Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

FalcoColumbarius wrote:. Then the next week it was noticed that my expansion bottle was empty, which freaked me out: First I checked the oil cap for white; then checked the rad for oil; then checked the topped up expansion bottle for bubbles, all came out negative, phew. So how I lost so much coolant in so short of time is beyond me. In the past couple of weeks since I've been back, just a little dribble and now I think I've stopped it, still monitoring.

Falco.

Same thing has happened to me, yet everything always seems fine! Odd....

We took the Dalek to CCA where they tightened up the serpentine belt, which had been squeaking when it was cool and/or damp out. While we were there, we arranged to have a trailer hitch transferred from a parts van to ours, which will happen in a month or so. Good times always at CCA! Thanks again, Graham and the boys!

macro wrote:

FalcoColumbarius wrote:. Then the next week it was noticed that my expansion bottle was empty, which freaked me out: First I checked the oil cap for white; then checked the rad for oil; then checked the topped up expansion bottle for bubbles, all came out negative, phew. So how I lost so much coolant in so short of time is beyond me. In the past couple of weeks since I've been back, just a little dribble and now I think I've stopped it, still monitoring.

Falco.

Same thing has happened to me, yet everything always seems fine! Odd....

Whilst travailing various ATV trails with the gang I took a right turn (just to be different) and followed this.... creek bed.... trail that was made of ...rocks. And lots of them. It was a very bouncy trip, to say the least ~ and at odd angles ~ two times I was stopped and my inclinometer was reading 45°. Anyway, I'm wondering if this had anything to do with my bottle being empty? could it have been shaken out? The cap was still on but could the coolant escape through the overflow?

Falco.

Installed my Skid/Wind-block plate - I do this when temps drop to 10 degrees. Helps keep the cab warmer. Also made a P-brake cozy. Kinda like a Tea Cozy but it goes over the parking brake to stop the draft.

I'm also looking into making door cozies. The draft can really get to you on cold days.

Ho hum. Another Friday night tinkering with Delica bits...

Spray painted my rear step today...
And spray painted my fog lamps, so here they are all put back together, freshly blackened:
I did a base coat with bed liner, and a top coat that's supposed to be tough; it's meant for rims. I'll be happy if it stays black for a few seasons.

I finally replaced my 5 year old geolanders with Duratrac's. $1000 for 5 and that includes the lifetime replacement warranty. Gotta love the U.S. for tires.

Wow! Those are some heavy duty looking treads. I'd love to hear how they do in the Ontario snow belt.

A little fun with my own L400 Dalek this afternoon. First, she got a much needed wash, before which I confirmed that her clearance is a good three inches below the 7'2" needed to get into the wash bay. Once home, I put on the new mag mount antenna, routing the cable through the pop-out middle window on the driver's (i.e. right) side, and getting everything set up so I can put the quad band radio up front. I'll be programming up the radio tonight, using CHIRP software and data downloaded from RepeaterBook, and getting everything in place to finally have some amateur radio fun in the Dalek. The antenna's only a dual band, and I need to dig up the heavy-duty triple magnet base for the quad band I already have, but, for now, this will do the job nicely. I haven't done much on 6 and 10 anyway, as of yet.
Pix to follow...I haven't taken any as of yet, and it's now dark out.

Hey guys, i'm new here! ...

Now that that's out of the way, like most of you I love to mess around with things, so i'm glad this forum exists. Here's the basics i've done so far.:

Brought the UV faded plastic back to it's former glory. Installed a 'zombie response vehicle' decal, very necessary. Got some new winter shoes. Which were great while I was walking around waiting for them to put the new winter tires on. Removed the old Japanese stereo system and CD changer. Replaced with a new deck. Sounded easy enough, only I got carried away and installed it late at night, with a dim headlamp at -15 for an increased difficulty rating (as is the 4 different existing wiring harnesses I pulled out make it confusing enough) . Started replacing the 17 year old horribly deteriorated paper cone speakers up front.

That's the basics so far (only had it a couple weeks) It's going to be used as a family vehicle and adventure vehicle so i'm going for the basic up grades first. I'd like to find a ladder, get a roof rack, hitch, next so I can strap various sports paraphernalia to it , fix the fog lamps and install central locking with a fob. These forums have been incredibly helpful so far, especially for things like panel removal and wiring.

JSweet- what kind of speakers are those you put in the doors? They look like an exact fit.

Craig

Lots of Delica adventures today, starting with a bit of a postscript. I got the quadband radio installed, and she works a treat! I still haven't found the triple magmount for the proper quadband antenna as of yet.

We were up at 0-dark-hundred this morning to make our prearranged trip to Coombs, where the Dalek was fitted with a freshly refurbished and repainted, shiny new-to-us trailer hitch. In the process, the chrome bar that hung from the rear bumper had to be removed, so we asked them to take off the one on the front. They look kinda out-of-place on this particular Deli anyway. So now we have a surplus chrome front bumper bar, if anyone's interested. (Details will be up up in the Buy & Sell area soon.)

Beyond that, the remainder of the trip was a bit of a bust. We had hoped to take in the boat parade that was scheduled for tonight in Victoria, but we found out after we arrived that it was cancelled due to high winds and waves. Safety first, I guess.. Maybe next year.

The speaker are Alpine E series 6.5". The sound quality is actually pretty impressive the "e series" is their "economical" series, which basically means they can't handle a giant amp. They aren't very deep (no giant magnets) so they fit perfectly on the factory mounts, just have to drill a couple new pilot holes in the plastic. The guy threw them in when I bought the deck, I think I paid about $50 for the set.

What product did you use on the rear step? Looks like it worked really well.

I used a heat gun on the rear step and front bull bar plastic. I might try something like plastix or some other kind of treatment for it after to help protect it from UV but I was impressed on how quickly and easily the heat gun worked.

Anyone had any luck restoring the wind/rain deflectors? Mine are less than transparent.

JSweet wrote:Anyone had any luck restoring the wind/rain deflectors? Mine are less than transparent.

Auto Glym Vinyl & Rubber Care, you can get it at Canadian Tire for around $15. It restores the oils into the vinyl/plastic. Depending on how faded or blued the eaves are you may require two or three applications.

When you use a heat gun it draws the oil from deeper in the plastic closer to the surface, which makes it look darker. The drawback to this is the oil at the surface tends to evaporate, which is why it goes faded. The more oils leaving the vinyl, the more likely it will crack over time.

Falco.