Peanut Projects - Part Two

Are you keen to get your hands dirty modifying a car but don’t want something that’s expensive and difficult to work on? We take a look at a couple more vehicles that are waiting for the back yard tinkerer!

Mitsubishi Magna 24V V6

The late-model Magna V6 is an interesting vehicle from a modification point of view. With 24 valves it has a definite technology advantage over most of its Aussie-built rivals, but few people recognise its immense potential – and that’s despite the emergence of the short-lived 180kW Ralliart Magna.

Personally, we’d go for a 3.5 litre Magna as the starting point – the 3.0 litre version is a sweet revver, but its capacity disadvantage is obvious. The 3.5 24V V6 first appeared in the KE Verada but, unfortunately, its performance in that car was hampered by a non Sports Mode 4 speed auto trannie. The first model with real potential is the 1999 TH Magna 3.5 with a 5 speed manual – these are the sleepers of the bunch!

In standard form, the TH 3.5 is rated at 147kW and 300Nm. Note that a Sports version was also offered but it has no extra power – its forte was improved handling, sports trim (as seen in this photo), body kit and alloy wheels.

Our testing has shown that the factory induction system is not particularly restrictive (about 12 inches of water at full power) but you could pick up a little bit with a larger feed into the airbox and by replacing the small resonant chamber that’s tee’d into the induction pipe.

The exhaust system of the Magna 3.5 is reputedly very restrictive – especially the rear muffler. A complete replacement - exhaust headers and all – is your best move. A 2 ½ inch mandrel system with quality mufflers and a high-flow cat would be good for day-to-day duties. The factory exhaust manifolds can be replaced with off-the-shelf Ralliart Magna items or with aftermarket jobs.

But the camshafts are where it’s at.

The cams used in the standard 3.5 are ultra conservative and it’s all too easy to pick up a handfull of kilowatts with barely any affect on refinement. The Ralliart Magna camshafts are a straight swap that deliver 10mm greater lift – about as big as you can fit through the cam bearing tunnels. Uprated valve springs are a good option with the big cams.

Once the cams have been changed, you’ll probably need to look at some engine management tweaks. The Mitsubishi’s frequency output airflow meter makes things difficult, but a quality interceptor – such as a UniChip – should give enough tuning flexibility.

If you’re really keen, the alloy heads can be removed and modified along similar lines to the Ralliart Magna. It is said the Ralliart Magna heads provide increased intake charge velocity at small valve openings – keep this in mind before you remove any material from the heads.

Note that the heads can also be modified to achieve substantially higher compression ratio. If you’re prepared to run on 95 RON premium unleaded, there’s no reason why you can’t venture towards 10.0:1 compression. In short, there’s a lot of room for making more power.

Once you’ve done all these mods, you’ll need a high performance set of tyres to assist getting torque to the bitumen. You might also want to look into installing a front LSD, as fitted to the Ralliart Magna manual. Oh, and then there are the Ralliart brakes...

At the end of all this you’re guaranteed easy 14 second quarter mile performance in a svelte and vastly under-rated car. Not bad!

Nissan Skyline R32 Turbo

This vehicle is commonly modified but all too often we see people ignoring the parts interchangability that exists with other Nissans.

The Japanese import R32 Skyline GTS-t is equipped with the second generation (silver rocker cover) RB20DET rated at 158kW at 6200 rpm and 263Nm at a low 3200 rpm. With six cylinders displacing a total of 2.0 litres and with a modest power output per cylinder, the RB20DET offers a few tuning advantages.

Let’s look at the fuel system. The injectors used in the R32 GTS-t are quite small, so it should be possible to score a cheap set of upgrade injectors from a high-output four cylinder. (Of course, you’ll need a total of six injectors!)

This extra fuelling capacity will come in handy when you start enhancing the RB20DET’s breathing potential.

The factory intercooler is something of a bad joke, but the monster factory ‘cooler from the R32 GT-R can be fitted with a bit of bumper trimming. GT-R intercoolers are gradually becoming cheaper as the price of brand new aftermarket ‘coolers fall.

At some stage you’ll want to squeeze a heap of boost (15+ psi) out of the turbocharger. Wait until it goes BANG (and it will!) and you can replace it with the larger unit fitted to the RB25DET or VG30DET. Interestingly, the R32 turbocharger shares the same T3 mounting pattern allowing you to make a relatively simple bolt-on upgrade. Nice!

The hot-wire airflow meter fitted to the GTS-t becomes restrictive at elevated power levels but being a relatively simple voltage output airflow meter, it’s achievable to swap to a larger unit. Alternatively, you might want to run an airflow meter bypass. Note that both of these mods will require a programmable signal interceptor.

The brakes can be upgraded to GT-R specs including the Brembos fitted to the V-spec. Oh, and then there’s a bunch of other stuff that comes out of a GT-R – for example, the wrap-around front seats.

And don’t bother hunting around for some bodgie aftermarket fibreglass body kit.

If you want to improve the GTS-t’s looks as well as high speed stability, you can’t go past the OE GT-R body kit. We’ve seen genuine factory GT-R rear wings available in good nick from about AUD$250 – and you know they work.

Go on – why not create a smooth, powerful rear-wheel drive machine...