What's wrong with me?

[housegsx]

I'm seriously considering taking a look at this car. Why do I need 3 DSMs? It would be cool to have twins though.


1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

 

[iron bird]

if i had the money id defiantly go get it

 

[housegsx]

If I didn't have a girlfriend I would go look at it today. If I definitely had a buyer for the Talon I might do it.

 

[Zack Huffman]

Talon? -Got a link or pics?

That GSX looks like a decent find... too bad I'm going to be poor until Dec. of 2011 and can't find someone to buy this old SHO.

 

[housegsx]

All stock TSi awd auto. 81,500 miles. Decent shape. I need to fix some rust on driver side rocker.

Talon

 

[iron bird]

house is your avatar at beaverun?

 

[tsi16g]

I'm seriously considering taking a look at this car. Why do I need 3 DSMs? It would be cool to have twins though.


1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

hahaha get it man i dont have money like that but im still putting my 2g together i guess its love for dsms hahahahaha

 

[etay89]

if it didnt need a tranny, i'd be pissed!

then again going to south carolina for my gst was fun though...

 

[housegsx]

house is your avatar at beaverun?

Yes it is.

 

[JusMX141]

I already looked at that car, Erik....so I saved you some time.


By the way, I already have THREE DSM's, this would be my fourth.

I don't even think it's a $3000 car the way it sits. The interior's a little rough; driver's seat is worn considerably for the mileage, no buttons on the window controls for the driver's side window.

Car's been sitting for almost two years- inspection ran out 9/08. Tires have good tread, brakes are rusty (expected). There is some scale on the passenger's side strut tower, and a hole the size of your pinky in the driver's side tower as well. The valve cover is coated in the white, powdery oxidation, as-is the manifold heat shield. Rust on many of the underhood bolts and components.

There's a small dent in the rear quarter just behind the driver's door about the size of your knuckle. The rear bumper has been repainted / replaced, and so has the hood (the hood was originally blue, you can see it where they taped around the underhood decals).

I took a battery with me because I knew his would be junk from the car sitting. He claimed he had the car taken to a tranny shop where it sat for a few weeks after while he was working in D.C., the tranny shop called and said they wanted the car out so he paid to have it towed while he was out of town to the garage it's currently sitting in.

Somehow the car has no compression. It's hitting on only one or two cylinders. While cranking, it has a very lifeless sound....so much that I pulled the plug wires to make sure the plugs were actually threaded in. It hiccuped a time or two while my dad was spraying starting fluid into the intake, but made absolutely NO attempt to start....so it has bigger problems than a tranny job.

The only mod is a 1G BOV.

 

[housegsx]

Good God! Thanks for the warning. I sent a couple emails and he said it just needed a trans. I thought it would be like mine was at 68k miles. Shoulda known.

 

[etay89]

+1 to justin

craigslist...jeez.. cant get anything on there anymore

 

[JusMX141]

He acts like he already has guys willing to pay his asking price as it sits; and if that's the case, more power to them. If he can't get the engine running, the most I'm willing to pay is $2000-$2200 not knowing exactly what is wrong with the engine. The timing belt is on, it turns when the engine spins over, and at least the marks on the two top cam gears align....it was too dark to see down at the crank pulley to see if it was at TDC.

If I was thinking I would've brought my compression tester, but I had never considered the car to show signs of no compression. On the phone he made it seem like it wasn't going to start because the battery was dead; well I fixed that problem and it still wouldn't start.

 

[iron bird]

gave me the same thing about some one offering him more but w/e i have my 1g and if just the tranny was bad why wouldnt it run ;p

 

[etay89]

typical craigslist liar/hustler.

pretty hard to scam a dsm'er though. i never get anything on there unless there is no electronic gizmo of any sort in it whatsoever (yes, i use craigs for used shoes and clothes...oh well )

 

[Rex2342]

You gotta watch these kind of people. A while back when my friend was looking for a DSM I had a guy try to pull this on me. It wasn't even craigslist. I was getting gas and this guy on a Harley pulls next to me and asks if I want another DSM for $1200. I told him about my friend and followed him up the road to check it out. It was a clone of mine except a 91 and auto but was AWD and turbo and looked to be in good condition plus its bone stock. He tells me yeah it fires right up and runs great but needs a battery to start it. I tell my friend about it and I take him down to see it. This is where it gets funny. The guy grabs a battery and fires it up all the while telling us how good it runs and what a deal we're getting. This thing sounds like it had marbles in it and it was only running on 3 cylinders!! I took the oil cap off while it's running and its shooting white smoke from the valve cover 4 feet into the air!! I couldn't believe this guy had the balls to actually start it up knowing the motor was done. I got him down to $500 and we called the flatbed. Once I tore the engine down I find that the #3 piston is completely shattered and there is a crack in the cylinder wall. The transmission was completely shot but the shell was actually in very nice condition. He parted out what he could and made double his money some how and got another DSM so now I'm trying to score the shell since he owes me money

 

[iron bird]

Yes it is.

awesome i work up there here and there i live 10 mins away.

 

[JusMX141]

I bought it.

He apparently got the car running; claimed the battery I brought didn't have enough cranking power to spin the engine over fast enough even though I load tested it at work before I left and it tested just fine.

I made sure I heard the engine run before I handed him a penny. The engine is super-quiet, and is probably the tightest-sounding 4G63 I've heard for a while. Definitely reflects the 68,069 on the odometer.

The title is clean; he showed me the paperwork where he paid $5200 for the car in 2005. It still books for $5950 in fair condition, so I don't feel like I made a bad decision. I have a slight list of modifications I have planned, including replacing the transmission and installing the new ACT2100 I just bought on eBay for $107 shipped.

I was the first guy he called once he got the car running; once I saw the car run I offered $2500 and we agreed on $2800. I knew that there was a list of guys who would probably take the car for his asking price if I didn't play my cards right, so since he was fair enough to knock a couple hundred off I felt that I got a good deal.

When I got the car home I pulled the plugs and did a compression test just to make sure everything was tight. All four were between 150-160psi cold. The plugs were in finger-tight, and were never tightened enough to compress the gaskets...possibly the reason the car sounded so "dead" when I initially cranked it over.

So far my mod list includes:

- ACT2100; $107
- SSAC FMIC; $220
- 3" eBay downpipe; $83.50
- K&N FIPK w/ 2G MAS (will be selling the MAS); $65
- MHI RVR Hyper Sports Gear R 16G turbo (same as Evo III 16G with a downfiring outlet); $230

Currently looking for an exhaust system and a set of Evo VIII 560's. I'm replacing the stock '97 ECU with a '99 ECU which can be flashed. My goal is to do a little tuning and have myself a reliable daily driver making around 20psi running low 13's / high 12's.

 

[etay89]

lucky...where do you even get all this money from?! Lol

 

[justin97]

Damn You !!! I was trying to get ahold of the dude selling that gsx for weeks, I had cash in hand, Ah Im always a day late and a dollar short. If any of you guys know anyone selling a GST or GSX that Runs and is somewhat stock lemme know. I scrapped that pos shell i had after finding a bunch of rusted through sections in the rear frame area and Im getting really tired of driving my Slow ass Jeep cherokee. I need me a nother DSM ASAP!!!!! Im going through bad h/p withdraw here.