Run her hard. Run her fast. Trials and Tribulations of a DSM...

[DSMer]

This is the beginning of what I'd like to call my "DD" (daily driver) project. After long consideration of either an Evo VIII, WRX, or GSX... I eventually came down with the idea that yet ANOTHER DSM would be my ultimate demise(Although now I kind of wish that I had went with the Evo). Well I searched and found what was soon to be the victim of my tool box filled with various Craftsman and Snap-On specialty tools.

A 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 5Sp.

Now my original intentions for this car were simple. Nice ICE, good paint and a body kit(oh yes I do LOVE rice), slightly modified tranny, and a moderately modified engine, probably in the range of 300-400HP. Something that would give the average base Corvette a run for its money. Nothing like eating a V8 with 4 cylinders.

So I outfitted the car with the basic mods: Dejon intake and inter cooler piping, Greddy type RS bov, 3" exhaust and down pipe, 3"GM Maf for a blow-thru setup, Big 16G Turbo, 680cc injectors, 255lph fuel pump, and an Apexi AFC for fuel trims.(Of course I have a datalogger)

I took the car over to my buddy's shop, Strictly Modified, and had him put in an ACT2600 clutch and a ACT aluminum flywheel. (Yeah I could have done it myself but I hate clutch jobs and without a lift or tranny jack they are a PITA). Well with the car all put together and dialed in, I decided to take a trip to the local drag strip. Pull a few times and see what the car was really made of.

Well my best past of the day was 12.596 @112 MPH


I decided to swap out the Big 16G and put on a 50 trim turbo and.... well I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The piston in cylinder #1 is clearly damaged

Ever seen a burned exhaust valve this bad? I Have!

Yeah... so moral of the story... Don't run dangerously high boost on an engine with stock internals. More importantly if you swap in a turbo from another persons car make sure that their wastegate actuator is set for YOUR boost. Haha.... I didn't even make it halfway down the track before my CEL came on and my car started spitting back.

So what happened after that? Well I put the car on a U-Haul trailer and took it back to my house. After removing the piston and valves I realized that I could salvage that cylinder. Yeah I know most of you are saying "why don't you pull the block out and take it to a machine shop. Well if my car was sitting in a garage all day it wouldn't be a very effective Daily Driver now would it?

So what next? Replace the pistons, throw on some ARP head studs, a cometic head gasket and have a nice day!

I don't know why I installed the studs before removing the pistons. It was pointless as the cylinders had to have a light hone before I installed the pistons so they came right back out. Silly me

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the pistons being installed, but I didn't have anyone to take pictures(my buddy's all left) and you can get really side tracked setting ring gaps and what not if you're taking pictures all the time. Trust me the last thing I need is ring flutter.

All Done!

Well the car is up and running fine. As it is a daily driver I don't plan on doing anything else as extreme as running it down a quarter mile at the moment. However what I do have in store for the next project is:

2.4L 4G64 Block
Wiseco Forged pistons @ 8.8/1
Crower I-Beam Long Rods
Garrett GT30R

Who needs to stroke when you can replace the entire block!?! A 2.4L DSM. Good torque and a fast spool. I'll keep you guys updated on that build.

[DSMer]

Just some extra pictures.

[newyorker]

Nice stuff...you doing the next setup in a 1g or a 2g DSM?

[DSMer]

Originally Posted by newyorker

Nice stuff...you doing the next setup in a 1g or a 2g DSM?

I'll do the next setup in the same car. I've been wanting to do a stroker DSM for a while but I never wanted to pay the money for a stroker kit. Well I've found a way around it and for a hell of a lot cheaper.

I can get a 2.4L 4G64 Galant engine and crank from a junkyard for $50 bucks! . It matches up to a 4G63 head with two simple exhaust/intake gears that most DSM shops sell for $20/piece and a 4G64 timing belt.

With forged pistons and rods at about $400 a piece, I can easily build a higher displacement DSM long block for under $1000. Even with basic bolt-ons I would easily be in the 250-300HP range. And people wonder how those SRT-4 guys can run so fast on the street. 2.4L Turbo engines have a lot more low end torque.

Even at a long and hard glance you wouldn't even be able to tell its a 2.4L block. So at the local hangout I can pop my hood and an Evo or STi guy might want to challenge me thinking he has me covered. Well... lets just say he'll be in for a surprise and probably accuse me of using nitrous...

But knowing me I'd probably put something stupid on my license plates like
2 4LTRS. Again as I said. I do LOVE rice. Nothing like showing off how big your engine is on your plates.

[Spanky2324]

Nice job dsmer. I plan to do about the same mods as you when I have money. Thing is I'm gonna add a 272 hks cam into the mix. I don't want nothing crazy because it's the only car I have. When I do pick up a commuter I plan to do a lot more to the engine.

[Enthusiast]

Is the Galant motor a 6 or 7 bolt motor? Is it prone to crankwalk?

[DSMer]

Originally Posted by Spanky2324

Nice job dsmer. I plan to do about the same mods as you when I have money. Thing is I'm gonna add a 272 hks cam into the mix. I don't want nothing crazy because it's the only car I have. When I do pick up a commuter I plan to do a lot more to the engine.

Cams are something on my last list of things to do. I'm not a fan of irratic idles so I'll only convert to aftermarket cams when I'm desperately trying to reach my 400-500HP goal.

You can modify your daily driver. If you're good with a wrench any project can be undertaken on the weekend.

Originally Posted by Enthusiast

Is the Galant motor a 6 or 7 bolt motor? Is it prone to crankwalk?

The Galant motor is a 7 bolt motor. Anything with a crank can be prone to crankwalk. However there are very few reported cases of the 4G64 walking..

[Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by DSMer

I can get a 2.4L 4G64 Galant engine and crank from a junkyard for $50 bucks! . It matches up to a 4G63 head with two simple exhaust/intake gears that most DSM shops sell for $20/piece and a 4G64 timing belt.

With forged pistons and rods at about $400 a piece, I can easily build a higher displacement DSM long block for under $1000. Even with basic bolt-ons I would easily be in the 250-300HP range. And people wonder how those SRT-4 guys can run so fast on the street. 2.4L Turbo engines have a lot more low end torque.

Even at a long and hard glance you wouldn't even be able to tell its a 2.4L block. So at the local hangout I can pop my hood and an Evo or STi guy might want to challenge me thinking he has me covered. Well... lets just say he'll be in for a surprise and probably accuse me of using nitrous...

But knowing me I'd probably put something stupid on my license plates like
2 4LTRS. Again as I said. I do LOVE rice. Nothing like showing off how big your engine is on your plates.

A motor swap and youll only be pushing 250-300hp ahahahaa

[Spanky2324]

Originally Posted by Enthusiast

A motor swap and youll only be pushing 250-300hp ahahahaa

Thats awhp to you sir. Hey you know what I see in this thread????? Give up? It's a timeslip something you don't have. I don't know what you think but I know a lot of people respect dsms for there power that they put down. Sure there money pits at times but when they run they RUN.

[DSMer]

Originally Posted by Spanky2324

Thats awhp to you sir. Hey you know what I see in this thread????? Give up? It's a timeslip something you don't have. I don't know what you think but I know a lot of people respect dsms for there power that they put down. Sure there money pits at times but when they run they RUN.

Don't attempt to provoke needle penis. He knows absolutely nothing about anything other than his own little world in which his Camaro "supposedly" runs 11's. You'll come across many of these people online. They claim a lot of things with little or no proof to back it up and often lack the proper knowledge to completely lie about the things they claim they are capable of.

Originally Posted by Enthusiast

A motor swap and youll only be pushing 250-300hp ahahahaa

Hmm.. a 2.4L Motor pushing 300HP. STOCK WOW... someone is definitely unaware of ANYTHING that involves good mechanical work and engineering.

Congratulations Piss Ant, you've proven yourself once again!

[What]

I love 97-99 GSX's. My 99 GSX was the most memorable car I've ever owned.

I never modifiied mine....F*CK....and the best I ran was a low 14. I only ran it 3 times and that was all in one day. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Inygknok]

Damn DSMer, hadn't seen you in a long time. Still living up to the username I see .


Btw, shame on you for overboosting the car *slap*

[DSMer]

Originally Posted by Inygknok

Damn DSMer, hadn't seen you in a long time. Still living up to the username I see .


Btw, shame on you for overboosting the car *slap*

I tend to make common errors from time to time. Its a problem with us "youngfolk" .