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The Chronicles of Sophie

68K views 800 replies 114 participants last post by  Drunkoffjuic 
#1 · (Edited)
So I've bought my 2003 Eclipse Spyder GTS in 2009 and I absolutely love it. I came across this forum several months ago and ever since I am constantly on it looking for ideas and learning from everyone. I've been hesitant to show you guys since I hit a stupid deer in November going from NorCal back home to Idaho, in Oregon doing 60, and it's not very pretty right now. But I've figured to just do it and get some feedback. Plus today has been the warmest day of the year (at only 69ish) so It was perfect for taking some pics:)
So feel free to comment/make suggestions/criticize. :p

Modifications:

Interior:

-Black leather interior swap w/ custom white cross-stitching
-Heated seats
-LED interior swap: Red.
-Dome light LED: White
-Door triggered white LED footwell lighting
-Color matched headunit remote
-Color matched painted door panel strip
-Black dyed door panel armrests
-Black dyed arm rest
-Black dyed/painted seat plastics
-CF vinyl wrapped convertible top pillars

Audio:
-Pioneer® AVH-P4300DVD headunit
-Video brake bypass
-Rockford Fosgate® P1694, 6x9 speakers
-Rockford Fosgate® P1652-S, 6.5" component speakers
-Rockford Fosgate® P400-4, 4 way amplifier
-Rockford Fosgate® P500-2, 2 way amplifier
-10" Sony® sub, until I get the P2


Exterior:
-New paint color: Summit White
-Dual Halo Projector Headlights
-Modded '03 stock tail lights, black with LED rings
-New signal markers
-Black 3rd brake light w/ red LED bulb
-Painted red calipers
-5% tint all around
-Backup Camera Installed
-Debadged
-Color matched gas cap
-Yellow fog light tint
-Black taillight tint



Wheels/Tires/Suspension:
-19" x 8.5" +32 Stern ST-5 gloss black wheels
-Color matched Summit White lips
-Federal 225/35/ZR19 rubber bands
-Gloss black tuner lugs
-Powder coated gloss black center cap rings
-Custom "Kobe" logo center caps
-D2 Racing Coilovers
-Ingalls rear camber kit
-Moog front and rear end links
-Rolled fenders/quarters

Beneath the Bonnet:
-Injen annodized red cold air intake.
-New spark plugs
-New spark plug wires
-Replaced valve cover gaskets
-TYC A/C condenser
-New radiator


Purchased, not yet installed:
-Prothane motor mounts


Future Mods:
<strike>-AEM/Injen intake</strike>
<strike>-D2 Coilovers</strike>
-Brembo swap
-Powerslot slotted rotors
<strike>-19" Stern ST-5</strike>
<strike>-Rockford Fosgate P1694, 6x9 speakers</strike>
<strike>-Rockford Fosgate P1652-S, 6.5" component speakers</strike>
<strike>-Rockford Fosgate P400-4, 4 way amplifier</strike>
-2 Rockford Fosgate P2 subs
<strike>-Rockford Fosgate P500-2 amp</strike>
-Rockford Fosgate P132, 3.5" speaker for dash
-Modified custom front bumper
<strike>-New leather. Black</strike>/white inserts
<strike>-Paint some interior components</strike>
<strike>-heated seats</strike>
-Redlinegoods armrest cover and ebrake cover
-Put my NES in it, maybe
-new reverse lights


Suggestions accepted

Don't really want to put much into performance since it's an automatic:dunno:

But let me know what I should look into:p

Can't find a pic from the day I got her, but heres what I started with.. if you ignore the messed up front end. haha. Nice and stock and in a tree;)



So here are some pics from when I started my members ride thread (this is after I hit a deer):







Damn Oregon deers!:rant2:

Dual halo projectors. I know, that lining thing around it needs to be taken care of:happysad:

Top down















My goal is to keep my Eclipse original, clean, and respected by the Club3G community:)
 
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#73 ·
Haha I usually do too. but my subs take up all my trunk so I don't have room to keep my bball stuff there:mecry2:
That's why I'm gonna make a fiberglass one later this summer:eek3:
As for the door handle's, yeah I like them. If you wrap yours and it looks good, I might consider lol.
But I am thinking about wrapping my gas cap door.
 
#76 ·
Thank you:) My buddy mark overlooked me doing it and he said I'm a natural and should seriously consider going to school for automotive painting. You should see my xbox i painted for fun haha.

haha i'll have that problem sometime next week. two alpine r's ftw.
but yeah i'll definately post some pics this weekend of it. i'm kinda behind on some school work and too damn lazy to do it now.
Nice! Big boxes that take up your trunk suck though:/ I'm thinking about going with Rockford all the way around my car. 2 10" P2s and then all the speakers inside. Hopefully in a few months. BUt yeah school comes first:yesway:
 
#78 ·
I bought a little something!:p
18" Stern St-5

(pic from google, I haven't gotten them yet)


I fell in love with these wheels the moment I saw them on Jacob's beautiful car:wub:
They were just what I was looking for.

Anyways, I ordered them and they should be here this week or the beginning of the next.
Just thought I'd share that with you guys, since I'm so excited:ndance: Haha.
 
#110 · (Edited)
That wheel looks like it could be a little heavy. Just remember that you don't have to sacrifice looks for performance.

Some good wheel brands are:

#1 Volk - Rays Engineering
#2 Advan - Yokohama Wheels
#3 Enkei (RPF-1 is currently the most lightweight enkei rim)
#4 OZ Racing (Superlegerra)

It can be expensive, but as long as you know your wheel size and keep in mind that our wheels are a 5 lug bolt pattern, you can find a good deal if you know where to look.

Ebay is one of them, sometimes you can find good deals on craigslist (rare), or you could google it. Buying wheels at a wheel and tire shop can be more expensive but you do get warranty and free tire rotation and all that good stuff so it's up to you.

I remember back when I had my 00 Eclipse GS I had some exotic ATS Wheels 17 inch that only weighed 14 Lbs. I was sad to know that they don't make those wheels anymore because the wheel manufacturer ATS is in Germany and they stopped exporting those years ago. Either you know someone that is selling them or you go to Germany and buy them. But are they worth it? Hell yeah.

I think the name of the wheel I had was ATS Complite
It was the lightest wheels I had seen on any car.



Here's a pic of an Evo with some Volk CE28N wheels. Especially with a low profile tire like that your car will really stand out. I agree with everyone else too that you should lower car. But wheels come first.




The benefit of having lightweight wheels is better acceleration and handling. The point that I am trying to make is that you can have a lightweight wheel and still look good.
 
#85 ·
Your car looks great, especially considering the condition it was in before the bodywork. Nice color too. As far as repainting the brake calipers, I think white would look pretty cool, especially if you matched them to your body color :twocent: Just remember you're going to need paint and/or clearcoat that can withstand high temperatures so they don't crack or peel. Looking good so far though :yesway:
 
#86 ·
Thank you :) It was a lot of work, and I learned how to paint :agreed: haha.

Yeah I considered painting them white. However, once I have enough for coils I'm getting those wheels posted on this page, and I'm getting the polished lip on them painted/powdered white :ndance: So I figured red calipers will look better after that. But that's not till later, so shhh :ninja2: Haha.
 
#91 ·
So my car shakes a little more than I believe to be normal when I'm stopped, like at a stoplight, so I was thinking about getting Prothane motor mounts and see if that helps :dunno: I'll search a bit to see what I can do. But I went to take a look under my hood just to look at the ones I have now to see what they look like currently and found this:


Same one:


I'm no expert, but I don't think that's how that one is suppose to look.
Could that be the issue? :scratch: And can someone tell me if I should get that replaced ASAP or if it can wait?
 
#92 ·
That mount is finished, is your issue and hopefully the only mount in that condition. It could wait, you'd just be putting more stress on the other 3 to do the job of 4.
 
#96 ·
Don't have them:( long story, but I ended up with just one wheel and getting a refund for the other 3. But i'm planning on getting them by spring.

I'd go ahead and replace all four, but installing the urethane motor mounts will increase your idle vibration since it stiffens the engine to the frame.
Looks good though! I wish I could have a white Eclipse. :ndance:
But it's a good thing that it's stiffened to the frame though right? you installed them on yours didn't you? I was going to quckly check but my internet is being stupid.
And thanks:) drive over here and i'll paint yours white too!;)
 
#100 ·
Not yet. Im getting those at end of winter too. And I'm planning on putting them on at the same time as the new wheels for best results :yesway:

What sucks is that the one wheel that I do have is +45 offset and I can't find them anywhere for a reasonable price. So I think I'm gonna get a +32 offset set and hopefully those have a good flush look. :sweat:

I might make the wheel I do have into a coffee table or something since I'll have no need for it lol.
 
#105 ·
Thank you:)
I did the spraying:eek3: His back isn't great, so it was either I paint it, or I take it to maaco. The paint and supplies was only about $300 so I saved a lot of money by doing it myself. Apparently I'm a natural:D haha. I learned so much so I'm glad I did it.
 
#106 ·
So my SES light has been on for a couple months now, stopping me from getting an emissions test, which is required for the first time here in this county:rant2: It was a cylinder 2 misfire. So, time for new spark plugs and wires. I had some guys that are on this local facebook group for car enthusiasts help me out, they were pretty cool. Social networking FTW:hbang:





There was oil seeping in there:


Mani off finally, and I'm pretty sure it's the first time it's been taken off since it's been built:


And we figured since we already have it off, to change the gaskets: (old ones were really hard and a bitch to take off)







So after getting that back together, car ran sluggish. Turns out wires 4 and 6 were switched where they connect with the spark plugs, so we flipped them and she ran like she was suppose to:) But light came back on: "Random Misfire Detected", waited a couple days, light turned off today and I took it to get tested. I passed! :woot: haha.
And the dude that tested it told me my car was pretty clean:wub: lol.

Not sure why, but the vibration has been reduced in the cockpit for some reason too. But she runs great, I'm happy:)
 
#109 ·
I was suprised they were a different color lol. I didn't know the back one was black. But i plan on getting the front one powdercoated at some point;)
I just had to get this done on thursday cuz i'm a little bit of a procrastinator... so I was on my final notice with just a few days till they took away my registration:lol:

And I wasn't expecting the vibrations to go down. I even ordered some new motor mounts to stop it, so hopefully once those are installed it's even better:eek3:

This is gonna look good with a drop and some nice wheels!
I think you are right, sir;) Once winter ends, is when those updates will come and they will make you :drool: Hopefully. :lol:
 
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