VGJONO's 1976 GD Galant Daily

[VGJONO]

yeah i know, he also has a turbo setup for sale that i want aswell sadly ive got a few other issues to fix before i can throw money in that direction

[VGJONO]

So since my tires were/are Extremely bald, and me and 75glnt were heading to an advertised meet on the gold coast/aswell as our attempted S-G.com cruise i was worried about getting fined for having them, so Mick gladly offered up his wheels and wheeltrims/hubcaps for the day.



It looked nice and original, but handled like a boat

The car was also plagued with issues, seems to be running lean (no secondaries) and is cutting in and out while driving, so ive decided im over solex carbies, im getting a webber, and im putting the original leads on in the morning to see if that helps remedy some of the rough running/dropping cylinders under certain situations

Cheers
VGJONO

[75glnt]

Looked mint!! haha! But it certainly didn't suit a more or less Jdm meet

[VGJONO]

Found a few pictures of the Galant posted up on facebook, including one of my ugly mug in the drivers window




Anyways, i figured i will check through my electicals again after i checked the timing this morning to see it dropping and rising all over the place, so far ive swapped out the distributor cap as it was nice and corroded, also put the old leads back on which didnt help so i will be replacing the points, plugs and leads.
Im happy with the power the motor is currently making (inbetween the electrical hissy fits) after it coughed and spluttered its way onto the road i may have gotten cranky and my right foot may have put on a few kilo's for a few seconds, and she just freight trained through the set of lights and onto the highway, then resuming its missing and carrying on

Cheers
VGJONO

[VGJONO]

So since i last updated this thread my issues with the car running rough were solve, pretty sure it was that the old points were stuffed, but i replaced 70% of the ignition system in one hit so cant say for sure. other than that ive had a few weeks of mostly hassle free driving, i had a issue with the condenser not being attached properly and causing the car to basically stop if it came loose, so i tightened that up the other day and the only issue to fix now is the Alternator which isnt charging properly, it runs 13volts at best, compared to the 14 volts its suposed to be at. so i will replace it in coming weeks hopefully, i havent had much time to do anything else spectacular to it, or to do anything actually as i have been working for once.

List of stuff to do though
- Alternator
- Pedal assembly (permanent fix)
- Paint wheels, Grille, indacator housings, rear panel Flat Black so a. they all match and b. to get rid of the horrible orange peel effect on them

Other than all that i washed her up this morning and went out to a Mighty Car Mods Meet with a few friends as we were all bored aswell as fans of the show

Cheers
VGJONO

[VGJONO]

So its almost a year since i First registered this old girl now, and that year has been a harsh one filled with idiots with no respect for other peoples belongings (just because you can afford your ass a shiny diamond ring doesnt mean you can scratch other peoples $%&* with it ) so i have a few areas that need some touch up paint, on the front top corner of my right gaurd thanks to a diamond ring, a nice big circle of missing paint on my door thanks to someone elses door, and a few others around the car.

I am also going to pretty up the valve cover of this engine similar to what i did with the last, im just thinking do i do it matte black or gloss black and sand the "saturn" symbol so the lettering has a brushed steel effect on it?

also ive decided to use Plasti-Dip as ive heard it will fill light gutter rash quite well (of which my wheels have some gutter rash from the accident they were in) and while im spraying the plasti-dip i will spray the Grille, blinker surrounds and the rear panel between the lights. Has anyone used Plasti dip before?

Also im going to give my calipers and rear drums a lick of paint while the wheels are off the car

Cheers
VGJONO

[75glnt]

For the plasti dip, most of the time you need the front bead of the rim exposed. And if you don't prep the surface correctly, it doesn't sit correctly and bubbles up. I see it all the time at work.

[VGJONO]

hmmm not sure on the plasti dip now, might just go with a good quality matte/flat black instead.

on Another note i spend a bunch of money today then spent some time on the old girl, replacing and servicing since i haven't done it to this engine yet.

Done:
- Air Filter
- Oil
- Oil Filter
-Fuel Filter
- New Fuel Lines in the engine bay
- added proper coolant
- Painted Front Calipers Flatt Back

To do before saturday:
-Paint Rear drums
-possibly put my good set of shock absorbers on the rear while im at it
-Re-seal (silicone) the exhaust manifold gasket
- Wash
- Polish
- Vacuum the interior

Possibly:
- Paint new Rocker Cover
- Fit new rocker cover

Cheers
VGJONO

[75wagon]

For the plasti dip, it doesn't sit correctly and bubbles up. I see it all the time at work.

From what I have seen and read, Plasti dip is pretty successful, if the item to be painted in clean as.
The thing I like about it (from descriptions given), is that it goes over existing finishes, so you can change the look of your item (rims etc...) without damaging the previous coating. And when you get sick of it, you can peel it off, all without damage to the original coating.
I was seriously looking into using it on my Rota Grids for my 2.6 GD wagon project, but now unsure if the rim are the look I'm after? Only time will tell I suppose?

Dave...

[VGJONO]

yeah that was my thoughts exactly, but then i thought to myself do i want to be peeling it off all four wheels, with each wheel having 8 spokes just because something went wrong, then the "CBF" monster came into it, ill use paint because its what i know, and honestly i cant make the rims look any worse than what they do with the bits of polished rim showing through the previous paint

[VGJONO]

Some pictures to accompany my previous post. Also got my Rear drums done aswell, and ordered a new manifold gasket.


Before

All cleaned up and ready for paint

Painted



also took one of the shocks out of the parts car and determined that they are not much better than my shocks so they are not going in mine. ill wait and get some new ones.

Cheers
VGJONO

[VGJONO]

Made myself an exhuast sandwich today. in order it goes Manifold -> high temp silicone -> Exhuast Gasket -> High temp silicone -> Exhuast gasket -> high temp silicone -> Cylinder head. and tada, now i have no more ticking noises from leaky manifold gaskets sounds alot better and runs much smoother now.

All this just in time for my Perfect score to be ruined Pulled over by the police for the first time ever (random Breath *cough* DEFECT *cough* test) nearly made all 3 years of my P's without being pulled over So close

Cheers
VGJONO

[VGJONO]

Had an absolute blast heading out to Warwick for Mopar Muscle Weekend. Cruised out there with my dad, was nice not losing sight of him every time the speed limit went up most fun was coming through the mountain range on the way there and back.



Cheers
VGJONO

[A112H]

I like the black wheels with the black grill and indicator garnish. Body polishes up well, looks great

[VGJONO]

Made myself an exhuast sandwich today. in order it goes Manifold -> high temp silicone -> Exhuast Gasket -> High temp silicone -> Exhuast gasket -> high temp silicone -> Cylinder head. and tada, now i have no more ticking noises from leaky manifold gaskets sounds alot better and runs much smoother now.

THE SANDWICH FAILED, driving through Brisbane today and i nailed it onto the motorway only to be greeted by a slight ticking noise, of which is progressively getting louder again MOAR!!! silicone

I like the black wheels with the black grill and indicator garnish. Body polishes up well, looks great

Cheers Jase, the old girl can polish up well, still only a 10 meter car, has her imperfections but i dont mind.

The wheels are normally more of a Matte black but while applying some tyre shine i got a bit of overspray on the rim, and well, it looked good so i gave each rim a quick spray and they looked alot nicer, shiny but still a matte look to them.

Picked up some near new shocks today off of another member today aswell as a few odds and ends (cheers llgc) so i will be putting those in on the weekend and trying to track down some leaks, have some oily grimey cr@p spraying onto my passenger inner guard, aswell as a fuel leak. thinking the fuel pump is on its way out and is leaking under pressure. and then i have to try and get the bottom radiator hose to seal properly so i can keep my cooling system topped up 100%

Also possibilities of a GD coupe calling my place home for a while are rising, going to have a look soon, not sure what ill do with it but if its in the right condition/price it will be coming home with me.

Cheers
VGJONO

[75glnt]

love how she looks with the simi-gloss mags! Really fits it with the rest of the black LOVE IT!!!

[VGJONO]

Forgot i had the dash cam running, so heres some videos of me going up the range

http://youtu.be/8vAJrIpNF0g

http://youtu.be/_rcNx9qyFiY

[75glnt]

Looks like you were doing 120+ in the 1st vid?? Lol

[VGJONO]

shoosh you i have no speedo and the VG is only in MPH so im guessing we were doing about 110-120, my dad likes to get places fast in the Vert

[75glnt]

Haha!

[VGJONO]

So ive gotten a few little odds and ends fixed up the past few weeks that have been needing fixing for a while.

Mainly my alternator replacement. after trying to milk every day of use i could out of the old one it finally gave in, so sitting in the carpark waiting for a relative to come and give me a jump start to get home i put a bid on a 2nd hand bosch replacement. sure enough i won the auction and fitted it up later that week. required a bit of messing about as i also had wiring issues. an internally regulated unit had been fitted and the wires to the external regulator were hacked off, after fixing those problems she was all sweet. also had to modify my water hose as this alternator is a little bigger than the last.


Then it was onto replacing my rear shock absorbers which were well and truly rooted. its been about a week and they are still in the shed fully compressed The addition of these has really firmed up the rear of the car, so much so that i have to be careful not to spin the wheels in the wet now


And just recently i blew a headlight going to work one morning, had a look at my front lights and well they were looking a bit sad



I brought myself just a standard replacement high/low, and a 100w clear lense high beam to match my other high beam, sadly the prongs were wrong so i decided to go back and swap t over, and being a lazy kent this is how i drove her to Auto barn



Once there i got the correct replacement and bolted it all up in the carpark,




All of this just in time to meet up with a mate from work to head out to a Mighty Car Mods mini meet. was pretty good to cruise with some other older 4cyls (corona wagon and a KE70) Sadly as we drove into the Venue everyone was leaving, Apparently the security guard had not been told we got the Ok to be there from the Shopping centre owners. so off down the road we went to a public carpark. after 20mins of being there the police rolled in with a Highway Patrol car and a booze bus. told us if we weren't gone in 10mins then they would start breath testing people and going through cars. they were polite in saying this, then someone asked (politely by the way) why they had to move on from the public car park and the officer replied again "we will start towing cars, its still illegal to park a defective vehicle" other than that it was pretty good to cruise around. Just a shame that the local car scene here seems to be priority No.1 for the police after this was the second meet this week they have broken up.

Cheers
VGJONO

Edit: Also thinking of replacing my high beams with these, being out in a semi-rural area i like to see at night, these should do the trick right?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HEADLIGHT-IN ... 50e&_uhb=1

[VGJONO]

So this weekend a few car groups are holding some meets out my way, so the next few days i will be cleaning, painting and fixing things.

This is what was acheived today

before (eeeeeeewwwwwwww )


after


Cheers
VGJONO

[75glnt]

Spot on!! What did you use??

[VGJONO]

AJAX all purpose cleaner, apple and cinnimon scented, so my car smells awesome at the moment haha

[75glnt]

Nice thanks for that!

[ripthesystem]

Looking at the picture of your shocks makes me think i am going to need some new ones too

[VGJONO]

They make a major improvement, car is alot firmer on the road, and doesnt "boat" around the place

Currently doing some painting, just waiting for the paint to dry to start putting it all back together



painted



Edit:
More stuff

Painted these black, sick of the blue


And got some new seat covers

[75glnt]

Lookin good!

[VGJONO]

thanks mate

All finished and put back together now

[Scorpma82]

the black grille section looks very smart....the black coloring on the wheel really suits the car well too....although (IMO) i'd change the style of the wheel to make it more 'period correct'...maybe a set of stretched 14" sigma wheels painted black...with a chrome dress ring on them and chrome centre cap

The AJAX has really worked it's magic on your door trims too!!! Good use of lateral thinking there 99!

What's next on the agenda?
Detainling the engine bay (perhaps hiding/neatening the wiring), relocationg the battery, different air cleaner???
Lowering?
Bigger brakes?
Interior inclusions? (gauges,lights etc)

Good work on the car