Mobo (Keith Upton)

July 2006 - Ride of the Month 3000GT/Stealth International

1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4
Azzurro California

3SI Member #1926

Modifications

Electronics

• AEM EMS
• GM IAT sensor
• AEM 5 Bar Map sensor
• AEM Boost solenoid
• Defi Oil gauge
• Defi Boost gauge
• HKS Turbo Timer
• Smart tire remote sensors (Custom Smart tire pod)

Motor

• EVO III 16Gs
• SS oil feed/return lines
• Titan Manifolds (heat coated)
• Titan O2 housings (heat coated)
• DR Stage 3 heads
• High Rev springs/retainers
• Fidanza Adj. Cam gears -3/+1
• Lt. weight crank pulley
• AAM Twin K&N Intake
• DNP hard intake pipes
• CC FMIC
• Blitz BOV
• EGR Block offs
• APR Head studs
• SS Oil cooler lines
• Stillen Down pipe
• Borla exhaust
• 720cc
• Dual feed Walbro 255lph pumps
• NGK wires
• HKS Twin Power
• Poly motor mounts

Drivetrain

• RPS C/C clutch/fly wheel
• PST 1pc CFDS
• MR spec gears
• 300M output shaft

Suspension

• Tien Flex
• Tien EDFC
• Saner Sway bars
• TEC Front strut tower bar
• Poly body bushings
• Poly suspension bushings

Brakes/Wheels/Rubber

• Slotted/drilled rotors
• SS brake lines
• Speed Bleeders
• Racing Heart C2s
• Toyo Proxies T1Rs 265/35/18s

Dress Up

• Custom Paint
• Custom Mobo Leathers interior
• Black interior conversion
• 2 seat conversion
• Engine polishing
• Spark Plug cover

My Story

This has been a build of blood, sweat, tears and has taken over 4 years to bring to this point of completion. I purchased my 1995 Sable Black VR4 back in 2001 after totaling my Porsche 944. It took me about 2 weeks to find a Black VR4 with less then 80k miles on it in the price range I was willing to pay. It just so happened to be just up the road in Denver. I made the drive up to check it out and take it for a test spin. Upon arriving at the small dealership, I was informed that the dealership owner had taken it home the night before to make sure every thing was fine for my test drive that day. On his way in to work that morning, he hit the curb with the front passenger wheel and bent it enough so that it would not hold air. He also managed to crack the passenger side skirt L The rest of the car looked really good except the drivers seat…of course.

I told them to replace the rim with a new one and have a body shop fix the side skirt and I’d buy it. I gave them a deposit and went back to driving my rental car for another week. They finally got it back from the body shop and put a brand new 18” chromie on it. She looked great and ran real good, so I drove her home.

The mod process started very slowly with the first one being a new RPS Stage II clutch after the stock one gave up. Next it was a K&N cone filter. At this point I took it to the track and ran a 13.9@101 at 4900 feet. Not to bad. Next came a Stillen down pipe and a barrowed Blitz SBC-id. Back to the track and it ran another 13.9@100 at 5400 feet this time. Then it was time to replace the valve stem seals…what a pain those are! Shortly after that, the stock oil pump die on me at the track and she spun 2 rod bearings. This was just a week before leaving for the 1st NG.

Fast forward 6 months and a rebuild long block by Jasper Motors. Still has lifter tick and smokes a little with the “brand new” motor L. Besides that, the car ran real nice…until the oil pressure starts to drop. We pull the oil pump to find Jasper never changed it out…like they were supposed to. After putting in a new pump, the car runs real good.

Come 2003 I head to Afghanistan for a 2 year stint. During this time the motor gets pulled for the custom paint and in perpetration for the new mods to come. I finally come back home in June of 2005 and we start putting it all back together. I get to drive it for 21 miles when the oil pressure drops and the motor starts knocking. And would you guess, this is one week before NG 05! At this point I’m so sick of failing motors that I’m thinking about selling the car as is with all the mods included. I fight the urge and wait it out for two weeks until I feel like even looking at the car again. We pull the motor and start to tear it down. Turns out that Jasper used some cheap ass none turbo pistons in it and did not even set the wrist pins correctly. I’m totally surprised that the car held up as long as it did!

This time around I decided to just go with a stock short block and upgraded heads. It took us another 4.5 months to get it back together and it’s been running really strong ever since. If you have not been keeping track of the down times, since I bought the car in 2001, I’ve been able to drive it for just over 2 years!!

Alright, enough with the talking and on with the mod list and pics!!

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