2014 Mitsubishi Mirage 5 speed build thread

[California98Civic]

Nice and simple. Sand and paint?

[Daox]

Nah, it actually looks fine to me. I'll leave it as is unless I find it needs some tweaking. You really don't see much of it while driving or anything.

[Daox]

I got my alternator delete working this past weekend. I had some issues getting the alternator to turn off and stay off. So, I ended up making a simple little circuit with a dc-dc converter to trick the voltage regulator on the alternator to thinking the battery's voltage is higher than it really is. That did the job quite nicely. Here is a schematic of the circuit.





It all taps in via a fuse that goes to the sense wire on the alternator. So, I 3d printed a fuse body, and cut some metal tabs to put in it. A bit of super glue and solder and it works great for a plug in modification. There is only one other connection necessary and that is a wire to ground.

3d printed fuse tap.





The whole circuit.





It fits nicely in the fuse box under the hood. Yeah, this means I have to open the hood to turn the alternator on if necessary. That will change.

[Xist]

"Alexa, turn on the alternator."
"Burn Sean the otter caterer, okay."

[MetroMPG]

Chilling! I know (of) an actual otter caterer.

[hayden55]

You just now need to figure out how to swap it on around 11.85V. Thats 80% depth of discharge for a deep cycle (aka the safe bottom of the deep cycle battery).
lol maybe you could even add a solar charger and a solar panel to your battery circuit and roof now. 100w solar panels are cheap!
If your typical 4 cylinder is 35% efficient peak, and the alternator is 65% efficient... 100w direct is like 440w on unburned gasoline.

[Daox]

Now that the alternator disable circuit is in and working like it should, I need to install my 110V charger. I happen to have the one I used on my Metro. Its a Soneil 5A smart charger. You don't have to press any buttons on it to get things started, just plug it in and it charges. Once it is done charging it float / maintain charges the battery. So, when I get home at night, I plug in and when I leave the next morning I unplug and go.





To make things more convenient, I picked up one of these flange mounted outlets.





I drilled a hole in the front bumper cover hear the driver's side light to mount it.





And the outlet gets fished through.





A few more screws to hold the flange in place, and its installed.







Now, to install the charger. I want the charger inside the cabin to keep it out of the elements. This means passing the power cord, and the charging wires through the firewall. So, I found the main rubber grommet that the wire harness passes through, and I poked a hole in it. Then, I took a metal rod and shoved it through, taped my wires to it, and pulled them back through.







That is where the progress ended for the day as it started raining out. However, I did get a few shots that show how the plug looks and works. I think it blends in nicely and it really is quite convenient.

[Daox]

Woohoo, finally had my first fill up over 50 mpg on this car (6th fill up). I have a consistent 14 mile commute again vs mostly ~5 mile city trips which don't give you much time to get the engine up to temperature.

[HHOTDI]

Great build Daox, i've been keeping an eye out for a great deal on a little Mirage in our area so i can dump my no longer needed 16-20mpg SuperCrew. I'd like to have a little gas mizer again. :{)

[Daox]

Thanks. Its a nice little car A-B car. Nothing luxurious by any means. MetroMPG has accurately named it the new Geo Metro. But, it gets the job done, and efficiently.