Project DSM-NonGM
 

Well I'm a bit bored today at work and have a little extra time. Figured you guys might be interested in my project that I have been sitting on for quite some time and to also bring a little Mitsu back to the forums.

About a year and half ago I was looking for a project car, something I could spend some free time on and also wanted a vehicle that would be a fun street car to drive during the summer. At the time I really didn't want to spend a lot of money, looking at EVO's was my first option as I really liked my 2005 I had. Realized pretty quick that pricing for a quality well kept and low mileage evo was still quite high. So after some craigslist browsing for awhile I came across this Talon, looked really nice in the photos and best of all it didn't have any rust so I went and checked it out. Now as anyone can assume on a car this age it was not in perfect shape. It had an exhaust leak and slight misfire in the higher rpm's and smoked a little bit from what appeared to be oil.

Well after consideration and a little bartering on the price I ended up coming home with this. http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...32_resized.jpg
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...09_resized.jpg



The mods it came with were not much, it came with HKS 272/264 cams and really crappy 'slip fit' homemade exhaust and evo 3 manifold and some guages. Still had the stock intake with the huge maf sensor. But he also threw in new intercooler piping(short route) a rebuilt "bastard 20g". A crappy a/m 2g intake with maf sensor and some evo8 injectors.



I figured since this car had never been tuned I would get everything swapped over and start with the new parts the guy had to get some more power out of this car. First I ordered the intercooler to match the piping and bought new spark plugs and ordered some exhaust gaskets to fix the leaks.Then began taking everything apart.
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...29_resized.jpg

My brothers RX-8 in the background. Has a 13b in it and will be running a fairly large borgwarner turbo soon.


More pics of the car when I first got it are here http://mitsustyle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34697


Ill keep updating this as I get more time.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

I ended up taking all of A/C components out with lines,compressor and condenser. May regret this down the road, but probably not.

So of course getting everything out the way I noticed the radiator was leaking, stock original radiator... go figure. So I ended up replacing with a Mishimoto aluminum with slim fans. Finally once everything showed up I put the bumper ect. back together.


Well got everything back together, put in the new turbo, injectors and ran with the 2g maf and everything actually ran really well without being tuned. http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...03_resized.jpg


Drove it around like this for a little while. But of course in typical DSM fashion something had to go wrong. I was leaving a buddies house one day when a mustang pulled up next to me wanting to do some "testing and comparing". So I hit and literally had zero power and all I could hear was scraping. Limped it home since I was close and found this http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/..._resized_1.jpg

The nut on the compressor wheel was no longer attached and just sitting inside the compressor housing and it completely destroyed the turbo(this turbo was rebuilt with zero miles from diesel components but not by me...The previous owner did some 2 years prior to me buying). Eager to get things going again I bought a 16g off a style member and was about to swap turbo's for a third time when I noticed a large amount of oil inside the manifold. Pulled off the exhaust manifold and found out a few valves were leaking causing the smoke and oil burning http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...25_resized.jpg

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

I'm quite lucky, a really good friend of mine had his head laying around from when he had his dsm and it had been nicely ported with 3g lifters ect which really worked out because the head I had from my car had some gouges in one of the cam journals which I was told was due to having a/m cams with original springs. I brought that head to MAP and they rebuilt everything with new springs,retainers and valves and cleaned everything up.

Head studs and cleaned up the pistons a bit.
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...52_resized.jpg


I never did take and pictures of the porting work on the head... should have but forgot.
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...39_resized.jpg


Also while I was waiting for the head to get back I ended up replacing the rear calipers and brakes because the E brakes were locked up on one of the sides and I couldn't use the e brake which with a manual was a major pita.
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...14_resized.jpg

Also swapped out the oil pan because it had a huge dent, swapped out the front control arms because the bushings were old and shot and had ended up sand blasting the brkts and dip stick and then painted at the shop because why not and it was free.
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...28_resized.jpg
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...44_resized.jpg
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...00_resized.jpg

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Looking good!

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Also figured I would get my new turbo figured out, I wanted something that would work well for street use, have decently quick spool time and could make around 400 awhp which is my goal at this point. I'm not sure I will meet this goal with the set up i have now, but hopefully close and when I switch to E85 with a bigger pump Ill be able to get 400whp.

Anyway the turbo I chose was the FP Green and did opt for porting, I chose this for the ability to still use stock manifold bolt pattern and o2 housing. I figured in the end it would be a bit easier.

https://www.forcedperformance.net/me...FPGREEN_02.jpg

Had to use a stock photo... Can't seem to find the one I took.

I also chose to do external wastegate and bought a jm fab o2 housing and did a tial MVS wastegate
https://www.extremepsi.com/store/ima...09616_zoom.jpg

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

FP's porting sucks and is basically nothing more than making the surface shiny with a Dremel tool. I suggest sending the housing out to get ported (and coated) elsewhere; Ruben @ SoCal Porting is my current recommendation.

https://socalporting.com/

Sexy looking o2 housing!

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

It looked ok when I got it, but I guess I have nothing to compare it too? Little late now as it is already installed lol

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Nevermind then :)

I've compared and tested most of the various porting companies over the years with Mil.Spec. MAP, Grimspeed, and SoCal Porting really being the only ones worth a damn. The problem is, 3 of these 4 no longer offer porting services due to how labor intensive it is with minimal financial return for the hours spent.

TRE's was over-rated, PPI's was average, Buschur's never went deep enough, and FP's was more of a surface polishing.

I see that Curt Brown is now offering porting services as well, but I can't speak to how thorough his work is (but I love a quote on his website). "Remember all porting is done by ME, not some $20 an hour idiot in the back room like most places!"

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Ill remember that for next time lol

Here is my wastegate set up ill be using. I think for using stock mitsu style bolt pattern that this will do nicely http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...11_resized.jpg

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

That should be very nice! Good choice on staying internal-dump.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Fuel Filter was also original so I figured that would also be a must to get replaced so I ordered the fuel lab kit and also since I had it out the inner ricer in me wanted to get the fuel rail painted so I did that also

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...42_resized.jpg
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...38_resized.jpg

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Yeah originally it had external dump and I couldn't handle how loud it was. Rather hear more turbo than exhaust lol.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

I hear that. I regretted my external dump after about 2 weeks.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Looks like a pretty clean dsm. I loved my old scm61 turbo on my old dsm. I had bc 272s in mine and idled pretty good. Transmission was always my problem. I ended up going fwd since it was cheap. Excited to see you get this thing tuned and on the road. 5 speed or auto?

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Looks like it should be a killer street setup!

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Yeah luckily it has a straight body and no rust other than the suspension. Once everything is running good and somewhat reliable to drive I plan on getting most if not all repainted at the shop.
5 spd, going into second currently was a little iffy. But i drained some really nasty gear oil out and put some new stuff in. Hopefully that will help

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Well I was able to wrap everything up last night, took me a little long because the coolant return line that I was told the oem line would work with the FP turbo, did not fit at all. I ended up making my own AN braided line that worked out pretty well.

Now all I need to do is run out and pick up a new gas can and I brought my battery with me today to hopefully charge and revive it to save me a hundred bucks or so. Otherwise worse case Ill probably order an odyssey battery. Then just basically do a complete once over of everything and make sure I don't have any leaks or issues and get it ready to be tuned finally!

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...504_063600.jpg

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Looks really clean! Nice work.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Thanks, once i'm able to drive and enjoy I need to work on getting rid of the massive abs module and get rid of the cruise control stuff to help clear more space.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Looks clean! Will need to see it out and about!

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Nice, looks good!

I ran a small lawn mower battery from fleet farm in my 2g for a few years I think back in the day. I remember it being pretty cheap but don't remember it being the best in super cold weather. Maybe worth looking into if you need a new battery as a small oddesy sounds spendy lol

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Thanks! Yeah, they are similar in pricing to a normal battery i suppose, $100 - 110 from what I have seen. Any idea which brand battery you were using?

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Nice! Not sure how I missed a clean 1G build.

I've gone the lightweight battery and then the lawnmower battery route, I'd recommend against it unless you drive your car every single day.

Getting rid of the ABS was one of the better mods I ever did, it was horrible from the factory. You just need the two front lines and the distribution block, I think everything else lined right up. It also gets rid of 10-15 pounds if you also take out the wiring and module in the passenger side quarter panel.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Your saying not to use either lightweight or lawn mower? I probably won't be driving every day since I work in Saint Paul. Probably only a few times a week i'm guessing or weekends.

ExtremePSI makes a nice kit for the ABS removal which comes with the front lines and proportioning valve. Not sure the ABS even works lol, the weight reduction and space is more important to me i suppose and to help clean up the engine bay.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

1G ABS was horrible/dangerous.

The mini Hawker and Odyssey batteries served me very well over the years.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

I run a lawnmower battery as well. They are like $30 from Fleet. Not ideal at all, but it gets the job done (barely). When I'm driving somewhere, I usually turn the stereo off a couple minutes before I get there. I think the sub/amp add a significant amount of load, and by turning them off for a couple minutes it seems to start harder next time I start it. If I don't, it still cranks over, but it is weaker. Plus my engine is bigger / heavier to turn over. You can give it a shot, worse case is you're out $30. I personally am eventually going to get a full size battery again but put it in the trunk.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Yeah, I probably went through 3-4 of the mini $100 batteries when they were the rage, then 4-5 lawnmower batteries. The fear of not starting after a show or mall run weren't worth it to me anymore.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

How are you guys having so many problems? My IX would start even in the dead of winter after being parked outside all night in below-zero temps with aftermarket cams and injectors. Scheides left his VIII parked outside in the winter for a week once while out of town and had no issues either.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

All interesting points, the good news is it wont be driven during the winter and will be on a battery tender but definitely don't want to drive around with a jump pack everywhere. Probably will still give it a shot so that I can drop the battery down and clear up a bit more in the engine bay.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

I just went with the smallest normal battery I knew of. Which is a 51r(I believe this was the oem size in Integras back in the day).

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Or get a lithium iron and have the cranking power of a full size with less weight than a lawn mower battery.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Saving 15-20 lbs just doesnt seem worth it to me. Full size battery in the corvette is pretty small and was like 100 bucks, I think its like 25lbs or so, seems lighter than others ive had in the past.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Weight isn't really that important, but the slim batteries can be dropped down on the sub frame and just basically out of the way. May just look into putting the battery in the trunk as well and keep a full size. Surprisingly my battery did take the charge so ill see once i'm able to run and get a gas can/gas if it starts or if it's dead again.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Ahh yea thats right, lowering it down is nice to open up some room. Id probably opt for the trunk configuration, loved that in the M3. Came that way factory. Batteries last longer too away from all the heat of the engine.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Yeah I hear ya. For my DSM as well as my SC300, it's a size/space thing not so much a weight thing. I ran an Odyssey battery once. It worked about as well as my lawn mower one did, and lasted one season also just like my lawn mower battery. So at the end of the day I just stuck with the $30 lawn mower one. I dunno if it's because I run dual fuel pumps, and a stereo with a sub/amp bumping constantly that maybe drains mine faster than others, or maybe my slightly larger engine just takes more juice to turn over. My car always starts in the summer, but it doesn't crank as hard in a parking lot as it does in my garage after sitting on a tender. Not a big deal, but it's noticeable and makes you definitely think about it and make sure you don't accidentally leave a dome light on or something.

I don't know on DSM's because I've never done it, but relocating to the rear in the SC is actually very easy I've come to find out. So I'm definitely going to do that one of these days when it reaches the top of my to-do list so I can run a more normal sized battery again.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

Well the car is alive, picked up some 93 from a shell down the street and with a little cranking the car started and surprisingly idled pretty good. Im getting some chatter from what im guessing is the lifters because they need to be pumped up and have been sitting for so long.(Went away). Few small things to fix up. Mount my catch can and should be good to go for June.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

The 51r I mentioned fits down on the subframe, that's where mine is.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

DSM vs Evo. DSM's seem to have many more issues in the charging system than Evo's. I guess I never really had too many issues with either, but I've only had full size batteries in all my cars. I plan on running a full size in the Talon, but dropped to the subframe.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

WooHoo! Great to hear! I didn't realize Shells were carrying 93 up there, but cool you found it.

Re: Project DSM-NonGM
 

I had a full size in the back in a Moroso box, then moved it up to the subframe as well. It was nice having it out of the way. I had the whole engine bay pretty stripped down back then.