Period correct 1998 Eclipse GSX

[Jacob5se]

It's been a while since i posted an update, but tbh the car has tired me out this year.
DIN3 meter upgrade has been great. I love how it looks and works, it's a unique part that match style of the car well Imo.
I also installed new slim fans (taken from european Ford Mondeo diesel, this is proven solution for the S-chassis around here), but my dumb ass haven't thought enough about this upgrade. While fans work amazingly well even wuthout a proper shroud, they draw much more power than the stock ones, and alternator decided that it had enough on my way to tune the car. I had to tow it back over 200 miles back home. It's been sitting like that in garage since end of the September.
The only upside of this situation is that I was able to source more powerful alt locally for 90$.

On the brighter side, my friend finally put together few shots and sound clips that we recorded this summer. I feel like there's a lack of quality DSM sound videos on YouTube, so we made one. It's a raw straight from camera, no fancy montage or mics (although we have better sound clips recorded with professional mics).
Most of the videos on YT are either old, poor quality or consist mostly of talking. Here you have 1 minute of pure car sounds.
Below are also few more nice shots from summer.
Enjoy!

 

[Pjj]

Hey where did you get the new hatch stickers?

 

[Jacob5se]

Hey where did you get the new hatch stickers?

I work as a graphic designer and made file myself (along with "Eclipse" for center piece), and friend cut them out for me.
I will work sth out in terms of online storage and will upload files there so that everyone can make their own locally. They might not be 1:1, but they're close enough to look good. If we can find someone with original ones still on the car that can provide me measurments, I will update the design.

 

[evil_eagletalon]

Love the taillights. So early 2000’s

 

[Jacob5se]

Love the taillights. So early 2000’s

Thanks, I know they're a bit controversial especially with all those new IG builds (not only DSM's but in general) going for them, but I think they tied in really great into this one, considering theme of the car and its monochromaticness.

 

[Jacob5se]

Finally found some will to repair the car last week and took it out this weekend for the first time in half a year.
I think I needed that break because I can't think of last time when I enjoyed it this much.
Took some photos of it during yesterday's sunset. Love how they turned out, iPhone15 Pro in RAW mode + CPL filter and some Lightroom mobile magic is next level of mobile photography. Of course it won't replace normal camera, but for something you always have in your pocket I couldn't ask for more.

 

[Jacob5se]

Time for an update.
Two weeks ago I went to my tuner to het this thing finally tuned, but as always not everything went according to plan. First, there were ignition problems - random misfires around 1.7-2k rpm and at around 6k rpm, sometimes at 6.5k rpm and sometimes at 7k rpm. The second problem was the turbocharger actuator spring and adjustable arm. The adjustable arm is theoretically set properly, the spring inside should be 14.5 psi, but for some reason we couldn't get above 13 psi, even with the AVC-R's solenoid set to 99% duty. Once it peaked at 16 psi then immediately dropped back to 13.

Nevertheless, I'm not completely disappointed. Despite the misfire and low boost (the target is about 20-21 psi) the car put out as much as 370hp and 430nm. If not for the misfire, according to the tuner, we could have gained another 10-20hp on this boost (the falling line at the top is the effect of the misfire). With this power level the car has started to move better and it sounds awesome. I'm also not totally disappointed because one thing worked super well during tuning - MAF -> Speed Density conversion from Ceddy Mods. The tuner was a bit worried about whether it would work well, but it's very cool and well-written, and we were able to match MAF and SD AirCounts values with each other almost completely by the third startup.

On the brighter side, I went to the only big event for me this year - Ultrace. Before the event I also installed Evo 3 valve cover painted in candy red, which had been lying in my parts stash for the last 4 years. The change is a definite plus in relation to the previous cracked cover painted in chameleon, which dripped oil directly onto the exhaust manifold.

What's next for the car? I ordered a stronger clutch, since I bought the current Comp Clutch Stage 2 before I built bottom end and the torque limit was supposed to be sufficient. After tuning it turned out that we are getting dangerously close to its limit, so I'll drop in a Comp Clutch Stage 3 which should work well with target 20-21 psi. As for the ignition problems, I'm hoping they're the result of the spark plug wires getting oily from cracked valve cover. A new set of wires will come in first, along with new iridium spark plugs (even though the current BPR7ES have some 800km of mileage), which I will additionally set a little tighter. I'm hoping this will solve my problems, as I'd rather avoid buying a new OEM coil pack which is expensive. As for the actuator, I'll drop in a 17.5 psi spring (so that AVC-R will adjust it just a little), I'll also disassemble the whole actuator, check if everything is ok with it and readjust the arm. I'll also replace the Greddy Type S bov with an A'PEXi Twin Chamber, because Type S's, despite sounding cool, are notorious for not holding higher boosts, and I'd rather sell it for good money than damage it.

Few photos from Ultrace to end this update.

 

[coolhand]

Thanks for the kind words guys!
Below are two more photos from the event that my friend made.

Can't wait to tune the car and see what it will put out on the dyno. We'll be tuning on Ceddy with SD and A'PEXi AVC-R.

View attachment 637133

View attachment 637134

no way, never seen one on gtc's maybe the nicest eclipse i've seen

 

[MyBoostedGST]

That interior shot (two above) brings back all the memories. Absolutely loving the build. Keep it up!

 

[Jacob5se]

Time for a little update.
Last year I've sold my genuine Greddy Type S to a guy who wants to build a F&F replica (how original ) and switched to A'PEXi Twin Chamber with custom adapter. Twin Chamber is a way better piece compared to Type S, way heavier, built better and haven't heard about any problems with them. Adapter to mount it to Greddy flange was designed by me and made by my friend. It's a billet aluminum piece with o-ring seals and helicoils, he killed it with the quality. Never seen such a well done piece and I've seen some really fancy billet stuff.

On to more important things.
Back in September I've bought a replacement PTU from AliExpress to check if the car will work properly with it changed. While it did behaved a little better it still had some misfires and tach readout from PTU was bad. I put the car away and moved on with some things in life. Now that the weather becomes better I'd like to have some more seat time so even though it didn't fit the theme of the car I decided to do the COP conversion using Prius coils and @Tyeler18 writeup. I've did everything according to his great how to article, but I wasn't getting any spark on cylinders 1 & 4 with two used and one brand new genuine Denso coils. Decided to open up the ECU and this is what I found:

That fried transistor was responsible for cylinder 1 & 4 ignition. Last week sent ECU to a local repair shop, and fast forward to today and I received it repaired and ready to be tested.
Put it back in the car, hooked up harness I did, tested and everything works fine. Now I have to just loom the harness and make COP mounting plate. It's finally close to being completed. Can't wait to have it back on the streets.

For the harness I used that chinese knockoff PTU as it's openable. Soldering to it was fairly easy, I've drilled some holes in it to run cables, and after sealing it back I'll have a good looking and weather tight connection.
Last but not least thanks for the kind words, I'm glad others like my vision. Some visual changes are planned for this year.

 

[Jacob5se]

Time for an update!
Last year, I only drove the car three times, covering a whooping 100 miles. Life got in the way, I was tired of the car because of the ongoing misfire problems and, on top of that, I bought myself a car that I had wanted for a long time, which I really enjoy driving.
Regarding the COP conversion, I ended up buying an Antilag Racing mounting plate (a beautiful piece) and loomed harness that I made. However, the COP conversion did not solve my misfire problems, so the car has just been waiting for a better moment.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to drive this car more this year. To achieve this, I need to solve the misfire problem and adjust the suspension. I believe I'm on the right track to eliminating the misfires – I will try switching off the random misfire detection DTC in EcuFlash. I just have to wait for better weather to go to my local tuner to do this.
As for the suspension, this was a show car and the suspension was set to be as low as possible. As you can imagine, the car didn't drive very well because it needed to be as stiff as possible to achieve that level of lowering. Last year, I raised the car slightly and adjusted the preload and stiffness settings. This year, I will raise it a bit more and further adjust the settings to make it more pleasant to drive.
I have also decided that this year is the time to turn my livery design into reality. I'm kind of an A'PEXi fan (don't know why, I just liked them since I was a kid playing Underground 2 ) and got some of their rare parts in the car, so I took an inspiration from ex A'PEXi demo car, a BNR34-000452, and ex HKS demo 2G (which is still my favorite DSM of all time), and made this project. The big "AP" logo from the rear quarter panel will also be on the hood and the A'PEXi logo from the top of the doors will be on the top of the windshield. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and that the style is very early 2000s, but ultimately I wanted this build to be period-correct.

 

[coolhand]

Time for an update!
Last year, I only drove the car three times, covering a whooping 100 miles. Life got in the way, I was tired of the car because of the ongoing misfire problems and, on top of that, I bought myself a car that I had wanted for a long time, which I really enjoy driving.
Regarding the COP conversion, I ended up buying an Antilag Racing mounting plate (a beautiful piece) and loomed harness that I made. However, the COP conversion did not solve my misfire problems, so the car has just been waiting for a better moment.
View attachment 783789
One of my New Year's resolutions is to drive this car more this year. To achieve this, I need to solve the misfire problem and adjust the suspension. I believe I'm on the right track to eliminating the misfires – I will try switching off the random misfire detection DTC in EcuFlash. I just have to wait for better weather to go to my local tuner to do this.
As for the suspension, this was a show car and the suspension was set to be as low as possible. As you can imagine, the car didn't drive very well because it needed to be as stiff as possible to achieve that level of lowering. Last year, I raised the car slightly and adjusted the preload and stiffness settings. This year, I will raise it a bit more and further adjust the settings to make it more pleasant to drive.
I have also decided that this year is the time to turn my livery design into reality. I'm kind of an A'PEXi fan (don't know why, I just liked them since I was a kid playing Underground 2 ) and got some of their rare parts in the car, so I took an inspiration from ex A'PEXi demo car, a BNR34-000452, and ex HKS demo 2G (which is still my favorite DSM of all time), and made this project. The big "AP" logo from the rear quarter panel will also be on the hood and the A'PEXi logo from the top of the doors will be on the top of the windshield. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and that the style is very early 2000s, but ultimately I wanted this build to be period-correct.
View attachment 783790

this is my favorite eclipse build, I bought an eclipse because of nfsu2 . The graphics are so nice man.

 

[IHeartMyHonda]

I recently put an A'PEXi cat back on my GSX. Your love of their products is well-deserved.

 

[Jacob5se]

this is my favorite eclipse build, I bought an eclipse because of nfsu2 . The graphics are so nice man.

Thanks a lot man, glad to hear that considering how many cool builds are here.

I recently put an A'PEXi cat back on my GSX. Your love of their products is well-deserved.

Every product I have from them is top quality and looks awesome. Will see if I will be able to find some more cool stuff to put on.

 

[chrysler kid]

When is the last time you did a boost leak test? There is an open hole on your intake manifold where the original blow off valve feed line is supposed to go, on your intake manifold the nipple is broken off and there’s just a hole next to your throttle body

 

[Jacob5se]

When is the last time you did a boost leak test? There is an open hole on your intake manifold where the original blow off valve feed line is supposed to go, on your intake manifold the nipple is broken off and there’s just a hole next to your throttle body

There was no bov feed line to begin with - this intake manifold is from EUDM N/A 4G63 2G Eclipse. That's why I don't have prevision for MDP as well.
But I'm curious to see which hole do you mean exactly. Car had no problem hitting boost back when I was running MAF, nor did it change after switching to SD.

 

[chrysler kid]

There was no bov feed line to begin with - this intake manifold is from EUDM N/A 4G63 2G Eclipse. That's why I don't have prevision for MDP as well.
But I'm curious to see which hole do you mean exactly. Car had no problem hitting boost back when I was running MAF, nor did it change after switching to SD.

My apologies, you’re exactly right. I was confusing the manifolds. Your manifold doesn’t have the typical nipple for the bov on it, and the hole next to it is just for a bolt to hold the harness. I was seeing the bolt hole and thinking it was the nipple for boost

 

[Jacob5se]

No worries man, thanks for looking closely at it. I appreciate any kind of input or advices regarding the car.

My apologies, you’re exactly right. I was confusing the manifolds. Your manifold doesn’t have the typical nipple for the bov on it, and the hole next to it is just for a bolt to hold the harness. I was seeing the bolt hole and thinking it was the nipple for boost

 

[Jacob5se]

Unfortunately snow came back and I wasn't able to got local tuner to switch off the random misfire detection DTC in EcuFlash. Hopefully end of next week will be warm and dry enough.
I ordered all OEM sideskirt clips. When I painted the car I used replacements that I had problems with ever since. Now everything will be properly mounted.

Also, local autocross track which which was closed for cars few years ago seems to be operational again thanks to local students. They plan on organizing few events throught the year and I pland to attend some of them with my GSX. Although track is very small, it's very close to me (10 miles away from my house) and I've never been to any track so I'm eager to try. This is the track for those interested to se what we have to work with: https://maps.app.goo.gl/E1bUqS8BS5vpd81U7

 

[Jacob5se]

Good weather came a bit early this year and I went to a local tuner on friday to see if switching off random misfire detection in EcuFlash will get rid of my problems with misfires and it did. Now I can finally enjoy the car.
I once again love driving this thing now, couldn't be happier. I've already driven it more than last year .
There are still a few things to tackle before the full season - raising suspension and dialing in its settings, changing sideskirts clips to OEM, finishing the SD conversion harness and probably few more things.