The SA education year started again, this time around in Year 11 and already I can't be stuffed with it. lol A few of the teachers are fairly automotive obsessed though, so i've been talked back into some mods. A run down of the last 3 days:


Debadged the boot lid, looks awesome but I have to confess to scratching it a bit, nothing the polish didn't fix and it'll be repainted soon anyway, so all good.

Fixed the roof liner, sits flat against the panelling now after resticking all the clips with a hot glue gun. That stuff will never come off, unlike the double sided tape and command strips I used last time around. :P

Repaired all the door trims and shined them up, looking to add some door cards shortly with new vinyl overlayed. Still uncertain on colour, but there does seem to be a red and black theme going on.

Added a second earth to the engine to compensate for the first, have been having issues with a form of terminal corrosion which was, in the electronics teacher's opinion, due to excess drain or poor earth to the battery. Hopefully this clears that up a little, used standard 240VAC house wire, about the same thickness as an average spark plug lead. Seems to have boosted the brightness of lights a little, but I haven't given it enough look over yet to see any real improvements. Cleaned up the stock earths while I was at it.

Got the battery box back in, fully chromed with a foam insert to cushion the battery a little, but moreso to catch any corrosion or anything else the battery tends to release. Same with the windscreen wiper arms, all silver.

Minor electrical repairs in the dashboard, a few wires needed resoldering here and there, nothing too major. Tried to add an iPod connector in the glovebox but the cable I bought has a split in it. :rant: So that will have to wait for another day. Until then the centre console mount is fine.

Bought a wing from a TS Exec, in perfect shape. Only cost about $20 from the wreckers and should look fairly decent after a respray.

Hopefully over the next 2 weeks I hope to have new engine mounts all around, have the lifters changed over, new brakes, new water pump, CV joints and some body repairs. Then i'll have a crack at tinting the windows and wiring up the Diamante driving lights. Half the parts I already have out in the shed (tint film included).

So cheers for all the advice, couldn't have done it without all the assistance of the AMC. :) I'll just say, that search button is a godsend.

Just quickly, question about the exhaust manifold cover, I sprayed this down with the same silver as the battery box and it looked schmick, but I took it off again because I was uncertain of heat issues. Are there any risks in doing this, or are there any specific paints I should use? At the moment I have a few cans of Septone Bright Chrome (http://www.septone.com.au/detail.asp?item_cat=&item_number=220&page_num=3), not sure if this can be used or not. I'm not looking to do the entire cover, just the very top, the piece with "Mitsubishi" stamped into it. If it's too much trouble i'll just pass on it.

The paint will have to be a high temp or it will just burn off. try a caliper and drum paint. (i think this will still burn.) there is another caan that will do higher temps,like 880degF give that a go.

sounds like you have been a busy person, any pics on your progress...

i never new steptone made chrome paint, i think its time to paint my door handles

I tried the hot glue trick on some door panel clips on a different vehicle, didn't last long as the word HOT seems to be affected by our weather:) Hope you don't have the same happen to you, but if it does, try getting a Urethane glue. its usually black and unfortunately, its in bigger tubes than you will need (the type that you need a caulking gun for). Anyhow, Urethane has been used on my door clips and two first series Magna's to hold the roof lining velcro on now for two years without failure.
Hope you do have better luck than my hot glue attempts.

The glue melted. lol I knew it wasn't temperature resistant, but I had no idea it was going to get that hot inside either. I was thinking of doing something like in the other car, the roof is actually bolted up at the back and the bolts/screws themselves are painted. Looks fairly decent and holds up extremely well. Glad to say the glue on the lock surrounds is still holding well, it's not load bearing so no surprise there. Wipers and Battery box, despite being extremely hot, have no cracks in the paint at all, so it seems to be resisting the high temperatures in the engine bay.

I would have taken pics yesterday but the connector on my camera snapped clean off, so i'll have to use the camera in the phone next chance I get.

Just for the record, that Septone Bright Chrome paint didn't turn out as chrome as I expected, it was silver but not "see your own reflection" kind of silver. That said the particular can I used has been sitting in a shed for 3 months and probably wasn't all that well shaken, just to make sure it's the right kind i'd check with the store first.

yeah dont use the septone stuff use the CPC brand chrome paint wayyyy shiner just dont put a clear coat on it lol

Just checking, anyone think the bolted in/screwed in roof idea is worth a shot? Found a ton of bolts, washers and nuts in the shed, along with more Septone silver, so if the opinions are good enough I may give it a shot. At least it'll never come down again, ever. lol

Tried spraying the door handles as well, didn't work. I think the coat of paint was too thick, should have used a light mist but at the moment I can't pull them back out and to be honest, it's not worth it, once the door cards are in the black handles will contrast well.

Alright, just a quick update, checked over all the engine again and so far so good, nothing else has broken or gotten worse. lol

Will be making a few calls this week to book the Magna in, should be gone for about a week tops to have all the major maintenance done. While it's in i'll use the time to prep some new mods for when it gets back, whatever I find at the wreckers really, from paras to extractors, could be anything. Hopefully i'll be able to source up some red carpet from another car and modify it to fit.

Just having a few problems sourcing up the KS Verada tail lights (like seen on yann89's and TUFFTR's 2nd gens for example), not to mention rims and paintwork out of the question this time around due to lack of funds, but apart from that it's all set. :)

Sounds interesting mate, jst wait til im on my annual leave :D :cool: