Hey guys I've been lurking on here for awhile but haven't really posted anything, but I figured I may as well properly introduce myself. I live around Indianapolis and I drive a 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage Coupe that I'm currently converting to Evo IV status. (including a soon to come Mirage sedan front end conversion so I can fit all OEM body panels)

Mods sofar:

5 lug conversion
1G DSM rear disc conversion
GTO 4pot front brakes (homemade bracket)
17x8 Enkei RPF1's w/ 215/40/17 tires
JDM Mirage Asti side skirts
JDM Evo IV tails
JDM Evo IV rear bumper w/ lip
JDM Evo IV trunk and wing (currently in paint)
JDM Evo IV gauge cluster
custom 2.5in catback exhaust with cheap OBX muffler
(for now...sounds surprisingly decent)
el-cheapo intake (not wasting money on the 1.5L)
TC Sportline front and rear strut tower braces
Evo8 short shifter

Humble beginnings


Target (close at least, NO graphics for me)


First mod!


Progressed quickly











Custom Ebrake adapter





Evo8 short shifter with ebay suede boot



Had to reroute the evap canister vents as they originally mounted to the USDM crash beam and trip the canister box a bit so the JDM bumper would clear



Cleaned and painted! (in a make shift booth lol)



Installed!


All cleaned up for the AMS open house in Chicago!



As it sits (too high, I know)



It's a work in progress haha. Got a set of Evo8 MR S-techs witting around waiting for me to buy some Evo struts and it all bolts right up with a set of JDM Evo IV rear LCA's. Also got an 18mm front swaybar waiting for installation and planning to pick up Road Race Engineering's 19mm rear bar with mounts.
After all that's finished it's engine swap time! Planning to pick up a JDM EvoV
engine set (bolts in) and AWD comes last. Thanks for looking guys. Always welcome any feedback good or bad and definitely open to suggestions.

 

i would've stopped a long time ago and just purchased an evo, but to each his own. nice project, but after it's all said and done, you'll put more money into than the cars worth and have a hard time selling it.

 

Nah, it's not actually as bad as you would think. If you know where to get parts at, it's actually gonna end up being between 10k and 15k total, including what I paid for the car, to have a fully converted AWD 4G63 powered Evo clone that has the insurance rates of an Econobox. So for what I would pay for a secondhand 8, I'll have a pretty unique Mitsu that can still hang with newer Evos. Doing all your own work cuts the cost down a ton.

 

for the money he saves in insurance payments you would be suprized

 

Yup! Plus I don't feel anywhere near as bad about thrashing something
cheap like this car vs something expensive like an Evo. If I make a mistake and
have to replace the chassis, it's a whole lot cheaper to pick up another Mirage
chassis and swap everything over than to get another Evo.

 

Those are actually Evo V taillights not IV tallights

 

welcome to the forum
interesting conversion you have going on

-anthony

 

YEH!!!!! Initial D FTW lol

 

LOL! Yeah, actually me and some local friends all rock Emperor vinyls.
I suppose you could call it my "team" LOL.

Also, I have Evo 4 taillights. You can see them in the picture of the Evo4
rear bumper installed. The other ones aren't Evo5 either though, they're
just stock Mirage tails. They do look similar though.



Also, this is waiting for paint!

 

^ This car is gonna be sweet, keep the parts rolling in!

 

I would love to do what you are doing! Keep it up. It looks great.

 

Thanks guys! I'm hoping to get a set of EvoIV rear LCA's soon. Once I get a set of those, Evo 4-9 suspension becomes bolt-on. (though the front will need shimmed if I use 7-9 stuff) Got a brand new set of Tein S-techs sitting here wainting for for struts as well. Just wish I'd known sooner that they kill struts; I'd have bought Swifts instead. Might be different though for me as my car only weighs 2200lbs-ish. Also, my stage 1 front swaybar is sitting here waiting for installation.

 

i love this build, is ur trunk painted yet?

 

Subscribed! Good luck!

 

Nah, trunks not painted yet, but the wing (4 piece) is off the trunk and torn down and mostly prepped for paint. Just gotta get around to painting it. Dunno when that'll happen though. The booth I use for paint is a make shift booth me and my Dad use for painting school buses and at the moment, there's one in there; so whenever it's done I'll clean up the booth and get it painted. Should have a second job soon, so that'll make this build go alot faster than it has up to this point. Hoping to do my engine swap over the winter, but we'll see. On a side note, Mitsu sure used alot of double stick tape to hold that wing on! Took my Dad and another coworker at the shop to pull the darn thing off and it bent the trunk slightly! (already fixed though) I woulda thought they'd use a minimal amount of tape since the wing already had like 20 bolts holding it down haha. At least it'll never come off.