Fejerys 97 GSX

[Fejery4491]

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.







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....



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



I continued to just hulk-smash it.





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



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



Started tearing out the interior.







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



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.







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







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



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.





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?!



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

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

[scheides]

Damn, huge project! Keep us updated!

[Fejery4491]

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!

[19TsiAwd90]

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

[Fejery4491]

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!

[awd-drifter]

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

[goodhart]

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

[C3L1CA]

Cool thread, looks like fun!

[turbotalon1g]

nice work

[123abc]

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

[Goat Blower]

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

[Fejery4491]

Originally Posted by awd-drifter

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

Originally Posted by goodhart

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

Originally Posted by C3L1CA

Cool thread, looks like fun!

Originally Posted by turbotalon1g

nice work

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!

Originally Posted by 123abc

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

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.

Originally Posted by Goat Blower

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

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!

[TkrPerformance]

looks so much better with out the kit

[Fejery4491]

Originally Posted by TkrPerformance

looks so much better with out the kit

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

[Fejery4491]

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.



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....







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



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

[GsXtUrBo98]

Whats the point in cutting that out?

[C3L1CA]

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.

[sleepydsm]

Looks like a fun project!!!

[Fejery4491]

Originally Posted by GsXtUrBo98

Whats the point in cutting that out?

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.

Originally Posted by C3L1CA

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.

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.

Originally Posted by sleepydsm

Looks like a fun project!!!

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.

[sleepydsm]

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