Spac’s adventures in Magna
carnut1100Stick a 3.5 manual into a Mirage...
This has definitely been considered.
The people who have done it reckon that it actually works well - apparently the extra weight over the front doesn’t hurt them.
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Works pretty well. Definitely drops back gears on hills and works harder than the Falcon, but it did the job just fine.
The Falcon has been managing just under 14l/100km with the loaded car trailer, and around 10.0 unladen (although it has travelled very little distance without a trailer for ages now).
The Magna is around 9.2l/100km unladen (although that’s included a disproportionate amount of running around town). Based on a total of 50km since I reset the average fuel economy meter, it’s saying that it is 12.5l/100km with the Mirage behind it.
egads (she/her)I still have a soft spot for the manual astron 2.6 ones if you ever see one pop up
I found the dumb Magna I want but shouldn’t buy
Really enjoyed the vids, that Magna is hectic
Fast driven fwd is dang fast, just smooth as butter
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Don’t say that I don’t know how to party…
They die because the plastic is killed by the sliver of UV that sneaks in through the edge of the bonnet. So I pulled the bottle out of the blue wreck.
Trouble is that it was a bit mangled by the crash and didn’t want to fit into the unmangled car.
A few minutes with the heat gun and it was a lot happier to fit.
So yeah, it’s all party around here!
Also, some rolling things in glitter.
The paint is just some vaguely close shit I had in an aerosol can. And is a terrible match…
Z
Did the same on the blue Mirage. (Photos in reverse order)
Both cars were far easier to do than the Bubble was. The original colour coat on the Mitsubishis was MUCH thicker than the colour on the 121.
The poor old Magna has copped a lot of poor paint repairs in the past, so the paint thickness is all over the joint. If I cared, I would just respray it.
SpacDon’t say that I don’t know how to party…
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/4JZZJ3A03CV2/cef8acb9-886b-4664-ba36-314df1ddf9f7.jpeg
They die because the plastic is killed by the sliver of UV that sneaks in through the edge of the bonnet. So I pulled the bottle out of the blue wreck.
Trouble is that it was a bit mangled by the crash and didn’t want to fit into the unmangled car.
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/ROIGS0XWGPZF/918b1d6f-b78d-4113-9e04-f954798f710c.jpeg
A few minutes with the heat gun and it was a lot happier to fit.
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/18XL3Z26O166/d25e55f6-9f5a-42be-968c-699f0eb664ed.jpeg
So yeah, it’s all party around here!
That sounds wicked.
SpacSome Magna love for @AshDVS
This is Tristan Carrigan from Qld at the Alpine rally last weekend. He was on track for a podium placing, and possibly a win until this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShnF1spw-2E&t=1s
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/R08TVPUCLIP4/696b1146-83d2-4b5c-8012-958b77edec53.png
You mentioned the Ross Dunkerton one earlier too - I think I remember having a look at that one a long time ago (when it was current/new) - from memory it was an AWD one with the auto shifter flipped/inverted to push up to change down, pull back to shift up. Does that sound right?
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All Mitsubishi tip shifters are like that - FTOs as well.
Just need to pull the console, and switch 2 plugs to reverse it.
AshDVShttps://ozvolvo.org/discussion/comment/212969#Comment_212969
You mentioned the Ross Dunkerton one earlier too - I think I remember having a look at that one a long time ago (when it was current/new) - from memory it was an AWD one with the auto shifter flipped/inverted to push up to change down, pull back to shift up. Does that sound right?
It was definitely automatic, no idea on whether the shifter had been messed with (but I presume it wasn’t, considering how the cars had been built).
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Spent the day tidying up the white Magna.
Idea is to try to sell it for a worthwhile profit. There seems to be a decent market for the nice examples like this one, so I am hoping that I should be able to double my money, maybe more.
The car had taken a mild hit to the bum in the past - I could see the dent before I bought it.
Whoever “repaired” it, did an absolutely terrible job. It seems like they literally put a new bumper skin on and nothing else…
The original bumper support (on the right) was a mess - photo was taken after I spent a few minutes straightening it out, but I decided to fit the support for the other white car that I wrecked.
The gronk that refitted the bumper had not only left bolts out, but also managed to tear two of the captive nuts out… that was fun to deal with… Noting that the the only access is from the back (top of the photo), so it took some effort to hold them still.
So it was a time consuming process, but it looks heaps better now.
.
The back of the resonator was cracked. Turd of a job to weld up, with crappy access, so it wasn’t pretty welding but now it doesn’t leak.
Also changed the engine oil and filter, but no photos because that’s boring.
Also removed the front cam cover and resealed it. I was planning on replacing the rubber gasket, but the old one was still flexible enough that it should be good.
Missing bump strip off the driver’s door replaced with the one from the blue wreck.
They're supposed to be held on with double sided tape, but instead I used some self tappers from the inside. The little tabs stick through the door, so you need a washers to take up the extra height.
Worked well…
.
Still up in the air because I worked out why the LHR tyre was flat when I bought the car…
I will take it to get fixed properly on Tuesday.
Still a nice looking car, especially white.
I still look closely to the late model ones if I see one parked nearby.
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Maroon car sold for a modest profit… well, a great profit in percentage terms, not so great in absolute dollar terms!
And now I realise that I have kind of put myself into a corner: the maroon car had worth BECAUSE it was a bit of a shitter - I had ideas of using it for a bunch of silly motorsport things, and not being worried about it because it was ugly.
Now I have the nice wagon and the lovely white car, and I don’t want to ruin either of them. Plus they’re both auto so less fun when doing fun things.
Current thinking is to finish tidying up the white one and sell it. Then try to find another manual one that is between the white and maroon cars’ conditions… or cheaper than I sold the maroon one for.
Began stripping the blue wreck today, with help from The Girl.
Then Wino pointed me at this…
It’s another 3.5 litre auto TJ wagon. Runs badly - seller claimed it was a cracked distributor cap, but I was thinking that a crook AFM or oil in the spark plug wells are more likely.
Discovering the AFM unplugged leads me to think it’s more likely the AFM…
That said, it’s pissing oil out of the cam covers, so it is also highly likely that the spark plug leads are drowning in oil.
Interior smells of cigarettes… worst part is that it seems like it has only recently been smoked in… Currently sitting with the windows down, to see how much stink disappears over the next few days.
The positive thing (and why I bought it), is that the body is good and the paint is excellent. The worst case is that I swap the interior with the green wagon, but hopefully it won’t come to that.
Everything I have noticed that’s crap, I have a good replacement for… except the headlining, which is hanging down.
So this is going to be The One. Not sure what to do with the green wagon, which is still a nice car, but otherwise feeling like I might even have a plan at last!
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More pulling apart the blue wreck.
It made a bit of a funny noise when I was driving it around the backyard. Worked it out when I pulled the front brake rotor off…
Also scored about 40 litres of still-fresh fuel. And nobody died!
Polished some of the white wagon. Definitely not perfect, but pretty good for a car with 335,000km on it.
Today I went to replace the rocker cover seals on the white wagon. When I got the covers off, the seals were very new - I assume they simply weren’t tightened down properly because there’s no other obvious reason why they were pouring oil out.
Replaced the spark plugs at the same time - the originals weren’t too bad, but considering the effort to get to the rear three, I wasn’t going to put the old ones back in.
And swapped the AFM with the one from the wreck.
Now it runs properly. Idle is a bit high, not sure if there’s a vacuum leak or the ECU needs to relearn what to do with a working AFM.
On to the interior. While it was hardly pleasant, it wasn’t quite as gross as I expected.
Looks sort of OK after a vacuum, but it still smells terrible
I scrubbed the passenger’s seat with truck wash and then hosed the hell out of it. It definitely removed most of the dirty stains dog(?) hair, but I am reserving judgment on the smell until it has dried out. The passenger’s seat was actually dirtier than the uncleaned driver’s seat.
Also got the motor out of the wreck.
Busy! Was it hot there today?
Saw a Magna following me out at Craigieburn shopping plaza , they all seem weather beaten.....
When I see a perfect one I get excited to look inside.