its official. been debating back and forth for about six years now whether to sell this car or not. I literally have 50k in the project from all the development that went on when I was building the car. and that doesnt include any labor costs. the car made exactly 12 visits to the track during my build of the car. round trip of 120 miles. it drove back and forth successfully every time. first pass was 11.50. last pass was 10.25. all passes were made on the falken zeix street tires. and no stutter launch. the 10.25 pass was with 1.7 60 ft and 535whp. last dyno was 599whp but with no passes at that power. the car was setup as a devastating street monster. track times reflected everyday power the car had. very easy to launch hard and drive fast. no race gas or e85 ever. 93oct/alky injection car. my definition of true sleeper.
I finally figured out how to realistically sell the car in parts. most part outs just start selling parts off the shell till they are left with a shell that isnt worth much. then end up towing it off to scrap. I could take that route but cant bare to see this shell get crushed. so what I am going to do is list everything on the car and what I think I can sell it for. then wait for a buyer for the shell. NO PARTS WILL BE SOLD till the shell sells first. that buyer will have the option to buy whatever parts he wants off the car, whatever his budget allows. most off the parts are not vehicle specific. others are mirage AWD specific. I will need to get car cleaned up for some current pics. but here are some older ones. I will be making making a very comprehensive detailed list of what is on the car and what I think should stay on the car.
---------- Post added 09-17-2015 at 16:49 ----------
the body of the car was originally white. its was a one owner car with original paint and no accidents ever. the rear end conversion was custom fabricated by me. I took one look at 1g and 2g rear subframes and said there is no way in heck I am putting that heavy thing under this car. I estimate my conversion is 75 pounds lighter than those who use the 1g rear end. this car has never been to an alignment shop. tires wear dead even. I have raced bikes on the highway up to 8500rpm in fifth gear and it is dead compfy doing it. very stable at high speeds.
I can describe how I built it but have no digital pictures of how it was done. I can snap some pictures of the frame work. its not high quality looking. but it is sturdy and works very very well. and it is LIGHT.
The original rear arms were never taken off the car. The car was jacked up and placed on stable jack stands. I then very carefully took a straight edge and placed it on the drum brake hub face. I rotated the hub and made marks 360 from the hub . on the concrete in several places in the wheel well in several places. like 8 marks total. I then torched out the stub shaft on the trailing arm. ground the hole big enough to install a bearing housing. then I took 1g rear arm and torched out the bearing/brake/ hub assembly. I placed this hub inside the mirage trailing arm. lightly tacking in place. till the new hub face sat in the exact same position as the original. my straight edge verified the hub was aligned as it originally was when the straight edge lined back up with all the marks I made. all the marks were a couple feet from hub face so this alignment technique was VERY accurate. car drove dead straight before and after the conversion with no alignment ever needed.
the body of car was is great shape. only minor dings here and there. great base to do a nice paint job on the car. I and a good friend did the paint work together. I remember spending around 900 for paint primer and other related materials. the car looks fantastic. estimate it would be 3500-4500 to have a good body shop duplicate the paint work on the car. it is a rubbed high quality show car finish. currently the bumpers show age as well as the roof is plagued with rust about to break through. so to bring it back to nice the roof and bumpers need a respray. the color is 2000 porsche speed yellow.
the interior of the car was damage free. no door panel or dash damage. only the carpet and front seats needed replaced. I sourced new black high quality cut pile carpet for the car. that cost around 250 at the time and still looks new now. the seats are the no longer available sparco roadster seats they cost 1200 with tracks. both seats had custom frame made to bolt them in. the passenger seat track was made to swivel forward so there is still easy access to the rear seats.
more tech and pics to come
---------- Post added 09-17-2015 at 16:56 ----------
body outside mods. the rubber moulding was eliminated from the roof, the front, rear, and side glass. this gives the car a more modern look. extra body work was involved here. and it was worth it. the rear spoiler was 250 form the dealer. it from 2000 dodge neon. the front lip was 220 from mazda dealer. 2000 mazda miata. neither of these parts were easy to find used at the time. had to buy them new. the mirrors are custom made. cut down from geo metro 1990 ish. they are sporty and light. I also have custom side skirts that were fit to the car. they were from 1987 dodge spirit rt if I remember correctly. the fit the car nice and all. I just thought car looked better without them. some may prefer the look.
---------- Post added 09-17-2015 at 17:39 ----------
Okay so here are the things that I could sell off the car that I think a buyer would be stupid not to get with the car. and this forms the basis of my asking price for the shell.
the shell itself was 750 when I bought it. it had a bad transmission. it is VERY hard today to find a nice shell today for 750. these cars are on craiglist for 1000-2000 as good running economy cars.
the mirrors could easily be sold. they cost around 50 to make. I think they are sellable at that.
the rear spoiler is still worth 125. . I wouldnt mind keeping it for future use. the front spoiler is worth maybe 75 to someone working with this year mirage.
the rear pumpkin is 2g LSD setup. the diff and axles are worth 350. the rear subframe work to make car AWD was around 200 in materials. the rear trailing arms sell for 300 for evo 1/3. these arms can work for someone doing a conversion with early evo subframe. the subframe on this car is not removable. it is welded to the car. the gas tank is original from a mirage. it was flipped to live under the rear floor. the filler neck was custom fabbed to live under the rear lid. it is not open to compartment inside. fumes would exit outside car. it allowed me to custom weld shut the gas cap door for a cleaner looking body.
so here is a ruff breakdown what I would like to get out of this shell.
quality black cut pile carpet 100 *
96 awd brakes, EBC green pads, 5 lug conversion. 100**
lightweight custom 2-piece driveshaft 500**
nice shell with nice yellow paint, chromoly roll bar. AWD conversion framework. all A/C intact. full exhaust from front of pan 1000
4g63 custom motor mounts. 300**
2g LSD rear and axles 350*
front and rear spoilers 100*
1g pedal assembly 80**
9 gauges. all wired and working. 600**
14.5lb sparco seats w/custom mounts 600*
16in Volk Racing TE37 with light tires 1300*
custom 12x13x3.5 intercooler with pipes. 500
type R BOV w/new diaphragm 150*
cosmo fuel pump 100
KYB AGX rear shocks, factory new KYB front with custom 5" porsche springs 150**
custom fit fluidyne radiator (width shortened) with powerful fan 150*
89 turbo mirage axles. (eclipse axles are too long) hard to come by. 200*
so the above asking price would be $6000 for the shell with parts mentioned above. I am sure I am forgetting things.....So if 6k is not in your budget you can start removing parts with stars from the price till you meet your budget.
* parts that can easily be removed and sold separate
** parts that technically could be removed and sold separate but would make buying shell very undesirable.
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