Mitsubishi Carisma reunited after 16 years

[P304r5]

Hi, I haven't posted on here in a couple of years but thought this would be the best place to post this. My grandparents owned this 1998 Mitsubishi Carisma from 2000-2004. I have liked Carismas since then, being properly obsessed with them since 2016. I remembered they had a red one when I was very young (I was born a month after they got the car!) and have wanted to own a Carisma of my own. In early 2018 I found the numberplate of the car on an old receipt and did a check and saw it was still on the road! I then found out where it was MOTed and contacted the garage who passed on my info. I never heard anything else so over the summer I put up a Facebook post saying I was trying to find my grandparents old car, and the owners neighbour saw the post and gave me his contact details! He had just retired and no longer needed the car, so he gave it to me! I am now trying to restore it, but parts are quite hard to find and I ideally need a donor car. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any companies that might still stock parts? The car needs a bonnet release cable, which is the reason the inner grilles aren't fitted! It does need a lot of work before I can get it on the road again, it isn't too rusty though! I am completely obsessed with Carismas and also own a white facelift from 2000. Would love to see any photos of Carismas anyone has owned/spotted one! 

Thanks,

 

William 

 

 

 

[HMC]

Great story! How did you find out where it was mot’d? Now it requires v5 reference numbers but IIRC there was an early loophole that revealed the MOT station info? 

[P304r5]

6 minutes ago, HMC said:

Great story! How did you find out where it was mot’d? Now it requires v5 reference numbers but IIRC there was an early loophole that revealed the MOT station info? 

thanks! my MOT tester found out by reprinting one of its test certificates I think, it was so long ago! 

[Soundwave]

A lovely story... early Carismas seem to have all but disappeared from the roads in the UK, seem to remember they were the senior citizen's transport of choice at one point! Excellent detective skills.

[wuvvum]

21 minutes ago, P304r5 said:

I am completely obsessed with Carismas

Sentences you will only read on Autoshite #24132.

[P304r5]

2 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

A lovely story... early Carismas seem to have all but disappeared from the roads in the UK, seem to remember they were the senior citizen's transport of choice at one point! Excellent detective skills.

thank you! I was actually offered a really early Carisma last week for free, a May 1996 car! It was too nice for me to break though but too much of a project to restore, its one owner as well but I think he decided to keep it after I spoke to him! Theres another early white N reg local to me too! 

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant! Good luck getting it sorted. 

[sierraman]

Didn’t these have an early type of direct injection petrol? 

[P304r5]

1 minute ago, sierraman said:

Didn’t these have an early type of direct injection petrol? 

the 1.8 GDIs,  this is a 1.6  

[P304r5]

9 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Brilliant! Good luck getting it sorted. 

thank you it doesnt need much work really to keep it roadworthy, but my grandad kept it immaculate so I wanted to restore it back to how it used to be!

[sierraman]

What’s parts supply like? Mind you Japanese engine, it’ll run like a sewing machine for a hundred years. 

[P304r5]

2 minutes ago, sierraman said:

What’s parts supply like? Mind you Japanese engine, it’ll run like a sewing machine for a hundred years. 

theres loads of parts on ebay but none of the bits I actually need! 

[wesacosa]

great story. Aren't these a platform share with the Volvo v40/s40 mk1 and Proton Impian?

perhaps some of the parts you need are common

[Lord Sterling]

Nice. I've actually got a 1.43 model Carisma somewhere like this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VITESSE-1-43-084H-MITSUBISHI-CARISMA-MSX-FLAME-RED/133522684366

I also might have a wheel trim for yours but I'll need to check.

[P304r5]

1 minute ago, wesacosa said:

great story. Aren't these a platform share with the Volvo v40/s40 mk1 and Proton Wira?

perhaps some of the parts you need are common

thank you and yeah they are, I have a V40 too but no one seems to know if the parts are common and they arent the ones I can easily check like the release cable! 

[P304r5]

3 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

Nice. I've actually got a 1.43 model Carisma somewhere. I also *might* have a wheel trim for it but I'll need to check.

thanks! wheel trim would be great, theres only two left on the car and one is quite bad! I have five 1/43 Carismas in a little shrine in my bedroom 😆

[spartacus]

Great story, absolutely no offence but these were billed by some as the car with the least appropriate name.

That's why we're all here though, love of the unloved. I'd be very surprised if it doesn't share a bonnet release cable with another Mitsubishi of that era, find a local dealer quick and get friendly with the parts man, before they all shut.

Edited to correct poor grammar!

[tooSavvy]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

Didn’t these have an early type of direct injection petrol? 

I think the piston crown looks like an inverted champagne glass, with the stem snapped.....

[P304r5]

2 hours ago, spartacus said:

Great story, absolutely no offence but these were billed by some as the car with the least appropriate name.

That's why we're all here though, love of the unloved. I'd be very surprised if it doesn't share a bonnet release cable with another Mitsubishi of that era, find a local dealer quick and get friendly with the parts man, before they all shut.

Edited to correct poor grammar!

I was waiting for that typical comment about the name! my gdi has a bright blue interior, great spec with aircon and sunroof, actually surprisingly good to drive as its quick and handles well. it seems everyone whos made comments about the name has never had one as they have charisma to most people whos owned one! I was going to call local Mitsubishi dealer but not sure if theyd even remember the carismas! 

[Amishtat]

Can't help with parts I'm afraid but what a heartwarming story. I looked up the registration of my Grandad's last car a couple of years ago but it's been gone since 2003,only outlasted him by a year. 

[spartacus]

52 minutes ago, P304r5 said:

I was waiting for that typical comment about the name! my gdi has a bright blue interior, great spec with aircon and sunroof, actually surprisingly good to drive as its quick and handles well. it seems everyone whos made comments about the name has never had one as they have charisma to most people whos owned one! I was going to call local Mitsubishi dealer but not sure if theyd even remember the carismas! 

Like it says, there's no offence intended. I'm a Mitsubishi fan and I've no doubt it's a great car.

[Cookiesouwest]

They do share parts with the ovlov. I would imagine that the bonnet release cable is the same.

Why would ovlov and mitsi choose to fit different cables. Economic suicide

[djim]

You could give https://partsouq.com a try, I've had luck with them finding obscure subaru parts before and it often helps with part numbers even if they don't have what you want. 

[djim]

This any help: 

 

Part number 61414 on the diagram. 

(from here: https://partsouq.com/en/catalog/genuine/unit?c=Mitsubishi&ssd=%24*KwGRpbSnlpLu3uvL8MK_n8nd_frklZqXloSXqNiA0YaZgP-F1taLgZiW2d3X5dzYgMqZgP-Gj4DGydjOyuCUlZLgkpWUvtbEgcHMhpmRiYWP1tKBlpeJkpCVhdbWgYGYh5WXkIqWzsa3kpCVl-KQ4ubKoMre3NPBy-LehZnW0oOA5pKTlOaXysesgY6Fhs6An4fYsKmS44eIg4DGy9jOyIHx6-7m8JOFhwAAAABe9wyH%24&vid=0&cid=3&uid=132387&q= )

There are 3 different part numbers on the site but googling Mitsubishi+61414 makes me think it might be shared with the Colt (not sure which one) Lancer up to 2000, and Pajero. 

 

Of course I've had a drink and I'm also an idiot who doesn't understand parts numbers so YMMV but hopefully of some use? 

[richbraith]

This is amazing.  Imagine a Carisma featuring in such a heartwarming tale.

[P304r5]

11 hours ago, djim said:

This any help: 

 

Part number 61414 on the diagram. 

(from here: https://partsouq.com/en/catalog/genuine/unit?c=Mitsubishi&ssd=%24*KwGRpbSnlpLu3uvL8MK_n8nd_frklZqXloSXqNiA0YaZgP-F1taLgZiW2d3X5dzYgMqZgP-Gj4DGydjOyuCUlZLgkpWUvtbEgcHMhpmRiYWP1tKBlpeJkpCVhdbWgYGYh5WXkIqWzsa3kpCVl-KQ4ubKoMre3NPBy-LehZnW0oOA5pKTlOaXysesgY6Fhs6An4fYsKmS44eIg4DGy9jOyIHx6-7m8JOFhwAAAABe9wyH%24&vid=0&cid=3&uid=132387&q= )

There are 3 different part numbers on the site but googling Mitsubishi+61414 makes me think it might be shared with the Colt (not sure which one) Lancer up to 2000, and Pajero. 

 

Of course I've had a drink and I'm also an idiot who doesn't understand parts numbers so YMMV but hopefully of some use? 

thank you so much thats great! really appreciate the help! 

[P304r5]

11 hours ago, richbraith said:

This is amazing.  Imagine a Carisma featuring in such a heartwarming tale.

thank you!

[406V6]

23 hours ago, sierraman said:

What’s parts supply like? Mind you Japanese engine, it’ll run like a sewing machine for a hundred years. 

A work colleague of mine has one of these with the GDi engine for 15 years or so. This engine had a reputation for coking up with some solid stuff (excuse my lack of detailed knowledge here) and his needed work several times.

[P304r5]

28 minutes ago, 406V6 said:

A work colleague of mine has one of these with the GDi engine for 15 years or so. This engine had a reputation for coking up with some solid stuff (excuse my lack of detailed knowledge here) and his needed work several times.

are they aware it needs to be run on the higher octane fuel? tesco 99 momentum is what mine is run on. i dont think its the engine that gets clogged, just the throttle body would need to be cleaned. 

[mat_the_cat]

What's wrong with the cable? You should be able to make your own using standard cable fittings:

https://www.venhill.co.uk/cables-and-components/fittings-amp-components/nipples.html

Or even if you didn't fancy it yourself, getting one made up for you.