The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support Rix Racing
Please Support Rix Racing

Street Build Project Precious:My new car/project

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mitsubishikid

10+ Year Contributor
1,148
253
Jun 8, 2009
Turlock, California
Hello tuners, hope your all running right this month, so I got my hands on a new car, I had to make a choice it was a new car or an FP hta68, and yeah I know an FP hta68 is really an awesome turbo setup, I would have loved to get my hands on one, but it was just not practical at this point and time, it was not easy to make this decision, but who knows gas prices are on the rise and this car was cheep, and I could not let it slip past my fingers, so I purchased it and it arrived on the 23rd [picture of it arriving yesterday]
mitsubishi mirage.jpg
Rolling off of the trailer. it's a 1992 Mitsubishi Mirage SE 1.5 liter 12 valve 5 Speed.
so I was wondering if anyone on here has any suggestions,engine rotates, but will not start... my thoughts are to go over the basics, like does it get fuel, spark, etc, but I'm just curious if anyone else has ideas to look out for on the CSMs. Thanks for any input.
 
The distributor is like the cas on these cars, as far as plans go I aim to get it to run first so I can smog the thing, out here in California thats required when transferring a vehicle, it sucks I know, but luckily all the old paper work included with the car seems to point out that the car never had bad emissions so most of that is okay, it needs some small bits here and there, but for the most part the car is in pretty good shape and I have a few wrecking yards near me that have a few in stock to pull bits from over time I'll have it complete again.
 
Last edited:
I pulled the spark plugs out of the car to check their condition this is what I found...The pictures tell the story better.

#1 compression test numbers 150psi {cold engine} gap was 080!WTF on all plugs...I checked its owners manual and it lists the spark plug gap as 039-043.
PIC_0025.JPG
#2. compression 119 {cold engine}
PIC_0024.JPG
#3. compression 119 {cold engine}
PIC_0023.JPG
#4. compression 150 {cold engine}
PIC_0022.JPG


As you could imagine the spark plug wires were a nightmare as well.
PIC_0019.JPG

PIC_0018.JPG

Whats this? Hillery Clinton teeth marks, LOL just kidding, they are rodent damaged, these are the worst of the damaged ones.

Old distributor cap and rotor.
PIC_0040.JPG
PIC_0039.JPG
PIC_0038.JPG

I don't have pictures of the old distributor {I turned it in as core} but upon removing the cap and rotor you could see an area that was melted and cracked... My thoughts are the extreme gap on the plugs, the wear on the cap and rotor+the wire damage= what likely led to it's early demise, the coil is built into the distributor on these cars, the heat likely had nowhere else to go under the cap, so it likely got really hot melted and eventually cracked.

Heres all the new ignition stuff I installed. new distributor,cap, rotor, plugs and wires.
PIC_0032.JPG

More updates soon.
 
Last edited:
Got some good parts from the wrecking yard for the project.

the old headlights were barely holding together with mechanics wire ties.
PIC_0041.JPG

I got lucky and found 2 3rd gen csm at a yard I pulled the headlights and corner lamps and the grills now I have 3 grills for the car LOL.
PIC_0031.JPG

I put the "89 style grill on the car the middle one is what came stock the "92 mirage se and the top one is a dodge Plymouth colt grill.

I had to carefully pry a Mitsubishi badge from a 3rd gen eclipse gt and Mitsubishi letters from an "04 galant added some double sided 3m tape and used a hobby scalpel to trim off excess, and stuck em on.
 
I Replaced all fluids, this is a must if any of you dsmers out there buy a used car thats been sitting for a while check all fluids and not just the oil and coolant...
PIC_0017.JPG

PIC_0035.JPG
PIC_0036.JPG

PIC_0037.JPG

PIC_0054.JPG

I emptied the brake and clutch reservoir using this pump I picked up at walmart for $3.

after pulling all the old crud from the reservoirs I topped it off.
PIC_0049.JPG

then I bled the clutch slave cylinder and all the brake lines.

Before.
PIC_0036.JPG

After.
PIC_0050.JPG

Before.
PIC_0037.JPG

After.
PIC_0052.JPG

The old brake fluid looked like gravy from last thanks giving LOL.

Filters are next on my agenda, all of em are getting replaced.
 
Spark plugs look great! Looks like you are making some good project getting that little beast going. I like that you now have a grill selection to choose from :cool:
 
Spark plugs look great! Looks like you are making some good project getting that little beast going. I like that you now have a grill selection to choose from :cool:

Yes I can now change the look of the car on the fly, for those special occasions LOL. the grill was easy to take off thanks to my previous work on my colt vista wagon, they use a similar clip design to remove em all you need is a flat screw driver, vary easy job, on the vista you need a flat and a Phillips head.
 
More progress today...
PIC_0081.JPG
PIC_0083.JPG

cleaned out the engine bay, and I fixed the leaky window washer fluid bottle reservoir, I used a p.c.v grommet, amazingly enough it worked, so far no leaks.
PIC_0071.JPG

PIC_0062.JPG
PIC_0072.JPG

PIC_0077.JPG

PIC_0078.JPG

e.g.r valve cleaning was on my list, so I pulled it off the car and went to the garage to work on it, I used harbor fright tube brush cleaning kit, along with some parts store carb/choke cleaner this will help lower the nox on a smog check. I then cleaned up the e.g.r temp sensor as well, no images of it clean... sorry use your imagination LOL.

After idling the car for a few minutes, I smelled exhaust gas I went to the parts store bought all the exhaust system gaskets came home to replace it all, I was going to replace the o2 sensor so I removed the exhaust manifold heat-shield, and yup you guessed it...
PIC_0084.JPG

PIC_0085.JPG

Cracked oh well another junkyard adventure for me, but if I'm leaving for a while I'm going to let you exhaust fasteners argue with some penetrating oil while I'm away LOL.
PIC_0087.JPG
 
Last edited:
Updates: I could not source a good used exhaust manifold for precious so I ordered one from ATP. while waiting for it to arrive did some basic prep, and my fuel filter arrived.
PIC_0086.JPG

Drained out the old coolant...it looked mostly like a lot of water some rust light rust residue is visible inside it, but it's not as bad as I have seen before, will be flushing the system out for sure, Image above: comparing the 3rd gen mirage radiator{black one} to a spare 1ga one I happened to have, dsm ones are a Little smaller, and have no radiator cap... oh well I guess were back to the drawing board :aha: LOL.

PIC_0093.JPG
Ripped out the sloppy rubber shifter bushings {they were so bad that the carpet was moving whenever you shifted LOL} got some washers from H.D.R [Home Depot Racing] miles ahead better, and more direct feeling, shifts now.

More progress updates soon... for now teaser picture of my future idea.
PIC_0056.JPG
 

Attachments

  • PIC_0092.JPG
    PIC_0092.JPG
    200.8 KB · Views: 175
  • PIC_0098.JPG
    PIC_0098.JPG
    161.3 KB · Views: 194
PIC_0127.JPG

I got my hands on a 2g dsm spyder rear view mirror [to keep in the spirit of the dsm world, we will call this the 3 bolt mirror LOL it has 3 bolts to attach it to the roof technically they are screws]
Aside from wiring in the reading lamps there was no real problem mounting it to the roof.
PIC_0125.JPG

My brother has a knack for sewing things creatively, so I gave him my old torn shifter boot and this is the finished product hand stitched.
PIC_0110.JPG
Timing belt and tensioner, yes I replaced all belts, and fixed the gross cam seal oil leak that was causing a mess under the timing covers.
PIC_0131.JPG
I went to the wrecking yard the other day and got lucky, I will post the findings up in the least to most awesome finds.

Above is a wire pigtail I pulled to make my own timing adjustment ground tool, I hate having to play a jumper wire act that may damage the connector pin inside, so I pulled this off an old Hyundai Excel I will have to add [or swap the wire pin] for it to work on my csm but thats not too hard.
PIC_0133.JPG

PIC_0124.JPG

I got this thick 2 row aluminum radiator from the wreckers with the fans [vary minimal fin damage] I pulled it from a Mazda miata, it will need some modifications to make it work... most notably the inlet and outlet locations, the upper port might be okay, but the lower is on the wrong side entirely LOL.
 
The plugs are definitely ash fouled like it has been burning oil/fuel additives, and running lean. Good luck with the new project!

Thanks man, Yeah the gap was crazy wide too I mean .80 gap is really wide, and the car has been sitting for a while, along with the cracked exhaust manifold, it probably was the right combination that made the car stall out with the p.o but again maintenance is key I guess some people don't have the time to keep everything in order.
 
Wow this is great. The car igetting better all the time.
i saw you show up on 4g61.org but you must not have started a build thread. You got to share this with us csmers there.
ps and its agreat effort your putting up helping some of the 61 members get parts from the yards
that kind of comraderie keeps the forums strong so thanks
 
Wow this is great. The car is getting better all the time.
i saw you show up on 4g61.org but you must not have started a build thread. You got to share this with us csmers there.
ps and its a great effort your putting up helping some of the 61 members get parts from the yards
that kind of comraderie keeps the forums strong so thanks

Yeah I wanted to start a thread , but the 4g61t forums are hard to upload images to... well opposed to dsmtuners, I used to have an imageshack account, but I here they are no longer going to host my pictures for some reason.

I like to help the members on these forums and 4g61t.org when I can, the csm/dsm people are some of the smartest guys and gals I've ever met around in any car culture, and they deserve to have more options then what were used to for parts, and it's clear they all want to keep these cool cars running, if you need anything let me know I'll see what I can do.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 295406 Guys, I just pulled out my plugs are found that no.1 came out like this. What could be the cause of it looking like this. All the others looks brand new.
brand new looking... as in out of the box shinny?
if thats the case, your other three are not firing, I had the same issue with the mirage LOL it was because I mixed up the spark plug firing order when I swapped the distributor.
 
Last edited:
My plans are eventually to install electronic power steering so I decided to get an idea of what that might entail so here goes.
PIC_0157.JPG

Pulled the stock steering column, and intermediate shaft out of the mirage today.
PIC_0159.JPG

pulled both of these columns from a local wrecking yard [top one: is out of a Saturn ion. Lower one: is out of a Saturn Vue]
Apparently the top one is not usable as is, you need to swap the black case to a metal one in order to wire it up to this controller http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saturn-Vue-...ash=item2a6086c6c3:g:5usAAMXQHDlRcSCy&vxp=mtr
PIC_0160.JPG

Wow looks like Mitsubishi was in on the electronics for gm's eps systems LOL.
 
Last edited:
Got lots more parts together for the build some of em need cleaning but at least they're finally here LOL.
PIC_0202.JPG

PIC_0200.JPG


My E.p.s controller arrived from Portugal, I still have to work on fitting the column into the under dash, I got some wrecking yard steering shaft u joints to sort out some of it, but I have some other joint parts to collect, in order to get it bolted to the rack and pinion.
PIC_0198.JPG

Meanwhile these pillow-ball Yoshifab camber plates showed up today, the company also makes dsm ones too, [hit them up if you need a set]. They will help me dial in [and correct] my camber when I modify the the rest of the front suspension and brakes.
PIC_0168.JPG

[Please ignore the fact that I have 2 of all of these LOL]
I pulled a non power rack from a 3rd gen mirage, and a dodge colt gt/ early Hyundai Elantra sway bar.

On to another topic stopping power=better brakes.
PIC_0185.JPG

Set of Galant vr4 4 lug front rotors.
PIC_0187.JPG

Akebono N/A 3000GT front pads.
PIC_0190.JPG

3000gt front calipers, brackets.
PIC_0184.JPG

Set of 2 abs equipped, expo knuckles, with dust shields... why? Because bigger brakes and bump-steer correction is on the menu.
PIC_0171.JPG

Scored a 3G Brake booster with master, reservoir, and hose with one way check valve.
PIC_0182.JPG
Brakes are covered.
more updates when I have free time again... LOL, have a good one everybody.
 

Attachments

  • PIC_0193.JPG
    PIC_0193.JPG
    269.5 KB · Views: 173
I'm still waiting on my set of 1994 Hyundai Elantra front lower control arms, it's been a few weeks, I'm not sure if the e-bay seller even has em :rolleyes:, If not I might end up having to go back to the wrecking yard again :toobad: ...oh well there likely is a few more planned trips out there anyway LOL more updates soon.
 
Nice find mitsubishikid! I love the hatchback. We came across a similar vehicle last summer. 56,000 mile, one owner. This one was for the lady to learn to drive a manual. I enjoy driving the car more than she does I think. However, she is now requesting that we swap a 4g63 in it so she can have a toy. I will be following your progress as we start the research process. Keep up the good work!

IMG_20150809_140743751_HDR_zpswlx67qhl.jpg


IMG_20150809_140808024_zpsi3vfxfva.jpg
 
Last edited:
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top