Last time I told you all about my first eclipse. But, that car wasn’t ever really mine. It was like a temporary loan, or a really good test drive. I never even got the oil changed before they took it back. So this is the real story of my first eclipse.
It’s the autumn of 2004. I’ve got a real job, with security and overtime and benefits and paid time off, and all that stuff that people are looking for in a job. I work in a datacenter on computers all night. In my free time I’ve been surfing the dsmtuners forums. Researching and chatting, learning more and more about this car that I once got to drive for a short few weeks. I’ve been working here for quite a while now. It may be the longest consecutive time in a job, somewhere in the range of 8-9 months now, and I’m itching to get myself an AWD (all-wheel-drive) eclipse. The GSX. Or maybe a Talon TSI AWD. Same Thing. I just wanted one. And there was this crazy idea being discussed by some of building an AWD convertible. It turns out that mitsubishi never made an AWD convertible, because they had so many other models I suppose, but that all of the required components and suspension would essentially bolt right in. There was a driveshaft carrier bearing that had to be welded in, but it was a couple dozen spot welds to drill out to get the piece out, and the same amount of welds to get the new one in. So I started looking for a wrecked GSX. The thing was, it costed more for a transmission, the differentials, driveshafts, fuel tanks, and other components that needed to be swapped than it cost to buy a wrecked AWD with all those parts already in it.
So I was looking and looking, until one day in november I found it. The pictures of the car were pretty sweet (they were pre-wreck) and it was loaded with tons of aftermarket parts. The guy had been stopped at a light or something, when a big red SUV rammed into the back of him. The damage was interesting to say the least, it was high on the car, but it somehow managed not to break the rear window. I wasn’t concerned, because I was going to go find a Spyder as soon as I could, and the aftermarket was awesome; Stainless steel break lines, an aluminum radiator, lightened flywheel, upgraded clutch, polyurethane motor mounts, slotted rotors, eibach lowering springs, adjustable shocks, and sweet ass rota slipstream rims (still some of the lightest rims I’ve ever seen). I didn’t actually *have* money to pay the guy, but he was willing to work with me, and I sent him payments for several months. Then one fine February day (that would be Feb. 5, 2005) I drove my truck down to Fresno, loaded up a U-Haul trailer and picked up my Eclipse.
