Hey everyone,

I've moved the eclipse project to vertTuner.com, a new site I'm working on that deals with tuning convertibles. The new site still chronicles my work with the Spyder sprinkled with How To's and product reviews along the way, but with a more polished theme, an actual rating system for product reviews, and a less obtrusive ad strategy. I'm also hoping that the more general topic of convertible tuning will open up more opportunities for events and guest writing.

Join me at verttuner.com

Installing an AFPR in the Spyder

I've had a Fuelab AFPR (Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator) sitting in my toolbox since mid-summer before we started the timing job. Worse than that, I've had my Walbro 255 since I was still working on the old 420a shell. In order to use the 255 with this project, I needed to get the AFPR installed. A Walbro 255 will nearly always overrun the stock fuel pressure regulator on a DSM. Upgrading your fuel system is the first step to preparing for a larger turbo, so it's been on my high list of things to get done for a while. Surprisingly, installing an AFPR is actually pretty easy.

Parts List

• Fuelab AFPR
• Fuelab gauge 
• -6AN Plug
• Aeromotive 15627 -6AN to 7mm Hose Barb Adapter 
• XRP 980006 Size 6 Male Flare to Size 6 ORB Straight Fitting
• Fuel Rail Adapter 
• -6AN Fuel line 

Tool List

• Metric Wrench Set
• Allen Wrench Set
• -6AN Wrench

Steps

1. Depressurize the fuel system
2. Reconnect the fuel pump
3. Remove the strut tower brace if you have one installed
4. Remove the upper timing cover
5. Disconnect the vacuum line from the fuel pressure regulator
6. Remove the fuel line from the end of the fuel pressure regulator (wear eye protection just in case there is still pressure in the line)
7. Cap off the fuel line, I used some plastic and electric tape
8. Remove the stock fuel pressure regulator. It has 2 10mm bolts holding it in place and a rubber seal preventing it from leaking. After removing the bolts, a few back and forth twists will help release the seal.
9. Install the fuel rail adapter
10. If you haven't done so yet Make your new fuel line. This will connect your AFPR to the fuel rail adapter. Your old fuel line will connect to the bottom of the AFPR using your push on hose fitting.
11. Install the fittings and gauges on the AFPR using the AN wrench to prevent damaging them
12. Mount the AFPR on the firewall. It should come with a bracket, but since I got mine used, I bent a piece of aluminum to make a bracket.
13. Connect the old fuel line to the push on fitting on the bottom of the AFPR
14. Connect the new fuel line to the -6AN fitting on the AFPR and connect the other end to the fuel rail adapter.
15. Tighten everything down
16. With the vacuum hose still disconnected, start the car
17. Loosen the top nut on the AFPR and use an allen wrench to turn the bolt on the top of the AFPR until the gauge reads around 43.5 PSI (factory fuel pressure).
18. Tighten the top nut
19. Connect the vacuum hose to the barbed NPT fitting on the AFPR. The pressure will now drop with the vacuum applied.
20. Put the timing cover and strut tower brace back on

Here's a video we took during the project

Making a custom fuel line with braided nylon hose and AN fittings

I'm getting ready to install an AFPR (Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator) I picked up in a classified ad over at DSMTuners. The factory AFPR mounts directly to the fuel rail. To remove it, we'll need to create a new fuel line connecting the AFPR to the fuel rail. To do this, we'll replace the stock FPR with an adapter on the rail with a 6 AN connector. Then, we'll mount another 6 AN connector onto the new AFPR. To connect the two, we'll need to create a 6AN fuel line long enough to reach from the fuel line to the spot on the firewall where we'll mount the AFPR.

Making a custom fuel line is pretty simple. We just need a a couple things:

1. Some tape - This will keep the hose end from fraying when we cut it
2. Something to cut the line with (preferably a dremel or other high speed cutter for stainless braiding, but shears will do for nylon braiding)
3. A tape measure
4. 2 6AN hose ends - I used one straight hose end and one 90 degree end
5. A 6AN wrench - I used a crescent wrench, but that was a mistake as you'll see in the video
6. A bench mounted vise
7. Aluminum vise jaw pads - I made some with angled aluminum, but it's cheaper to just buy them
8. 6AN Hose

Here are some links to purchase everything you need. I already had all the tools, but this is actually where I ordered my hose parts.

First, use the tape measure to determine how much hose you need and wrap where you'll cut with the tape.  The tape will prevent the hose from becoming too frayed while you cut it. This will make it easier to fit the hose end's cap over the cut edge of the hose. Cut through the tape and remove it from the end of the hose.

Once you have the hose cut to the length you want it (I made mine 24 inches, but I think 18 would have been sufficient too), separate the two pieces of one of the hose ends and place the cap piece into the bench vise between the aluminum jaw pads.  Insert the end of the hose into the cap and push it until it seats as into the cap where the diameter reduces slightly.  

Once the cap is fully seated on the end of the hose, insert the shanked piece of the hose end into the cap piece and begin threading it by hand. Be careful not to cross thread the hose end pieces together as these pieces are very easy to break. It's best to take your time and go slow. Start threading by hand, and use the AN wrench to finish tightening it. Using an aluminum AN wrench rather than a standard wrench will prevent damaging the anodized coating of the AN fittings. As the shank threads into the cap, it will push on the inside of the hose, forcing it to expand into the walls of the cap. This forms a tight seal, which combined with the nylon reinforcement on the hose result in a stronger hose than a factory push on type which is less likely to blow off.

Once the shank end is fully threaded onto the capping end, you are finished with that end of the hose. Repeat the process using your other fitting on the other end of the hose.

Here's a video I made of the process with my buddy, Jake Penner doing the camera work.

Depressurizing the fuel system

I'm replacing the stock fuel pressure regulator in the eclipse with an adjustable one. This will not only let me adjust the base fuel pressure to compensate for higher boost if needed, but will also prevent larger fuel pumps from overrunning the regulator and causing a rich condition. I'm planning to upgrade to a 255 LPH fuel pump from Walbro in the near future, and that's known to over run the stock fuel pressure regulator.  Before I begin, I need to depressurize the fuel system. This will prevent pressurized fuel from spraying everywhere when I begin disconnecting the fuel system. Disconnecting a fuel system component while the fuel system is pressurized risks creating a fire hazard or getting fuel in your eyes. Luckily, depressurizing the fuel system in a 2G DSM is easy to do in four simple steps.

1. Remove the back seat to gain access to the fuel pump cover
2. Remove the fuel pump cover
3. Remove both connectors from the fuel pump
4. Turn the engine over for a few seconds

After that, the system should be depressurized. There may still be a small amount of fuel in the lines when you pull them, so be ready with a shop rag to clean up any messes. You should still wear eye-wear when disconnecting fuel components just in case there is still any pressure.  The last thing you want is gasoline in your eyes.

Here's a video showing how it's done to give you a visual.

Progress and product review: OBX Aluminum Pulleys

After finally sorting the timing issues, I was finally able to drive the Spyder home to Chicago. After a few weeks without power steering, I think my valet was really starting to hate me. None of the parts stores in the area carried a belt in the correct size, so I headed over to extremepsi and ordered new Gates Racing performance grade power steering, alternator,and AC belts to match the Gates Racing performance grade timing belt I used for the timing job. During the timing job, I noticed my stock pulleys were pretty chewed up. That's where the OBX overdrive pulley set stepped in.

Before I get too far into the review, I should talk about OBX and their reputation first. Typically, OBX is an eBay brand that makes cheap knock offs and their record in the DSM community is a bit shoddy. I wouldn't normally recommend OBX as a company because of this reputation. However, nobody else is currently making a set of aftermarket pulleys for the DSM. Unorthodox Racing used to make a set, but they no longer list them in their product list on their website. If you're not lucky enough to find them used from another DSM tuner, you're stuck with either stock or OBX pulleys. So I did some research on DSMTuners.com, and it turned out the handful of people who reviewed these pulleys before turned out to be happy with them. I made the decision to take a chance on them figuring the worst they could really do is toss a pulley and I could still put the old ones back on.

Another thing worth noting is that this pulley kit does not include an AC pulley or a Crank Pulley. I do not recommend running an aftermarket crank pulley on a 4G63 anyway as the stock one acts as a harmonic balancer. A solid aluminum crank pulley could potentially cause severe damage to your engine. If you want the benefits of an aftermarket crank pulley without the risk, you should look into a FLUIDAMPR. At $300 a piece, it wasn't in my budget for this project, but someday I'll pick one up. I have not been able to find an aftermarket pulley for the AC compressor. Most people intent on making a lot of power in the DSM community delete the AC system. While I do have a convertible, I also have a 90 lb husky who needs to stay cool, even when it's raining, so the AC is there to stay in my car.

I've put almost 2000 miles on these pulleys since installing them with no issues so far. The first impression pulling them out of the box is that they are noticeably lighter than the factory pulleys. The idea with lighter weight pulleys is to increase horsepower at the wheels by reducing parasitic loss between the crank and the drive train. Often, manufacturers compound this by making the pulleys slightly smaller than factory too, but that also reduces the output of the components the pulleys drive. The DSM has an anemic alternator to start with, so I wouldn't recommend reducing the pulley size. You would also have to run smaller belts with smaller pulleys, making the Gates Racing belts I ordered useless with aftermarket pulleys. Fortunately, the OBX pulleys are the same size as the factory pulleys, just lighter weight because they are made of aluminum instead of steel.

Once you get over the weight difference, the next thing to catch your eye will be the water pump pulley. If you're familiar with the DSM waterpump, the fact that I said pulley instead of pulleys should get your attention. The stock waterpump on a DSM is driven by two pulleys that mate into one another on installation. The OBX pulley set combines these into a one-piece pulley. This makes installation a little more difficult in the tight space between the water pump and the frame of the car. I got around this by removing the side engine mount and raising the engine as high as I could. I raised the engine by putting a jack under the oil pan and sandwiching some 1x6 boards between to avoid damaging the pan. Lift the engine slowly until you get enough clearance to angle the water pump pulley over the water pump.Once the pulley is on, you can lower the engine back down to reduce the pressure on the other engine mounts.

In addition to being one piece, the water pump pulley comes with only a center hole for alignment, and no bolt holes for mounting. Fortunately, I had read about this in another review on DSM tuners and was ready with a drill press and bits to make my own holes. I used the stock pulley to mark the holes. The drill press made short work of the soft aluminum in the pulley. Given the cheap price of the pulleys and the ease of drilling the holes, I would say this not really an issue. You could easily do this with a hand drill too if you are patient and willing to take your time. I had access to the drill press, so I used it.

You can see the process of marking and drilling the holes prior to mounting the pulleys. When drilling, I found it helpful to keep one of the stock pulleys between the press and the new pulley. It's difficult to make perfect marks with a sharpie, and this helps you make sure everything will line up as it should.

The only other challenge I faced during the install was removing the stock alternator pulley. I made the mistake of removing the belts first, which meant I couldn't use the tension of the belts to hold the alternator and power steering pulleys in place while I broke the center bolts loose. The stock power steering pulley has holes in the side you can jam a screwdriver or wrench into to help hold it in place (be careful not to break anything though), but the alternator pulley is solid. Since the old pulley was chewed up anyway, I just went to auto zone and picked up a chain wrench. Then I crawled under the car and clamped down on the alternator pulley while a buddy broke the bolt loose from above. To tighten the new pulley on, we used the tension of the belt to hold it in place. You may also be able to use the chain wrench for this, but I was worried about damaging the soft aluminum and didn't end up needing to risk it. If you're not sure what a chain wrench is, I've linked to one with the pulley set below.

Ultimately, I'm happy with the purchase. They look nice, weigh less, and are less likely to chew up my new belts than the damaged stock ones were. I picked my pulleys up on eBay, but I've since found them on amazon for cheaper. For your convenience, I've linked to them below. I bought the silver set, but they also come in a nice anodized red or blue.


 

Timing is Everything - Beginning the repair job on the damaged timing belt

The damage that lead to all of this

Timing components are one of the most critical parts of any engine. In the 4G63 motor used in my eclipse, cheaping out on any of these components can lead to early failure. It's important to buy components that are either A) OEM or B) Superior to OEM. Generally speaking, the tensioners and pulleys should be purchased OEM. The belt should either be OEM, or a kevlar belt from Gates Racing or HKS. The waterpump should also be OEM, If you're planning on keeping your balance shaft, you should also go with an oem tensioner pulley for that, and either an OEM or Kevlar balance belt.

I chose to keep my balance shaft. Removing it would have required removing and tearing into the engine, and I'm not really in a position to do that at the moment. Remember, if your balance belt snaps, you're engine could end up seriously damaged from being out of balance, or the belt could get caught in your timing belt and take out the motor that way. Never try to save money by skipping the balance belt

Buttoned up after 6 weeks of struggling

These are the parts I used:

• Timing belt
• Balance belt
• Water pump
• Tensioner pulley
• Idler pulley
• Balance shaft tensioner pully
• New hydraulic tensioner
• about 2 feet of flat stock steel (used to make a tool for removing and re-installing the crank pulley
• Extremepsi.com timing tool kit
• About a dozen 1.00 x 20 x 6 stainless steel bolts to replace all the timing cover bolts I lost in the process

I picked up the bolts and flat stock at a local Menards. Everything else, I ordered from extremepsi.com. Extremepsi.com is a well known and respected vendor in the DSM community, and I've had great dealings with them. They carry quality
parts, ship quickly, and their customer service is top notch.

I did the job with the engine installed in the car by removing just the driver's side engine mount and using a jack with a couple blocks of wood sandwiched between the jack and the oil pan. I used the jack to raise and lower the engine repeatedly throughout the process. Aside from the stress this puts on your engine mounts and being kind of a pain during the process, I really recommend just pulling the engine if you can. A buddy was

borrowing my engine stand, and I completely underestimated how much work this job was really going to be. Not pulling the engine makes it harder to get the timing belt on while also keeping the gears lined up. As you'll see later, the angle you're looking at the timing components from can also cause them to appear in time when they are not. This is the biggest reason the job took as long for me as it did, and is the first thing I would change if I were to go back and do it again.

Only 8 hours? Must be a pro.

In the end, it took me nearly 6 weekends to get this job done due to various complications I ran into, mostly due to being unfamiliar with turbocharged engines. Most people can do the job in a weekend. I did all of this work in the summer in an garage with no air conditioning, mostly laying in the sun under an open garage door. I lost a lot of productivity dealing with feeling miserable the whole time. In the end, the car did not make the shootout, but I rented a car and went anyway. Someday, I'll get around to posting some great videos from the trip. With a lot of help from a lot of people, I did get the car running eventually, and I fixed a ton of smaller issues along the way learning at a fever pitch as I went. Ultimately, this was a fun, if not miserable process that tested and solidified old friendships and helped forge new ones. 

I used several resources for instructions, the vfaq, the Mitsubishi service manual, and Youtube videos to name just a few. Ultimately, none of them covered everything, and this was a source of huge frustration throughout the process. The Mitsubishi manual for instance frequently makes statements like "If removing X part is difficult, try using the special tool." I never figured out what the "special tool" was, but nearly every time I got stuck, that little line popped up in the instructions. 

With a project that took this much time with so many issues, I'll cover what went right, what went wrong, and how I dealt with each issue over a couple of posts so that nothing gets missed.

The good, the bad, and the ugly - Digging the car out of storage

Nearly two years ago, I was offered a tremendous opportunity in my career that involved relocating
to Chicago. Street parking in Chicago is no place for a convertible, especially one you are planning on loading down with expensive performance parts. So, while I found a place to stay, settled in, and found the time to hunt down a nice garage parking spot, I put my car into storage in my old garage in Fort Wayne.

In between now and then, I've met some amazing people in Chicago, furthering my career and education, and traveling the world along the way. All that time, my car has been sitting in the garage, waiting for me to come home and pay it some much needed attention. Well, it just so happens that the 2016 DSM Shootout in Norwalk falls on my birthday this year. I had a blast when I went in 2014, and I missed the 2015 shootout entirely while I was doubling down on finishing school while getting started at my new job.  I refuse to miss the 2016 shootout, and the only thing better than going to the shootout would be to drive there under the power of my own DSM. 

So with that goal in mind, I've been quietly amassing parts while waiting to have time to go home and work on it. The opportunity finally arrived over the fourth of July weekend. So I gathered up my parts, made my way back to the Summit City, and with the help of some of my oldest friends, got to work.  

The first thing I did was make a stop at the local BMV to get all the paperwork sorted out and get some temporary license plates. Last thing I wanted was to take the car out for a test drive and end up getting it impounded. I hopped a train out of Union Station to Waterloo, where a friend picked me up. I got into town late at night, hooked up a battery charger to the eclipse and hit the sack. After sitting for a year and a half, I was sure the battery was toast, but I was hoping to get enough juice to try to start it. 

The good:

I woke up early Saturday morning and headed out to the garage. I took a look at the used hard intake pipe I picked up online. The paint on it was chipping pretty badly, so I took a wire wheel to knock off what I could and then sent it off to a buddy to get the rest sandblasted and then powder coated. Then, I went to see if I could get the car to start. To my surprise, it started right up! Before hand, I did a visual inspection of the tires. They were a bit low, I couldn't see any dry rotting. They would be safe to drive on after filling them up.

The Bad:

I immediately noticed a misfire. It was so bad, the car shook violently. I would spend the next three days troubleshooting this issue from every direction imaginable. It was drivable, but not reliable at all and not really advisable.

Thankfully, I have several good buddies that pooled together to get the car up and going. We started with a simple tune up, replacing the spark plugs and wires. After getting stranded at a parts store, it got a new battery too. While we were there, we picked up a new boost gauge as the light on the aftermarket gauge that came with the car when I bought it was blown. We also finally got around to installing the 1G BOV I bought right after buying the car. This thin had been chilling in the basement of my garage for almost 2 years before I got around to buying an adapter to use it with the Dejon upper intercooler pipe that came with the car.
.

After the tuneup, it ran a bit better, but still missed. At that point, we were thinking the car probably just had bad gas or a dirty injectors. After all, it had been sitting for almost two years.

1G BOV Installed
(switched to a proper vacuum line later.

The car hadn't been stored with a full tank, so we decided to fill it with good gas and add half a can of SeaFoam fuel treatment to the tank with it. We added the other half of the can by running one of the vehicle's vacuum tubes into the can and starting the car. This adds a direct shot of the cleaner into the fuel/air mixture and helps clean the injectors as well as to get some of the carbon buildup out of the engine. You add half a can to the intake through a vacuum line, the other half to the tank, and run the car for about 20 minutes. When you run the car, it will smoke like hell while the cleaner works it's way through the intake. When the car stops smoking, you're good to go. It's not as good as a proper fuel injector cleaning service, by any means, but for $5, it does make a difference.

Please note that this is a standard use of SeaFoam and the instructions are literally on the side of the can. I've heard and seen many success stories with SeaFoam in several automotive communities over the years. I would not recommend using this method with any other fuel additive, which are pretty much all snake oil. I've added a referral link to Amazon below so that if you decide to try this for yourself, you will know exactly what to buy.

Cleaning the fuel system helped tremendously, but didn't totally solve our problem. The misfire went from violent and random to more mild and consistent. At this point, we tested each cylinder for spark and found that they were all firing correctly, but that the car would not run any better or worse with the spark plug wire for cylinder three disconnected. Bingo! Now we knew cylinder 3 was the source of the misfire and the issue was likely not spark related.

There's only three things that can cause a misfire on a single cylinder, a lack of spark, not enough fuel, or no pressure in the cylinder. Since we were getting a steady spark and the issue went away in the other cylinders with a cleaning, we were fairly certain it was either fuel or pressure related. In hindsight, a compression check at this point would have told us for sure that it wasn't a pressure issue, but we didn't think of it at the time.

Be sure to disconnect the fuel pump under the back
seat before removing any fuel components!

We decided to inspect the o-rings on the fuel injectors, theorizing that they could have become dry
rotted while in storage. That could cause a drop in fuel pressure leading to a misfire. After researching how to depressurize the fuel system (important if you don't want to get blasted in the face with gasoline, not to mention creating a fire hazard), we disconnected the power to the fuel pump underneath the back seat and bumped the key into the starting position. After that, we proceeded to remove the fuel rail to visually inspect the injectors. Unfortunately, the o-rings looked fine.

At this point, either the injector is dead, it's so clogged that it's practically dead, or there is no pressure in the cylinder meaning there is something seriously wrong with my engine. It was after 9PM on a holiday weekend, and I wasn't getting into any parts shops to rent a compression tester.  To fully diagnose a fuel injector, I'd have to send the whole set out for flow testing and cleaning with a service like fuelinjectorclinic.com. They would would test my injectors, clean or rebuild them if needed, and send them back to me for around $100. But like any mail service, it couldn't be done that day. Unfortunately, no one in Fort Wayne does flow testing or injector cleaning/rebuilding to my knowledge. I'm planning on switching the car to e85, so I didn't want to spend money testing and cleaning injectors that I would have to replace anyway. And so I was out of options.

Tennessee MacGyver

Then I did what I always do when I can't figure out a problem, I started scouring the internet for any shred of help. And like it almost always does, the internet provided me with a glimmer of hope in an hour of darkness. I found a video on youtube of a guy who hillbilly rigged an injector cleaner using some carb cleaner, a vacuum line, a syringe, and an 9 volt battery. Now I didn't have any syringes handy, so cleaning the injectors was out, at least until stores opened in the morning and I could buy a turkey baster as substitute. I also didn't have a 9 volt battery laying around but I had an old 12 volt motorcycle battery in the garage. I might not have been able to clean the injectors that night, but this Tennessee MacGyver approach to cleaning an injector inspired my inner redneck ingenuity. What you'll notice in watching the video (posted below) is that each time he applies voltage to the injector, it clicks open loudly.

Our rigged together fuel injector tester. We also used
a cookie pan to soak the injectors in cleaner for about half hour
before testing.

I may not have able to clean the injector that night, but if I could apply voltage to the injectors one by one, I could at least verify that they aren't completely stuck closed or open.I'd be further along the troubleshooting process than I was then, and I had nothing better to do, so I went for it. I dug around in the garage and found a junk car stereo that didn't work anymore. I salvaged two wires from the harness, connecting one end of each to a battery terminal, and carefully touched the other end to the leads on each injector listening for a click. I actually had a nice video of this, but it has disappeared from my phone. Sure enough though, lucky number 3 was dead as door nail! The other injectors opened fine. To get the car running, until I was ready to switch to e85, I just needed to replace injector number three. It being the middle of the night on a holiday weekend, I didn't have any options for salvage yards though.

Again the internet came to my rescue. I've been a member at fw4g63.com (Northern Indiana/Ohio's Mitsubishi owner's club) for a few years. These days, most of the members are active on the facebook page for the site. So, I posted a question on the group's facebook asking if anyone could sell a single injector. A few minutes later, one of the members, Josh messaged back that he had a set with a damaged injector he didn't mind breaking up. We worked out a deal and he said I could pick it up that night! The automotive community really is an awesome thing to be a part of. Thanks to Josh, I got the injector swapped over and the car running that night.

And finally, the UGLY

Something had been nagging me since I bought the car. I had no idea if the previous owner had done any of the big maintenance jobs on the car. I'd already dealt with a big issue with the rear brakes, and just spent the whole weekend crawling through the engine bay of the car finding lots of weird wiring hacks. The more I dug into the car, the less "stock" it turned out to be. The intake manifold was off an evo 3 (a nice upgrade), which meant there was no hookup for the map sensor. It was just laying loose! Before driving the car 170+ miles back to Chicago, I decided I better inspect the timing belt and make sure I wasn't due for a nasty surprise. I popped the top cover off, and my mouth dropped. There was a quarter inch gash all running straight down the belt. At this point, I swallowed my pride, bought my train ticket home, and hopped over to extremepsi.com to buy a Gates timing and balance belt along with new idler/tensioner pulleys and a new water pump. After all that work, it's going to be a little longer before she can come home with me.