Blue3kgtsl's 1999 VR4 resto-bpu-bolt ons thread

I'm starting this thread to document the progress of my newly acquired 1999 VR4. I was not looking to buy another car since I already don't have enough room and I'm trying to finish up my 94 stroker single turbo car. However, while looking at used VR4s for a coworker, I came across this car -only an hour and a half from me- and absolutely had to pick it up. I went look at the car on Feb 24th and then brought it home on March 3rd.

This '99 has 124,000 miles, is number 175, black on black, fairly stock (ebay exhaust, ebay front turbo manifold, ebay mbc, and who knows what brand Y-Pipe) - more on this later - and I'm the 3rd owner. It has some flaws in the paint, fading on the sail panels, and some side swipe damage on the driver rear quarter (not too bad, but enough for me to be upset about it). The deeper scratches were covered up by fingernail polish :(. I have the full history of this vehicle, the power antenna, both front regulators, timing belt (belt only), and transmission (due to leaking) were all replaced fairly recently.

The driver turn signal was cracked and headlights were yellowed pretty bad when I first picked it up. Luckily I had bnib 99 turns already and quickly swapped it out then buffed the headlights to a much better condition.

Right now I am having an annoying issue with the CD player. I had put in an old CD on the 2nd day I owned the car and E03 displayed; nothing played and the CD could not be ejected. Looking it up revealed a disc load error. The next day the CD ejected and I threw that CD away. CDs loaded and played fine after but yesterday while cruising, I was finished with a CD and tried to eject it, but the button did nothing and the CD continued to play.

My initial plans for this car are to:
Get the 120k and all other maintainance done ASAP complete
get the exterior back to showroom condition (interior is close to mint already)
Put a set of matching tires on (currently has 3 different brands) complete
suspension complete, driveshaft, and engine mounts complete need attention
Take all the BS eBay parts off and replace with quality/rare parts complete
Bring the sound system up to par complete


Current Mod list (3/2022)-

Engine:
DNP Precat Deletes
ATR downpipe
IPS 4" titanium HKS carbon/Ti exhaust
EGR blockoffs
DNP Intercooler piping
DSM SMIC
Dejon Preturbo piping
Evo 9 bov
Maximal Solid front and rear engine mounts
3sx radiator


Tuning & Fuel:
Flash tuned
Kyosan/Denso Supra Pump
3SX fuel loop
Evo 450s
GM maf + maft in stock draw through config
Charcoal canister removed


Brakes & Suspension:
Intrax lowering springs
Hawk HPS pads
Volk GT-C's F19x8.5 +27 R19x9.5 +24

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Shortly after purchase
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps0vplz57t.jpg

The next day after a needed wash
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...pskmugse2b.jpg

I picked up a few small powder coated items and a black ebrake handle with boot to replace my worn one from DrGonzo.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps87mzqtiw.jpg

And taking her out for a drive with my girlfriend yesterday
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psc6uuadpm.jpg

Alright, so I can only start off this next post by saying -

This car is addicting. I can't stop driving it. I have been driving it for a week straight. It didn't help that my 335's battery had died; that just gives me an excuse to keep driving it.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psypcex8a0.jpg

I did do a few small things today...

I didn't like how low the oil pressure was reading at a hot idle - Yes its the factory gauge but I didn't know what weight or oil was in the car before. He had just told me Royal purple - yuck. I changed it out to Valvoline VR1 20w50. The engine sounds like it runs much quieter now and the factory gauge looks way better. I still need to do the 120k, just waiting on the parts.

I noticed shortly after the purchase that there was an aftermarket fan in front of the condenser. This was making the car cool down while driving on the interstate, especially on the colder nights. Weird, but I didn't really have the time to take it off until today. Of course this could be hiding a bigger issue, but I rather fix it correctly instead of keeping this bandaid on. Luckily, the older Kias used Mitsubishi electronics, parts, engines, etc - I ended up having a brand new connector for the a/c fan to replace the hack job fan install.

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The car still seems to cool down while driving on the interstate. I'm going to get a new thermostat to install while I do the 120k and that will probably solve the issues.

I purchased some goodies too that I will be installing during the 120k - DNP precat eleminators and an ATR downpipe. As far as the cat back, I still want to get that eBay system off, but I would really like to find another IPS titanium 4" system OR a Yogurt ICH 4" system. (Yea I know, when pigs fly; just like the chances of me finding another Ohiospyderman short throw.)

I went ahead and installed the DNP precat eleminators and ATR downpipe this weekend. Unfortunately since I still have that craptacular front Ebay manifold on the car, I had to make a spacer to get it all to fit. Everything should fit perfectly once the OEM manifold is back on the car. I also ripped the crappy mbc off the car and fixed some boost leaks and the car pulls way better now. I took the car to its first and my first scca autocross event yesterday and we did pretty good for our first time. I need some better tires on it though as well as a suspension refresh; those will hopefully help out with the understeer a little.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...pschvjb2cp.jpg

I don't have a gopro yet but my girlfriend recorded this back section. She did it in slowmo though which made it just a little bit cooler lol.

https://youtu.be/85UNq8m7vAY

Update

Since the last update, I have installed a Kyosan/Denso Supra fuel pump, tried my hand at polishing the paint, scooped up some dejon preturbo piping, and dropped the car a tad on some Volk GT-C's that I'm going to restore once my 94 is completed.

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Maintenance items should be in on Thursday so that I can completely catch this thing up.

Starting with unfortunate news. A few weeks ago my 99 was parked way in the middle of my girlfriends parents yard, far away from the driveway and other cars. Somehow my girlfriends dad ended up backing up into it. I had my PDR buddy "fix" it for me but it still needs a fender to be 100% again.

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This weekend I was able to get the ebay front turbo manifold swapped with a stock one and the crappy ebay intake switched to a K&N FIPK. I was able to get rid of the 1/2 inch spacer I had between the dnp front precat eleminator and the atr downpipe. The fit is still not perfect but at least I dont have a spacer in my exhaust or an exhaust leak anymore. I read that dnp wasnt always spot on with their fitment so I blame that.

We also took care if the valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, and wires while we were there. Not that there was anything wrong with the spark plug wires, but they were the MSDs that left the tube open. I had some Accels I had kept from my 94 and threw those on instead.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...pszuaozgel.jpg

This week I will be changing the front and rear engine mounts to solid, installing dejon intake pipes, installing dnp intercooler piping and dsm sidemounts, leading up to the 120k this weekend. It's almost time for the next autocross.

This looks like a nice and well looked after 99. You are right about the DNP precats, they should fit as good as the OEM parts. At least mine did.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Unknownvr4

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I like the look of a house with 3 3Ss parked in front. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j2k4

I like the look of a house with 3 3Ss parked in front. :D

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You missed my 94 in the garage lol

Last night I pulled an all nighter. Not the smartest thing to do in the middle of a work week, but the job is done and I'm awake.

The engine mounts were worse than I thought they were, i did feel the engine moving a lot but didnt think they were as bad as they were. I swapped the front and rear with maximal solids and I plan on getting a new oem set for the sides.

Thankfully before I tried installing the DNP intercooler piping, I had read that the 99 SMICs are different. Unfortunately I didnt read that I was going to have problems with my charcoal canister - so after fighting it for a while, I gave up and ripped it out. I had a set of DSM SMICs a buddy had given to me that I threw on with the DNP intercooler piping last night. I also installed the Dejon preturbo piping, 3sx fuel loop, and did the exhaust side of the EGR blockoff. I'm almost not embarrassed to pop my hood anymore...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psfnnibb6o.jpg

DSM SMICs peeking out
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...pspgezd5o5.jpg

Next time I post the 120k will be completed.

Your really making some progress on the car!

DSM ICs were a pretty solid mod, I thought.

Thanks to buddy Bob/Oohnoo...:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j2k4

DSM ICs were a pretty solid mod, I thought.

Thanks to buddy Bob/Oohnoo...:D

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They're temporary until I can get a set of his huge SMICs ;)

Everything I did was slightly behind the curve.

At least I went flashable w/LCDBC. :rolleyes:

Major Update!!

On Sept. 9th I was registered to autocross the car again, so on Sept 8th I took the car apart for maintenance, 120k, and replace the dented oil pan/pickup tube. However, when i pulled the pan I was greeted by some decent sized metal flakes and I naturally freaked out.

I proceeded to pull the bearings out of the engine and found that some were worn and some were beginning to wear. The crank still looked in great shape with nothing to catch a fingernail on. After addressing some concerns with Ray, I ordered a set of Clevite race bearings for the rods and mains, and some Sealed Power thrusts from him.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...pst5c18bud.jpg

While waiting on my bearings to arrive, my buddy had dropped off a set of 97 fogs. My car had a broken lens on one of the fogs, so I took apart the set that was given to me, swapped projector assemblies, projector lens, and outer lens. Its amazing how such a small thing will improve the look of a car.

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After receiving the bearings, I tackled the job over this past weekend. It was a long weekend of install, remove, measure, reinstall, torque, repeat, but I was able to complete the job, 120k, new oil pan and pickup, egr delete, thermostat, and solid shift cable bracket bushings. The end result was oil pressure a million times better than before (on the stock gauge) and a transmission thats butter. I also quickly found out I forgot to hook something back up because the car tried to make all the boost so until I get to it this evening, my right foot is the boost controller.

Your really making progress on this car. Did you replace the bearings with the engine still in the car?

Yes, engine stayed in the car. It wasn't bad, just time consuming. I'm glad it's done now though. Progress on this will dwindle down to just about nothing for a while soon while I bring my other car back to life finally.

For the past week I've been changing one busted coolant hose after another. Not keeping up with the cooling system services really did a number on this car. Practically all of the nipples are rusty, one snapped in half when changing a hose.

I am now in search of a clean, non rusty, complete thermostat housing with neck, turbo coolant lines, and the iac block (or whole throttle body). The throttle body could be in need of a rebuild since I have rebuild parts already.

Also I was wondering what everyone does as far as floor mats. This did not come with oem mats. I do not want the diamond plated crap in here. It has the mats you buy off ebay that say 3000gt on them but I find they dont fit very well.

I am also interested in what people do as far as the bov hose. I'm using a evo bypass valve at the moment so a stock hose works fine, but mine is beginning to get old and I was wondering if anyone found a silicone option.

It's not all a bad update though. I purchased a set of reconditioned headlights and turn signals which drastically improved the look of the car. It just needs to be washed now haha. I may end up restoring the pulled off set and throwing them on my 94. Or just keep them for backup.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psu7vtza2q.jpg

Passenger side original, driver side restored.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psn40igcrk.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psg7t8lrhp.jpg

The battery died on me, so a forced upgrade was necessary.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psqdxveufi.jpg

Tracked down a 2nd 4" IPS/HKS titanium exhaust

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psekpbeexw.jpg

Also, my now fiancee bought me new speakers. So I installed the door and rear speakers, replaced the door belt weather strip, and the driver side skirt. No more huge scratch!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psesfloe4h.jpg

Adulted and bought my very first truck. Keeps miles off the 99 and will be a great tow pig.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps890ukfxl.jpg

Truckin' hell. What's the towing capacity of a beast like that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by box

Truckin' hell. What's the towing capacity of a beast like that?

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Around 14000 conventional towing, 16800 gooseneck towing.

Changed out the ksports in favor of a kyb/intrax combo and put the chromies back on. Got a great deal on some Yokohama Advan AD08R tires. Feels good having a matching set on the chromies finally. Also put some small spacers on to make the wheels flush. Much better ride :bigthumb:
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The wife bought me some garage alpha floor mats for Christmas and they really brought the interior back to life.

Rebuilt the throttle body on the 99 this weekend, the car runs so much better now. Need to tweek the tune some but probably wont mess with it too much - just iron out a rough spot in the midrange. I also changed the trans fluid since i never got around to it yet. It was notchy when cold in 2nd and more so in 3rd, put some Mitsubishi gear oil in and now its smooth as silk.

I ordered some new oem sail panels as mine are almost completely faded now, just waiting the month delivery from japan.

I took the GTCs apart and started stripping the barrels to polish them. If anyone needs to strip any paint, dont buy aircraft paint remover anymore. The new formula does not contain methylene chloride and therefore hardly works at all. Instead i found better luck using goof off graffiti remover (not the goo gone one). Didnt worry about stripping the faces since they will be sand blasted at powdercoat anyway.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6451e9b4ae.jpg

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A few months ago i had to replace the alternator on the car with one from autozone. Right out the box it was a piece of shit, but you have to order them so it wasn't like I could return it and get another the same day. When you would turn the pully, the internal fan would hit on something, so i disassembled it, inspected everything, and reassembled - no more clicking sound.

That alternator lasted maybe 500 miles and about the time it started having voltage issues, I bought a new house with a nice shop. I knew it would be a while before I had time to replace it so the car sat and I ordered a NEW alternator from autozone to warranty out the reman one which is no longer available through them.

I finally had the time to work on the car again this week, so I tore it down to replace the alternator and what do you know, the NEW alternator wasn't correct for 3/S's. It had a 12mm stud for the positive terminal and a threaded pull nut for the top mounting bolt. It looked exactly the same besides those two issues. Luckily I have a parts car so I ripped the alternator off it to put on my 99. The one off the parts car had been replaced with some brand called LAtrical which from my research looks to be based in California but appear to only sell on Amazon and eBay. Fingers crossed it actually lasts. Moral of the story - just buy a reman from Mitsubishi.

Right before the alternator I upgraded to evo 560cc injectors, maft, and 3.75 LS maf in the stock location, now I need to tune the car. (And its ready for bigger turbos now)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...78cd00a2f9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a6cdc18cdf.jpg

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In one of my last post, I stated I had oem sail panels on the way and I was refinishing the GT-Cs. Well here it is, the car needs a detail:https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2826be2626.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8b3914a5c7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cdfac915f0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e313536875.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f1ef09e1a1.jpg

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So fresh, so clean

Very cool

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That BEAUTIFUL shop screams LIFT!!!!!

Wish I had a place that big to work on mine :)

Bob.

Cleaned the car up and got some half decent exhaust clips.


https://youtu.be/n4WmTTmtkmM

Sometime in May, the car developed a coolant leak and the battery had been acting up for a few months to the point I had to jump it off all the time. I had a feeling I knew where the leak was coming from ( I was changing the turbo coolant hoses and throttle body hoses as they broke before) so I decided to just let the car sit in the shop a while so I could take care of other things around the house and shop.

I'm in the middle of painting and building a 1G GSX for my youngest brother which takes up just about my entire weekends that I dont work.

I ordered and installed a mini split ac unit in the shop - which was another reason to let the car sit, a small fan blowing on you during 100 degree days won't do much. We also had a decent sized above ground pool put in about the same time.

Hurricane Ida came through and it was almost a direct impact here. We had power back almost the next day thankfully but we cleaned the yard of leaves and tree limbs for the next week.

Finally I felt I could put some time into my car. I ordered upper and lower radiator hoses and an oem thermostat (didn't really need since I replaced it once already but I wanted to be thorough). After taking off everything necessary to get to those hoses I started removing the thermostat and radiator hoses. The thermostat housing had heavy corrosion from all these years and in that moment I knew how I would fix it all.

I sent a spare thermostat housing and crossover tube to the powdercoater. I ordered all 3 gaskets for the housing, the 2 orings for the crossover tube, the heater hose fittings, and -an lines and fittings for the turbo cooling system. After receiving it all and the parts back I tapped the housing, reinstalled, and ran the lines. Replaced the heater hoses, and picked up new hose to run to the throttle body. I had a new OEM battery wiring sitting a while and decided to throw that on while there was excess space to work. Speaking of batteries, I ordered and received an antigravity lithium battery. I was unsure of the original radiators internal condition so I just decided to steal the 3sx one out of the white car. I somewhat regret that decision and may either bring my original radiator to a shop that rebuilds them or something. I don't remember the 3sx radiator having fitment issues - at least the first one I had didn't but his was a newer one.


-The top mounting brackets had to be persuaded to line up the holes
-the radiator rests right on the nut for the line on the condenser even though I grinded it flush. (I don't remember them fitting this way before)
-The passenger fan might hit my dejon intake tube, not sure if this was always the case with previous versions.
-The driver bracket had to be clearanced for the dnp hard pipe kit (this one is probably a non issue for oem hoses or FMIC)

So this is where we are right now. Tomorrow, im going to pressure test to make sure there are no leaks before reassembling, flush the rest of that nasty crap out then bleeding the system. Aiming to have the car driving Friday to be able to double check everything before cars and coffee on Saturday.


I know you can't see the crossover and the thermostat housing you can only see slightly. I'm hoping the coating protects them better. I was going for an oem+ color and I think I nailed it. I'm going to get a little more stuff done this color and plan on zinc coating all the bolts later/soonish.
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https://youtu.be/yBaVjRgIUcA

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Zinc plated most of the bolts and brackets you can see in the bay - not ones you have to look deeper for yet, ill save those for when I build the engine. Don't worry about the clutch booster tube, I'll reroute that later.

I also soda blasted the intake manifold and then cleaned it to get it almost back to factory color. Then I made a titanium upper radiator tube that I'll probably start reselling once I continue testing it.

The engine bay is about 80% where I want it to be visually now.

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Now that's a nice looking pipe!

Haven't updated in a while. I tracked down a dealer option titanium shift knob shortly after my last post after searching for years.

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My kybs ended up at the end of their life a little before black friday. Instead of replacing them, I took the chance on a set of coilovers again. After reading some reviews, I ordered a set of HKS hypermax S and evo suspension adapters. In the process of doing the swap, I found out that the suspension needed more love than I originally thought. I ended up ordering superpro front control arm and sway bar bushings, axle boots to replace the busted (and soon to be busted) ones, ball joints, tie rod ends, and 3s solutions adjustable sway bar links.

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While working on the control arms, I found an old battery a past owner had leaked down causing surface rust under the grime that coated the passenger control arm. I had just gotten a lift shipped to the house for the shop and didn't have time to send the control arms to powdercoat as I needed the car movable again to get the lift installed. I ended up using white vinegar and some elbow grease to remove the surface rust and hitting both control arms with chassis paint after a nice scuff..

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I also installed pitroad m rear upper control arms, jdm tail lights, and finally received the te37s I had ordered a while back for a fresh look of the car. I still need to adjust and align the suspension but these hks coilovers ride like a dream. I think even better than my wife's f80 m3.

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