1993 AWD Mirage (Re)Build from Sleeper to EVO Replica

[toffab]

This is a build journal (well a re-build) of my 1993 4 door Mitsubishi Mirage. I converted it to AWD with a 4G63 turbo using components from a 1G Talon. I first completed this car in late 2007 just in time for the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine $2007 Challenge. I ran the car again in the $2008 Challenge and ended up with a top ten finish and the trophy for the "Best Engineered" car. For those interested in the background of the initial build, checkout my cardomain site.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2616542/1993-mitsubishi-mirage/
I had another major rebuild in 2010 for the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge held at VIR. Due to the restrictive budget of the events that inspired me to build the car, it was pretty much stock....well as stock as an AWD hybrid Mirage could be. For the UTCC I would need to address safety and handling, and of course some more power wouldn't hurt. I had a custom (designed by ME) cage installed (1.5" 0.120" wall), Cobra Monaco Pro racing seat with RJS 5-point harness. I upgraded from the KYB AGX/eBay coilovers to Koni double adjustables with Hyperco race springs in Maroon Racing custom housings. For power, I swapped out the ported 14b for a EVO III 16G with matching O2 housing (both of which I hand ported) and an EVO IX intercooler (finally getting rid of the neatly installed but overworked 1G sidemount) with 2.25" tubing. I also installed a Fidanza Clutch and Flywheel. The car is a blast to drive whether its on the street, track or on dirt. I have not taken it to the strip since the 2010 setup with the 16G, but I already have a best of 12.67 @ 111 mph from back in 2008. My goal when I get it back together is high 11s
Here are some pics of Todd Reid at VIR during the 2010 UTCC

In addition to all the GRM magazine coverage the car made it to an issue (print and web) of Modified Magazine in the Readers Rides section. I thought this was pretty cool
1989 Mitsubishi Mirage - David Brown - Modified Magazine
So this journal picks up where I decided to address some long overdue issues with the car. Other than squirting some 3M window weld in the forward subframe bushing the entire 1G subframe assembly was untouched. Though the donor car was in great condition with only 80K miles I was afraid to pull any of the suspension bolts. All the cutting and welding we did to fit the subframe left a lot of exposed metal that did not get painted. The cage was also unpainted. the modified front subframe and crossmember painted in a hurry and soon began to strip. the car was solid but very rough around the edges
After driving in these conditions for a while unpainted welded components does not look pretty.

So the plan was to give the Mirage a pretty serious face lift. I initially only wanted to do a subtle change to the exterior, just replacing the stock bumpers with the smaller JDM Lancer bumpers but it turns out these were harder to find than the EVO III parts. So I said screw it, back to my original original plan to make a replica EVO III. So my JDM parts hunt started off during a trip to Jamaica (the other JDM) where I picked up a pair of amber fender lights...I found a sweet lightweight fiberglass EVO hood at the same junkyard but I passed because I had no idea what would be involved in getting it shipped back up to the US...it was pretty expensive too. I purchased the rear fogs from Elite JDM in PA...I also bought not one but two rear bumpers from him before they were even posted on the site. One of the bumpers had the EVO III extensions, which are pretty pricey by themselves. Both bumpers need a lot of work...broken tabs scuffs and cuts. I got the amber corner lights and an OEM EVO III wing off ebay and I bought the bumper and sideskirts (no "EVO III" logo, at first I was pissed but now I am ok because it is not an EVO III...its not going to be an exact replica) from VIS. I was skeptical at first as they had no pictures of the actual kit on their site, just pictures of real EVO IIIs, but after talking with the guys there (and trying with no luck to get them to send me pictures of the kit) I decided to buy it. What I liked about this kit was that the front bumper was designed to work with the stock Mirage fenders...EVO III fenders are rare and pricey.
So before I started stripping down the car I test fitted the pieces. It was ridiculous how easy it was the locate and drill the holes needed to mount the rear wing and the rear fogs...you could tell that they were made for this decklid

****STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE UPLOADING OF PHOTOS, I had some pics psted here yesterday and I lost them after my second post***

 

[Bo0sTdTsI]

Awesome man I love the 4g mirages myself and the evo 3 is also my favorite out of all of them. I've been wanting to do a conversion on a ls coupe I just love how they look if they're done right and they are hella light. Congrats on your times and events you've made it to nothing better than a 63 dropped in a lighter mitsu platform.

 

[toffab]

Thanks Bo0sTdTsI, the EVO III is my favourite also...the light weight is definitely an advantage
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So continuing with the write-up of the build...I had a list of items I wanted to work on before I started to strip the car down:
1. Fit the EVO body parts
2. Fabricate exhaust
3. Fit a new 15 gallon fuel cell
4. Fabricate new seat brackets

Though there is still a lot of work to actually install, I was comfortable with how the EVO pieces fit. There is a gap between the hood line and the grill portion of the VIS bumper that I may have to live with, but all in all it looks good.

So on to the exhaust:
Initially I just had the stock DSM downpipe cut right before the cat. Later I "upgraded" to a 2.5" homemade downpipe...at a brief point in time I had an auto parts store side exit exhaust system, but for the most part the car just had an open exhaust. I had always liked the 1G exhaust from RRE and due to the fact that the stock downpipe had fit, I figured it would fit the Mirage. I called up RRE and they offered an even better idea...they could make me the downpipe (to fit my EVO III O2 housing) only up to the flex pipe and I could finish it from there...even saved me a few bucks. I also purchased a resonator, gasket and some flanges from them.

I had some 3" stainless tubing laying around which I used along with some nice bends and a muffler from a 1st Gen Neon with an SRT swap that I bought (for parts for another crazy build I will be workin g on) to complete the system.
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The parts from RRE were beautiful...made me feel like crap when I looked at my welds compared to theirs. I used the RRE flanges and an eBay v-band clamp kit to make a decent 3-piece fully stainless system that looks and sounds great...I plan on polishing the whole thing before the final install

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[Shaggie907]

cool man if ya need some evo III parts i've sourced a couple places having a evo III myself