98 Eclipse Spyder w/ GSX Swap

Builds
1

well, i didnt wanna post this here until it was done, but eff it…

http://www.mitsu-media.com/showthread.php?t=11367 <<<BUILD THREAD

im copying this from another forum, but ill be updating it here when new stuff happens.

[quote=“Current Mod List”"]

98 Spyder GSX - '96 Drive train with LSD rear end.
JDM 4g63 w/ evo3 IM
Stock bottom end, Ported head with 1MM oversized in/ex valves
Kelford 272 Cams
EVO8 ECU running Speed Density
Holset WH1C (HX35)
Spearco FMIC
880cc injectors
AFPR
255lph pump
Tokico Illumina shocks and struts
ECU Boost control
5 spd
ACT 2600 Clutch/PP
Stainless Clutch + brake lines
3" Straight stainless exhaust

Back story:

Bought a 96 GSX. Guy promised me it was only lifter tick, heard it, sounded like lifter tick, turned out it was rod knock…of course. bought a new engine from torontojdm, and in the process of putting it in i found out the body was, well completely rotted out. but i continued anyway just so i could drive it for a lil bit. Got the engine in and running (first time too lol) and when i went to go register it, the title/bill of sale was gone. (ie. thrown out) and the guy i bought it from didnt live where i picked up the car…so i was screwed.

Started looking at other options, and i kept looking at buying a gst/spyder shell and doing the swap. So, one day i was browsing craigslist and found a spyder shell with rod knock for sale…went and looked at it. had the typical rust on it but it was def fixable, so i picked it up.

http://s824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/hortanica/GSX%20Spyder/

Thats the direct link to the photobucket album (theres more pics in there than what im putting up, and ill be adding more to that all the time)

Heres some pics of the tear down of the gsx/spyder and where im at now:

First off, the Donor Cars:


“The Yellow Turd”…lol.

95% frame rotted out GSX

Spyder in fair condition


the gross engine bay of the silver gs

Disconnecting everything. the harness, fuel, and axles are off and the engine/tranny are ready to be pulled.

Starting on the rear end

Rear subframe is dropped! shortly after that pic was taken the driveshaft was removed, the brackets were drilled off, and the gas tank/filler neck was dropped!

I thought i took pics of the disassemble of the spyder’s rear end but apparently not. its all the same anyways so we’ll forward a few days:


AWD Rear subframe is bolted up, driveshaft is bolted up and all brackets are welded on! Also, you can barely tell but i put the stock Eclipse tails from the 96gsx onto the spyder.

The engine: the guy said it had rod knock, turned out the timing belt skipped and broke, and also the lifters were bad -causing lifter tick! so the block is still good and is being donated to my 4g64/4g63 build!


Engines out! lots of cleaning to do before the other goes in, and i also have to do the manual swap so its gonna be a lil bit.

Just so you can see how backwoods i am hahaha. since we didnt have a hoist that was the easiest way lmao.

More pics coming, hopefully today/this weekend, but all thats left is:

Manual swap, 4g63t ecu swap into the spyder (eliminating the fuel pump relay module and running the knock sensor wire)
and dropping in the engine/tranny. Its getting close!
Also, if you see/can think of anything i need to do please post up, as this is my first dsm and my first real project…i dove head first and started to drown in the dsm pool, but im starting to come to the surface lol.
[/quote]

Got the broken exhaust manifold stud out, and the new manifold + spacer put on. Turbo is also bolted up and the flywheel is off. Tmrw: getting the light flywheel off the donor car, and putting everything together on the jdm engine, then dropping it in the car! so at my pace, i figure by spring next year it will be driveable lol.

but heres some pics of the turbo (13g vs 20g and the new turbo bolted up)


i just got the flywheel on, and am waiting on a few more parts to get the tranny and engine attached…

2

So i figure with all the attention this thread has gotten, id update it so you can all know just where this build has gone lol.

Well, in a long over attempt to show some kind of video…heres the best i can do. The audio sucks, but i think you can get the idea lol

My time: 8.97
http://s824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/hortanica/?action=view&current=100_1530.mp4

Theres video 1…im still getting the launch thing down, and have a reaction time of ~1 sec…but oh well, the end is what i was happy about :wink:

My Time: 9.13
http://s824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/hortanica/?action=view&current=100_1529.mp4

Vid 2…me vs a local colt w/ 4g63 + awd swap. ive actually never met him before until tonight and we talked for a while, i may have a shop to go to for certain jobs now…
I dont know what he has in there, but my buddy was talking with him and all he said was he just put a new fmic core on, because his ebay one was limiting him to 350hp…

That and i had a passenger in teh car with me on that run, and we are both HUGE dudez lol.

I also made another pass with just me vs malibu w/ Nitrous and i beat him by a shit ton lol. no video but it was 9.07…

Overall im REALLY happy with tonight. my times werent as good as they could be, but considering im still learning how to launch the car, im running wastegate boost (15psi) and im on the stock evo tune and stock IC (i know, im getting an a2w kit but the guy i was gonna buy it off of stopped talking to me when i asked for his paypal lol)

3

Any updated pics of the car? Definatley a cool swap

4

Thats pretty neat. I never noticed this thread before. Winter plans?

5

I thought i put the build thread on mitsu-media in the first post, but apparently not - and by now theres A LOT of stuff thats happened/been done that i dont wanna copy it all over lol.

http://www.mitsu-media.com/showthread.php?t=11367

but as far as pics go - i dont really have anything new because the way it looks above is about how it looks today lol. ive been so focused on getting it running and running well that i havent even bothered messing with the paint/hood yet.

But a quick rundown as to whats happend since i posted this up (was longer ago then i though…)

Engine + Tranny bolted up into car
Wired in resistor pack for injectors + extended CAS plug
Exhaust bolted up
EVO ECU installed + configured to pass inspection and run with the stock dsm maf + inj
Replaced a blown exhaust manifold gasket (my stupid mistake - pics in build thread)
Started suspension/dual piston caliper swap
Fixed the radio/speakers/power antenna! (still sounds like shit though lol)
Fixed/found out i have keyless entry on the car
Pissed off the neighbors to the point where one hit me, and the other(s) came over and bitched at me
Broke the wastegate nipple off, so now its jb welded on until i get the hx35 in there
a shit ton more…

Coming soon is, hopefully, the A2W intercooler kit install, and 1600cc injectors/double pump install + e85 tune, but again that might not be until this winter/spring when i get the stroker motor done and drop that in.

Over all this is an awesome car, and completely worth the PITA that it was swapping EVERYTHING over, and as of now is actually really reliable (!) considering the work thats been done…its only left me stranded once, and that was because of the alternator, that sat for at least 2 years so i wasnt too surprised.

6

Pissed off the neighbors to the point where one hit me, and the other(s) came over and bitched at me

Needs more info… oh and cool swap!

7

It feels good making something nice from junk. Makes sure to take your time every step of the way, and it will pay off big in the end!

–mark

8

Other than drive it, i just ordered the pistons + rods for a 2.3l stroker motor and maybe an hx35 turbo. I wont get the new turbo until i see how the 20g responds with the stroker setup.

all thats really left is to find a machine shop who will port the head for the oversized valves/port job.

this was probably the stupidest thing that happened to me but since you asked:

For a while i was working days, so the only time i could really work on the car was at night (6pm to 2-3am)
My issue was, i figured since im out in the country, who cares if i start it and let it idle/rev it a lil to make sure everything is working.
Well, the first day i got it driving, i took my dad in the car up and down the road. (at this point ive only driven it up and down the road maybe a mile each way at the most) Also, with my dad in the car i knew i couldnt race it, but i floored it in 2nd so he could feel the torque/understand why i love the car. He sells new chevy and hates anything foreign so this was huge to me.

Well, anyways on the way back to the house, again going 50 in a 55 both ways with the top down, and its dark out and my headlights sucked at the time, i saw something in the road, so i started to slow down. it was walking back and forth from one side to the other…turns out it was a guy 2 houses down…so i slow down almost to a stop, he IMMEDIATELY starts screaming and bitching at me as im still moving complaining he has kids in his house and i need to fucking stop. So i put it in 2nd and started driving off, and he jumped over the car and smacked me in the back of the head…no joke. so i dropped it to first and sped off…my dad wanted me to call the cops but unfortunetaly i knew i was the kid, he was the adult, and it would be a father protecting his son so id still end up in trouble. So instead all night i kept doing passes in front of his house, and had my friends come over and do the same damn thing. Fuck him… btw this happened at 8pm. so the next few days i continue to do this just because, well i didnt care what happened at that point, and his wife kept standing at the end of her driveway and giving me some really shitty looks.

A few days later, im working on the car with some friends, and a red car pulls up, looks just like the car in the driveway of the guy that hit me…so she immediately starts yelling at me again “are you going to be racing that thing up and down the street all night again”…so im as much of a smart ass as i can…we go for a few minutes and finally she drives off…and pulls into a different driveway lmao…turns out she was a mom of one of the other families that lives there (out of the 6 houses that surround us, there are only 3 diff families…) So i felt bad and when i saw her pull in again i apologized and explained the situation of me getting hit and me thinking it was her…but she didnt care and was still a huge cunt so eff it.

Then a few days later, when i still didnt have power steering in the car, i would find a field and pull a wide u’ey, driving in the grass almost into a ditch. Well this guy pulls up in a 60’s vette, and yells at me for turning around in his yard…although this guy was kind of cool. he talked for a few minutes about the work ive done, and he appreciated it way more than i thought he would considering, but he just told me to do it in someone elses yard lol.

Now, while most of that might be legit complaints, the problem i had was NO ONE ever came over during the day when they saw me working on it, which i know for a fact they do since i can see all of them from my driveway and just asked me to not do that, or to be quiet when working on the car late at night. instead the one went to assault, the other went to being a cunt, and the other…well again he was ok so w/e. but even with the old lady, before she left she asked me ‘politely’ if i could “please keep it down when im working on the car”, so i said, just as politely…“absolutely, since you asked it that way i will definitely be sure to keep the noise down for you, have a good night”

It really does…looking back on everything, and seeing what has come out of the mess is really nice. it sucks it took 3 cars to make one nice one, but again it was completely worth it. As for taking my time, i am now. My big thing over the summer was i sold my ‘summer’ car to have this car…so i was rushing things. but now that i can see i did everything the correct way, when install the new motor, im going to go through the engine bay with a fine tooth comb and cleaning EVERYTHING up.

Thanks a lot for the comments guys, i really appreciate it!
Im just debating now if i want to hang on to the car for a few years, with the ammount of time/effort ive put into it or if i want to trade it for a 95-01 impreza 2.5rs w/ sti swap…

9

^lol, I see some points in that story. I feel the hit to the back of the head was alittle much. Oh well. Good to see a awd spyder though

10

thats kind of ironic that the “lifter tick” motor had a rod knock and “rod knock” motor had a lifter tick lol

too bad i didnt start parting out my car until after you started doing this build :frowning:

looks sweet!

11

(silver car) hey mike>>>> yeah>>>>the frame rail just cracked. lol good times with this build.

12

lol i can def see them being pissed, esp since the 4" exhaust isnt exactly ‘quiet’…but again if they had just made an effort to just come over and tell me…it wouldnt have escalated like it did.

when i finally took the valve cover off the 4g64 and saw 2 of the lifters were ‘loose’ i thought the same thing. But, from the minute i took it home i had a strong feeling it was just lifter tick, as the sound and characteristics were completely different then with the 4g63 block (it went up equal to revs, it didnt die off if you let off the gas, it didnt go away/sound different if you unplugged the injectors for the bad cylinder) but oh well, now i have a good donor crank for the stroker build.

I was also watching your threads VERY closely when you were parting them out, but by the time i had money most of the stuff you had that i needed was gone (specifically the 880cc injectors)

13

i remeber that yellow 2g back when it was stock and green

14

hahahah yeah that was a surprise when we opened the trunk and it was stock green lol.

15

So…i went to NYIRP today and got some (4) time slips, then had the chance to weigh the car!

First: According to the scales at NYIRP, the car weighs 3120lbs with a 3/4 tank of gas, no passengers, and full interior with no spare/jack…WAY less then i thought it would be.

Ill post up the time slips later, but by my last run (there were a TON of cars tonight) i Went 13.97 in the 1/4…1.9 60’, and trapped 96.2mph. not the worst for stock tune/boost/and trying to figure out how to launch the car on a prepped track.

i need to get this thing tuned asap+ larger injectors so i can run more boost.

BUT: Here is my dilemma…

Once i hit 13.99…apparently i need a helmet. Im ok with that. Its the 13.49 mark that im concerned with - for convertibles, anything below 13.49 i need a 5 point roll cage. At first, i was kind of excited, but now i dont know…lol as much as i want to have this car go quicker on the track, idk if i want a cage in there to ‘ruin’ the convertible-ness. What are your thoughts?

16

Alright - ive had a very productive past couple of days…but the result is me boosting 21psi now…which is fantastic btw :wink:

First - i ended up doing the axle seal, and man am i glad. it took me about 20 minutes to do from jacking up the car to getting it out…and what did i find when i pulled it out?
http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/hortanica/axleseal.jpg

i guess that explains why it was leaking…(it was warped, i ripped it when i grabbed it with pliers and pulled it out)

Then i went after my boost issue - the cheapo ebay boost controller i bought wasnt allowing me to hold more than 15psi…it was a bleader type so i figured it was just a crap one so i left it at wastegate spring…15psi lol.

So a friend had a turboxs ball+spring one that he let me borrow, and i thrw it in, and started driving around…right now its at 21psi with a 23psi spike…it knocks a little over 6500 but with the rain/weather, im not taking it up that high anyway (plus, the tourqe feels better then going fast anyways…)

http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/hortanica/880ccInjectors.jpg

Then today, ups dropped off the new injectors…so i put them in, set the latencies, flashed the new rom on and fired it up…worked perfect first time…

Also - i just picked up a set of 3000gt sl rims…the 7 spoke ones that weigh (from what ive read) ~20lbs (one said 19, the other said like 22 so im going with 20). they look terrible but for a 8" wide tire that doesnt rub on anything, and looks stock - why not. if anything they’ll be nice for some drag radials :wink:

17

So outside of my turbo blowing up and putting on the 13g…not much has happened. but since im starting to get packages for the next stage (happening feb 1st-ish) i figured id start putting these up:

got a present from UPS today…and man was it a heavy (and dirty) one. Picked it up for 185$ shipped, and there is no shaft play at all…spins freely, just needs a good cleanup. This is also going to be ran on my car pretty much as you see, with the internal gate and twinscroll t3 housing.



18

I like the Dr. Pep old fashioned cans… tastes delish too

19

Nice, keep us updated. I want to see a nice dsm build on here

20

i love the throwback stuff, but the dr pepper is awesome.

Hopefully this one will deliver…

The plan right now is to get the rust spots taken care of next week, then when we get back from the auto show the speed density ‘kit’ should be here, my head should be done and the cams should be delivered so the weekend of the 28th i can get this all on.

The only thing im not 100% sure of right now is who or how im going to do the o2 elbow/down pipe…