[RESOLVED] Should i rebuild it or let it go and get something else?

[cagleje]

Ok gotta let you know where i stand on this. the car is a 95' Eclipse GS with blown transmission. this car will be payed off by the time i return to North Carolina this June. the body has some rust damage (two spots on the front strut towers) and the bodykit needs to be returned to stock or replaced. whole car could stand to be repainted. the exhaust has been cut to crap (muffler removed) and needs to be replaced. the engine was rebuilt a couple years ago after tossing the timing belt. was running very strong last time i was able to drive the car. the suspension needs to be replaced. now my dilemma is do i put this thing on jack stands and restore it to be a great looking GS with alittle extra(will stay N/A, if i keep it.) Or do i get it back to running order and sale it? if i sale it I will be replacing it with a 95-99 GSX as i am a huge fan of AWD/turbo setups. now if i keep it the car will be receiving:

new transmission (more than likely a neon swap)
cat back exhaust (apexi or greddy)
spring/strut setup (tokico or similiar)
evo brembo brakes (actually rather easy for me to find) either car will receive the brakes and rims.
evo MR bbs rims (taken from my evo as i have 18's on it now)
stock 98-99 bumpers F/R, sideskirts, taillights or Urethane bodykit (currently has the blitz style kit, which i actually like.)


i'm tired of being torn between the two decisions and finally decided that maybe i need a public opinion about it.

 

[xdxoxuxgx]

First off, is the car gonna be your DD? If it is, I would say just fix it up. If it's not your DD, I don't think that there are many people on this site that would tell you to keep an N/A rather than an AWD haha.

 

[cagleje]

No my Evo is my DD. This car still holds some sentimental value as i was my first car. I know most on here would tell me to ditch it in favor of a GSX.

 

[mountaineerjeff]

if you have a evo DD, then I would say go with the gsx. you can open up your opertunities way more, and you dont have to worry about downtime. then you have a nice street runner that you can just keep put away until friday night cruises.

Other option is make the gs your DD and build the evo. but I wouldnt want to hack up a new car when I could get a gsx with just as much potential, and way cheaper parts.

personally id get to work on a 10s gsx

 

[someguy1984]

I say keep it...You won't get any money for it right now. Even if you fix it...You could keep it with no payments and make the thing look nice in time...No pressure, just do what you want to do with it. Sounds like the car would look good.

Who cares about getting the AWD? The car isn't going to be fast either way...You can make it look clean and it will be reliable. If you buy someone else's problems, who know what you will have to fix...Your going to end up spending a lot of money modding it as well...Keep in mind if you want it quick, you'll need to replace the turbo and all the basic mods, etc...

Doesn't sound worth it to me man...Plus, what if you get one with crankwalk? Look how much money will be wasted then, when you could have kept you car, made it look awesome and it would be VERY RELIABLE. Driving down the street no one is going to know how fast it is...

 

[cagleje]

if you have a evo DD, then I would say go with the gsx. you can open up your opertunities way more, and you dont have to worry about downtime. then you have a nice street runner that you can just keep put away until friday night cruises.

Other option is make the gs your DD and build the evo. but I wouldnt want to hack up a new car when I could get a gsx with just as much potential, and way cheaper parts.

personally id get to work on a 10s gsx

I'm considering making the GS into my DD. the evo is built somewhat mostly bolt on parts. I personally don't care to turn either into a 10s car.

I say keep it...You won't get any money for it right now. Even if you fix it...You could keep it with no payments and make the thing look nice in time...No pressure, just do what you want to do with it. Sounds like the car would look good.

Who cares about getting the AWD? The car isn't going to be fast either way...You can make it look clean and it will be reliable. If you buy someone else's problems, who know what you will have to fix...Your going to end up spending a lot of money modding it as well...Keep in mind if you want it quick, you'll need to replace the turbo and all the basic mods, etc...

Doesn't sound worth it to me man...Plus, what if you get one with crankwalk? Look how much money will be wasted then, when you could have kept you car, made it look awesome and it would be VERY RELIABLE. Driving down the street no one is going to know how fast it is...

that more so what i'm thinking about. fixing it up and making it look nice once again and letting my evo rest from the DD duties. plus since it's N/A and actually gets good gas milage that'll be a big plus.

 

[turbotemper]

IMO if you are happy with how it was before keep it & invest in the bottom end unless you already rebuilt it with forged internals. Let it sip off the bottle. Its a good power adder for when you want to use it.
You dont want to pick up a project right after you finish one do you? And even if you did get everything fixed and sold it you wouldnt get much more than 5k w/ new paint and all especially if you're putting back to stock form. Not trying to sound rude.
GST/GSX are very fun though this was my second car and ive had it since late 97'. I bought it w/56k and I could never get rid of it because it was my favorite car to drive and was for the most part stock. I have had trucks, SUV's, mustangs & camaros and even though this doesnt compare to any i love that feel of the turbo pull None of my stangs were stock all had built motors. Much faster than the GST. I just cant sell it.
My 95' GST has 145k no major issues ever just solid maintenance by me. I still cant part with it, ive had too many good memories in it. It does have a few issues now but nothing unrepairable. I need to fix my HB/CP atm but other than that i was driving almost daily even with my other cars. Its saved my @ss more than a few times and left me stranded a few but thats life.
Most people dont understand what it really takes to keep a car well maintained. They just think oh shit i need a new blah blah blah & thats expensive, i better just get a new car. So shameful & wasteful unless you just dont care about $. Small repairs or investments as i'd rather think of them of say $1000 for almost all new everything to replace gasket,seals, pumps, etc and you have a brand spanking new car again rather than throwing down money on another car or worse making payments on a new one even ore $ than your investment of $1000 or whatever price.
I never take my cars to a mechanic unless its machine work, but i or my good friends who are all self taught mechanics can tackle almost any job we've ever had to do/fix. Much cheaper and you learn something. Yeah it takes more time but thats the sacrifice i guess. Never been to much of problem for us though.
GL making a decision.

 

[cagleje]

opinion dually noted. i know what you mean about taking care of your car. my second car was a 92 Talon TSI. the biggest issue i had on that car was loose bolt that caused the oil filter to fly off. i drove that thing daily and loved the hell out of it. but this eclipse was my first car and i honestly miss driving it. i'm not looking to make a ton of Hp on it. honestly the biggest power mods i already have. if i want fast i'll drive my evo.

 

[darkstar67]

Keep it, the fact that it was your first car should make you keep it. and there are always upgrades...

 

[cagleje]

yeah thats really my biggest reason for keeping it other than it will be paid off.

 

[Falcon55]

Well I guess you can relate to me. I have a similar story... I sold my first car (1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS) and bought a 1997 GST. I mean yea I agree, I loved my first car (even if it was N/A, just like yours) but sometimes we have to know how to let go and grab onto something better. I think you should fix the N/A to running condition, sell it and make the best of it with a GSX! I'll vote you should go for the GSX.

Hell, once I swap out my knocking motor on the GST and get my car in running condition, I think i'm going to sell it and go straight for a 99 GSX (preferably black). I can't resist temptation, it's drawing me in!

 

[cagleje]

if i get a GSX thats going to be bad. an evo and another GSX. there goes my bank account. good note for today, just got a set of Brembos from my mechanic!

 

[MichaelSuch]

Sell it, find a GSX. More possibilites with a lot less work required.

 

[cagleje]

I do have to ask whats the deal with people asking over 10K for a 95 newer GSX? are they still worth that much or is it people thinking there worth that much.

 

[tenn-gsx]

No most of them are on crack. If you watch them either they lower the price to something reasonable or they part it out completely or return it to stock then sell it and the aftermarket parts.

Now some of them actually are clean and reliable enough to be worth 10k. The problem is us DSMers are cheap bastards and VERY FEW of us would pay 10k for a toy. If we would do that then we would just buy an Evo.

 

[cagleje]

even though i bought an evo, i don't think a 95' GSX is worth 10K.

 

[cagleje]

ok good news, using some help to locate a trannie for the car. may just sale it as is with the trannie and look for a GSX now. one thats under 10K maybe closer to 5K.