'96 L400 Delica build and adventure thread!

96Delica

96Delica

Adventurer
Alright, so I spend enough time reading post after post after post on this site I figured I should stop lurking and contribute!

My first decision was, is the Delica supposed to go in the Mitsubishi section, or the expedition van section?? I figured, since it doesn't have running water or a full-time bed, it's not quite an "expedition" vehicle yet I guess.

So, first some info about these vans for those that don't get to see them around (south of the border).

It's a 1996 L400 Delica SpaceGear Exceed. Yes, that's a lot of titles, the L400 is the body style, Delica is the model, SpaceGear I think means that it's the 4x4 and Exceed is the trim level. The next levels are Super Exceed and Royal Exceed. The royal comes with a karaoke machine!! Both the super and royal have what's called 'crystal lite' roof which is twin sunroofs down the side of the van with power shades. I don't have that unfortunately but the van was in such good shape I couldn't pass it up.

A quick not about the 4x4 system in these. It has 'super-select' which is a locking centre diff. So I can put it in 4hi, 4hiLc or 4LoLc. The 4Hi is pretty much AWD, which is great on the highway when its snotty out, I don't have to lock the centre diff if it's not necessary, saves some wear and tear.

I bought it two years ago with 80,000km on it, since then I've driven across the country a few times, I just rolled over to 180,000km.... It's had an IP rebuild, NEW: injectors and glow plugs, battery, alternator, trans mounts, water pump, brakes, sway bar bushings and links all around, fuel filter housing, procomp shocks, tie rods, upper ball joints, cv boots a couple times, valve cover gasket, hmmmm... I think there's more. That's what happens when you put 100,000km on a 15 year old vehicle in a short period of time!

It has a 2.8L intercooled turbo diesel. I've deleted the EGR valve, it has full 2.5" stainless exhaust from the header through a small Magnaflow baffle. 2" lift with 31"x10.5" Duratracs on 15" Ultra Wheels, I also have Airlift air bags in the rear springs. I should have gone with 30" tires. I've trimmed as much as I think I can but it still will rub on compression in a turn. That being said, the 31s look awesome!! I've got a Uniden CB inside as well. The door speakers have been upgraded to some Alpine type E speakers. They're bottom of the line but the difference is amazing!!

On the To Do list: Bed line the roof (paint is turning crap), Bed line the grey part of the body (shredded from gravel), fender flares, upgrade all stereo, build drawers for the back, aux battery system, upgrade alternator, upgrade torsion bars, new roof rack fabbed, full underneath armour fabbed, re-tint windows, alarm and auto-start.

Here's a thread of our trip to Lab/Nfld a month ago via the Trans-Labrador highway - http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... rador-Loop


IMG_0233 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr
This it what it looked like when I first got it, before the suspension was totally gone!


IMG_4559 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr
After the lift! 2" of lift via torsion crank and spacers in the front and stiffer springs with Airlift airbags in the back. Procomp shocks all around.


IMG_4435 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr
Here's what used to be in the back, a third row bench seat. It was always up though because I need space for tools and material and whatnot, so I removed them and built..


IMG_4562 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr
This!! Bolted some Unistrut where the old seats were and voila, platform. When we go camping I'll fold the seats flat and I have a platform extension that bolts on. Next summer I'll build drawers and a cabinet for the back. Something to keep it organized.


I'll try and keep this thread updated, I'll look through my pictures and see what else I've done to it and with it. It's a slow work in progress because I live in an apartment, so any major work I have to drive 1.5hrs to my folks and use their shop, hope you enjoy it!


P8261736 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr


IMG_2120 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr
 
J

JamesW

Adventurer
That is sweet! You don't see many blue ones,most here seem to be a greenish. The blue really suits it.

What you would really benefit from is giving your wastegate and injector pump a tweak,it's the best thing i ever did!
 
96Delica

96Delica

Adventurer
JamesW said:
That is sweet! You don't see many blue ones,most here seem to be a greenish. The blue really suits it.

What you would really benefit from is giving your wastegate and injector pump a tweak,it's the best thing i ever did!
Click to expand...
Hmmm please elaborate? I've had my IP rebuilt, what do you have to do to the wastegate? Did you turn up the boost as well?
 
96Delica

96Delica

Adventurer
So I guess I'll be double posting here and the camper van forum for now!! :costumed-smiley-007

Here's some info on what I've done on the inside.

The third row of seats was always up and out of the way to make room for my tools, but you could still peer into the window and see what was back there so I wanted to build a platform to keep things hidden underneath and to load material on top of, or just to have a lunch table!
Before!

I built the side brackets out of Unistrut and bolted them where the seats were. With the strut, if I ever want to make the shelf higher, to fit a fridge underneath maybe? All I have to do is cut longer legs.

It was tight fit... The shelf is just 3/4" ply with outdoor carpet glued and stapled on. I like it, makes it look pro I think!

3/8" Carriage bolts drilled through

Wingnut on the bottom

Tadaa!

Here you can kind of see our camping set up, I'll see if I have a better picture somewhere.

This was a pull out off the Trans-Lab just after Happy Valley/Goose Bay. It's only been there a couple years but there was already garbage everywhere as you can see by the A&W. There were a couple squirrels around that cleaned those fries up in short order though.
 
96Delica

96Delica

Adventurer
Also, she's in the shop today with a weird noise under braking. I've been told the calipers are out for a rebuild. Ugh. And I think I need to tighten up the subframe bolts, I get an odd thump from underneath sometimes. All my suspension is new and tight so I don't know what else it could be. Maybe tighten up the torsion bars? I think they're as tights as they should be though. You Montero guys encounter this problem?
 
J

JamesW

Adventurer
96Delica said:
Hmmm please elaborate? I've had my IP rebuilt, what do you have to do to the wastegate? Did you turn up the boost as well?
Click to expand...

When you space out the wastegate you're essentially turning up the boost. What you will need is 2 washers that are about 2-3mm thick. Put these washers under the wastegate bracket so it spaces it out by the thickness of the washers.

Then to tweak your injector pump you take the intercooler off,take off the coolant pipe on the top of the top of the pump and clamp it with a vice grip. Then you will see 4 10mm (I think) bolts,take out the rear ones first,then the front ones,be careful when taking out the front ones as there is some thick spacers which will fall out is you aren't careful. Remember which order the brackets on the top of the pump are on too.

Then carefully lift the cover. You will see a round rubber diaphragm with a "0" on it,take note of where this is and pull it out. You will see a plastic spacer on the shaft. Take that out and file about 1.5 - 2 mm off it.
Then divert your attention to the pump its self. Inside you will see a star wheel. Turn this 90 degrees clockwise,make a mark on it first so you can see how much you are turning it.

Then put it all back together. Put the diaphragm and shaft on 90 degrees clockwise to how it was originally,and assemble everything up again.

It made it no more thirsty. Although after I did it the first tank was shockingly bad as I was flooring it everywhere! What the mod does it increase your fuel pressure under boost and makes it very torquey!
 
96Delica

96Delica

Adventurer
I'll ask the Delica guys about it, do you have the 4m40 motor in yours? The injector pump on the Delica is a pain in the *** to get too. It's a $1000 job to replace the seal just because it takes so long to disassemble everything. I still need to get a pyro and boost gauge, part of the projects I'll hopefully stock up on this winter. Once I have some readouts I'll start playing with the boost. My temp gauge recently stopped working too so I don't want to push it. I had a manual glow plug switch installed and I think the temp gauge wiring was disconnected at the same time. I haven't dug into it too much yet though.
 
J

JamesW

Adventurer
Yup I've to 4m40 in mine. I had to get my injector pump sorted too because the poor quality diesel from some places here made some of the seals perish. It's a pig to take it out in a pajero,never mind in a delica. Have you any picture of the engine bay on the IP side?

If you do decide to go with it,and need some help i'm only a long distance phonecall away :)
 
96Delica

96Delica

Adventurer
I'll see if I can get a pic, it's a huge job to get to though. I don't think I'll be adjusting anything until It's needed. It actually has enough get up and go for most things. Getting up to speed on the highway is the only thing that takes awhile. If rather have longevity than a little extra go. For now...
dahy8y6u.jpg

Best mod yet!!
u6equza4.jpg

Got out and did some fall driving the other day. Winter is coming...


Sent from my iFace using Smacktalk - now Free
 
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