DSM91
20+ Year Contributor
- 108
- 0
- Nov 21, 2002
-
Los Angeles,
California
This is a long rant, so bear with me.
I have been fortunate enough to see a red 1990 GS Turbo at a small garage next to my office building every day for the past couple months. I really wanted to buy it, but I somehow managed to resist. (which was good because it turned out not to be for sale anyway.
Recently there has been a teal 92-94 Eclipse GS parked next to it the past few days, both cars having their hoods open. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on there.
When I left work tonight I saw a guy working on the cars, and the GS had just been started for what seemed to be the first time. I decided to head over and talk to the guy to see how the swap went. (after all, it isn't every day you see a turbo 4G63 in an Eclipse GS.)
After talking to him for a few seconds I realized something was not right. There was a turbo engine running in the GS, that was for sure. However, the mechanic's complete lack of knowledge of DSMs (which was immediately apparent) had me very concerned. His english was not very good, so I was doing my best to get some information from him. I was trying to figure out if the engine that was now running in the GS was the exact same engine from the pretty red '90 GS Turbo, or if it was merely the turbo parts from the '90 on the '92 engine. It turns out my fears were true.
The mechanic was doing this job for a customer. He kept saying "the kid", so I am assuming the customer is somewhat young since the mechanic was probably in his late 20's. The mechanic said on several occasions that the customer did a bunch of research on the internet and said it was safe to install only the mechanical turbo parts into a non-turbo Eclipse. I guess if the internet says it is okay then it must be true.
So, let's review the facts.
The 1992-94 Eclipse GS (at least it used to be a 2.0 NT 4g63 as opposed to the 4G37 1.8L we all know and love) has the following parts now installed from the 1990 GS Turbo:
14B turbo
exhaust manifold
1g MAS (no air filter, just open MAS with exposed honeycombs)
turbo intake
IC hoses
intercooler
BOV
intake manifold
downpipe
fuel pump
injectors, fuel rail, FPR
That is great and all, but the problems arise with the use of the factory non-turbo head and block, as well as the fact that the car still retains the stock Non-turbo ECU and wiring. This means there is no knock sensor on the block and no wiring for it in the ECU. So a car with a non-turbo computer and 9.0:1 compression pistons of the weaker non-turbo variety will now be pushing at least 10psi of compressed air. At least he has the internet on his side. I am glad he did his research.
On top of all of that, the donor car is a 1990. Even if he DID get the ECU and whatever else he may need from that car it still wouldn't work due to the changes from the 90 to 91+ electronics. This kid is F'd in all possible ways known to DSM tuning.
I am writing this message in the hopes that this person comes across this in the next few days, or at least someone he knows will clue him in. There is not much hope for this poor 1992 Eclipse GS. In all honesty, I really hope to find this guy before he takes his car for a spin. If anyone here knows of this person, please let him see this thread.
The car is at a shop in Silver Spring, MD.
The problem I have with the DSM world now are that people are generally uninformed. The internet for whatever reason gives people a huge bout of confidence. Whatever they read on the internet must be true, and it does not matter if it is David Buschur saying it or Joe Shmoe. What can we do as a community to gain interest in the truth about these cars and what it takes to properly maintain and modify them? Or do we have to seek out the morons and shun them until they move on to something else? I wish I could contact all of these people in some way and zap their brains into gear. I really want to help these people and the Diamond Star community as a whole. If there are any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Thanks for the time.
P.S. Before the non-turbo guys jump on me for hating NT people and cars, that is not the case. I am a moderator at 2gnt.com and my first DSM was a 2g GS that I turbocharged with an HRC kit. I am all for people modifying and working on NT cars and I wish those people the best of luck. I just hate seeing it done the wrong way and especially when an otherwise perfectly good GS Turbo has to be sent to the junkyard for that purpose.
I have been fortunate enough to see a red 1990 GS Turbo at a small garage next to my office building every day for the past couple months. I really wanted to buy it, but I somehow managed to resist. (which was good because it turned out not to be for sale anyway.
Recently there has been a teal 92-94 Eclipse GS parked next to it the past few days, both cars having their hoods open. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on there.
When I left work tonight I saw a guy working on the cars, and the GS had just been started for what seemed to be the first time. I decided to head over and talk to the guy to see how the swap went. (after all, it isn't every day you see a turbo 4G63 in an Eclipse GS.)
After talking to him for a few seconds I realized something was not right. There was a turbo engine running in the GS, that was for sure. However, the mechanic's complete lack of knowledge of DSMs (which was immediately apparent) had me very concerned. His english was not very good, so I was doing my best to get some information from him. I was trying to figure out if the engine that was now running in the GS was the exact same engine from the pretty red '90 GS Turbo, or if it was merely the turbo parts from the '90 on the '92 engine. It turns out my fears were true.
The mechanic was doing this job for a customer. He kept saying "the kid", so I am assuming the customer is somewhat young since the mechanic was probably in his late 20's. The mechanic said on several occasions that the customer did a bunch of research on the internet and said it was safe to install only the mechanical turbo parts into a non-turbo Eclipse. I guess if the internet says it is okay then it must be true.
So, let's review the facts.
The 1992-94 Eclipse GS (at least it used to be a 2.0 NT 4g63 as opposed to the 4G37 1.8L we all know and love) has the following parts now installed from the 1990 GS Turbo:
14B turbo
exhaust manifold
1g MAS (no air filter, just open MAS with exposed honeycombs)
turbo intake
IC hoses
intercooler
BOV
intake manifold
downpipe
fuel pump
injectors, fuel rail, FPR
That is great and all, but the problems arise with the use of the factory non-turbo head and block, as well as the fact that the car still retains the stock Non-turbo ECU and wiring. This means there is no knock sensor on the block and no wiring for it in the ECU. So a car with a non-turbo computer and 9.0:1 compression pistons of the weaker non-turbo variety will now be pushing at least 10psi of compressed air. At least he has the internet on his side. I am glad he did his research.
On top of all of that, the donor car is a 1990. Even if he DID get the ECU and whatever else he may need from that car it still wouldn't work due to the changes from the 90 to 91+ electronics. This kid is F'd in all possible ways known to DSM tuning.
I am writing this message in the hopes that this person comes across this in the next few days, or at least someone he knows will clue him in. There is not much hope for this poor 1992 Eclipse GS. In all honesty, I really hope to find this guy before he takes his car for a spin. If anyone here knows of this person, please let him see this thread.
The car is at a shop in Silver Spring, MD.
The problem I have with the DSM world now are that people are generally uninformed. The internet for whatever reason gives people a huge bout of confidence. Whatever they read on the internet must be true, and it does not matter if it is David Buschur saying it or Joe Shmoe. What can we do as a community to gain interest in the truth about these cars and what it takes to properly maintain and modify them? Or do we have to seek out the morons and shun them until they move on to something else? I wish I could contact all of these people in some way and zap their brains into gear. I really want to help these people and the Diamond Star community as a whole. If there are any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Thanks for the time.
P.S. Before the non-turbo guys jump on me for hating NT people and cars, that is not the case. I am a moderator at 2gnt.com and my first DSM was a 2g GS that I turbocharged with an HRC kit. I am all for people modifying and working on NT cars and I wish those people the best of luck. I just hate seeing it done the wrong way and especially when an otherwise perfectly good GS Turbo has to be sent to the junkyard for that purpose.
. I wish, I really wish that people would just do their research.
Kris, who/what are you referring to? As far as I can see, the misinformation was on a personal level, not on tuners.
