76 Colt Galant GTO GSR 2000

[partyboyjay]

cheers jason theres a couple of jags covered up, theres also an old bmw 3 series, and the targa is a nissan 300 zx which is in bad shape

the shed is basically what youve described! its a thick lined insulated poly tunnel! loads of workspace! only issue is that last year with all the snow a few of them collapsed in, hence the bad shape of the nissan so spent the early part of this year reinforcing all supporting beams!

gonna be spraying her white, with a red pinstripe, going for this sort of look

The back of the console should be located with a bracket under the ash tray that has two screws that fasten to the trans tunnel

cheers buddy the metal radio bracket is in good shape, i'll take a pic tomorrow and post it for your advice as for those screws under the ash try the surrounding plastic has snapped so they arent secured, ill take some pics of the underside and await help and advice!!!
the windows will be coming out i think, probably easier and better for when shes ready for the spray!

[A112H]

That's the exact look I was going for with my A112H, I even think I used that exact picture in my build thread somewhere, lol. The straight stripe didn't suit the "Coke" bottle shape or mine so I lowered it to the bottom of the doors
I would just about kill for a A53C GTO MR and the white is my favorite, followed closely by the orange.
Good luck with the build mate, can't wait to see it coming together

[DriveBy]

Fantastic start on your journey. Pics of the floor and inner sills look very promissing. Seems Mitsu-Mech isn't the only unit ressembling a Mitsubishi museum.

[partyboyjay]

ok guys so much to our lasses dissapointment i went to spend the day on the car as i had the day off
so on the plans for today was getting the interior finished off and stripped off and some if not all the exterior trim!
would you believe it, everyday brings new nightmares!!! so heres some pics to show you how my day went!
so i got the door cards off and the rubber seals off (need to find replacements for all of them!) then the chrome and heres what was left


so i thought id get rid of the vinyl roof now there wasnt much in the way

then removed rear lights to find a crumbling mess!


took off the flares, front were ok to a degree


rear ones however spoke a different story


then top top it all off i checked the roof again, found all these cracks, realised it had been patched before the vinyl went on so started chipping away, the stuff was thicker than the plaster on my bedroom wall!

so after about an hour or so chipping away i still wasnt done but lets see what i was left with

lets get a closer look!

deep gashes and ruts all over! great looks like this poor girl has been on her roof at some point! will be having some questions with the seller! so gonna see about taking it all off next visit then assessing where to go from there! will most likely be getting filled back in again (only not as thick!), dissapointment all round! quite annoyed but gotta expect hidden stories showing thier faces when your doing a resto like this i suppose! i'd be naive to think i was getting a perfect car but wasnt expecting something like this! looks like the paint job will be put on hold as its gonna cost more than expected to get her welded and patched up! feedback please guys!

[BlueThunder]

damned, doesn't look good to me.
When you start stripping it you never know what you will find that's true.
About the arches and tail light area i think those are repairable with a bit of new material cut to size and welded in but the roof is a different story. I heard about filling dents and stuff with lead or maybe it's even possible to pull them out with a kind of puller (like they do when you have dents from hail or so). Or when it's too big you could fill the gap with a welder and then make it smooth again with a grinder or so? Maybe an other option is to go for a sunroof if the deepest gashes and ruts are in that area?
Just an idea tho, i'm not a sheet metal guy...

[DriveBy]

Don't lose heart. I actually think it doesnt look as bad so far as I thought it would be. The roof may be best left to a professional restoration shop but the rest of the tinworm looks like pretty basic template and plate work.

She is worth saving even if its worse than this! Some people buy half a chassis and a block and still make a beautiful car in the end. Better she takes a year or two or three than ever let her see a banger track.

Gotta get worse before it gets better, don't give up!

[bruggz351]

Heart breaking.

Don't give up. As said, for the most part, its pretty basic panel repairs. That roof IMO needs replacing. Lead wiping you'd need too much lead. Find another roof for transplant. JMO.

cheers

[A57C]

too bad the white car went russia you could certainly use a donor roof

here's an idea: maybe consider buying the oz parts gto and shipping just the roof and other bits you need?

[geezer101]

Oh man, what a mess. No lead on the roof unless you intend on shielding yourself from nuclear fallout (a small wipe on seams is acceptable but there is no way that can be fixed without some serious metalwork). I've seen some cars make a bigger comeback than Jesus and going down the path of a full resto ensures you not only know what has been done to the car - but ensures it will make a good investment in the future. Any GTO these days is rare but one that is a minty is to die for

[A112H]

WOW, that is less than great isn't it As it is a flat panel surely it wouldn't be inconceivable to replace the centre section from flat sheet would it? I am by no means a panel beater but it seems logical
Good luck either way and as always, keep us posted

[partyboyjay]

Cheers guys, as much as i feel like the car lets me down, i sleep on it and wake up feeling like shes only trying to show me stuff that needs doing!
I feel like she wants to be a minter as much as i do! the enthusiasm hasnt left me yet! it only spurs me on! If i can get this girl back to former glory i can do anything!!!
I do sometimes feel like banging my head on a wall for but it isnt gonna be an easy road is it! this just gives me chance to focus on other easier cheaper things i can do, so when ive got the roof down to "metal" i will be starting to look at underneath her! The rear axles gonna come off and im going to look at getting it wire brushed off and powder coated! mmmmmm shiny! then focus on the rest of the odd brackets here and there, this will be a long road on the money trail so expect me to be on this thread for the next couple of years!!!

[partyboyjay]

[A57C]

so was that hail damage or an actual rollover?

[partyboyjay]

so was that hail damage or an actual rollover?

It doesnt look like hail, the deep ruts are too extensive for it.

if i were to hazard a guess it would be that its flipped on its roof and slid, or rolled into a ditch.
Still need to talk to previous owner about any knowledge of this!

[A112H]

Do you think it might have been rescued from a breakers at some point? Maybe had another car on the roof??

[partyboyjay]

i couldnt tell you jase! was told by the seller he was the second owner, but i wasnt told anything about the roof!

[natosig]

Good luck with the build mate these are awsome little cars Hope you can get that roof sorted

[A112H]

i couldnt tell you jase! was told by the seller he was the second owner, but i wasnt told anything about the roof!

It looks like bad news but everything is repairable. Be interesting to see what he say's anyway.
The wheel arches are worse than expected but look on the bright side, now you don't have to feel bad for shaving the panel to get big wheels under the flares, lol

[partyboyjay]

Be interesting to see what he say's anyway

well he told me that the roof was vinyled before he got it, although i couldve sworn he said he had it done! but never mind! on the plus side i have a GTO!

everything is repairable in the long run! think the plan is to get all the crap off and worse case scenario reskim it with a THIN layer of filler!
but all thats on hold at the moment and works going to commence on the underneath of the car now! wirebrushing, powdercoating and waxoyl costs less than panel beaters and metal repair!

[A112H]

on the plus side i have a GTO!

everything is repairable in the long run!

[DriveBy]

Cheers guys, as much as i feel like the car lets me down, i sleep on it and wake up feeling like shes only trying to show me stuff that needs doing!
I feel like she wants to be a minter as much as i do! the enthusiasm hasnt left me yet! it only spurs me on! If i can get this girl back to former glory i can do anything!!!
I do sometimes feel like banging my head on a wall for but it isnt gonna be an easy road is it! this just gives me chance to focus on other easier cheaper things i can do, so when ive got the roof down to "metal" i will be starting to look at underneath her! The rear axles gonna come off and im going to look at getting it wire brushed off and powder coated! mmmmmm shiny! then focus on the rest of the odd brackets here and there, this will be a long road on the money trail so expect me to be on this thread for the next couple of years!!!

That's the spirit


Replacing the roof panel IMHO would best and if you do re-install the vynil it will hide any change in roof line quite well. give John @ http://www.heritageclassics-teesside.co.uk/ a call. It will save you time and money getting any delicate repairs like a roof which could easily warp when welded.

[cbygdt]

Hi
Congrats from me on your purchase. As you say there is a bit of work ahead of you with the project. Nath76LA sent a pic of my GTO. I sourced mine from NZ in 2009. These cars are a lot of fun to own and drive. In the UK, like here they are rare machines. I am not sure if you saw on the net another GTO owner in your country had a sad looking GTO that he progressively shows being brought back to pristine condition. Here is the link http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... read=61522 . Kep us oz owners posted on your progress.

[partyboyjay]

ok guys update time

so i missed a weekend by going away with some friends, was annoying not getting to work on the old girl, but did enjoy the relaxation!
last weekend started on the front end, whipped the wings off to assess what she was hiding, also got the radiator as exposed as possible for removal on the next visit, that was about it as far as that day went, most of the bolts were nice enough to be pretty much siezed in place so after about 30 mins of working on one nut everytime they were kind enough to snap on me! All but one! oh i also got little things like the washer bottle, ignition coil etc. out, minor 2/3 bolt things, getting prepped up for engine removal!

right so back down there again today, due to so many nuts being quite tightly secure and happy where they were, a new purchase of an impact drill made an appearance they werent getting away with things that easy! So carried on where i left off last week, the headlight units were removed, drained and dropped out the radiator, whipped out the washer motor and linkage, also took out the washer jets and all the horrible brittle piping! noticed on purchase of the car that the radio aerial was sounding a little tired and didnt really work properly so took that off and spent some timeout time giving that some loving care and attention, after about an hour of taking it apart and lubing it up giving it a little service, i have an electrical pop up aerial which works like new! really chuffed when we got that working properly.

Was planning on dropping out the subframe for shotblasting, galvanising and powdercoating after engine removal, but after assessing the damage to front wings, sills and rear wheel arches its been decided that shes going to shotblasters after engine removal and having wheel arches, sills and engine bay done. Then going to drop subframe out for future proofing then after that work on the rear end begins!

pics coming soon showing front end decay

ideas on best way to remove all that filler from roof??? sander?

[A112H]

Congrat's on the ariel, small wins are what it is about
As for the roof bog, if it were me mate I would be removing the lining getting inside on me back and kicking the Dickens out of it from inside, how much worse can you make it?

[A57C]

ah, found the link to the swiss cheese thread

http://www.driftworks.com/forum/drift-c ... o-gsr.html

[A112H]

WOW, that is a mess, parts car only I would be thinking. Gotta make you feel better about your roof Jay

[A112H]

Flares for sale in Japan, genuine GTO
http://www.japanorder.com/yahoo_auc_det ... =r97304279

[partyboyjay]

found the link to the swiss cheese thread

yeah thats the white one i knew about! believe it or not i spent 2-3 months tracking this guy down to try and buy it!

Only one i had any knowledge of them being in the u.k, turns out he put it on ebay, and it got shipped over to russia!

Gotta make you feel better about your roof

it does to a point buddy, but then you gotta think that theres another one just rotted away and may not ever make it back on the roads!
bit dissapointing when you think that theres people who let them get to that state!

Flares for sale in Japan, genuine GTO

Mitch needs to see that link, is he on here? or just facebook???

[dwlee]

I'm not sure that those are genuine original flares as the other set the seller has up for auction at the same price are reproductions, see http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h171542241
Usually if they are originals there will be a photo showing the underside with the strengthening ribs at the ends and the lettering showing which corn the flare fits.



When searching yahoo japan for gto part I use this url http://auctions.search.yahoo.co.jp/sear ... =UTF-8&b=1

[2Lgalant]

Wow that blue looks awesome hmmmm I wonder how my gto would look like that