and desided to try and get the eclipse on the road again. after about 5 min of looking around my engine bay i noticed one of my intercooler pipes had blown itself out of The coupler but hey, i had my baby again without spending money

less than a month later the POS trans i bought went out within 2K miles So i just sent it to dogbox racing and what started out to be a 725 rebuild ended up costing me 1900 because i went with the stage 2 and as they where taking my trans appart the bellhousing cracked so that set me back a pretty penny.
Keep in mind that i shipped my trans Jan 28th and i didnt get it back until yesterday april 13. i forgot to mention that this time i had to do it the old fashion way of jackstands with no help what so ever. Not trying to sound bitter or anything i just kinda hang my hat on doing my work on my car without help.

Sorry about putting the chronicles of my gst on here but i figured if anyone would understand the love hate relationship i have with my car it would be you all.

NOW to the upgrades
while my car was down i figured F**k it, might as well go for 425 HP while im at it so i decided to install the following:

HKS 264/ 272
BC springs and retainers
1000CC pte injectors
bullseye s256
areomotive fuelrail
fuel lab afpr
DSM link v3.0 lite
AEM uego wideband
prothane total body kit (still installing)
prothane motor mounts

i already had a Greddy FMIC and a walbro 255 so there was no need to upgrade.

So having all this done to my car i was just DIEING to get my trans in and get this badboy on the road. to bad fedex had different plans. Somehow they lost my trans in transit to my house. they literally had just the crate, no trans (how the F does that happen ???) Well a few days later they find my trans in memphis just sitting on the loading dock. what a great place for it. so i FINALLY get my trans in yesterday and go to put it in when i realize that dogbox forgot to put the clutch release fork that connects to the slave cylinder on the new bell housing so i contacted them and they are overnighting it to me. never a dull moment.

I JUST WANT TO DRIVE MY CAR

 

[Talon96fwd]

Are you running stock internals as well with a 7 bolt motor?????

 

[gstballa 42]

yes i am stock internals with 7 bolt, i don't plan on pushing the car too hard maybe 22 psi on track days but 17psi dd on a very conservative tune, having that kinda hp dd. is silly IMO for a fwd anyway

i do plan, however, to do a 6 bolt swap. the guy i bought the car from had a 6 bolt block that i want to build ive just never messed with internals before.

 

[dsmpat95]

When I had my stock 7bolt it Blew a rod at 17psi. Food for thought. I still use a 7bolt but not stock.

 

[GST4g63T]

Ehhh, you got a 99, 7 bolt I think you should be fine for a bit. GL on the build though.

 

[pazsion]

jesus, is the tranny on these things that fragile? what do people do when they reach 600whp? Or is it because it has hard miles on it and poor quality parts??

What is done to prevent tranny failure of these sorts?


To the op, Have you adjusted your clutch engaugement style? Or are you doing the common thing and just popping the clutch out? These things usually grab well with a little peddle, and then you can fade it in, and still spin wheels..spinning wheels isn't the goal here..right?

 

[gstballa 42]

sorry i haven't updated in quite a while,

to pazsion: not trying to sound rude, but i know how to launch the car I.E slip clutch and walk the peddle. IMO the fwd trannys are just plan ole shitty for holding power.

To the naysayers of the 7 bolt, 14-17psi was seen daily when it was the DD and would be turned up to 21psi on occasion. this was on a 16g. i think my car will do just fine for me until i can afford a new 7 bolt rotating assembly

 

[gstballa 42]

As for the build, the car is together and off the jacks and parts are installed. As i was tuning the car with link my alternator crapped out so its just sitting in my garage right now..... reading my log and remembering the hours put in the car its kinda sad to see me loafing on an alternator but funds are tight