4g61t.org

Ok, so if you've seen my thread in 4g61/4g63 tech you know that the car has 70 psi on cylinder 1 and is in need of a rebuild. The car is a 1989 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo. It has a salvage title and the damage from when it was totaled was never totally repaired. It looks like the dents were pulled out but the holes are still there, its discolored, and still really rough. The car has some other recent body damage and probably needs a new quarter panel and turn signal. The car only has 95k miles on it, and the interior is in great shape.

The Good:
- 95k miles
- clean interior

The Bad:
- body damage
- needs a rebuild
- salvage title

My question is: what to do? My friend's car, but he doesn't want it and I don't need it. Is it worth it to buy it from him, rebuild the motor, and try to sell the car? Or am I better off parting the car out, and rebuilding the motor to be put into another mirage or a project (sandrail anyone? )? Note that I do want to rebuild the engine, if just for the experience, I'm just not sure where it will go yet.

Part it out, sell me all the interior pieces. DONE!

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91 GSX - 511fwhp and 352 lb/ft 25psi 110 octane, 7.68 @ 95.9mph 1/8th 21psi 91 octane, 11.93 @ 112.9mph, 117.7mph best trap speed, 20psi 91 octane
98 Volvo S70 T5 - DD

http://www.facebook.com/captaintonus

Oh man....don't know what to tell you, pertaining to your situation.

If you do anything, make sure you give the VIN# to Flying Eagle, so we have it in the database. It's so sad....knowing how rare our cars are getting now, this story makes it sink in.

Parting an original turbo car should be a last resort. If someone else can do it justice, maybe selling is the best option. If the damage is only under the skin and can be worked out, so nothing cosmetic is affected on the surface, it may be worth the time to make the car right. If the mileage is correct and the rest of the metal is not falling apart at the seams due to rust bloat, think about keeping it alive. Post up pics and see what we have to say about the damaged areas.

Oh, I don't have the car listed unless it has changed hands, but is your friend listed here on the site? If it's not listed and is a Dodge or Plymouth, I need all the info from the tags/plates to make a complete listing as you will see in the stickied post for the VIN Registry in this section. Keep us posted!

Keep the car alive if at all possible, this is coming from a guy who won't blink twice about crushing a dsm

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John
89 Colt GT(2)
88 d50 4g63t, crower 272's, dsmlink

The car is already in the VIN Registry, it was bought from member LyFeWoRx.

No rust that I know of, and as far as I know the body damage is only cosmetic and didn't affect any structural part. Don't have pictures, I'll have to take some.

I'm torn between the two options. Of course keeping a rare car in one piece is always preferable, but as it sits right now I don't have the time or money to do the rebuild, fix the body work, etc. Doing the rebuild is as far as I would go with it right now. It really comes down to this: is someone really going to pay the money to buy and clean up this car? Even if I did all the work, I don't think I could get as much out of it as if I parted it out. Parting it out is the easiest (and cheapest) way out - if I did that I'd keep the engine and do something fun with it. Keep the opinions coming, its interesting to find out what you guys think.

pm me pic plz interested if selling

Hey man listen. You may be broke but ya know I was beyond broke when I bought my mirage. I only got it on chance because I consolidated some bills and the bank said they owed me some money. so with a twinkle in my eye i gladly paid the previous owner 400 bucks for a car that was completely molested and abused.

don't believe me then go here.

http://forum.4g61t.org/viewtopic.php?t=25331

I have had this car for two years. I knew when I bought it that I would be broke for a long time before I could even really touch the car and you know what? I'm still broke but the car is being redone completely and I am happy to live off noodles and free work food until the project is done.
My girl and I were looking for a house today and every house we are looking for is going to cost more than I am willing to pay until the car is done. mine isn't even an original turbo car! It's just love, love that sometimes comes in between everything else in my life.

suck it up
be broke
make it perfect again.
You will thank yourself in the end and all of us will thank you to.
Just look at the poll!
personally I'd have to keep it though.

I've updated the archives with the new ownership changes, including adding kasamasan1 to LyFeWoRx other car listing, as it changed hands a while ago now. I voted Restore/Sell.

If the body is straight enough under the skin, it would still make a good track car or similar drag vehicle. Looks don't get it down the track, it just nakes for nicer pictures.

ok, here are pictures, as promised. The damage isn't really bad, but it does look better in the pictures.







Thanks for all the responses. I do understand everyone saying keep it in one piece. A few things though - I can't keep this car, its not an option. My friend just wants the money out of it, and I already have a 90 DSM as a DD/ongoing project. After seeing the pics, how bad do you think the body is? What is the car worth with the rebuild, and with everything fixed?

Damn! That thing has nice paint! I would get it fixed.

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91 GSX - 511fwhp and 352 lb/ft 25psi 110 octane, 7.68 @ 95.9mph 1/8th 21psi 91 octane, 11.93 @ 112.9mph, 117.7mph best trap speed, 20psi 91 octane
98 Volvo S70 T5 - DD

http://www.facebook.com/captaintonus

yeah... fix that sons a bitch.

I've seen people fix cars damaged 10X worse than that. Sell it to me, I'll fix it.

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

I think my car has just about as much damage, not showing much but was there because of bumper hits, rusty fender tie-in at the front lower, and some hits in the rear wheel wells that looked like someone tried to pull out the shocks through the arches! PDR tech's this is for you.

That car fully deserves a rebuild, seriously. If a car that nice got parted, I wouldn't know what to say.

Chris's Evo project had just about as much damage, so he knows where this car is coming from. Sell it to him, and then he'll have too many projects on the go.

I guess I knew the car was repairable...I was really wondering whether it was worth the money or not. Basically, the point being that if it costs more than I can sell the car for to repair, then it isn't worth it to me. Not because the car shouldn't be kept alive, but because I'd be throwing money at a car that I can't keep for many reasons. Thanks for all the responses, I think I'm going to try to focus on fixing it now.