So I had, that I thought was a decent, 99 Dodge Neon with only 97k miles on it that lasted me maybe 18 months. I must have spent 4k on that piece of $h!t and I finally gave up when the transmission went on me... Again.

I switched to a 2004 Lancer Ralliart, 154k miles. The Evo has been my dream car for years (Initial D anyone?). When this car came up as an option through a family friend and I fell in love.




Factory rims and still had the metallic shine to it. I mostly saw it after dark and didn't notice the major rust above the rear driver side tire, but I'll deal with that later. Purely stock.



The friend picked it up from an auction and sold it to me pretty much at cost.
$3,300. Within the price, he replaced the drivers side front shock that was going, clutch and alternator. I picked up 2 used front tires (the old ones were bald).

Here were my issues: Muffler was snapped in two places. Most likely needs a new catback system, but thats on my list of upgrades anyway. For now it's a patch job.




I got a local muffler spot to do a custom pipe and weld it on for just $100 flat.


Next my tune up. Fuilds are fine, needs an oil/filter change (normal) but when I get to my spark plugs, they have oil in them, great!

New valve cover

New Brakepads!


Oh did I mention that this is my first standard car?!?!
After truly learning stick. I peel out a bit and my engine jumps. Turns out my motor mounts are bad.


Hard to find the front mount. Thanks to these forums, it looks like the evo front mount can fit. I'm ordering it soon.


Did the transmission mount, rear mount and the everything belt. With the help of a buddy


Next up it looks like I'm missing my tower strut bar.
Need a new oil pan (almost rusted through).
Still waiting on the new front mount.