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My FTO Version R project
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20-02-2013 1:49am#1Taking a leaf from the S2000 thread, I think this forum needs more 'project threads', and while my car may not be in the same league as gambithh's S2000, it is my ongoing project, and I enjoy doing bits and pieces to it.
I bought the car in May 2011 looking like this:
Spec wise, it was an almost completely standard 1997 Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R, of which only 350 were made worldwide. It has a 2 litre V6, with 197bhp as standard, and mine originally came as an automatic/tiptronic. No external modifications were done when I bought it, with some slight misalignment of the front end, and the interior was mostly spray painted white and looked very tacky. Front brake calipers both needed replacing as the very first job.5
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FTOs are prone to rust, and mine was beginning to show signs of it thinking of setting in on the undercarriage. I went to Retro Cars in Baldonnell where a full rust treatment was done underneath and on the door sills. Smelled pretty funky for a few days, but the underneath of the car was spanky clean afterwards, and remains so to this day.
I also spent some time, removing the original wheels and spraying them white, as I've always liked white wheels on a black car. 50-60 euro on primer, paint and lacquer, and a couple of days work, and I was happy with the results for an amateur! I also bought some FlyEyes kit to put on my lights to get rid of the 90's orange from them. This is how the car looked after these were fitted, and a claying/polish and wax:
FlyEye kit on the headlights.
FlyEye kit on the rear lights.
I painted the callipers blue, as I decided to change all the 'details' of the car to blue.0 -
It was around this time that the car was taken off the road for a long time while i saved up money to get some big jobs done. While it is not apparent from the pictures so far, most of the front end was a disaster. The front bumper waggled around, the front arch liners were in bits, the front mesh was faded and worn, one of the headlight brackets was broken and this prevented the light from staying 100% secure, as well as the coup de grace:
Due to the arch liner being destroyed and my yard not being completely level while driving on it, some of the electrical wiring behind the passenger front wing started working its way down and, while driving one day, melted through the wiring, and pretty much made every single electrical item go pop. The car required major work, so I sat it up and prepared for a lot of work to be done at once, by picking up a donor car, whose engine had gone bang. (I also distracted myself from my woes by picking up a mk2 MR2)
FTO off the road, and my MR2.
Donor car.
The donor car was a 1997 Mitsubishi FTO GPX, which is fundamentally the same car, but with no LSD, and is not lowered as standard. The Version R also has some features removed to save on weight, such as electrical mirrors, automatic climate control, and some airbags. I had initially viewed an FTO GX with the intention of using it, but the immobiliser was faulty and wouldnt let the car start, which turned out to be a blessing, as it would have been useless as a donor, as the driveshafts are a different length on the non-Mivec FTOs to the Mivecs.
Finally, I had my donor car, and the money saved. I found a local mechanic/bodyshop guy who had done some work on my friends Alfa Spider which I was very impressed by.
Version R and donor car both heading away to get stripped.
Even though I had initially planned on keeping my Version R as close to standard as possible, I really liked the look of the Kosei alloys on the donor car, which had the added bonus of being in almost perfect condition, with no kerbing or marks, as well as having good tyres on them! I got my workshop guys to do a lot all at once, manual conversion, front end rejig as well as respray of obvious bad areas at the front, change over the alloys, and use the electrical wiring and looms from the donor car to fix up the electrical system on my own car.
I got the call not too long later that my car was ready, and luckily, it was on the morning of the first FTO Ireland meet in quite a long time, as well as being my very first!0 -
This is how I got the car back:
As you can see, I had also gotten some original Version R stickers made up in blue to match the detailing. It felt like driving a new car, particularly with the manual gearbox. Massive difference in enjoyment of driving, as well as the car feeling much lighter and more nimble at the front.
Some small touches like:
I also took off my rocker cover, and sprayed it blue with a golden glitter lacquer.
I have improved my engine bay appearance since these pictures were taken, but I have no updated ones for now.0 -
And finally for now...
I swapped out most of the white crappy interior stuff with the original black from the GPX, as well as swapping dials.
New InPhase 6x9s replaced the woeful original speakers, as well as a new Edge sub. I purchased an Alpine W235BT as an appropriate double DIN head unit, and got a Clifford proximity alarm fitted. Also got a nice set of new Mitsubishi tailored mats.
Still have more bits and pieces to do. I am considering a full respray, and a new exhaust system is a must, as mine is very much past its best. Smaller things like reupholstering the front seats is on the long finger, as well as improving my engine bay some more. I would also consider some power mods further down the line, but not right now, I just got my timing belt and water pump changed as well as a full service so am broke now!
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ottostreet wrote: »I'm actually not that into the idea of changing the dials, I quite like te standard ones. I've also got the problem that the aftermarket kits are made for cars with clock and voltmeter in the centre console, which I have oil pressure and vac gauges!
I had this too but I relocated the oil and vac gauges.
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I did this a while ago.
Must get repaired. Slightly droopy front lip scrapes off everything that isn't 100% flat. How do people in genuinely low cars cope with this on a daily basis?!
Terracleaning and some minor engine work to do (I reckon a sensor or something is gone...lumpy idle when cold)0
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