1987 Mitsubishi Mighty Max
| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Jan 1, 2020 21:27:56 GMT | |
| Hi folks I used to frequent RR years ago but dropped off from not owning anything suitable. Have been playing with this for a month or so but just getting around to making this thread. We ave the 'modern car', Duties call for a work hack and chopper hauler, so time to hunt for another project.. Some recent changes in our registration scheme means anything 30 years or older can be put on club registration.. much cheaper registration and insurance and makes having multiple toys a very attractive proposition! In terms of other requirements, had to be single cab for the tray be long enough to fit our bikes. However single cabs can be cramped for tall people, so this was a concern. My last old car was a RN25 hilux but it was just too small inside. This beater came up for sale on the dreaded Gumtree. It looked a bit rough but price was fair and worth going to look at. 1987 Mitsubishi Triton (aka Mitsubishi Mightymax/ Mitsubishi L200 /Dodge D50), 2.6L 4g54 with a 5 speed. A lot of kilometres but maintenance has been done with parts replaced as needed, it seems. Quick once over, yep a bit of rust, can sort that, rest of body is ok but the paint is stuffed, tray is huge.. heeeaps of room in the cab, things are looking positive. Started up fine and took it for a drive, no smoke or rattles abs all seemed well but terribly slow and the brakes are soft. Bit of negotiation, a deal was done and we drove off into the sunset towards its new life! Well as it turned out, a bit of rust quickly progressed into where's the bloody window frame gone!! Oh yeah.. i forgot the many joys of retro rides ! The inner lip was still OK so replacing the outside of the frame would have been doable, but the rust had gotten through all 3 layers of the roof on the right corner, into the gutter sandwich and would have been a PITA to cut out and keep all its integrity. The result was splicing in a half a roof section from a 1992 donor car. Sounds easy, it's just cutting and welding - Well what a nightmare. First off, either it was a update shape or the fact it was an extend cab, but the new roof has about 10mm extra CROWN in the roof skin and more curve in the corners. Frustratingly I ended up putting most of the original roof skin back on, could have saved A lot of work and welding had this been apparent earlier. Weld joints reinforced and everything all back together. Amazingly the A pillars on this are just single sections of <1mm steel! Both doors had a patch of rust in the same spot, chopped out and replaced. Whilst I was at it I deleted the original mountings for those massive mirrors. Replacements to be determined but it won't be hard to get something better looking. By this stage I had stripped the body of all its panels and taken most of the interior out so as not to set fire to the car when welding the roof. Upon taking the seat out, some rust holes on the back of the cab floor and one in the drivers floor pan.. these will all be repaired soon. The front guards are solid and straight but had lots of plop built up behind them from 30 years of work. Always good to pop these off on an new purchase and clear out debris, bottom of the guards form part of the water management and need to be kept clear. Guards and bonnet Cleaned and scrubbed down with soapy water and scotchbrite New windscreen purchased and ready to go in, $100 and off the shelf. Not worth trying to cut out and reuse an original screen as they are glued in. Next to sort out this whopper dent. I did try to beat it out but it was all too stretched. Chopped out and replaced with new steel. All solid inside. Skim of filler and it'll be fine. Front bumper was in a sad state of rubbish paint, although mostly straight. Looking much better after paint stripper and some sanding!! Getting closer to paint stage now.. which means we gotta look at pulling the tray to access the back wall. I'll be modifying the tray as well, dropping it down the the chassis rails to get the floor as low as possible. This'll require some wheel tubs but have something planned for that. Steel sides removed, they were packed with plywood sheet and weighed much more than they should of! Racks roughly cut off for now as well, to be cleaned up later. Someone had put some concrete sheet over the tray as the timbers had all rotted out underneath. Well 16mm sheet was certainly overkill, probably 100kg shed right there. And then came the boards. Screws pretty rusty but thankfully all the rotten wood was easily broken up and removed with some crowbars. Result! Everything looking solid under here. To my surprise, everything is bolted together here. Planning to narrow the tray to match the width of the cab, by cutting a section out the centre. Doesn't make sense now that I can just trim some off the ends and redrill. And that's where I'm at currently, a quick recap over the last few weeks. Had planned to get a lot more done over the Xmas break, to have the cab painted and tray sorted at least, but extreme heat put a stop to any work outdoors. Progress to resume over the weekend, on target to get this thing in a new colour! Until the next post. Cheers! | |
| Last Edit: Mar 24, 2020 11:37:03 GMT by victor1 | |
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LIKE | rblote Posts: 1,995 | rblote |
| Jan 1, 2020 22:17:27 GMT | |
| Hey mate. Great cars these old Tritons. We had one (a long time ago) at work. Could not kill it, and did we try.... You are in SA? In Qld we have the same 30 year old classic car rego rules but it doesn't allow you to drive the car daily. Good luck with it. | |
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| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Jan 2, 2020 0:23:12 GMT | |
| Yep In SA, Club rego is 90 days per year which is totally fine between this and other vehicles as we don't need to drive daily. It used to be for historic unmodified vehicles, with very strict rules but was reformed in the last few years. It's been opened up to any vehicle with rolling 30 years from build date. Needless to say the number of street machines and retro rides that had otherwise been sat in people's sheds are now out every weekend ! | |
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| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Jan 4, 2020 11:20:34 GMT | |
| A few bits done over the last few days, getting ready for paint. Nothing fancy going on here, although all the rust and and dents have been sorted I'm still going for the sleeper work ute look. Sleeper coz it's so slow you could have a nap getting to 60 - for now. Hit the front bumper with some etch primer and gloss black spraycan To paint the back wall of the cab the tray needed to be removed. It's cobbled together with all sorts of bits of channel, angle and mismatched hardware to mount it, sadly appears to be a commercial job too. The tray itself has been removed here leaving the hefty substructure behind. Most of this wont be going back, the primary purpose of all this is to raise the tray high enough to clear the tyres at full compression - how boring!!! Also note the silly tail light arrangement, tiny old lights that were much narrower than the tray and quite far underneath. Gubbins be gone! Suddenly everything seems much smaller... Roof joins have turned out quite nicely. I ended up with some oil canning in the roof skin that took a long while to sort out. I had some luck experimenting with shrinking the metal with a blowtorch and wet rag, in the end had to run a skim of filler over the roof. Cab and bonnet now pretty much ready to mask up and paint. Have a few more areas to rub down with 180g to tackle tomorrow, then mask up the door and window openings , wipe down panels with wax and grease remover and throw some paint at it Conveniently the monstrous piece of concrete board from the tray has found a use as a painting table for the front guards and apron, although it took two of us to get it back on there! These panels are all straight and rust free but just need cleaning and rubbing back. Apart from doing general movements and tip runs, the primary purpose is to be easily able to transport our bikes. It's first major task will be in about 5 weeks from now, taking a few choppers interstate. So I really need to get cracking on this ute and get some test drives in! And the reason for having such a long tray...? Cheers!! | |
| Last Edit: Jan 4, 2020 11:26:42 GMT by victor1 | |
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| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Jan 22, 2020 12:09:27 GMT | |
| Been busy working on this in spare time, doesn't seem to be much interest but I'll keep going to complete the thread. Painted in a gloss white. A 10 footer but totally acceptable for its purposes! A few blemishes that id like to fix up but no time for that now The rear cab pressure vents were all busted so I tried my luck with some better ones (on the right) from a later model Mitsubishi ute. Fortunately the fitment is the same Now on to sort the tray out. Originally it was too high for my liking, makes it hard to get bikes in and out plus the taller centre of gravity. In time I will fabricate a tray from scratch but am using this one for now. I laid out a new subframe in 50mm box, which picks up 8 of the original chassis mounting locations. Then i just welded the tray crossmembers to the new subframe. Resulted in a height drop of about Picked up a nice bench seat from a Hilux. The colour doesn't really match but the price was right and it's quite comfy, mounted with the stock Mitsubishi rails. Some tidying up happening now... everything still covered in Bondo dust !!! Chopped down the mudguards to suit the lower tray. Out of the shed finally, new windscreen in, quick coat of paint slapped on the tray and we're back in bizzo. I'm going to hit the chassis and wheels with some flat black. Generic door mirrors are useless and will need to be replaced, damn. Couple of sheets of 12mm ply layer down in the tray. Still needs to be screwed down but will certainly last until I fabricate the new tray. Prior to this I made a mount for the filler neck to pop up underneath the tray, and cut a little access hole for it. Pretty happy with that. Until next time, there will be more!! | |
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| mylittletony Posts: 1,917 | mylittletony |
| Jan 22, 2020 12:55:35 GMT | |
| Good effort! | |
| 50s barge - Draining my bank account | |
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| vitesseefi Posts: 1,816 | vitesseefi |
| Jan 22, 2020 13:24:09 GMT | |
| Nice job! Ramps & winch for loading/unloading? Nick | |
| 1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) | |
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| Kron Posts: 233 | Kron |
| Jan 22, 2020 14:01:46 GMT | |
| doesn't seem to be much interest but I'll keep going to complete the thread. On the contrary, I'm loving this thread and what your doing with the build, I don't have anything useful to contribute so just sit lurking in the background. Keep up the good work, I know I won't be alone. | |
| Last Edit: Jan 22, 2020 14:03:53 GMT by Kron | |
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| MrBD Posts: 10 | MrBD |
| Jan 22, 2020 17:08:14 GMT | |
| Nice job on the paint and getting that rust sorted, would have scared me off. Surely is a weird place for it to go and not have the sill or arches gone. | |
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| Greavesy Posts: 947 | Greavesy |
| Jan 22, 2020 17:30:24 GMT | |
| This is cool! Can't wait to see it with the Chopper loaded up! | |
| Previous retros: Current retro: You Tube | |
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| dazcapri Enter your message here... Posts: 1,025 | dazcapri |
| Jan 22, 2020 17:41:49 GMT | |
| doesn't seem to be much interest but I'll keep going to complete the thread. On the contrary, I'm loving this thread and what your doing with the build, I don't have anything useful to contribute so just sit lurking in the background. Keep up the good work, I know I won't be alone. Same here please keep the updates coming | |
| Mk3 Capri LS | |
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| village Always carries a toolbox. Because Volkswagen....... Posts: 559 | village |
| Jan 22, 2020 19:21:04 GMT | |
| Nice job! Ramps & winch for loading/unloading? Nick I think that the loading solution should be a bit left-field. Howz about hydraulic rams on the front axle that elevate the front of the truck and turn the tray into it's own ramp? A bit like the front oleo on a Royal Navy F4K Phantom | |
| "The White Van is strong with this one...." Chris "Chesney" Allen 1976-2005 RIP | |
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| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Jan 22, 2020 19:40:10 GMT | |
| Thanks for the comments guys! Yes the screen was very off putting at the start, but surprisingly hasn't really gone much further. A couple of small holes in the floor where water was probably pooling but easily patched up. No fancy tricks to get bike on and off, just a good old ramp however I am doing something to make securing the load easy and strong. The job list is getting shorter but so is time.. coz this car has its first long trip in 3 weeks. Cheers | |
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| rblote Posts: 1,995 | rblote |
| Jan 22, 2020 22:10:08 GMT | |
| doesn't seem to be much interest but I'll keep going to complete the thread. On the contrary, I'm loving this thread and what your doing with the build, I don't have anything useful to contribute so just sit lurking in the background. Keep up the good work, I know I won't be alone. I agree, I like it too. Keep going, it's a great built | |
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| kiwijohn Posts: 56 | kiwijohn |
| Jan 23, 2020 8:00:28 GMT | |
| Nice work. | |
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| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Jan 24, 2020 11:29:34 GMT | |
| Few new piccies today. I wanted to do some simple door cards, the original ones were not terrible but had some speakers butchered into it. I'm not running door speakers at all so just made some using Hardboard. Used the original one as a template and just threw the jigsaw at it. The right side of this bench seat is a bit ratty on the vinyl. It's the only damage and not ripped all the way though, I will probably glue a patch over it. The rest of the seat is great. Got the bed plywood all screwed down, now this is probably 6 months temporary so I may not even bother to treat it... Now it's covered up again I had forgotten how huge it is!! Hit the stock crappy steel wheels with the satin black, and went over the back half of the chassis at the same time. Does tidy it up a little bit.. Car is driving fine too, I've been zooming around in it for the last few days. Tomorrow I hope to finish off the headboard of the tray, again a bit off a quick hack but ultimately needs to restrain 2x bikes safely and easily. Cheers | |
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. | victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Feb 2, 2020 7:10:06 GMT | |
| Howdy guys I whipped up a bit of garb to retrain a couple of bikes. Knowing that I'm not keeping this tray but needed to get this done now, it had to be strong enough but without wasting too much time and effort. Out with the steel tube and the welder. Cross braces are 3mm wall and should provide plenty of rigidity under rapid deceleration. The vertical chocks are spaced for a 5.00x16 Avon tyre (our rear tyres), which can be pulled in by some straps through the rim. It should be plenty secure, if the bike is locked vertically and pulled against the headboard. Apart from that, I've just been doing some miles. Had a trip down to the beach with a bit of weight on the back, car drove fine in fairly warm weather, no temperature issues. To be safe I've since done a new thermostat and fresh coolant and drive belts. There wasn't any AC belt on it when I got the car, with a new one fitted it the compressor still isn't kicking in, so some more investigation to go there. I highly doubt there would be any gas left in the system but the compressor should still engage. The heater wasn't working either, I really did buy a shitbox, but with a flush of the heater core whilst doing the coolant I do now have some hot air coming out of the vents. Not to get too excited though, the fan speed seems fine but there isn't much air moving around so suspect it is fairly blocked up and the demister vents get nothing... bloody heck! After this I started to rip the dashboard out but quickly overwhelmed myself with the time it would all take, so that's a job for another time. Here's a shot of the disgusting engine bay, watch out, please refrain from viewing with food or drink in your mouth. I haven't done much here except for service items and trying to get it running a nice as I can, wading through the mess of 80s emissions vac hoses but ultimately this will all be coming out and getting some proper work. Here's a factory turbo version of the same engine, we got them in the australian only (I believe) Mitsubishi Sigma. Pretty rare cars that were quite peppy in their day, combined with the naturally torquey 2.6L. I do love the simplicity of draw through turbo setup. | |
| Last Edit: Feb 2, 2020 7:12:46 GMT by victor1 | |
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| tineca Posts: 965 | tineca |
| Feb 2, 2020 8:35:46 GMT | |
| Wow great work mate it's superb. Should be well p!eased with that! | |
| 1962 Morris minor (sold) | |
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| Ritchie Posts: 702 | Ritchie |
| Feb 2, 2020 8:55:31 GMT | |
| I highly doubt there would be any gas left in the system but the compressor should still engage. I'm pretty sure it will have a pressure switch, if there is no pressure the clutch will not engage. I thought the same on a Shogun, charged it up and it engaged no problem. It's worth a try, you could power up the clutch to check it is working before you charge the system though. | |
| 1987 Subaru Brat (WRX) build thread - forum.retro-rides.org/thread/206278/subaru-brat-wrx | |
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| victor1 Posts: 14 | victor1 |
| Feb 2, 2020 11:38:01 GMT | |
| I highly doubt there would be any gas left in the system but the compressor should still engage. I'm pretty sure it will have a pressure switch, if there is no pressure the clutch will not engage. I thought the same on a Shogun, charged it up and it engaged no problem. It's worth a try, you could power up the clutch to check it is working before you charge the system though. That's good to know! I'll hotwire the compressor clutch and see what happens. I've never really worked on car AC systems. Glad to have the heater at least working, not that I'll need it here for another few months. The underside of the dash is packed from left to right with components of the air system. Hopefully I can gain access to the blower and clean it out without removing the dashboard... | |
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Source: https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/212317/1987-mitsubishi-triton-mightymax-l200
