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I originally started this thread with the hope of turning my car into an evo clone. Unfortunately, today this hope is now gone. I acquired another lancer. Same body style, different color because it was much straighter and i couldnt pass up the price. After getting the car home i was told i could only have one or the other. I chose the red lancer because of the straighter body. I will be adding the link to another thread if anybody is interested in the build i will be doing on the red lancer. If you want to see everything i will be doing to that car feel free to visit the link below.
I will leave this thread open as a way to view my past project as well as the links that have been posted should someone find them helpful. (I know i did)
Feel free to see what the original plan for my car was and the work i accomplished in the short amount of time i had the car. Also adding why i chose an evo clone as my end goal. The drivers side of my car is mostly straight except for rear quarter panel is wrinkled, and underneath rear bumper cover is bent in. Passenger side is the same under bumper cover, quarter panel was smashed in at some point and filled with bondo. They didnt even try to pull it back out, same with rear door. Also the top of the same door is bent in to be sealed again. We found this out when someone threw a rock at my car. I got the car in its current condition short of the hole in my door and the front passenger fender. I was cut off by somebody shooting across in front of me, i got lucky that all that hit was my headlight and fender. His bumper was the perfect height to miss my hood and bumper cover luckily. This was actually when i started looking into the conversion was when i needed replacement parts anyway. Also to keep my current wheels from rubbing like they currently do. I am not going to put a stupid amount of camber just to keep my tires from hitting, I do not like the way that looks. I am not much of a fan of extremely stretched tires either. I will put wider panels on though. I am also thinking of putting air ride now that i have seen some nice kits out there that will handle racing as well. Feel free to check the attachments and tell me what you guys think.
I am still just getting my credit started and cannot afford to go buy an evo right now, so i would like to build a clone. This will be my first project car, but i have a decent amount of automotive experience, mechanical and cosmetic repair. Interior work as well, my dad is an automotive technician and i have been helping him over half my life, we almost never take our cars to someone else for work. I am a powersports technician but still have a love for cars. I look forward to seeing what all you know and can help me find. I will stay up to date as I build this car and keep prices posted as well for all the panels i purchase.
Looking for support and helpful comments. I have seen people post on here and get a lot of hate on what they would like to accomplish. I have access to a full shop and can make a lot of this happen with enough time. Just want to know what all will be involved in labor and cost.
Last edited by 03 RALLY LANCER; Apr 18, 2017 at 01:19 AM.
Started prepping the damaged areas for more bondo. Fastest fix for now. And yes i installed a vortex generator recently. Got the bondo on there, letting it dry to start shaping it Tried using the side skirt to see how well i paint matched. Looked close until i installed it. Not quite the silver i have but i like this new color. Not quite matte, but not gloss either. Might do the whole car this color soon just so it looks a bit better. Any thoughts? Bondo sanded down, still had some low spots so i used another color filler to see my results better. Primer layed down, cant see the bondo lines underneath or any signs of the previous damage i was fixing. Still some areas that need work but i will get around to them when i have more time. Wrapped a garbage bag around my wheel to keep the paint off. Hey, it worked lol. No more hole in my door and no more crack in my quarter panel. Im really happy with how the fender turned out for a rattle can paint job. No streaks or lines. Might have to just take my time little by little with the rest of the car. I will still be making progress towards my evo clone goal but i am also trying to save up for an actual evo currently. Will keep this around as my project car but i cant put this car out of commission to build how i want when its my daily driver. Also figure it will be better to make a clone when i have a real evo to compare it with side by side. Might be a bit before this thread sees any real clone work progress but it is still my end goal for this car and i will keep the thread updated with the progress i make on the car.
This will be interesting lol, definitely looking forward to see how this will turn out.
Thanks, unfortunately this is my daily driver right now so i cant afford to do anything major yet and have it out if comission for a while. But as soon as i am capable i am hoping to start doing some major body work on it. The car definitely needs it.
...and i will keep the thread updated with the progress i make on the car.
Well heres a small update on a few things i have done. Its been mostly rainy here lately so i have not been able to do too much but i made some modifications since my last post. Including changing part of my end goal..
I have been thinking of a better way to get my quarter panels flared without having to hack and chop at my daily driver and i think i am just going to order these flares and mold them into place instead. I have also been looking more into how evo headlights mount compared to lancer as well as bumper cover and hood. Looking at the shape of the radiator supports and i dont see much of a difference between lancer to evo as far as mounting goes. Obviously between the bumper cover and fender i may not have the same support as a true evo but i will probably just use quick release bands instead for simplicity. If anybody with hands on experience of an evo front end conversion on a lancer can show me why i NEED to change my radiator support rather than deal with some slight modification then i think i may just take this cheaper route.
Got to borrow a roller from a co worker so i got a little more flare for now. Helped out with the rubbing a bit but i am still going to keep marching towards my end goal. This is just temporary to be easier on my tires. Not much of a noticeable difference from before to after as far as rolling went. Installed a couple light bars behind my grille. Wired them in to my high beams. Got the oriellys special, $70 each. Pretty cheap compared to what i had seen for sale at my work but i did not check online. Im sure i could have gotten them cheaper but didnt care at the time as i was tired of being high beamed for my regular running lights being on. Now they know when my high beams are on lol. These were tested and proven brighter than H.I.D. projector high beams.
Tested and proven by me and a friend. Now i am the one leading the pack at night.
Still had my drivers headlight out while i figured out and hid all the wiring. Just making sure it all worked properly before putting everything back together and THEN realizing i messed something up. Got a shot of the vortex generator in action. Keeping the wind flow planted against my rear window as it should. Proof i am still enjoying the car and all 120hp coming out of the motor. Also testing out the new custom cold air intake i installed. The air filter is inside of the box at the end of the intake tubes. I have been asked multiple times if it is turboed since i installed this and i think its great. Gives a nice whistle at higher rpms as well, sounds supercharged at times. And last but not least, a few shots from earlier today. Went on a little cruise down the back roads. They all got a little dirty but it was well worth it. Been trying to enjoy the few sunny days and not let them slip by.
Thanks! Im definitely a long way from done with this car but unfortunately im not making enough money to order everything and i have to wait for the right weather to work on the car. No garage and its my daily. Cant afford to put it down for more than a day.
Thanks! Im definitely a long way from done with this car but unfortunately im not making enough money to order everything and i have to wait for the right weather to work on the car. No garage and its my daily. Cant afford to put it down for more than a day.
That understandable, take it one day at a time and make it work for you
Sooo. I went out and bought this yesterday....
Paid $200. Dude said it needs a clutch but it drives fine. The pedal is just really sloppy, think it might just need something simple like a slave cylinder. Thats what im hoping for anyway, clutch grabs good. Easy to stall with such little pedal travel and it holds fine on a hill just by putting it in gear. Has a straight body besides the drivers fender which is bent and bondo'd and the passenger side floorboard is bent up. Like into the car. This body should be easier to fender roll. But there is also some mildew growing inside it so i am going to do a full interior swap. This red one doesnt have cruise control either so i have a bit of swapping to do before i call this car ready for some visual work lol. Also i like the OZ gauges more than the es model. Unfortunately i dont have the space to keep them both. Once i have everything swapped over i am getting rid of the silver car with the steelies the red one came with. Keeping the OZ rims and my gold rims as well. Swapping the carbon fiber hood and debating on keeping this spoiler or going for the same style without the center support. I already have offers for the silver lancer surprisingly but it will be some time before everything is swapped over. Will post another full section on all the swapping and everything i pull out of these cars when i finish it up. Still shooting for an evo look, just getting a body in much better condition for $200 seemed like something i shouldnt pass up. Plus the iac alone is $510 through oriellys. Just got it soo much cheaper lol
Last edited by 03 RALLY LANCER; Apr 14, 2017 at 10:40 PM.
Jan 3, 2017, 01:25 PM
