Cottees' 1987 Sigma GN GSR Super Edition

[Cottees]

That one cost me $229 from Paramount Browns. It is rated to 1ton. Went there to spend $229, ended up spending $280. I had a choice of $59 for 24 hours, or spend $229, and use it when ever I have time between shifts. Once I get that engine out, take out any other parts I want to keep and scrap the rest, I can then bring the Sigma to my place, and start getting it running right. So if things go right, I could have it running in a week or so.

If things don't work out, I might be taking 1-2 weeks off for annual leave, so plenty of time free to get it all working.

[shuggy]

sounds like a plan

good work mate

[colta51]

Sigma seats are not bolt into a Galant though people keep saying they do.

thay do! i hav sigma seats in my car just bolted the galant rails to the sigma seats and away she went!
not sure wat model sigma seats tho?

[turbogj260]

check ur wiring mate theres no way every computer ur getting is faulty. TRUST ME been there done that. Ur going to new lengths to re invent the wheel so to say. the money u spent on a engine crane and a magna i could of wired up ur car 4 ya. check ur timing and distributor.

[turbogj260]

AND TR/S magnas log codes when u put performance filters infront of the air flow meter.

[Cottees]

I would say it is either the wiring or one of the other components. That is why I bought a working Magna engine. It makes me want to pull out my hair some times, but it is fun, and a learning process. The Magna will supply a heap of spares, and the engine hoist I'll need again at some point.

[Cottees]

Whoops! I had one of the wheels off the Magna while it was jacked up. I let the jack down and forgot that one of the wheels were off. I was able to stop it just in time.

[Cottees]

If there is a box, no matter where it is, a cat will find it.


The engine and trans was coming up level, but I forgot something and it ended up slipping, and coming up on a slant.


It was this big! Honestly!


Finally got it out. Just have to finish getting the loom, spare parts, etc. out of the Magna. When that is done, I'll be scrapping it, and using the same car trailer to bring my Sigma back to my place. Almost there!

[GC75]

lol

[Cottees]

Past couple days I have been doing a little research about Starion brakes on a Sigma. To better visualise the different brake pad sizes, I made the following pics. Also while googling around, I found some mentions of alternate pads that could fit the Starion callipers.

DB1085 = Sigma GJ, GK, GN
DB291 = Starion JA, JB, JD /Lancer 1600, 2000
DB1111 = Mazda 929/Luce
DB1141 = Toyota Chaser/Corona MarkII/Cressida/Cresta/Hilux

DB291 vs DB1085

DB291 vs DB1111

DB291 vs DB1141


I also had a look at rear brakes.

DB252 = Starion JA, JB, JD/Scorpion GE, GH, GJ, GK, GL/Lancer 1600, 2000
DB1094 = Sigma GH, GJ, GK, GN

DB252 vs DB1094



I checked out the sizes of the rotors from the Starion, Sigma and Scorpion.


For the front, Starion rotors come out on top. For the rear, the Sigma rotors are larger than the Scorpion and Starion, but the Starion rotors are vented. So Starion rear disks and callipers on a Scorpion diff would be the best combination.

[GC75]

nice.... how did you do the diagrams??

[Cottees]

On the Bendix website, you can download a PDF that you can print off a pic of the pad that is the same size as the real pad. Just used them in Photoshop.

[GC75]

ah ok cool will keep it in mind. So your good at photoshop then?

[Superscan811]

I checked out the sizes of the rotors from the Starion, Sigma and Scorpion.

For the front, Starion rotors come out on top. For the rear, the Sigma rotors are larger than the Scorpion and Starion, but the Starion rotors are vented. So Starion rear disks and callipers on a Scorpion diff would be the best combination.

The 280mm discs are for the BW diff and are that size because of the drum handbrake mechanism.

You also didn't put in the GE sigma front discs which are 229mm and 13mm thick. No wonder they suffer from brake fade.

Great comparison with the brake pads BTW.

Cheers.

[Cottees]

ah ok cool will keep it in mind. So your good at photoshop then?

I am ok at Photoshop. Not the best, but I know the basics.

[You also didn't put in the GE sigma front discs which are 229mm and 13mm thick. No wonder they suffer from brake fade.

I did it just to check the sizes for my GN. I might expand it later for all Sigmas and put it as it's own topic.

[Scorp16]

I use DB1111 in Starion front brakes as they fit perfectly and are available in better compounds.

[Cottees]

I am looking at converting the front brakes to Starion fronts, and the rear to a Scorpion diff with Starion brakes. Also probably going to put on a set of slotted rotors for the front and back. Just a quick quote from the Super Cheap Auto site for slotted rotors (DBA) + pads (Bendix or TRW) for all 4 corners would come to just under $1k. It should be worth it in the end though. DBA no longer make the DBA400 or DBA401 rotors, so SCA probably wouldn't be able to get them in, unless they have stock of them somewhere. There is some slotted rotors on eBay for less than what was listed at SCA.

[Cottees]

The parts Magna is all finished with now ready to be taken to scrap on Sunday. That means I'll then have room at my place for the Sigma. I'll be bringing that to my place on the Sunday as well. I am also applying for my annual leave at work, so I should have plenty of time to get it running properly.

[Cottees]

Got the Sigma back to my place. You can see the Magna in the background ready to get scrapped.


Picked up a Starion from Galant_GTO. Poor thing is a bad way.


Used an aftermarket steering wheel to move the Starion around.


I was going to scrap the Starion today by dropping the front and rear suspension on the trailer. I ended up not having time to do it since all the towing took longer than I expected. It is now sitting at my place for now.

[13bsigma]

strange. i had that exact steering wheel on one of my scrap cars haha

[Cottees]

I have a split shift today, so thought I'd take a look at the Starion.

The rotors on the front are rusty (then again, so are the rears), but look to be ok.



I used a bit of fine sand paper, and the rust came off, so it looks to be not too deep.


The backwards FWD wheels that were on the front looked to have not rubbed on the struts, but did rub on the callipers. It is only light, so it will get covered up when I clean and paint them.


Took the pads out to check them out.


Will need to get new ones before I use it though.


Everything else looks to be ok, just in need of a good clean.


After I got all the cars to where they are going to be kept for a little while, I put the battery and ECU into the Sigma and tried to give it a start. All it did was smoke at the +ve term on the battery. First thought was that the engine had seized up. Fast forward to today. I got the engine to turn with little problem, so that was not it. Unplugged the Magna part of the car, still no go. I did hear clicking from the starter motor. Next thought was the starter motor was seized. I ended up getting the battery that I had from the Magna I scrapped, and put that into the Sigma. Starter turned and so did the engine. Plugged the EFI stuff again, and it has the same issues as before. Just sounds like timing is off. Will try the known working distributor I have and see if that helps.

One other test I did was plugged in a complete stock Magna intake. That didn't help much though.

[Cottees]

Got the first Starion strut out. Looks ok.


The driver's side was pretty thick in crap. Also looks like the sway bar was hitting the chassis.


Part of the strut on the passenger side was bent, but should be easy to straighten.


Front assembly removed. The driver side sway bar mount is missing, so that would explain why it as hitting the chassis.


The Station even came with a Support Ass.

[Cottees]

More pics of the Starion







I half considered keeping the Starion, and fixing it. When I saw underneath the car, I changed my mine.





I got the IRS setup out, but I am going to have to dismantle it a bit more to get it from under the car.


Found a Maccas Pictionary token from 2004.

[Cottees]

Comparisons:

Front Suspension. Sigma top, Starion (Conquest) bottom.
They both are very similar, except for the sway bar. The Sigma's mounts to the Strut Bar Bracket, and the Starion's mounts to the chassis.


Front Struts. Sigma left, Starion (Conquest) right.
You can see how the brake calliper mount is larger on the Starion, that it is on the Sigma.

[Cottees]

Here is another photo of one of the bad parts of the Starion.


I did a measurement of the Starion's Rotors, and fronts were around 22.5-23mm for the fronts, and 17mm for the rears.



According to the DBA catalogue, they are still an ok thickness, but will need replacing soon.


The above file I named 'dbastarion.gif'. when I looked at when I clicked save, it looked like 'd bastarion'.

[Astron Boy]

Nice work with all this.
I admire the effort.
Keep it up!

[A112H]

Massive effort mate, very well done

[Sigmaman]

You've been a wealth of information I can now use towards converting Florence to EFI when I finish moving house. I'm hoping mine goes a little smoother though. I commend you for your patience levels. After a lot of on the garage wall, the results will be worth every second spent.

[Cottees]

Gave the Sigma a quick clean. Looking much better. It really needs a good cut and polish, but I will do it when I fix up the couple places of surface rust, and patch the front quarter panels. Cutting and polishing will probably take some of the pin striping off, so I might look into getting some vinyl pin striping to replace it at the same time. It is currently a thin gold pin striping, but I might replace it with the same thickness dark blue pin stripe.

You've been a wealth of information...

That is why I have taken so many pics etc. I like to see builds with a heap of details and pics, so I thought I'd help others out by keeping a build thread as I'd like to be reading.

In 1 week I'll have 4 weeks leave from work, so that should be enough time to get the engine running, fix the paint, paint and install the starion struts + brakes, and get it all ready for the next SA cruise.

[oldn64]

Hmmm, might need to fix the handbrake too..... Motor reg seems not to condone the brick handbrake... LOL,

looking good Cottees.

Cheers