New owner.. L200 express (Australian version of D50)

just pick up this 1985 L200 a few days ago. Was looking for an older 70s...80s light weigh RWD car car or utility to become host to a modern power plant (honda K24 or possibly a 2lt VW dti engine) I wanted a clean body as I dont enjoy or am a that good at the finishing details of pain work. I am a machinist fabricator by trade so the custom fabwork is the area I enjoy.

The l200 ute that I ended up with caught my eye as it looked very straight and its last two owners where in the paint and panel business. external body work is straight rust free and has a nice yellow 2 pac respray with a blue perl so it's a bit showy. the tub has had the rear handle and sides smoothed over so it's very simple. The front end is the 79 twin round headlight grill. the car is on lowering blocks at the rear and I am guessing cut or lowered springs at the front.

Now for the not so good. The car did have a V8 auto swap in it at one stage but was returned to original 2lt engine with auto and weber carb. In doing the v8 swap the trans tunnel with cut and larger one installed (a little but rough job of it to ) I am not to fussed about this as I was probably going to run a BMW 5 speed when I engine swap it so some trans tunnel work would have been necessary so i will just start with a clean slate. The other issue is when installing the larger trans tunnel they removed the heater/fan box (though could have a contact on finding a new one.

The interior is all there for the most part dash and dials most trims except the head liner. Seats are not original but not fussed as was going to replace.

Over all for the price I think it will be a ok candidate for my powerplant options and should go ok with around 200hp+ as a starting point.

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members geezer & tortron are nearest your location ~ sweet truck ~ BZ for saving it :thumbup:WELCOME HERE TOO

WOW! Super sweet find, congratulations. I have always loved those round headlights.

Round headlights are neat ~ someone in the know please answer this:
1) can the 1986 truck be converted to round headlights?
2) what is the bulb # for the round light with high & low beam
3) source for the grill with 4 round holes ?

Aloha ~ George :biker:

Another South Oz truck! It's in nice shape too. Welcome aboard :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by xboxrox

Round headlights are neat ~ someone in the know please answer this:
1) can the 1986 truck be converted to round headlights?
2) what is the bulb # for the round light with high & low beam
3) source for the grill with 4 round holes ?

Aloha ~ George :biker:

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It takes hatchet work to install the round headlight front inner clip to your very nice original truck George :green:

Unfortunately all needed parts are way obsolete. Would have to be a total custom job.

Nice and unique truck. Welcome!

:jason: no need break it to fix it then □□===□□

I have had a little more time with the L200 to look over what I have as well as drive it some more. It's given me a chance to think about what my plans are for it. For a start the 3 speed Auto that the previous owner installed has to go as it's terrible. I think this was put in just to get the car functioning for sale after the v8 auto was removed. The kickdown cable is not installed due to the weber upgrade and given 3 gears to play with and a less than ideal gear ratio they have for the stock rear diff the RPM are obnoxiously high for how slow you are travelling. Power delivery is very soft and mushy. It feels like driving a manual with a very Slippy clutch and the hand brake on at the same time. Its robbing a lot of power and fun from the driving experience.

I don't want to get to invested in this 2lt Astron 4g52 motor that it's running in it now. As my long term plan is a complete engine swap to a more modern power plant. That said I do want to run this motor until I gather all the parts needed for the motor swap and that could take some time. So the short-term plan is to get a 5-speed manual back in and make the vehicle functional again.

I have collected a few parts to return it back to manual again.
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In the photo I just needed a shifter assembly that was missing, and I picked one up Yesterday so that's all sorted. Clutch cable will be the last part I need. Given it's a sigma borgwarner 5 speed and sigma engine I am working with. I assume a sigma clutch cable would be best though the firewall end of the cable could be different on the l200 . So some more research on what cable is going to work best is in order before making that purchase.

There is a big list of other things that will need to be sorted in general on the vehicle. Some more important than others. The wheels that it has on it now are 16" and the tires are to large to fit properly up front. (I think the tires are just what he had laying around) from memory they are 215- 60 - 16" the width is within the slightly rolled and flared guards. Though the overall diameter is too big or a diameter and a little too wide to give adequate inner clearances under full suspension travel. I'm thinking perhaps 195 and a 50 or 55 profile could be a better fit. I wouldn't want to go much lower than that in profile though as the ride would get to rough.

As for the round headlights. I don't think my l200 had the swap done the proper way as the light fixtures and springs/screw adjustments that hold the lamps to the body should tie into the front grill support metal structure. My lights and springs are attached to the grill itself. The adjusting screws that aim the lamps are not functional as it sits. It was a bit disappointing to see this but I'm sure I can make them more functional by fabricating some tabs to weld behind the lamps that align with the adjusting screws and achieve correctly adjustable and aimed lamps. The front radiator support has been modified to make it removable with a few bolts you can remove this section. This was to aid with the installation of the previous large v8. So this will make removing the 4cyl a very easy job.

The hand break has to be sorted as it's not original and was just a odd mockup to pass track scrutineering requirements when it had the v8. Though new rear brake cylinders where just installed.

There is a lot smaller things to sort out. Most of it is to get the vehicle back to a functional ride for the streets and hopefully take a much more considered...polished and functional approached to the future mods and fabrication on the vehicle. As that aspect has been a bit neglected as it stands.

There are options for different rear end ratios - and factory LSD. All of the plastic inserts etc that hold the headlights in place should be generic nylon parts you can get off the shelf from somewhere like SuperCheap. You'll need the adjuster screws tough. I think the MA L200 had the thin front stabiliser bar so you can actually upgrade to a thicker one from a Triton and that'll improve it. A lot of the suspension and drivetrain parts are interchangeable which is a big help.

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I will have to do some research and get up to speed on the Triton models and what's useful for the l200. They made so many small variations in the engine-transmission options on various Mitsubishi cars,vans and Ute's from the 80s to the late 90s . Though a lot of them look similar it's all the subtle changes that I need to get up to speed with. It looks like the peak of the NA engines would be the 2.6 astron efi 2nd revision from the mid 90s magna with just over 100kw factory . On that note........

Just found this on Facebook market place. From what I can see it's a magna astron ll second revision perhaps 94..95ish vintage. Being the auto it should be narrow block bell housing.The same as my Astron G52 and 5 speed transmission should be ok. Has 6 bold crank. Has all accessories fitted. Condition unknown but the guy got it os part of a cleanup and just wants it gone so got it as pictured for $100 Pick it up tomorrow.

So now I have a few more options. Looks like this engine had around 135hp and a bit more torque than the 2lt that I have now. Bit shy of the 200hp that I would see with some of the motors I had in mind but at the same time it would keep it in the Mitsubishi family and I'm sure a little more hp could be squeezed out of it.

Immediate issues I see are the water pump on the rear of the head ( tube to the front or potentially a timing cover assembly from a rwd 2.6) will have to look into that. Dist off the tig welder and get the throttle body mounted to the other side of the intake manifold and plug the other side. Engine mounts will have to see.

Anyhow for $100 thaught it could be useful. Or just somthing more to trip over in the shed .

The intake manifold is a sought after part in the US market by the Starion/Conquest/Starquest guys. This has the head you want too - big ports and valves from factory. It won't go in with the water pump being run off the back of the head but a Triton 2.6 timing cover and water pump will sort that (you will need the coolant transfer pipe too) Some port matching and a set of headers will help. This is a steal for $100. Engine mounts from a truck will straight swap on the block. Now you need a harness, fuel pump and ECU :rolleyes:

Picked up the motor today. The story was the magna motor was part of a bulk lot of holden engines and gearboxes that a car club purchased from a Tafe. The club only wanted the old holden parts but had to take everything in the lot. The motor looks like it has spent the last decade or two just sitting inside (perhaps just used for education taking off the rocker cover and pointing at parts show and tell) It's been run before for sure, but I get the feeling it came out of service in the magna very early in it's life and has just been inside for a long time. This is just a guess though there are some clues to suggest what I was thinking.

it's Very clean under the cam cover no oil staining on the cam and rocker assembly. No oil leaks on the motor exterior.

A bit overkill on the engine hoist but gets in off the trailer and were I want it fast.
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Don't scratch the paintjob
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Very clean under the cam cover.
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Rough test fit to confirm 5 speed gearbox will work.
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Just looking over the engine this afternoon. Yes I can see the water pump and rear pully will have to come off. Though I'm not 100% if I will track down the rwd front timing cover and water pump. I think another option could be to just use a electric water pump. I have no issues fabricating some SS tubing and making a very neat, tucked job of two extension pipes to tie in with the magna stock rear locations and bring them to the front. Then just run thermo fan and keep the magna crank pully

I will have to look into the alternator mounting as looks different or just get a magna alternator. The magna sump looks like it will clear just by eye and rough tape measuring what's in the ute now. (for some reason I was thinking it wouldn't.)

Starting a List of parts for a trip to the self service wreckers. As you mentioned a ecu and complete loom, airbox with airflow meter, external fuel efi pump probably just get that new I have a small serge tank from an old project. I have some short runs of the high-pressure fuel lines with fittings that came loose with the motor. A fuel filter and line to one end of the fuel rail is needed. There will probably be a few odds and ends that I discover are missing or incompatible. Will try and get everything I need and get the motor running out of the car before messing around with it in the car. Thats what I have done previously with a few efi engine swaps.


Anyhow it's a start. I will keep researching and collecting what I need.

WOW !

Tafe, def

Google please help me :shrug:

Suscribed!
Is there a id tag on the T5 ?
If so could you post a pic ?
Thanks!

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Originally Posted by xboxrox

WOW !

Tafe, def

Google please help me :shrug:

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TAFE = Technical And Further Education, a term for vocational schools in Oceania (Oz and nearby Pacific island nations)

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Originally Posted by SubGothius

TAFE = Technical And Further Education, a term for vocational schools in Oceania (Oz and nearby Pacific island nations)

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They had their funding cut and a lot of the colleges closed. I did a pre-voc certificate for automotive mechanics and a motor trimming certificate through them...

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Originally Posted by claych

Suscribed!
Is there a id tag on the T5 ?
If so could you post a pic ?
Thanks!

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T5...... 5 speed gearbox? I think this transmition was from our local Sigma cars. Narrow block 2lt engine. though from what I can work out it was only offered for a short period and most Used the Jap 5 speed. Aparenty the Jap box is a better choice as the borgwarner isn't the strongest box. Though the same gearbox was offered in some 3lt 6cyl fords and a few other local cars of the time. Though I will give it a go and see how it hold up.

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It'll hold up. They were used in the GH factory Sigma turbos. The KM135/145 are more desirable transmissions. I have a feeling the the Japanese transmissions are lighter too (may be a part of the preference over the BW...)

Nice looking truck! Wish we got the vent windows in america.