Sorry it's so long but it has been a bit of a saga. Only read what you want!
As some of you may know, I made an offer on Craig's GC hardtop last week. The offer was accepted and I Drove down to Adelaide last week and picked up the car on Saturday. I left Adelaide Sunday morning and have travelled over 1700 kilometres via Broken Hill and Dubbo to my home near Newcastle. I know it would have been cheaper to have the car shipped over but I like to see what I am buying and my wife Jenny and I haven't been on a really long road trip for 25 years.
My original intention was to fly down and drive back but when Craig said that the car had not been started for nearly 12 months, I thought it best to take the trusty Triton work truck as a support vehicle.
The following picture is the car sitting in my front yard with 1700 kilometres of bug splatter on it (It will be cleaned off tomorrow).
Day 1 Saturday
I arrived at Craigs on saturday morning to find that he had pushed the car out of the garage and had given it a wash. The battery was clagged but I had brought my spare which fitted perfectly. I checked fluid condition and levels which were OK. I disconnected the crank angle sensor so that the engine couldn't fire and spun it over until I had oil at the cam lobe visible through the oil filler cap. I added some fresh 98 ron fuel and some octane booster to the stale fuel remaining in the tank. The engine fired but didn't want to run until about the fourth attempt. The car still does not like to start when cold and I think it has not been tuned for cold starts.
Craig and I took the car for a short run and all was well. It was at this time that we hit our first snag. The compliance plate was not fitted to the car and Craig could not find it. Jenny wanted to do a bit of shopping in Adelaide so I suggested we leave and come back later to give Craig time to find the plate. Craig phoned later that day to say that he, his dad and his brother had searched everywhere and they had finally found the missing plate. Things were looking up.
The deal was done and the paperwork sorted. I then spent almost an hour on the phone organising insurance and road service. Before leaving Craigs place I refitted the bonnet latch which was a bit iffy. Thanks for finding the bolts Craig and Craig's dad.
Jenny and I decided that because it was so late in the day we would stay overnight and leave the next morning so we booked into a motel and headed there with the galant followed by the Triton support vehicle.
The hardtop was a pain to drive. The sun visor kept flopping around and annoying me. The clutch was very hard and touchy and to make matters worse, the diff started to grumble. The trip to the motel was a 12 Klm stressful drive and the diff noise was getting worse.
Day 2 Sunday
Left the motel around 8.00am after tightening the nuisance sun visor and adjusting the clutch so that I could drive the thing. We fueled up with 98 ron and after 10Klm I pulled over and checked the hubs and diff. The rear hubs were running hot and on checking I found that the handbrake was adjusted too tight. The diff was also running hotter than it should have after such a short trip. I loosened off the handbrake and checked the diff oil level which was very low. Craig had given me a bottle of heavy gear oil with about 200ml remaining so I added this to the diff along with half a bottle of graphite powder that I had in the truck. Things were not looking the best and I confidently told Jenny that if the diff lasted the next 100klm than it would get us home. Our next stop was at the auto parts shop where I purchased a bottle of diff oil and another bottle of graphite powder.
We headed off towards Broken Hill stopping every 10 klm or so to check hubs , diff, etc. The hubs were running cool and the diff was running hot but the grumble had settled to a low moan. Oh by the way, the engine was running sweet as and engine temp was steady on 83 degrees. I was driving with a very light foot and keeping the speed down around 85 - 90 pulling off to let faster traffic pass and not letting the turbo boost at all.
After about 80klm of driving with numerous short stops, I pulled into a rest area and drained the diff. There was some metal in the oil and a clump of filings on the magnetic drain plug. I mixed a witches brew of new diff oil and graphite powder and refilled the diff. I had done everthing I could with the diff so there would be no more stopping to check. It was up to me to keep it running on a sweet note and let it bed in.
The remote locking unit had been driving me crazy as it was sitting on the transmission tunnel behind the console and kept falling down beside the clutch pedal. I must have poked it back in about a hundred times before stopping and wedging it beneath the fan housing.
We stopped to top up fuel in Yunta and could only find 95 ron. Whilst at the servo, the car recieved a lot of interest from other customers. One was a collector of classic cars who owned a 55 Chevy 2 door that he had imported from the US. He was a bit surprised that I was driving a classic and not trailering it. He was interested in buying but I told him I had only just bought it and wasn't interested in selling.
We continued onto Broken Hill without incident and settled in for the night. Fuel economy on this stage was around 11.5 Klm per litre.
Day 3 Monday
Sunday had been an easy day for the car. Monday we hoped to get to Dubbo which was almost 800klm. We would also be travelling at higher speeds.
I checked all fluid levels of both vehicles before leaving the motel. The Hardtop took about 200ml of coolant which was lost because it does not have a recovery tank system. Every time I stopped the day before, I lost a little coolant out of the overflow due to expansion. This resulted in slightly higher running temps towards the end of the day. The triton needed some oil which was not unusual for its high milage engine.
The diff was holding up well and a couple of times the drone stopped but it always came back. At Wilcannia, we stopped for fuel and again could only get 95 ron. The bloke that run the servo showed interest in the car and knew it wasn't a datsun but couldn't remember what it was. Fuel here was the dearest of the whole trip at almost $1.70 per litre.
We had to fight a head wind for most of the trip and our fuel economy suffered. The hardtop only averaged just over 10 klm per litre. The engine was running well and temps were cooler as a result of less stops. We did have one casulty this day when a small bird tried to kamikaze the hardtop but he came off second best when he went under the car and collected the exhaust system. A native bee also ricocheted off the door mirror and down my shirt collar causing me to pull over and seek medical assistance from the support vehicle.
We pulled into Dubbo early evening with no further misshaps. When parking the hardtop, I noticed the diff no longer likes reverse. Thats OK I don't intend using reverse to get home and if it doesn,t like it then I won,t do it.
Day 4
Tuesday
Fueled up before leaving and had an issue with a servo that only takes credit cards and not cash. I could have used a card but refused to and told them so. I took my business to the competition opposite but because of my pig headedness I could only get 95 ron once again. The car seems to like it but I have been careful to keep the car running off boost.
OK this car must have heard me talking to the road service people as my premium care cover allows up to $3,000.00 to get me and the car home if it breaks down more than 100klm from home. Inside this perimeter, they will only fix on the spot or tow to a local repairer.
Well with 115 klm to go the car started to miss and loose power. I pulled over at Sandy Hollow and checked plugs, wiring, fluid levels, etc. I don't know what I did but it started up and run well. I proceeded on and got to Jerrys Plains and it happened again. I pulled over and backflushed the fuel filter. I also noticed a small pinhole in the radiator top tank which was spraying a fine mist of water onto the crank sensor so I gave the electrics a squirt of water repellant. She started up and ran OK. I got almost to Singleton and she did it again. Each time was less distance travelled so I decided to check everything. I removed and cleaned the fuel filter (got a couple of lumps of crud out but it seemed to flow OK). Wiped and sprayed the electrics and checked for loose connections. Topped up radiator, etc. It ran well again and I got all the way to Maitland before stopping. I had been giving it some thought and came to the conclusion that each time it had happened I had been either stopped at road works, travelling behind slow traffic (climbing hills) or stopped at traffic lights. The fault was temperature related so as a test I sprayed the coil pack with water dispersant which is cold from the can and off I went again. The car ran sweet and being so close to home I couldn't resist boosting past a SV6 commodore (he was not a happy vegemite). I was almost home (less than a kilometer to go) when the engine lost power again but now I knew what to do so up with the bonnet, a quick squirt to drop the coil temperature and I was home.
I have already changed the coil pack for one that I had in the shed and the rear axle I hope to have changed over by the weekend.
The car overall looks great and is a very nice cruiser on a long trip with adequate power even without boost. The clutch is too heavy for my liking and there is too much free play in the steering box but all in all I like it and I like driving it.
Now the fun part starts - Blue slip required for NSW Rego.
If you think the post is too long than why did you read it all.
Randolph (Decrepit)
PS. The support truck driver (Jenny) is upset that we did not get to the Barossa wineries and she want's to go back. (Just let me change the axle first)
