So I was half full of beer one Sunday night when this popped up for sale... $2200 later, I owned it...
I'd been kicking around the idea of a cheap, simple rally car - something that could sit in the shed for six months and still start easily. Something that is easy to get parts for. Etc.
So when this came up, it was an easy decision.

I bought it as a basically 100% standard car, with a (pretty good) weld in rollcage and CAMS & Amsag competition logbooks.

Work done so far:
Fitted a pair of Cobra fibreglass race seats, Terratrip, intercom, harnesses, blah blah.

I just bought a set of Evo6 DMS shocks (thanks to philia bear for delivery).
The shock lower mount needs to be converted from a fork to an eye, and I need to change springs to something much softer, but they they'll work fine otherwise.

The next step is to convert the brakes to S40 bits (Volvo content!) - rear discs are much better than drums, and the Volvo brakes are much larger. Plus it converts the car to 4x114.3 stud pattern (from 4x100). This will then allow me to fit the early Magna 15x6 alloy wheels I've got.

After that, I'm not so sure.
I own an ex-Mirage Cup Cyborg, and am thinking of stealing the gearbox (semi-close ratio and LSD) from it.

I could also steal the Cyborg's Mivec 1600 (4G92, in place of the rally car's 4G15: 125kW instead of 69kW), but that starts to detract from the no-fuss idea of the car. Mivec 4G92s are highly strung, very hard to get hold of, and relatively difficult to keep quiet without strangling them...
So I'm wondering about a NA 4G63 (cheap, durable, easily available, heavy), or trying to find a twin cam 4G93 to suit a Mirage (Satria GTi motors are cheap and easily available, but sit on the wrong side of the engine bay).
There are some left-field options like the later 2.4 litre Mivec 4G64, but I don't think they'd offer any real, practical advantages over the much cheaper 4G63.


The total cost so far is just under $3000. This is through a combination of using shit that's in my shed, help from mates, and simply being a tightarse.
I can buy a whole twin cam 4G63 Sonata for $250, so if I go ahead with the motor and box swap, I'm hoping ~$5500 all up (including putting a realistic figure on the value of the gearbox).
Mivec being a vvt?

Is that all that's different in a 4g63 and 93?
Mivec is more like VTEC, yo!

The 4G63 is from the Sirius family: Starion; Cordia; 2.4 Magnas; most Evos; etc.
Various capacities from 1.6 to 2.4litre.
They're a big, tough lump of motor that is well supported in the aftermarket.

The 4G9x is physically smaller, and not as robust. 1.5(?) to 2.0 litre, I think.
Used in 1.8 Lancers, GTI Satrias, etc.
Yeah, also an option.

I found a $100 manual Sonata, but it's the older model with the motor on the passenger's side...
2 months later
Some progress.



/\ New bits.
Original bits \/





Front brakes/suspension now are:
Mirage control arms;
S40 uprights;
S40 NA struts & springs;
Evo3 rotors;
Magna calipers.

I'd have just used S40 rotors & calipers but I didn't have any off a car... :)

Rear brakes are jap-spec Cyborg bits. Again, I could have used Volvo bits, but I couldn't be bothered removing them from the V40 parts car.

All of this converts it to 4x114.3 stud pattern, from 4x100.

Front springs are too long - it sits way too high in the front. They have a date with an angle grinder!
6 months later
I finally used it today! LCCC khanacross. I finished nowhere after two WDs and three(?) flags, but my times were all in the top five, including one fastest outright.
Well, except this one. I came nowhere in this test after getting lost in my own dust. :P...


It's fun to drive. Stops brilliantly, turns well, but is going to be horribly down on power in a rally. Suspension is surprisingly good, considering what it is.
23 days later


El Wifeo drove it in the Rallye des Femmes on Saturday. It's underpowered, stops well, and steers nicely - none of this is a surprise, of course!

It did completely annihilate the rubber strut tops about halfway through the event - rallying is tough on these, but it killed them far faster than expected.

The weren't going to punch through the bonnet, but they could fall down if/when a wheel got airbourne. The solution was to loop a tie-down under the control arm to limit the droop travel - worked fine for the rest of the rally, although Anna was overly conservative after that, and dropped down to 6th place.
7 days later
Hmmm, one crashed 2.4 Mivec Lancer, and one underpowered 1.5 Mirage rally car...
I think I have a plan.
3 months later
Not really: Been distracted by the race car and life.

Did buy a crashed 1.8 CE Lancer, so that will be the donor motor rather than the 2.4 - just a much simpler conversion. 2.4 might yet go into a more serious one if I like this one enough.

So the current plan for this car is to fit the old Cyborg gearbox (4.6 LSD, and closer gearbox ratios), the 1.8 and call it done.

Oh, and I bought a set of MCA Gold shocks from an Evo6. They need a FULL rebuild and to be revalved, but should end up costing me about 35% of what a new set is worth.
a month later

Go the Mirage!!


EDIT.. Total cost just under $800 picked up the car not running for only $200 with the 6A12 and FTO suspension/brakes/rear sway bar ect (timing was out on engine)
$20 evo 3 front strut brace from ebay (was bent and they refunded me 80$)
$100 seat and harness
$150 battery
$50 tiptronic shifter
$250 2016 Rally tread
$20 dry ice

Have a few items from SSS SR20DET(GTiR) car that I might use in it as it is currently MIA

Running in Khanacross looking to move to Rally maybe 2018/19.
a month later
Fitted the front Murray (MCA suspension) today. This is top spec rally stuff - replacement cost is in the order of $5k . I paid a lot less for all four, on the understanding that it was in need of a rebuild... But jeez it was hammered! Along with the obvious wear, the valving was different between the legs, one was 12mm shorter, and both had lots of air in the oil. *sigh*
After sorting all of that, one of the reservoirs wanted to leak oil from the gas end(!?). Turns out the bladder in the reservoir was an old Kawasaki part and I had a good used one in stock. :)


Finding where and how to mount the reservoirs was probably the biggest challenge of the install.

Next task was to remove the LED light bar, and bodge the bonnet where it is cracking due to the weight of the light bar.

Also fixed the buggered mount for the Terratrip probe, with a significantly heavier duty version.

Classy, yes?

This got dragged out of the shed, so I could steal the road tyres for the Mirage (the local khanacrosses mandate road tyres). I fitted the 17s off the S40 to keep it off the ground. I hated how it looked at first, but it's growing on me.

Strut brace begins...
5 days later
Hey Spac, just posted another 3 door Lancer to your Facebook - the one that I was asking questions about ages ago has come up for sale for $700 with some rego (enough to get it to Canberra in the next 3 weeks). IIRC it's a GTI.
Can't see on FB, and link goes nowhere?
2 months later
Took it to a khanacross today. Got third, after having a huge 'you total dumbarse' overshoot in the second test which cost me ~10 seconds, and then hitting a flag in the last one (for a five second penalty).
Yes, 2nd place beat me by much less than 5 seconds and 1st place beat me by less than 15... *sigh*

Was a good fun event. Car is fun.
Narooma rally next weekend if I can get my CAMS licence sorted in time.
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