99 Eclipse GST Spyder. Need advice for $2,500 build up.

I have an automatic 99 Eclipse GST Spyder. I have about $2,500 I'm willing to spend on it at the moment. What I'm looking for is performance for the buck. I don't want to do things like cut springs, I want to do things right, which is why I'm asking here.

So, which parts/what kind of parts should I be going for? There's alot I can do myself, but is someone would really need to be done by a professional, let me know.

At the moment, the car is completely stock.

What do you want out of the car? What do you want to improve? What will the car be used for?

The car is my daily driver. I'm looking for more horsepower/speed and maybe some improved handling. Something that will be more... fun, but still be tolerable to drive a couple times a day.

If that helps any.

exhaust system 400
intake 60
Bov 50-150
and hmm handling ss tein would be awesome 1000
boost guage
hard IC piping or maybe a FMIC kit

exhaust system 400
intake 60
Bov 50-150
and hmm handling ss tein would be awesome 1000
boost guage
hard IC piping or maybe a FMIC kit

plus...

dsmlink
e316g turbo
fuel pump
injectors

2500 wont get you very far.. DSMtuners & RRE have an upgrade path.

$2500 will get you a long fuckin ways if you spend it smartly and do the work yourself. Sounds like you have similar goals as mine, I will share what I would do if it were my car.

Performance-
3" turbo back (eBay is fine) ~$500
MBC/boost guage $80-$100
DSMlink $550
walbro 190 $100
650cc injectors $150?
eBay FMIC $250?
1g BOV $25
used 16g $200?
Handling-
Sportline/AGX combo ~$500
Front and rear strut bars $50-$100

If you shop around and do your work you should be able to swing that for around $2500ish and you will have a butt fucking perfect street car IMO. Ha ha, actually that is what I am going for except I already have like half of that list.

Timing belt (If needed), plugs, wires, fuel filter, fluid replacement, etc.

Do all of the maintence first, then worry about performance.

Timing belt (If needed), plugs, wires, fuel filter, fluid replacement, etc.

Do all of the maintence first, then worry about performance.

I do keep up on maintainence.


Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions. Especially Thor. Time to look around online and see what I can find pricewise.

$2,500 is just to start. I'll have money and time in the future for this kind of thing. I just want something to start out. I'm new to car modifications in general. But everyone needs to start somewhere.

Any time homie. Good you keep up on maintainance, I bet 90% of DSM's unreliable reputation is due to dumbasses that dont maintain their cars while they start modding it. Shit keeps breaking so they sell it and the unsuspecting new owner inherits all the cobble jobs and problems. Ask me how I know.

Once you get that other stuff done, I would suggest a 2g AWD front big brake upgrade. All you need is the 2g AWD front calipers and brackets along with new pads and rotors. Its direct bolt on and very worth it IMO. Also, witht that drop you're probably going to want some rims. To keep cost down, you can go used and to keep it down even farther I would suggest another car's stock rims. For example, I picked up some 300zx rims for my Talon and BAM I think they look like the shiznit on my car, I wouldnt buy new ones for it even if I had the money to throw at them. To round out the suspension mods I would also suggest some sway bars, I bet those would help get a stiffer, more "on rails" feel. Since you are FWD, some prothane motor mounts are also a good idea, help out on wheelhop. You'll want a new clutch somewhere in there, I would suggest a sprung 6 puck 2100. That keeps the pedal pressure down theoretically reducing the risk of crank walk but the pucked disk can take like 419ft lbs of torque where as the street disk can only take like 340. Also, there is no noticable driveability issues with a ACT sprung 6 puck disk, not that I noticed anyway. Probably the last thing I would suggest is a 6 bolt head swap. Its pretty direct but there is a bit of customization that needs to happen. That 2g head seems to be so worthless to me, the intake runners are so damn small compared to a 1g it just makes me laugh. Couple that with a 1g intake mani and TB and thats just about everything I would suggest to you. The last thing I would do if I were you is get cams, I wouldnt even bother with a FP1/264/101100 grind just go for some FP2/272/101200 grinds. The head swap, should you do it, is a good time to do that. Anyway, good luck homes.

Is there any way to make a 3 inch exhaust... not extremely loud? I'd rather the car not piss everyone off at 3k rpm. I know someone with a 93 Civic Si with a 2.5 or 3 inch exhaust on it with an equally large muffler, and it's loud as hell. Something more tame would be nice.

I have a 3" Apexi N1 exhaust on my Talon and it has a nice low growl too it and doesn't get that really "raspy" noise to it. Me likey.

I also have that exhaust and it does have a rather nice growl to it :p

Ok, thanks. Would it be too much to ask for a video/sound clip for an example of one of yours/something close?

I don't want to spend money axhaust setup just to make me not want to get my car above a couple thousand rpm. I want to stay away from the ricer image. I'll look out for/look into Apexi.

I have the Apex'i too...and it is loud but only if you are on full throttle...at just cruising speeds its not that loud...and it doesnt sound like a fart can like honda's do...it has a nice throaty sound to it.

Ok, thanks. Would it be too much to ask for a video/sound clip for an example of one of yours/something close?

Well, are you still gonna have your car in 50 years? You may have to wait quite awhile until I get the damn car done, haha.

2500 bucks is a nice start.

free mod: take the amber out of the headlight. see the NEW? link below and look for the write-up by me under similar heading. amber sucks. get some ebay crystal side marker lights too. not 100% clear, the ones that are frosted.

H&R springs look the best and ride well too. the front's drop a bit more than other spring kits and i have always thought that is what all the other kits should have done. unless you are getting coilovers and racing rallycross it all comes down to looks and ride quality. Eibach Pro springs ride like a dream, but aren't too much for the lower section. Eiback sport springs look great but ride like shit. H & R's are a happy medium. don't wory about rims yet. save the $$ for new tires when you blow out the ones you have now. no sense in wasting tires that still have some burn left. not expensive ones, just new ones that will get the job done. with the right lower even stock rims look fine.

first things first.

ebay intake. get rid of that nasty ass airbox. quick. an intake is only a tube with a filter. look at the FAQ and you can find the Home Depot intake for like 5 bucks and a filter element. or just do the dump tube hack and get a K&N filter. either way toss the airbox.

you have an AT. a sligt disadvantage. keep your AT in check with a service and fluid/filter change. if the car is new to you do it now, do it quickly.

Boost Gauge. you have a turbo. you need a boost gauge. don't ask questions.

MBC [manual boost controller]. you have a turbo and a boost gauge. crank it up a bit. you have a teeny25. you aren't holding shit over 5500 anyways so have some fun with it. keep the peak to around 17psi, you won't hurt anything and if you do it's a great reason to get something bigger and better.

Walbro 255 fuel pump. you don't need bigger injectors yet, but you do want some added push to the fuel. they are cheap and will last you all the way to over 500hp dreams.

RRE downpipe. i would call them the best. again, don't ask questions.

custom 3" exhaust. go to an exhaust shop and ask them to bend you some custom tubes and a test pipe to replace the cat. the flanges will cost more than the tubes. the best exhaust for a turbo is no exhaust at all. important: at some point the good graces of the law are probably going to tell you to go get your car smogged. unless you are a nut like me and can afford 800 bucks for a smog from Shady McGee [just ask Shpyder about that one! and thanks for the effort bro!], keep your stock exhaust and cat in a closet somewhere. you WILL need it or something like it in the future of your ownership. back to the point at hand. the turbo itself is a great muffler of sound. obliviously running around at WOT is going to attract some attention no matter where you are, but just remember, if the fuzz is watching you UPSHIFT. that makes quiet.

IC Pipes. prices vary, but for a couple hundo you are in business. it's been a while, but i think you can still get Dejon Tool pipes with any flange you want.

BOV. i love the GReddy type-s BOV. it's adjustable and makes great sound. i had a type-RS and sold that bitch to EclipseRST. it was too pussy sounding. like a fart that you thought was going to be all loud and it was like WHOOOSH. POS. if you vent you are going to be louder, but also at this level of tuning you may have engine problems like not holding idle and backfiring. do a search on venting BOV's for hours of fun reading. personally, after doing all the stuff mentioned herein i could vent with no real problems other than a couple broken necks... sweeet.

new spark plugs. go for NGK BPR7ES's. accept no substitute. anything else is for posers including iridium. i got misfires on EVERYTHING but these.

now find out when you are going to have to change the timing belt and save up to get your Balance Shafts removed. you have to take the Timing Bel off so there is no point in doing it at any other time. it's a free 15-20 real HP and most likely saves the day for the evil CW, which may be caused by a few things, but is definitly caused by losing oil pressure. the BShafts are a oil freeing dream, and the engine not spinning them is where the power comes from. less rotational mass, you know.

go to Jiffy lube and get an injector cleaning. it sounds lame, but they will pump some crap right into a vac line [the one connecting to the top of the BOV is a good one, just don't pump the gas too much and start to boost, the gauge comes in really handy here] and you will blow out so much crap from your injector system it will blow your mind. my car was sooo happy i did that shit.

that should start you off pretty good for now. by the time you get done with all this stuff you should have some $$ left over and a TON more knowledge about your new found love. and if you don't love it now it's because you haven't wanted to kill it yet. when that happens it becomes like an abusive realationship. you will read a battered housewife pamphlet and reflect to your feelings about your car. what you don't know yet is that you are going to be the battered housewife [or houseman for all those lovely DSM chickies out there ;)]

i miss my car so much and now i don't even have a garage to buy a new one. i went thru 2 engine fires. i loved that car. i'll find one in 20 years like guy's find 69 Camero's nowadays. or just tweak out on an EVO. the new ones look like shit BTW.

have fun and don't run over any old ladies [or old men for that matter either, and i accidentaly backed into an old man in my Spyder, top down and all. knocked him clean over. he was pissed so i payed for his gas. he came from brhind a pump while i was in motion, wasn't my fault. just be careful, you are soon to have a great car in your hands and fingertips.]

Well, are you still gonna have your car in 50 years? You may have to wait quite awhile until I get the damn car done, haha.
Unfortunately i find myself in the same situation...cars all torn apart and i dont have much time to really work on it til summer...but i did some searching for ya and found a videoclip of a 99 GST with an Apex'i N1 Cat-back on it...

http://videos.streetfire.net/search/Apex'i+N1/0/wm/5a6b5022-a39b-48a3-99ce-04498ea5c38c.htm (http://videos.streetfire.net/search/Apex%27i+N1/0/wm/5a6b5022-a39b-48a3-99ce-04498ea5c38c.htm)

Lots of new info. Thanks BoostedSpyder.

Also, thanks WaFFeL. I love that sound.

should be enough to get ya started in the right direction...

=)

oh ya i forgot to mention an AFPR for the 255 fuel pump.

see thread below:

click me (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=248115)

Well, are you still gonna have your car in 50 years? You may have to wait quite awhile until I get the damn car done, haha.

I know how you feel. I wont be able to do anything until the summer. Finals are almost here and I there's that work thing.