14bPowered's 1990 Eclipse GSX build

[14bPowered]

1990 Eclipse GSX: Part 1 "The Beginning."

I'll start off with a little bit of background information. In the summer of '04 I bought a Talon TSi AWD which received some light mods along with some body damage. Nothing to write home about, but it had a built engine with some other goodies.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture090.jpg

Fast forward to 2008. I graduate college, and move to Maryland where my new full time job is. I attempt to get the Talon inspected and it fails MD's rigorous standards miserably. Tires, alignment, power steering system, tint, exhaust, emissions; the list went on and on. Couple that with the "R" title and failing electrical connections, it was time to move on.

With the blessing of my parents, I was able to park the Talon in their garage to strip it, buy a new shell, and build my new DSM. So all I needed was a new shell.

My search led me to JNZTuning and their drag project shell. I get pumped up, ready to write that big check, but sadly my expectations had gotten the better of me. While in excellent condition, their shell was a little too far removed from the street car that I was looking for.

Fortunately not all was lost. One of JNZ's employees was also looking to sell a shell: a white () 1990 GSX. And the price was definitely right. So I gave him half the dough as a deposit and started counting down the days until I could bring her home.

Here's what she looked like that day:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture021.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture015.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture018.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture017.jpg


Quick rundown of it:
-Just the shell; no engine/trans/rear
-Nice straight body, new front and rear bumpers
-black interior (no more rainbow for this guy)
-harness mod'ed for a 91-94 ECU but still wired for 90 engine plugs
-GVR4 suspension

Sadly, that big beautiful JMF SMIM wasn't included. But the JMF race bumper was!

Stay tuned.

[14bPowered]

1990 Eclipse GSX: Part 2 "The End of an Era"

So now that I had pinned down a new shell, it was time to get what I needed from the black cherry Talon and get'r out of the garage. While my parents love me, they do not feel the same way about DSMs.

So, in she came:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture094.jpg

And she would never be the same again. I'm not going to lie, it was a bittersweet moment when I killed the engine for the last time. This Talon was my first car that I really got down and dirty with and I had a lot of blood sweat and tears invested into it.

Anyways, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture096.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture097.jpg

It's worth noting the abundance of grime on the transmission in this picture. Oh yea, that'll be fun
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture101.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture099.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture102.jpg

Once I got everything I wanted, it was time to get her ready to go. The engine bay was basically empty, all electronics were removed from the interior, all the lights, brakes, and anything aftermarket was kept.



As she sat awaiting her fate, like a criminal facing the judge:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/0830081518a.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/0830081518.jpg

But all is not lost!! My dream (or my parents' nightmare, depending on how you see it) is realized:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/Picture029.jpg

The end of an era.

The last picture I have of my first DSM, and I wasn't even there to take it. Sad day. It was just a car, but damn it, it was my car.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Talon/adios.jpg

[14bPowered]

1990 Eclipse GSX: Part 3 "Well while it's sitting there..."

So, to pick up where the last blog left off, I have a GSX shell and a boat load of drive train parts scattered across my parents' garage and basement. The engine is on a stand, the transmission in a corner, the exhaust and turbo laying in the basement, and the new baby patiently awaiting it all.

So, where to start? Well, I took one look at the engine all alone on the stand, and being a self-respecting DSM'er, had to fiddle with it. The summer of 2005 saw the pistons and rods replaced with units from Wiseco and Crower, respectively, yet the head remained defiantly stock, save for new valve stem seals.

That was simply unacceptable. So a couple of days of hawking the classifieds and some (im)patient waiting yielded not one, but TWO packages waiting for me! Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the 'boring' box, but you bet your butt that I took pictures of the fun one.

What could it be?
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture018-1.jpg

FP2's, son!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture021-2.jpg
(The boring box was 16ea. revised 3g lifters)

The cams and lifters blew the DSM budget for about a month and a half, so I had to look at the box sitting in my apartment anxiously waiting for the chance to install them. Once the budget was replenished, I got all the timing parts needed to complete the install, plus a swanky new cover to replace the busted stocker. (The tensioner and pulleys were all younger than 15k miles and checked out ok prior to re-installation.)

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture058.jpg

Needless to say, I couldn't wait to make the trip back to Pennsylvania and slap those babies in! Finally the stars aligned, and I scored a 5 day weekend over Veteran's Day, so I had more than enough time. Off I went.

Naturally, the fun started with the cams and the lifters. I didn't snap any pictures of the lifter install, but come on, that would have been quite the boring picture. Here's a couple shots after the intake cam was installed.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture062.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture061.jpg

Next up was the timing. This was my first t-belt job, and let me just say I was very gracious that the engine was out of the car. The grudge is from a failed cam seal that was oiling down the engine for a good 6k miles before I pinpointed the problem.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture063.jpg

Now all that was left was to button up the engine and slap on that shiny new timing cover. Follow that up with some pulleys and we're just about done with the weekend's task.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture066.jpg

After calling it a night, I retired to watch some college football (this work was all done late Friday and throughout Saturday). Sunday's a day of rest, but how hard could it be to drop in an engine?

Well, all those proverbs about not counting your chickens until they're hatched are proverbs for a very good reason. The fact that there was no rear engine mount on the chassis had escaped my attention until this point. Needless to say that was more than a small issue. Luckily, a couple hours later I was back on track thanks to a local DSM'er. Slapped the heart into the Eclipse it was all over but the crying.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture068.jpg

Tune in next time for "When was the last time this thing was cleaned OR Why I love Simple Green."

[hand1222000]

Good luck with the build.

[speed_demon]

And I am subscribed.

[14bPowered]

Ok folks, this is update will catch everything up to its current state. I apologize in advance if this one isn't as 'exciting' as the previous ones, but as we all know, it's the holiday season so spending on the Eclipse has been curtailed to free up money for other expenses.

Anyways, off we go.

When I bought the shell, it was sitting in a dirt lot for an unknown amount of time, so to say it is a little dirty is, well, an understatement. And seeing how the parking brake needs work, the car won't sit on my parents' sloped driveway without someone in the car pushing on the brake. So I started to clean inside out.

Off to the local TruValue store I went, and returned with a gallon of Simple Green. Let me tell you this: that might have been the best $10 I've spent on this project to this point. I started off my mixing it to the "degreaser" spec on the label, and went to town with my $0.99 paper towels.

I started off at the front of the car. I hit the subframe braces and the engine side of the wheel wells before I installed the engine, but neglected to take any pictures. :chair:

All is not lost however, so away we go!

Here's a shot of what I'm up against at the front of the car. The engine bay wasn't any better. You can clearly see where I wiped off the grease with the simple green.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture084.jpg

So, as it was Thanksgiving day and I didn't feel like A.) getting dirty before going to our family dinner and B.) freezing my ass off, I left that area and searched for targets of opportunity. The fuel filler door presented the perfect target.

Here's the before. (I almost forgot to take a before picture, that's why the bottom's clean)
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture070.jpg

About five minutes later, I was left with this. MUCH much better.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture073.jpg

And lets not forget the inside of the door....
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture082.jpg

The grease around the hinge wasn't coming out. It looked to be white lithium grease and frankly, it's there for a purpose and you can't really see it, so I left it.

Now I moved inside the car. I bought the shell without rear seats, so you see a nice expanse of white paint and copious amounts of grime. That won't do. The insulation will be one of the next things to do, possibly. I'm still undecided if I want backseats or not. Anyways, the crud has to go.

Here's a shot of the beginning. There's still a TON left to do inside. Green is the after, red before.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/beforeafter.jpg


And finally, my early surprise Christmas gift. As I was cleaning the front of the car, I looked at my wheels, and thought the caliper looked a little different. So I put the car up on four stands and busted off the wheel. I say busted because PB Blaster and a rubber mallet were used. I did say the car sat for awhile, right?

The wheel finally came off, and my suspicions were right! Two piston calipers!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/BReif51/Eclipse/Picture085.jpg

Yeah, I know I need new rotors. Badly. Now, had I known anything about GVR-4s (notice the number of lugs) I'd have known that the brakes were 2 piston. But as they say, ignorance is bliss.

So, now you're all caught up! Tune in next time for some fuel goodies/bling!

[k1tty]

Black cherry shell looks nice.. should've just kept that. What are you going to do with that shell?

[1timehondalover]

Looks good so far.




Should have kept the five lug from the BC car.

[14bPowered]

Black cherry shell looks nice.. should've just kept that. What are you going to do with that shell?

The shell wasn't that great in reality. It was an R-title, and it was hit again after that. The paint wasn't the best, the wiring was terrible, etc. The shell is long gone.

[14bPowered]

Looks good so far.




Should have kept the five lug from the BC car.

Thanks.

I was going to, then I ran out of time (couldn't keep both cars at my parents' house) and since I am planning on going with aftermarket wheels, the four lug doesn't really bother me that much. I may still swap it out if I can find a set, though.