Phils GA Galant

[gaPhil]

Cheers Dave.

I have a borrowed pressure washer atm. Can't seem to get that scale off with it, but a light sand has been doing the trick.

Gettin there 1 day at a time.

[astronturbo77]

looks the goods, wish i still had my Gb, it was the same color as this... Do you know what the color is called and the berger code?

[75wagon]

Can't seem to get that scale off with it, but a light sand has been doing the trick.

I have a sand blaster if it bothers you that much.

[Scorpma82]

Get a bottle of BAM with degreaser...and a couple of wire brushes....and your gearbox will sparkle more than a twilight vampire in the sunlight

[gaPhil]

Been a bit quiet on the galant, trip to europe slowed things down, but im back into it and the work is continuing.

1st priority is re-painting the engine bay. The battery had leaked at some stage causing surface rust all around the battery tray. Sanded, treated and primered it ready to topcoat



Another area of concern is underneath where someone put an aftermarket antenna, water has leaked in and rusted in the rear of the cavity. But it doesn't look too bad and i should be able to manage it. I will have to seal up the hole later.

[gaPhil]

Continued treating the surface rust in the engine bay. Bit more extenisive then I thought, in hard to get to areas.
I have been sanding, using rust converter then primering.

Battery tray and surrounds:


Cavity at the rear.


Still got some more to treat in the cavity at the back. Once I get that done it should be relatively easy to sort the rest out and re-paint the bay.

[gaPhil]

Anyone here used galmet 'ironize' rust converter and sealer before?
It's a milky solution and once dry, turns the surface black which can be painted over.

It seems to work a lot better than other converters I've used. Good for the hard to reach places where sanding is difficult.

[davetrees]

I've used a similar product made by Motospray ... seems to work really well.

[gaPhil]

Bit of work over the Xmas break. I managed to finally finish respraying my engine bay. I wouldn't call it an excellent job but considering my experience painting, I'm happy with it and it looks a hundred times better than what it was.
Just have to clean up a bit of overspray on brake lines etc.



The next step which I have started is repainting the front and radiator support panel in gloss black. I will be paying to get the remaining painting done.

Motor wise I have a good motor that I might rebuild. I'm considering sourcing another Saturn to throw in and get it running for the mean time.

The goal is to have it back on the road in the next few months.

[geezer101]

Anyone here used galmet 'ironize' rust converter and sealer before?
It's a milky solution and once dry, turns the surface black which can be painted over.

It seems to work a lot better than other converters I've used. Good for the hard to reach places where sanding is difficult.

I've used stuff called "Penetrol" to get rust under control in hard to get places. It seeps into the porous rust and seals it from and further air and moisture exposure. Just need to give the affected area a scrub to remove the loose rust, a clean and then give it a good squirt. I lived by the beach for a while and I tested it out on a car door (which already had a rust issue) and it stopped the rust dead in it's tracks. It dries clear.

[gaPhil]

I've pretty much finished repainting the front end


Also repainted the radiator support panel and stone guard. I think I'll do the cross member next.

Then I'll replace the tie rods while the motor is out and it will be pretty much ready to stick a donk back in it.

Next is repainting the bonnet and maybe front guards. I'm hoping to get into that over the Australia Day weekend.

Really looking forward to driving it again, it's been a while!

[75glnt]

looking good mate i plan on doing the same to my gb. everything painted or rechromed

[gaPhil]

Had some good progress this week.

Took the head off and sent if off to get reco'd. (Massive thanks to 75 wagon for his help there). Then reinstalled with new head gasket. Also took the sump off and cleaned it out.

Massive day today, work done:

Installed new HD clutch kit. (First time I have done a clutch so finger crossed its all ok!)
Cleaned the block and painted Matt black.
Reinstalled gear box.
Reinstalled motor.

So hard movig stuff around in my shed but the hard part is done. Had new engine mounts but they turned out to be the wrong part and I couldn't make them fit so had to use the old mounts which are still ok.

[75wagon]

(Massive thanks to 75 wagon for his help there)

Glad to help.

Just make sure this is up and running by the next cruise date.

[gaPhil]

Got everything back on over the weekend and it is almost running...


Had some ignition issues, didn't hook the dizzy up properly, i think i have this sorted now. Then my battery went flat.
Hoping to get it going ASAP this week.

One other problem is the gearbox. I took the shifter off to put the motor in and I can't seem to get the gearbox in a neutral position to get the shifter back in. Not sure what's going on there but I ran out of patience for now.

The nsw cruise is getting closer an i think I'm an outside chance of making it!

[gaPhil]

75wagon to the rescue (again)

The motor is running! Only ran it for a minute as the radiator is not hooked up. Really good to hear it.

Should be driveable this week.

[gaPhil]

75wagon to the rescue (again)

The motor is running! Only ran it for a minute as the radiator is not hooked up. Really good to hear it.

Should be driveable this week.

[gaPhil]

Stupid iPhone!

[75wagon]

75wagon to the rescue (again)

LOL, no probs Phil.
Sometimes just having someone else come and take a look sheds fresh light on what's going on.

I'm glad to hear it running also, that cruise isn't getting any further away.

[gaPhil]

So I've had some issues this week which I have posted in another thread.
In short I had to take the head off to get a water port which did no match with the block blocked off. Turns out the head is off a later model then the block.

The head is back on and hooked up the radiator and ran the motor today. It's pretty loud with just the extractors but seemed to be running ok, maybe a bit rough but that might just be a timing issue.
However looking under the car I noticed a bit of an oil leak coming out of the bell housing at the rear of the motor. About a drip every 10 or so seconds.

Haven't had too much of a look at it yet, but it looks like it could be the rear main seal.

[75wagon]

Bugger.

I thought you ran this motor already in your red GA shell? Did it not leak then?

Dave...

[gaPhil]

If it did I didn't notice it, but I also didn't run it for long.
Could it improve when the motor fully heats up and runs in?

Not sure where to go from here...

[gaPhil]

Ahhhh good news.

I got under and had a closer look. It's actually coming from the back of the sump and running down.
I mustn't of sealed the sump up well enough when I put it back on.

At least it's not the rear main seal, but it still might be a bit of a pain to fix...

[davetrees]

You should be able to drop the sump enough to fix it without taking it right out, I reckon ? If necessary, undo the engine mounts & jack the block up a little.

A good bead of RTV should cure the problem (I haven't even got a sump gasket in mine ..... just used sealant). Make sure you clean the surfaces properly, and don't over-tighten the sump bolts or they are likely to warp the edges of the pan. Similarly, tighten them in a criss-cross fashion like you would with head bolts, so you don't twist it.

[gaPhil]

Yeah I managed to take the sump out by just raising the motor a little.

May have been a bit premature with the prognosis though. After really getting in there I think it is the rear main seal that is leaking. It looks like oil is coming down out of the back of the motor it may have been getting around the stone guard to on the outside making it look like it was the sump. Not sure though.

The sump is back on anyway. I'll have a look tomorrow it see if its leaking.

[gaPhil]

Well I'm pretty gutted.

Spent the best part of 2 days in my shitty shed replacing the rear main seal and sump.
Only to run it today and its still leaking.

It's dripping from the bottom of the gearbox and is definitely motor oil. It might be running down from the corner of the sump but I can't be sure.

Dave, 75wagon, has kindly offered to house galant for a bit. His shed Is much better equipped to have a better look at it.

The weird thing is I've done the rear main seal and sump gasket and it doesn't seem to have changed the leak.
No idea what else it could be given the location.

[75wagon]

The weird thing is I've done the rear main seal and sump gasket and it doesn't seem to have changed the leak.
No idea what else it could be given the location.

The plan from here is to take the flywheel off to observe where the oil is coming from.
I just don't know what else to do at this stage, but at least taking the fly back off again, should at least pinpoint exactly where the oil is coming from.

While the car is in my shed, I plan to try to push this along to get it back together and ready from re-registering.
Just tomorrow I will be respraying Phil's new bonnet.

Maybe I can even talk you into doing some mods and fitting that 5 speed while it's here...

Dave...

[davetrees]

It's not something random like a leak from the rear of the rocker cover running down the back of the block ?

Did the old seal appear damaged ? If not, is the problem with it's housing rather than the seal itself ?

[gaPhil]

I had a look at the back of the head and it all looks fine. I noticed the old rear main seal did look ok, but the gasket on the housing was pretty shagged.

It's collecting on the lip of the bottom of the gearbox and dripping. It seemed oily around the back corner of the sump. It may be around where the bottom of the sump and the housing for the rear main seal meet. That would be my guess.

[75wagon]

It's not something random like a leak from the rear of the rocker cover running down the back of the block ?

That's the first thing I thought of.

I was at Phil's place on Friday afternoon, and helped him install the rear main seal, rear main seal housing and reseal the sump.

It has me puzzled as to why there is a problem. That is why what I think it needs now is to tear it back down and inspect where the leak is coming from. I hope that it is a problem with the main seal housing or even the sump gasket (but I doubt it's that). Either way, whatever it is, we will get to the bottom of it, and resolve it in time for the cruise on the 24th, I hope.

Dave...