Cottees' 1980 Chrysler Celeste Lancer LC GT A73M Resto

[Cottees]

I forgot to add in the last post that the reason for stripping the block is I am going to send the block, crank and head off to be machined. The bores are going to be bored/honed for over sized pistons, crank ground to remove scratching and new over sized bearings, deck lightly skimmed and head face skimmed a few mm to raise compression. I have a couple places to call on Monday for quotes, including City Dismantlers as a worse case senario.

[Cottees]

Got some stuff in the mail today.

1mm oversized pistons.





Water pump.



And a timing chain kit.


I ended up getting the pistons for a little over $50 on eBay, and got the other parts from that same seller.

[A112H]

Very nice haul indeed

[Cottees]

The postman delivered a stack of stuff today.

A couple more manuals for reading.


And a new Astron I head + bits, thanks to Superscan811

[Cottees]

The LC needs a new exhaust, so I thought this might work ok.

[A112H]

Looks a bit big but better than a leaking exhaust

[orangelancer]

any updates cottees?

[Cottees]

any updates cottees?

None so far. Should be getting the last pieces, then get the machining done in the next month.

[Cottees]

Took the after market mirrors off the LC, and put on a GA mirror I got from U-Pull-It. It works 100% better than the after market ones.

[Cottees]

Finally got a new thinner filter for the Dell'Orto so it'll clear the strut tower.


I should get the machining done for the engine some time during my annual leave which is mid April-mid May.

[Cottees]

I have sorted out now to get the engine machined within a week. Since there is no photos yet of any progress, I'll just post this:

[Cottees]

Some progress!!

Finally got the Pioneer KP-500 to fit into the centre console. Now I just have to rebuild the centre console.


The engine block all strapped down for the trip to the engine machinist.


Found some retro Pioneer speakers to go with the Pioneer head unit. Will be using the old grills on top of new Pioneer speakers. New school sound, old school looks.

[orangelancer]

for the centre console you could make up a brushed aluminium backing plate to go behind the head unit and tidy it up a bit.

[geezer101]

for the centre console you could make up a brushed aluminium backing plate to go behind the head unit and tidy it up a bit.

Oh yeah, it definately needs a dress plate to tidy that up cottees. Brushed aluminium will tie in nicely with the head unit...

[75wagon]

for the centre console you could make up a brushed aluminium backing plate to go behind the head unit and tidy it up a bit.

Or, you could cut up another console and use a flat section of the same patterned black ABS so it looks factory?

[orangelancer]

dave its funny cause the person before me actually did that to my car when they installed the CD player in their atm. thats another good suggestion

[Cottees]

Since I had some left over fibre glass from when I was doing the GN's intake elbow adapter, I decided to use some of that. Here is some progress from today. It looks a bit of a mess at the moment,but it looks better in person. Once finished, sanded, and painted, it should look ok. It might also look all crooked, but that is because the centre console is turned slightly towards the driver, so everything isn't exactly square.






I considered using another centre console, but I forgot to grab another one while I was down at UPI the other day, so this will do for now. Even with the way I am doing it, I may still be able to put a thin aluminium plate behind the head unit. Just will see how it turns out first.

[Cottees]

While waiting for the engine to come back from machining, I decided to get other things sorted. I am swapping out the stock struts with those from a GH Scorpion (thanks geezer101 ).


Got the strut tops changed over, took one of the stock struts, and had to stop. The ball joins are stuffed, and need replacing

[moidsm1]

That is a Extremely Nice find on the cassette deck. Im loving your style when it comes to retro. When I build my LC hatch I am going to install a Working Kraco 8-Track! I too have some vintage Speaker grilles.

[leoca64]

Wow i was to do that to my LC a few years back.the new discs ,pads and scorp struts are stll there in the garage
.
will be following this!

[davetrees]

Finally got a new thinner filter for the Dell'Orto so it'll clear the strut tower.

Just a suggestion ..... the stock foam in RamFlo "filters" is rubbish ..... keeps out rocks but not much else !

Unifilter make replacement (oiled type) foams for them, which might be worth considering ?

[Cottees]

I got the block and head back from the machinist. Also got the new pistons put onto the con rods. Checked out all the parts I have to make sure I am not missing stuff.


I am missing stuff, but can make a start in making the block nice and pretty.

[lance]

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l52 ... e032-1.jpg

Hi
The engine looks like it comming along fine, im jealous.
about the console . I found that the face plate around the aircon ducts on an xf type Fairlane worked for me.Had to plan it down with an elactric plane and finish it of with a flat file. Glued it in with a tube of black urethane from Bunnings. Hope this may help.

[Leeroy]

Hey mate,

Blue car looks great How long did it take you to fix all the rust?

Just wondering where did you get your side mirrors?
Also i am missing the rear bumpers left 'bend' or part of the bumper, like what your red chrysler lancer is missing in one of the photos.. do you know where i can get one of these from?

[Cottees]

Blue car looks great How long did it take you to fix all the rust?

My LC actually looked once like your LC, all Silver. But someone painted the top blue at one stage in it's life. With the rust, I have only really patched it at the moment, and some needs fixing. I just took care of the bad stuff straight away.

Just wondering where did you get your side mirrors?

Which mirrors? The ones that were on it when I got it, the larger square ones, they are after market ones that you'd be able to get from Sprints etc. They were useless though, couldn't see a thing with them. The round ones that are on there now are from a GA/GB and LB Sedan.

Also i am missing the rear bumpers left 'bend' or part of the bumper, like what your red chrysler lancer is missing in one of the photos.. do you know where i can get one of these from?

You mean the plastic ends of the bumper? Those you'd have to get off another LC. I am thinking about trying to remake them in rubber or something.

[Leeroy]

Oh ok, well it looks good for a patching job haha did you bog it out or? ahh yer your two tone paint job looks sick though..

So you would recommend getting the round ones? I have seen some for sale on the internet, but will that cause problems with installation if they arent genuine? You wouldnt have any spare round side mirrors lying around?

Yer mine is missing it on the left side :/ i thought about taking the bumper off completely, ive seen a few cars like ours on google images without rear bumpers, patched up and sprayed, they look alright but no where near as good with the bumper.. If you decide to remake them in rubber let me know how it goes because i would be interested in doing a similar thing if i cant find a replacement

[Cottees]

Since I am still poor, I have been trying to clean up the old parts so they match all the new parts. Today I was doing part of the timing chain cover. The casting is pretty crap, so it is hard to get a smooth surface without having to sand a heap back to get rid of the pitting.

Oh ok, well it looks good for a patching job haha did you bog it out or?

I bogged up the side with fibre glass reinforced filler. It isn't the best way of doing it, but I am a better sander and shaper than I am a metal beater.

So you would recommend getting the round ones? I have seen some for sale on the internet, but will that cause problems with installation if they arent genuine? You wouldnt have any spare round side mirrors lying around?

I think they came with round mirrors, but rectangle ones don't look out of place. The after market ones I have seen, the mounts allow to be adjusted to fit existing holes. I have none spare at the moment.

[Cottees]

I put a heap of elbow grease and Silvo into the timing chain cover today. It does look shinier in person though. Still a lot more to do, but it is getting there. Hopefully I can get it done before I get the bottom end bearings.

[Cottees]

I pretty much have all the parts now for the LC. It should be up and running in a week or so. Just have to find the time now.

While checking out the bearings to order new ones, I found a star on them too.

[Cottees]

I finally got the bottom end bearings, so the engine rebuild has started. Past 2 days I have got the bottom end reassembled, and some other work done on the LC. Would have had the bottom end reassembled on day 1, but there was a problem with one of the conrod bearings, so I had to get another set. While 84GKSIG and I were assembling the engine, I had a time lapse camera going.

Day 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgCRn2OLSMc

Day 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi35ZB-VlY