Five-Hundred Dollar DSM

Starting this build thread after a couple of things ruined by Two-Hundred Dollar DSM build.  Photo-suckit and rust killed that build thread and build, respectively.  I'll start this build with a little back-peddling and some pictures of the old DSM.

I bought the 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder back in May '16 when I was about to sell my old house at the worst possible time.  It was advertised for $1k on the LetGo app.  The seller ended up selling it for $200 because he wanted it out of his yard.  It was missing an alternator and didn't have a battery.  A $40 alternator from the Facebooks DSM Classified Group made the thing run, poorly.  It seems that someone put a '97 longblock (and accessories) in my '98 car.  This is a problem due to the emissions systems being very different.  Long story short, I had to rig up some sensors and re-wire the MAF (bad plug) to get the car to running well and no CELs.  

After getting the car running I decided in a moment of weakness to remove the rear trunk carpet due to what I thought was minor rust in the rear.  Well, minor rust turned into the entire back half of the car ready to fall apart.  The unibody was toast from the inside out.  Bad.  Very bad.  I knew the car was hosed and decided to start scrapping the car to look for another shell.  A few photos below:

This is the car the night it left my garage, stripped of anything of value to me.  I easily zeroed out this car for a good engine and many other parts just in case I ever make the Challenge. 

After feeling defeated.  Very defeated of finding a clean shell north of the Mason-Dixon Line, I was ready to give up.  But alas, one day while searching nearby Craigslists, I found the following:

More to follow on this saga.  This is where I was around June of '17.  

After contacting the seller through Craigslist, I gave him a no-nonsense offer of $500 to take if off his hands after learning that the car was a rust free specimen fresh from South Carolina.  Long story of how he acquired the car, but it was another case of "get it out of my driveway".  After a few days, he said Craigslist had led him to lose faith in humanity so he took my offer.  He didn't know what was wrong with the car other than "the clutch pedal was on the floor."   

I went through Uship to get the car over to my place in Pittsburgh.  It was stupid cheap like $150 to get it dropped off so I figured I'd let someone else deal with the hassle.  I was at work when my wife texted me this:

I ended up driving home from work to help the shipper unload after he was struggling due to my driveway slope.  After it was unloaded I was shocked as to how nice it was inside and out.  Someone took care of this car.

First step was to add a new slave cylinder (this was the problem), new MC and braided clutch line from master to slave.  I'll warn yall now.  I don't take a ton of pictures while I'm working, but this is a rare occasion:

I also found one of the oil cooler hoses was split in tow.  A new replacement was ordered.

After topping the car with coolant and bleeding the clutch.  It runs! Yay! Wait a minute...

Popped off the valve cover and...

Turns out this milkshake brought the car to my yard.

I had no idea of the history of the car and was worried that the rings were toast.  Good news is that I had an engine waiting on a stand!  Bad news is that the engine on the stand was a sludge bucket with no past maintenance and because it was an early 97 block, it was NOT a split thrust block that had caused so many heartaches due to crankwalk (not the forum member).

Before I get the first comment about crankwalk, it's usually not a problem after the engine is well broken in.  Therefore, I'll just use the non-split thrust engine for now and build the 98 split thrust block with the blown head gasket at a later time.

First thing is first, get the sludge engine on the stand.

Yikes.  Engine had a lot of leaks.  A lot.  One of them being the valve stem seals starting to ooze:

Luckily, a local DSMer (thanks, Eric!) loaned me a tool that lets you change the seals with the head on the block.

After a lot of cleaning pure sludge and rust. This is how the block looked:

Then painted it all.  Wrinkle blue of the VC.  Used high temp paint on the head.  We'll see how/if that holds up.

Then went to work.  New timing belt, new cam/crank seals that were hard plastic.  New waterpump.  A lot of little new parts went on.  I also added a stock 1g turbo (14b) using stock parts to stay in budget.  As of yesterday (12/31/17), this is where I am ready to drop the engine and trans back in the car. 

A lot of little things were cleaned up and painted however, I kind of ran out of steam after frigid temps set in and just the plain endlessness of cleaning and painting part.

The transmission is nasty mess, but then agian I'm just tired tired tired of cleaning.  Plust it's 8 degrees outside and frozen snow.  Not going outside to clean anymore.  I was pretty lucky that the clutch that came in the car looked fresh.  Forgot to mention the car is a manual with a little over 108k miles.  Interior is in great shape.  Leather is pretty good for a 20 year old DSM.

I have some poly mounts, an exhaust system from the $200 car that need to go on.  More to come, in time.  I'm busy as heck with work and family so I do what I can when I can.  Still hoping to get this car on the road come springtime.  It needs brakes and tires, and the right rear shock is oozing fluid.  Also, the car has a stupid remote start, alarm system, and is wired out the butt with stereo equipment.  Has a huge amp in the trunk and the radio doesn't work.  Not sure if the PO took the interior speakers but ain't no body got time to deal with the car audio stuffs right now.  Eventually the remote start and alarm will be removed.

Thanks for looking.  More to come soon.  I hope. 

Forgot to mention that I used an eBay silicone hose kit to replace all of the dry rotted crusty coolant hoses. 

Looking good to me!  Looks really nice after the de-sludging and paint.  How hot does the head get anyway?  I'd bet high temp paint would hold up, but i don't know for sure

Fun update. My wife got a Cricut back in November. I worked up this decal of my Challenge Team:

My wife failed to see the humor...

I love your cheap DSM threads. I wonder if now is the time to pick one up as prices are still pretty low on even the supposedly more desirable GSX's.

In reply to The0retical :

Now is absolutely the time to buy a cheap DSM. It’s almost criminal how cheap these cars today. Granted, most are ruined basket cases, but even clean stock specimens are going for peanuts. 

I will eventually buy a rotted out AWD car to convert this one to a GSX Snyder, but not sure when that will be. Hoping it’s a project for me and my kids one day soon. But I’m not in a hurry. This is a car that will be around for a long time. 

Goal is to get this one running and throw cheap mods to get nearest to 250-300whp until AWD arrives. 

That blue on the Valentine's cover is uncomfortably appealing. 

What was the brand/color?

In reply to Crackers :

It’s VHT Wrinkle Paint. They only have one blue color as far as I know. I bought it for my SVT focus from Summit a few years ago. 

Rad, thanks! 

*Looks like autocorrect got me earlier. LOL

Engine goes in! I don’t want to talk about how much of a pain this was with the poly mounts. A lot of pry bars and swear words later it’s in. 

Stupid question, perhaps, but is looping the plug wires around other plugs common on this engine series?  

einy said:

Stupid question, perhaps, but is looping the plug wires around other plugs common on this engine series?  

Not a common thing. These are $20 Ebay plug wires that are just waaaay too long. 

Great news everyone! The car started and ran great. The revised lifters really quieted the engine. 

Bad news everyone! The head gasket on this engine is puking oil by the oil feed port in the head. Found this out yesterday and have the head ready to pull now. 

I already have a fel pro composite gasket and new head bolts because they were part of a gasket set. Since the engine didn’t overheat, I’m just going to clean the surfaces and slap the head back on. 

Stay tuned. Again. 

As an aging 90s kid, this build thread warms the cockles of my heart. 

Looking at the pics of the assembled long block on the stand makes me wish I would have pulled the head back then. Oh well. 

Good work!

A cheap OEM parts bin upgrade is a metal Evo 8 bypass valve that will typically hold boost much better and not wear out like the plastic ones. It is the same flange and will drop right in.

Rockauto had the heat shields for the exhaust manifold cheap last I bought one a few years ago and I highly recommend running one.

Since you're doing it, I also recommend a MLS  head gasket and ARP studs.

love seeing DSMS being saved! 

Head is off the car. Had one of those not sure whether to laugh or cry moments tonight taking the head off. 

When I noticed the head gasket leaking oil I had a passing thought of “maybe I should re torque the head studs...nah that can’t be it. “ Well tonight when I had the whole thing apart I went to loosen the head studs in order guess friggin what.  Yep, the head studs going through the oil port was very loose. Oh well. Whole car is nearly apart so I might as well pull the head. Sure enough the head gasket is fine. 

Oh well. The head gasket is old and crusty and not long for this world so in the long run the car will be better. Or at least that’s what I’ll tell myself. 

A little bit of this, a little bit of that and some copper spray and the head is back on with a composite gasket. Really wish I would ha w went with ARP head studs over the TTY head bolts (yes, I used new head bolts). 

Ready to get it back together and pray nothing else major is wrong, but hey it IS a DSM after all. 

In reply to crankwalk :

I actually scored a cheap Dejon uicp and greedy knock off bov that’s on the car now. 

Doubt I’ll ever build a DSM with a need for an MLS but yeah. Should have got ARPs. Good news is I can get those at any time. 

Scott Hatfield said:

In reply to crankwalk :

I actually scored a cheap Dejon uicp and greedy knock off bov that’s on the car now. 

Doubt I’ll ever build a DSM with a need for an MLS but yeah. Should have got ARPs. Good news is I can get those at any time. 

Yeah I see in that last pic you have that on there now. Not bad and much better than the crappy stock plastic ones 2g's came with. 

And hell on these motors, I've swapped in ARP head studs one at a time without removing the head and I was good on a 50 trim Galant for many years. It's not REALLY ideal but if you take your time and go back make sure everything is retorqued 3 times then you can certainly do it.

This thread ain’t dead yet. After getting the car running a few months ago, I noticed that it was smoking like a train. After consulting with my GRM friends, you all reminded me that this car was driven a while on a bad head gasket. Switched exhaust and added a 2.5” downpipe.

Today, after much delay, I drove the car with the new engine.  Much rejoicing. Runs good after burning off some condensation. Builds boost, doesn’t overheat etc.  Still a long way to go. 

needed to buy a non cruise control throttle cable

Still chipping away at making this thing run and drive well. Chased down a lot of boost leaks, changed the brakes on all  4 corners, and had the $20 star specs mounted for $50. 

Right now the biggest hurdles are running rich at idle (may be an exhaust leak) and the car rides like a pillow case full of bricks. It needs shocks/struts badly. I also need to install the AEM wide and and boost gauge (I need a new wide band o2 sensor though). 

I was able to take the interior out and give it a proper deep clean.