I have a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T, automatic. I am wanting to up the hp to about 300-350, change out the auto to a manual, and any other specs that could help. I've own the car for about 3yrs. and have gone through two motors and needing another tranny. After this motor went out, I decided to park her and wait to save up some money and fix her right this time, but have no clue on anything about mechanics... so any help with this project would be very helpful. Thnx...

 

It would be cheaper to sell the car and buy a GSX and get it to 350ish hp. Take my word for it. Is there any reason you want to hold onto this exact car?

The 5spd conversion will run you at least 5k. The engine swap about 1k if your lucky... and another 3k for the mods... and with those mods you are likely to have ZERO traction so its all pointless.

 

Yeah I plan on keeping the car. Its gonna cost about 3-4k to have the engine that I have to be rebuilt. I had a timing belt slip and my third piston slammed into the head. The motorshop says that the quote includes new heads, aftermarket cams, oversized piston, bored, cleaned, and put together...

 

That seems like a pretty high price. But maybe thats me. The conversion to manual IMO is not worth the cost when you could sell it and buy one that is already manual. Its just not justified. Id say stick with the auto tranny. If your looking for 300-350whp, its gonna take a couple good mods to get you there. First you are gonna need a good turbo. An EvoIII big 16g will get you there just fine. And then you need all the supporting mods. Here is kinda a quick list. Im sure ill miss something.

- Evo III big 16g
- Turbo Manifold
- Front Mount Intercooler w/ piping
- 550cc injectors
- 255 fuel pump
- Fuel Pressure regulator
- SAFCII, or DSM Link (tuning device)
- Downpipe (or full turboback exhuast)
- intake
- Manual Boost Controller
- Boost guage and Wideband O2 guage

All this on top of what your spending to get the engine fixed will end up costing somewhere in the 5k+ range. I wouldnt go with oversized pistons since you wont really need it with 300hp. Just stick with the stock engine. With a timing belt going, generally you dont need new internals. You just need new valves. So that quote is pretty high. I only paid 2k when my timing belt went, and that was at a dealership

 

That sounds nice, thnx for the info. The mechanic didnt think it need to be bored but we both agreed that it wouldnt hurt it since it could have bent when it slamed into the head. And if I could get it all done for round about 5k then im a happy camper... I was looking at about 10-15k for all things under the hood to be fixed or replaced...

 

Why would you want to spend that much money on a GST when you could get a highly modded GSX for less?

 

Not really caring much for a GSX. I have had plans for this car way before I even got it. Now that I have it, why not spend some money on it...

 

I really dont understand your logic at all.

You rather have a high powered GST than a high hp GSX?

 

Well from the looks of things, this car is payed for, no more bills, and been told that it is lighter then a GSX. Not sure, but im not gonna get rid of this car. If anything, I could do a convert and make it all wheel, but then that would just wiegh me down some, im not positive if it will... but I plan on just working on this one...

 

If you think that the weight of a FWD car outweighs the traction of an AWD car you have made a serious error in your calculation.

Lets think about this logically. 10-15k just to get everything fixed or replaced. Plus another 5k for the manual swap .. not including another 10k for an AWD swap.

So right there thats 15-20.... i just dont understand you at all.

What is the reason you want to hold onto this car so bad?

300hp GSX vs 300hp GST... the GSX wins on the 1/4 mile and the circuit.