4g61t.org

Hey everybody,

I posted in the Member's section but I'll make a very brief intro here, as well. Very new to CSMs, not new to DSMs. I saw a Colt at the DSM/Evo Shootout in Norwalk Ohio this past August and fell in love. I should have posted something before but I figured I should probably do some of my own research before I started to ask stupid questions. I finally got around to posting some of my questions on a local DSM forum that I'm on and a member suggested that I join this site because they highly recommended it. So, I'm here and in need of some serious help. Let's start with some of my basic questions - I promise there will be a thousand more in the future

1. Colts come with 4 lug hubs and have the bolt pattern of 4x114.3. How would I change the hubs to be 5x114.3? Also, how much customization would it be?

2. What are the most common spots of rust for Colts?

3. FWD DSM springs fit on the Colt, but do the struts fit as well?

4. What custom work is needed to swap it from a FWD to an AWD?

5. How exactly is the 4G63 motor put into the Colt and how much custom work does it take?

6. The FWD Colt transmission fits up to the 4G63 motor, if I'm looking to switch from the Colt transmission to a DSM FWD transmission, do I also need to change the hubs to the FWD DSM hubs? (Also related to the 5 lug conversion swap question).

7. Are there any aftermarket part sites that sell stuff for the Colt? i.e. Extremepsi for DSM's

8. What other parts from DSM's fit onto a Colt? Would a FWD exhaust fit onto a Colt with a 4G63 motor?

So, those are the only ones I was able to think of at the moment. I'd love to hear some responses - I plan on searching for some 89 Colt GT's in the very near future. At least after I put my Talon back together.

Thank you in advance for anybody that responds. I really appreciate it!

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600

Hi Isabelle, welcome to 4g61t.org. I'll answer a couple of these, and hopefully some other members will have time to answer a few more.

1) A five lug swap is cake, assuming you already converted to AWD and Expo knuckles. You would simply remove the G-vr4 hubs and rotors, and run DSM hubs and rotors. (Expo front hubs are the same as G-vr4 front hubs by the way)

If you're still running the stock tiny brakes and FWD, then a 5 lug swap is far more involved.


2) The roof (from the inside), and the typical rust in front of the rear wheels.


3) Yes the springs fit, but the struts are an inch or two taller below the spring seat, so it would raise your car considerably to run DSM struts.

4) I wrote a thread on that, as did a bunch of other people. Check it!

It's really nice out today, and I need to take a shower and head to Letchworth State Park. L8r

_________________
"A good day racing is better than a great day fishing!"

5. If you have a factory turbo Colt, it is easy as cake. You really only need the 4g63 longblock (block, head, intake, throttle body), 1g DSM injectors, and a 90 Eclipse Turbo ECU. If you have a 1.5l Colt, its a completely different story. There are plenty of threads on here about it, you will have to do some searching.

7. It depends on what you are looking for. If it is engine related, you can use any aftermarket 4g63 parts on a swapped Colt/Mirage. Yoshifab has some camber adjustment plates and strut tower bars. Everything else is few and far between. If you have questions on certain parts, just do a search, you should be able to find something. You could always ask one of us about a particular part as well and we could point you in the right direction.

8. 2g FWD DSM downpipes fit our cars, the rest of the exhaust will have to be custom made.

_________________
1989 Mirage Turbo - 310whp - Sold
1998 Eagle Talon TSi AWD - Sold
2005 Legacy 2.5GT - Sold
1989 Dodge Colt GT

Thank you so much for your replies! This is going to help me a lot in my search for an 89 Colt GT

Back to question 5: can I use a 91 ECU? I have had my eye on a Colt that may be for sale in the near future but the guy who I was speaking to has no idea what's in it. He claims the motor is a 91, the harness is a 91-94, and the ecu is also a 91-94. I was always under the impression that you have to use a 90 ECU for the swap, along with a 90 harness.

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600

You can swap in 90 or 91 stuff just depends on what you want to make work. Other than pigtails/connection differences at the sensors the ECU is a two wire pin switch at the plugs otherwise.
There were some other differences, but not much worth worrying about.
Best harness solution if actually swapping is a C53a turbo Colt/Mirage harness and use 90 TEL pieces like TB/ISC, TPS etc.
If the car is already 91 harness swapped and all 91 related 4g63 pieces installed, then run that; the tach could be an issue if not already running fixed in that state.
Sticking with 90 4g63 TEL pieces will keep the tach working with no wiring swap issues and sensors are plug and play to the Colt turbo harness.
As mentioned previous, the 4g15 swap is a full bag of worms based on all the little things that need to be added to get it all working, compared to what the turbo Colt/Mirage already had installed from the factory.
Black Colt turbo just went up for sale in Mission BC, Canada. Check the for sale section.

So essentially it's the same thing as going from a 90 DSM to a 91 - with the tach and TPS. That makes more sense now.

I've seen the one in BC but I'm looking at one in the New England area within the next couple days. Beautiful car! If I pick it up, I will definitely post a ton of pictures and information on it.

Again, thank you to everybody that has replied! I'm getting a lot of solid questions answered and I appreciate all of the help I'm getting!

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600

Some good info here. Sorry to thread jack but i have the 1.5 5 speed and was thinking about getting a 1g DSM and swapping over the necasarry stuff but after reading. I might just try to keep my eye on a gt instead since the swap seems so much easier. To the OP keep us updated and what you do. Since im kinda in the same boat as you.

_________________
-89 Mitsu Mirage 1.5

I was going to buy a 91 a couple months ago but then a friend told me how much of a pain it was to do and how much custom work was needed to get it done. Ever since then I've been looking all over the east coast for the perfect 89 Colt already with the 4g61 motor in it or with a 4g63 motor in it.

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600

Yeah I hear you. Over here in the west coast. Colts in general are rare. Thats why I jumped the gun when I got my hands on this 89 with 93k miles for 850. I also have some good friends and resources with some people here at RRE. 1gs are easy to find here which is a +. Thats why i personally chose the 1.5. Ill post a build thread and pics once I get my hands on the right parts

_________________
-89 Mitsu Mirage 1.5

Not going to lie, I'm quite jealous. I'm sure all of the 1g's in California are completely rust free. In Mass and all over New England, if you're trying to buy a DSM, it'll be rusty in some spots. My Talon is a rust bucket, mainly surface rust which I can take care of but the rockers on my car are done. But at least when it snows here, I can go AWD drifting. That's always a plus .

And honestly, if I had all the resources to do the 4g63 swap, I would have bought the 91 Colt. My work is limited to what I can do on the street or in a driveway.

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600

I guess the trade off is all the emission crap we get here : / plus all the rice out here doesnt help when a cop pulls you over and asks to pop up your hood. Another reason I wanted a colt instead of a DSM. too much attention over here

_________________
-89 Mitsu Mirage 1.5

Yeah, Boston has a lot of rice as well but cops don't bother me when I'm in the Talon. When I drive my RSX around, I usually get pulled over for my obnoxious exhaust. I've never gotten pulled over in the Talon for the exhaust, even when the exhaust fell off and my car was 8 times louder than it should be.

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600

(Major) things you need for the swap:

63t engine and trans
Turbo mirage axles and either turbo mirage intermediate shaft or awd dsm shaft
Specific trans+timing mounts
Engine harness from a 91 dsm
Adapter harness from 89mirageman

Read the following articles:

http://www.4g61t.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=23
http://www.4g61t.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27325

This should give you about 90% of the knowledge you need to do the swap.

_________________
Had a:
1991 Eagle Summit ES Hatchback - 4g15 12v 5spd
1991 Dodge Colt -4g15 12v 4spd
Have a:
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass - 468BBO TH350
Round 3:
1990 Dodge Colt-4G63T 5spd

Thank you so much!!! This is a huge help!

_________________
Isabelle Knobel
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD
2005 Acura RSX-S
2003 Suzuki GSX-R600