The imported jap-spec GJ GSR 1984 (MOVED BACK!)

[Lowmion]

Does anyone know of a mechanic and an auto electrician that can come visit and supply a quote for the repairs needed ?

[GeeSea]

moved back out of staff section, lowmion will update you all shortly.

[colta51]

so sory to c this man she was sweet! wats the inside like? if it was electrical ya loom inside the dash wood hav melted 2? ya wood think anyway. but the way it looks i wood say petrol!

[Lowmion]

Hiya all

Consumer Affairs Victoria got in contact with Flav, to find out his side of the story, and to see if a solution could be found, what his insurance company was etc etc.

In their own words,

Quote "Unfortunately, on this occasion efforts to conciliate this matter have not led to a mutually acceptable resolution. Should you wish to pursue this matter, you may choose to make an application to VCAT - Civil Claims List for hearing." End quote.

The Conciliator from CAV called me and said

-that Flav claimed he was only a mechanic employee working for Zoom Tuning
-that Zoom Tuning was owned by some-one else, that he'ld not met me personally,
-that he could only vaguely remember the car, and that all he did remember is I was trying to pull an insurance scam.

The Conciliator then told me he asked Flav if he didn't own Zoom Tuning

-why was his name attached to Zoom Tuning's ABN?
-why did $3200 worth of cheques get deposited and cashed by Flav if Flav wasn't Zoom Tuning
-and why would I torch my own car if it wasn't insured - so where and from whom did he hear of an insurance scam from
-why my numberplate's would appear on someone else's car whilst my car was in his care and then that other car was snapped not having an E-tag and I received the fine - especially since the plates were re-attached to my vehicle when it was returned to me - so they weren't stolen.

Also that Flav denied going out to inspect the car, denied that my sister in law was taking photo's of it whilst he was there and denied that it's his or his friends car in the background of one of the shots (priceless - it's the shot with the hood up taken by my sister in law called The after shot) the pictures a high res one that can be blown up to easily read the plates .

That after a being told there were photo's, phone and bank records, the government records of business, a current Police investigation and to remember that this call is being recorded - Flav got angry and hung up.


The Conciliator from Consumer Affairs Victoria said to me that I can post anything I like about this case so long as it's the truth, and that I have the right to alert fellow car enthusist's to the situation

so sory to c this man she was sweet! wats the inside like? if it was electrical ya loom inside the dash wood hav melted 2? ya wood think anyway. but the way it looks i wood say petrol!

The wiring loom inside the car is fine, following are the pic's taken of it on the night I picked it up from Flav, the last picture shows it in his driveway, his workshop door open and the donor car next to it.


This picture of the engine bay where Flav has put a ZOOM sticker on my airbox, further into the airbox are the 2 headlight relays that he say caused all the destruction.


The after shot








Still have the thing parked out the front



I'll keep you all updated, VACT is next.

[GeeSea]

sounds like a farkin prick, i woulda lost my cool... glad you've stayed calm

[GeeSea]

lad put a ding in my coupe and i went a bit nutty, he hid lol, and he was a full grown man.. couldnt imagine what i woulda done to this flav lad if he did this to like $15000...

me and my big tonga mate woulda paid him a visit lol.

[Lowmion]

I think in the long run this might be the better way, also don't forget that any person that was considering using Flav as their mechanic might now think twice.

I've not decided whether to pump more $$ into the thing and have it redone, as my daily driver which this thing was orig bought to replace is now in need of $$.

It's now in limbo, lol.

[GeeSea]

restore it, its not something you see everyday... id keep it, with all the troubles you've had with it.

[Lowmion]

yeah, the Garrett converted turbo would be a shame to waste, as well as the ported head, and the modified block with the balancers removed to gain some extra kw's, not too mention the new drive plate, although it'll probably take me another year to save the needed $$ to restore it, but yup I'll have to have that cruise with TuffSig when it's done.

Trouble is who do I take it to, lol..

ps that green galant is still avail

[GeeSea]

i want the bloody coupe so bad.

[75wagon]

What do you want for the coupe? I remember seeing it for sale. What's done to it?

[MrBishi]

Lowminion. Can you please post this info on Austarion? There are people there still singing his praises.....

[DanTurboLancer]

Great to hear you are getting somewhere over all of this Lowmion!!
Keep us posted!


And hurry up and buy that beautiful Galant!!

[camB]

might be a bit far for you but i get alot of work on TUFSIG done by Dalton Automotive in geelong

Yep, I've not used them but I grew up in Geelong and they have a really solid rep - particularly hi-spec turbo rotaries. (I remember their drag car... awesome)

[leoca]

Lowminion. Can you please post this info on Austarion? There are people there still singing his praises.....

I will second that, he gets a lot of praise .I always thought the thread asking about had anyone seen his missing daughter was a bit weird...

[Lowmion]

Lowminion. Can you please post this info on Austarion? There are people there still singing his praises.....

I will second that, he gets a lot of praise .I always thought the thread asking about had anyone seen his missing daughter was a bit weird...

His knowledge of Mitsubishi's is well renowned and I believe founded, and whilst I've been burnt by him, (pun intended), that motor he built was a very fast motor, remembering my electronic o/d hadn't been wired in properly either,

-if the fuel lines hadn't have come off -

Would he have repaired all the faults in his wiring loom installation ?
I don't know

Would it have turned into a head ache?
Again I don't know

Would he have honoured the 12 month warranty on parts and labour that was included and agreed on BEFORE the rebuild commenced if something had have happened ? (yes I have proof)
I have no idea

I think it would step over the line if I on-line stalked him, so I'll just keep this forum updated, and I'm sure word will spread around.

Flavio P Sibilla a.k.a. Zoom Tuning ABN 68200422507 if you're reading this and wish to conciliate this matter, but didn't get the details when contacted by Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Consumer Affairs Complaint Case number is c2009/10/008502, and the Conciliator's name is Douglass Stone.

Just to show the world I'm playing fair

[Lowmion]

Ps I'll find out about the Green Galant for all those that are inquiring about it, and I'll get some interior and engine shots etc posted as well

[Lowmion]

good news man
keep me informed
if you get a free weekend and have another car come round for a beer or sumthing and ill show you whats going on with TUFSIG

That would be good, the other car's a 1963 series 2a landrover - in original condition (which translates to - original motor and gearbox = drinks oil and water and the gearbox is missing 2nd gear)

Would love to see you beasty, and will definitely get the trailer out to take the GSR down for a quote from your mechanics - I think they'll cry when the see it - if you could make them aware for me 'twould be good

[Lowmion]

Brisbane

[Lowmion]

The VCAT paper work has been lodged, it's finally moving ahead - that green galant 2 door is still available but I've yet to find out about the price.

I hope you all have a safe and happy Xmas

[webby]

Did you let the folks on Austarion know about your Flav troubles? Most of them seem to think the sun shines out his arse

[Lowmion]

Nope I've not posted anything on the Austarion forum's as I'm not a member of the site, even though I own whats left of essentially a 4 door Starion.

This thread will be an interesting one as eventually, (gotta save up at least another $4k), I'll have the Galant* fixed and running again, (although the burnt paint job will attract some questioning looks as that will be the last thing done to it), and I will post up the results.

*Yes, the GJ-GSR Turbo import is really badged a "Galant Turbo 2000", although no-one knows what I'm talking about if I call it that, ESPECIALLY RACV, lols.

Anyhow have fun, etc.

[slo]

wow im a bit lost after reading all that but sorry to hear whats happened
so im guessing your just playing the waiting game on your side of the story yeh??

interested by the dash does it have a different section for the vent selector/temp/fan to a normal sigma?? cos it looks very similar to my digital dash for the climate control in my magna

[Lowmion]

There's also a manual on /off vent that blows aircon air onto your legs from next to the central column, I'll get a photo happening.

The Aircon heats as well as cools, and the aircon buttons change colour to a warm red when that happens.


I've started to get all the bits together to repair it, but yes there's a waiting game involved

[slo]

yeh sounds different to the normal slider the sigmas got then, but very similar to my magna originally i had the slider too but added in all the climate control with the buttons and the dash display that changes colour to the temp its rather cool lol keen to see more pictures

yeh the waiting game... i had a situation with a car i bought only lasting me 6km before it seized completely and when i went back to the owners it was all blamed on me, apparently i 'thrashed it for the 6kms' causes the oil to dry out and block most the flow to the head 'rolls eyes', i had to get two reputable mechanic reports (which cost me) and 5months of waiting finally got half my money back. i had to prove that in the time i had it that the damage was nothing i could have caused, which both the reports proved that i had nothing to do with the failing of the motor that and have the inconvenience of an assessor just popping up when he feels to asses the claim. i got all sorts of abuse from the previous owner but in the end they where in the wrong and i caught them out and proved it so suck shit

hopefully it turns out well for you too if you have enough on your side to back you up you shouldn't have a worry, either way it would be a shame to see a car like this go to waste seeing how unique it is. did you have a fire extinguisher on you at the time?? very lucky to see the damage only stop under the bonnet and not go all over the car! it still looks very repairable just needs alot more time spent on it hopefully something you wont have to pocket

[Lowmion]

Well thats the thing, if Flav had said to me "hey mate - you better carry a fire extinguisher with you in the car, just in case something goes wrong", I'ld have bought a powder extinguisher straight away, but I had no idea that the was even a slim chance of this happening.

When I first saw the embers on the road, I immediately turned off the ignition and coasted to a stop, left my headlights on and put on my hazards on, popped the hood, saw the flames on the rhs of the engine and realised I had nothing to put it out with, closed the hood to try to limit the oxygen to fire thing, and spotted a servo (the shell on hoddle), which had no fire extinguishers handy but only a bucket of water, which didnt do anything and by then I couldnt get the hood up again due to the flames burning my fingers.

The fire brigade Cpt reckoned it was good that I turned off the car straight away, as that limited the fuel being sprayed around inside the engine bay, but luckier still that it didn't happen on the freeway, as I wouldn't have seen the embers or the flames and that with the electric fuel pump being in the boot the fire would have had a very good chance of traveling the fuel lines back.

The ember's I've figured out, I had a insulating blanket attached to the hood, (factory issue), which would have been the second thing to ignite, and would have been soaked in fuel from the return fuel hose spraying around in there.

That (heat blanket burning and throwing embers) and a healthy paranoia of the police on hoddle street, meant that I was watching my mirrors more than normal, again it was good it was night time.

So all in all it could have been alot worse.

But yeah I'm still gutted ..........

[slo]

wow yeh defiantly could have been worse then
just a warning for everyone to carry a extinguisher ey i have for years as ive heard/seen many bad storys like this
dont suppose you had insurance that covered fire at the time?

[Lowmion]

Because the wiring loom wasnt finished being installed properly the car-alarm tech's @ Jb said they didnt recommend installing the alarm - as depending on what needed to be finished, could mean the alarm would have to be re-installed and intergrated a second time - so wait till the loom was solid. ( I was getting central looking, installed at the same time, with boot & bonnet sensors, complete with mercury tilt switch thingy in case anyone went after my wheels)

And the insurance company (L.U.V. ) whilst we'ld agreed on the $ etc and the fact that if anything happened to it I'ld retain what was left of the car as well as getting paid out, wouldnt cover it, without it having a 3 point alarm system installed, and with the gps realtime tracker and other goodies it was going to have as well meant the premium was good.

So the car was kept secure and driven like I was a grandma as the last thing I wanted was to get in a accident un-insured, and have $10k worth of effort go to waste.

Again it didnt even cross my mind it would go up in flames.....

[Sigmaproject]

I had a major scare a couple of year back when I had a fuel leak under the bonnet. Fortunately the wagon was running like a pig, so I stopped, lifted the bonnet and there was fuel everywhere. No extinguisher, so I basicly just stood back and waited for it to catch fire. Luck for me it didnt ,but since that day i use high pressure fuel line ,double clamps and have removed as many joins as I can.

I have just read this story, and it would make you think that the guy doesnt even have a basic liability cover .

[Lowmion]

Hey good news - finally after 9 months of waiting it goes to vcat in August, I've still got the car in storage, and hopefully will have a result very soon