summer project

im pretty much new to working on cars, I've always been interested in them but haven't had the means to learn much about them so this summer i figure im gonna have a go at replacing some stuff with my 1986 Mitzubishi Mighty Max since it is already a pretty crappy car. I looked up howstuffworks.com so i think i have a pretty good understanding about how engines/transmissions/etc... work...but i was wondering what are some good starting projects i could work on and are there any guides for working on cars. hopefully by the end of the summer ill have bumped up the cars HP, replaced the carburator, and if i figure its a car worth keeping make some body changes (like filling in the rust holes)

thanks ~chris

you can find some much stuff about fixing/improving cars on the internet. jsut go to yahoo or google or something and look up your car and you will probably find a few web pages about making it better. one of the easiest and cheapest things you can do to your car is to make it lighter. just start tearing things out of the interior. things like the back seat, headliner, insulation, most of hte crap in the doors, and anything else you dont need. if you want to start spending some money a great place to start is in the transmission and clutch assembly. if you put in a performace clutch, limited slip differential, and a lighter flywheel it will be so much more fun to drive without ever increasing the horsepower of the engine. diffs are expensive though.

you could start by replacing some of the suspension. that is something that you will notice in every day driving. making it leighter will also help. if you want to start replaceing parts in teh engine, you should start by doin intake and exhaust. tranny upgrades will be another good thing to do.

Before you spend a ton of money on mechanical upgrades...check out the car body...rust is not all that easy to fix properly and will not stay repaired unless you repair it properly.

Also, some structual rust is beyond repair...so, check it out before you start.

Without a good looking slick car body...regardless of how it runs...you won't have much.

Good luck jimmymc

I'd start with exhaust & intake. changing your exhaust doesn't take very long. go for a high flow catalytic converter, a header, and a good catback system. headers take no more than 1/2 to 1 day, same with the catback, the cat should take a lot less than that, same with the intake. a cold air intake not only helps your car go faster, it looks cool under the hood.
another thing to look at is motor oil, get a good synthetic motor oil like mobil one, royal purple, they'll help your engine turn easier making it go faster.
this whole thing about making your car lighter, i think it's a bunch of bull. i know it makes your car lighter, accelerate faster, and handle better, but for a daily driver, what's the point. if you do what everyone's (not necessarily from this thread) telling you to do, you'll end up with no back seat, great you cant have more than two people in your car, no a/c, really uncomfortable even here in Canada, no spare tire, what the hell are you gonna do if it blows on the street, and no power steering, well the last one i've only heard a few people say.
anyway, go for a suspension, lower it 2-4" and stiffen it a bit, get strut bars, they look cool and give a better, more aggressive feel.
better tires, bigger looks cool and is good on gas mileage, smaller accelerates faster.
better brakes again look cooler and are better performing. if you want, turbocharge or supercharge it. turbocharging is more difficult but cheaper, supercharging is easier but more expensive. i wont go into the pros and cons, there are already enough of those threads, check them out if you're thinking of doing this.
are you also looking to make your car look fast? i wouldn't suggest this, if you're gonna go around the streets racing, you'll win alot more by finding "ricers" who dont go fast at all.

p.s. what country does mitsubishi come from? Japan?

ok a couple of things i maybe should have mentioned earlier...A. mighty max is a little red truck that is as simple as it goes...what im saying is no back seat, no power steering, poor excuse for an air conditioner even so i dont think weight is a problem. On top of that, im not looking to turn this thing into the fastest mofo on the road, i just want to give it some decent acceleration and extend its lifespan while getting some experience working on cars.

OH man. If that is the truck i think it is then you can swap in the 4g63 turbo motor out of the first and second gen eclipse/talon. that is a 2.0 turbo and arguably one of the best 4 cylinder motors you can get. if you buy the second gen block and a built first gen head off of e-bay you can have that thing to about 400hp for little over $1000 if you look for good deals.

my friend had one of those import videos (the ones where a bunch of rich kids get their moms to buy them stuff for their cars) anyhow i was watching that and this guy took an all wheel drive mitsubishi truck from the 80's (probably the same one you've got) and put a totally build 4g63 turbo in it and it was just rediculously fast. you could beat any ricer on the street with that and jsut about any muscle car too.

OH yeah. not having a back seat is a good thing cause then you dont have to drive your friends around, they will drive you.

ok so your suggesting swapping the engines with one from the eclipse? thats all good but i think i should do some more minor and less difficult tasks first since there is a long list of things to do on this car already (new brakes carburator fuel filter intake and exhaust, oil change, small body work). just wondering, how difficult and how long would replacing the engine be?

if you have a cherry picker (about $100-$150) and you had the motor already assembled it could be done in a weekend the hardest (well maybe not hardest but most time consuming part) would be the wireing. make sure you do alot of research first, make sure the motor is a direct bolt in ( im pretty sure it is), make sure it will bolt direclty to the transaxle, motor mounts. find a friend who has done a motor swap before or at least pulled a motor and put one in. its all pretty basic stuff it jsut takes a while and some common sense. and i wouldnt expect anyone to jump into this without pretty good knowledge of their car and of motors in general.

oh yeah you might need a torque wrench too but that and the cherry picker are the only "specialty" tools you'll need.

ok sounds like somethin i should try out once i get a little more experience with doin this crap, and yea i do have a buddy that has a LOT of experience with cars so ill try and get his help. First i need to do some smaller stuff though such as brake pads, fuel filter, exhaust, and intake so any suggestions on how difficult those are and how i could do em by myself would be appreciated.

oh and also, is that 4g63T fuel injected and would i not need a carburator anymore if it is

pretty much all of the exhaust, intake and carburator stuff is just polt-on, you could do most of that on your own. if you're nervous, just get a friend who knows about this stuff to help you but they aren't that dificult

if the 4g63t is fuel injected i dont think you need the carb but you might need to change the fuel system around a little. im not an expert but the fuel pump might need to be changed. brake pads are very easy and a fuel filter is easy. the intake and exhaust are a little more complicated but you should be able to do it yourself.

alright so heres my list...
1) brake pads (cuz i cant work on the car if its totalled)
2) exhaust/intake
3) fuel filter
4) check out this 4g63 and see what i can do about it

i guess ill just search around on the internet for how to do all this stuff, and if it goes well maybe ill post some before/after pics or stats...