Hey guys,

I have a sad story about my TM Magna SE... it's a carby automatic - yes, i've already recieved the earbashing from many people about how:
a) unreliable
b) gutless
c) uncool
these cars are but they car sick cars and crap all over some of my mates cars for comfort and sometimes power - a 2.6L 4 cylinder is a hell novelty!

Examples why my magna is better my mates cars:
*EA Falcon that pisses every type of oil... eg. a bottle of power steering fluid will get you to the end of the block before it's all gone

*Gemini that is gutless, smells like old people and is held together by rust

*VN commodore that has a new problem every day

*VH commodore that wont stop leaking oil - no matter how many times is dad (who works at mitsu!!) rebuilds it

*Daihatsu Handyvan - gutless, and uncomfortable - hell anything beats a 2 cylinder!


anyways, back to the story:

i bought the magna for $1000... I thought it would be a good first car - it had new CV joints, radiator, water pump and brakes. The engine (just under 300,000 kms on the clock) didn't blow out one bit of smoke. (i thought maybe the engine had been redone)

Approx 2 weeks later, the head gasket blew. The mechanic removed the head to find the engine was in poor condition (minor crack in head, rust in cyliner bores, two pistons different to the other two, etc) So it was time to get a reconditioned engine...

The reconditioned engine was a joke, the head had too much shaved off and a shim was used to conpensate. The motor sounded terrible, especially under load. The company who supplied us with the 'dud' motor offered to take away my block and redo it with a brand new head. I got the car back and a week later, I now have a cracked block between the welch plugs... it leaks coolant.

So now I'm getting a third engine, a fully reconditioned one. the company who supplied us with these engines are gonna pay for labour, but it has been nothing but a hassle and headache.

Originally costing in total of about $2000 for the cost of the car and stuff to get it roadworthy (new tyres, auto transmission checked, carby tuned, etc) Now cost over $5000... More than what the car is worth.

Anyways, considering this much money has been spent on it, I plan to keep it for a long time! I dont plan to do any performance mods to it until the warranty expires on the new engine. But i wouldn't mind putting an elante spoiler or something on it... make it look more phat :D

btw, hope to attend a few of these gen1 cruses that i've read about even if my 'magstain' (me and my mates call it) is stock lol

Thanks for listening/reading,
from Bill (AKA BCX7)

PS. i'm lucky to have one of those mitsubishi badges that the elites have... every time i drive it, it makes me hell proud :D

HAHA good story :D Welcome, so where bouts ya from?

I'm from south australia...

Welcome mate. If you car is the one in your avatar then it looks like a nice and tidy little unit. Hope that everything gets sorted out for you. I myself drive a 2.6 carby automatic, but so many of my mates have told me how really nice the car is, and the one mate who has driven it she says it is a really nice drive. Yes it is an auto, but still a nice cruiser (Despite being EXTREMELY gutless)

hey, u couldve sourced a manual efi 2.6L TR engine for the extra $4000 u spent on it. im sure they are bolt in. if not, they are very close to being a bolt in. thats wat my mistake was. i got the carby manual i have now fully rebuilt for $3000 (car cost me $100 and a carton of beer :D ) and for that 3000 i couldve gotten the TR engine in. the 98kw TR engine would certainly give me more than enough power to beat a few cars on the road. the carbs are 83kw.

hell, chuck in another grand or two and find a VR4 galant engine (i heard from someone on one of the magna forums u can buy a halfcut galant with this engine in it for $4000 or so). turbo, 4 cylinder, DOHC. something like 140kw and 295nm torque? (dont quote me on that but its around there) 140kw in a 1200kg magna = shocked :redface: faces and plenty of them :dancin:

its annoying finding out after its all happened but hey, u learn :confused:

yeah it is the one pictured in my avatar... the interior is nice, i've been fixing everything up (reglued the carpet on the roof, getting new trims from other magnas and spraypainting/dying them maroon, etc)

but one thing I can't fix is the paintwork... on the roof, near the boot and the centre of the bonnet is all chalky and in some placed paint appears cracked (i dont think it's the paint, i think it's the laquer they put to protect the paint). Any ideas or tips on how to fix it? I'll get some pictures tomorrow of what i mean (they are low res though... i only have the camera in my phone)

Also i think one of the previous owner(s) painted the bumber maroon - the same as the car. the paint is coming off that too.

Also my badges have faded... The 'magna' badge is all black - the silver has faded away. Any ways to fix it without having to get new badges?

Thanks,
Bill

ps. while laying new speaker wires to the rear and putting in central locking, i found bullets under the carpet! a shell, 2 actual bullets and a live bullet... they have "45 auto" written on the bottom of the shells... what gun are these from - out of curiosity if anyone knows... makes me wonder if my magna was a get away car lol :D

Btw, my magstain is the only TM SE I know that has that front mitsu badge?? i cant seem to find another SE with one...

Update to my magna saga:

A reconditioned engine (the third engine) has been put in and it is doing the same thing as the first reconditioned engine... so it needs another one or a brand new head... :cry:

nothing but a headache this car...

Update to my magna saga:

A reconditioned engine (the third engine) has been put in and it is doing the same thing as the first reconditioned engine... so it needs another one or a brand new head... :cry:

nothing but a headache this car...

It may not be the motors or the car, but hte people installing and servicing these changeovers

It may not be the motors or the car, but hte people installing and servicing these changeovers

i have to agree cause 3 motors thats f*cked

well that's exactly right... 3 engines and it's still not fixed.

It's not the mechanic... it's the company that we bought the engine off of (my mechanic specifically said NOT to buy the engine from them but we wanted a cheap engine...)

The mechanic has given up (he's getting paid at discounted rates and they just waste his time by supplying him with dud engines - meanwhile i've had his only loan car and one of his hoists has been taken), the car has been towed to the city and the company who supplys the engines is gonna swap heads or something.

We gotta pay them for a new block (because it was MY block that cracked) and for the distributor to be retarded (they told us to retard it heaps to stop the first recon motor from making the noise it did... that didn't work so the distributor has to be bought back to 0)

If they supplied a good engine to begin with, they wouldn't have had to use my block or reset the distributor

btw, i'm not mentioning the company involved so I keep out of trouble... but word of mouth is powerful and it would be nice for me to tell you the company and how much their engines suck

my magna SE has the front badge on the bonnet also.

i have a similer story to you bcx7

my magna also cost $1000, my one day while driving along my motor decided to melt. 1 recon motor a new radiato and a few bits and bobs and over $2000 later all was well. untill i snaped a few engine mounts and a cv joint snaped off twice, i cant remember how much that was but i was enough, all up id say i also have spend about $4000 -$5000 on this car.

i could buy a way way way way way way way way better car for that much, if only i knew.

so i thought cars and i dont mix, so $3500 i got this beauty a 1998 suzuki gsx250f across.
0.25 lt twincam 16 valve engine that out perfroms the magna in every respect, top speed acelleration hadleing u name it.

yet for some reason i kept the car,...... for some stupid i like this car, even the way it looks. its cold now so riding my bike is still fun but a bit cold, so im gonna fix the magna. all i need is a altinator belt and all should be good .........for a few months - cus apperntly this engines cam chain is stuffed and it makes bad noises on start up (which im sure you all know well)

nice to know thes a following for the first gens around here. there crap...but in a good way :D

Looks like a nice car mate, good to see you picked the best car :D

lol, my bike is much much better than my magna, serioulsly !

nice to know thes a following for the first gens around here. there crap...but in a good way :D
amen to that :D they aren't the best looking or reliable car out there... but they are comfortable and have more power than commodores of the same age

Well screw you all, ive got a TP manual and its great, a GT. I dont drag people but its still pretty nippy, thinking about buying a 3rd gen wagon manual to pimp out but.

I myself have a 3rd Gen, But my familly did own a 1st Gen a while ago (also the first of many magnas to sit in our drive way :D ) it was a TM SE 5speed but didn't have the front emblem :cry: (my cousin is driving it till it stops).

It ran butifully for over 3 years without any major problems. Then my older brother got his Ps and all hell proke lose (I was 14 at the time):

- altinator gave up
- starter motor gave up
- radiator cracked, along with the top hose
- Left CV gave up
- Head cracked (don't we all know about this one) :doubt:

So we gave it to my cousin for free, he got a recon head and the thing still drives fine today, can't say the smae for the body as it is rusting quicker than bare metal lol .

But it was a nice car to drive and cruze in and there is just somthing about the 1st gens thats well nice??? :P