JiP's 1975 Chrysler Valiant Galant GC Sedan - Kermit

[JiP]

Hey guys, I'm new here and well I'll start from the beginning of how I found this car...

I've been in the Corolla scene for some years now on rollaclub.com and was with a mate who was picking up a 4AGZE from a mechanics workshop on Brisbanes northside. Tucked away in the corner of the front carpark was this dirty green car. Since I love anything 70's I went for a poke. Obviously it had been sitting under the tree for a while as it was black and sooty looking, dirty vinyl roof and a flat tire. Sounded like the mechanic wanted it gone as the apprentice shouted out "Its yours for $100" "It runs and drives". So I gave the paint a rub and was shocked to find that it was good underneath. One door was unlocked so I popped in to find perfect uncracked seats, and a near perfect dash. Lucky I had cash on me as my mate was wanting to make another trip to the atm to buy it.
So we came back that night and drove it home. Turns out the mechanic was going to give it to his kids to use it as a basher but thought it was too good for that.

Here's what it looked like after I cleaned it up...




Original 1975 plates...





Engine

Inside



Genuine 89,000k's


Boot...

Original spare tire

Wheels...
I think these tires might be from the late 70's or 80's as they aren't date stamped.



Now for the negitives
I need another mirror...

I am missing one of the trim rings on one tire.

All tires need replacing
I'm missing the Valiant badge on the bonnet. (Found one on ebay last night)
I'm missing the Chrysler badge from the grille (Found on ebay last night)
Have rust in the passenger front quarter guard...

Rust under the bonnet where the wiper motor is...

The carpet needs replacing

Found a tear in the vinyl roof...

Need new interior light cover. This is the only one I could find up here.

C pillar plastics are gone...

Back seat is starting to crack

Either replacement locks or re-chrome these.



Now for plans...
I want to replace/retrim/repaint what I can to get it back to a factory finish. Tho vinyl roofs worry me. It might end up being painted two tone.
Found new rubbers on ebay last nigth too so I hope to buy them for it as well.
I might buy brand new tires or just get second hand ones from the wreckers. I also hope to fit them out with flappers.
And, well, no car is complete without a rear venetian.
Hope to get it on club rego too.

[tandanus]

Nice.
The rust behind the front wheels is normal. The rust under the wiper motor isnt - need to fix that - it may be coming from that vent area (if leaves get in there and start rotting, well its not long before the chamber starts to rot through too). When the guards come off check behind them for rust too. Also across the front - lower radiator support and swaybar mounting areas.
But all in all I reckon its a great find - well done!
T.

[75wagon]

Going to keep it stock then?
Flappers would look good on it. I was going to put them on mine, but the new tires I have wont let me.
Looks pretty tidy for $100....

[GC75]

looks good, is this the same car that was on car sales?????

[JiP]

Thanx guys. Yeah I know all about the leaves in the vents and behind the guards from my old cars.
Its good that it doesn't need too much but when you sit down and add up all the things needing to be changed and peeled off (Roof), its going to be a long job.
For now I'll just focus on roadworthy stuff just so I can get it rego'd.

I donno if I said this already but there is a Classic Japanese Car Show in Feb that I would love to take it to.

If its not rego'd by then I'll try to see if I can get a day pass

And yeah its the same car.

[81GL]

Welcome to the club mate.

Nice find for $100. & for galant with only that small stuff, think it has faired pretty well!

With those chrome door locks, do a search on ebay for "sigma" parts, they used them in the GE/GH models also
Brought a couple sets off there a while back, you do see them pop up from time to time.

So jelous of the black interior... looks tough! love it!

Treat her well mate.

Nick.

[JiP]

Sweet thanx man. Yeah I must admit I've been pretty confused until last nigth when I went in hardcore researching these cars on wiki. So I'm kinda getting the idea of where to look now. Was hoping that they carried stuff over from their other cars. Like with Toyota they used the same room light cover in all their cars from 1975 till the 1990's. It made replacing and upgrading things way easier as you could adapt something from another car.

I think I'm going to have to control my urges with this car. I know the auto is sluggish and I would love more power but really want to leave it stock. And with that said it brings me to the roof again. Without the vinyl it just isn't original. Sadly I don't have a garage for it and car covers don't last long sadly.

[woops]

I solved the dilemma of keeping the car stock by getting a galant coupe which needed a little work to modify and save my mint GB from the modifying bug.

And fortunately you have a pretty good interior as that is typically the hardest part to get in good nick. Rust repair it much easier to sort out then the interior work. I'll take a look though my parts to see if i have any of those spare bits for you. Awesome find there too. I'm jealous. Great to see another brissie member here too.

[tango76hardtop]

Ive seen the gk sigma has the same interior light. You could get a new light lense from one of them, they're probly more common to find then a galant

[JiP]

I know I know hardly an update but I was excited when it came today!!
I took a total stab in the dark the other night when I bought this. So when it came today i quickly tried it out to find it fits!!!


Now the paint in it is a little chipped, so I was hoping to repaint it. Was thinking I could get it rechromed first but the chrome really doesn't look bad.
Does anyone know what kind of paint would be best? I've seen some bodgy painted badges in my time and well they just end up drying up and cracking. (the paint).

[shuggy]

love the colour, and great find mate
but i have a bone to pick

this site aint big enuf for 2 'kermits'

[JiP]

Hmm. Maybe a name change?? It is a bit weird for me ay. All my cars in the past have been female names. (Excluding my panelvan - Mr Ed)


hmmm back to the drawing board...

[JiP]

Going through some old pics and found this. I was going to put it on the 72 Lincoln Continental I was getting a while back but the deal fell through.

What does everyone think??

[shuggy]

i love those badges on old cars, just seal the sleeper deal

[75wagon]

love the colour, and great find mate
but i have a bone to pick

this site aint big enuf for 2 'kermits'

Slimer has gone too..

[JiP]

Found this on ebay. Just wondering is there any difference between the doors on the 77 model and the 75?
(Note don't go off the picture. Its just an example)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... TQ:AU:1123

[75wagon]

They won't fit yours, they're for a GE Sigma...

[JiP]

ahhh buggar. Oh well. I'll keep looking.

[JiP]

I inspected to vinyl roof a little closer today to find many more tears. And plenty of cat footprints all over the rest of the car.
Why do dog owners have to tie up their pets yet cat owners can let them run wild killing birds, fish and CLAWING CARS!!!

[shuggy]

wait til you lift the vinyl. rusttyyyy i bet

[JiP]

God I hope not. Tho I'll most likely be replacing the vinyl after all the welding. Might stay white or go black. Most likely white as I want to keep it original.

[shuggy]

yeh white is sex, make sure its decent vinyl

[MintyMike]

Lovely find there mate. Im very jealous, I'm getting one of these models this weekend, hopefully.
Going for a final check on Sunday, and if she's all good she'll be mine, but for about $900 probably...the seller is askin 1200 but i already got him down to 1000, lets hope i can work more magic.

Have to say love the green, i'll be spraying mine green once some of the work is done. Lucky dude, haha but mine is manual so 1 thing i got over yours haha.

Good luck with it mate, i'll be watchin your progress.

[shuggy]

mintymike - welcome make sure you put up photos of the car in the introduce yourself section

[Tj.]

What a rescue!..... seriously

I say keep the vinyl. Not many people do and yours is in reasonable nick (better hope that tiny little tear hasn't let in too much moisture tho, get it sealed)

I know guys that'd kill for a crash pad that good too.

Oh and you can get some period correct (and in fact damn close to factory) chrome mirrors from supercheap auto. They're plastic but they look the part. Plus if some arsehole breaks them they're only about $10-$15 from memory
They come in a round that looks like factory and a similar rectangular which is what i went with. I thought the round ones were a little funny looking.