1988 Mitsubishi Shogun 2.6 HT BBR Turbo

[TurboBlue]

Bv8 said:

I think the replacement pipe system will look great, must view that for B.

Jeremy, the primer is zinc-rich, apparently 93% zinc once dry so I’m putting on a second coat and when it’s dry (96 hrs) and I’m going to polish up the intercooler pipes with some wire wool. What could possibly go wrong?

John_S4x4 said:

What are the words on the right hand side of the sticker?

The photo is about as good as it gets but I’d suggest it something like this (based on how the text is centred):

Turbo Running
Do not boost cold or
Low engine oil
After hard driving
Avoid Excessive
Engine Revs
Use 4 star fuel only

What do you think? Does anyone have one from an in-period Sierra Mogul or MX-5 Turbo conversion?

I do intend to replace all of the BBR stickers & graphics; if you look have a look at the advert on page one & two, there are at least five bespoke vinyl graphics on the car: bonnet, both front and both rear wings, possibly the rear door too but in reality they will have to wait for paint; and that is the very last job on the (enormous) list of “to do’s”.

As we are running real time in this restoration, it will be a few days before the next update.

[TurboBlue]

Hi,

Finally got the wings and the rear bumper off the V6; I’ve taken out the boot carpet as the BBR’s is missing (I hope at some time in the future to have a full pattern made up and a replacement carpet and felt stitched up).



The V6 inner wings have some corrosion; hopefully the BBR will have been luckier.



Universal Turbo’s are going to rebuild the turbo - renewing pretty much everything; the quote is £425.00 plus VAT. They have advised a turnaround of just a couple of days so with the carburettor gently degreasing in a tub of brake fluid and all the other components being fettled or sourced we are quite close to getting the engine running.

Polished up; this and all the other refurbished ancillaries are all going to look quite incongruous in the engine bay but like good restoration it will be clear what is old & what is new.



I’m going to attempt the trickier job of removing the wings from the BBR tomorrow, which need to be saved, and then we can deal with any rust on the inner wing and start the transfer of the doors.

Regards

Simon

Edited by TurboBlue on Tuesday 20th November 23:35

[TVR Sagaris]

Great progress - keep it up.

[TurboBlue]

Hi,

The turbo(s) came back today; they have done a fantastic job. This truck is going to get hairy – no anti-lock, no traction control – just me and this!





I am really enjoying myself with this; the satisfaction from removing some front wings without damaging them and slowly dragging the project forward is immense.

The NSF wing belonging to the BBR is in pretty poor shape, which regrettably is also true of the V6 (although that one is worse); the OSF is in better condition; last night after far too long with ‘Google’, I managed to source two new pattern front wings (from Germany) which are on order. Whether I fit them now, or clean up and re-fit the existing wings now depends on how many different colours I want this to be.






The inner wings of the BBR are in much better condition and I will clean up and treat the rust/metal to hopefully stop it coming back (soon). I’ve sent yet more parts to be chemically cleaned & blasted: the sump guard & rear wheel holder; while the carburettor is going to be soda-blasted, which will clean it but leave no residue to block up the jets in the future.





Scott and I mapped out a plan for next week which should see the V6 doors and bonnet donated to the BBR; transfer of missing trim, battery clamp, wiper arms and the alloy wheels and the removal and refitting of the steering box and any other mechanical items that we wish to save. That’s going to keep me busy and pestering Scott for advice; then we might be able to clear the V6 away.



Regards

Simon

Edited by TurboBlue on Tuesday 20th November 23:29

[Erwin1978]

Lovely project, admire the enthusiasm

With the ' fresh' turbo and upcoming healthy power output (what do you reckon?), does the suspension (bushes, springs, etc) need revising as well? Will you keep the suspension standard or make some improvements with more high end stuff?

Again lovely project, would love to see some oversteery gravel shots

[TurboBlue]

Erwin1978 said:

With the ' fresh' turbo and upcoming healthy power output (what do you reckon?), does the suspension (bushes, springs, etc) need revising as well? Will you keep the suspension standard or make some improvements with more high end stuff?

These are interesting questions and if you forgive me I’ll explain my current thinking:

With regard to power, the original BBR intercooled turbo conversion came with an option of 190 bhp or 240 bhp; the higher output appears to be the result of porting work on the head. This car has come with no history and BBR themselves have not been able to confirm details of its specification so it remains a question of removing the intake manifold and seeing the evidence – Scott is confident that we can establish this visually; which is handy because the engine runs smoothly and with good oil pressure so the need not to strip it down & rebuild it remains a saving grace.

Regarding handling, the 240 option, from the period brochures appears to have been only available when a handling pack was included; it was pretty basic though, BBR lowered the Shogun by two & a quarter inches – but as these early 4 cylinder trucks run torsion bars at the front & leaf springs at the back – they simply used blocks at the back & (I assume) dropped the links at the front; additionally, up rated dampers were fitted and the steering geometry was changed but that was the limit of the modifications.

The BBR does sit a good two inches lower than the V6 and it is certainly more firmly sprung than the V6; how much of this is age & lack of use I’m not sure. So, on balance I’m inclined to think that this is the full 240 conversion – whether it will ever show that on a rolling road remains for the future, when my funds have recovered.

With regard to upgrading the handling & perhaps the brakes (drums remain on the rear live axle); these are questions I haven’t formulated final answers to; there are a number of suspension components that are going to be replaced before this goes back on the road but they are fundamentally service items that simply haven’t been done for years; in the near future the dampers will need replacing and if we can establish a non-standard specification then certainly we will do that; I’ve some inkling that the leaf springs could be up rated to parabolic springs (but not to coils) and we will have to see how effective the brakes are in use before I’d consider revising the current set up.

I’m not at all inclined to go down the route of turning this into a retro car with a modern fuel injection engine & driveline – I adore the fact that it has a distributor, a carburettor and that I stand a chance of being able to work on it in the future – the only digital item I’ve yet found on the truck is the clock; so it will remain true to it’s offbeat & very period 1980’s heritage.

Thanks for your interest and apologies for the length of the post but I’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently!

[Erwin1978]

TurboBlue said:

Thanks for your interest and apologies for the length of the post but I’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently!

Your welcome! I'm just strangely attracted to this build because of the contradictions of the vehicle (high power output in an old school 4x4) and how to restore this. I fully understnad your difficulty how to proceed. As a purist myself I'd usuallly prefer to keep as close to the original as possible. But since this Shogun was modded to begin with, what defines original? If the suspension and engine were already upgraded by BBR , why not choose even more improved components at this point?

Personally I'm drawn to the Ford F150 Raptor with it's trick inverted shocks. These give a reduced unsprung weight and a very controlled ride in rough terrain. Below article (funny read!) is from a bloke who decided to get all into the suspension of his new Raptor;

http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2009/10/2...

And here's the website of Fox Racing Shox;

http://www.foxracingshox.com/subhome.php?m=truck&a...

Not that I want to bring you on any ideas....

[Ruskie]

I have a real soft spot for old Mitsubishi's as I grew up with them. Keep up the good work.

[petrolsniffer]

Very nice love these old school conversions from dimma,turbo technics,bbr etc

Have you contacted bbr? looking at thier website it seems they might of forgot about this conversion or think non are left.

[Truckosaurus]

An interesting project.

[TurboBlue]

Hi,

Made a start on the list of jobs for the week, started the change over of the wheels and got properly oily by unbolting and removing the steering boxes from both the V6 and the BBR; the V6 box is a recently refurbished item, at c. £150 and it took me about 3 hours to get them both out with a little help from Scott at SG Motorsport. Frankly, I’ve rather surprised myself, the limit of my mechanical ability used to be changing a wheel but this early Shogun is a nut & bolt car and it suits me fine.

Here’s the refurbished steering box – now all I have to do is fit it tomorrow to the BBR and the leaky one to the V6, so that at least we can steer it still (to scrap).


Both Shoguns are up on axle stands at the front while I unbolt items from the V6 and transfer them so I’ve taken the opportunity to photograph the suspension and underneath of the BBR (as you’ve not seen that yet).

There are at least no holes; but lots of work to be done cleaning it up and protecting it for the future.

petrolsniffer said:

Have you contacted BBR? Looking at their website it seems they might have forgotten about this conversion or think none are left.

I have contacted BBR and they have told me that they have no records for the history or specification for this conversion. I did also give them the link for this thread so perhaps they will comment one day.

Erwin1978 said:

I fully understand your difficulty how to proceed. As a purist myself I'd usually prefer to keep as close to the original as possible. But since this Shogun was modded to begin with, what defines original? If the suspension and engine were already upgraded by BBR, why not choose even more improved components at this point?

I believe that our approach to this truck would be similar and I share your unanswered question about where originality starts and modification ends and nor do I have an answer to it. I do not wish to become fixated on attempting to recreate this truck as it was in 1988 and I do wish to use newer and better components in the restoration where they are available but I have limited funds that can be directed to this build (it is my third car)! Additionally, I am mindful that BBR would have reached a series of well thought out compromises when they fixed the specification of the truck with a view to fast road use & winter/towing duties – and these too replicate my intended uses of the vehicle. To exceed that specification now, where there are few other examples or information available and custom order bespoke items is for someone with very deep pockets.

Front suspension: Torsion bar & wishbones


An additional hurdle is just how rare series one Shogun’s have become and the associated lack of specialist suppliers; items such as remote oil reservoir dampers, such as the Fox items linked above, are available off the shelf for many newer trucks but after a brief search I have been unable to find any fitment that would apply to the BBR. My additional concern would be that these are unnecessary; they appear to be aimed at serious off-road use where OEM parts would overheat; for me, this is an expense I can spare.

Rear suspension: Live axle & leaf springs


Interestingly, the link above shows the F150 truck using a parabolic spring with a higher rated mounting; I’d already considered that the traditional leaf springs on the BBR was probably in need of replacement and these new springs and mounting would appear to offer greater stability together with less noise & harshness (NVH). This is an upgrade I am seriously going to consider when we refresh the suspension.

For now I am content to start by effectively going back to the beginning; or, in other words: Back to the Future! (Apologies for the cheesy 1980’s cliché)



Regards

Simon

Edited by TurboBlue on Tuesday 20th November 23:19

[TurboBlue]

Hi,

I seem to be spending all my time unbolting & bolting things back together – is this the life of a car mechanic? In fact I spent a happy day finishing off the previous day’s jobs, which was enhanced by seeing my Renault 5 Turbo again after too long an absence.

Here are the items from the V6 front suspension that are being saved or transferred to the BBR – dampers, callipers & poly’ A/R bar bushes:


Here’s the rear suspension, drum brakes and chassis rails:


Have a good look at this one! The rear axle has been raised up from the leaf spring by means of a block that is bolted from spring to axle, effectively closer to the body and therefore, overall lowers the car to the ground; so, I am told, was lowering achieved back in the 1980’s:


Not the greatest photo opportunity, as it’s still on the axle stands at the front, but here’s the BBR on a decent set of alloys – looking very Japanese



The V6’s job is nearly done & we’ve had an offer for scrap so its days are numbered; the doors and bonnet remain to be transferred.

Regards

Simon

Edited by TurboBlue on Tuesday 20th November 22:34

[TurboBlue]

How do you spend five hours and not even finish the job you started? Friday was a day that yielded no tangible evidence of progress. Perhaps I should get used to this in this project.

Yet it was necessary to move us closer to getting the BBR back on the road; so with all the electrics cleared out of the doors, and the bolts & pins loosened we are ready to finish off the last of the parts the V6 is giving up – next week.



Had a great day today, been to the NEC Classic Car Show, where there was lots of shiny metal to distract me but I still found a few items I’ve been looking for.

Cibie Super Oscars – this should light up the road ahead; together with some early brochure’s:


I’ve been digging around the garage & found this old Panasonic set up too – I must have had this since at least the early 1990’s; this should save me the cost of buying new audio.



Regards

Simon

Edited by TurboBlue on Tuesday 20th November 23:13

[TurboBlue]

Hi,

I think we are turning the corner on this build; a beautiful job has been done on the intercooler where it has been re-cored and the original ends re-used.




Here, in the dry briefly, is the V6 giving up the last pieces of itself. We are done with this one now and just in time too.



I’m going to keep busy re-fitting all the mirrors, lights & trim and then we’ll clean up the inside. I’ve got the front wings at home and I’m trying my hand at panel restoration – it isn’t going well but I’ll get those re-fitted, together with the front bumper once I’ve wielded a spray can. On which subject the Mitsubishi colour chart has yielded the correct colour for the truck too – B76 Twilight Blue (met) over H84 Grace Silver (met).

Regards

Simon

PS I hate photobucket; if you are not seeing an image, it's down to re-organizing my photo library and the links being broken - I will repair them.

Edited by TurboBlue on Tuesday 20th November 23:16

[TVR Sagaris]

Very impressed with how quickly you've done things so far. Looking forward to it all going back together again.

[Silent1]

BBR manifolds are awful, I saw one that came off a 2004 MINI Cooper S that they had done, well 2 actually, a cast one that blew itself apart after 2000 miles and the other that looked like a load of scaffold pipe, I've never seen a successful BBR manifold and I must have seen 10 across as many cars

[mat13]

If you want to have a go at saving your leaf springs a 50/50 mix of diesel and petrol, painted on them daily brought my old series 3's back to life.

[TurboBlue]

TVR Sagaris said:

Looking forward to it all going back together again.

Started getting the trim back together while we wait for the items to come back in; here is the weber carburettor back from soda-blast cleaning; you want to compare it to the photo on page one to see the full before & after effect. This all needs jetting up, which I shall leave to the gifted.

Silent1 said:

BBR manifolds are awful

The BBR manifold seems to be coming in for quite a bit of stick! The good news is that the manifold has been repaired and more importantly the mount has been flattened so that it will sit flush. The cracking appears to have been the result of the previous welding effort twisting the manifold slightly out of shape and then not being corrected. I’ll post a picture or two once it’s back.

mat13 said:

If you want to have a go at saving your leaf springs a 50/50 mix of diesel and petrol, painted on them daily brought my old series 3's back to life.

Thanks, I’m hoping to get the Shogun back on the road soon – to see what it’s like firstly – and then we’ll see whether the springs can be saved or upgraded.

[TurboBlue]

I’m trying really hard to do stuff on the BBR just the once (you will have to accept that bodywork does not fall under this proviso); which I think you can see evidenced by the rebuilt Weber, the intercooler, the turbo, the samco and so forth and so on.

However, I’ve now come to the tricky part of thinking about tyres, HT leads, dampers and brakes – part of the BBR upgrade that I have either little information about nor not much of an inkling about how much better than OE I need to go.

The part of me that’s thinking with its head – that this is just an old rusty truck that I haven’t driven faster than 40mph; where I have already spent money out of all proportion to the hard 1980’s reality of how this will actually perform day to day over the winter (ice on the inside of the windscreen anyone) says “pull up” – do enough to get the Shogun on the road, turn key reliable, with stock brakes, dampers, pads & shoes. This would just require buying discs/pads on the front and perhaps shoes at the rear – say, £100 all in; while we re-use the existing V6 dampers and A/T tyres, at no further expense.

That was certainly always the plan but I don’t want to find that the ignition leads, brakes & dampers (& tyres for that matter but that’s another question begging) all need upgrading to deal with what is, relatively to its age & specification, a high power output that I have to start all over again. So the heart, as I’m strangely infatuated with this truck, desires that I source Magnecor leads, EBC discs, pads & shoes and Bilstein B6 gas dampers – this lot easily tops out at another £700 and pushes the budget way past where I’m comfortable; oh, yes & correct T rated Pirelli Scorpion ATR 235/75 tyres at £96 each all round, to go clean over a grand.

So, does head or heart win?

I’ve got some Goodridge braided brake lines to replace the tired hoses but regrettably , I think I’ve got to be sensible about everything else; so I’ve ordered some basic OE specification discs, pads & shoes; we’ll use the V6 dampers, callipers & A/T tyres to get it back on the road; the cost for this is minimal (in relative terms) and the potential to upgrade remains (elusive). For the time being, I’m still working on the list of broken items on page one, so a new clutch slave cylinder is on it’s way with a few other service parts.

There will be some new pictures and progress to report later in the week; I'm hoping to have put this to good use:



Some of the above I've had since I owned this a long time ago:

[James1972]

Reckon you can kill off the old tyres on the back in no time at all and 'justify' the new scorpions !
Top effort on this hope it comes together well !