I fell in love with the Eclipse when I was in Japan, for reals. Despite popular belief there actually are 1G and 2G Eclipses in Japan. Yes, they all were built in the USA. But, the one's destined for the land of the JayDM got gauge clusters in only k/ph and different tail lights (amber colored side markers) they ever were all left hand drive like the US cousins, which is probably why they weren't very popular. But people tuned them there nonetheless.
In the Beginning
These are the earliest pics I have of the car. You can still see in the first pic that greyish paint the previous owner dicided to go crazy with all over the car. I installed a Ground Control coilover sleeve kit the first night I had the car, so I don't have any pics at the OEM ride height.
All the crap the previous owner did to the outside is almost all gone :)
A world of a difference compared to when I first picked up the car
Bring on the Mods
The car kept getting upgraded at a steady pace until one fateful night, while racing against an equally as impressive turbo Honda Prelude, the whole bottom end went -BLAMMO... Amazingly the car managed to turn over and I thought all I did was trash the headgasket (boy was I wrong) I had it towed home and when the oil pan came off, I surveyed the damage. Crankshaft was split in two, and it looked like a grenade had gone off within the confines of my 4G63. The car got towed to Hideki's moms house (which is over an hour away) and awaited what was coming to be.
Hideki's friend had a spare 4G63 from an EVO III sitting in his garage, and allowed me to use it (actually he was going to use it for his car but I coaxed him out of it) but like all things too good to be true, it was. The engine was nowehere near in as good a shape as I hoped. But, all was not lost. We stripped the engine down and sent it out for a full rebuild, but not an ordinary rebuild either. In went stroker pistons, longer connecting rods, stronger bearings, and a new crank. Hideki's 4G63 is what's called a 2.1 liter destroker, it's supposed to square out the engine (bore vs stroke) to let the engine rev higher. Well it works.
I'm missing a ton of info here, but here is a run down of everything I remember that I've done to the car.
Under the Hood
*2.1 Destroker rotating assembly; EVO III block, Clevite bearings, Manley "I" beam rods, Wiseco stroker pistons
*HKS metal head gasket
*EVO III cylinder head; ported during rebuild*Dejon intake & intercooler pipes, Greddy Type RS blow-off valve, K&N FIPK
*ARC style Super-Induction cold air box
*Greddy 24V front mount intercooler
*Forced Performance T28 turbo and exhaust manifold, Dejon MBC
*ACT 2600 clutch, RRE lightweight flywheel, SS clutch line Motul fluid
*SSAC O2 sensor housing dump with Jayracing bumper mount
*RRE 3" downpipe, Espelir GT500 3" exhaust system
*Setrab oil cooler, factory auto DSM shroud for cooler
*Samco radiator hoses, ARC radiator cap
*Walbro high flow fuel pump
*NGK plugs, Magnecor plug wires
*JayRacing wastegate through the bumper kit (whatever it's called)
Rollin' Goin' & Stoppin'
*EVO 8 Brembo brakes front and rear; '99 JDM Galant knuckles, Project Mu pads
*Megan coilovers, rolled fenders
*Front, rear, and B&C pillar bars
*SS brake lines, Motul 600C fluid
*EVO 8 Enkei wheels, BFGoodrich gForce tires
Lookin' the Part
*EVO style vortex generators
*Stripped out the trunk area
*Shaved "mustache" on the front bumper
*Autometer Boost and EGT gauges, Greddy turbo timer
*Super-duper rare factory strut tower "Multi-link Suspension" rubber dust covers...
... I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff...
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