Vanilla Fitment - '95 FTO

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Dang, I gotta admit that looks pretty shmick... I don't want to think about the cost of repainting the whole car though haha. Especially since it's multi-layered.

I really want a respray so I can fit the body kit, but I also want a lot of other things that'll probably take priority and $$$.

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Evo 5 gear arrived! Fortuitously on a day I'm not at work and thus able to help the delivery guy haul it into the driveway lol. Lancer Evolution V Brembo calipers, rotors, hubs, and lower control arms. Should (fingers crossed based on prior info) be all bolt on. Haven't figured out exactly how/if I'll mount the rear calipers yet, but they were cheap in addition to the fronts so I got them as well.







Have a few things left to do before they go on. Calipers repainted, rebuild with seal kit, probably replace the bushes in the LCAs, and buy some new pads. Then wait for the weather to cool down sufficiently so my mechanic can fit it all, along with the extra-reinforced GPvR subframe. Good times ahead!

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Grabbed these Evo 7 Enkei stocks with near new INVO tyres for a bit more than I sold the wheels that came first on the white car. Only 17x8, but they'll clear the Brembos and will at least also clear the guards nicely, good for track haha.

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Things rolling along. Sold the silver FTO in the end for $2700AUD with some extras thrown in. Considering I bought it for 4k, did 55,000kms on it and that it needed a bit of TLC, I figured that was fair enough. Plus I didn't have to pay another instalment of insurance, or renew the registration again (which would have been another $200 blown).

Been daily-ing the white FTO now, my sole car. Discovered the radiator cap was stuffed when I was giving the car a good run through the hills and it decided to be hot. Replaced that and I'm no longer loosing coolant it seems. Leads me to believe maybe it was the cap all along and not the hoses which I'm still waiting on, but certainly no harm replacing them given how old they look anyway. Dropped the Brembos off at my mechanic mate and he has been taking them apart. Will likely only install all of that next month or so after our annual FTO meet.

Meanwhile considering long term plans for power gains lol. Was tempted to go N/A as some others have done, but it is an expensive exercise for what you can achieve. Have discovered that seemingly the exhaust manifolds and thus stock turbos from the Galant/Legnum VR4 6A13 twin-turbo mount without much issue to the 6A12. Just the power steering hoses to be re-done and brake distribution block relocated for good measure to keep it away from the heat. Means slightly less fabrication costs and could be tempting.

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Also slightly old things. Attended All Japan Day 2016 with the white FTO and even had some people take pics of my car which was nice. Credit Street Squad Car Club and Turn 8 Photography.





Also took over 1000 photos myself and got a mad sunburn. Here's the Flickr album if you're bored and want to have a rifle through.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129206829@N05/albums/72157662884967574

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Radiator is on the way out, picked up an ally one, fast'n'free eBay delivery that's actually fast and free! Not bad. The Samco sport rad hoses that I ordered a while back also arrived today as well, hopefully keeps everything nice and cool on roadtrip.



Also picked up a steal of a parts car for $500AUD. Facelift front bar (with expensively rare foglights), despoilered boot (both of which I'm taking), BC BR coilovers, 18" rims, front strut brace, head unit, and the rest of the stuff I can sell on as well, as soon as I have somewhere to take it apart with a mate. Was in a rear ender, nothing major, but a bit much effort for me to put it back together when I'm taking that much off it already. We'll see, as it's not been written off.





Getting it towed tomorrow! Does run, but been sitting for a year.

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Alloy radiator was a dud haha. The threads for the drain plug hole were terrible, you could just push in and pull out the plug without actually screwing it in. Gonna have to send it back for a refund. Was there while mechanic mate bled brakes and clutch, got my Samco sport hoses on at least, flushed the coolant and also had oil+filter changed. Went for a flog through the hills afterwards, temps are steady, so isn't pressing to replace rad anyway... Road-trip this week across the country.




Version R spoiler... want. But despoilered boot in the background will do for the moment.

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Survived (just) our 2900km (1800 mile) road trip to the FTO Australia annual bonfire again. Without a hitch except some overheating in traffic, which was mitigated by blasting the heater anyway so no biggie. Accidentally hit my foglight switch and couldn't figure out why my parker lights were stuck on lol.





Much want for these custom tail lights. Modified Project Fs.

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New Skunk2 lower arms, and the ball-joints for the Evo 5 hubs. Ordered another radiator from a different company, Fenix; still in the process of trying to return the old one..

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Evo 5 Timken hub assembly and Fenix radiator from NZ arrived.

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Mechanic got the hubs and ball-joints all together a little while back.



Dropped off my calipers to get painted a nice poppin' yellow, waiting for them to come back so they can get rebuilt. Just need to test fit an LCA to determine which bushes to use then we'll be almost good to go. Can't come soon enough as the cheapo chinese wheel bearing I bought off ebay has already given up life lol.

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Rear arms in.



Rear alignment very much out lol.



Also test fitting my long-temporary Evo 7 wheels just to be %100 sure they clear the brakes before I sell the RPF1s.





Sadly losing some stance points, but I'll collect them again later down the track with any luck. Want to be driving the car harder and attend a few track days this year if I can, so these will suit that purpose.

[EricT93]

Love the new goodies!

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Love the new goodies!

If only they'd all cooperate! Haha. Everything I try to do is fraught with problems. Paint didn't work out on the calipers so the guy is redoing them. On the plus side my mechanic test fitted the arms on my parts car (which is conveniently sitting in his back yard), and everything works. And then this happened...



Go figure, lol. Now the proud owner of a two-piece front sway bar. Fortunately have managed to follow up on a slightly larger than stock 18mm Whiteline one, only downside to it is the guy had bought it for his lower spec 'GR' model which has a different setup again, and while they were redoing his he for whatever reason had to cut off all except one of the adjusting holes, so it only has the stiffest setting. In a way it's somewhat fortunate it decided to snap now, as changing front sway is a bitch of a job, and I'm already having all the LCAs and subframe out, so now is the ideal time!