I'll arrive in Bellingham on Friday. My son took my Raider to his trusted mechanic. Here's the result:

Transmission Oil-ok
Oil-Ok
Exhaust-Ok
Front Brakes 70% remaining
Belts-Ok
Hoses-OK
Tie Rods-Ok
Ball Joints-Ok

The Bad-

Cracked spark plugs
Worm Plug wires
Coolant leak at water pump
Rear Brakes-Heat Crack
Transfer Case-Fluid dark/Needs changing

Here are the reccomendations-

1. Replace Water Pump, timing Belt, Camshaft seals, Front crankshaft seal, timing belt tensioner and flush cooling system- $750

2. Replace rear Brake shoes, replace wheel cylinders, clean and lube backing plates-$320

3. Replace Valve Cover Gaskets- $285

4. Replace Negative Battery Terminal and Battery- $110

5. Replace Transfer Case Fluid-$30

6. Full Tune Up-Spark Plugs, Wires, Distributor Cap& Rotor, Air Filter, Fuel Filter, Clean air induction, Timing and idle speed etc. -$285

The total for all is $1780.

I imagine I can replace the rear shoes. I've done it before. I've got plug wires - don't know how hard it is to change the plugs on this. I don't have my records here, but I think the water pump etc. was done about 20K ago, so I'd only be interested in replacing the gasket. My inclination would be to leave the valve cover gaskets alone at first. Are they hard to replace on this engine? I was just hit with this, so I'm still sorting it out.

swap in a SR rear for $320 or less IMO

i don't know about the other stuff

I've been reading with interest the later model swap threads. I'm unsure or the benefit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the wider stance will require flares. I'd get disc brakes on the rear. No one has claimed that the handling is better. There appear to be brake and driveshaft issues some of the time.

For my time in the U.S. I don't mind working on my car some, but I won't have a dedicated workspace for any length of time to deal with issues.

The valve cover gaskets aren't hard to do, but getting all of the interference out of the way is a pain. Although, it can all be done with normal hand tools. The timing belt requires a lot of interference removal as well. I'd recommend doing them both together along with the water pump. The battery, terminal, spark plug, wires, and tune up stuff is trivial. I say roll up your sleeves and get after it! Also, contact VR4 if you want an updated axle. I think he said to someone else that he had one available. Good guy who gave me a pretty good deal on the same thing, and he's in your neck of the woods.

HTH

Yes, better brakes and maybe airlocker. The width is only I think an inch on both sides I don't think you would need a fender flare though.

I don't know how prices run where you are located... But here in VA ,I'd have to say your "trusted" mechanic is taking you for a ride.If you aren't comfortable w/ the timing & valve cover gaskets, look up the parts required on-line;print them off w/ prices & ask why the labor is so high. Check w/ some other shops.....you may trust this guy, but you don't have to sleep w/ him .Items 2,4,5,&6 you can do yourself if you have some mechanical ability. Maybe this link will help. http://www.mitsubishilinks.com/ They are shop manuals.

The yard I found my MS axle at was selling them and the SR's for 400, but I talked him down to 300 cash. The yard is south of you in Granite Falls. DownTown autowrecking. the also post most of their bigger items on car-part.com

You could probably fly Brendan out there and get the work done for 2/3 that cost <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Sad, but it's true. I would love to take a trip to washington state, and my work is credible! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm wondering why your mechanic would replace the rear wheel cylinders since there was no mention of them leaking...

If the rear shoes are showing heat damage then the drums should probably be machined also. I would also do a complete flush of the brake fluid any time anything is done to the brake system.

The tune-up parts that need to be replaced should take a total amateur no more than a couple hours. I wouldn't pay a mechanic to do that unless I absolutely had no time available or was deathly afraid of getting my hands dirty.