DJ's Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX Project

[D_Eclipse9916]

Thanks guys!

[CaptainHenreh]

He's on May also, at Hyperfizzy.

[D_Eclipse9916]

God I wish I could get more information on this car...

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[Mike]

God I wish I could get more information on this car...

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Did you say you wanted to race a spec class? I'm gonna guess that motor isn't made for extended use. One 24 hour race and a decade of sitting = probably worthless. Who knows about the other two motors... Might as well ask! I'll bet they'd take $10k for it considering how long it has just been taking up space.

Regardless, you'd be the ultimate DSM track pimp with that thing

[D_Eclipse9916]

actually mostly what I want to know about is aero and cooling and suspension parts.

I had a conversation with Adam that has made me think and im glad I got input from him...

IF I go ahead and build this motor, what happens when I misshift again or do something stupid? Wasted a lot of money, this is road racing after all, motors are expendable and shit can happen and I could lose oil pressure from something stupid and take out my freshly built motor.

Maybe I should just go ahead and go with a badass head, but leave the bottom end alone (if its fine) and spend the money into suspension and a good roll cage and start stripping the car for when I graduate to make a badass track car. Just go through thoroughly everything as much as I can before I graduate so when I graduate I can go out on weekends without having a half-assed car.

Just some food for thought.

Yeah Mike I want to race a spec class eventually, and the DSM will NOT be it most likely, as it really doesnt fit any class at all. I will be getting a spec car for that, the gsx will be the hpde/time trial whore.

[Mike]

That sounds like a good idea. With just head work, you'll be looking at a fraction of the cost and maybe *only* 300-350hp? That's still more than enough.

[WRXtranceformed]

That is a pretty good point about potentially blowing up another motor. Just do what your budget allows and what is realistic for you.

[Dave]

I'll second the head work and not a full build. Gets the car back on track sooner and doesn't cost as much. Of course, it's all speculation until we find out what exactly happened to yours...

[D_Eclipse9916]

A little old pictures, this was right before spring break. Took off the head and looked at everything. Intake valves bent on the head, some scoring on the cylinder walls, but the headgasket was perfect, even came off in one piece. But it will require a full build so ive got a few options.

Also I have decided before I put the car on track again I Will be putting in a cage if its around 1000 dollars. A 2000 dollar cage would be out of my budget at this point, so if thats what it takes for a good cage, thats out of my price range. Anybody's input on this? I want a 10-14 point cage that is structurally stiff, and has a harness bar but I want it done very well, preferably chromoly. Ive heard good things about piper motorsport's cages....


Here are some quick pics, got everything stored and taken apart that I took apart. Cams are lubricated and bagged, along with lifters, rockers, main caps, and all bolts involved in removing the head, all in nice little baggies clearly labeled for when I put her back together. Should have taken a picture of the baggies. Must be over 50 of them....








In this last pic you can see where the valves hit the pistons, in the other pi cs its hard to see...

[ScottyB]

wow, alot of life left in those cylinders judging by the cross hatching...thats cool to see.

so, junkyard block or a bore/hone?

[Andy]

My weldin rollbar was from Mitch Piper. He did a great job IMO. I would think if this is a track car, a rollcage is overkill and complicates things quite a bit. You can't drive on the street and you'll have to tow it to the track. I can't imagine a rollcage would be 1K if Mitch is doing it especially in chromoly. Chromoly requires TIG welding which burns more time which mean more money. My rollbar and seats/harness mounting was north of a 1K from Piper. A rollcage would also hurt the resale while a roll bar would help or at least, hurt less.

[Sijray21]

+1 on the rollcage if it's not going to be track-dedicated. a bolt-in or weld-in rollbar would be ideal for dual purpose. Be sure to schedule in advance if you decide to go with Piper - they book fills up quick. If i were going with weld-in, i'd definitely go with them.

[.RJ]

IMO, I'd leave the short block alone and just fix the head, the block looks pretty good given the miles and use - did you do a leakdown test before you pulled the head? If its not ported, then just pick up another head and toss it in and if it is ported then put some new valves and have a valve job done at a machine shop.

On the roll bar/cage I have to ask *why* do you want a cage with *10-14* chassis attachment points? I cant see why you would need more than 6-8, unless you start going through the firewall. Mild steel is just fine too - chromoly is going to be more difficult to work with, more expensive, and most cage builders dont use it. A 6 point scca legal cage (with all the other assorted bits like window net/mount, kill switch install, etc) will run you $2000-$3000 from piper, depending on the work done and how long it takes them. A weld in rollbar will be $700-800. You can get a bolt in rollbar from Kirk racing for $600 or so, and probably the best option since it can be removed later. I would not run a full cage on the street, it is a pain in the ass.

My $.02

[D_Eclipse9916]

IMO, I'd leave the short block alone and just fix the head, the block looks pretty good given the miles and use - did you do a leakdown test before you pulled the head? If its not ported, then just pick up another head and toss it in and if it is ported then put some new valves and have a valve job done at a machine shop.

On the roll bar/cage I have to ask *why* do you want a cage with *10-14* chassis attachment points? I cant see why you would need more than 6-8, unless you start going through the firewall. Mild steel is just fine too - chromoly is going to be more difficult to work with, more expensive, and most cage builders dont use it. A 6 point scca legal cage (with all the other assorted bits like window net/mount, kill switch install, etc) will run you $2000-$3000 from piper, depending on the work done and how long it takes them. A weld in rollbar will be $700-800. You can get a bolt in rollbar from Kirk racing for $600 or so, and probably the best option since it can be removed later. I would not run a full cage on the street, it is a pain in the ass.

My $.02

Not possible, as I said there is scoring on the block. I didnt perform a leak down, because it didnt matter, the car ran strong before I destroyed the valves, and pretty much from there I knew I was probably gonna build it. Ive been talking about building it for a while. Short block build including machine work is only gonna cost me about 1500-2000 cause I want the best bearings and good rods and pistons with the block bored/rehoned/hot tanked/balanced and a new harmonic balancer.

The head is stock, but I want to pick up something a little nicer, I think im gonna get an evo head and just throw some badass springs and retainers int here with the cams I already got. The manley springs and retianers should be able to handle 10,000 rpm overrevs. Our bottom ends typically dont have problems with overrevs..

As for the roll bar/cage, I wanted something I wouldnt have to upgrade int he future and I want something safe, the car easily has potential for 140-160 mph on the straightawways at summit main (On low boost on the small turbo I was hitting 120-130 by the timing tower). Soooo I was itching for safety. Definitely harnesses are in order. The car is gonna see VERY little street duty, at most a semester or two of random drives on the street till I get out of college. I walk to class so I dont need a car, and I dont have a job!

I wanted to use chromoly to save some weight, and I wanted door bars for protection, a halo for head protection and a firewall bar to help chassis rigidity. I could forego these for now, but I figured why not? I guess just to get the car on the road I could do an 8 point weld in roll bar.

Lol and you guys talk about resale value and being removed later....lol....Obviously you dont know how insane I am. This car will be kept forever, even if just a souvenir of the past when im older.


Thanks guys, seeing as how cost is prohibitive ill probably go extensive roll bar.

[.RJ]

Can you feel the scoring on the cylinder walls with your fingernail? It was likely there before you over revved it, and if it ran strong then i wouldnt say its causing any issue - you can still see the cross hatch on the scoring and it looks like fairly normal wear for the use and power it makes. Save the $$ for safety gear, cooling and brakes before tossing a ton of HP into it.

Chromoly doesnt weigh any less than mild steel, the only reason you save weight is that some sanctioning bodies allow a thinner wall tube when compared to a cage with mild steel.

If you want something to build off of for later, then have piper weld in a rollbar - they can finish it into a cage down the road, thats what I did with my integra. Rollbar while doing DE's and driving it on the street, then put the cage in it when it was a trailer queen. Cage tubes near your head while running around on the street isnt the best idea. Also consider the cost of having a good seat mount made, that will run you $200-300 with a slider. They're very easy to work with, and do great work and wont keep your car for weeks on end.

Whats an "8 point" rollbar anyways? 4 is fine (floor/rocker and rear shock tower).

[Andy]

Piper had my car for 2 days. Get them during lulls in the race season.

[Dave]

+1 for piper. We had them put a roll bar in the 240sx and when they put it in they said it would be easy to convert it over to a cage in the future.
If i were you, I would just have them make you a roll bar w/ harness bar, which will give you a large chunk of the rollover protection, provide an attachment point for your harnesses, and give the starting point to convert to a cage in the future. I will say that Piper was a bit expensive, but they do fantastic work and they don't waste anybody's time, so I will continue to use them. One of the coolest things is that if you are super-specific about where you want it, they can tie it in exactly where you want it; I would trust their judgement most of the time though, since that is what they do for a living...

[Andy]

I think boobies' weldin rollbar wasn't as expensive and it looks good to me. The guy was south of richmond though.

[Mike]

+1 for having piper toss in a 4-point rollbar. i have a bolt-in for autopower... i would not want a full cage even if the car only sees a couple days of street use. not worth the danger.

[Andy]

The Autopowers that I've seen are good for high volume models like Civic but are wretched for low volume models like MR2s.