Daily Driven VIII Project
 

Hey all :D Been lurking for a few months on here now, but finally picked up my first EVO. Recently found the cheapest evo I've seen locally (70 miles away). Contacted the seller and went to see the car the yesterday 10/29.

Condition before seeing the car:
200k+ miles
Salvage from accident (hadn't been fixed)
bumper trashed
alignment in the front driver's corner was clearly off from suspension damage with a de-beaded tire from impact.

With those issues, I was cautious/careful in meeting the owner who stated in text that the price was non-negotiable. Upon meeting the owner of the car, it was a very charming girl who turned out to be the original owner and had the car the past 11 years :eek: .

I inspected the underside of the car visually, and it appeared untouched.
The engine would crank but wouldn't start. After about 20-30 cranks it started for a split second and stalled. This was good enough for me since it appeared to be an electrical issue and not to be an engine issue from the accident.

So I bought the car and towed her home.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1414704136

Took the bumper, fender and headlight off to inspect suspension.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1414704136

Initial inspection shows that the LCA is bent.
end links / tie rod / subframe / steering rack are still in question since my floor jack can't get the car high enough to get it onto stands safely.

I also figured out why the car wouldn't start, the CAS was impacted by the rad hose and ICpipe on impact. The radiator support bent and tugged the radiator towards the passenger side which forced the rad hose into the CAS.

The car's purpose is to be a dependable 4DR daily driver for <$5k for the next year or so while I gather parts for a refresh/rebuild (engine, clutch, drivetrain and turbo all at once). More to come as I dismantle more things. {thumbup}

Edit: 10/30 Got the car on a jack but couldn't get enough height to get under the car safely. Looks like I won't need to get too much height off the ground and can probably get away with placing a few scissor jacks under stitch welds to access the LCA/end link.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...psb41908d5.jpg
LCA's clearly bent and end link's mangled too. The sway bar is bent but I can run without for now while I sort the rest out.

After taking some loose measurements of the front end, it looks like I won't be able to mount a new bumper in place with the current crash beam in place :( . I think I'm gonna get a bumper first and see how close I can get. I would prefer to avoid the body shop for chassis adjustments since this is a daily driver and those don't affect function at all.

Subscribed. I love threads like this. Best of luck!

Nice. Looks like a fun project :thumbup:

With the help of ebay, craigslist and evoM it looks like I've found the CAS, LCA and end link to get me rolling. Since those parts will take some time to arrive in the mail, I'll be removing the LCA and end link in the mean time.
If I have the time and energy, I'll remove the IC and radiator as well to start working on the front end. There's a good condition crash beam available locally that I may pick up to mock up everything (doing it the wrong way). Judging from symmetry to the other side, it looks like the damage was minimal. As long as I can mount a new crash beam evenly and at a level'd height, I'm golden. I can adjust radiator support, headlight and fender as needed.

Bumper reinforcement bar mount:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1414733999


I may cut the radiator support off altogether and bolt a new one in (since I don't know how to weld and don't have a setup to practice with), but that'll wait for measurements! In the mean time, stay tuned!

Went to try to remove the LCA to inspect..
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1414967470

Anyone know how screwed I am? Lol

Got the bolt out! (It just had weight/tension on it from the bent control arm.)

Anyone got tips to get the LCA to pop out of the spindle/knuckle? I'm buying a pry bar tomorrow for it, but if there's a better way lemme know! I have the car on scissor jacks (front driver's jack point and front hook square). I could floorjack the spindle to compress the spring, but that seems rather unsafe given my current scissor jack placements :(

After removing the strut/shock and brake components, it came out rather easily. I hope installation will go as smoothly.

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1415058980
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1415058980

Good stuff! Hopefully you'll be rolling rather easily pretty soon.

Nice Job!
 

Subscribed! Best of luck! I hope you're on the road, having a great time with this Evo real soon! But, please make sure to check the alignment! You don't want that car being dangerous...Glad this car is being saved, and NOT headed for scrap! :beer::mitsu:{thumbup}

Yeah I'll be getting an alignment since I'm replacing the tie rods (torn ball joint boot) as well. I have a shop in mind already.

Lol after I get the car running and register the thing, it may spend a week or two on jack stands so I can do fluids/brakes/suspension and have a fresh start. At least I know the LCA will come out on the driver's side :P

Stay tuned! I have something unexpected in mind for you guys ;)

Got the parts I needed off craigslist :) should be running in a week assuming the knuckle isn't deformed. I couldn't eyeball it, it looked straight to me.

nice project!
 

Subscribed..Nice looking Lightining Yellow one of my favorite colors! Glad to see your repairing it and bring it back to life. :D

Well onto body parts, more importantly the headlight (need it to work for inspection).

Gonna take the crash beam and mounts off later and start measuring the radiator support. Lol it looks like I could wedge a scissor jack between the rad support and chassis to bend the rad support into place. :p

dont blame me for trying, if it doesn't work out i'll cut it out and get a new rad support lol

Finally got parts in order and everything in the mail at the moment. The completed buy list thus far and costs (keeping it real with those who've found this thread since if I plan to sell this rig it'll be far under market value anyways.)

-CPS (twenty-five)
-headlights (only needed the driver's but couldn't find a single side, bought both for seven hundred)
-L. LCA (one-hundred)
-outter tie rod (twenty)
-sway bar end link (twenty)

with fender, hood and bumper in question.

My bumper miraculously survived, the mounting tabs are intact and there's no substantial crack/tear in the plastic.

The fender appears to be fixable since it bent instead of pinching and crumbling but it may be cheaper to simply replace/repaint. We'll see what quote I can get from a bodyshop, I would love for all the panels to have tags that match.

Lastly in regards to the chassis, the rad support is bent fairly mildly (driver's headlight corner) to where the crash beam made contact. I think using a scissor jack, C-clamps and a pry bar will get my headlight mounted where I want it. I haven't removed any of the surrounding clutter yet, but that's next after I get the car back on the ground.

Rad support pic. If you use the valve cover for reference in the picture, you'll see the way that the rad support is bent.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1415479709

corner profile:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1415479709

crash beam and LICP:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1415479709

think this will hold boost?
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1415479709

More updates later this week, hopefully my CPS/suspension arrives at the same time and I'll be able to log a few miles (without headlight)

Lol update#2 for the day:
As I was posting the previous post, I found a pair of fenders and a bumper somewhat locally. Gonna drive out and pick them up. They're RR so I can have ketchup/mustard going :p

EDIT: sad news is that the fenders/bumper are coming from an EVO I had planned on purchasing before I bought this one. It was a clean title RR with <9800 miles. It's been parted out and chassis disposed of (not sure what happened)