1993 Mitsubishi Colt Gti track car
Discussion
After selling my Mk2 Golf Gti 16v a few months ago, I was left with a car sized hole in my garage and the itch for something to start tinkering with again had begun.
As chance would have it my mate had an MoT failure 1993 Colt Gti that was begging for a bit of tlc, after being neglected for a year due to him having a company car.
The deal was done for a mighty £0!
Yes, it was the best kind of car, a free one!
The main problems were the brakes, discs badly corroded, pads worn and a few hoses needing replacing.
We towed the car over to my house last Friday and began stripping it down, with a view to sorting it out and using it as a track day toy!
Here are some pics of how it looked after a day of stripping on Friday:
The plan is to replace all discs / pads and hoses.
Fit some Apex lowering springs.
Change the cambelt and tensioner.
Fit a new rocker cover gasket.
Change the plugs & leads.
Change the oil and filter.
Buy some 15" wheels and run Toyo R888s that I can get cheap.
Thrash it on track!
As chance would have it my mate had an MoT failure 1993 Colt Gti that was begging for a bit of tlc, after being neglected for a year due to him having a company car.
The deal was done for a mighty £0!
Yes, it was the best kind of car, a free one!
The main problems were the brakes, discs badly corroded, pads worn and a few hoses needing replacing.
We towed the car over to my house last Friday and began stripping it down, with a view to sorting it out and using it as a track day toy!
Here are some pics of how it looked after a day of stripping on Friday:
The plan is to replace all discs / pads and hoses.
Fit some Apex lowering springs.
Change the cambelt and tensioner.
Fit a new rocker cover gasket.
Change the plugs & leads.
Change the oil and filter.
Buy some 15" wheels and run Toyo R888s that I can get cheap.
Thrash it on track!
Edited by m4tthew on Wednesday 7th May 09:57
Went back out early Saturday morning to carry on .
But after moving the car I noticed that the rad was leaking, which means more expense! But I know a place that makes good quality radiators and oil coolers which dont cost the earth, so they will be purchased accordingly.
You may have noticed that the headlight had been removed, the reason for this being that the battery sits right in front of the air filter. So the plan is to relocate the battery to the boot and fabricate a section of sheet ali or steel to make an enclosure that comes off of the headlight opening and feeds the air filter lots of nice cool air. The battery will be moved to the boot, here is the battery box that I managed to blag off of a mate!
Ive yet to buy the cabling yet, but I have a mate who works in a motor factors shop so it should be had for a good price. I also have a cut off switch to fit, which will be put in place next to an oil pressure guage in the centre colnsole which will be fabbed up to go where this picture shows:
Thats how the car stands at the mo, I have a big order for parts that should come this week I hope so that I can crack on this weekend and start fitting shiny bits!
The parts coming are:
Solid front and rear discs
Standard rear pads
Mintex 1144 front pads
Cambelt & tensioner
Fuel filter
Plugs & leads
Lowering springs
Im hopefully picking up some 15" wheels this weekend aswell.
Once these bits are done and fitted in June I will purchase some harnesses (to be used with the standard seats for the time being, unless some cheap buckets come up), a new rad and the oil cooler and then the R888s, ready for the Sports car day at Castle Combe on the 14th of June.
But after moving the car I noticed that the rad was leaking, which means more expense! But I know a place that makes good quality radiators and oil coolers which dont cost the earth, so they will be purchased accordingly.
You may have noticed that the headlight had been removed, the reason for this being that the battery sits right in front of the air filter. So the plan is to relocate the battery to the boot and fabricate a section of sheet ali or steel to make an enclosure that comes off of the headlight opening and feeds the air filter lots of nice cool air. The battery will be moved to the boot, here is the battery box that I managed to blag off of a mate!
Ive yet to buy the cabling yet, but I have a mate who works in a motor factors shop so it should be had for a good price. I also have a cut off switch to fit, which will be put in place next to an oil pressure guage in the centre colnsole which will be fabbed up to go where this picture shows:
Thats how the car stands at the mo, I have a big order for parts that should come this week I hope so that I can crack on this weekend and start fitting shiny bits!
The parts coming are:
Solid front and rear discs
Standard rear pads
Mintex 1144 front pads
Cambelt & tensioner
Fuel filter
Plugs & leads
Lowering springs
Im hopefully picking up some 15" wheels this weekend aswell.
Once these bits are done and fitted in June I will purchase some harnesses (to be used with the standard seats for the time being, unless some cheap buckets come up), a new rad and the oil cooler and then the R888s, ready for the Sports car day at Castle Combe on the 14th of June.
Got loads to update on this, this was all done in May:
Heat shield / air box for the air filter:
Picked up some wheels. All ready for some Toyo R888s:
Order from Camskill turned up:
Nice shiny black rad turned up, which will go well with the theme under the engine bay:
And got a bit creative with the rocker cover and spark plug cover:
Heat shield / air box for the air filter:
Picked up some wheels. All ready for some Toyo R888s:
Order from Camskill turned up:
Nice shiny black rad turned up, which will go well with the theme under the engine bay:
And got a bit creative with the rocker cover and spark plug cover:
Bit more work done in prep for its first track day at Combe in June:
New springs on:
As you can see the brake discs are in need of replacing!
Car with lowering springs on all around and wearing its new boots:
New discs and pads fitted all round. Mintex 1144s on the front.
That was the end of the May and the list of things to do was still pretty big:
Cambelt, tensioner wheel and idler wheel
Re-fit rocker cover and new gasket
Fit new plugs & leads
Fit new fuel filter
Oil and filter change
Re-wire battery as its now in the boot, install kill switch at same time
Fab centre console for kill switch and oil pressure gauge
Fit harnesses
Fit strut braces
Get R888 tyres
Bleed brakes, new fluid
Fit new poly'd droplinks for front ARB
New springs on:
As you can see the brake discs are in need of replacing!
Car with lowering springs on all around and wearing its new boots:
New discs and pads fitted all round. Mintex 1144s on the front.
That was the end of the May and the list of things to do was still pretty big:
Cambelt, tensioner wheel and idler wheel
Re-fit rocker cover and new gasket
Fit new plugs & leads
Fit new fuel filter
Oil and filter change
Re-wire battery as its now in the boot, install kill switch at same time
Fab centre console for kill switch and oil pressure gauge
Fit harnesses
Fit strut braces
Get R888 tyres
Bleed brakes, new fluid
Fit new poly'd droplinks for front ARB
The next track day is booked for 15th of November and so Stage 2 of the track toy begins.
I bought the following bits of a nice guy on the Colt forum for not a lot of money:
Brand new Gaz Gold height & damping adjustable coilovers
Cyborg flywheel which is 7lb lighter than the one on there
Cyborg g/box with factory LSD
Cat Cams which will prob be fitted over winter as a new ECU is required to run them properly, Im told it should rev to about 9k rpm with these!
Havent got any pics of the new kit yet as the weather has been so rubbish I havent ventured out to the garage since dumping the bits there over the weekend.
I cant wait to get the suspension and box with LSD on, its going to make such a difference to the car.
Other things to do before the track day are:
Fit coilovers
Fit new g/box
Fit new flyhweel and clutch
Purchase a seat - thinking Sparco Sprint 5
Purchase new steering wheel - thinking a nice suede Sparco one
Get 2 more tyres, handily 3 of my mates use R888s in the 750mc Golf Gti series so I have access to cheap part worn R888s!
I bought the following bits of a nice guy on the Colt forum for not a lot of money:
Brand new Gaz Gold height & damping adjustable coilovers
Cyborg flywheel which is 7lb lighter than the one on there
Cyborg g/box with factory LSD
Cat Cams which will prob be fitted over winter as a new ECU is required to run them properly, Im told it should rev to about 9k rpm with these!
Havent got any pics of the new kit yet as the weather has been so rubbish I havent ventured out to the garage since dumping the bits there over the weekend.
I cant wait to get the suspension and box with LSD on, its going to make such a difference to the car.
Other things to do before the track day are:
Fit coilovers
Fit new g/box
Fit new flyhweel and clutch
Purchase a seat - thinking Sparco Sprint 5
Purchase new steering wheel - thinking a nice suede Sparco one
Get 2 more tyres, handily 3 of my mates use R888s in the 750mc Golf Gti series so I have access to cheap part worn R888s!
m4tthew said:
OMS said:
m4tthew said:
NickFRP said:
OMS said:
m4tthew said:
Now attached via spreader plates and eye bolts in the floor.
Ok, time for some pics of the new kit:
Coilovers, lighter flywheel and Cat cams:
Inside of car showing sunroof and mechanism gone:
Gearbox with LSD:
New seat:
Sunroof panel removed, roof sanded ready for a bit of rust treatment and painting:
Masked up ready for painting:
Ali sun roof panel that will be painted and rivoted over the hole:
Coilovers, lighter flywheel and Cat cams:
Inside of car showing sunroof and mechanism gone:
Gearbox with LSD:
New seat:
Sunroof panel removed, roof sanded ready for a bit of rust treatment and painting:
Masked up ready for painting:
Ali sun roof panel that will be painted and rivoted over the hole:
Project's looking good!
Another thing on the harnesses though - having them mounted to the floor is apparently a very bad idea as it will compress your spine as you move forward during an impact. They need to be mounted more at shoulder height. A sturdy bar welded between the B pillars might work, or you need a cage....
Brad
Another thing on the harnesses though - having them mounted to the floor is apparently a very bad idea as it will compress your spine as you move forward during an impact. They need to be mounted more at shoulder height. A sturdy bar welded between the B pillars might work, or you need a cage....
Brad
braddo said:
Project's looking good!
Another thing on the harnesses though - having them mounted to the floor is apparently a very bad idea as it will compress your spine as you move forward during an impact. They need to be mounted more at shoulder height. A sturdy bar welded between the B pillars might work, or you need a cage....
Brad
Aslong as the angle is no less steeper than 35 or 45 degrees I think you are ok.Another thing on the harnesses though - having them mounted to the floor is apparently a very bad idea as it will compress your spine as you move forward during an impact. They need to be mounted more at shoulder height. A sturdy bar welded between the B pillars might work, or you need a cage....
Brad
They're not going to be mounted on the floor behind the seat, they will be somewhere on the boot pan / area that would would have been under the rear seats.
m4tthew said:
braddo said:
Project's looking good!
Another thing on the harnesses though - having them mounted to the floor is apparently a very bad idea as it will compress your spine as you move forward during an impact. They need to be mounted more at shoulder height. A sturdy bar welded between the B pillars might work, or you need a cage....
Brad
Aslong as the angle is no less steeper than 35 or 45 degrees I think you are ok.Another thing on the harnesses though - having them mounted to the floor is apparently a very bad idea as it will compress your spine as you move forward during an impact. They need to be mounted more at shoulder height. A sturdy bar welded between the B pillars might work, or you need a cage....
Brad
They're not going to be mounted on the floor behind the seat, they will be somewhere on the boot pan / area that would would have been under the rear seats.
Great project
Baffled Spoon said:
Looking good. I really like the more unusual track car choices such as these as you can often get the base car for less (and then have more to spend on the performance bits). The track Proton in this month's PPC mag £999 feature has certainly got me tempted.
Is it a Satria Gti that they've done?The Colt is pretty much the same car.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff