99 Mirage -----> Evo 5 AWD conversion
 

My name is Sean and in this thread I'm going to document my 99 Mirage to AWD Evo 5 conversion. I've had this build going for a couple weeks on some other forums but decided to start one here since I'm a former Evo 8 owner. My very 1st car was a 5g sedan that I turbo'd and installed an Evo 4 body kit back when I was 15. Fast forward 9 years later to current time, and I've done a 500whp dc2 Integra build, RB25 swap into an S14, 2 big turbo 2.5rsti coupes, 2.3L stroked Evo 8, 2 FD Rx7's, plus a few other vehicles. I decided to do what I wasn't capable of doing or affording 9 years ago, and that's to do a full Evo 5 conversion to a Mirage.
That being said, I've received a lot of helpful info from Manny (my3awds), Brent (BCspeed34) and Scott (S. gaspar) which pushed me to start this build. I just recently sold my Evo 8 and gt30r 2.5rSTi in order to go through with this build.
Here's some pics of the beater I picked up for the build candidate.
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And here's the clip all packaged up for shipment. I bought the full front clip with engine, trans, tcase, full front and rear suspension/subframes, driveshaft, brembos, doors, headlights/taillights, and all body panels. I'm not planning on doing the RHD conversion so I will be offering that up for sale once I'm done, as well as the RHD window switches and door wiring (since I'm told it's different)
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Here's some pictures of the front clip before they packaged it up. It should be arriving at my house tomorrow. I'll be selling the AP Rally foglights that come with it and getting a set of OE fogs from the U.K most likely.
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http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...vo5white_2.jpg
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I picked up my trunk pan, gas tank, filler neck and side skirts on 10/26/11. Luckily, I didn't have a hard time with customs and didn't have to deal with a broker or anything like that.
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I ended up getting my clip on Monday but I've been pretty busy between work/school so I haven't had a chance to take pics. It was a pretty big hassle since the truck that was delivering my clip only had a liftgate that was 40" long and the clip itself was about 80". The driver's boss told him to take it back and have me figure out how to get it home but the driver was cool enough to stick around and said "he got paid by the hour" lol. Ended up calling a flat bed tow truck to roll the clip onto and get it into my garage.
Progress might take a little bit of a break. I decided to sell the Mirage I have now in order to find a white one to swap. It'll be easier in the long run and my panels should match up close enough to where I can put off paint/bodywork for a little bit, whereas now I wouldn't want to drive it being maroon and white. I just want to keep this thread going so here's some pictures I just snapped. With the exception of me drilling out spot welds and trimming up some of the excess metal on the evo pan, progress will pick back up once I find a white 4 door donor (if you know of one for sale, let me know lol).
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And here's some pics of my last 2 most recent cars that I sold to get this project underway. Sorry if this post is kind of unorganized. It's a weeks worth condensed into one post.

Here's some pics of the Evo
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...B/evofront.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...EB/evoback.jpg
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And the turbo setup I put on it
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And here's some pics of the rsti
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n..._dc2/rsti5.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...c2/rsti3-1.jpg
When it was on stock turbo
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n..._dc2/rsti1.jpg
After the GT30r and Speed density conversion on stock 04 sti ecu. Running 20psi on pump gas
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...rotated30r.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n.../WP_000185.jpg

Looks like a crazy build. But I wouldn't have gotten rid of either to do this build. Both cars looked great. I love older STIs like that.

Either way, I'm sure it will be up to par once you car done. Good luck, look forward to seeing the finished product.

Def gonna keep an eye out on this build. I would love to do this swap, just dont have the patience nor the space for something like this. lol

Looks like you got a great start so far though! That full clip will def get you on the way!

Im thinking of getting rid of my evo to go back to dsms. Sick of paying the high prices for evos and their parts. :mad:

Thanks!!! I loved both of those cars. I've always had a thing for the older Subies and Evos. The 2.3L in the Evo was a beast and so was the 30r on the 2.5rsti. But, I owed money on the Evo which is why I sold that. I owned the Subie and sold that to pay off some other bills and pay a couple semesters of school.

It's pretty overwhelming. To be completely honest, I don't really have the space for it either. If I had more room, progress would be faster. I'm glad I got the clip because I ended up with every single nut and bolt I'll need, plus got some aftermarket goodies (i.e. Evo 7 valve cover, 4x Greddy gauges, cusco h brace, cusco strut bar, oil cooler, plus anything. Evo prices aren't too bad compared to Hondas so I don't mind that so much. I had a ~500whp Integra. However, I regretted doing the Rb25 swap on my S14. RB25 tax is like Supra tax, I swear. Prices are unreal and hard to find lol.

haha, yea. I cant wait to see the car finished. I would have to do a 2 door mirage to get the 2 door evo. :D

subcribe for the best evo ever

That is a intense project...............

biting my nails in anticipation...

very nice, and that front clip seems to be fresh as hell! go RHD!!!

I thought about going RHD at one point. The benefit would be being able to use the Evo 5 quick power steering rack, digital climate control, and not having to mess with wiring. I just don't want to deal with the hassle of getting a state assigned VIN for a specially constructed vehicle and I'm afraid I might get tired of driving a RHD in a LHD country.

youre already going through all the hassle of converting a mirage into an evo, might as well go all the way. and as far as getting tired of driving RHD? get a daily driver if you already dont have one.

its just my opinion to get as authentic as possible. . but it depends on your overall plans for the car.

like how long do you plan on owning it? (maybe a registered rhd vehicle will have higher resale value)

are you building just a street car/daily driver? (maybe LHD is the way to go but it seems like more hassle to go LHD when you already have everything for RHD)

drag car? (how fast are you at shifting with left? lol)

road race?

show car? (RHD is rare so im sure itll be a bonus to stand out)

mix of it all?

BTW how much did the clip and all panels cost?

I'm not going for a show car at all. More of a street/drag car. Both RHD and LHD are considered authentic since Evo 5s came in both forms. In fact LHD is more rare than RHD. Also, most (if not all) Rally teams convert their RHD vehicles to LHD because majority of people are right-eye dominant and it's better to have that eye towards the center of the vehicle. I just need to get my hands on a LHD quick rack but the rally teams snag em up for spares.

The hassle with converting to RHD is drilling out the hundreds of spot welds and doing the whole firewall swap where LHD would just be the wiring conversion. It's definitely a lot of work.

The front clip was $6500 shipped and the trunk pan/gas tank was $1600 shipped. Still need wheels and some other odds and ends.

you should just have bought my evo 6 :)

I didn't know you had one for sale. What were you asking for it when you sold it?

sub'd! love these builds :) good luck!!