Our Story So Far

So, some buddies of mine wanted to do a video feature on me and the Lancer and asked me to sort of make an outline about what I wanted to say so they could plan the shots. I realized I’m not good at making outlines so I decided that I’d tell the story here and have them figure it out. I also realized I haven’t updated the blog in a while so, here goes.

So I guess I begin with me; car crazy since birth, largely due to my Dad who was also a car nut ever since he was young. Not too much new there, there must be hundreds of father and son stories like that. The interesting thing is our difference in automotive lifestyle. My Dad is the guy who’d go for all original. He likes things clean and simple. He’d buy a good car and keep it that way. He rarely changes anything, unless it’s a practical necessity- like using a washable K&N Filter and running up rated tires rather than the crap they usually fit as stock. He usually disapproves of aftermarket wheels and wild modifications. Then, there’s me. I like modified engines, I like cars with roll cages, the more highly tuned the engine and the more bars my girlfriend will have to climb over to get into the car the better! It’s a bit strange to have such different tastes, but also, it’s largely my dad’s fault why I’m like this.

I was around 7 or 8 years old. My dad and I were going somewhere in our 1993 Lancer GLXi (CB Chassis). The car was fairly new at the time, and its fuel injected 16-valve 4G92 engine had some performance that was quite a level up from anything previously available locally. On a particular stretch of road, he would gun the engine and tell me to feel ‘how the power surges when it goes past 4000 RPM’. I don’t know how I reacted, but I still remember how I felt. I didn’t know what the heck those numbers meant, but I knew I liked what I felt. I have since been addicted to that feeling of the surge of power.

I read about a saying once that there are two types of car enthusiast; the racers who have gasoline flowing through their veins, and the mechanics who have oil flowing through their veins. I’m not really one who cares too much about racing; in fact I’ve only attended one organized motorsports event ever (a charity slalom/autocross when they were trying to raise some money to support the Ramirez family who were battling cancer at the time). What really interests me is tuning and building engines, trying to see how to get more power out of them, to satisfy the need to feel that surge of power when you step on it.

Which now brings us to the car; it’s a 2-door 1979 Mitsubishi Lancer. My dad bought it brand new from Diamond motors on September 27, 1979. It was his daily car throughout the 80’s until he got the GLXi in 1993. He did a pretty good job preserving the car and it even won ‘best original stock’ at the 1997 Mitsubishi Classic Concourse. He always promised to give me the car when I grew up, so when I started driving it was mine. I used the car as it was through high school and college before I really had the means to do anything with it. In 2005, after not letting me buy a 6^th Generation Galant GTi that had a 400HP Evolution III engine in it, my dad said that we should just fix up the Lancer.

It was then that I started researching about the car. Thanks to the internet, I quickly found out that the car had a pretty interesting history. It was a pretty successful Rally car where it was applied. The car was successful in the Australian Southern Cross rallies and it dominated the African Safari rallies in the late 70’s, beating (in Safari Rally conditions) the likes of the Porsche 911 and Lancia Stratos. Read more here!

I wasn’t really able to do much back then, aside from getting a 5-speed transmission and re-gearing the rear diff to 4.222:1 which according to the specs should have come with the car had it been the version sold in in Japan, there was only so much a college student on an allowance could do. I enjoyed driving and using it as much as I could but, it was not until I started working that I could really get serious with the car.

It’s been quite a long time in development and I have to admit I made a lot of mistakes along the way including something as painful as having an engine that I just built myself blow up after a little over 1000KM. But that’s how you learn. I read and researched a lot. You have to really geek out to become really good at this sort of thing. I’ve had a good amount of guidance from my friend who goes by the handle ‘Oldie’ in our 1stGen Lancer Forum, and from my friends at SMT Competition headers in Makati.

My idea for the setup of the car was to do it like how some Japanese tuners would build cars; take an original car from the factory. Do a built engine, modified drive train and suspension. Bolt in Roll cage and a bucket seat for the driver only. It’s sort of a take on what it would have been like if they were doing that in the 70’s. It’s also sort of a Restomod, but not quite. A Restomod usually means converting the old car to modern engine and running gear and leaving just the classic body. I prefer to keep the original engine, although fully built and modified for more power and modern drivability. I believe the term people are using now for this sort of build style is a ‘Vintage performance’, but I don’t really care for labels. It’s more expensive and difficult to do than an engine swap because it involves tracking down rare parts and fabricating those you can’t find. It’s not necessarily better than an engine swap, there are advantages and disadvantages to either option, but this is much more challenging.

So let’s go through the car. The body was fully restored in 2008 at my shop which is at the back of our furniture factory. Taking down to a bare empty shell, we rebuilt it to be better than it was new. We stripped off all original insulation and undercoat. All the rust was removed and repaired. The body was reinforced in key places. We used modern paint urethane paint system and rust proofing. My estimate is that the body is around 20KG lighter than the original because of the weight of the factory rust proofing and undercoat. The car has a bolt in roll cage made by SMT based on the one for the original Safari rally car. I have a mechanic and metal fabricator in the factory, Dongdong who made the stainless steel strut tower brace and a bunch of other custom parts for the car. The bucket seat is a locally made Carbon-Kevlar piece I bought from a friend online, the harness is a Simpson 5pt. Camlock harness also bought online. The rest of the body and interior is original.

The engine is the original 4G33 block that came with the car, rebuilt by me in 2011. What we wanted was what we call a Max street engine. So we have some power of the race version while retaining reliability and driveability. Originally 1400cc this has been oversized to 1597cc using ART GS spec. High compression pistons. Internal parts are static balanced and blueprinted before assembly. The head is also the original head, ported and shaved. The camshaft is an original Mitsubishi works cam #4, aka the Rally cam. The cam is originally meant to go into the older version of the engine that used a timing chain instead of a timing belt like what my engine uses, so I also got an Ichiban adaptor to use the cam with my engine. Currently the engine is fed by a Weber 40 DCOE ‘single side draft’ carb on a Lynx intake manifold. We don’t run an air filter, just velocity stacks. I have a cold air tube to bring cold air from outside to the carb while the car is running. A Mitsubishi electric pump replaces the original engine driven one. The Long runner, equal length headers, stainless steel headers have a true merge collector are fabricated by SMT, as is the complete exhaust system. I made the stainless steel flanges though. The headers are wrapped in an industrial grade fibreglass insulation to reduce underhood ambient temperature. Keeping the heat inside the exhaust pipes also improves the gas flow and makes it more efficient in scavenging. For added reliability, there’s a custom oil cooler system made by SMT with hard oil lines and a remote oil filter system. The engine runs on Motul 5w-40 synthetic oil.  The ignition system is an MSD Digital 6 plus ignition box with Blaster SS coil and is triggered by a Pertronix Ignitor in the original distributor. The MSD Digital 6 system lets us have a high speed timing retard, so we can run more ignition advance for good low end acceleration and then step it back for more top end power. It also features a two step rev limiter that is used as a launch control system. Launch control is activated by pulling up the handbrake lever and flooring the gas.

Backing the engine is a close ratio 5-speed manual transmission with an SMT fabricated quick shift kit. The rear end is now a 4.625:1 final drive which I interchange with the 4.222:1 depending on the kind of driving I’ll be doing The lower ratio gives better performance, the higher ratio is better for highway cruising. The suspension upgrades consist of Cusco adjustable camber plate top mounts originally for a Lancer EX-Turbo modified for the ’79. Front springs are original and rear leaf springs are Tiger super leaf springs. I had the springs powdercoated green to match the roll bar. Front shocks are Kayaba Ultra SR, helped by O-Sulee spring cushions. Rear shocks are Kayaba Gas-A-Just. The front stabilizer bar is supported by polyurethane bushings. The car is currently set as low as it will go without upsetting the suspension geometry. If find this just right as I prefer to drive with a good amount of ground clearance so we don’t have to slow down. Everything underneath the car has been neatly tucked up in order to maximize this.

The brakes use an AP Lockheed remote brake servo in order to clear the side draft carb as the original brake system would have interfered. The remote servo is triggered by a Toyota clutch master cylinder repurposed as the brake master. Everything is connected with custom armoured brake lines. Driving a car with a remote brake servo is a little weird if you’re not used to it since it does not have that much feel so the brakes seem like they are either on or off, but when you are used to it, modulating the brakes comes naturally. Front brakes and rotors are the original discs. The rear drums were ditched in favour of rear discs from a Boxtype Lancer GSR mounted to the original rear axle housing with custom brackets. Sportech high performance pads all around.

The Car also has a modern Aircon system built by SMT giving the old car better air conditioning than most modern cars. We added a switch to disengage the compressor when we want to, in order to free up some extra engine power, but with the engine I built, I don’t really feel the need to do so. The radiator is a 3-row Evercool radiator cooled by two large electric fans which are automatically controlled using a Toyota thermoswitch. All the wiring has been redone with modern relays and connections. The battery relocated to the trunk to make space for the brakes and to improve weight distribution. The gauges were rebuilt by SMT and all work, the tachometer is a 5” Autometer Phantom tach, mounted at an angle to put the rev range that we frequently use right in the ideal spot for easy reading. The headlights are a Hella Halogen H4 conversion kit replacing the original seal beam units with Narva 90/100 all weather headlights. I usually have some form of auxiliary lighting system up front, but lately have not had one since the headlights are really good. At the back a Cibie spot light goes on with the reverse lights to illuminate the back.

The car has been through several sets of wheels, currently installed is a set of 3 piece mesh wheels. The fronts are Heroes Rock Racing Mesh measuring 14 x 6.5” +8 offset and the rears are Rays Engineering Volk Racing Mesh wheels measuring 14 x 8” with zero offset. The wheels, despite having different brands width have identical centre mesh and lip profiles. We believe it to have been sold as set originally. Why source the front and rear from different brands, I don’t know. I had the wheels refurbished by Master Wheels in Las Pinas in 2009, the mesh was originally gold, I had them done in green to match the roll cage and springs. Tires are Dunlop SPsports LM703, 185/65/r14 in front 195/60/r14 at the back.

That pretty much sums up the car for now. It’s an ever continuing project and I don’t think it will ever be done. In the future I’m considering building an individual throttle body fuel injection system controlled with a standalone computer for the engine and maybe ditching the rear leaf springs for a equal length 4 link rear suspension with a Watts linkage.. But for now I’m just enjoying the driving the car.

I’m not really afraid to use the car, because to me cars are meant to be driven. If anything were to happen to it, like how I blew the engine a few years ago, I will simply rebuild it and make it better.

Recent cool pic of the car; 

Photo credit: Anthony Magat

Bringing the SK's back to life

Almost a year ago, I acquired a rather special set of carbs. The decision to get the SK's at that time was based only on the fact that they looked uber-cool and because they used Weber jets I figured they would, at least be serviceable. I recently wrote a post about fabricating the velocity stacks for the carbs, and now I'm going to go into a bit of detail with what it took to getting them running.

The engine the SK carbs will be used on is my 1600cc Mitsubishi 4G3x with a works Rally cam shaft #4, some mild head works and high compression pistons. Caluclations we made, so that this engine makes good torque and peak power at around 6000 RPM, dictated that we needed 30mm primary venturis, which should ideally be used in twin 40mm carbs. The SK's are 45mm and came with 36mm venturis. The carb body might be a bit too big, meaning we're giving up a bit of low end torque and tractability for street use, but it should be ok for top end power. It's a little bit of compromise to be able to run such a unique set of carbs. While the SK may use Weber jets, the primary venturies are unique to the SK. This made is necessary for us to fabricate our own using a process similar to how we made the velocity stacks.

Our 30mm venturi machined out of T6 Aluminum billet to the left compared with the original SK 36mm venturi. Note that our venturi has a more pronounced and rouned profile similar to a Weber venturi, which is more efficient at creating the venturi effect than the SK design.

The next thing that needed to be made was a throttle linkage. The SK's came with a synchonizer to mate the two carbs together, but no form of linkage at all, so we started by gutting part of linkage of a dead set of Keihin CVK carbs that I had laying around in the shop. This was ground down and modified to fit in between the synchonizer to give the cable somewhere to hold on to.

A Honda City throttle cable was next, chosen because it was just about the right length and most importantly it's business end matched to Keihin cable loop, and with a little bit of modification to shorted the protuding edges it was perfect. 

A cable stopper bracket was fabricated to hold it all in place. 

The decision to use the Keihin loop, which was small, and the fact that the Lancer originally used a mechanical linkage, not a throttle cable to actuate the carb meant the next thing we had to sort out was how to connect the cable to the accelerator pedal. Due to the small diameter of the Keihin loop, I wanted something that would open the carb progressively and after studying how we could possibly modify the original throttle pedal, we decided it would be better to just build one from scratch.

A big loop for the other end of the cable to compensate for the smallness of the carb end in order for the carbs to open more progressively. This one was fabricated from scratch.

The rest of the pedal was based on the original one, using a small mechanical linkage to move the throttle cable. 

All the parts were powdercoated before being installed in the car. 

A throttle return spring bracket was also fabricated. Adjustable mounting options let us alter the spring tension to change the feel of the carbs. 

I cleaned up the carbs with a couple of cans of carb cleaner and once all the parts were completed we were able to successfully start the car, and get the carbs synchronized. All good, except for the fact that the barrel of the No. 3 cylinder had a clogged idle circuit. To remedy this, the carbs were again totally dismantled and sent to a friend of mine for a total cleaning job which even included sand blasting the bodies to give them a brand new look.

Here's me reinstalling the carbs back into the car.

Have not been able to start the car yet to test the carbs after cleaning since we are waiting for a new Oil Cooler to install on the car. I will post an update later once we get everything running.

One last thing, not exactly part of the carbs, But just as necessary. Because of the the tight space in the car's engine bay in order for the synchronizer tool (aka Air flow meter) to fit into the barrel of the No.4 carb be had to offset our master cylinder for the AP Lockheed brake system, in order to give clearance. This was done using a custom made bell crank system. Otherwise the pot of the master cylunder would have been right in front of the velocity stack of No. 4 with only a few mm clearance in between.

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Velocity stack fabrication

A quick background. A velocity stack is that trumpet or bell mouth shaped fixture that smooths incoming air into an intake tract. This works by eliminating 'pinch zones' that would occur if the air were to enter a straight pipe. Quite popular and definitely a cool thing to have on a set of side draft carbs or throttle bodies. They enhance the induction noise the carbs make. 

Continuing from my post about my SK Racing Carbs, we recently fabricated a set of billet aluminum velocity stacks to go with them. My carbs did not come with any, and the SK being the curious Weber and Mikuni Hybrid that is meant that nothing out of the box would fit so a set had to be made. 

There are a number of shops here in the Philippines that can make a set, and most are actually quite affordable. The best deal I found was from this guy called Mang Orly, with a set of (what looks to me like) spun aluminum velocity stacks costing around 2500 Pesos. They looked pretty good too and have an option to even be anodized. I was pretty much ready to put in an order for a custom set for the SK's. But, because we can... We just had to go make our own. 

Aluminum spinning is by far the most common and efficient way to make velocity stacks. This is how original Weber stacks are made. This however requires special equipment and of course the skill to spin aluminum. Look up videos of it on YouTube, it's an art form all on it's own. We however had neither the equipment or the skills. So we had to go with the relatively more inefficient (read as expensive) method of machining our stacks out of solid billet aluminum. Machining though does produce a nicer looking product (in my opinion). 

So here's how we made it. 

It all starts with a plan. Internal diameter of 48mm to match the throat opening of the 45mm SK carbs. 76mm outside diameter to give enough wall thickness after machining to make sure they are sturdy and would have a fairly large bell mouth opening. The bigger the bell mouth the more effective it is. 38mm height due to space constraints, would have wanted at least 50mm tall, but no way that was going to fit the Lancer.  

All the machine work would be done at our factory by our very talented mechanic using a 70's vintage Harrison lathe machine. 

The first order of business was to get the material. I ordered 3 inch thick solid T6 Aluminum billet from our supplier and we made a few custom blades to shape the block of metal into our sexy stacks. This is the block of aluminium billet we started with, to it's right a custom made profiling blade for shaping the bell mouth of the stack. 1 blade for each shape and one special blade to bore out the internal diameter. I won't go into detail for the special tools made... Let's call them a trade secret, but the one picture below should give an idea of sorts.. 

A pilot hole is first drilled down the center of the billet in order to start machining the internal diameter. We used the biggest drill bit we had which I think was around 25mm. 

The using the first of our special blades machined this from the inside out to 48mm. 

This was then cut down to size for our 38mm height. 

Using the second special blade, the bell mouth was machined. While doing the actual item, I decided not to follow the plan we had drawn up because it would look nicer if the bell mouth extended all the way to the outside edge instead of rounding it out. 

Next was to shape the outside of the stack. This used a not so special blade to remove some material from the outside, and another special blade to shape the outside lip profile of the stack. It was also sanded and polished while spinning on the lathe. 

Once formed holes were drilled to match the studs on the carb. Also had to file the sides down a bit to give space for the retaining bolts to be turned down as I discovered while test fitting. 

 Repeat steps 3 more times to produce 4 identical stacks!

In the end, I'm quite happy with how the finished product turned out. They look the business and are quite impressive. The cost of the billet aluminum alone was about as much as I would have paid to have Mang Orly make a set of stacks, and if the around 8 whole days of work it took to make these stacks were factored in as cost with equivalent overhead for running the machines, it pushes the cost of making these stacks to a price range that some people will think is crazy. Although, of course solid billet stacks really do cost much more than spun ones as I've seen tuners in other countries make them. Locally I don't know of any other tuning shop that makes solid billet velocity stacks.

Pertronix Conversion for 4G3x Belt drive

The Petronix Ignitor Part no. 1943 install on 4G3x belt drive distributor.

Here's a little part, that is so brilliantly simple that the instructions regarding how to install it dumbfounded me. I just really could not believe it would be that easy. 

A quick background first. The Pertonix Ignitor is a electronic device designed to replace the contact point (or breaker point as others will call it) in Old-school ignition systems. It works by using a sensor and a rotating magnet on the distributor shaft to create a Hall Effect voltage difference to trigger the ignition system. This can be used to activate the coil directly or can be used as a trigger for other ignition systems. Those who have read my post about my MSD setup will know that I have been using the contact point to trigger the MSD. That was a fine setup actually, because since the contact point was only acting as a low voltage trigger it lasts almost forever since the breaker points don't get burnt out. I used to go through about 2 contact points a year, but I've had the same one in the car since we installed the MSD 3 years ago. The points are still fresh. 

The problem with this is that the contact point is still a mechanical device, the cam on the distributor opening and closing it which led to the guide actually wearing down and knocking it out of timing. 

The contact point is also not the most reliable trigger device, specially at high RPM. Where it is prone to 'points bounce' where the thing is opening so fast it can't close fast enough to keep up with the engine speed. 

So, eventually, all the stars and planets aligned just right and I had the perfect opportunity to order a Petronix Ignitor from the USA (read as; I had a buddy going the States and he could get it for me) so we placed an order for Part No. 1943. for 'Mitsubishi 4 cyl. engine' 

This is the kit right here prior to installation;

Contains one back to back instruction sheet, the Ignitor module, a plate, the black thing which houses the magnets, two screws and a plastic feeler gauge (and a bunch of catalogs that I threw away). The instructions simplified basically said, remove the old points, install this, make sure the Airgap is just right, then connect the wires and go. That simple, no dwell angle, no point gap. Almost too good to be true. Or maybe I've just gotten to used to the fact that nothing should just simply bolt on to an old Mitsubishi engine. 

And so... Here's how the simple installation went; 

Here's the distributor as removed from the engine. Cap and Rotor pulled off already. The MSD trigger wire would used to connect to that terminal seen on the left side of housing which ran straight to the contact point. 

Simply remove two screws and pull the whole thing out. 

We are then, left with this; 

According the in instructions part number 1943 comes with a plate that must be fitted underneath the ignitor unit. 

The Ignitor then just bolts back on with the two provided screws go into where the original contact point bolted to. (note that the right side one also secures the ground strap)

The wires then simply route around and an adjustable grommet secures them to the notch on the side of the distributor's body. (note the micro-ziptie I used to make things extra neat)

Then, the magnetic collar thing (I forgot exactly what they called it in the instructions) slides over the points cam into place. 

Smooth sailing so far up to this point, but I noticed that there was not enough room on top of the shaft for the distributor rotor to lock into place. A quick test fit with my clear distributor cap to check the internal clearances confirmed this. In fact the rotor was sitting so high up that is was rubbing on the bottom of the cap. 

Not good! But, I figured that the difference was so small that ditching that 'required' plate would do the trick. Not too hard, but we did have to trim the one supplied flush mount screw (right most) by 2 threads (not easy when it's a tiny screw) and reuse one of the old screws from the contact point set (center) to clear the body of the distributor on the bottom. 

Tested for clearance before screwing it in. Look at how much more space there is on the shaft for the rotor to hold on to. 

Installed! 

The Pertronix kit is so complete it comes with a plastic feeler gauge to verify that the air gap between the module and the magnet holder is at .30 Inches. Why this needs to be done when there is no apparent way to adjust this should that not be the case- because the holes are fixed in PN. 1943, I don't know. Although in other Pertonix kits there is, because the plate is made like a contact point and you can slide it around. 

And that completes the installation! 

The wiring is very simple. The Red wire needs a switched 12V source to turn the thing on and off. The Black wire is the trigger wire, it goes to either the coils negative terminal in a conventional system or connects to the MSD trigger wire. 

Installed in the car. There's a big difference. Specially at this stage were my freshly built engine is not tuned and does not even have an exhaust, it already runs noticeably smoother and starts much easier. I will give more feedback when the car is sorted out properly. 

Here's also a nice tip I got from a good friend of mine; 

The collar that holes the magnets on the distributor shaft has a tendency to come apart.  As extra insurance we spotted the edges with a bit of superglue. The thing contains 4 really powerful magnets and if it does come apart the magnets are sure to fly off the nearest metal they can stick on to. 

A bit more info on my cool clear distributor cap. It's an old-school accessory given to me a few years ago as a gift from a buddy of mine who's into the same crazy things as I am. It also had the most awesome disco light effect going on when you look at the running engine at night.. But, it has unfortunately cracked due to heat and use so it's not serviceable anymore. However it makes a great tool for checking the clearance inside the dizzy and for setting on the engine and finding where the rotor hits the No.1 cylinders terminal when setting TDC.