OK so heres my delima. Im not a seasoned mechanic but ive been under cars fixing and breaking stuff since I was 12 (im 28 now). After helping a friend build my 73 Chevelle SS (i worked the wrench he told me what to do and most of the time why) I decided that I would like to drive a tuner since its more my style.

SO I sold the chevelle (it sucked gas bad average 9mpg@ 2.69 a gal). And I bought a 95 eclipse GS power everything no dents no rust runs fine 145K on the dial. Has some normal 10 year old car issues like lil smoke at idle sunroof missing a cple parts and windows only seem to leak when going through the touchfree carwash (at which point it looks like a waterfall inside the car, I found out the hard way on way to work one day).

Now I did a couple of things here and there to make it known of my intentions for the car. I changed out the foggy headlights and taillights for some ebay JDM Euros with black backs. Then I stuck a ebay short ram on there for less than quicklube wanted for a stock air filter. The exhaust manifold had a crack in it and so again poor boys buget I went to ebay and got a megan stainless header 4-2-1 and downpipe and Megan N1 dual exhaust.

The breaks squeaked so walla you guessed it ebay picked up some brembo drilled and slotted rotors + new pads.

so far ive done it all myself easy stuff.

I read this forum and DSMtuners and DSM registry religiously.

I have done a compression check it went something like 180 180 205 180.

timing light was perfect but seemed to jump a bit on #3 but dont see how thats possible so im guessing it was a connection issue with the light.

Now I want to rebuild the engine since its had some stuff replaced on it already and I dunno what all has been done and not sure if it was done right other than it runs and I drive it.


I would like to get in the 300WHP range with the engine build then do more later as I can whore myself out to get more cash.

SO that being said what do you suggest as a shopping list to build my 420A in that direction? The more info the better since this is a learning project for me as well as fun.

Im trying to find a shop that will let me help do the work or me do it them slave drive but no bones so far. (anyone wanna come to my house and rebuild an eninge with me? +) ).


Later plans for engine is star turbo kit, probably a ECU+ or a Megasquirt. Mebbe an AEM if I hit lottery. Walboro 190 with rewire since the turbo will come later as will the SAFC and I hear the 255 over runs the stock rail and etc... without more supporting mods.
Eventually new intake mebbe venom dont hear good stuff about the OBX intake.

Anyhow this is my book so far thanks for reading and lemme have any info you can toss at me and why. Goal rebuild my 420A 300WHP range.


-James Hayes

sigh...

Ok take everything , well most of what you read on tuners LIGHTLY. The Crap I read on there kept me away more then its had me there.

Let me get this straight, you want 300HP all motor? Good luck, not the first, Theres been guys that have put down some good ammounts of time, know how, and money. Only to never acheive it.

My suggestion, Build for boost and suffer NA for now, or go for slight gains now and less boost later.

So whats this about the 255 OVER running?

as for help, just ask, There should be someone near you willing to help ya. Heck If you wanna fly down here Ill help.

seriously though, some of theese guys will be there, just mention beer or food or girly mags( with girls in em...that is, preff nude) and you will have a mini meet in no time.

Member # 751


FOUNDER of the Central Cali chapter of 2GNT!
(I got kicked out after I refused to go Cow tiping) - Hehehe you know who this is for

whats a good range to try a build for on a 420A? I know the 2.4 neons are in the 230 range.

As for beer and mags not a problem Id buy a keg to get to build my own engine. +)

Just something about being able to do it yourself rather than drop it off at some dorks shop and pay 500+ to have it done not really knowing if any of the parts you ordered were put in or if they lenched em. Plus the more I do myself I feel more in tune and connected with the car. (im wierd like that +)

well if your planning on going turbo i would suggest building your bottom end for turbo use. Check out dynoflo.com they sell some low compression pistons and rods for what i found to be the cheapest around. Check out the classifieds on here, you can usually get pretty good deals on there to. Your off to a good start by replacing the broken stock parts with performance parts. if your gonna spend the money might as well replace it with something better than stock

"status as of now " busted420a powered by: 25g, crane cams valve springs retainers, ported head, ported manifold, oversize valves, 60mm tb, je pistions eagle rods, total seal rings,afx pulley, aem cam gears, spearco fmic, turbo xs bov, msd coil and wires, craptech

you mentioned doing some minor repairs on your car, and now wanting to rebuild, to bad your not in florida i need a neibor like you, but for real ive done alot to my car and i done it all from info on this site b4 2gnt i had a 95 gs that the timing belt went out on i gave the car away, knowing what i know now i could have 2 really nice 2gs but you live and you learn, you said your car has 145000 miles on it, when was the last timing belt done? should have been done around 120 but if your not sure and it wasent done your playing with fire, that belt snaps and youll have to rebuild anyway, i just did mine at 112000 and the belt was scary the strings were already showing, back on track, if your looking for power most on here will tell you dont waste your money on mods, someone on here quoted first mod should be a turbo kit, and it is so true, i have thousands and a bunch of hours into my car in aftermarket parts and if you take a stock rs just like mine and add just 3lbs of boost it will smoke me with no other mods plus alot of the n/a mods you purchase are no good anymore once you go turbo, if you got the money do it right the first time, build your bottom end with forged internals and boost her, but seriously your compression numbers are ok the one cylinder was kinda off but all across it looked ok if your gonna go all motor than you need to do things that will aid you later ex. p/p intake manifold , p/p head, bigger bore throttlebody, cold air intake, exhaust, and as ive just recently learned by doing it and the largest power gain n/a so far for me was the afx underdrive pulley, but you could go with a cheep ebay one, its the only mod ive done with a noticable difference. good luck and i really believe you should be able to do your own work in your home garage with the right tools and this site, and the bible (chilton manual) im just the bottom end short of doing my entire engine and i did it all myself with the help of my wife and no air tools.

98 RS: Mods: Custom Stage 2 Turbo kit , 55mm throttle body, gutted cat, evo cat back exhaust, p/p intake manifold,p/p Head, af-x underdrive pulley, B&M short throw shifter,Built bottom end Je pistons eagle rods 8.8:1 compression.





Status:Up and running again! nice new paint

Custom stage 2 hahn turbo kit
Hahn Super 16g turbo (ceramic coated)
Hahn manifold (ceramic coated)
Hahn Downpipe assembly
Hahn intercooler piping smic
Hahn oil line kit
Type s bov
2G Gsx smic
walbro 255 fuel pump
Synapse missing link
Vortech s-fmu
NGK Bkr7e11 Plugs
A-pillar w/boost, a/f, oil pressure gauges


New Addition: 2007 Eclipse GT 6 speed

amen to that id kill to have some more DSM people around here but 99% of the people around here are pay someone else to do it honduh owners.

I go downtown and I cant count how many civic, accord, or celica gt's on the strip. hey btw whats up down there in florida with DSM's? I look on ebay and its like DSM heaven for pennies. 98 RS 78K miles stock not a scratch ~ 3800.00 99 GSX 101K not a scratch 4690.00. Im tempted to sell mine and walk to florida to drive one of them back +).

When i bought mine it was the ONLY eclipse forsale for 350 miles. I checked newspapers, ebay, classifed online, you name it and found mine at a second hand car theifs lot (dealer).

Its rough around the edges but in good shape for its age. wonder how much it would cost me to take a bus down there and drive back on current gas prices. we are seeing 2.70 a gal up here for the cheap stuff already.

Id like to get my hands on a GSX for the AWD but im a really big fan of the 420A ... decisions decisions +)

-James Hayes

-walbro wont hurt your stock fuel setup(im NT and have had the walbro 255 in for about a year)
-after market intake is ricerony(does nothing a stock ported intake wont do and costs more)
-good to see you got the sort ram
-slotted rotors rock (if you care about rims, or have any, get ceramic pads. theres alot less dust)

Going all motor isnt a bad idea. Alot of your AM parts will get thrown away (or sold) when you go turbo. But mainly thats just a header/dp and that short ram. if you plan it right and watch out for good deals you can get the best of both worlds. If you really want to learn, then squeezing the most out of a NT 420a is how the first 2GNTers did it. And it is a plus to know your engine exstremely well before going turbo.



That is investing alot of time and slightly more money. But in the long run you'll have a better 420a under your hood than most turbo guys

Thats my take on things. I'm sure Driggs can expound upon those thoughts. He is balls to walls all motor with expectations of turbo.

As for me I'm still undecided, just wanted you to know the real deal before turning your back on all motor. It's not the shortest way to low numbers at the track, but if you want to build your knowledge before you build your car then all motor is def the choice.

Oh and welcom to the site. from one newb to another, use the search button as much as possible.

I figure since I cant stop fixing the damn thing, I'll just create more problems to work on. The stock pile has begun. Parts PArts PARts PARTs PARTS!!!
I'm a novice listen to what I say and make your own conclusion. If I'm wrong tell me and I will learn. Thanks be to the 2gnt Gods may they grant me turbo and fruits of the Earth. Amen.

If the car's running good, I wouldn't really worry about it now. Those compression numbers look okay, with the exception of the spike.

If it's your only car, I'd save my money until you have to rebuild, not just cuz you want to, due to the down time.

You're not going to get very far NA, I know, I tried. The fastest I got was a 15.26. I slapped a NX 65 shot (we played with the jets, not sure of actual shot, but I know it was less than 75) on there and ran a 14.71.

You could rebuild it now, going with forged rods (~$325), forged pistons, go 10.5 compression (~$450), new oil pump, water pump, machine the block, and be done fairly quickly. You could also throw in a set of Crane 12's or Crower 2's ($250~400), adjustable cam gears, stainless valves (I'd go +1mm oversized, but stock are fine), crane or crower valve springs (~$150), Port & Polish the head & intake, 55mm TB, and you'll have one hell of a NA machine that's still able to be turbo'd.

You could go 8.8 compression, but it's slow NA. The 10.5 compression will be better for NA and it will handle boost, but it's a little more tricky to tune. If you crawl before you walk, you'll be fine.

If you go with the megasquirt, you'll have full tuning capabilities and I'm sure you'll hit your mark of 300 whp.

~Luke
Facebook
1969 Cougar - 11.91 - 380HP
2007 GSXR 750
1999 OZ - SOLD - 15.26 NA - 14.71 on 75 shot

yeah i gues dsms are cheep here i bought my rs with 70,000 miles on it for 2,500 and it was bone stock 1 owner female. most gs-t's go for around 3,500 but gsx's are rare to find and when you find one its a 95 as for 420a i dont see alot of them here i know theres a whole car club in my area but 90 %are running gst's there are not very many nters that i have located. gas is on average 2.45 a gallon here but it climbs everyday so who knows. if you check autotrader there are like 3 dsms less than 10 miles from my house selling for under 1,000 dollars. money is tight right now or id be buying them and parting them out, or even better turning 3 into 1. but i do agree with what the next guy down said you should get a feel of your motor and know what your working with before turboing, just dont expect the same kinda hp or even close. oh and brian your n/a ?? i could have sworn you were turbo oh well glad im not the only one that hasent made it there yet

98 RS: Mods: Custom Stage 2 Turbo kit , 55mm throttle body, gutted cat, evo cat back exhaust, p/p intake manifold,p/p Head, af-x underdrive pulley, B&M short throw shifter,Built bottom end Je pistons eagle rods 8.8:1 compression.





Status:Up and running again! nice new paint

Custom stage 2 hahn turbo kit
Hahn Super 16g turbo (ceramic coated)
Hahn manifold (ceramic coated)
Hahn Downpipe assembly
Hahn intercooler piping smic
Hahn oil line kit
Type s bov
2G Gsx smic
walbro 255 fuel pump
Synapse missing link
Vortech s-fmu
NGK Bkr7e11 Plugs
A-pillar w/boost, a/f, oil pressure gauges


New Addition: 2007 Eclipse GT 6 speed

you know you could probably buy them one at a time them ebay the stuff you dont need to pay for the car in the first place. People like me that want to do a 97 - 99 face lift would buy the body panels. Then I know there is a huge market on ebay for door panels switches airbags seats sunroof parts.

you could easily fetch 1K on ebay for 1/3 of a parts DSM.


Stuff I need alone are:

97-99 front and rear bumper skins + rear backup lights.

need the front peice on the sunroof that holds the cables to the
railing.

Need a passenger side airbag cover since someone tried to
gank mine out without taking the bolts out so the rubber is
peeled back from the blow out hatch.

Already bought a set of power window switches off a parts
ebayer.

Also need the back fiberglass hatch cover that hides what you
got in the hatch from the window.

Could use new inside door panels since the driver one has a
crack in it around the door controls (which is why i had to replace the switches it was all mangled.

My ECU has leaking caps and im still hunting someone with a pinout and shopping list for radioshack to replace them (2G ECU).


-James


Glad to know about the Walboro 255. I had read on the DSMtuner site that some guy was telling people that didnt have a FPR and or SAFC that it would push too much fuel to a stock system and run too rich to be driveable and was saying that 190 tops unless you added the formentioned.

yeah your right ebay is a money maker for these items my problem is i wouldnt want to get rid of them and my yard would start to look like a dsm meet. you never answered about the timing belt, if it hasent been done yet your past due and thats a job in its self, as for the other mods your speaking of i do like my 98 alot better than my original 95, it looks alot better, today my friggen door handle broke for the first time, something that happens alot on these cars, oh well fix one thing just in time for something else to break, god i love my car, i havent had a boring day since i bought it.

98 RS: Mods: Custom Stage 2 Turbo kit , 55mm throttle body, gutted cat, evo cat back exhaust, p/p intake manifold,p/p Head, af-x underdrive pulley, B&M short throw shifter,Built bottom end Je pistons eagle rods 8.8:1 compression.





Status:Up and running again! nice new paint

Custom stage 2 hahn turbo kit
Hahn Super 16g turbo (ceramic coated)
Hahn manifold (ceramic coated)
Hahn Downpipe assembly
Hahn intercooler piping smic
Hahn oil line kit
Type s bov
2G Gsx smic
walbro 255 fuel pump
Synapse missing link
Vortech s-fmu
NGK Bkr7e11 Plugs
A-pillar w/boost, a/f, oil pressure gauges


New Addition: 2007 Eclipse GT 6 speed

from looking at the timing belt id say it has to have been done around 120. its spotless not a scratch or even a hint of a thread.

cool sounds like your good to go just hope satan didnt do it because they dont believe in replacing anything but your belt and cam seals, theres several other parts in there that go out and can cause just as much if not more damage than your timing belt snapping.

98 RS: Mods: Custom Stage 2 Turbo kit , 55mm throttle body, gutted cat, evo cat back exhaust, p/p intake manifold,p/p Head, af-x underdrive pulley, B&M short throw shifter,Built bottom end Je pistons eagle rods 8.8:1 compression.





Status:Up and running again! nice new paint

Custom stage 2 hahn turbo kit
Hahn Super 16g turbo (ceramic coated)
Hahn manifold (ceramic coated)
Hahn Downpipe assembly
Hahn intercooler piping smic
Hahn oil line kit
Type s bov
2G Gsx smic
walbro 255 fuel pump
Synapse missing link
Vortech s-fmu
NGK Bkr7e11 Plugs
A-pillar w/boost, a/f, oil pressure gauges


New Addition: 2007 Eclipse GT 6 speed

working on a new toy i wanted to share with you guys.

OK so I been reading up on DSM link and ECU + and MSnS. All of which need some sort of computer in the car to tune/control.

So I was looking in mine to see where I could stash a laptop. Thought I could pull the passenger airbag out and make some sort of cartridge system for it....naaa too tacky. though of doing some sort of police car mounted system...again tacky. then walla it hit me.



I was digging for mobile DVD players and I came across a touch screen 5" panel in dash DVD player with alt video in. So Im thinking if I can gain access to the touch screen and run some cable out to a mangled laptop mounted in a black box setup under center console and then strip one of my dash vents and run a cooling duct to the laptop I could make a pop out tuner scope.

already emailed the company asking for a "tech repair blueprint" told em I fix electronics and got a toasted one and need the schems to see whats what. let you know more as I get it.

~Luke
Facebook
1969 Cougar - 11.91 - 380HP
2007 GSXR 750
1999 OZ - SOLD - 15.26 NA - 14.71 on 75 shot

grab one of them cheap fold up water proof usb ones. and make a mounting spot in the roof of the center console lid.

-James