Buckeye Stealth (John Harbert)
1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4[edit]
October 2008 - Ride of the Month 3000GT/Stealth International
Ride of the Month Submission 3000GT/Stealth International December 2010
Ride of the Month Submission 3000GT/Stealth International December 2009
3SI Member #38711
Body:
- Cianci Victory 1 hood
- Cianci vented widebody front fenders
- Full '99 front conversion
- 8000K HID low beams
- '99 sail panels
- All windows tinted, except windshield
- Factory white pearl with an extra shot of pearl
- Functional active aero rear spoiler
- Tail light garnish painted body color
- Debadged except for the chrome Diamond Star on front bumper
- All lines and wiring removed from firewall, cleaned up, filled and painted pearl white
- Brake lines relocated, cruise control removed to clean up inner fenders & painted pearl white
- Underside of hood painted pearl white & finished same as body
- Rear Window Wiper ass'y removed and hole filled in and painted body color
Suspension, Chassis and Wheels:
- TEIN fully adjustable coilover suspension
- 3SX lower control arms for lowered cars
- Cross drilled and slotted rotors w/CarboTech pads
- Motul brake fluid
- Stainless braided brake lines
- AWD LSD insert
- PST 1 piece Carbon Fiber driveshaft
- ENKEI 18x8.5 wheels
- BFG g-Force 265/35/18 street tires
- TOYO Proxes R888 275/35/18 track tires
Electronics:
- DEFI-Link 60mm Blackface gauges
- Oil Pressure
- Oil Temp
- Coolant Temp
- Exhaust Gas Temp
- Fuel Pressure
- Turbo Boost
- AEM UEGO Wideband Gauge Controller
- GReddy Profec B-Spec II built into console
- AEM EMS w/AEM 3.5 Bar MAP sensor
- CrimeStopper Alarm w/remote start
Interior:
- custom right & left pillar gauge pods
- Indiglo Speedo & Tach faceplate
- Custom Blue LED's through out incl. all switches
- Short throw shifter w/ custom Titanium knob
- Billet aluinum trim rings for front & rear speakers
- Custom Laser cut billet aluminum door inserts
- Stainless steel door sill plates
- Custom billet aluminum console top w/Profec B-Spec II built in ahead of shifter
- Polished aluminum diamond plate floor mats
- Lots of new OEM interior pieces
Engine:
- IPS tuned 400awhp/430 awtq at a conservative 14 psi on Sunoco 93
- New oem shortblock punched to 3.1 liters
- Balanced & Blueprinted
- Everything Magnafluxed
- Carillo billet rods
- CP forged pistons, sides slick coated, tops thermo coated
- ARP studs
- Port and polish heads & blend ports
- 1mm oversized valves
- Competition valve job
- Blended & polished intake runners
- re-ground camshafts
- Turbonetics turbos
- Stage II TD04 ported 15G
- PTE 680CC injectors
- AEM fuel press. regulator w/RobBeck adaptor
- 3SX fuel rail loop
- Krank Vents®
- 3SX polished intake plenum & valve covers
- Polished driver's side motor mount
- MSD DIS-4 Digital ignition
- MSD plug wires w/factory coil
- 3SX aluminum crank pulley
Support Equipment:
- Optima Red Top battery
- Fidanza aluminum flywheel
- Spec Stage III Max clutch
- Walbro fuel pump w/hotwire kit
- GT PRO FMIC w/polished aluminum hard piping
- HTS red silicone connectors w/stainless T-clamps
- 3SX Dual pass aluminum radiator w/ dual FAL shrouded fans
- Second set of dual shrouded fans in front of A/C condenser
- TiAL BOV
- Single shot exhaust w/ Bee-R muffler
- Morgan's Motorsports custom pre-turbo intakes w/twin K&N filters
- Morgan's Motorsports custom down pipes - catless
Audio:
- Kenwood eXceleron DDX8017 DVD player
- 6.5" LCD touch screen monitor
- Garmin GPS Navagation
- Sirius ready, HD radio ready
- Plays DVDs, CDs, MP3s WMA, JPG & MPEG 1&2
- Memphis Belle 16-MCH600 5.1 Channel amp
- provides for 5.1 channel surround sound for movies
- 10" Rockford Fosgate PUNCH Audiophile sub
- Custom fiberglass sub enclosure covered to match interior (see image in Electronics)
Fun Facts:
- 1 of 315 3000GT VR4s built for 1996 MY
- 1 of 10 exactly identical cars as built, now 1 of 1
- Of all Pearl White VR4s built '91-'99, 309 were built BEFORE this car and 309 were built AFTER this car for a total of 619 Glacier Pearl White VR4s. This one is EXACTLY in the middle of the run.
- Only 76 Glacier Pearl White VR4s were built in 1996
- Youtube Autocross Video
My Story (2010)
I have long been an admirer of the 3000GT's and thought that they were one of the coolest looking cars that ran the streets in our area and really wasn't that aware of the Stealth sibling all that much. While I was at the Cleveland Autorama five or so years ago, I ran across a few Stealths entered in the car show and was really impressed with the styling and the mods that were done to the cars. This renewed my interest in the 3S platform, but not enough to buy one, the timing wasn't right. Fast forward to November 2007, timing and Karma was right.
While at the Daytona Turkey Run back in Nov. '07, my wife spots a Stealth R/T for sale on a trailer, long story short, I get the car for her to autocross in and as a fun summer car to drive, hence my screen name of Buckeye Stealth. Although is is a really nice automatic R/T, I thought I would like one of my own and a stick shift was mandatory, so the search began.
TWC (The White Car)
On my birthday, Dec. 15th, 2007, I found myself in St Louis picking up the car of my dreams and heading back to Ohio. TWC (The White Car, as I refer to it) is a work of art by the 3S artist, Von Morgan (xwire) that was commissioned by the former owner, Matt S. My plans are to keep the car pretty much just like I got it because I like what was done and most of the things about the car I would have wanted to do myself. There is a short list of things to do, such as the matching Cianci wide body rear fenders, battery relocation to the trunk and LED accent lighting, but after that I'm pretty much satisified with the complete package. ...well... I was thinking about a pair of 19Ts... and maybe beefing up the trans... and then.... nevermind.
My first experience with TWC was the NG08. I bought the car in the middle of winter and it got out of storage and tuned just in time to load up and head out to Memphis. What a blast we had meeting all the people and what a collection of cars there was on Bealle Street. My baby got wounded during the road course day and it was only local crusing the rest of '08 and all of 2009. I did an 18 hour non-stop turnaround to go get a 6 speed in CT to be ready for 2010 and all I will say is I should have listened to DuTTch and put in new axel seals. At least that problem is a whole lot better than having a 1" square hole in the trans, beside the flywheel. The trans is workable and off to Indy for NG10 for the autocross, road course day and drags. Not too bad considering I still don't have that many hours inside the car because of downtime, but hey, I don't have to explain that here. The road course was bumpy, but I still got her up to 140 MPH like in Memphis, placed a little higher than mid pack in autocross and was able to get a ton of 1.60 60' times in my first drag race session with the car. My times were a little slower than what I wanted to see, but with the "second gear synchro crunch" causing me to double clutch and granny shift each time I ran, I am just glad I was able to make 12 runs down the track.
Why TWC? It is a simple way to communicate to my wife which car I'm refering to. The White Car is the VR4, The Blue Car is my ION Red Line, The Red Car is my wife's Sunfire GT, TORC is the '92 Stealth R/T (The OTHER Red Car), The Silver Car is the T-Bird Turbo Coupe (sold 11/09) and the Van... well it's just The Van. We just started refering to the vehicles by their color and it has become habit.
My Story (2008)
Looking at car for sale websites and various 3S forums led me to an ad on 3SI.org that linked me to ebay and I found the car of my dreams, a '96 VR4 that was modded to a very high level. On my birthday, Dec. 15th, I found myself in St Louis picking up that car and heading back to Ohio. Although I can't take credit for putting the car together, the former owner for his list of things to do and Von Morgan (xwire) for carring them out get the credit where credit is due, but I am already formulating my own list of little subtle things I want done and will do myself to put my own touches in place, like adding the Cianci rear widebody fenders to complete the look. My plans are to keep the car pretty much just like I got it because I like what was done and most of the things about the car I would have wanted to do anyways.
Not being one to hold back, I decided to jump into the 3S community by joining all the forums I could find to get info on the cars we just acquired... a little bit of time had to be made up. We decided another great way to learn about the community was to attend the NG08, so I signed up for the whole package to get the best out of the experience. The driver's school was the pinnacle of the National Gathering for me, being able to experience my VR4 going 140+ mph down the straight on the road course and running the turns in a coilover suspension car was awesome. I met a lot of people and the St. Louis crew really rocks, a group of super people, as are pretty much all of the NG attendees were. Memphis was only the beginning of a long haul of 3S ownership events that is our future, can't wait until the next one.
-John Harbert
My Website:
Sunset on Lake Erie
This is what I looked like before all of my cosmetic surgery
1992 Dodge Stealth RT[edit]
Ride of the Month Submission 3000GT/Stealth International November 2010
Body:
- 100% unadulterated original Dodge with 145,000 miles
Suspension, Chassis and Wheels:
- 100% unadulterated original Dodge
- Tires by Fuzion
Electronics:
- 100% Factory Original, Nothing added or taken out.
Interior:
- Yep, you guessed it, 100% Factory Original with the obligatory tear in the bolster leather.
Engine:
- Again, 100% Original, nothing aftermarket has been added. A good engine bay detailing was all it needed when I got it home. Everything seems to be in great condition and in the correct place.
Rolling the highways of Central FL, leaving Daytona and heading to the Gulf Coast.
Nothing missing, everything works
Roll up hatch cover looks great & works properly. Spare tire looks like it never touched the ground & all tools are there.
Everything just as it came from the factory
