Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - Is this the worst car I have ever bought!

[High Jetter]

Must be confusing for any kids trying to learn the alphabet!

[richardmorris]

[hairnet]

Can't do chevrons - this is happening

[richardmorris]

Thunder and lightning, very, very frightening, indeeeeeed….

[richardmorris]

See you snuck the rolls Royce in! And bought a picasso!!

[rob88h]

On 9/8/2023 at 10:47 PM, Six-cylinder said:

That Gold LNA was car of the show for me 😍. Thanks for bringing it. 

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, rob88h said:

That Gold LNA was car of the show for me 😍. Thanks for bringing it. 

 

[hairnet]

Nice

This is why I didn't go lol

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

Nice

This is why I didn't go lol

Deserter

[richardmorris]

[richardmorris]

[richardmorris]

[Six-cylinder]

While I was at the Citroen Rally over the weekend a BX exploded in the FoD!

[chaseracer]

It is a SCTSH PLOT... 😁

[juular]

[richardmorris]

7 hours ago, richardmorris said:

It’s amusing that the hugest looking car is a Mk1 C5 estate,

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

While I was at the Citroen Rally over the weekend a BX exploded in the FoD!

Did you upset @Mrs6C ?

[Six-cylinder]

Back in February I had a message to say the Mitsubishi Sigma V6 Estate I had admired was in danger of being scrapped and would I be interested in saving it.

The immediate problem was the clutch had failed and Talbot organised its recovery and for the Clutch to be replaced at a garage he knows.

Next Talbot took it for MOT, not a disaster but a few things to fix. Talbot did all the mechanical work, new rack boots, drop links, welding, lamps, etc.

There are still two outstanding items, corroded headlights and tyres. There are tyres available in the correct size but are quite expensive so we are looking for part-worns. The main concern is the head lights, Talbot has tried to separate the glass from the plastic reflectors to tidy them but they are firmly attached and likely to break the reflectors if forced.  There are no headlights in the UK so we are going to attempt to get some from Australia. 

A very big thanks to @Talbot who has done so much to help save this car.

[Dick Longbridge]

Has it visited the FOD previously? It looked pretty clean until recently. Great to see a proper rarity saved.

[Six-cylinder]

28 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Has it visited the FOD previously? It looked pretty clean until recently. Great to see a proper rarity saved.

yes 2016.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Im very glad to see that the Sigma estate has been saved! We had one as a family car when I was a child and I have quite the soft spot for them, especially the estates.

When looking in Australia for parts, keep in mind that is was called the Mitsubishi Magna in the home market, specifically it is a TS Magna (1994-1996) but the TR Magna (1991-1993) is essentially the same.

If you need any assistance in Australia sourcing spares, drop me a line.

[hairnet]

https://yoshiparts.com/parts/car/mitsubishi/diamante_wagon

[Schaefft]

Manual and V6, awesome! Australia is probably your best bet for rhd headlights. I still wouldn't mind owning a manual 24V saloon, naturally all of them were run into the ground 10 years ago.

[Zelandeth]

Few snaps of a couple of your cars from some recent MKCCC meet ups.

 

[MorrisItalSLX]

1 hour ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Im very glad to see that the Sigma estate has been saved! We had one as a family car when I was a child and I have quite the soft spot for them, especially the estates.

When looking in Australia for parts, keep in mind that is was called the Mitsubishi Magna in the home market, specifically it is a TS Magna (1994-1996) but the TR Magna (1991-1993) is essentially the same.

If you need any assistance in Australia sourcing spares, drop me a line.

I should also mention that as yours looks to be a posh spec one, the Magna was also sold in a more luxurious version called the Mitsubishi Verada (KR/KS).

If it’s headlamps you are looking for, may I recommend a set of Verada lamps as they look a bit nicer than the Magna lamps with the smoked look and gingercators.

Magna Lamps:

Verada Lamps:

[Talbot]

The issue with the headlamps is that the silvering on the plastic reflector has deteriorated quite badly, meaning there is no clear dipped-beam cut-off, hence MOT fail.  I was hoping that I could ping off the 6-or-so stainless clips each side that hold the glass lenses onto the plastic reflectors and get in there to re-silver the plastic, but they are also bonded, and the bonding appears to still be in tip-top condition (of course!).  I've been told that putting the headlamp in an oven at about 80c, then the adhesive softens and they can be prised apart.  However, the nearside headlamp plastic does have a significant crack in it, and I am not confident about pulling them apart without destroying them, hence I didn't.

The Aus-specification lamps for Magna and Verada look to be a higher quality lamp with a metal reflector in the body of the headlamp, hence may have remained in far better condition.  As far as I can see, the body mounting and steel pressings appear identical, hence they can be swapped out.  It might be nice to get a replacement grille too, as the Sigma one is rather damaged on the nearside (which matches with the NS headlamp being cracked and the slight dink in the bonnet edge).  I believe it had a coming together with a deer at some point.

As far as the Sigma goes, I was quite surprised at how big it is.  I could easily get my pushbike in the back without taking the front wheel off, which is a bit of a rarity.  It seems like quite a high specification car, and I rather like it.  Only thing it lacks (IMO) is A/C.

Tyres are a bit of an oddball (and old-fashioned) size at 205/65R15.  It currently has mismatched 195/65 and 195/60 tyres on it, which are all fairly knackered anyway, so getting the right size seems like a sensible thing to do, especially as the tyres look a bit small on the car at the moment (no surprise).  I realised this when I saw the spare was a different size, which I assumed was wrong, but it turned out was the only one the correct size.

Also, despite wearing a 1995/1996 "N" registration, it's actually a 1993 car.  Imported from overseas and given a new registration at date of import, rather than age-related to the year of manufacture.

[Six-cylinder]

38 minutes ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

I should also mention that as yours looks to be a posh spec one, the Magna was also sold in a more luxurious version called the Mitsubishi Verada (KR/KS).

If it’s headlamps you are looking for, may I recommend a set of Verada lamps as they look a bit nicer than the Magna lamps with the smoked look and gingercators.

Magna Lamps:

Verada Lamps:

@Talbot has been looking into them and thinks Australian headlights will need a grill to match. I am happy to do that partially as my grill is broken anyway and as soon as we can find good useable parts I am ready to buy them.

[Six-cylinder]

 

20 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Also, despite wearing a 1995/1996 "N" registration, it's actually a 1993 car.  Imported from overseas and given a new registration at date of import, rather than age-related to the year of manufacture.

Where did you find that information?

The V5C says declared new at first registration and the service book also says 16 miles on 30 March 1996. Sometimes cars sit a long time unregistered with the importer before being sold but I can't see how I was used overseas first?

 

 

 

 

[Talbot]

7 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

 

Where did you find that information?

The V5C says declared new at first registration and the service book also says 16 miles on 30 March 1996. Sometimes cars sit a long time unregistered with the importer before being sold but I can't see how I was used overseas first?

T'was information from the previous owner.  Which, given the evidence you have there, would appear to be either erronious, or I've mis-remembered or mis-interpreted.  I am absolutely sure it was mentioned to be a 1993 model, but maybe it was simply that it sat around for a while before registration rather than anything else.

I wonder if an owners club or similar can date it's manufacture by the vin...

[Six-cylinder]

12 minutes ago, Talbot said:

T'was information from the previous owner.  Which, given the evidence you have there, would appear to be either erronious, or I've mis-remembered or mis-interpreted.  I am absolutely sure it was mentioned to be a 1993 model, but maybe it was simply that it sat around for a while before registration rather than anything else.

I wonder if an owners club or similar can date it's manufacture by the vin...

I will ask on a couple of facebook groups now I have the car.

Any news from the headlight/grill man you spoke to?

We now have  @MorrisItalSLX to help us.

Was there just one key?