New project - Mitsubishi Mirage Asti ZR
Discussion
I had owned my mx5 mk2 for 5 years, and was definitely feeling the itch for something different in the last 6 months or so.
Nothing really took my fancy and nobody was that interested in the 5, so i figured i was pretty much stuck with it.
That was until a good friend of mine advertised a somewhat unusual Japanese import up for sale.
A deal was struck, and one week later I am the proud owner of a Mitsubishi Mirage Asti ZR (if you are japanese), or Lancer coupe (australia, USA).
It is effectively a coupe bodied 90s CJ era colt cyborg.
This is no average Mirage though, what caught my eye was the spec-
1.6l DOHC MIVEC engine, putting out 170bhp, and without the aid of any forced induction. All of this in a car that weighs 1060kg...seemed like a good recipe to me.
The car is 19 years old, so cosmetically and structurally there will be rust to attend to (it's been in the UK for 11 of those years). However mechanically things look pretty good, the MIVEC kicks in when it should, and sounds fantastic...the car really hustles along and I've yet to give it a full service.
also handles surprisingly well for a FWD car, i didn't have particularly high expectations coming from an mx5, but i really am pleasantly surprised.
These are so rare in the UK in this spec, that I just couldn't resist...and it's a real hoot to drive.
Nothing really took my fancy and nobody was that interested in the 5, so i figured i was pretty much stuck with it.
That was until a good friend of mine advertised a somewhat unusual Japanese import up for sale.
A deal was struck, and one week later I am the proud owner of a Mitsubishi Mirage Asti ZR (if you are japanese), or Lancer coupe (australia, USA).
It is effectively a coupe bodied 90s CJ era colt cyborg.
This is no average Mirage though, what caught my eye was the spec-
1.6l DOHC MIVEC engine, putting out 170bhp, and without the aid of any forced induction. All of this in a car that weighs 1060kg...seemed like a good recipe to me.
The car is 19 years old, so cosmetically and structurally there will be rust to attend to (it's been in the UK for 11 of those years). However mechanically things look pretty good, the MIVEC kicks in when it should, and sounds fantastic...the car really hustles along and I've yet to give it a full service.
also handles surprisingly well for a FWD car, i didn't have particularly high expectations coming from an mx5, but i really am pleasantly surprised.
These are so rare in the UK in this spec, that I just couldn't resist...and it's a real hoot to drive.
Edited by designforlife on Tuesday 29th September 09:47
Edited by designforlife on Tuesday 29th September 09:48
Edited by designforlife on Wednesday 13th January 15:05
yeah it's a real shame that the mx5 community has gone the way it has, it's so different now to how it was 5 or so years back....more akin to a corsa owners group now.
The colt scene seems much smaller and more intimate, and a few guys have been mega helpful already.
finding some parts for this have been tricky, i ended up ordering a rear wheel hub from the US!
Booked in for first service on the 12th of this month, its going to be a pricey one, but should get the car all set mechanically.
Sofar she seems most at home on bypass and carriageway territory...the mivec sounds utterly brilliant when it kicks in, i'd be loath to ever drown that out with an exhaust.
The car will remain very standard apart from coilovers and some interesting JDM wheels.
The colt scene seems much smaller and more intimate, and a few guys have been mega helpful already.
finding some parts for this have been tricky, i ended up ordering a rear wheel hub from the US!
Booked in for first service on the 12th of this month, its going to be a pricey one, but should get the car all set mechanically.
Sofar she seems most at home on bypass and carriageway territory...the mivec sounds utterly brilliant when it kicks in, i'd be loath to ever drown that out with an exhaust.
The car will remain very standard apart from coilovers and some interesting JDM wheels.
First little DIY job completed lastnight...shiny new Blitz panel filter to replace the utterly filthy OEM one, looked like it hadn't been changed for years.
She's definitely breathing a bit easier now, and i've gained a nice little bit of induction noise.
I'm still not over the novelty of having electric folding wing mirrors...so JDM!
She's definitely breathing a bit easier now, and i've gained a nice little bit of induction noise.
I'm still not over the novelty of having electric folding wing mirrors...so JDM!
hehe don't let the pictures fool you, she's pretty rusty underneath, and there's cosmetic rust all over the show.
My priority list-
-Full service (inc cambelt, water pump and that noisy hub)
-Suspension service (pretty sure the droplinks and bushings are knackered, cos it sounds like an old wooden cart on uneven roads)
-Structural rust repair (both rear chassis legs need a lot of grinding back and plating in, and the sills don't look too clever either)
- cosmetic rust repair (needs a new rear wheel arch panel welding in, and various smaller rusty bits attending to)
-full blow over
- fun stuff.
the later part of this list won't be happening for a while, need to spread the cost!!
My priority list-
-Full service (inc cambelt, water pump and that noisy hub)
-Suspension service (pretty sure the droplinks and bushings are knackered, cos it sounds like an old wooden cart on uneven roads)
-Structural rust repair (both rear chassis legs need a lot of grinding back and plating in, and the sills don't look too clever either)
- cosmetic rust repair (needs a new rear wheel arch panel welding in, and various smaller rusty bits attending to)
-full blow over
- fun stuff.
the later part of this list won't be happening for a while, need to spread the cost!!
Busy weekend for the Mirage...
Went in to have that god awful rear wheel hub/bearing fixed, new front droplinks, and new rear lower arm bushes.
Unsurprisingly it was a bit of a beast of a job, every nut and bolt under the car is pretty much soldered solid with rust...all in all it was a 5 hour job doing what should have taken about half that! But, it's done.
It's a much nicer drive now, all the severe clonks and rattles are gone, and the cabin is a much quieter place now the rear wheel bearing isn't screaming at me!
Next step, full service on wednesday
Went in to have that god awful rear wheel hub/bearing fixed, new front droplinks, and new rear lower arm bushes.
Unsurprisingly it was a bit of a beast of a job, every nut and bolt under the car is pretty much soldered solid with rust...all in all it was a 5 hour job doing what should have taken about half that! But, it's done.
It's a much nicer drive now, all the severe clonks and rattles are gone, and the cabin is a much quieter place now the rear wheel bearing isn't screaming at me!
Next step, full service on wednesday
Drives brilliantly after the full service, really able to push the car on a bit now and see how it fares.
Only thing left for the moment is to get the valve clearances done (shes a little tappety), and fit some new rear discs when i get a chance (won them off ebay for £20 delivered for the pair, win!).
Definitely need to further address the suspension at some point, I have a feeling it needs some further bushing replacements, and TBH really needs dropping on coilovers to improve the handling a little (perhaps i've been spoiled coming from an mx5).
Straight line wise, i'm super happy, not going to start messing with something that just seems to do things right, apparently you can buy MIVEC controllers, but i figure mitsubishi probably got the mivec points right from the factory.
This weekends little job...remove broken mitsi badge until i find a replacement, or just leave it off.
Only thing left for the moment is to get the valve clearances done (shes a little tappety), and fit some new rear discs when i get a chance (won them off ebay for £20 delivered for the pair, win!).
Definitely need to further address the suspension at some point, I have a feeling it needs some further bushing replacements, and TBH really needs dropping on coilovers to improve the handling a little (perhaps i've been spoiled coming from an mx5).
Straight line wise, i'm super happy, not going to start messing with something that just seems to do things right, apparently you can buy MIVEC controllers, but i figure mitsubishi probably got the mivec points right from the factory.
This weekends little job...remove broken mitsi badge until i find a replacement, or just leave it off.
well, it seems the concept of trouble free motoring has been lost on the Asti...it's been great mostly but has developed a niggle.
Was doing some carriageway driving the other night, and on a couple of pulls up to 80mph I was getting some quite bad shake and vibration from the front passenger side of the car (could feel it from the wheel, rather than through the steering). this was under driving rather than braking.
Got home and had a nosey, one very very hot alloy wheel and caliper, so first things first the caliper is definitely sticking on that front passenger side.
Would the combo of stuck caliper and hot disc cause that vibration? or should I be looking further?
Goes without saying that the caliper is getting rebuilt and i'll chuck some new discs on....but curious as to whether I'm actually looking at two seperate problems here. I had many stuck calipers over the years on my old mx5, and never once did I experience any vibration along with it!
Was doing some carriageway driving the other night, and on a couple of pulls up to 80mph I was getting some quite bad shake and vibration from the front passenger side of the car (could feel it from the wheel, rather than through the steering). this was under driving rather than braking.
Got home and had a nosey, one very very hot alloy wheel and caliper, so first things first the caliper is definitely sticking on that front passenger side.
Would the combo of stuck caliper and hot disc cause that vibration? or should I be looking further?
Goes without saying that the caliper is getting rebuilt and i'll chuck some new discs on....but curious as to whether I'm actually looking at two seperate problems here. I had many stuck calipers over the years on my old mx5, and never once did I experience any vibration along with it!
Rather hoping it is that tbh, and I don't have to play "chase the problem by fixing several things that aren't actually the problem".
It's going in for an alignment check on saturday too, just to eliminate the obvious.
Typically, this has all come at a somewhat precarious financial moment...booked in at the end of the month to have the rear chassis legs welded up and the whole car undersealed for the winter.
Starting to question my wisdom in buying a project car rather than something more sorted, but i'm sure this will pass with time as i get more bits and bobs sorted out on it.
At the minute the most depressing aspect is washing the car and seeing all the little rust patches that need attending to along with the bigger bodywork jobs. Getting the rust riddled wing sorted in the new year will be a big boost psychologically speaking.
It's going in for an alignment check on saturday too, just to eliminate the obvious.
Typically, this has all come at a somewhat precarious financial moment...booked in at the end of the month to have the rear chassis legs welded up and the whole car undersealed for the winter.
Starting to question my wisdom in buying a project car rather than something more sorted, but i'm sure this will pass with time as i get more bits and bobs sorted out on it.
At the minute the most depressing aspect is washing the car and seeing all the little rust patches that need attending to along with the bigger bodywork jobs. Getting the rust riddled wing sorted in the new year will be a big boost psychologically speaking.
Well, caliper all freed off and new front discs and pads...braking has been transformed.
Had a bit of a nightmare over the weekend, took the car to a local STS to have the alignment and balancing checked (mistake).
They totally f
ked it up and i drove out with a very crooked steering wheel, they were quick to refund me and usher me out of there, as they clearly had no idea whatsoever what they were doing (note- avoid STS tyres st albans like the plague).
This meant an emergency trip over to wheels in motion on monday, £100 later and the car is fully setup...should have just gone there in the first place. STS had basically set up the alignment on the front of the car, with no regard whatsoever for the rear axle.
On the plus side, the mirage now handles beautifully, and while it was on the ramps at WIM, we were able to track down the source of my mystery suspension rattle- worn ARB D bushings, i was able to rattle it with my hand!
Had a bit of a nightmare over the weekend, took the car to a local STS to have the alignment and balancing checked (mistake).
They totally f
ked it up and i drove out with a very crooked steering wheel, they were quick to refund me and usher me out of there, as they clearly had no idea whatsoever what they were doing (note- avoid STS tyres st albans like the plague).This meant an emergency trip over to wheels in motion on monday, £100 later and the car is fully setup...should have just gone there in the first place. STS had basically set up the alignment on the front of the car, with no regard whatsoever for the rear axle.
On the plus side, the mirage now handles beautifully, and while it was on the ramps at WIM, we were able to track down the source of my mystery suspension rattle- worn ARB D bushings, i was able to rattle it with my hand!
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