CE Mirage q's

Hi there.
Myself and a mate just purchased a 1999 Mirage hatch. The car has 222xxxkms on the clock its an auto with a/c. So far the car seems to run well although we havent had a chance to take it on a good shakedown drive yet.

We will driving this car 5000km from perth to sydney on a charity rally in may.
My question is ( because i know nothing about these cars)
- what are any common faults with the cars? Things to keep an eye on for a car with those km's?
We're going to give it a full service and going over in my workshop asap but would just like to know a bit more about the car.
Cheers

We did the 2015 Sbox rally in a Mirage.
The must must must do for the rally is to put a 1.8 in it.
A sump guard is also a must, better if you can go from front to back to save the exhaust and tank (you should see the bottom of our car (we still have it and use it for club motorsport))
Heavy duty springs that will raise it about 30mm.
New CV boots and steering arm boots.
New tires are a must, cheaper the better, 205/55/15, any bigger and they will rub going over bumps and put them on a set of factory alloy rims as they are stronger and heavier than after market ones.
Make sure your door and hatch seals are in good nic to stop the dust coming in.
Apart from that remember to pack light, you wont need half the stuff you think you need.
Is this your first box rally?
If your in Sydney give me a call and I will give you a hand with whatever you need.

Hi mate. Thanks for your reply. I seem to be on the right track with pre rally prep with what you have said to do.
Just curious as to why i should put the 1.8 engine in?
Any chance of seeing a few pics of your mirage from the rally?
Yeh this is our first box rally, we are located in WA
Thanks for your help

So you must be team "Jus Good OL Boys"?
The 1.5 will struggle on the outback roads with the extra weight your going to carry, the 1.8 will make it so much easier without even blinking.
Another thing is to get 2 foam air filters for your air-box, (It goes on top of the existing filter) at the end of every day you take the dirty one out clean it and let it dry on the back parcel shelf and put the second cleaned and oiled one in to replace it.
You will also get a build up of dust on the inside of the back rims, when you stop ( for a code yellow) the dust will fall to the bottom of the rim, when you take off again the dust stays were it settled on the inside of the rim and will shack the hell out of the car when you get to 80 kph. You need to check for the dust and push it out before you take off every time.
We also did the 2017 rally in a VW Transporter complete with ice cream machine.

Gday mate. Cheers for your reply again. Massive help. Yep we are jus good ol boys.
Thanks for your help. If i have anymore questions i know to ask.

We are in the Spring rally this year as Team Viking. We have a SAAB convertible that we will probably do it in.

What make of springs did you go with on the mirage?

We used Lovells springs and good used standard shocks.