Neglected 95 Eclipse GSX nostalgia build

[jesse12345]

I love the fact that I can actually build boost when I step on the gas a little, before I had to constantly put my foot to the floor. It did rip hard though with my previous setup, but the 16g is just overall better to me for a daily. I wish I would have started with this setup first because I probably would have just left it here.

Don't get me wrong I love the auto, but if for some reason you got a manual 2g I'd be more than willing to swap trans with you. Either way the 16g just feels way more practical with the auto since I don't have to wait until 4500 for it to finally kick in. It's quick and snappy which I like.

 

[kyler021]

I love the fact that I can actually build boost when I step on the gas a little, before I had to constantly put my foot to the floor. It did rip hard though with my previous setup, but the 16g is just overall better to me for a daily. I wish I would have started with this setup first because I probably would have just left it here.

Don't get me wrong I love the auto, but if for some reason you got a manual 2g I'd be more than willing to swap trans with you. Either way the 16g just feels way more practical with the auto since I don't have to wait until 4500 for it to finally kick in. It's quick and snappy which I like.

What RPM are you spooling the turbo at? I have an Evo 16g here lying around waiting for speed density, FMIC and injectors. I was told a small 16g would be better for response and similar flow to the Evo 16g, but I got a good deal on it at the shootout.

 

[jesse12345]

It's spools at or just a hair above 3k rpm. I just got it all tuned and man does it rip nice. I actually do love it and I'll probably stay with it. I'm on speed density and the whole setup I'm running I really do like. Im beyond happy with everything. I also like how quiet the exhaust is so when you do take off from a stop all you hear is the turbo. I love the looks going through town if I'm being honest.

I did have an ebay exhaust header on the car but I was so tired of how warped the junk was. It consistently would blow out gaskets so I'm back to the uglier stock manifold I had laying around. I'm starting to mature and go for function over looks now days.
Anyways I'm hoping I can start making this car into something I dreamed of in highschool, it's dang near there but there's still more to do.

 

[jesse12345]

I was bored tonight so I just swapped my eclipse dash out and I must say these dashes are so simple to swap. I even swapped the dash harness just so I wouldn't have to rewire some things. It got way to late so I'll have to finish it up tomorrow but not much left at all. The car and dash all need a wash bad since it does alot of sitting. I'm almost done stripping my talon down so I can finally park the car back in the garage.
If I can find an airbag delete that might be next on the list unless I can find a mint black airbag.

 

[jesse12345]

I finally got things wrapped up and cleaned for the most part. I'm super happy with how it all turned out. I'm slowly converting the whole interior to gray and black. There's still a few things that need to be addressed but things will do for now.

 

[jesse12345]

Well I scrubbed off the inside of 3 tires this summer so my dad and I aligned the car again. I remember awhile back I adjusted my camber quite a bit in the front and back so that threw the toe off. I just want the car to be turn key ready for next spring. I am also going to re paint areas of the car I wasn't exactly happy with this winter. The front bumper is chipping pretty bad from my lack of prepping.

 

[jesse12345]

I washed the car inside and out tonight before my evening 65 mile drive. I ended up taking some pictures along the way which I don't think look to bad, i am by no means a picture guy.
I also dialed in the tune a hair more and it just keeps getting better and better.

 

[kyler021]

I washed the car inside and out tonight before my evening 65 mile drive. I ended up taking some pictures along the way which I don't think look to bad, i am by no means a picture guy.
I also dialed in the tune a hair more and it just keeps getting better and better.

That sunset in the background with the car . Looks so good!

 

[jesse12345]

Thank you for the kind words. I thought it looked pretty good but what do I know.

I'm still absolutely loving the 16g, it's just all around awesome. With my windows up it straight up sounds like a hoover vacuum in boost, that's what my brother said too. It's all turbo noises and I never get tired of it, that's with no dump of course.

 

[jesse12345]

It started to get super cold out and I ran out of time to get my talon stripped down to fix my other eclipse. I ended up towing it to my dad's shop for the winter so I have my garage space back. Before I got to far on chopping my talon up for the rs ill just wait til spring to wrap that up. That being said I've decided to continue the "show car" theme in my gsx. I'll still be sticking with the nostalgia so anything I had back in the day ill continue to use.

I grabbed my old stereo equipment that I had in highschool and tossed it in this car. I did build the box last winter and I wanted it to be kind of flashy so thats what im using. I did have multiple enclosures from way back but they didn't really meet the "show" type quality for me. My days of loud music is pretty much gone but for looks this will definitely do. It's far from finished but what I have so far I'm liking it. I don't want to go to overboard with fiberglass or anything crazy since this car isn't the one I want to do that kinds of stuff to.

I did purchase some stock seats that match my door panels that will go in once I receive them. I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully now that winter is just about here I can finally start getting things done.

 

[jesse12345]

I'm still messing around with my audio stuff that will eventually go into my 95 rs. I decided to put the more appropriate budget stuff in along with making it a little more flashy. Like I've said before I'm not real big into audio like I once was but it all fits the 2000s vibe I'm trying to stick with. I'm not chopping anything up or screwing anything to the car, just trying to make it easy to take out when I'm ready. It's nothing to crazy but it's enough to keep me entertained.

I've also been really thinking about painting my hood and the roof black. I've always sort of liked that look especially with red and white cars. Maybe ill try black on just the hood and then see how I like it. I don't want to veer off to far from the nostalgia build. The gears are always turning.

I also did get a head with bc280 cams, so at some point this winter I'd like to swap that over. It's getting pretty cold here but as long as there's no snow I want to take the car out as much as I can. Once I see snow on the ground it's parked until spring. I have so many things I want to do and change so I almost can't wait to park it.

 

[jesse12345]

The seats I ordered finally arrived and they are in even better shape than I thought. The very last thing I'll have to hunt down are the rear seats to match, but for now I'm very happy with everything. While I was swapping the seats I also swapped the rear plastics from blue to gray. I'm going for the gray and black theme, the only blue left is in the actual trunk which I'll swap soon.

 

[jesse12345]

So as much as I love the power out of this thing it's time to dial it back. Parts are going to be hard to come by in the future so I'm tossing my t25 on the car. I have 3 laying around and I've just decided to hibernate the car early even though this is probably the last nice 50 degree weekend. I spotted a transmission leak along with a little oil so the best thing to do is park it. I did take it for one more drive last night which was a blast.This is the nostalgia build after all so I think I'm done chasing power and I'm just looking for a zippy reliable cruiser to take to car shows and rip on nice days. I've changed my mind about alot of things on this car, and which directions I want to go, but after a complete summer driving it, this will be the best. If I'm being honest 90 percent of my cruises were me alone enjoying what I once had. I did get pulled over for speeding about a week ago which has also made the decision a little easier for me.

As I continue this build things are going to be a little slower this time around so I can make sure everything is exactly how I want it. No more rushing to slap something together just so I can hurry and go cruise it. I just want the engine bay to stay as simple as I can make it. The car is up on jack stands and ready to undergo some crazy changes that'll make sense in the end.

This car is so close to what my brother and I had in high school it's crazy. It's a gsx which isn't exactly what we had but this would have absolutely blew us away back in the day, what am I saying it still blows me away now!I literally can't thank everyone that has helped me enough. This summer would not have been possible without you guys.

 

[CrackedDSM]

A 14B or 16G Auto AWD should last legitimately forever, and be nice and peppy. With free mods and an upgraded fuel pump mine ran 12's. With a simple SD setup and Jackal, it got 30mpg and ran forever. As long as you aren't going 60mm turbo and going for 10's, these auto trans will last forever with basic maintenance.

I'd say keep it MAF setup, toss a 16G on it, give it a simple tune(ECMlink or flashable ECU, whichever you prefer) on a basic stock engine and enjoy the 300whp and mid 12's for 200k+ miles. Just invest in a good bar and plate style transcooler.

 

[jesse12345]

Today I swapped out those old foggy headlights with a set I got for my birthday this summer. These were originally supposed to go on my 95 rs when it's finished but I got tired of my ugly ones. These aftermarket ones actually fit very well.

The next thing I swapped was the turbo and im sort of glad I did because that coolant was extra nasty. I'll be ordering a front mount that works with the t25 next. The 16g was fun but I think I'm looking for a more oem plus type of setup. I'm still going to keep ecmlink just in case for future fun.

 

[jesse12345]

Today I got a little free time to finally take out the starter and address that random no crank. I disassembled the whole thing and cleaned it out, the inside was super gummed up and nasty. I painted some of it to make it look decent even though you can't see it. The thing works like a charm now.

This part is going to sound weird. My brother came over tonight all excited because he found some old cologne that gave his 98 gs this signature smell back in the day. We didnt wear cologne back then except axe but that isnt what the car smelled like when we got it. The previous owner before my brother got it must have wore it heavy in the car because that car never stopped smelling like that cologne. The nice thing is its not a head ache inducing smell so we sprayed it all over the inside of my car. I'll let it just bake in with the windows up.
The last thing for the interior will be the split folding matching rear seats. The hunt continues.
There are some other things left to find but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I already yanked out all the audio stuff that will be going into my other eclipse. This is the nostalgia build so I have to continue with it. As much as I want to build a period correct show car this one is not the one. I'm all over the place, it's winter and I'm ready to get things dialed in for spring.

 

[jesse12345]

Well today I had a lot of free time and I was pretty bored so I super cleaned the interior and I actually decided to take out the aftermarket gauge cluster pod. The only thing it was housing was the transmission temperature gauge and I know the temp stays cool so that had to go. So now the interior is as clean and simple as I want it. I also was able to get my brother over to sit in the car and the first thing he said was he needs one. He said it brought him straight back to highschool, I replied with mission accomplished. That was probably the high light of my night. To just reminisce about the good old days.

The next thing on the list that I decided to go backwards on is I removed my afpr. I put the stock one back on because I'm trying to simplify the engine bay and i dont need it. Ill be swapping my 190 pump in soon also. I'm still waiting on intercooler parts and intake parts so alot of things in the bay are still in shambles. I've also been replacing alot of red things in the bay with black. I want simple and clean along with reliability.

 

[jesse12345]

This whole past week has been super productive. Last weekend we hosted a Christmas party with the friends so because of that I have a super clean garage now. I spent one whole day just throwing crap away that was actual crap and nothing I was going to use. I need to just learn to keep things clean and tidy.

The next big step on my list was to fix that megan racing exhaust that came with the car. I'm not trying to throw shade but that thing was just down right awful. The down pipe was literally rubbing against the oil pan, and a little further back it had so much tension that the rubber hanger was rubbing against the drive shaft. I honestly didn't like the way it looked and how it wasn't centered with the bumper so I cut up the whole thing and got it about as perfect as I could. It used to clank on the rear subframe but at last, no more. While I was in there I cut out one of the small mufflers and put all new gaskets in. It sounds alot meaner and nothing rubs or hits anymore.

It didn't need to be done but I did it anyways and that was a new valve cover gasket and spark plugs. Anything maintenance wise I'm going to try and do while it's winter so my whole summer can be enjoying the car. I ordered new belts for the alternator and power steering since those things are screaming on startup.

I'm just going to throw this in here but the nights I can't sleep for some reason I come out in the garage and I sit there and try to spit shine anything under the hood. I have brand new bolts that I've been replacing the old ones with. I think I'm going to try and start making this car into sort of a show car. I'll still keep everything nostalgic, but I want it super clean and I want to bring it to car shows next summer. I will say this where the car sits right now I couldn't be happier. I'm still waiting on my intercooler and non recirculated injen intake. So I still have plenty to do.

 

[jesse12345]

So for how cheap these aftermarket front bumpers are I decided to buy one. I don't have it bolted in or anything and it fits pretty good just hanging out there. The main reason I bought another bumper was because I want to keep it as stock as I can. I cut up my other one alot to fit that big fmic. I will obviously have to trim a little off to fit this other fmic but I shouldn't have to take off much.

I have also decided that once I do paint my bumper I may just sand down my hood and spray that black. I remember doing that to my 96 eclipse in highschool, thinking it was super cool. That was also white and not red so I guess I'll ponder that idea a little while longer. I just know I'd like to get rid of that nasty green under the hood, it's driving me crazy.

 

[jesse12345]

I finally got my intercooler installed and what a pain that was. I had a lot of piping laying around and somehow I got the throttle body side plumbed in dang near perfect. I have no idea why they make it go through the stock intercooler hole. I for one had zero room to utilize that hole, so I just ran it up the way it was before. I am running the baby t25 and if I do decide to upgrade to the t28 I wanted to have this intercooler. I'm going for oem plus so that's my upgrade path if I decide to take it one day.

The next thing I did was trim the bumper as perfect as I could. I am extremely happy with how straight and even I cut it. I only had to take off about an inch or so. I have some steel mesh I'm going to be using to keep the intercooler from collecting insects. My other intercooler I drove one summer with is just caked with bugs. The bumper fits flawless on the drivers side but of course on the passenger side things aren't real happy with all the piping. I'll have to see if I can't fit things a little nicer even if I have to cut up some pipes. I'm trying to leave as much of it alone as I can.

 

[jesse12345]

So I dropped the trans pan today and I see some concerning glitter sitting in there. I pulled the valve body from my spare auto I had laying around to see if maybe that fixes some things. I tested all the solenoids on both and even a spare set and they all tested the same so I'm hoping by throwing in the spare it'll shape up. It's a bone stock auto from a 97 so I'm crossing my fingers.

 

[jesse12345]

I got a super cool Christmas gift yesterday from my brother. It was funny because before he even handed it to me he said "I got you this because, nostalgia". I just laughed and said now your getting it. We have an old picture of us both at the age of 15 and 16 in front of his old 98 gs in the winter. Looking back it actually was a cool picture but i cringe now that we were driving in the winter. I should find that picture and post it up here, maybe do another one of us older now in front of mine. That would be super cool. I have a lot of ideas.

 

[jesse12345]

They need a little bit of a clean up but now my interior is 100 percent complete. This interior was the hardest to track down for some reason. I'm super pumped to have this thing exactly how my brother and I had it back in 2009. To sit in it is such a trip now. I literally can not wait for summer to cruise this thing again. The one last thing that I don't necessarily have to change but I might is the 3 piece spoiler. The one we had was a 98 gs and to make it a 1:1 replica, that would need to be changed. Thats up in the air though, I might change it and I might not I'm not sure yet.

 

[KiloFilo88]

Man the interior has been terrible for us to track down too. Luckily we just got ahold of 2 spare cars, another 95 gsx and a 98 gst. We got rid of the 3 peice spoiler and I ended up having to fiberglass the inside of the trunk on the mounting holes in order to apply bondo over the outside. I wish I could have welded them but i didnt have a welder at the time.

 

[jesse12345]

The interior seems to be pretty tough to hunt down these days. I'm just super pumped I got the exact stuff that I wanted in pretty good shape too. I paid a good chunk for the seats but was definitely worth it.

I ruined a hatch welding the holes back when I was still in my early learning days. The metal is to thin and it will warp. I learned that the hard way of course. You absolutely did the right thing with the fiber glass that's what I've been doing with holes on thin metal.