Overview

 

Yo,

My name is Jon. I have a 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse base model with the 1.8L 4G37. I know 2.0 is the way to go, but I love my car. I have HUGE plans for it.

 

I am also Admin/Founder of the newly established forum dedicated to the 1.8L 4G37,4G37Tuners. Please come check us out at http://www.4g37tuners.com/

 

I am also one of 3 Admin/Founders of the new tuner forum http://www.turboshack.com . Rather than specializing in one make or model, we cover all popular tuner platforms. We are new, so don't be turned away by the lack of info! We are workin' on it! Check us out and help make us the greates auto fourm out there!

Here are some pics of my car so far:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: The hood is popped in these pics, that is why it is mis-aligned.

I was recently in a bad accident and had to have the entire driver's side replaced and I also messed up my wheels pretty bad. The body work is done (As you can see), but I am still in the market for new wheels. Will probably go black this time around.

UPDATE 11/6/08: A couple things need fixed before I can get to modding. First off, The right CV Joint is bad, so I will be installing a new right CV axle hopefully Sunday. Also, my plugs or wires (Not sure which ones yet) are going bad, but I have reason to believe it is my plugs. Will be checking that out later tonight, when I get home from class and replacing what's necessary. Also, the infamous DSM tick (Lifter tick) has finally started to annoy me, so I need to order a revised set of lifters as well.

UPDATE 11/9/08: Car is down again. =( I went to replace the right CV drive axle and couldn't get the hub nut off. I have it socking in liquid wrench as we speak. To make things worse, When I was removing all my wheels to change over to my winter wheels, the lock-nut adapter that I have for my lock-nuts broke, so I have 1 wheel off, 1 wheel partly off, and 2 wheels still on. Sears Tire Center is closed on Sundays, so I guess I am looking for a ride to class tomorrow. _-_

'Tis the life of a DSM!= owner!

UPDATE 11/14/08: Not much of an update, but I added/changed a few things on some of my future mods lists.

UPDATE 12/3/08: Ok, so after like two weeks, my lock-nut ket FINALLY came in, yesterday! Unfortunately, I had to work all day and all night, so I had my dad pick it up and put on my winter wheels/tires while I was at work (Steelies w/ Glacier Grip II's FTMFW! lol) . Today I took my car to the local Exxon to have the water pump replaced along with both CV Axles. Normally, I would have done it myself, however, it is the last week of classes and finals week is coming up VERY soon, so I am stomped with homework and studying. I have also been working ALOT lately, so I have absolutely no time to work on the car. Anyway, I will have it back tomorrow. Can't wait! When I get it back I do have to clean the throttle body. That won't take long though.

UPDATE 12/4/08: Grrr. When I dropped off the water pump at Exxon today, Sai--the head mechanic there--said that the guy who was scheduled to work on the car called off, so I won't be getting hte car back until Monday.. >.> I hate people. _-_

UPDATE 12/5/08: Well, I got a call from Exxon today, and Sai (The head mechanic there) said that he checked the CV Joints and that they are fine, so I have no idea what could be causing the "clicking" noise around turns at low speed. Looks like I will have to do some detective work. :/

UPDATE 12/11/08: Well, I havent had any problems since I got the car, but now, with 180k on the clock, everything is hitting me at once. Here is a list of whats wrong with the car and what needs to be fixed before any mods are done (Maintenance > Mods)

1) Clicking noise when turning at very low speeds. I had the CV Joints checked and they are in perfecctly good shape, so my next guess is the wheel bearings. Any other ideas?

2) Rear Sway-Bar Bushings are going bad. They "creak" whent he weather is cold. Gonna replace these with Urethane Bushings, might as well. Lol

3) I either have a very slight misfire or my timing is off a tooth, I will have to look into this. If it is a misfire then It has to be my wires, since every other ignition piece is brand new (less than 200 miles), and I need to replace the wires anyway, so when I get paid I am gonna go ahead and get the MSD Super Conductor Wires.

Also, My interior is in pretty bad shape, so I ma also gonna tend to it before I get to modding.

Oh yea, and I updated my build lists.

UPDATE 12/17/08: Well, my Magnecore 8.5mm wires arrived today. Car is running great now. Next up: Headliner, Megan Racing Coilovers, and wheel bearing replacement! Yay. lol

UPDATE 12/31/08: Well, I bought my head unit yesterday, and spent literally all day installing it. Install was simple, as usual, however, The previous owner of the car left a few wires un-heat-shrunk (He could have at least taped them with electrical tape or something), so every time i put in the fuse it blue cause a few of the wires were hitting the metal racing and grounding them out. Took me forever to realize this, but finally got it fixed this morning. I also picked up some rear speakers (Since my car didn't have them) and I asked the people at circuit city what size the rears needed and they said "6x9's", so I trusted them and bought some Kicker 6x9s (The Pioneers I wanted were sold out ; well I got home and took the interior paneling off only to realize, they were the wrong size. Apparently the rears are 6.5" not 6x9's. >.> Gotta return those sometime today. :x
Also, I re soldered my heater wires (Long story), so I FINALLY have heat! W00t!!

 

The next few pages will list the various mods I plan to do and have done to my car. They will be organized by type.

UPDATE 1/03/09: Sry for the late updated, but the other day was very eventful. I FINALLY got around to installing my new sound system components. I used a Sony CDX-GT630 as the Head Unit, and installed Polk Audio DB651 6.5" speakers in the rear. I am going up Monday after work to pick up a set of Polk Audio DB401 4" in-dash speakers because the factory ones SUCK. I also ordered a Supra style paintable spoiler from Wings West. $296 shipped a nd should be here in 2 to 3 weeks. Once it arrives I will drop it off at ol' Rusty's place for some prep and paint, then after that is finished have him install it. He said he would only charge me $150 for everything, which is very generous if you ask me! Next up: New Headliner/sun-visor cloth (oing black rather than tan so that it matches the rest of the interior.. lol and once I find time I need to adjust the clutch. Also, I need to track down my weird drivetrain problem. STILL can't figure it out. :x

UPDATE 1/21/09: Sry I haven't updated for a while, but I have been REALLY busy with work and classes starting. At any rate, The wing came in a few days ago and I dropped it off at Rusty's for some prep and paint. Should be getting a call from him in a few days. Also, I took my car in to get the clutch adjusted and turns out the clucth disk, pressure plate, slave cylinder, master cylinder, and throw-out bearing are all shot! I got all the parts ordered and they have all arrived, so I will probably take my car out to the mechanic Saturday as I have NO time for wrenching right now with school and work. :x Also ordered a 2.0 N/A throttle body and once the spare lower intake manifold arrives I will ship it out to RP Fabrications and have them fab my up a Sheet Metal Intake Manifold (SMIM). That's pretty much it for updates as of right now.

UPDATE 1/24/09: Well, the Lower Intake Manifold I ordered came in Thursday. I will send it of to RP Fabrications on Monday and hopefully have my new shiny SMIM soon! :D Also, the tranny is being repair on tuesday, so I should ahve it back mid-day Wednesday! YAY!

UPDATE 1/27/09: Took my car to the local Mechanic last night. I should have it back sometime tomrorow, however, the weather got REALLY bad here today, so that might change if one fo the mechanics decides to call off tomorrow.. >.> Also, I didn't ship the lower intake manifold out today. I am waiting to get a little more money before I ship it off. It's gonna cost me around $10 to ship it, $275 for the manifold, and another $15 or so to have it shipped back. If you add all that up, it comes to $300 and I still have to pay Rusty $150 for painting and installing the spoiler (Which isn't done yet btw).

UPDATE 1/29/09: Shipped out the lower intake manifold today. Hopefully it gets to Ralph's shop soon so I can get my SMIM back ASAP! Still no word on the wing tho. Really wish he would hurry up. -.-

UPDATE 3/21/09: Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I have been REALY busy with Classes and work.

Unfortunately, the SMIM needed some modifications that I wasn't aware of. Apparently, I need to do a battery reloaction in order to get an intake pipe on the TB with the SMIM installed. Also, the Fuel feed like needs to be lengthened. To make matters worse, I have a head gasket leak! UGGH Since I have no time to do a HG swap until Summer hits, I am forced to pay for it to be done professionally. Because of this, I had to sell the SMIM I just bought! D: Oh well.. I will be taking my car to the shop for the HG swap on the 29th. Trying not to drive it much until then, just to classes and work. :x Once I get my car back from the shop, I will be doing a compression test to check the condition of the engine. If it checks out, I will be staring Stage 1 of the turbo portion of my build this summer (Woot!) If the compression is bad I will start Stage 1 of the rebuild portion this summer (Woot again!) lol Either way I win, so I'm not really worried about it. Haha I will check back with you guys after I get my car back from the shop. I probably won't get it back until the 1st or so tho, so don't be expecting anything too soon!

UPDATE 3/29/09: Well, my appointment for the head gasket replacement is scheduled for Tuesday. I have to take my car in to the shop Monday night. Finally I won't have to repeatedly fill the car with coolant! lol

UPDATE 4/1/09: Well, my car is still at the shop. Should be done tomorrow. Apparently I also had a cracked exhaust manifold. Wonder how that one got by me. Oh well, I just can't wait to get it back!

UPDATE 4/3/09: Well... More bad news... Apparently my head was cracked, so we had to source out a new head... Found a newly machined head with brand new internals for $225 locally. Just gotta wait for them to install it now. New estimated time of completion: Tomorrow. Blah..

UPDATE 4/4/09:
Got my car back from the shop today! Definitely notice an increase in power, especially in 3rd gear.

UPDATE 4/12/09: Not much of an update, other than the car is running great. Still need to put the new O2 sensor in, but other than that, i'm lovin' it! Can't wait till this summer when I can start going down the list of mods! :D

 

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!

 

UPDATE 4/20/09: Welp, got some bad news... Today while parked at work, a fuckin' back-hoe (You know, like a bulldozer-like thing) backed into my car.. fucked it up pretty badly. >.< Good newws is that their insurance is paying for it... *sigh* back to the body shop.. I am getting the wing put on too while it is there, btw. haha

Here are some pics:

UPDATE 5/22/09: Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. Boy have I got some info for you guys... First off, my car was hit TWICE in a month. BLAH! Total insurance money from both accidents is $2800 and should only need aorund $1500 to fix everything. That means I SHOULD be able to pocket around $1300! WOO! lol Just waiting on all the stuff to go through so I cna get my second check (already got the first one) then it will be off to the boddy shop.. AGAIN! In the mean time I just placed an order for a few things: STM SS -6AN filter to rail line, fuel labs 828 series -6AN Fuel Filter, and lastly, an STM fuel return kit! Shoudl be here about Tuesday. Can't wait! Ever since installing the o2 sensor, I have had a firecracker-like popping noise out the exhaust on deceleration at around 2200 to 3000 RPMs.. I have replaced the plugs, wires, and the distributor cap and rotor are less than 3 months old! This is what sparked the purchase of the fuel system upgrade. Other than that, I have no idea what to check! ANy ideas are greatly appreciated! I also am trying to find some time to take the front suspension apart to find the culprit cause the nasty click around turns (CV Joints are in perfect condition..) That's it for today!

UPDATE 5/25/09: Well, I THINK I fixed the loud popping noise out the exhaust. I was checking the gap on my plugs today in an attempt to fix the misfire issue. When I was replacing the plug wires on the distributor cap, I noticed that the distributor cap was VERY loose. I checked both the screws on the cap and found that the bottom screw was only threaded a couple threads! D:

After tightening the loose screw, and checking the top screw, I replaced the wires and took it for a test drive.

The popping noise SEEMED to be gone, however, it will have to wait until I go out today for a true test.

UPDATE 5/28/09: Wo, just realized I forgot to update this the other day. Well, on the 26th, I ordered a few things: SS -6AN fuel feed line (filter to rail) and fittings, Fuel Labs 828 Series fuel filter (-6AN in/out), and an STM fuel return kit (SS -6AN return line, fittings, and Fuel Labs 1:1 AFPR). The former two (Feed line and filter) came in today, but the fuel return kit won't be shipped for another 2 to 3 days due to the fact that STM didn't have any FPRs in the color I ordered (blue) in stock. Once that gets here, I will only have a few more pieces to order and my fuel system will be finished. :D

Here is a  pic of the stuff that arrived today:

 

UPDATE 6/02/09: Well, my 20 feet of -6AN SS line came in today from Summit Racing. Just waiting ona  few more things to get here then my fuel system will be pretty much buttoned up aside from injectors (which I can't install until I install the turbo and get a tune)

UPDATE 6/03/09: My fuel pump, rewire kit, and the fittings for my custom SS line came in today. Just waiting on the return kit and I can install everything. :D

UPDATE 6/14/09: Well, I am still waiting on my fuel return kit. Apparently the Fuel Labs FPR's are on back order. :/ Also, took my car to the body shop yesterday... Can't wait to get it back! Got a nice little surprise comin' when its out! ;)

UPDATE 6/17/09: Well, my STM fuel return kit came in today! WOOO!

They were even so nice to throw in a few suckers. XD Now I just need my car back from the body shop. _-_

 

 

UPDATE 7/13/09: WOOOO!!! Got it back from the shop just now!!! Here are some pics:

 

Spoiler anyone? :o

 

UPDATE 7/14/09: Ok, so Today after work, I made an attempt to put the SS fuel lines together. Well, apparently, I am COMPLETELY incapable of fooling with SS line, as I cut the shit out of my hands and got a NASTY ass blister on my right index finger. Even after all the injuries I STILL couldn't get them together! The line I was working with is too short now, sicne I screwed up and re-cut too many times, so I ahd to order another 10-foot section of SS line from Summit Racing. Should be here in a few days and I will give it another shot. This time I am gonna try the chisel cutting method, rather than the saw and electrical tape method. Wish me luck!

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that I found a nice set of EDM tail lights on the German Ebay (Do you know hard it is to navigate ebay in german? >.> lol) Who knows whenn they will be here, but I hope they fit when they do! I couldn't tell by the pics, but the corners look like they might be a bit different. If so, I will have to turn around and sell them. =( Oh well. They are rare as crap in the states, so I should have absolutely NO problme getting my money back.

UPDATE 7/19/09: So Friday I Replaced the old hanging headliner with a new gray material and deleted my sunvisors. Turned out really nice!

Here are some pics:

In the next pic, it looks a litle weird around the sunvisors, but I can assure you, in reality, it looks amazing. 

I need to order some new, grey clips from JNZ Tuning. Just haven't had the chance to do it yet.

UPDATE 8/29/09: 

Well, I got the Fuel Labs AFPR installed. I had to use the stock filter and stock sending line because:

1) I couldn't get the sending line to unscrew from the fuel sending unit to put the new SS sending line in.

2) because of #1, I couldnt use the fuel labs fuel filter w/o a -6AN Femal - Female fitting, and There is nowhere open today that sells them, so I will have to wait till I cna get up to morgantown or clarksburg (20 miles each way) to pick one up.

I am also going to spray liquid wrench (Dont have any PB blaster on hand) onto the sending line fitting every day until I run out and see if I can't seperate it in a few weeks.
Also, since I cant get this seperated, I can't install my Wally 255 fuel pump nor the rewire. =( Ghey.. >.>

I will try to get pics of the AFPR and SS feed line later tho. I have a shitload of hw that I need to get done before monday. lol

 

'Till next time!

 

 

Page 1: Overview (You Are Here)

Page 2: Turbo Build

Page 3: Engine/Exhaust

Page 4: Ignition

Page 5: Fuel

Page 6: Suspension/Drivetrain

Page 7: Exterior/Lighting

Page 8: interior

Page 9: Audio/Video

Page 10: Monitoring Equipment

Page 11: Shout Outs/Thank Yous