Hey, everyone...this is more of an intro into the mirage area and more of an expansion of my intro in the new members area.

Basically, I was looking to add a commuter/daily driver vehicle to my current Wrangler TJ. The Wrangler sits on a 6" combo lift with a set of 35" tires on it so you can basically watch the gas needle move.

I've had at least two vehicles pretty much since i started driving (i'm currently 27) but have been without a decent gas vehicle for about 2 years now so i started looking for something i could get cheap, maintain cheap, and drive cheap. Hence, my new Mirage lol.

The car is a 1995 Mirage with a 1.5L 4cyl and an automatic. Picked the car up Sunday (Feb 8th) for $650 and the car has basically sat for the last 6 months without being started but before it sat, the previous owner installed: new timing belt, new starter, new plug wires, new distributor, new accessory belt, new battery, new terminal ends, new alternator, new muffler, new catalytic converter, and two new tires.

When i got there, the car was already started and had zero issues while running. The exhaust wasn't smoking, the engine wasn't knocking, and the heater worked like a champ. The two new tires (only have 5k on them) were on the front and there were some crappy ones on the back...well, about 10 miles into the trip back home (the car was 45 minutes north) the tread separated from one of the rear tires so i had to pull over and change the tire on the highway. Luckily the car had the stock jack, lug wrench, and spare in the trunk. Once i got that on, we started the trip back to Denver again (this time without issue). I just call it "bonding" lol.

Got the car home and put in my garage so i could start the tune-up work and the aesthetic work on it. I actually started the first night i got it while my girlfriend was studying for the LSAT...

First night i accomplished:

Oil change (mobil 1 high mileage synthetic)
Oil filter change
Engine restore additive
Tightened the accessory belt
Checked the brakes
New wipers
Fluid checks
Removed the speaker wires (they had it wired for subs)
Removed the locking gas lid and installed a grommet in its place (i hate locking lids)

After the first night, i got up early to get a lot more of it knocked out because the girlfriend was going to be gone so i had the free time.
Second day/night i accomplished:

Spark plug change
Made new intake from scratch with new KN filter - (the previous owner made an intake for it out of steal exhaust pipe and a REALLY crappy filter which said turbo ram air on it lol. They also didnt tap a hole for a vacuum line so it was idling poor when you started it.)
New silicon around the turn passenger turn signal (the clip had broken so i re-installed it with clear silicon instead of getting a new one)
Full vacuum including the trunk
Interior wipe down
Removed the tint residue from the windows (was really bad and took forever, still not completely done)
Pulled a dent from the passenger side quarter panel
Re-installed a bumper clip to make it more snug in the rear

Pretty sure that was all for the second day...

Then i got up early again today and went over to Discount Tire to get two new tires put on the vehicle so they were new all around and also had them re-balanced so its perfect.
Added some 44k gas treatment to it to hopefully get rid of some deposits
Also put a new window crank clip in it

Got it added to my insurance which only increased by 9 bucks a month and now were pretty much all set...just need to get a temporary tag and then get it registered!

All in all, with the price of the car, i'm about 850-900 bucks into it.

Only things left that i'm going to do will be remove the remaining window film residue, wash and buff it, touch up the paint, some front seat covers, and then install a new CD player.

Here is a pic from the day i got it:


Heres a pic from earlier today after the dent was removed (not washed yet)


And heres a pic of the new intake i made for it...first pic is next to the old exhaust pipe and second is of it finished. I'll get some "after" pics of it installed tomorrow and update this thread with some before/after's




Cheers!

 

Heres an updated pic of the installed intake with heatshield...