*Mods, figured I would put it in here as my old thread was in here as well. You can move it to the Interior/Exterior section if you think it is better suited*

Well guys, the fixing of the eclipse has begun (about a month or so ago). I figured I would make a thread to let everyone know what I have been up to. I made a thread about hitting the deer back in january and got my talon instead of fixing the eclipse. Well, after all these months, the talon can't fill the shoes of the eclipse and I am selling it and fixing the eclipse with the money. I have too much love, history, and memories with the eclipse that I can't just let her sit and rot. Here are some pics of the before, after, and progress I have made getting her back on her feet. I am waiting for body parts to come in and then she will go to the body shop to get straightened out.

Before:






Aftermath:






Thought it was going to be a parts car:


But couldn't do that to her, removed A/C and P/S since components were damaged:


Getting it all back on the car (suspension, interior, etc):


Current Engine Bay pics, waiting for more parts to come in:




Valve cover is more darker than it appears. Color is called "Cast Coat Iron" and looks gunmetal-like. Any comments or critizism welcome. Thought I would let you guys know what was up with me lately haha.

Also another update, I hooked up the battery and started her up for about 10-15 sec to get some oil circulating. Took a few cranks, but she eventually came. It was an awesome thing to be able to start her again after 6 months of sitting. No oil leaks either were seen from the back of the block so I did a good job this time with the oil lines haha.

hhehe after I read this. I went out washed my car and took some pics. Some motivation for you I love the green color. Its rare here in Hawaii only seen one here in 3 years.

Mike, thats nice to hear. Another 2gnt saved from the junkyard!

Originally posted by goalie40
hhehe after I read this. I went out washed my car and took some pics. Some motivation for you I love the green color. Its rare here in Hawaii only seen one here in 3 years.

Wow, she looks very nice. Unfortunately, my bumper and possibly hood won't be painted green for a while. I'm going to see how much the shop will charge to spray them, but if they are too expensive to do, I will have to wait on it :(

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
Mike, thats nice to hear. Another 2gnt saved from the junkyard!

Yes, I couldn't just junk this car. The body, for the most part, is in great shape. Not a lot of rust etc.

Originally posted by goalie40
Its rare here in Hawaii

Just had to throw that in so we could all be jealous :P Nice car

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
Mike, thats nice to hear. Another 2gnt saved from the junkyard!

Woohoo!!

Looks good Mike. I'm assuming there wasn't any major structural damage since you said it is in good condition? Sorry to see that that happened but good luck getting it all cleaned up and back on the road!

Edit - I love our color green as well :) just wish I could have a fresh paint job to bring out the real beauty... Mine is fading in some areas and the clear coat is chipping a little in others.

Originally posted by chris712vt
Looks good Mike. I'm assuming there wasn't any major structural damage since you said it is in good condition? Sorry to see that that happened but good luck getting it all cleaned up and back on the road!

Yeah, pretty sure frame is fine and only thing really messed up is the upper section of the radiator support bracket. Hopefully it won't be much work at pulling it back to spec. I'll be bringing it in probably late next week or early the week after for estimate on it and get it fixed.

Here are some pics I snapped tonight quick. Tried to get a few showing the damage to the upper radiator support piece. Interior is basically done. Going to grind down the downpipe welds tomorrow finally as well and make it look purdy.







Pretty Radiator


Piping, battery, etc.




Anyone have a cupholder, change holder/ash tray in black or grey???

damn you went the long way around with the oil feed didn't you LOL

Originally posted by cs82685
damn you went the long way around with the oil feed didn't you LOL

Yep, I have two 26 in. lines hooked together. I could have gone the short way had my one line been about 4-5 in. longer.

{Funny how a deer caused all that damage.}

Ironic because I've been bugging Mike ever since he wrecked it to dump the Talon (sorry Driggs) and fix up the Eclipse. The day has come!

Originally posted by cs82685

Originally posted by goalie40 Its rare here in Hawaii

Just had to throw that in so we could all be jealous :P Nice car


Yes :) just wait till I post a pic of my back yard I live on a golf course :)

Well today it seemed like christmas here at my household. Got 3 packages in today for the eclipse. Here are some pics of what I got:

Tsudo 3" Catback exhaust






95-96 Headlights (Insides blacked out, thanks Paul/Velocita Paola!)


Bar and Plate FMIC (thanks BurnBarfield!)


Comparison between new and old FMIC


Old FMIC tube and fin design :thumbsdown


New FMIC Bar and Plate design :thumbsup lol


Well I am really excited to be able to throw all this stuff on. It's almost ready to be towed to the body shop to get the front straightened. Just need to install my speed sensor and reinstall the battery, intake piping, etc. and it's ready! Questions, comments, critizism welcome :)

I'm assuming you'll be using the 95/96 front bumper?

Sweet dude, it is always a wonderful sight seeing expected cardboard boxes in front of your door.

Originally posted by saikou
I'm assuming you'll be using the 95/96 front bumper?

Yep, I'll be going with another Certi-Fit bumper that is the 95-96 style. $35.75 brand new replacement. I liked the fitment of my 97-99 one from them so I am sure I will like this one also.

what does the other side of the fmic look like? if it looks ok and pressure tests fine, i may buy it from you.

Originally posted by kelvinb1
what does the other side of the fmic look like? if it looks ok and pressure tests fine, i may buy it from you.

I'm sure it still holds pressure, but the other side is kind of in bad shape, here are some shots of the damage:

UPDATE

OK guys, car is going to be DRIVEN to the bodyshop today :D

Hopefully I will have it all back after fixing the bodywork and alignment, etc. mid next week. I'm pretty excited to get it all finished up. Turbo isn't all hooked up yet because I can't mount up the FMIC yet, so it just has the short ram intake part hooked up. Here are some of the pics I just snapped before the driving it:

Just went and looked at it from leaving work about 20 min ago and it looked very pretty. It's done at the body shop and it will need to be taken about a block away (30 ft) to an alignment shop to get an alignment done and replace a couple suspension components and then she's all done :D (besides installing the full exhaust and mounting intercooler). Hopefully I can have it completely finished tomorrow night. I am so excited. I will make sure to take some pics of her when I get it back.

Hey guys, got the car back yesterday from the bodyshop and mechanic shop and it looked pretty good. The bodyshop didn't do that great of a job straightening, but I made it all work after some adjusting and bending of my own. Mounted the FMIC and new bumper and finished up the exhaust and it sounds and works great. Turbo spools up a lot faster now than the talon since the power steering and a/c has been removed and I have a lot free'er flowing exhaust to help with spool time. It does smoke a bit at idle sometimes (after sitting for about 15-20 sec) and has a hard time starting up after sitting for a while. I am trying to run down the tank all the way down and then fill it up with fresh 92 octane and maybe some fuel injection cleaner or something as soon as I can. Not sure if older gas can contribute to the "problems" I am having, but will find out within the next day. Here are some pics of the finished product, I am very glad to have the car back and running:











I have a lot of room now! haha


Thanks to everyone who kept up with my progress.

nice to hear Mike. Glad everything looks good (for the most part). I hope to be making a 'Finished' thread at some point during the next few days. Hopefully only a few more hours and I'll be good to go.

:thumbsup!!!!!!!!

looks good

Congratulations dude! :thumbsup
Have fun with the car... and watch out for those damn deer. :P

Way to go, man! :thumbsup This calls for a :cheers!

Always good to see somebody bring one back like that.

Smoking at idle is a sign of tired valve seals, imo, but enjoy driving the car for a while before you rip into it again.

Originally posted by DR1665
Way to go, man! :thumbsup This calls for a :cheers! Always good to see somebody bring one back like that. Smoking at idle is a sign of tired valve seals, imo, but enjoy driving the car for a while before you rip into it again.

Thanks a lot Brian :thumbsup

It doesn't constantly smoke at idle. It will puff out some smoke once in a while, but today it really hasn't at all. I was thinking it was valve seals before I hit a deer because it would like to puff once in a while also, but we will see what happens in a few more days.

It is good to see that someone else is obsessed with their ride.

I am sure there is some car hating woman somewhere shaking her head and jealous over why you put so much time and effort into it.

Glad to see it finished. I bumped into this thread a while ago and was wondering what was up. Good job and thanks for not giving up on the car. Every time a dsm gets junked, god kills a kitten.

Look into those deer whistle things. I dunno if they work but i'm def buying a set (or four, haha) to hide under the car or something. Deer and other largish animals are EVERYWHERE where i live. Haven't hit one yet but if i didn't have bad luck i'd have no luck at all.

I am thinking about trying something to put on the car to let deer know I'm coming. I haven't driven on the road where I hit the deer while it is dark out since then.

any reason you decided on the 95-96 front this time? i'd get the rear too if you leave it that way, the lines always seem to flow funny to me with the bigger bulky rear and the slim front, looks like you snagged a green hood though thats a plus =)

Originally posted by R34Eclipse
any reason you decided on the 95-96 front this time? i'd get the rear too if you leave it that way, the lines always seem to flow funny to me with the bigger bulky rear and the slim front, looks like you snagged a green hood though thats a plus =)

Well, he decided to go ahead with the 95-96 front because he needed new headlights after the accident and velocitapaola (paul), happened to have a set of 95-96 headlights he cut him a deal on. So since he now had a set of 2ga headlights he needed a 2ga bumber to match.

Jeez... I guess they'll make a forum announcement for just about anyone these days.. :-)

Congratulations on getting the car up and running again, Mike. I don't blame you for taking the path you did -- no matter what they say, a Talon isn't the same as an Eclipse (send me hate mail).


-http://www.symtechlabs.com/-

Nice work man. Lookin good.

Originally posted by VelocitaPaola
Jeez... I guess they'll make a forum announcement for just about anyone these days.. :-)

:P Hey now haha. I thought it was very cool to see my name on the main forum page, made me feel kinda special :D

dsmtuner1 nailed it on the head for the reason why I went 95-96 front-end. I plan on eventually going for the 97-99 front-end again down the road so the rear bumper will stay.

your on top of the first page... feel special??

i remember when you got into the accident... F"n deer...... if i were you, i'd buy a shotgun and a hunting license and have at em...

venicen anyone???

Originally posted by vegasdsmr
your on top of the first page... feel special?? i remember when you got into the accident... F"n deer...... if i were you, i'd buy a shotgun and a hunting license and have at em... venicen anyone???

Yes I do feel special haha, it's an honor. I don't own any guns, but want to buy a handgun when I turn 21. I might get a shotgun down the road and go hunting (never have) as it may turn out to be fun actually :shrug

Nice breather bottle.