I did the SPAL on OE shroud (mainly for quick removal and compactness). I've just decided to get the CSF OE radiator and replace it whenever it gets ugly. Maybe replace the SPAL every few years also

 

I'm surprised a non-shrouded fan did so well. I never had good luck, but that's probably because I was using the wrong brand LOL
These days, I do 100% shrouded fans even if it means making one. I went so far as to ordering a hot rod setup for one of my cars. Luckily for me, it happened to fit perfect.

 

I think I'm going to go with the OE CSF radiator because my car is not a show car, I don't want to deal with the Mishimoto leaking and having to get a warranty replacement and I can't be bothered trying to get the radiator to fit with the stock fan...

I may be going a little off topic here, but what are you thoughts on the best suspension replacements?

Bilstein B6s or coilovers, like Fortune Auto? I'm leaning towards the FA because I could just bolt them up without having to use a spring compressor (I have never used one before and a little nervous). The one negative is I live in the Northeast so they may get destroyed by the salt...

 

You can get socks for your coilovers

 

FA if only worried about performance on track, Ohlins if you do a lot of street driving.
Anything else you want if only wanting a lowered car.

 

When my stock radiator went, I installed a CSF full aluminum "high performance" radiator part #3163. Great build quality, more capacity than OE at 1 5/8" vs 1 1/4" thick, and fits with OE shroud and fan even with stock intake box, intercooler pipe, etc.

 

Full size aluminum Koyo + SPAL works for me on a half filled block on 95 degree days waiting in line at the autocross (mishimoto fan was a total failure though). No shroud, just those pull-through ziptie things, attached directly to radiator. Also AC delete, so maybe that's part of why it works well for me?

 

I just bought "parts store" front axles...just in case. $65 each so why not lol. I hope it fits if i ever needed it

.

 

This thread is giving me anxiety

Really should have gotten a 5 speed swap done when it was /comparatively/ easier to find the bits.

 

The hardest part for me to find was the shift mechanism on the top of the trans. I had to have one sent from Europe.
I'd hate to think how hard it would be to find parts now.

 

I was working on building a 3D printable library of all the plastic parts of the car.
Using a material called Onyx by Markforge.

Car is parked while Im overseas so ill get back on it when i get home

 

Is $3k for a 5 speed transmission + all the parts a good deal? That seems downright reasonable if it's in good shape to me but I haven't looked in a while.

 

Is that what they are going for now? Holy hell, I paid $1000 for mine.
Maybe I should part my car out instead of selling it.

 

When?

 

I just lost my Evo 1 RS's transmission (and a whole lot more) in a building fire, it was absolutely devastating. The loss was over $8,000 CAD for my core transmission and pile of upgrades, and most of the parts aren't available anymore. So, in an exercise to find out what is possible these days, I decided to go ahead and try to overcome it, because I don't want this killing my car.

I was basically left with a new 3rd gear, a new 5th gear (one of the two needed), and that was it. I bought these two as spares years ago from Japan, thinking I may need them some day. That's all I had. So what did I do?

Core transmissions in questionable shape start around $2,000. I was offered a used Evo 1 GSR transmission in unknown condition from Europe at 2,800 EUR shipped, which looked awfully tempting. It still would've needed $3,000+ in upgrades for what I need.

But I like doing things the expensive & hard way, so I took note of every single Evo 123 GSR & RS part number for each of the transmission parts I need. Unsurprisingly, most of it is gone. I punched in Evo 3 RS numbers on Amayama because not many people seem to know about these. Immediately found 4th gear for Evo 3 RS, had it shipped in. Found the missing 5th gear for Evo 3 RS (matches the other one I have that is Evo 3 RS), had it shipped in too (note: a pair of new 5th gears was going for $700 US when they were available years ago). I found the Evo 3 RS intermediate shaft new, and it's painfully expensive, but I'm going to buy it. Found a new 1st gear from a Galant VR4 RS Evo, seller didn't know what he had, it just arrived. Should work in Evo 1.

Input shafts for Evo 1 GSR & RS are absolutely gone new, I've never seen one in the decade plus I've been doing this. I went through my contacts and one of my contacts in Europe has a used input shaft from an Evo 1, along with used 1st and 2nd gears. He also has a new 2nd gear for Evo 1, bought that too.

Next, forks & rails. These were available new not too long ago, but most come up unavailable now. Found some used in Europe, negotiating on getting them shipped in. These are usually tough as nails and don't go bad. Billet forks are available from Magnus at like $800, but I've heard some horror stories.

Hubs and sliders were the Achilles heel of Evo123 parts, but an Australian guy had a set of new ones and approached a machine shop to replicate them. ABSOLUTE LIFESAVER. These are nowhere to be found new, and used ones usually suck. A NOS Evo III 3rd/4th hub & slider was worth $500 US by itself or more years ago, now you can buy all 3 of the units for less than $700 US.

I lost the Ralliart front LSD I had, but there is a used one available in Japan that's interesting, or a new Cusco RS LSD can be bought for around $1,075 CAD. Undecided on what to do - the Ralliart is cool, but only has like 6 friction plates and will need an overhaul. The Cusco has 12 and is good to go out of the box.

Output shaft upgrade - I'll get another Boostin' Performance shaft ($500).

Center diff - just a matter of getting a new stock diff machined for 4 spider gears ($1,000).

Cases? Apparently the same as DSM. Core DSM transmissions are really expensive these days, though.

All OEM synchros, bearings and seals are available from Mitsubishi. Around $1,000 CAD.

The easy way to do this would've been to order a straight-cut synchro gear kit from PAR in Australia, it includes the 1-4 gears, input shaft, intermediate shaft and center differential housing (5th gear also optional). They still require OEM hub/sliders, synchros, bearings, seals, forks and rails. The only hard part to find there is stock forks & rails. But that's a $10,000+ transmission build and I just didn't feel like it.

So for $8,000 CAD I'll have basically a fully new transmission for my car, the way I want it. Even doing things the hard way, it's still possible to overcome worst-case-scenario if you're good at finding things and have a big network of contacts.

Enjoy the days of $3,000 transmissions, guys. They won't be here forever.