1985 Mitsubishi Cordia GSR Turbo AB review from Australia and New Zealand

Everything!!! The car was defective (need I say more???)

Installed new drivers seat-belt - $132.

Bew muffler installed - $110.

New CV shaft seal - passenger side.

TC06 turbocharger rebuild - $860.00.

New boots & grease in cv joints.

New water pump.

Secondhand transmission - $680.00.

Repaired rust & resprayed tailgate.

New steering rack boots.

Secondhand electric mirrors.

New battery terminals & battery bracket.

Secondhand stock crossover pipe.

Secondhand inlet manifold.

New seals & gaskets in throttle-body.

New rings in engine block.

All new belts.

4 new tyres $526 (Firestone Fire-Hawk SZ250i)

I bought this defective Cordia Turbo for $1400 in September of 2005, it was canaried for oil leaks, blow-off valve, and excessive noise!

So... I looked at the car and thought it should be reasonably straight forward to rebuild! But I would be wrong in many respects! The previous owner said it was fast, Real Fast! He only owned it for a total of 3 weeks before being pinched by the law!

So I'd done the deed and had the Cordia delivered to my house on a trailer that very night! This is the second Cordia I've owned now, the first was an 1985 Cordia GSL that I had in 2004, it was faster than my old Sigma, but not really anything impressive with its power of 69.9kw... Well I was easily beat by a Turbo Nissan EXA at the traffic lights! Since buying that car, I have had a love for Cordia's, always wanting a turbo car, this was an excellent opportunity to get something with a bit of a kick!

It was soo cool to see my new baby rolling down the ramps onto the road, I could feel the electricity in the air, knowing that I would have my arms knee deep in trouble over the next few months... OH YEH! The engine was out of the car, the sump was off, the head was off, and so was everything else! I had 4 new tyres fitted for an extra $526 trade price by the previous owner, who had pre-ordered them to the tyre centre in which he worked.

This would be a new learning curve for me and my father, as we began the adventure of starting with hundreds of car parts, and not knowing where anything goes, to rebuilding an entire engine bay from the bottom up! The many days of degreasing everything was tough and frustrating, everything was covered in oil, it was disgusting... Alternator, power steering pump, the engine block, the head, bla bla bla! Days went by and as we did different things to the Cordia; I took photographs of each step! BUT... My dads computer stuffed up, and all the photographs of the rebuild were lost! I was soo furious that day! Now the only proof of the rebuild is the $3000 worth of reciepts and my girlfriends word!

The Cordia did have a custom-made intercooler fitted with a 'Turbosmart - Vee Port' blow-off valve, but to get the defect off, I'm going back as original as possible. So I purchased a stock cross-over pipe, and removed the intercooler for the time being... But I do intend to replace the intercooler with a bigger custom one, but more of that later in the project. I have also removed the turbo timer, and aftermarket boost gauge!

Well, here's what we've done to the engine... Right, well we cleaned it right up, fitted the pistons with new chrome rings, new gaskets and seals throughout! This took about a month to have the engine ready to install into the Cordia! When the exhaust manifold was being tightened on, one of the studs decided to tear the threat out of the alloy head... So dad tapped in a new thread, and I went out and bought the next size up stud to go in! Luckily the bolt hole in the manifold was big enough already, so we didn't have to drill it any bigger!

So... there was a little rust poking through under the passenger side of the spoiler, it was my mission one day to remove the spoiler and treat the rust. Well, as I removed the rubbery wing from the tailgate, it was clear to me that it was a welding job! There was a hole the size of a cricket ball! I cut the rust out and then welded a piece of body into the hole. I grinded it, welded it, and grinded it several times to shape it properly. It was a hassle, but I got there in the end! There were a few holes smaller than a pea, it was too delicate to weld with what I was using... so I bought some fibreglass body filler and filled the holes smooth, I then had to sand it to hell and get the curve of the tailgate smooth and ready for the undercoat. Finally I resprayed the entire tailgate, and stuck the wing back on with this damn expensive panel glue stuff! My beautiful girlfriend helped me with some of the tailgate preparation, and it really turned out quite well!

The previous owner told me that reverse gear was virtually impossible to get in, and 5th gear wasn't working either! So I took the Gearbox into a mechanic to check it out. He took the cover off and told me the bad news! The 2nd gear selector had broken off and was jamming reverse, and 5th gear was a vacuum problem, apparently very common with Cordia's! To replace the selector, I was looking at waiting several weeks to have one imported from Japan, and the transmission needed a full bearing replacement. I'd be looking for at least $600 just for parts! So I thought I'd just get a good secondhand gearbox from Mitsubishi Spares in Adelaide for $680.

I bought a pair of electric mirrors from eBay for $40, because the driver's side mirror was missing!

We borrowed a frame to put the engine back in the car, and it took us an entire day, and yes I should have worn sunscreen, and maybe more than a singlet and shorts, but NO I didn't!

Before we even got to start the engine, there were already leaks, COOLANT... Yes, it turns out we should have spent an extra $70 and bought a new water pump! So I got one, and I tell you it's much easier to change the pump when the engine is out of the car! Please note, that when changing the water pump, the access hole in the wheel-arch comes in very handy!

On the first start of the engine, it was as we expected... SMOKEY! The smoke subsided a little bit, but kept on coming... We weren't entirely sure of where all the vacuum lines were supposed to go, so we simply guessed our way through it! I wasn't comfortable knowing that they may be wrong! So I went on the Internet in search for a vacuum line diagram, and on a forum was one perfect for my needs! The next day I disconnected nearly all the vacuum lines, and started from scratch, following the diagram. It was good to see that when I started the engine again, the smoke was next to none, but was still billowing!

I got a permit ($46) to drive the Cordia, so we could look for any problems... Yes we found some!

The replacement gearbox feels pretty good. Reverse works well, but 5th is not engaging... But I wasn't gonna pull the gearbox out to get another to replace it, so I'll get it repaired once I've got her on the road and registered!

I asked my sister's boyfriend's dad to come over and help me figure out why there was no movement on the boost gauge at all, and there was also a leak of coolant under the inlet manifold!

We could feel a kind of rubber nipple feeling thing under the inlet manifold, which was dripping coolant, but we couldn't think of what it could be, so we had to remove the manifold! This same day, I discovered that the compressor wheel in the turbo wasn't spinning when the revs were up, so there was a definite problem! Oh yeah, the turbo was wet with oil inside too!

A few days later we removed the turbo from the exhaust manifold and sent it off to 'Adelaide Turbo Services', Bill (Turbo Tech.) said my turbo was on it's way out and it would be good to repair or even replace the turbo. Turns out the housing in my turbo was wrecked, so he got ahold of a good secondhand one for me, and rebuilt it with bits and pieces he had in his workshop. When he'd finished the job of $860 he said, this should be a "Pretty Sweet Turbo". And when it arrived the next day, it was so clean and just looked awsome! Hence the pictures in the gallery! Bill explained to me how these TC06 turbo's are designed to work, and incase you don't know... I'll tell you!

The TC06 Turbo charger is much bigger than the TC05 (used in the AC Unleaded Cordias). Big turbo's are designed to work at higher engine RPM, the Cordia's TC06 turbo should begin boosting at around 4000 RPM, and will continue boosting to the redline, and pulling harder as the RPM increases. The smaller TC05 turbo is designed for lower RPM, let's say 3000, it begins to take effect... BUT there will be a significant power drop at around 5500 RPM. So for drag racing, it is better to have a bigger turbo, so you have MORE PUSH and no drop-off high in the revs! And when the turbo starts boosting, it's a much harder PUSH than it would be from a smaller turbo. Bill from ATS gave me the option of the smaller turbo, or the bigger turbo... I chose the bigger option, for obvious reasons!

OK... We took off the inlet manifold and the reason it was leaking??? Well... Some complete idiot thought that if it blows a hole through the bottom of the manifold, you simply screw in a screw and cover it in silicone. Well we thought we'd replace it instead. So, City Dismantlers sent me a manifold, but it had a piece broken off it! So I sent it back! Then they sent me another one, it was marked Turbo, but I'm not so sure, it was missing the water supply for the turbo, so we replumbed one off of the heater hose.

On the last occasion that I drove the Cordia, the speedo wasn't working, but I sort of had a feeling it wouldn't, because there was no cable inside the outer when we screwed the speedo in. So yeh, City Dismantlers got me a good one, and no I didn't send this one back either!

The Cordia was missing a front right mudflap too, so I bought one for $22 from... City Dismantlers! AGAIN!

The CV seal in the passenger side of the gearbox was dripping fluid! So we disconnected the suspension on the passenger side and removed the long CV shaft... I also discovered that the 2 bolts connecting the stabiliser bar were indeed bent and stripped of thread, so we got some replacement bolts! I got under the car, persisted with pushing the new seal in, it was a pain, but once it went in a little, it pushed in evenly without too much trouble. Added a smear of oil around the inner lip for the CV to rotate in, to prevent damaging the seal. We pushed the shaft into place, re-assembled the suspension, and put the wheel back on. Killed 2 birds with one stone! Wicked!

I had a bit of extra money, and really wanted to drive the car... So I payed for a permit and took it for another drive, and more leaks I found. A bolt on the oil filter housing was leaking, the clutch line, and the turbo oil return line too!

It has been a few weeks since something has been done to the car, I am tight for money now having quit my job, and having paid off only $200 on my car's sound system in nearly 4 months! I need to get this layby paid off soon, or I may risk losing the equipment... So to get some extra cash I put the Cordia's old blow off valve on eBay, it's a Turbosmart Vee Port, I sold it for $181.00 on eBay. So once I get that money in my account, I will probably go and pay $150 off the sound gear.

Anyway, I went into Auto Pro and tried to get ahold of a new seatbelt for the drivers seat. They don't list seatbelts for Cordia's, so I had to get a custom one made and sent down from Melbourne, took a whole week to get here. When I took the new belt home and went to fit it, the damn thing has a really short bracket to bolt the locking mechanism in, so I went back into Auto Pro and told them it wasn't going to fit without a longer mounting bracket... Luckily, the manufacturer stocks an extension for an additional $10.00, so hopefully this works.

The big 4 inch Canon muffler was blasting 96 dB, and to get this defect off, I need to make it legal and below 90 dB! I booked the Cordia into the local muffler shop, and had an ordinary looking free-flow type rear muffler with a smaller pipe diameter installed. Only $110 including labour, this worked a treat, now she's only purring 87 dB. Still loud, but legal!

Well... Good News! The seatbelt assembly cost me $132.00 and took me about 2 hours to install, and is working perfectly! I paid off $67.00 on the Sound System, and now I only owe $350.

I've easily spent $4000 on repairs, and hopefully will get this beast registered VERY SOON!!!