The Top Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Resource

Join the best E39A 1991-1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 community and document your GVR4 journey.

  • Software Upgraded - Reset Your Password to Login
    In order to log in after the forum software change, you need to reset your password. If you don't have access to the email address you used to register your GVR4.org account, you won't be able to reset your password. In that case, follow the instructions here to regain access to the forum.

New Owner #1772 - Looking to make a reliable driver/autocross car

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
Hello all! I just purchased #1772 from weirdbeard here (#1772 for sale thread). It looks like it has been taken very good care of. Aside from some rust underneath and a few minor door dings everything appears to be in good shape. As far as I can tell the only thing done to the drivetrain has been upkeep (a lot) and some BC264's. It has a shimmy once I get over about 65 mph that comes and goes. I'll need to diagnose that. And the shifter is like rowing with a wet rope.

My first fast car was a 4 bolt/6 bolt Talon. I pulled the motor and had it built, and did all the normal bolt-ons. I always loved that car and have missed being a part of the DSM community. I always loved the sleeper aspect of the Galant, and knew I would buy one when the right deal came along to get back into a DSM (after reading around the site I have learned the GVR4 is not a DSM. I apologize if I offended anyone). With that being said, it has been more than 10 years since I had my Talon and have forgot a lot. I see a lot of good information on this site, but when I search, quite a bit of it is older info. I am not surprised at this due to the age of the car, but I would like to know what the latest and greatest is out there for things like the shifter, suspension, fuel supply, turbo, tranny/transfercase, 4 lug vs 5 lug.

My goal is to build a reliable car that can be autocrossed on the weekend but also be occasionally driven to work or up on mountain roads if I feel like it. I have a friend with a 2G that just made 493 hp to the wheels on 93 octane (no meth), so I will be leaning on him for some help. I would like to make similar horsepower. ~500 whp with suspension and drivetrain to sustain some "spirited" driving on the autocross track and in the mountains, while still being relatively comfortable is my goal. Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I guess my first project will be the shifter.

[*]What are the best options out there for shorter throw and good positive engagement?
[*] Where is the best place to go to purchase upgrades/replacements for worn suspension components?
[*]Also what is popular to get the revs down on the highway? 4k at 80 is ridiculous! Is there a popular swap or are you just regearing with a rebuild?
[/list]

For those of you who are interested, here's a picture of my current DD. It's an 09 SRT8 with a Procharger. It make ~570 to the wheels. I love my boosted AWDs!!




 
Last edited:

faqinshiet

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
512
Location
Charlottesville, Va
Welcome! Jnz tuning click and EH makes some too click
I have the Jnz and it's awesome and I'm sure EH's awesome too but I bought mine way before EH made them.
Suspension I went with BC coil overs from bobdole they are great. Jnz and extremepsi sell parts.
Well enjoy the site!
 

KiNgMaRtY

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2008
Messages
835
Location
Corona, CA
Welcome! Yes, that Evo 3 5th gear is discontinued now. You will have to source it out second hand.
 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
Installed my first mod! Bought a 3000GT shifter and sent it to JNZ to be modified. I just installed it last night and it is a huge difference! The shift pattern is very tight and noticeably shorter throw. It is obviously shorter, although I didn't measure the difference. I will say that the shifting is still a little vague. My STi was very notchy and it was very easy to tell when you were back straight up for 3rd/4th. This one is a bit hard to tell. I was concerned that I was going right back from 2nd to 1st because it is so close and doesn't easily snap back to center. I may try doing some adjusting and messing with the spring to see if I can get better feedback. Overall I am very happy with it.

I also got a 340-2 fuel pump and am awaiting my 515 fuel lab pressure regulator and 950cc injectors. I'll be ready to turn up the boost!
 

FlyingEagle

Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
1,635
Location
THE Ottawa
I hope you don't have the same transmission installed, as this poor fellow did. When I say poor, I mean the unfortunate situation, versus his bling status.
Heavily modified transmission that broke while idling in a parking lot. Click

Nice to see a galant owner that is taking the time to clean up his car and take it to the next level. I hope you have a whole lot of fun with it.
 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
Wow that's crazy! My transmission was still stock but I sold it so it's not my problem anymore haha. I'm enjoying the crap out of my Galant so far. Trying to get to the point where I can beat a good friend with a Scat Pack Challenger.
 

holeshotmoe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
1,291
Location
MD
Quoting FlyingEagle:
... Heavily modified transmission that broke while idling in a parking lot. Click ...




Nuts! New market for titanium or kevlar mats?

Nice Jeep, and welcome to the board
 
Last edited:

OldHairyBastard

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2005
Messages
4,510
Location
Northern Chicagoland Area
Well 500HP will make the care not so reliable with spirited driving. If you keep it around 400 you might be okay as long as you lay off on the launches. This coming from someone who has gone through 7 transmissions, 2 t-cases and a rear diff. I do drive it like I stole it but this was all done in less than 20,000 miles on it with 195 size tires. If you stay with a street disk you will be alright but plan on changing them often as you will burn them out. I'm on my 6th clutch (twin disk) and it has been rock solid. You can dump a lot of money into a trans build and hope for the best but I bought a brand new 1g trans which has the better internals as a lot of the weaker parts have been replaced with stronger updated versions.
 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
Boost Controller installed. I went with a Grimspeed because I liked the way it looked and it feels very high quality with a lot of adjustment.



I also got the rest of my fuel upgrades. Going to do the fuel pump rewire while I'm at it. It's looking pretty rusty back there at the fuel pump hat, so it could be quite the job.



My 950cc FIC injectors will be here next week, and I already have my chipped ECM link ECU waiting to go in.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Soak those nuts on the fuel pump cap in Kroil or Pb for a few weeks (spray them every couple days) and loosen them gingerly afterwards.
 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
A few weeks?! I was thinking like overnight. I've got some BG stuff that works better than any other penetrating oil I've tried. I'll give it a shot tomorrow and see if anything will give.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
That is what I did, because 5 mm studs don't require much torque to twist them off. I did not break a one, and you could barely tell there were hex nuts on them when I started. Just my suggestion. YMMV.
 

OldHairyBastard

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2005
Messages
4,510
Location
Northern Chicagoland Area
Trust in what Dave tells you! These studs snap when you just look at them. The fix is to remove your gas tank and make sure that you have no fumes and welding on new ones so it's best to be sure that they will loosen. I've had them snap off even after soaking them for over a week with multiple applications.
Quoting iceman69510:
Soak those nuts on the fuel pump cap in Kroil or Pb for a few weeks (spray them every couple days) and loosen them gingerly afterwards.

 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
Well I gave it a shot today. All the studs are fine, but as soon as I touched the fuel line to disconnect the fittings it broke right at the 90.I'm glad it happened actually because it took so little to crack it, I know it was only a matter of time. I couldn't find a new sending unit so I went ahead and bought the stuff to drill the line out, bulkhead through the hat, and adapt back to the factory lines.

I got the new feed line and FPR installed. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I used two existing holes in the firewall to mount the FPR with the two bolts that were holding in the factory FPR. I still need to run the vacuum line and return line up to the FPR. Need to buy some longer hoses.



 
Last edited:

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
I got my new fuel pump installed today. Found a 1G fuel sending unit at a local salvage yard and modified it to be the same height as the Galant unit. I tapped a hole in the pump mount and reinstalled the bottom mount holding it in place with the threaded hole. I put a hose clamp on it to hold it on place at first, but it was holding so good once I got the mount in place that I decided I don't even need the clamp. Swapped everything from the Galant unit over to the 1G hat and drilled out the old line for AN fittings.

You can see how much longer the 1G is than the Galant unit.


Only needed 2" of hose. There was only about a 1/2" of space between the bottom of the AN barb and the pump.


Looks much better than the old rusty hat.
 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
I'm back up and running with 950cc FICs and a chipped ecu. It looks like the ecu is from a 90 Eclipse. The car is running better than ever. I haven't gone WOT yet because I still need to install my wideband and tune it, but just running around it feels great! One weird thing is that my little boost lights in the dash quit working. Is that an ECU thing?

Will hopefully get the wideband installed this weekend. I also ordered a 3" exhaust from CM Performance. It's still running the factory catback right now.
 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
So I love to pull up old logs and "race" my previous vehicles to my current one. I've started logging the VR4 so I figured I would throw it in the spreadsheet. It looks like I definitely have some room for improvement to catch up to my previous standards. I had a B5 S4 with pretty much every bolt-on including RS4 turbos. My other vehicle, as I mentioned above was a Procharged SRT8 Jeep that I put L/T headers on and had it retuned over the course of me owning it. I plotted their speeds along with the VR4 and how far ahead (red line) the Jeep would be since it was my fastest vehicle. The VR4 is still running pig rich and I'm dialing in the WOT MAFcomp still and fuel still.


 

car_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Farmington, NM
It's been a while since I've done an update. I installed a catless 3" CM Performance exhaust and a 3" Megan Racing 1G downpipe. FYI these two do not mate up perfectly. The downpipe was about 1 1/2" from the test pipe and the bolt holes on the flanges were clocked differently. No big deal, I went down to Autozone and bought a 3" coupler pipe, and cut the test pipe in half. Once I inserted the coupler, the length was perfect and I was able to clock the flanges wherever I wanted. The exhaust sounds great! I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a deep tone and not incredibly loud 3" exhaust. It is nowhere near as loud as my Invidia system was on my STi.

I figured while I was installing the exhaust I might as well get the FP68HTA installed. Scott Laird helped me tune it. He is a great guy! I asked him to teach me as we went so that I could do it myself. He was very patient with me and spent extra time showing me how to format my datalog in ECMlink, and what each function does. I'm running 20-21 psi right now. Waiting to get a FMIC installed with a GM MAF before I go any higher on the boost. FYI for those running an AEM WB. I used the scaling shown in the instructions and ECMlink never would match what my gauge was showing. I looked all over and found a bunch of recommendations on tuners about how to scale an AEM WB. The method I used was to let the car go lean (let off the gas on deceleration, or just sit with the car off and let the sensor warm up) and logged the highest voltage report from the raw value. I then sat at idle and increased the deadtime on my injectors, while having the car locked in open loop, until the gauge showed out of range on the rich end and logged the lowest voltage that it would go. I used these voltages to scale the log in ECMlink, and then I used the linear equation to calculate where 14.7 is so that I could set the switch point for my narrowband simulation. The gauge is now spot on with what ECMlink is reading and the car runs way better because based on the previous scaling I was running rich.

I decided to put her on a little diet today. Every little bit helps right? I did a cruise control delete and removed the hitch that someone had welded to the tow points under the rear bumper. The two together summed up to 32 lbs (6.6 lbs for the cruise). Add the non-cruise cable that I put back on and it is probably around a 30 lb net reduction.

 
Support Vendors who Support the GVR-4 Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Recent Forum Posts

Top