Shes looking like a beaut so far! Excellent work!

 

Thanks. Will see if I can dig one up.

 

found five pounds savings today. lightweight matts. and cheap at twelve bucks for four. easy to trim and has nice no slip rubber backing.

 

couple grams saved today.
when bolting the back doors back on with the old unpainted bolts I said thats not gonna work. So I bought some 35mm allen head ti screws from the bay. I only needed 20mm and though no big deal I will cut them. long story short ti is some amazing material. 1. cutting them with cut off wheel producing amazing bright white light (stainless or steel will be orange) 2. took three times longer to cut than steel. 3. most amazing. you could pick up the screw immediately after cutting. something that would normally fry thread images in your skin. the heat does not transfer from one end to other! I spent a good hour and a half cutting just four screws. crazy stuff.

wish I could afford every bolt on car in ti. but cost per fun ratio just isnt there.

 

Do you plan to lowe it at all for that wheel gap? Or do you plan to keep it stock ride height?

 

I dont lower cars. it ruins how they ride around these parts. too many speed humps and sharp roadway transitions. and personally lowered car look doesnt appeal to me anyway. no fender gaps looks like a broken car to me. the car is lowered about 3/8 inch rear and 3/4 inch front. but its done with zero loss of suspension travel. the car is riding higher now that it is 135lbs lighter. it takes bumps much better than before.

 

looking good mate, great progress makes me miss my evo 3

 

Awesome work... Love how you don't always take the path everyone else does. Keep up the good work and keep me in mind if you ever see a set of 4-lug ce28ns for sale

 

Looks good. The only thing I would change is to paint the door frames around the window black like they do from the factory.

 

the mirages is USA have the frames painted. I think it looks waaay better. dont know why the evo's came with the frames painted black. to me it looks like they were trying to save a few bucks on less expensive paint that doesnt hold up well..

the small cosmetic changes on the car which set my car apart from the crowd:
1. painted frames.
2. shaved antenna
3. corolla mirrors
4. filled front plate mount
5. shaved rear wiper
6. replaced ugly front diamond with classy "mitsubishi"
7. matching chrome "lancer" emblem for the rear and " evolution" for sides

first errand with exterior complete.

had to stop by dump to see my progress. same weight now as my 2dr car which is pretty neat. this was all done with zero scarifies in civility. a/c and heat are retained. super quiet double muffler exhaust. and no sound deader removed anywhere. actually added some in key areas.

 

shaved 4.5lbs today. picked up three manual lap belts. gonna retain driver belt. these are hard to find nice. most end up under the seat all scratched up or rusty.. there is only one for middle back seat per car. and only from mid nineties cars. earlier are fugly and later have shoulder belts. I dont mind doing this at all. the retractors arent strong enough on these cars so belts often get slammed in the door. I plan to install longer ends in middle of car so they cant reach the door frames. second lap belts are more compfy and legal for a car of this year.

also some feedback on the frame foaming. initially didnt notice car being much quieter than before. but that was because the headliner was not installed . once that was in it didnt take long to realize car was waay quieter than before. I can now say the car is as quiet as my 2008 mazda 5. extremely pleasant to take a cruise in.

 

WTH, that is crack head light............ my awd swapped 89 colt, only weights 2450 and has power nothing in it .. damn.

love everything about this car

 

did a spring swap yesterday. saved about 7lbs. these springs ride amazing smooth. they are stock spring from an integra. progressive design. sits about 1/2 higher in front. I like the new look while most will hate it. can go over speed tables 10-15mph faster at this height. hey dont forget this is an AWD rally car replica. it does that much better now.
the reason for wanting a small diameter spring. tires are worn out . less than 22.5 diameter. a new tire 23.5 diameter can fit, taller would hit spring perch. I want to try a 24 inch tire on the car. I can now lop perch off.

how to lower a car without changing ride quality. lower the strut mount. limited by how close strut gets to boot. about 3/4 inch tops.

. I collect springs from various shop when they have some to throw out. cant beat the quality of spring that comes on your car stock. made to last 100s of thousands of miles without sagging. I have had after market springs that sagged over an inch in 20,000 miles use.

spring mounted to strut. cant lop perch till I find a spring I am sure to be happy with. after which I can run any size tire.

removed anti-lock earlier this year. it wasnt functioning. just now removing cables. almost a pound. the extra harness in front of car should save 2-3 pounds. that will come out during engine compartment re-paint

the new ride height and my daughter Nina

 

Great project and thread Jerry. Im always impressed by your dedication thoroughness and resorcefulness. Car is looking great and i love how original and personal to YOUR use and taste it is. Inspiring me to get my full RR to grey repaint dream going.

 

Car looks great now. Especially enjoyed watching it take down a certain 1000hp mustang from a dig a few weeks ago.