Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Alright, since this is a new forum for me I'm gonna take you guys back in time about 3 years so and get you current on my little project. I bought this car when I was 18 years old. It was a rushed purchase and up to this day has been the single worst purchase I've ever made. I paid too much for a poorly maintained, hacked together car, which had a molded body kit. I hate body kits, period. I was young, stupid, and wanted it now.

Soon after I moved to Chicago to go to school and realized that I couldn't afford the insurance while in school. The car got parked in my parents back garage, where it sat for a couple years until I moved back.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1024001151.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...024001151a.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1024001152.jpg

I had quite a few random odds and ends in that garage. A bunch of turbos, collected some 2gb skirts and rear bumper...etc etc...

When I moved back I started tearing the car down....

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0203.jpg

Had to get rid of that body kit for sure....

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0216.jpg

I continued to just hulk-smash it.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0223.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0228.jpg

Mocked it up just for fun. Obviously there's ALOT more work to be done on the quarter panel.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0219.jpg

Found some rotten strut towers under a nasty bubble of paint.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0217.jpg

Started tearing out the interior.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0256.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0253.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0257.jpg

Yanked the engine and threw it on the stand where it'll probably sit for quite some time.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/DSCF0259.jpg

Rolled it outside for some sunlight for the first time in 2 1/2 years. Cleaned the garage out and rolled her back in.

After that, nothing really happened at all for a solid 8 months. I was really busy with work and in the process of buying a house. Well I finally closed on a place in Osakis with a 3 stall insulated garage. I promptly moved the Eclipse over and got back at it. I continued my process of stripping it down.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0601.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0602.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0604.jpg

One stubborn subframe bushing was holding the whole thing in place. Torched it up....smelly, but highly effective.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0605.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0607.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0610.jpg

Stripped it down and swapped my hacked up subframe with an unhacked one off Chris's (Chris02rex) parts car.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0614.jpg

Got the engine bay stripped down and ready to be shaved.

And that take us up to this weekend. I decided to finish up stripping it to the bare unibody.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...h/SANY0627.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...h/SANY0630.jpg

If you didn't notice in the pictures above ^^^ I also got the quarter panel nice and smooth (kinda) Still some work needed, but then a little high build primer, some sanding, and BAM. Who ever had a molded kit?!

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...h/SANY0622.jpg

I also got the remaining sound deadening from the dash area.

Whew, alright. Now you're caught up. Much more to come.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Damn, huge project! Keep us updated!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Not too crazy, but it's definately the most I've ever taken on. I'll be shopping for some metal tomorrow to start pricing out the cost of building a rotisserie to make it easier to do all the underbody work. Anything I can do to help with my bad back, I do.

I'll be sure to keep updating this, it's nice to have input from people mor local to me!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

so are there any goals or plans? full resto? or a full out racecar? looks nice and welcome

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Very mild goals. This will be for the most part a drag car, though it still will seem some street use. If I get this car back together and run a 12.99, I'd be thrilled. Long term goals are much faster than that. But I'll do everything in small steps, helps keep everything in check. Too many people try to take on too much at once. This will also be a restoration of sorts as well, being that there's a fair bit of rust I have to tend to.

So goals, I want to try to go as quick as I can on the 14b. I'd also like to see this car under 3000 lbs with me in it. And I'll just kind of go from there!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Wow. Major construction! Looks good though man. Keep it up. I'd love to see the end result!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Nice plans. Can't wait to see moar winter progress!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Cool thread, looks like fun!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

nice work

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

You're goin all out, aren't ya? Should drive amazing when you put it back together.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Nice work, I hate body kits. Looks like it'll be a whole lot nicer when you're done with it.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Thanks for the interest guys! I have this build up on a couple different forums and this one has had the most positive responses. It's nice, really fires a guy up to get some work done!

Thanks! Not really all out. Like I said, if I get it back together and pull a solid 12 sec 1/4 I'll be thrilled. Short term goals are super mild but I'm looking to set myself up to do some far more impressive times in the future.

Some body kits look alright on some cars, i guess. But not on these cars. I'm super excited to have a sexy 2gb to roll around in.

No pictures this update. Not really alot to see, I hacked up the strut towers to cut out the rust. And I ordered 2 8 ton hydraulic cylinders to start building my rotisserie, that's when the real fun begins!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

looks so much better with out the kit

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Agreed! Haha. I will never understand the thought process of the old owners.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Had a few free minutes tonight. So I went out to the garage, cracked open a Coors, cranked up the heat, threw the dog a bone, and got to work.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/SANY0631.jpg

I decided to take on the mind numbing process of getting that structural piece out from between the rear strut towers. For those who don't know, its just a piss ton of spot welds holding this on, about half of which you can't get a spot weld cutter on. It's a terribly slow process....

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/SANY0632.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0029.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0030.jpg

Little bit by little bit its getting done. (Sorry about the crappy picture quality on the last 2, not really sure what happened there)

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/SANY0634.jpg

Also finally got my hydraulic rams for the rotisserie I'm building.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Whats the point in cutting that out?

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

I've always wanted to do that but it looked like way too much work for being as lazy as I am. I also thought it would take out a bit of strength out of the back end.

Did the parts you cut out seem to weigh very much?

Also you plan on running any seats/interior? IT'll be hard without those rear seat hooks.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Looks like a fun project!!!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Weight savings basically, plus it'll look way nicer when I paint. It also allows me to build the cage into the strut towers when that time comes.

I've done this on one other 2g before, it really didn't take anything strength out of the rear, with a good strut tower bar you wouldn't ever notice a difference. That being said, I doubt I would do this on anything one plans on auto-x or roadracing. But for a car thats pretty much dedicated to straight line acceleration, it'll be fine. I may build the cage across the towers as well in the future, we'll see.

As far as weight removal, I bet it'll add up to 15-25 lbs of materials when its all said and done. I definately weight it to see.

This car will be stripped from the driver/passenger seat back. So those hooks were of no concern. The rear seats are pretty much worthless in these cars anyways.

Thanks! It sure is. It's nice having no deadline, I can work on it nonstop for a few days, get sick of it and put it off for a couple weeks if I want.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Yeah, I'm sure I'll do the same with a 1G when I get my own garage :)

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Yeah having a garage is the greatest. The difference in what you're able to get done is insane. Especially compared to my parents garage I had grown used to growing up.....uninsulated, cramped, and only had 110v. Having a bunch of room for all my tools and 230v to run some equipment is great! Plus I'm not freezing my ass off, today it was right around 0 degrees out...but 80 degrees in my garage!

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/SANY0635.jpg

Got this finished up finally earlier this week. I'm real glad I don't have to deal with this anymore haha.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/SANY0636.jpg

Also finally got a decent compressor, it's new to me. The fiances parents gave it to me since all they do is air up tires and blow stuff off and this was way overkill! I traded them straight up for my 20 gal 110v Craftsman. It's no powerhouse, but it puts out a bit more than 10 cfm so it does alright. Its just nice not always waiting on a compressor.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Ahh, yes...I warm garage does wonders in this kind of weather. I don't have one but my uncle does and wow...amazing. Interior looks clean ;)

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Haven't done much with this lately. The rotisserie I had intended on building had to be put on hold. I priced it out and with the cost of metal currently I would have $800 into building one, for $1200 I could have one shipped to my door. I was just gonna buck up and spend the extra $400, but we had a couple unexpected bills and my lady decided she was gonna do a summer semester after FASFA was due for it, so we'd have to pay it out of pocket. So I had the choice of either putting the project off another 8 months to a year until we had enough money that I could convince her a rotisserie was a worthwhile investment (good luck) or I could find a way to get the job done for cheap. So over this weekend I rednecked this together. Was $35 bucks in materials and some scrap metal for misc brackets. Worked way better than I imagined it would and is pretty damn solid. Good enough for blasting and redoing the undercoating anyways.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0637.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0638.jpg

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Good work! That looks ok. Keeping it cheap is what a dsm should be about! Good work hope you get more progress done soon.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

I love it! lol I wish I would have just done that to my Talon. It could have used it.

Awesome project so far!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

"hold on a sec man, let me flip my car over and we'll go"

hahah. absolutely amazing. keep up the awesomeness!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

That's fuckin awesome!

Keep plugging away at it!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Never seen a rotisserie out of wood, but I dig it!

Excellent project, not sure how I missed this thread.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Got a few things done today. Nothing too exciting. Slowly but surely. Was toying with my sandblaster and the shitty little clamp on the hose blew off. 100 lbs of coal slag all over my entire garage = a very unhappy guy. It also made me realize that I needed some sort of blast room to avoid the gross mess over my entire garage and being that the neighbors are so close, the driveway isn't an option. So I pulled together a little more redneck ingenuity and built this.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0643.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0644.jpg

Got it all framed up. And add in a couple zip ties and duct tape and I got a damn air tight little room.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/SANY0645.jpg

Here's a picture of the finished project and my friend Josh with the sword he made out of some extra pvc. We're kind of an odd bunch....haha...

Hopefully I'll get the yard work done and the mudroom door framed early tomorrow and I can get the underbody blasted.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Looks like with some box fans and filters it could double as a paint booth when you are done.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Yeah it will! I'll make a few other small adjustments when that time comes, but it should work pretty well.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

That is fucking awesome, I want one!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Underbody is getting real close to be stripped, wheel wells are getting there. Still gotta patch up a few areas I cut rust out of, but its coming along. Might try to fix that frame rail that someone put a jack through, not really hurting anything though. Mitsu put like one million pounds of seam sealer in each wheel well and it takes an outrageous amount of time to clean it up. Subframes are out getting coating, so I'll hopefully have her back down on all 4 soon. :woohoo1: Plenty more to come soon, but right now I gotta start packing for Proving Grounds.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0461.jpg

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Well got back from proving grounds and decided there's no way in hell I'm going without a car next time around! So I stuck the fiance on the shitty job of cleaning out the wheel wells so I could attend to other things. I start by cutting out and patching the 2 spots of rust on the unibody. Turned out really well actually, alot better than it needed to be to spend its day under a skirt. Then I cut out the shitty rotten spare tire well, still needs some cleaning up but it'll get there. I'm just gonna throw a sheet of aluminum over it like plenty of other have done before me. So not alot of progress, but its something.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0473.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0474.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0476.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0477.jpg

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Still chipping away at it. Something thats always bothered me since the first time I was under this thing was a crushed flat part of the frame rail. I mean its not the rest of the rail is perfect, actually quite far from it. Bent and dented, but this one little crushed spot drove me nuts. So i decided now would be the time to do something about it.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0480.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0481.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0482.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0483.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0484.jpg

And way more exciting than stupid frame rails is the package that came yesterday......

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0485.jpg

Solid front/rear subframe and diff bushings. The were kinda expensive and had to wait for quite a while to get them. But it was worth it.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Finally got all my sandblasting and underbody bs done

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0492.jpg

And got the first coat of por15 laid...

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...2/IMG_0493.jpg

Only 2 more coats of Por15 and a coat of primer left before I can call it a day. More to come.....

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

looks good. I have a crushed spot on the frame rail on my car. It bothers the shit out of me too. I want to blast and undercoat the whole underside of my car but would be a serious undertaking. keep up thew good work looks like you have a long way to go.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Yeah, I had a shit ton of bent spots on the frame rail, but the single crushed spot drove me nuts....figured it was good of time as ever to take care of it. If you are serious about blasting and undercoating, trust me, unless you have a massive blaster and industrial blaster....you're better off just paying someone to blast it for you. In most areas you can find a place to do it for $200-350. It took me several days to get it completely stripped with my 11cfm compressor and a hobby pressure pot blaster. Probably somewhere near 50 hours of time. If I could go back I would definitely have someone do the blast for me, between the cost of the abrasive I used and the blast room......you get the picture. I sure do got a long way to go, but hopefully it'll go a little quicker now that I got the shitty underbody nonsense out of the way. Thanks man!

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Quit being a pussy. Haha.

Re: Fejerys 97 GSX
 

Lick me where I pee chris! =)