My project 1999 Spyder: Where it's at and where I plan to go with it. (pics)

[vanilla gorilla]

First off let me introduce myself to whoever doesn't know me. I go by vanilla gorilla. I have been on the forum for a couple months now. I just turned 16 in November. This is my first car and I have had it since July or so. This is the first import that I have ever worked on, but I have been reading import mags for as long as I can remeber. I do have experience working on domestics: 2 grand am gt's, a s 10 xtreme, gmc sierra, etc.
About the car. It is a 1999 Eclipse Spyder GS. It is equiped with the 2.4l 4g64. It is a 5 speed. It has 53,000 and some odd miles. I have done just a few mods to the car and plan to do a gang more. And no, I dont plan on going turbo....all motor for me. But if i did go turbo I would turbo the 64 instead of doing a 63 swap.
The goal: Build a clean steetable car and smoke some turbo eclipses, lol.
The engine compartment: The engine is mostly stock. I have added a K&N FIPK. I also wrapped the stock header, until I get the 4-1 header/downpipe which I will hopefully order pretty soon. I have some Royal Purple synthetic oil in my closet waiting to be poured in.





The interior: The interior is mostly stock. The previous owner which maticulously cared for the car had the stock cloth seats reupholstered in dark grey leather with red stitching. The door panel inserts were also done.



The exterior: The exterior is also mostly stock as is the rest of the car. The previous owner had some crappy tint installed that I will soon take off and get re-done professionally. The only thing I have done is add some clear bumper lenses that I scored off of a guy at the local audio shop for $10 bucks, they were new when I got them.





The audio system: My bother-in-law and I did all the audio work ourselves. It is a pretty simple setup. In the trunk we have a 12 inch Orion HCCA 12d subwoofer residing in a custom made box with a big 4 inch port. Not too bad for some hand tools and a table saw. Powering that is an 800 watt rated Orion amp. All wiring is Pheonix Gold. The head unit is a Pioneer piece. To stop all the terrible vibrating and rattling we installed a combination of Xtreme and Original Dynamat throughout the trunk in stategically placed locations. I have a yellow top Optima battery in my closet waiting to be installed. The trunk isn't complete as we will make it look better by blocking off all the open areas and adding a cover over the top with the amp under plexiglass.







Future plans:
Engine: 4-1 header/downpipe, ignition upgrade: plugs, wires, ect., cat back exhaust and catco cat, custom made intake hard-pipe, underdrive pulleys, short shifter, high capacity intake manifold and oversized throttle body, eventually a camshaft, and some fuel mods, a gang of other parts.
Suspention: Tein coilovers with EDFC, sway bays, camber kit, strut bars, lower bar, and what have you.
Interior: pedals, shift knob, some a-pillar mounted gauges, other small stuff.
Exterior: OEM carbon fiber hood, carbon lip, keep it really clean looking. One day if I get tired of it maybe a veilside kit. Some nice wheels.
Audio: Put some Kenwood 6.5's in the doors w/ bass blockers. In the rear add some 6x9's with crossovers, and maybe some kickpanels up front.

Of course it will take me along time to do all of these things and realize my goal, but the best projects take time. BTW: Sorry for writing soo much.

Your thoughts, comments, and suggestions are welcome!

*the car was dirty when I took the pictures

[SilvrEclipse]

Nice car, have fun with it.

[l_eclipse_l]

It sounds like your expectations of the car are atleast reasonable, except for the part about beating turbo eclipse's lol. With all the mods you put down, you won't break 200 hp. Other than that, looks good man.

One more thing, what oil is running in the car right now? If it's not synthetic, you may want to be cautious switching over to Royal Purple.

[Thor06]

Yeah dude pretty car. They have the smallest god damn trunk I have ever seen!

[vanilla gorilla]

Originally Posted by l_eclipse_l

It sounds like your expectations of the car are atleast reasonable, except for the part about beating turbo eclipse's lol. With all the mods you put down, you won't break 200 hp. Other than that, looks good man.

One more thing, what oil is running in the car right now? If it's not synthetic, you may want to be cautious switching over to Royal Purple.

Lol, yeah i was just joking about the turbo eclipse thing, but this one guy with a stock gst spyder said that he raced a gs spyder that was all stock except for a shifter kit (was auto tranny) his turbo car won but he said that he only beat him by a car length. He said he couldnt pull away from the gs.

But anyway I dont have a clue what kind of oil is in it now, but if it isn't synthetic I dont think that running syn. would do any harm. The engine is obviously more than broken in so putting in the purple stuff should only help, right?

Thor06- yeah the small trunk sucks....couldnt put anything in there anyway so I thought i might as well throw in some audio.

[Shpyder]

Originally Posted by vanilla gorilla

Lol, yeah i was just joking about the turbo eclipse thing, but this one guy with a stock gst spyder said that he raced a gs spyder that was all stock except for a shifter kit (was auto tranny) his turbo car won but he said that he only beat him by a car length. He said he couldnt pull away from the gs.

Below, Mr. Gorilla, is a picture of the 4g64 NT Spyder I used to own (I know I know, it looks almost the same as the GS-T I have now). It was a pretty hot ride,and the car had all the basic NT mods, and was a stick shift. But 141 hp out of the box isn't exactly a fireracker, as I discovered woefully after getting toasted by a stock 95-ish civic cope. After having owned that furious, but not fast, spyder, I can place my money on that possibility that your friend with the GS-T did a *very* sucky launch. For the record, I also "raced" my cousin's 2002 v-6 Honda Odessey minivan in that car. He won by several bus lengths. So, uh... yeah, without forced induction or some serious motor work, the 2.4L is a slug . I enjoyed every second of it, nevertheless [*tear rolls down cheek*]. But if you do decide to go all motor, I would be very excited to see the results! Good luck and god speed, and welcome to the sexclusive Spyder club

[vanilla gorilla]

Thanks for the input Mr. Shpyder. As slow as my car is....I just can't see getting beat by a Honda Odessy, lol. But yeah I am gonna stay all motor with this one and leave the forced induction to my future project car. I will do all the basic bolt ons now, but later on if I ever get up the nerve, I may tear into the motor and do some internals. I have the money now for some hard core internal upgrades.....but I just can't see tearing apart an engine with only 53,and some odd thousand miles under it's belt. What kind of upgrades did you have on your 64 and what do you recommend?
Nice car you had there by the way. Loving the roll bar!

[2006 ECLIPSE GT]

sharp car, but i think it would look more sharp if you lose that ugly wing and go with the gst wing.

i have a friend that as a 99 spyder with headers, catback, intake and wires, but the two mods that made his car pretty fast was a short shifter and a stage 2 clutch.

you can find a stage 2 under $300 and a short shifter under $50 on ebay.

[Shpyder]

Originally Posted by vanilla gorilla

As slow as my car is....I just can't see getting beat by a Honda Odessy, lol.

You should try it some time !

Originally Posted by 2006 ECLIPSE GT

sharp car, but i think it would look more sharp if you lose that ugly wing and go with the gst wing.

Out of context. That's why you need to read at least the thread starter's post before replying. It'll help you enjoy your time on this forum.

[vanilla gorilla]

Originally Posted by 2006 ECLIPSE GT

sharp car, but i think it would look more sharp if you lose that ugly wing and go with the gst wing.

i have a friend that as a 99 spyder with headers, catback, intake and wires, but the two mods that made his car pretty fast was a short shifter and a stage 2 clutch.

you can find a stage 2 under $300 and a short shifter under $50 on ebay.

Hey, thanks for the input man. I've been looking into adding a short shifter, but I haven't thought about a clutch, I'll have to look into one of those also.
About my spoiler......as much as I like the turbo one.......I think I'm gonna stick with the low profile look.

[vanilla gorilla]

Originally Posted by Shpyder

You should try it some time !

Too bad I don't know anyone that owns one. I guess I'll just have to rev on some ol' soccer mom driving one at a stop light.

[EDMUND65]

how much you want for the car?

You will have leaking problems if you switch to synthetic i think

[l_eclipse_l]

Originally Posted by EDMUND65

how much you want for the car?

lol i didnt see a for sale sign in the window....

[-Josh-]

Very clean looking car, good luck with the future mods.