Neglected 95 Eclipse GSX nostalgia build

[jesse12345]

The engine bay is 100 percent complete. Now I'll move onto finishing the interior and then the body work. Most of the car is pretty solid. I don't know if I took pictures but I did put new u joints in the driveshaft and sanded/painted it black. I also got the megan racing exhaust to fit better than before, it was rubbing against the driveshaft.

 

[jesse12345]

Last night I finally got the car on the ground and adjusted the coilovers that wasn't to low. I may lift the rear just a little. I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out! My theme for the interior is blue and black, I would have loved to have it all blue but those parts are so hard to find. I had to settle for a set of absolutely mint gray door panels unfortunately. I'm trying to keep everything as stock and clean looking as possible, thats why I went with the door panels even though they are gray.

 

[jesse12345]

I got the front bumper all mocked up and it fits perfect. I also had some time to slap the console panels on, they are gray but that's all I have for now. I'll have to keep an eye out for some blue ones. I would love to have the interior as clean and stock as possible. The car is going to be white, which is what it was from the factory.
I fiberglassed all the way around the headliner to try to get it to stay up in place. I'd like to keep it as factory looking without putting new stuff in. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. There's a few saggy bubbles in the back but nothing is coming down and everything is still tucked.

 

[jesse12345]

Well the car idles so nice I almost do not want to swap my 550s for the 1100s. I'm not looking to make huge power and I'm not sure what this turbo is even capable of doing. I'm just on the fence because that would be the absolute last part of the build I'd have left to do. Seeing other members struggle with ecmlink tuning wise, I don't know if I'm ready for that. I'd like to be able to turn the key and drive once the nice weather hits again. I won't be able to test and tune for at least 5 months. I just dont know what to do.

 

[BeatupVR4]

Not sure what you are tuning on but that baby filter off the valve cover is a big no go for a MAF car. It's basically a big vacuum leak. And under boost it's just going to spray blow-by gasses all over the engine bay and cover everything in an oily gassy film.

 

[jesse12345]

Not sure what you are tuning on but that baby filter off the valve cover is a big no go for a MAF car. It's basically a big vacuum leak. And under boost it's just going to spray blow-by gasses all over the engine bay and cover everything in an oily gassy film.

I'm glad you said something, am I better off with a catch can setup? The fp intake tube did not come with the same nipple as the old one. I'd like to keep it as simple and clean as possible. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[jesse12345]

I found a solution to my above post I'm not real thrilled with it but it'll work. I had to re mount my intercooler to work with the bumper risers I purchased, it all turned out fine. My bumper had some sag under the headlights I didn't really like. I also found my blue console side cover panels, I cleaned those up and there installed now. The gray ones were driving me crazy so I'm pretty pumped about that. I've just been doing alot of small tedious improvements whenever I get a chance.

 

[jesse12345]

Today I got the itch to fix the big nasty dent that was on the rear rocker. I first tried pulled the dent but there was some rust there of course. I decided to just cut it out completely and weld it up, it's not perfect but the side skirt will be hiding it. I think that was literally the last part of the car that needed to be fixed. I could have left it, but I knew it was there and it bothered me deeply.

 

[BeatupVR4]

That new connection looks perfect! I was going to say I think the FP intake is thick enough to drill and tap a fitting into. I like that location too with its relation to the BOV entry. Hopefully on shifts the BOV air rushing by the PCV hole will create a little extra suction.

I don't know much about 2Gs but a nice hidden location I've seen for catch cans is down where the stock intercooler used to sit. Out of the way and with gravity helping keep the blowby gasses out of the intake and easy to reach the drain during oil changes.

 

[jesse12345]

I was thinking of doing a catch can just so I didn't have to drill through the intake tube. I just kept it simple and drilled anyway. I appreciate the insight of that whole situation. I had no idea that would cause issues.

 

[BeatupVR4]

I made this a long time ago but it's still relevant to a boosted engine. I'm currently going W2A and SD but will have a very similar PCV setup.

 

[jesse12345]

That's awesome! Thanks for posting it. I will definitely be using it as a guide when I do decide to go with a catch can setup. I was running a 16g 2 summers ago and the intake/intercooler all seemed to stay pretty clean for the most part. I just need to get some more miles on it before I'm to old.

 

[jesse12345]

So I've been working on the interior and it's just about fully installed. The only downside is the dash is pretty warped and it kind of bothers me. I'm guessing there's no way around this and you have to dash swap? Is there any way to bring this thing back to shape a little. I've researched on it some, but nothing really fixes on the situation. I have a dash mat that of course fits poorly. I'm sure it'd fit better with the velcros attached, but the shape still doesnt fit good. I honestly wouldn't mind a dash mat if it actually fit good. If anyone has any insight on this I'd love to hear. I try not to let these things bother a guy but it catches up with me either way.

 

[jesse12345]

I finally got my vin tag attached. I used the gray liquid nails just so if I ever have to remove it I could snake some wire behind it. I also didn't want to drill holes into anything. Double sided tape was the next option but I have no idea how that holds up.

 

[Mahreeoh17]

Looking good! I had that same mat cover in my first DSM. Velcro patches are definitely needed for a proper fit.

There's also vinyl spray paints if you'd want to turn all those grey interior bits blue yourself. Easier than waiting on rare parts.

 

[jesse12345]

Thank you! I'm going to put the velcro on it so it holds down nicer for now. I can't stand how warped my dash is but it'd be nice to keep it kind of original. Thanks for some of the tips. I would have an all original blue if the previous owner wouldn't have spray painted everything.

 

[jesse12345]

I finally got probably my favorite designed door panels on. There in great shape, and they match the black and blue theme I've been going with inside of the car alot better than the all gray. I know all black would have probably been the best option, but there's something about the triangle look I love. If I could find the matching seats I'd probably use those as well.

 

[jesse12345]

My parts car is super rusty so I cut out the bottoms of the door for the door caps. I'm going to use them as templates for mine since the previous owner welded up the holes. I have 2 other cars that need them drilled as well.

 

[chrisman287]

Awesome idea!!

 

[jesse12345]

Awesome idea!!

Thanks! I just thought if the car and the doors are pretty much trash, I might as well use whatever I can to help out the other projects.

 

[jesse12345]

I had time tonight to drill some holes. The template worked out so nice. The holes were a little smaller so it's definitely a nice snug fit. I may have to push the clips out through the otherside to avoid breaking the tabs off the cap itself. I'm definitely very happy with how it turned out.

 

[jesse12345]

I got the passenger side door cap drilled. I went up one size just so I don't risk the chance of breaking the tabs. I ended up popping off the drivers side from the inside since it was a little to tight. I ordered new oem clips for both sides, so I wasn't to upset when some of the originals crumbled.

 

[jesse12345]

So now I'm on to the next step of this build. I'm going to start sanding the car down and I'll have my dads buddy paint it for me. I was going to go with white but seeing as this car is far from its original state I went with something else. These cars in red just look incredible. My brother and I both sort of shared his 98 gs which was very reliable. I remember finally passing my driver's test, and i drove that thing around town with my buddies, there was literally no better feeling. My brother eventually sold it and to this day he tells me he should have kept it, there was no reason to sell it. I added in my very first gst and gsx photos as well because those were the cars that really tested me and what I was capable of in my younger years. I have pictures of every single eclipse I've had and I'm sort of ashamed. Everytime I sold one 6 months would go by and I'd get that itch again. I didn't care if it was a gs, rs, or gst/x. I will say though once I had a chance to get a turbo one, I definitely tried to avoid a non turbo, they were way to slow. I'm sort of rambling at this point, I just know the passion I have working on these cars, I'll never have with anything else. I can sit in my garage and stare at it for hours and feel happy. It's getting close to how I want it, but I'm still happy where all my builds sit. I'm definitely going to be making more time for the other builds.

 

[jesse12345]

Last night I finally got the car back together. I didn't like how careless I was putting the old oil filter housing on (I didn't have a new gasket so I used silicone). I bought a new gasket and housing and torqued everything. Well I found out the plunger is so stuck and just totally ballooned my filter so I had to tear it all back apart. I'm just happy the issue is now fixed. I wanted to have this finished before I start sanding and make a huge mess.

 

[jesse12345]

A little update on the project. I decided to buy everything to try my hand at painting. I had no idea my dad actually went to school for this stuff (it's been 20 years so I'm a little nervous) he's helping me round everything up. I'm going to be doing a single stage since the car lives in the garage and will only be out on nice days. I'm just waiting on paint to arrive so in the mean time I'll be sanding. The past week I've just been tearing the car down. I'd like this to be as nice as I can make it, I know it won't be perfect by any means but if anyone has any tips I'd love to hear. I've been trying to learn as much as I can.