The GJ GSR

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84GKSIG
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The GJ GSR

Post by 84GKSIG »

Well id like to begin by saying big thank you to cottees for giving me a hand and a big thank you to his GN as well which performed amazingly well towing the GJ GSR to my place. :thumpsup:

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(stole cottees pic here :P )

Well basically got this car yesterday (Monday 09/05/11) 1982 GJ GSR I also believe this belonged to a forum member previously some time in its life?

Plan with the GJ is to quickly fix it up keep it relatively stock and drive it around as a daily driver.

Car has a narrow block BW 5 speed gear box, original engine probably long gone and has had a magna block installed.
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I bought the car fully aware of engine being seized only not knowing the cause just yet, I suspected the balance shaft chain came off or something of that nature and engine ran deprived of much needed oil, any how we'll let the pictures do the talking.

this is what I saw when I took off the front timing cover
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hmm
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fail
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OK well let me take this as an opportunity to raise awareness of the dangers of balance shafts :P

1- they spin at 2 times the rpm of the engine
2- there pretty heavy
3- the single row chain used to drive them is weak
4- if the balance shaft chain fails, so dose the oil pump
5- extra strain on the engine robbing power from your engine
6- hurts when the cat knocks it over and it lands on your foot

pulled the top shaft out to inspect damage a little further

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as you can see the bearing area is stuffed.

so engine will need to be replaced, that isn't too much of an issue as I have one left over with low kms after a full rebuild from my old red magna I striped for " 84GKSIG's " EFI conversion.

Started preparing the engine today, pulled balance shafts out.
The kit comes with a stub that sits in place of the balance shaft behind the oil pump, here it is installed
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a ring thing
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thats used to block off the oil feed to the top balance shaft
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and done, edges got a bit rough cause I couldnt find a nice sold bit of wood to bash it in with, no one sees it in the engine any way
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and installing the new chain
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and done
- EDIT -
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in this pic clip was installed with the open end traveling with rotation which means in the event of anything coming in contact with the clip it could get flicked off- thanks for pointing that out Superscan811 :thumpsup:
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way it should be installed ( open end of clip up top )
- EDIT-
for what it costs and the amount of time it takes to do its definatly worth the peace of mind knowing that its not going to fail as it did originally.

some symptoms of not having the shafts
1- slight engine vibration
2- humming like sound from the engine at various rpms
some times you don't even take any notice

and thats it for today
M.B :thumpsup:
Last edited by 84GKSIG on Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:46 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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TVM006
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by TVM006 »

Superstar!
TVMDouble0h!Sixx

1985 GK GSR
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Superscan811
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by Superscan811 »

84GKSIG wrote:Image
Not a major issue

BUT

PLEASE put the clip around the other way ie: the end that opens is at the BACK in relation with the chain direction.

The reason is if "something" rubs on the side of the link, it won't come off.

Cheers.
84GKSIG
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by 84GKSIG »

already done :thumpsup: noticed it after I uploaded the pic and thought to my self ah you idiot, was cold outside and wanted to get inside and obviously not thinking at the time

M.B :thumpsup:
84GKSIG
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by 84GKSIG »

bit of a late update but better late than ever, got the engine in some time ago and had a bit of an issue with leaky welch/welsh plugs, figured since the engine I dropped in had been rebuilt, it would of been ok but that wasnt the case, any how that issues now sorted :thumpsup:
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after some pretty heavy swear words it all worked out in the end, replaced all 3 plugs on the exhaust side of the block with the extractors still in the car, I would of pulled them out but it appears as though they've been welded to the rest of the exhaust system and weren't gonna come out without an angel grinder.

Also replaced the old broken battery terminals
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with these
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bit odd looking but they seem to do the job well, being quick release and all
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all you do is sit it on the battery terminal and push the top plastic bit down and its locked in, then pull the plastic bit up to release, probably not so great for the main battery but eh, they were cheap :thumpsup:

passenger window winder has been replaced now and am working on finding the time to get some paint matched to respray the roof, drivers side door boot before the surface rust goes any further and sorting out the front left guard
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hoping to have it on the road some time before the end of this month, also have to sort out the stupidly loud exhaust :thumpsup:

M.B :thumpsup:
84GKSIG
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by 84GKSIG »

got some paint matched and found the time to test it on the car and its not too bad, tad tiny bit lighter but im happy, I sprayed just the top half of the driver side door, was curious to see how it would look with the black bottom??

rubbed back and masked
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paint
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unmasked and dry
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i think it sorta suits the black bottom being a flat colour and having the silver pinstripes in the back :think: hmmm

opinions?

M.B :thumpsup:
Last edited by 84GKSIG on Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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ISKA8
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by ISKA8 »

i reckon that blue will look awsome with the black bottom..me likey :thumpsup:
just curious to know what colour are you painting your moulds? are you leaving the chrome strips that are on the top and bottom?
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1984 SIGMA GK GSR (was EFI TURBO 10psi 194.0kw atw ) N/A head & cam
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*1991 VN SS 5spd...HI COMP HEAD & CAM
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2004 MITSUBISHI EXPRESS BIG RIG MOBILE DETAILING 0414017857!
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MY NEW TOY F6310
84GKSIG
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by 84GKSIG »

cheers :thumpsup: The molds and bumpers im just gonna clean up get em nice and shiny and black and im leaving the chrome strip across the top of the molding and if i do the black bottoms ill be putting the double pinstripe across the bottom of the doors , i personally think the only thing thats making it look like its going to work is cause of those 2 pin stripes and wouldnt mind getting the factory twin pinstripe back in as well.
M.B :thumpsup:
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kenvv
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by kenvv »

any chance of some pics of the sunroof from the inside? i have one in the galant and i always thought it was from a gemini because saw one and looked the same as mine. but maybe its from a sigma instead?
vrooooom vrooooom!!
84GKSIG
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by 84GKSIG »

hey mate sure

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and may as well, heres the reason for wanting to respray the roof
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if you look at this it looks like waters got in under the edge of the paint and worked its way out from under the lip on the sunroof, so wanna sort that out before it gets worse and it becomes a convertible.
geezer101
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by geezer101 »

After market item... had the same one in my LB hatch. The rust doesn't look bad, bet under the sunroof frame isn't great. But it didn't leak- testament to how well they were made.
84GKSIG
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by 84GKSIG »

yeah this one isnt leaking either,I guess we'll soon find out if i can: A get it under a cover or B have some sunny weather, doesn't look like B is gonna be happening any time soon though, i dont expect it to be too pretty under there any way.

M.B :thumpsup:
geezer101
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by geezer101 »

The weather here in adelaide has been shiteful... It's moments like these an enclosed garage with a couple of fluoro's is a palace!
dvsfin
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by dvsfin »

I wish I had a garage :( I do all of my work in the driveway or someone else's garage when I am allowed to :P
geezer101
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Re: The GJ gsr

Post by geezer101 »

I had to do everything out back of a place I was renting- swapped an engine, trans, front end and a full respray (bugs included!) You make do with what you got- no bucks, just elbow grease.
84GKSIG
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Re: GJ gsr, paint the bottoms of the doors black? what you think

Post by 84GKSIG »

sucks a little bit not having a shed or the shed space to be able to do some work, makes you very dependent on the weather, wouldnt be able to count the times ive stacked it rushing back to the shed with a hand full of tools i didnt want getting wet :roll: any one know wtf happened to summer last year in Adelaide?

M.B :thumpsup:
84GKSIG
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Re: GJ gsr, paint the bottoms of the doors black? what you think

Post by 84GKSIG »

alright, so most of the interior in this car was riped, missing, or wrong, so decided to replace it with the interior that was meant to go in my GK GSR, but since thats off the road and this ones my daily driver then I should be comfortable in the car im currently driving, no?

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now I know blue doesn't usually go with brown, but I might possibly paint the car white. (been playing with the idea) but we'll see what happens, this will do for now :thumpsup:

didn't have a deck in the car for a couple weeks and that drove me mad, so then installed a head unit when I changed over the dash from the blue one to the brown one
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then of course I needed rear speakers, so bought some mdf... enough to make shelfs for 5 other GJ-GNs :\ (this means I need to buy more sigmas)

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shelf looks pretty much granny spec apart from the tweeters to the side

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and last but not least, engines going to have to come out due to welch plugs not co-operating, so if the engines coming out, ive decided that im going to paint the engine bay black and install efi, so heres what ive got so far.

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TP magna efi manifold, ends swaped and welded by my self then painted up with some wrinkle/crinkle paint and loom prepped ready to pretty much just plug right in when the time comes.

Just have to weld up a surge tank, source a couple pumps and some efi bits like TP afm, filter housing o2 sensor and some temp sensors and good bye having to pump the accelerator pedal 42 times before the thing decides to start :thumpsup:

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M.B :thumpsup:
84GKSIG
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Re: GJ GSR gear box fun.....

Post by 84GKSIG »

Gear boxes, Gear boxes, Gear boxes......... :banh:

up on ramps and stands again
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why??

The 5 speed Borg Warner in the GJ always made a bit of noise since I first drove the car which then developed into a clanging sort of metal rattling sound.

The story. One day while driving up good wood road cruising in 5th all of a sudden it was as though some one slammed on the brakes and that pretty much was the end of that..
after getting the car home I pulled the box and sat it in the drive way didnt even bother to look inside how ever a bolt head that looked like it was snaped off and perfectly rounded and polished did fall out of the shifter hole while rocking the gear box back and forth to see if anything inside it was obviously loose - cottees can vouch for this as he was here when it fell out.

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for those of you who dont know what a Borg Warner 5 speed looks like, this is it right here and they should all be burnt :thumpsup:

In need of a car to be able to drive around I finally put time towards installing my Jap 4 speed box which was originally behind a 4G52 in my blue GK and was running when it was removed.

turns out now the bearings in the box aren't the best and make a horrible sound while driving the car.

after 2 weeks of trying to find the time between work and other commitments and being unable to find a Jap 5 speed with a long extension housing I did a little bit of research

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Jap 4 speed in the background with the BW 5 speed up front

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rear end internal shot of the 4 speed jap

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4 speed vs 5 speed extension housing

narrow jap 4 speed with the extension housing off a wide block jap doner box.... so now I guess you can see where I was going with this?

swap the internals out from the wide housing over to the narrow :thumpsup:
how ever....

after having taken a look at the insides of the wide jap box this is what I found

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:@

while continuing to dismantel the 4 speed i then sliced my finger open trying to remove a cross threaded bolt :thumpsup: so there will be no gear box for me this week end or next week as I am working away for the week and will be coming back from work on saturday in the afternoon. once again thumbs up to that :thumpsup:
84GKSIG
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The GJ GSR Hydraulic tappets

Post by 84GKSIG »

It has been a little while since an update so lets start by saying the gear box has been sorted and is now running a Jap 5 speed from an L200 ute with some internals from a wide block GK 5 speed and the long extension housing off the GK 5 speed as well :thumpsup:

So, if your like my and your car has an astron 2 which came with hydraulic tappets and the noise they make while cruising makes you feel like getting a shovel and beating every single smart car you see on the road into a tiny cube of aluminum foil and plastic, then its probably time to change them.

things you will need.

a rag is always handy
Socket set
torque wrench
long nose pliers
a small container
some fresh engine oil
a brand new set of hydraulic tappets
and a car running hydraulic tappet cam gear :thumpsup:

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Unplug your spark plugs, place the leads out of the way ( you wont always need this step but I find it easier to work with them out of the way, Remove your air cleaner and all hoses attached to your rocker cover as well as your accelerator cable.
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unbolt and pull off your rocker cover
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loosen all the bolts which hold in your cam gear- once your cam gear is loose, you will have enough play in the rocker arm to be able to gain all the clearance you will need to lift the rocker arm and pull out some stubborn hydraulic tappets with a pair of long nose pliers :thumpsup:

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7 broken ones

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brand new one to the right and 1 old one which was still working ( if your wondering why theres only 7 in the first picture


Grab your small container making sure its clean and put the new hydraulic tappets in it and fill with oil, grab each tappet while submerged in oil and give them a good couple of squeezes to prime them up and make sure there not gonna run dry in the first couple of seconds of you starting up your engine, this also provides a sticky coating of oil on the tappet so it wont slide out of its " enclosure/ mount "
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1 by 1 start installing them from the back of the engine working your way forwards to the point closest to you

torque up the bolts to manual specs, replace your rocker cover hoses leads ( and filter housing in my case ) and your ready to start her up warm her up and take it around the block. dont be too worried if they at first appear to make some noise after about 20 - 30 seconds it will go away :thumpsup:

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a close up of the tappet sitting in its spot how it should be



Difficulty ? not really
Time ? not really that long, without interruptions 20 - 30 mins to an hour if you wanna be pedantic.
worth the time? yep
expensive? nope
why did you decide to keep them and not convert to solid tappets? cause its different


*** TIPS ***
- Dont do this when the engine is hot, its not fun.
- its a good idea to change your oil filter and run some fresh engine oil through your new tappets :thumpsup:
-dont forget to use jack stands when jacking up your car
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