varotone

Greetings gentlemen, I've always had a thing for station wagons, and now I'm about to buy my first vehicle. I chose 1980 Mitsubishi Lancer A72-V as my first ride. In a series of posts, I hope to document the process of buying a ride and then restoring it. This is the first in what will be a series of posts on the whole process. A few AL members have already done very much that I intend to do. Your feedback is very valuable and always appreciated. As said before, this is my first purchase. I'm a total newbie for owning vintage cars let alone restoring one. Call me crazy or anything you want for taking a plunge in the deep end of the pool. For a number of different reasons I have selected Mitsubishi Lancer A72-V, and I'm dead set on it. My project plan is as follows. Buy a car Mechanical restorations (instrument panel, engine, breaks, steering, a/c) Body restoration (tinker, paint) Interior restoration (seats and upholstery) Now, I'm on the first part of the project. I have tracked down a drivable one and now haggling the price down to my budget. The condition is what is usual to expect from a car of that vintage. Pros- Fits my budget In a drivable condition Clear documents (ownership, license, emission tests, insurance) Chassis is in good condition Cons- Blotched paint job. the car was painted twice in two different colors. the latest coating peels off (papadam in local language). This looks ugly. But there is no corrosion under the paint. So I'm giving it a go. some rust spots around the rear windscreen Worn out tyres A/c is not working. Belt is missing, no gas, but the compressor is there. Here are a few pics of her. My first worry is the book states color as red. Will this be an issue? (in the final stage I will paint it red. Till then can I use it without any trouble?) Thank you, Varotone.

The link is not working. Can you please update it.

I recently fell in love with wagons to the point of buying one for the only purpose of restoring it. Currently my eyes are on a 1980 lancer wagon. I'm trying to haggle the offer. Appreciate the work by @Davy for the amazing restoration.

Problem is not the absence of a jack stand. The rear wheels are higher on the cement floor and the front is low. It is very dangerous to jack up a vehicle when the surface is not level. Even a jack stand would have slipped out of place on this kind of a slope. Jack stands are always essential. But might not have stopped this mishap.

Thanks for the info @walkernet Posting some details here for the benefit of any unfortunate AL members. (I hope none of you will get in to such a mess) Few startups in Sri Lanka offer page/butler/delivery on demand services. One that goes by the name "The $qu@d" is not in operation now. Another named "N!¢N@¢" doesn't answer the phone and the app is stuck at the registration page. I will update if it was useful.

I searched the internet and Facebook and asked 4 courier services. No avail. @walkernet can you please share with me the details of any such services you know? Please PM me if sharing such information is a violation forum rules.

Hey chill man! There's nothing to loose your cool over this. I'm sure that most of the AL members have been been booked for a traffic offense they committed or not. Don't talk like I'm a serial killer! I just happened to commit a minor traffic offense, paid the fine and want to get back my license. I was not advertising my offense or seeking help to do anything illegal. It's people like you who don't read or understand things but jump to conclusions and tell others to be safe drivers that make the road unsafe for us with your hasty driving. For the record, I'm nota habitual traffic offender. You sir, need to get you vision checked if you don't see what I have posted or get you brain checked if you can't understand what I said. Please stay away from the roads for the time being. Cheers!

Greetings gentlemen, I was issued a spot fine for failing to obey traffic signs by crossing a double line. Pleads to avoid a fine were futile. This happened last night in Siyabalanduwa. Now I have to deal with the haste of recovering my driving license from the police within 14 days. I'm no stranger to occasional spot fines in outstation areas. If the incident occurred when the post offices open, I immediately detour to the nearest post office, pay the fine and collect the license from the cop who will be at the same spot when I was fined. On a couple of occasions when I was fined at night, I go about my journey without fuss and pay the fines at the local post office within the next couple of days. Then I send the receipt issued by the post office through a courier to the outstation police station and they bring back the license the next day. This was possible because I had an accomplice working for a courier. Now my accomplice is no longer working for the courier. They say they can go to the police, pickup the license, and deliver it only if it was put in an envelop and addressed to me. They are not willing to send a courier to the police station with the post office receipt and collect it on my behalf. Not even for some extra fee?. I called two other couriers and they also declined the job. I can ask a friend from the area / traveling to the area / passing thorough the area to collect it. But that will take more than 14 days. Is there any courier / service provider to get this type of a job done? Please share with the community how you collect the driving licenses retained by the police when imposing a spot fine.

Greetings gentlemen, Please provide your thoughts on buying an Opel Astra Station Wagon to be used as a workhorse. By a workhorse I mean she will have to run around 250 km per week in and around Colombo without whining. She can rest on the weekends and will get the tender loving care she deserves. I expect nothing more than the preemptive running repairs for the next 5 years. C14SE engine - 1.4L (1389cc) inline 4 cylinder petrol, Multipoint EFI, 82 hp (61 kW) at 5200 rpm 5-speed manual transmission YOM - 1999 Agent imported. 200K on the ODO. 1. What would be a reasonable price range for this? 2. Please comment if this will meet my expectations in terms of reliability. 3. Anything specific I should look for when buying this? 4. I would also like to know if S@*H0$@ M0t0r$ still imports spares and does repairs. 5. Please suggest a good mechanic and a place to source parts. Thanks @Crosswind for suggesting this.

Familia, Laser, and Lancers are the variations of the sedans. So parts other than body panels will not be a problem because sedan variants are very common here. And the mechanics will be knowledgeable. I'm salivating over the long wheel base 4DR5. Sadly, a soft copy with valuables can't be left alone for a split second in Colombo. I've learned enough lessons. It makes sense to send the load twice in a three-wheeler than leave a rexine canopy lorry unattended for sometime while finishing one delivery. Astra is still available with the German engine and all. I've seen quite many of it's sedan variants. So parts will not be an issue. However, Opels are rare compared to the other options. It's ages since we had an Opel Kapitan as a beater car. It was sold after the mechanic who looked her after passed away. Since she will not be needed during weekends, I can even take her little far for a good mechanic. What should I look for when buying the Opel Astra SW? I'm planning to go see it this Sunday.

Thanks for the suggestion. They are within my price range. Do those flimsy engines last long? I've driven a Nissan Clipper before and was very disappointed by the driving dynamics. So I doubt those tiney engines. I'm giving it a thought.

Hello gentlemen, I am currently evaluating the option of buying a vehicle for business purposes. I'm running a small electronics business and plan to expand it a bit. Currently, I'm using a piaggio diesel three-wheeler for sales in Colombo and suburbs. My options are to buy another piaggio, or sell the existing one and go for a bigger vehicle. Since vans and pick-up trucks with a hard canopy are overpriced, I guess a station wagon would be a good option. Please suggest me vehicles that meet the following requirements. Budget is LKR 1,100,000. I can stretch it by 200k if I get a very good deal. Any fuel, auto or manual, is fine. Will do about 250km per week. Should be damn reliable. Should be able to withstand the abuse of commercial drivers. Load will not be very heavy but take up space. I plan to use it for at least 5 years. I'm feeling adventurous to go beyond the usual ad wagons, dx, caldina, and ce 108s.

Thank you for your responses. Servicestations produce more oil than the mechanics it seems. They are happy to accept oil from us. Looks like the service stations sell it. I'll get rid of my waste oil in the next weekend. The filters are sold for scrap metal. The filter paper with some oil ends up in landfill, I presume.

Greetings gentleman, How do you dispose off the used engine oil after an oil change? When I do oil changes at home, I collect the burnt engine oil. I use them for lubricating odd stuff like the garage door or as a substitute for kerosene when burning garden waste. Now there's a lot of oil that I can't get rid by lubricating stuff and burning leaves. How do I get rid of it? My local mechanic says he gives away his oil when someone comes asking for oil for bicycle chain and stuff. But he refused to accept my oil. (I used to throw away the filter with garbage. Please suggest an environmentally friendly method to dispose the filters and oil)

Thanks for the helpful information. There's a lot of spares for GP, linea, and uno. I'm also considering GP, Panda, linea and dublo. The latest Uno I found was 1998 which offered too little electronics to get my hands dirty. So, Uno is out.

From what I gathered, Palio is built for emerging markets such as Brazil and India. As per the Wikipedia page, it's manufactured in many places such as Brazil, India, Turkey, China, Poland and Russia. Aren't the parts interchangeable? Aren't the mechanics doing Italian ones able/willing to do Indian ones? eBay lists many consumables for the model. Getting down spares doesn't look difficult if I plan ahead regarding running repairs and maintenance.

Yes. It's the Indian version. Again I didn't find information on the difference between the Indian and European one's. Please mention if you are aware of any.

Greetings gentlemen, I came across a Fiat Palio car when searching for a Grande Punto. Priced at a ridiculous 900K, I am about to make an impulse purchase. Please advice me on the purchase. Here are the details Make and model - Fiat Palio Stile 2007 Sport 1.6L Registered -2007 Odo - 75,000 km Petrol, Manual transmission My expectations are to find a car to get my hands dirty with mechanics and electronics, have some fun riding/towing/ pushing around this thing, and sell this within 2-4 years with the lowest depreciation. This didn't look like a popular car in the first place. A few online reviews didn't tell much other than how unsafe the car is. A search on Autolanka forum gave only one topic with only the OP. I would like to know form anyone who owned a Palio if to buy this, what to look for when buying, and any caveats regarding this particular model. PS. It's an unusual color, is from outstation although the licence plate is a western province, and the owner says 16 km/L (lol). Which might partly explain the low price. Edit - The specific one that I was talking about was sold. Still your advice is appreciated in case I came across another Palio.