Like the tittle says what will you guys do when the most of evo 8-9 parts get discontinued? A lot of parts are not available already like cylinder head and now 5 speed transmissions. In future all parts get discontinued will you guys still keep your evo or sell it? I really would love to keep my evo as long as possible. I have my evo for 12 years and I will never think of selling it. I have a lot of fun with it even that I have to work on it a lot but I have a joy of driving and fixing it (I am car mechanic). My son is growing and I hope he will have a chance to drive it in some years. What will you guys do with your evo's

 

Evos are worthy, people will find/create solutions. I'm never selling mine.

 

I'm proactively stockpiling new & used OEM parts in my basement. I don't want to be told "obsolete part" in the near future, especially the little-but-important parts.

The biggest gut-punch for me was the 8 front bumper cover

 

You are right. I am never selling mine also but shortage of new parts worrying me a little. For example cylinder head is discontinued and lets say me or you will need one in a year or 2 what options we have. Only something used. It will be same think with other parts like blocks etc.

 

For the cylinder head, like the Skyline owners have been doing, we can try to source used parts and refurbish them. Nissan also has a heritage department that builds factory fresh components for their iconic cars (I hope Mitsu will have too). Besides, there are aftermarket fabricators that may be able to craft and refurbish parts.

Worst case, if both the cylinder head and the tranny are gone, we can always swap a modern powertrain into our car. Like those who daily drive old muscle cars, when they find it impractical to repair the old engine or tranny, many are okay with moving to, say, a modern 2.3L Ecoboost crate engine or an LT1 V8 (e.g. with T56 Super Magnum). That way, the car gets back on the road and they re-gain the new car reliability. Of course, if we swap a Coyote V8 or twin-turbo Hurricane into our Evo, the car will lose AWD, so whether that's acceptable or tasteless will to be to each their own.

Ultimately there has to be demand for someone to supply. Most manufactures watch the heritage car parts market closely. If the used part prices are becoming profitable, they will likely restart the production. That's why as soon as Nissan sees used RB26 prices are approaching how much new ones would be, they restarted the production.

For body components, I have been hiring restoration specialists at good body shops to repair them, which seems to work well so far.

If my Evo becomes old enough, like the Skylines, when mechanical failures can no longer be repaired quickly and easily at dealerships, I'm fine buying a newer car for daily driving, for instance a 6MT Mustang. That way I can send the Evo to a specialist shop and they can take time fixing the car. Expensive, I know, so by then we too will have the saying "if you can't afford (to buy) two Evo's, you can't afford (to own) one." ​​​​​

 

Money finds a way. For example:



https://platinumracingproducts.com/c...-rocker-covers

CNC Blocks and heads are already very common.* What I'm more worried about are the obscure, less cool things that are just annoying to be unable to get. For example, shifter cables or fuel tanks. The little plastic mirror cover for my sun visor just broke and fell off one day. Went to replace it, no longer available. I'm worried about death by 1000 cuts more than the one critical piece becoming extinct. What gives me hope though are the improvements and availability of manufacturing. I think right now, cheap desktop 3d printing is perfect for replacing that little plastic cover. In the future, hopefully 3d printing a new head or block etc. will be something an average Joe can do in the garage.

* In general, not evos specifically....Yet.

 

I'm pretty sure that the mirror cover can be fabricated. Actually I just checked, restoration shops seem to prefer replacing the whole visor with a custom-crafted one. Yes, money finds a way.

If 3D printing becomes more accessible, then we will be able to fabricate some polypropylene (PP), aluminum, or 316 stainless steel pieces at home, making the replacement parts also quite affordable.

 

I am eyeing the AMG 4 cylinder turbo that was made for the CLA45 AMG. It will be the first generation since that is essentially the same layout.

OEM parts are being produced even now. That is suprising considering how old Evo 8s/9s are. I believe that if its profitable for Mitsubishi they will still produce the parts. Most of the hard to find parts are not discontinued forever. I believe some Mitsu Parts Distributers put in large orders and that will be new production run of an obsolete part.

The aftermarket is only interested in making parts that sell a good amount. This makes sense business wise because the quicker you sell your product the more profit is made. Evo owners are not supporting these businesses anymore. I ran the numbers and to start a business solely producing aftermarket parts for Evos I would need to sell 100s of parts every year in order to turn a profit. The only problem is that 100s of parts would not be able to be sold. Not enough Evo owners interested in buying those parts. My business would have to support new platforms first since that is where more people will buy parts. Then at that point its no longer a side hustle and you aren't even able to support Evo owners until you can turn a profit selling to other platforms.

 

I broke 4th gear on my evo week ago, I pulled trans opened it and sure enough I need input and output 4th gear. I called Mitsubishi and they said this part is on back ordered. Only option for me is straight cut 4th for 1k for part alone. Starting to get harder and harder to get parts guys.

 

Yupp only expect this to get much worse. Parts are being discontinued left and right. I feel so stupid for selling many extra parts I had for all those years which I need now and are impossible to find.

 

Yup you are right. It is sad but I hope we can get aftermarket parts. I called everywhere and nobody has 4th gear for evo 8 only evo 9 which is shorter. Only option is straight cut which I dont like but I feel like I have no other option now. Trans case is also discontinued so imagine cracking or braking your trans case and only option would be to weld and repair it.

 

The AMG M133 or M139 turbo inline-4 would be awesome, lol. The replacement parts carry Mercedes tax, but it's designed by the factory to produce ~400hp reliably all day. Only the wealthiest owners and the most capable tuner shops may have the interest to do the swap.

Some Skyline owners were accustomed to browsing shady places like Craigslist to look for parts. I personally shy away from such shady places and prefer renowned fabricators. It costs an arm and a leg, but such is the price we pay for upkeeping a heritage sportscar.

 

Evo 1 owner here, the best thing to do is stockpile, be resourceful, and be persistent. Buy now, not later.
First warning: Mitsubishi is not going to come to the rescue. They have severe financial difficulties and they are reliant on rebadged platforms from foreign automakers to get by (Nissan/Renault). They will not spend the money to have parts manufactured for 20+ year old vehicles. The Evo 8/9 is very lucky to have relatively large production (at least for Evos), a massive aftermarket on consumable parts, and Evos manage to get parted out quite efficiently instead of being mostly discarded.

Body panels will eat you alive in the future, so be extremely careful. Front bumpers, fenders and hoods will be available aftermarket, but other stuff won't. For example, Evo 1-3 roofs rust like crazy because the adhesive they used attracts moisture. Fixing this requires the destruction of the roof panel, which isn't available anymore. The aftermarket has stepped up with carbon fiber roofs overseas and shipping is ABSURD, but there are no other options. My roof rain gutters don't look great and they have been out of stock in Japan/Europe for years. I gave the part number to my Mitsu dealer here in Canada a few days ago, they had a few sets available in Canada/North America and I ordered them. A Mitsubishi warehouse in Atlanta had an Evo 1 rear bumper when I needed one in 2009. Some things appear in strange places and you have to be willing to pick up the phone.

Transmission parts have been short for a long time - unknown core transmissions are all $1,000 or more, plus shipping from Japan. Our solution in the future is going to be PAR's $5,000+ straight-cut synchro gear kit, and find non-Evo hubs/sliders that will work with them. I've been vigilant on eBay in Europe and I've managed to snag a few. I spend a few hours every week searching part numbers and have come up with a few hard-to-find gems like gears that have been on a shelf in Japan for 20 years, and can almost build another transmission with those finds. Evo 1-3 wheel hubs have also been gone for years - I saw one available in Japan for $200 and jumped on it. It may be a huge price now, but that's the type of part that could leave your car stranded for months if you don't have it.

Overall, you're going to have to be extremely good with your Googling skills, very persistent in searching for parts that you need, you'll have to look towards the future on parts you foresee will be hard to find, and make use of several foreign platforms for buying. Having networks worldwide will help, because you never know who else is sitting on a pile of rare parts that doesn't talk about it. Finding alternatives from other vehicle platforms is something that will also be required, since people will obviously flock to the Evo parts and ignore everything else. Custom-fabricated pieces will be essential, too. Calling MAP or STM for everything you need is not going to get it done 5 years from now, you're going to have to learn how to do things yourself, and it will be expensive.

 

I'll fix it until I can't. Then sell it for parts.

 

CT9A parts have gotten rarer/more expensive but not at the rate I was expecting. I was stock piling parts many years ago. I literally have 1000+ lbs of parts. I know because I've carted it around every time I move. I used to make 3x profit selling some of these parts but then I regretted selling them so now I greedily hoard only and impulse buy anything OEM especially I find for a good deal. For my own car only, lol. Once things get rare in North America, Yahoo auctions japan will be your next best friend for some time. At least for anything in common with USDM ct9as.