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Written By:
Jamie Harvey
I think just about everyone who owns a non-turbo, 420A powered, 1995-1999
Mitsubishi Eclipse or Eagle Talon has heard these words muttered whenever
they have mentioned wanting to turbo their car : "Just sell your car and buy the
turbo model." For some, thats just the way to go. For others, this just drives
them even more to make their 'less adequate' version even more powerful and
faster than the factory turbo models which seem to steal all the glory.
The Plan
For this project, we will be purchasing a 420A powered 1995-1999 Mitsubishi
Eclipse or a 1995-1998 Eagle Talon with the goal of extracting as much usable
power out of it on a budget. To make this project even more fun, we decided to
do this while maintaining the stock appearance in the process. The stock
appearance isn't necessary but we just thought it would be more fun to
surprise a few turbo model big brother Eclipses along the way. We will
continue to keep this appearance throughout the project until it begins to hinder
the performance of our upgrades.
Whats Under the Hood?
The 420A Chrylser powerplant found in many 2nd generation Eclipses and
Talons is no slouch, though its always thought as the cheaper motor in
comparison to the 4G63 Mitsubishi engine offered in the turbo models. WIth a
base horsepower rating of 140hp and 130ft. lb. of torque at the crank, its
nothing spectacular to say the least.
Whats nice about this engine is its design and potential. The block is capable
of roughly 300hp in stock trim with the weak links being the piston and
connecting rod assemblies. Replace these parts with a more suitable setup
and you're looking at one solid base capable of handling some serious power.
The four-bolt main bottom end keeps things held together under even the most
severe conditions which nearly eliminates the dreaded 'crankwalk' issue which
plagues many 4G63 owners.
The cylinder head is quite nice as well, flowing better than some engines
pumping out double the power numbers (thanks to its Lotus inspired design).
Its resistance to detonation is astounding and does a great job at keeping
things cool in the process. Also assisting with the breathability of this engine is
the intake manifold which is rather adequate in stock trim and shouldn't restrict
airflow even at much higher power numbers.
Dude, Where's My Car?
Ok, now we need a car. Since we were on a budget, we scurried the internet
and the classifieds for a good deal that wasn't going to need too much TLC to
get up and running. Once we started looking, we found some cars with blown
engines, no engines, blown tranny's, front-end damage, and then some! Since
we already knew that the engine was going to be addressed immediately, we
took into consideration the cars without engines and even the cars in need of
transmissions.
Finding a good deal isn't always easy but if you are patient enough, a good deal
will come along. Our good deal came in the form of a 1995 Eagle Talon ESi
with 102,000 miles. The Ad stated that the timing belt was broken and it didn't
run. This can be very bad with these engines because of the close proximity of
the valves and the pistons during operation. Once the belt breaks, you can
have severe damage to the valves, cylinder head, engine block or all of the
above. For some reason I was drawn to go see this car in person. After
conning a few of my friends to take to 1.5 hour trip to go see this "non-operable"
car, we were on our way.
The exterior of the car was generally in excellent condition with some minor
flaws. The interior, though dirty, was also in great shape. As a perk, we found
that this car was LOADED! It had every possible feature offered in a 2nd gen
talon except the turbo engine and leather. Sunroof, power windows, power
locks, air conditioning, cruise control, and it even had 4 wheel disc brakes!
The car was equipped with a 4 speed automatic transmission which we
weren't fond of but the rest of this car made this car worthy of such a sacrifice.
At this point, we didn't even know if the engine is worth saving. Once we took a
look at the INTACT timing belt, myself and my pal Brent both had a 'feeling'
about this one. The belt was pretty chewed up but it was all there so we
decided to haggle. Now, I cant haggle.....one bit. So we left the haggling to our
friend Dave who did a great job of scoring us this possible gem for a mere
$750.
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Once we trailered the car back to the shop, we pulled off the old belt to find
every single tooth was still on the belt. Some were half missing, but they were
all there nonetheless. It seems that the idler pulley had self destructed, letting
all the ball bearings run free under the timing belt cover which found their way
between the gears and the belt itself. We also removed the valve cover to
inspect the lifter assemblies and valve stems, which looked great while sitting
on a head clean enough to eat off of! One timing belt and pulley kit later and we
had ourselves a running breathing project car! After it was back on track, we
performed a cylinder compression test to see how healthy the engine actually
was. All tests showed that this was one solid engine with plenty of life in her.
Game on!
Now that we have found a solid candidate for Project Sleeper, we can lay out a
'plan of attack' for the upgrades that lie ahead. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3
where we outline our visual and performance goals. Soon enough we'll be
ready to get some improved power numbers out of this little wonder of an
engine!
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