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PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 10:06 am 
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CSM Junkie
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI
So as the title says, the goal of this car is restoration+ (or OEM+). This means get the car back to factory as close as possible with some improvements here or there that I think Mitsubishi should have done. One of the first things to address was the shifter assembly. Years ago on another project I hacked a couple inches out of the stock shifter arm for a shorter shifter and swapped out the boot/knob. After doing some research on the board I stumbled across a better way to make a hybrid assembly from all OEM parts. It involves taking a 4th gen Mirage shifter base, a 1st gen (91-94 specifically) DSM arm, and cramming them together with new bushings. A full writeup can be found here:

Shout-out to dikdiamond for putting this up on our board!
http://www.4g61t.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=34035

I followed all the steps of this write-up and added just a few touches as I went along. Since I wanted it to appear factory I made sure to file everything down after achieving the cut sizes I wanted for the hole in the base and the length of the pivot rod. I know it is not necessary to make them look pretty, but I'm obsessive like that.

Nice rounded corners on the hole just like the factory stamped ones.

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The writeup called for bending a tab to center the new DSM spring the way it was on the assembly it came from. There are two things to mention with that. First, the tab is a little more narrow on a 4g base than a DSM. Second, it is also slightly off center above the pivot arm. The writeup also called to drill a hole for the spring "arm" to attach to, but on a DSM it has the ability to float a little and I found that securing it this way made 1st/2nd gear both feel gummy and the spring wouldn't re-center the shifter. Because of all these things I decided to chop the arm of the spring off, widen the centering tab for the spring, and re-bend the spring a little to gain more tension.

Here is a pic of the tab on top that we widened. This involved laying down some weld and then grinding it down after some test fitting. *sorry no before pics*

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Another shot showing it centered more. The pic is a little deceiving.

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This pic shows it all put together. Notice my spring is chopped to the left and the long arm is gone. Also notice the spring on top is contacting both the centering tab and the little rod above it. You can kinda tell I slightly bent the spring "arms" on the top so they contact the rod and the tab as the same time. With it not touching both there was some play left in neutral.

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Finish it off with a smaller turnbuckle from a DSM.

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Throw in some machined aluminum base bushings to take up any extra slop. (Not pictured are the six black plastic bushings I replaced in the pivot points of the assembly. You can get those for $1.XX each from JNZ)

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Lather on copious amounts of grease and you're done! Everything is substantially tighter than before, and with the DSM arm it also shortens the throw and the length of the rod on top. My other goal with this mod was to change the boot once the knob was lowered. There was a gap when I tried to use this boot before, but now it fits nice and snug.

First lets cut a plate.

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Now bolt it in place.

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Dust off our trusty GVR4 boot that has been sitting for years, and viola! Mucho 80's goodness! 8)

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Now she looks just like Mitsu should have designed her from the factory. The only downside is there is a lot more resistance when rowing gears then there was before, but that is pretty much something that happens in any car with a short shifter. I still have a silly knob I need to re-thread for shows and when I feel like being a goof, and also bearing to go in the cable ends, but other than that this mod is done.
'Til next time!

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'89 Colt GT - All the rare goodies
'98 TSi AWD - Clean street car


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PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2015 1:22 pm 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:51 pm
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Another small interior project completed. As you could see on the previous page my boost and wbo2 gauge install left a lot to be desired. Since I ripped those out I had to find a new spot for them. My first Colt had boost on the column and I really liked it there. My original plan for this car was to put it in the same place, but mold the cup so that it looked factory.

Here is a shot of my old setup.

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This still left me needing a place for the wideband. After much deliberation I decided that it would easiest to keep them in pretty much the same spot they were when I got the car. The wiring was all there, and since the car didn't have a radio it left me a nice open spot in the dash.

Cut a piece of black textured plastic to fit.

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Trim down some pvc to space the boost gauge out the same as the wideband.

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Plastidip the spacer and the AEM bezel satin black to match the Autometer gauge.

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The perfect stealthy spot.

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Pop the radio delete panel/new gauge cover back in place.

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Everything screws right in place using factory mounting points and now whenever I'm just cruising and don't wanna see the gauges I can just keep them covered up. Also adds to the sleeper effect of the car, and more importantly deters anybody from seeing anything worth stealing from this 80's econobox. All-in-all a pretty simple project that I am very happy with the outcome. Hope you like it as much as I do!

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'89 Colt GT - All the rare goodies
'98 TSi AWD - Clean street car


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PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2015 8:24 pm 
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The Silent Administrator
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Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
So where do you hide 5+ gauges?

Love the ingenuity. That blew my mind, just a little bit.

Once upon a time, we all used to discuss ways of keeping the sleeper effect and never give ourselves away except for the sound out the tailpipe.


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PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2015 11:45 pm 
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And I tossed an accordion style boot last month when my mom moved and I had to clean out the garage. I knew I should have kept it. I really like where this project is going. Over the last few years my mindset has switched over to keeping things more stock as well. Must be getting older. :P

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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


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PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2015 7:32 am 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2004 6:36 am
Posts: 451
Location: michigan
looks good ben.

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91 Eagle Summit AWD 10.14@138.31 (6.56 @110.30 1/8th, 1.48 60') 1.40 best 60 ft - best mph 154
03 EVO 10.86 @ 134.73 best mph 139.00
90 GST 10.36 @ 142.49 best mph 147.10


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PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2015 11:32 pm 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:51 pm
Posts: 899
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Quote:
Can you post pics of all the deleted panels/parts? It always harkens back to the old muscle car days when you could delete every option and there would be panels/etc everywhere.
I'll snap some pics for you when I finish cleaning up the rest of the interior. Should be doing that when I re-do my battery relocate soon.
Quote:
So where do you hide 5+ gauges?

Love the ingenuity. That blew my mind, just a little bit.

Once upon a time, we all used to discuss ways of keeping the sleeper effect and never give ourselves away except for the sound out the tailpipe.
It is funny that years ago I wanted as many gauges as I could find a use for. Now I want the car to look as factory as possible an keep things to a minimum. I wasn't going to say anything yet, but an exhaust cutout is on the list of future modifications.
Quote:
And I tossed an accordion style boot last month when my mom moved and I had to clean out the garage. I knew I should have kept it. I really like where this project is going. Over the last few years my mindset has switched over to keeping things more stock as well. Must be getting older. :P
Thanks Chris! This shift boot is either a love it or hate it kind of thing. Most of the appearance mods I am doing are geared toward being period-correct. I used to want a full race car with all the power it could muster, but now that GT-R's are going 8's in street trim and a bolt-on mustang makes 800whp I realized I like this car because it is different and for the driving experience. Don't get me wrong, I still want a good amount of power, but I like this car because it is different and rare and is fun to drive.
Quote:
looks good ben.
Thanks Warren. I can't wait to get together and go for a cruise. I might need to hit you up for bend some tube for my lower core support since I need more room for my FMIC. I'm trying not to hack too much so its a "10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb bucket" scenario.

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'89 Colt GT - All the rare goodies
'98 TSi AWD - Clean street car


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PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 11:01 pm 
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Some call me a god
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Location: Anderson, IN
Really like the shift boot mod!

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92 Colt GL 4g63t + AWD swap
00 Mirage LS


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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 2:34 pm 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:51 pm
Posts: 899
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Small update time.

A few years ago I owned a '92 Mirage GS sedan. The unicorn of the CSM world. I loved everything about the car, but it was rusty. Because of said rust I sold the car to a friend and bought Tony's silver hatch instead. A friend (SPOOLD) purchased the sedan and pieced together a turbo setup for it. After a couple years with the car he had it cleaned up, 4g63 swapped, and had an hx35 bolted to it with supporting mods. The car made 450whp and was both a lot of fun, and a lot of headaches for him. After going through motor trouble a few times he decided to call it quits and recoup some of his money. This is when he sold the turbo setup and I bought the car back from him. Since it had most of my old parts on it that I sold to him for cheap he in turn made me a good deal on the car. Sights were set on putting my hx40 setup on the car until my little black Colt fell into my lap. This meant the white car had to go, so a couple weeks ago I stripped her down and sent her off to the car graveyard. Here are some pics from her glory days.

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A few from her last few moments in my possession.

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Now she is gone and all her goodies will once again live on in another chassis. Anything extra will either be hoarded or sold off in a FS thread that I'll be making shortly.

Also over the past month or so I have been gathering parts to freshen up the car. There are a ton of boxes waiting to be emptied, but I am trying not to get too far ahead of myself and focus on a few things at a time. Right now top of the list is transmission and clutch replacement. While I wait for all those parts to arrive I figured I would take care of some small stuff.

If you are anything like me you go on JNZ's site and look at all the OEM parts you want from Mitsu to make your car as close to new again. Half the time I fill my cart but never actually finish checking out. One item they have that I have been wanting for a while is a new key for my car. Since it is a Colt and not a Mirage I was rather picky and wanted the newer key that didn't have the MITSUBISHI writing stamped into it. Well it turns out JNZ stopped carrying those because Mitsu merged the part number with the older keys and when they ordered them there was no guarantee they would get the newer one and not the gross old one that came with the 1g DSM. Sticking with my picky ways I took the part number and a gamble and found a site selling the key with no stock photo. I lucked out and they sent me what I wanted!

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That was too easy. I had to run errands and there was a home improvement store close by so I stopped there to get the key cut. Dude couldn't cut my key and wanted to sell me some stupid cheap replacement they had. At least I know the dealer can cut it right, even if they were 30 minutes across town. I called to confirm they would cut it and after a lively discussion with the parts manager he agreed to take a look at it. His problem was that he didn't believe I had an OEM key since I got it online and kept insisting I need to buy one through them rather than a cheap knockoff from ebay. I just politely told him I would bring it in and then we would see. Once I got there he was too busy to see me and I ended up talking to their guy that runs around and does a little of everything. We talked for a minute about my car (he worked there since '87) and he went to the other building to cut it for me. After about 10 minutes he came back with the key and told me I owed him a beer and didn't charge me anything. We talked a little longer and I went on my way. Got back home and it worked flawlessly. Usually a new key catches a little until you wear it down, but that was not the case for me. Big thanks to him for hooking me up!

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Other than that I have been prepping the car to remove the trans. This involved removing the FMIC and while I was in there I took of the turbo and radiator for an upgrade. I'll dive into that in a later update though. For now she looks like this.

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Lastly, I went to the junkyard on Memorial Day since they were doing their typical half-off sale. I didn't need anything in particular but hoped I would find something worth buying. Lucky for me I stumbled across some wheels that I could run 'til my Advans are finished. They are Borbet Type E's that were on an Acura CL. I even got to use my new impact to take them off!

I bought this the other night at 4am when I was laying in bed and couldn't sleep. It is a torque MONSTER.

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The wheels are 16x7.5 et35. Great size for a CSM.
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They are a little beat and need some lovin'. A few hours with a blasting cabinet and some black thrown on them should bring em back to new though. That is it for my rambling today. Hopefully she starts to look like a car again soon. For now I'm just JSB like the rest. Later!

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'89 Colt GT - All the rare goodies
'98 TSi AWD - Clean street car


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:38 pm 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:51 pm
Posts: 899
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Been a little bit since my last update. I've mostly been hoarding parts and doing a few small things here and there. Hoping to have the trans in a few days from now. In the meantime I'll show you what I just finished.

I've been wanting to complete this project for quite some time, and now that it is done I can say I am very pleased with the result. I always liked the look of the cooling plates offered for more popular cars like the Evo and 240sx so I thought I would tackle one for my Colt. It was a labor of love to get all the measurements, make a template from a cereal box, then trace it to poster board, then trace it to aluminum and cut it out. The goal was to get straight lines and precise cuts. I feel the look was achieved. Now I just have to decide if I want it to be wrinkle black or satin. I'm leaning more toward satin.

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'89 Colt GT - All the rare goodies
'98 TSi AWD - Clean street car


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