Nate

Makes sense thanks - there is a fuel smell when running and switched off. I have not emptied the tank yet to check pressure release, I will let you know when I try that.

Following up, the smell is from the front of the car, engine,as we drive (quite strong if we roll down the windows). I was reading some old threads which recommended a gent called Dhammika in Cotta Road borella, does anyone know if he is still around?

Interesting! TIL

Something important you touched on here is your father's age and the difficulty of driving in the night (and any time really) in Colombo. I would focus on comfort and ease of driving. Also is there any way he could hire/try whatever vehicle he wants to buy first, that way he would know if it works for him? I know Sri Lanka has a few places to hire vehicles, though I don't know if they have those vehicles available.

Thank you JC. I'm a little reluctant to follow recommendations as that thread is over a decade old. A related example: when I got the car, my first trip was to my favourite garage for Toyotas - when I got there I found out that the owner had passed away. I let them do some of the work - the staff are OK with suspension work but not engine work alas. Right now, I'm a bit stuck as there's a significant performance issue with overtaking and climbing hills - the engine seems to lug and the car vibrates but doesn't go*.. even in a lower gear. I am not certain if it's the auto gearbox or engine or both even, I suspect it's the engine. I'm thinking about taking the car to that repair place created as a subsidiary of the agent - pit and something. Has anyone tried them? Edit: car vibrates but doesn't speed up. It seems to struggle and i have to crawl up the hill.

Happy to be of help, all the best with restoration.

My biggest regret in not buying a wagon is this. I would put a sticker in the back that said something florists, tint the rear windows and drive at a somber pace.

For what it's worth, I have spent at least 400 or 500k on the 110 I purchased, and there's more to do - I expected this, even though the car was (by Sri Lankan standards) "nothing to do, buy and drive" but the benefit is I end up with (what I feel is) a good car which can be used and enjoyed long term. I feel a budget of at least 10-20% minimum may be good to set aside for repairing the vehicle (I could be wrong). I also second @iRage suggestion of considering a corolla/nissan AD wagon (van) - I was going to buy one but I didn't find a good one. If I had I would definitely have got one. You would also get things like ABS etc. As for fun to drive, I test drove a few and they are delightful - great performance and the space is fantastic. You can carry anything, even a coffin 😎

Question for you: how do you hope to use the vehicle? Office daily driver? Outstation, long distance? So these are my experiences (could be different for each person/vehicle). Performance - it may be difficult to overtake in a truck, particularly in busy roads, and possibly more in outstation / mountain areas (if you go there) I have not driven a Hilux, probably the performance may be good. In general, if you enjoy a quiet drive and are not in a hurry, I think you'll be fine. Handling Definitely not a car, so mountain roads, bends etc needs a fair bit of slowing down. Stopping distance More than a car. Cops So, for some reason, I find cops out of Colombo love trucks. In Colombo, they don't care much. People/other vehicles They respect trucks more - which is awesome. Particularly in Colombo, if you are feeling lazy you can just amble along and nobody will bother you. Is there a way you can borrow or rent a truck from someone for a weekend or something and see what you feel?

Following up, so I was able to get the crank pulley replaced as well as the belts and other stuff. I will write up about that The main problems I have now are: - engine idle up doesnt work properly, for AC, engaging a gear, the vehicle starts to rattle. I increased the idle a bit to compensate but something is wrong. - there's a fuel smell when the car is running. I suspect this could be connected to the idle issue. Is there any garage that can do a careful check or the ECU and sensors and clean or replace as needed, and also do a proper tuneup? The two garages I went to, they gave it a try but don't seem to know what they are doing. Does anyone have suggestions 🙏🏿😇

Off topic somewhat but what is it with mitsubishi cars and rust? Obviously I'm not blaming them as they are 20 years past their expiry date but I had one and I swear it rusted in places you didn't think a car could rust.

Disclaimer, I know next to nothing about anything, that said, I'd ask two things: 1. How is parts availability? In the case of my car (110) body parts are rather rare. Even engine parts are starting to look rare. The Hilux is older (I think) so are parts, spares, engine components available? 2. By falling under the lorry category, could they be less demand? (Resale may not be a big issue for you), but all the same. Regarding trucks (I used one for a decade) there are a few challenges which may or may not matter to you - but are you very familiar with that category of vehicle - the pros and cons of day to day life with one? On parking, I don't think it's much of a problem. Yes ,you won't fit in a spot a Maruti can squeeze in, but you should do fine. You might also love the elevated driving position and how people scurry out of the way and don't want to mess with you 🤩

Thanks so much! Alas, don't think these were done, but next time for sure, I'll remember when we open it up next!

It seems better! Still has a few issues but I think we are on the right track. I look forward to sharing my adventures 😇

I thought I'll talk about what it's like to visit a garage In Sri Lanka. Interestingly, like most experiences here, there's a way things are done. The test drive Where the owner of the garage identifies what problems exist, and how to mask them while maximizing his earnings. Pole position Depending on how screwed you are, you'll be asked to sandwich your car in a corner of a garage. Between the wrecked insurance write-offs usually. If it's a serious issue, you are parked deep inside so you can't escape. Kota uda phase Here, they disable the car. It is symbolic to remove a tire and or a part of the engine. Ostensibly to remove the part to be fixed or find spares, but mostly to prevent the customer from escaping. Spares You'll be given a few unidentified components and asked to go find them. If the owner feels charitable, he will take the spares on his morning drive. The other work phase Here, everyone forgets your car, and works on other things. Your engine remains open. Crows defecate on your cam shaft, thereby ensuring better lubrication. 4:45pm If your vehicle is a day job, at 4:45 PM, the tired staff will suddenly remember it. Grease monkeys will put everything together at warp speed. What's an extra nut between friends? Something old, something new broken When everything is put together, you will discover one extra nut. You know your engine needs that nut. You'll discover what that nut did, 3 months later, on the highway at 7:54PM It is tradition at this late stage to break something. Cynical people say it's so you return to the garage, but it's actually to remind you of how everything is impermanent (and so you can drive home with a broken AC) and remind yourself to feel gratitude.

Thank you. There's a level of thoughtfulness, refinement and beauty evident in every aspect of the car. It's a work of art. I feel very blessed to have it even though it's in such a poor state, and I'm slowly working on restoring it. I feel the people who made it, likely long dead, were really proud of their accomplishment. I think it is extraordinary because every aspect of the design feels well thought through.

Haha I hear you. Trying to keep a low profile as I have too many fans in SL. I'll quietly post some once I'm under the radar again. At least an ankle or something. I think this is the Thailand taxi model. Pre facelift.

I am not exactly sure what they did. I think they drained the fluid and took the bottom (sump?) off as well as something else. The fluid was dark, felt great to replace it with fresh fluid.

Thank you, yes. We swapped the oil again. I don't think they did a flush though. As you suspected, two oil seals had gone, I think one was crankshaft, other was camshaft? Replaced the timing belt which was a gonner despite being allegedly replaced 30k km before the meter reading.

Thank you JC. Yes, restoration is the word - my heart goes out for the car if that makes sense. Such a fine vehicle and so sad to see it abused. I'm slowly working on it.

Thank you so much. Any place in Colombo? I urgently need to get the following done: - Correct pulley misalignment (crankshaft, power steering) and replace belts. - a proper tuneup. Examine sensors, clean, check, replace as needed. Thank you so much. Appreciate your help which made it possible. Totes. I created a blog so I can post in detail. Hope it will help someone. Thanks so much. Know any places in CMB?

The owner of the car was a traditional Sri Lankan - cheap, lazy and ignorant. He was kind enough to not empty the fuel tank, so I was able to make my way to a fuel station and top up the car. A few ghosts had to leave the fuel tank as it had not been filled fully since Chandika was president. The next port of call was the service station. Here we emptied the dark tarry engine oil and put in some fresh (hopefully real) Toyota oil. We next replaced the oil, air, and other filters). After that it was off to the garage to do the suspension and brakes. I can't remember exactly what was done (have to look at the paperwork) but all 4 struts, front CV joints and a lot of odds and ends were replaced. The brakes were overhauled and front rotors (is that the correct term?) polished. I forgot to get the wheel bearings replaced so there's a continuous hum. Need to do that. Total, I think it was 150-200k

It is my humble belief that Japanese automakers may have perfected their craft in the late 90s. None more so than Toyota themselves. I have always been a fan of Toyota and my family owned many (though I didn't personally), so when I was looking at cars I paid particular attention to this corolla (I believe it's the 8th generation JDM corolla?) I saw a few sprinter equivalents, I liked them as they included an RPM meter. Along the way, I chances upon and e110 which was (in my opinion) in passable condition. When I say passable, I mean the vehicle could be restored, Vs most other cars which I would consider in salvage/write-off status. In my nontechnical assessment, I graded the car as follows - body - passable/repairable. No major signs of visible rust or structural damage. - engine - average condition for age but serviceable -i felt a tuneup plus replacing belts, electricals etc could do. -suspension - unsurprisingly, 30 years on Sri Lankan roads meant replace everything. -interior - passable, cleanable. - transmission - functional. The next step was to take it to an inspection company. There are two, so I tossed a coin. I had my heart set on the simian variety but I landed on the other. The inspection was very interesting. I expected a 5 minute check, but they really took their time, which I appreciated. At Rs7,500 I considered this good value. The inspection confirmed my assessment. For me, the biggest relief was that the chassis appeared to be reasonable, with no major accidents (usual fender benders etc) - I consider chassis issues to be mostly unfixable. Suspension, as I suspected, was gone, so they advised replacing the basics - struts and bits, which seemed reasonable. Engine and transmission, they did a test drive and agreed with me that it was Ok, could do with a service. An understatement, as suspect the current owner hasn't serviced it in 50k km The owner has the vehicle under "open papers" registered in the previous owners name. I told them that if they transfer it to their name, I can buy it. The owner was able to do this, so I went ahead and purchased the car.

Last year, I decided to purchase a second vehicle for travelling around Sri Lanka, as well as regular use. I set a modest (by Sri Lankan standards) budget of LKR 3m + 10%++ for restoration. In this price range, I had a choice between Indian and Japanese vehicles I ruled out the Indian ones, because I wasn't satisfied with build quality and comfort in this price range. I could have got an Alto but I don't consider them safe (too small). This left a few Japanese and Korean vehicles. I steered clear of the Korean ones, not for any bad reason, but because I simply don't understand them. I suspect there may have been some excellent vehicles by Hyundai/Kia. Among Japanese vehicles, I steered clear of Mitsubishi as I have seen rust issues with these cars (older ones). One of the most important things for me was the availability of spares and body parts, as well as the simplicity of the vehicle. I shortlisted the following vehicles: - Toyota corolla - AE100/110, Carina, Camry, Corona etc. - Toyota Station Wagon (90s-2000s) mostly the van variants. - Nissan FB14/15 and N16s - Cefiro/Bluebird/etc I decided not to go with a Carina/Corona simply because I couldn't find a good example, also, being rarer cars, I figured out the body parts may not be available (internals are mostly shared so I didn't foresee major issues there). With Nissans, the FB14s I saw were mostly salvage grade, I saw a few decent fb15s but most had absurd prices in the 3.5-4.5m range. I looked at quite a few N16s but they were either wrecked or the owners wanted high prices. To expand on pricing, I preferred to buy a simple corolla Vs one of the more exotic cars, as I believe these are simpler to maintain. I saw a few corolla vans (wagons) but these were in poor condition. The ae100s I saw were in poor condition. I finally found an ae110 and selected it, as I felt it was in reparable condition. I'll provide more updates on the car here soon. I want to sincerely thank a number of people in this community for their mind help and advice. In particular, @iRage and @matroska

Guys, I was able to purchase the car. Unsurprisingly there's a lot of work to do, but that's fine. I've sorted out the suspension issues, I'm now working on engine issues. Need to get a tuneup done and to check all the sensors, etc. it seems some of the pulleys are misaligned and belts are frayed, so I want to sort that out asap Can someone recommend me a good place to do a tuneup and also some of the engine work needed (e110, 5a engine) - I basically need a place with technical knowledge and patience to do a reasonable job. I'll separately post a thread on the learnings and resources so it can help anyone (hopefully) Edit: I also need to check on the gearbox. At the least, a fluid change and service perhaps? It seems it doesn't downshift easily, but this could be a perception on my part (engine performance etc) which may be OK after a tune-up