Hey all, I am new to Mitsu's and imports in general. My experience has been in building and racing domestic drag cars but I decided to break into street racing. I am the service manager for a dealership and today someone traded in a 98 eclipse GS. I took a look at it and found the thermostat housing missing and the egr solenoid broken. I took the engine to 6,500 rpm and it sounded strong so I bouth the car for $2,500.00 from the dealership today. its a five speed and fair condition. I figure I'll drop a few thousand into it and shoot for 350-400 hp. its got a 2.0 dohc. is that engine known for crank walk? and since I am coming form the domestic side of things is there anything else I should be aware of before tearing into this project?

 

If im not mistaken.. all 2ndgen eclipses are known for crank walk.. Im in a97 gsx with 63,000 miles on it and I have yet to experience this problem. but since you know what you are doing with cars.. you shouldn't have any trouble with it.

couple thou huh? make that a FEW and you'll hit your 400 mark. your basic intake exhaust (turbo back) will run you about $1000, fuel upgrades and controlers/engine management system (depending on which way you go) will be $1000-$2500 or so. turbo kit should be around 2 or $3000 depending on how large you go... but it will be one hella sick sleeper. and with that you WILL be handing it to your faves like the GT and SS and Z06 if you can drive it

 

and my fav.. STICKIER tires... gotta have traction... sorry if Im making you feel like I think you are stupid.. you are a service manager and are into muscle cars, but these little 4 bangers are a little bit different

 

Nah you're not sounding that way, I appreciate any advice. In the realm of Big block dragsters I really havent dealt with intercoolers, turbos and timers and all of that. its all been about displacement, flow, etc.
I isntalled the thrmostat housing and a couple of other missing pieces today so I could get it running. Egr solenoid is still broke for now, feels like it could stand a tune up. Found out pretty quick its got no 3rd gear and synchro for 4th is going. Front end shook pretty bad at high speed but I imaging a lot of that is the extremely bald tires. and speedometer doesnt work. I'll adresss the speedo and front end tomorrow at work, let one of my techs rebuild the tranny and tell them to beef it up.

 

So I'm curious, after fixing the tranny and egr of course what do you guys recommend as the first mods that should be done. its a stock 98 eclipse gs. I havent heard too many performance upgrades that I am familiar with such as toilet bols, porting intakes, H-beams, forged cranks, etc, so what kind of mods would you guys suggest on this car for hp and strength?

 

Start looking for a turbo and related parts like everthing from sleeving, pistons, valve springs, don't forget your gauges so you know your running right. Think about bullet proofing your tranny. If your number one goal is to get the most out of you car to eat V6 and V8's. Another thing that alot of people overlook is your suspension. Make it stiff with some good shocks stick with 17" wheels, lower it, and don't forget to upgrade the brake system. No sence in having all that speed if you can't stop.

Tough since you got a GS and not a GST or GSX. Your basically starting out at scratch.