Page 1 My Page
Page 2 National Gathering and Arkansas 3/S
Page 3 My old GT's
UPDATED 6/22/08
This page is a chronological history of my car starting from when I got it to the above date. If you have any questions about any of my mods or projects feel free to email me at marshallwb at comcast dot net
MOD LIST Current as of 6/22/08
Wiseco +0.055" pistons, DR650R turbos, PTE 550cc injectors, Denso 310lph Fuel Pump, Aeromotive AFPR w/ custom fuel lines, FP Hotwire, ATR downpipe, ATR catback, HKS SSQV, Apexi SAF-C, Apexi AVC-R, Apexi S-ITC, PST 2pc. CFDS, TEIN S spings, Fidanza flywheel, ACT clutch, Magnecore wires, 3SX control arms, speed bleeders, battery relocation, OZ Superleggera 18x9 wheels, Prosport gauges in-dash, Scanmaster 3, Kormex Tranny & T-case, Maximal T-case bracket, Krank Vents, Flex-a-lite fans, Boost Cooler meth. inj., Corbeau seats, DN intake and IC pipes
Here's the Story of My Car! There were only 293 3000GT's of the same color as mine. Morocco Pearl Red is what it's called I believe.
Your 1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 is one of 3693. It was built in 2nd week of 09/90 and it was the 346th post production car of that model to come out of the plant. There were 903 other cars of the model year made at the Nayoga plant before your car.
There are 248 other cars that were made with both the same interior and exterior color. There are 293 cars with the same exterior color and 958 cars with the same interior color.
Note: The production order is assigned based on the order of the serial number.
Other Numbers
Exactly Identical (*) 18
Mechanically Identical (**) 168
Same Model+Option Package 722
Same Model+Build Date 101
* Model, Interior & Exterior color, Equipment, Chassis
** Model, Equipment, Chassis
Here's the story of my car since i've had it!
I bought it on Thanksgiving Day in 2004 on eBay from a guy in Denver. The engine had 5 miles on it (not a typo) when I bought it. The car was driven to Fayetteville, AR where I picked it up and drove it back to Little Rock.
At night it looks like a jet cockpit!
The mods on the Car when I got it were:
-Remanufactured Crate engine including, new oil pump, water pump, all belts, all pulleys, tensioners.
-DR650R turbos (as in support 650hp)
-Denso 660cc injectors
-Denso 310lph fuel pump
-ATR downpipe & catback exhaust
-Magnecore competition spark plug wires
-DN polished y-pipe and intercooler piping
-Apexi S-AFC air flow converter
-Apexi AVC-R elec. boost controller
-HKS SSQ Blow-off valve
-Stillen Intake kit
-Corbeau racing seats
-Complete Aftermarket stereo w/ Sirius satellite
-Stage 2 clutch
Being a '91 I knew the car would need some TLC after I bought it, but I really had no idea of the amount of work that goes into modding/maintaining a 15 year old VR-4. In case you are wondering I took the 17" VR4 wheels off because they were beat up really bad and threw on some 16" 3000GT wheels that I had in the attic.
Dec 2004
I had no clue how to tune an engine like this and the car came with no tuning equipment so that was the first mission I had. Lot's of reading on the web and mainly 3Si.org I learned how to tune this beast. My first purchases for it were the Scanmaster 3 datalogger and Innovate Motorsports LM-1 wideband 02 sensor kit! I couldn't have chosen better tools!
Feb 2005
I took the car to a 3/S dyno day at FIS motorsports in McKinney,TX. With absolutely horrible tuning (extremely rich) and boost leaks she put down 339awhp and 336awtq at only 13.5psi of boost.
March 2005
Next mods were the vacuum hose reduction to get rid of useless stuff and the EGR blockoff plates. I also removed the intake plenum and front valve cover and painted them with Red Metalcast.
Rebuilt the Throttle Body with new O-rings
Intake System pressure tester made by me! Gotta do it!
After learning about how piggyback AFC's affect the car's ECU I purchased the Apexi ITC to retard timing for daily driving on pump gas. Before the ITC timing was so advanced I could only run 10psi without getting knock. After installing the ITC and pulling timing back about 10 deg. beyond 4000rpm I could raise the boost to 15psi with no knock! Everybody says TIMING=POWER but that 5 more psi of boost made WAY more power than 10 deg of ridiculously advanced timing. Before the ITC my max timing was about 35deg... YIKES! All because i'm running huge injectors for a piggyback.
I decided it was time to see what the car could run, so one cold March night I took the car to Centerville Dragway in Arkansas which is a 1000ft track (shorter than 1/4 mile). I put 3 gal of 104oct. gas and turned the boost up. My first pass I launched around 4500rpm and pulled a 1.84 60ft time and finished with a 10.1 @ 102mph. The AVCR said max boost was 18psi on the run. Next pass I launched a little harder and the clutch started slipping and went 10.3 @ 100mph. Next run, clutch was useless. So I knew I eventually had to upgrade the clutch before any more serious racing.
May 2005
The car has clear windows when I got it so I had to get them tinted dark.
June 2005
The factory ECS shocks w/ 100k miles on them were toast. New factory ECS shocks and TEIN S Tech lowering springs went on. To get the car ready for Gingerman Road Course and The Tirerack's Test Track at the 3/S NG.
The defroster vents were cracked in this car just like they always are on 1st gen's. So the dash came out and new OEM vents went in.
July 2005
The Week Before the 2005 3/S National Gathering!
My friend Jordan and I spent 20+ hours doing some last minute mods to get the car ready for the trip to Michigan.
-New OEM carrier bearings on the driveshaft
-Cross Drilled and Slotted Rotors w/ new ceramic pads
-SpeedFreak Racing Polyurethane Motor Mounts
-NGK copper non-resistor plugs
-Removed front bumper to clean out stock intercoolers and install mesh grille kit.
-Dropped the transmission to install a new 3SX/Spec stage 3 clutch and lightweight fidanza flywheel.
Here's Jordan under the car.
At the NG drag races I was having problems getting boost to go over 17psi (there was a huge boost leak coming from the rear IC pipe), So that's the boost I ran all day. My driveshaft was also getting very "clunky" in the low end and making bad vibrations over 65mph. Being 800 miles from home I was scared to launch too hard so I kept the launches to around 4500-5000rpm all day and my 60ft times suffered. I ran 7 passes in the 12's with the best being a 12.49 @ 113mph. Not too bad for only 17psi of boost and a bad driveshaft. I qualified for the AWD stock MAS class with a 12.7 and won my first race so I got Top 4 in my class at the NG!
Autocross at the Tirerack's test track!
August 2005
The motor sprung an oil leak on the way up to Michigan for the National Gathering so as soon as I got back to Arkansas I tore it apart. The leak was coming from a tear in the gasket between the oil pump and the block. So, I removed the timing belt, alternator, a/c compressor, oil pan, etc. to get to it.
While the car was down for that I put in a
PST Carbon Fiber 1-peice driveshaft.
It weighs 17lbs! the stock one is almost 50lbs
October 2005 My camera quit working about this time so no pics of this stuff right now.
-Changed spark plugs and did a compression text. All 6 cylinders were 150psi.
-Moved battery to the hatch.
-Put BOV in recirculation setup to help with stalling problem but it didn't help any.
December 2005
-Put in a new rear differential but it didn't help any with the slack in the drivetrain.
-Installed Stewart Warner electrical fuel pressure gauge.
March 2006
-New Aeromotive adjustable fuel pressure regulator with custom fuel lines.
June 2006
-FINALLY NEW WHEELS! Konig Villain 17x9 w/ Bridgestone Potenza's
July 2006
-I cracked the transfer case and all the oil leaked out so the bearings burned up. I bought another transfer case off 3si.
September 2006
-I returned the PST 1pc. carbon fiber driveshaft due to some vibrations at high speeds. The 2 piece shaft works great!
October 2006
-I launched one day from a stop sign and the clutch slipped really bad. When I went to shift into 2nd it just grinded and wouldn't go in. When I replaced the clutch i found that the clutch disc had practially welded itself to the flywheel. So after a new ACT clutch and new face for the Fidanza flywheel i'm back on the road. But... apparantly when I tried to shift into 2nd it destroyed the 2nd gear syncro.
-I drove w/ a bad 2nd gear for a few weeks then ordered a Kormex transmission and transfer case. I got them fully rebuilt and upgraded to 25 spline.
November 2006
-I got hit by a girl that ran a red light. Unfortunately the cop was a moron and believed the girl when she said she had a green light, so no tickets were issued and she got away with it and i'm stuck with a busted car.
Mid March 2007 one night arount 2am I was doing some pulls on the Interstate. I let off the gas around 150mph and hear a faint knocking sound. I knew instantly it was a rod bearing. I parked the car until I was done with school for the semester. This is the first motor I have ever rebuilt. When I pulled the oil pan I found tons of metal shavings. After tearing down the block I found this
It took all summer to get the parts in. I finished the rebuild in late August 2007. The new block has Wiseco 92.5mm pisons (.055" over stock). I used a used forged cranshaft out of a motor with no spun bearings and the rods from that motor. Had everything machined and balanced. The build included Clevite bearings, oversize head gaskets from 3SX, new oil pump, and all new 60k maintenance items.
I put an a new polished intake manifold, valve cover, and water neck from 3SX! I primed the motor out of the car by jumping the starter 3 times for 10 seconds each. On the third time oil sqirted out of the rear turbo feed line so i knew it was ready to go!
She fired up right away (after remembering to plug the MAS in) and still running smoothly.
November 2007 Body and Paint Job
I did most of the prep work myself. I removed nearly all the body parts that are possible to remove including door handles and all weatherstripping. I took the car to Maaco in Little Rock for the Paint. I got thier premium paint job which is just like the factory paint (base-clear). I paid for extra prep work and they charged more for painting parts separately. They made 3 trips through the booth to get all my misc. parts through.
Some things I change from stock: Gray strip in front and gray in rear were painted to match, painted headlight trim, '99 sail panels.
January 2008
I decided it was time to get some real gauges to monitor my engine's vitals. I got 3 ProSport gauges to put in place of the 3 in the dash. Oil Temp., Oil Pressure, Water Temp. Didn't need a boost gauge because my EBC shows that. I used a sandwich plate to mount the senders.
April 2008
Replaced the ball joints with some aftermarket ones purchased on 3Si. OEM ball joints are only available with the entire control arm.
JUNE 2008
The turbos had been blowing some smoke so I decided to get them rebuilt before the 2008 National Gathering in Memphis. The are the DR650's that were on the car before I bought it, so they have almost 40k miles on them. They were rebuilt by River City Turbo in Little Rock.
I also added some new Flex-a-lite fans and a Maximal Performance transfer case bracket.
Well that's where the Burgundy Beast is today.
Keep going! page two has some sweet pics!
Page 1 My Page
Page 2 National Gathering and Arkansas 3/S
Page 3 My old GT
