Cottees' 1980 Chrysler Celeste Lancer LC GT A73M Resto

[orangelancer]

HURRY UP COTTEES. you must be itching to get this thing on the road. theyre so much fun to drive. keep the updates coming

[A112H]

+1

[Cottees]

Itching that badly I would need to see a doctor for some cream. But, I'd rather take a couple extra days to be sure that everything is done properly. Things are going smoothly now, so probably a week or 2 left now.

[Cottees]

Since I have to change the bushes in the front end, I thought I'd dismantle the front end to give it a good clean and fresh paint job. When cleaning out the front driver's side wheel well, I saw this :



Then of further inspection, looks like the front end's original colour was baby blue:

[orangelancer]

i never knew they came in that colour. how long now. eta till its derivable and will you be repainting it?

[Cottees]

Should be going within 2 weeks now. As for the painting, I am just going to spray the underside in Rust Kill black, and spray the engine bay in Silver to neaten it up.

[Leeroy]

Then of further inspection, looks like the front end's original colour was baby blue

I was polishing my boot and due to my horrid paint condition it flaked off down to the undercoat which was also a light blue. coincidence?
Im far from an expert on paint however they might have used light colours as a primer or something that went under the final paint colour?

I just finished my front end suspension today. New shocks, sway bar link pin bushes, brake hoses and brake pads. But i took everything off and cleaned it up a bit.
FYI, I had trouble with putting my sway bar pin back in with all the bushes, I ended up getting a block and wedging it between hub an the chassis which gave me enough room the place the pin back in. Might save you some headaches..

[Cottees]

Head job time!... For my Lancer, you dirty minded people!

Got these in the mail yesterday, so the plan is to reassemble the head.

FYI, I had trouble with putting my sway bar pin back in with all the bushes, I ended up getting a block and wedging it between hub an the chassis which gave me enough room the place the pin back in. Might save you some headaches..

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

[Cottees]

Had some more delays, so the LC is not back together yet. The bushes have been ordered, and are on their way though.


Also on the look out trying to find the same or similar fabric to the factory trim in order to re-trim the car.

[BlueThunder]

Hey Cottees!

In most cases the fabric is re-usable as it is always the skai/"leather" that tears and rips open. I'm thinking myself on changing the skai by real leather and re-use the fabric...

Cheerz
Sven

[Cottees]

Some of the fabric parts of the trim have been sun damaged. But I had the same idea, get a heap of real leather, and re-trim the leather/vinyl parts.

[BlueThunder]

Some of the fabric parts of the trim have been sun damaged. But I had the same idea, get a heap of real leather, and re-trim the leather/vinyl parts.

great minds think alike they say... :p

Sun damaged? Then you can't do much i'm afraid. But the chances that you find the same fabric are almost non-existing :s

[Cottees]

Sun damaged? Then you can't do much i'm afraid. But the chances that you find the same fabric are almost non-existing :s

That is why I have come to the conclusion that hand looming the fabric is the easiest option.

[Cottees]

A little more progress today. Picked up the new bushes for the front end.


Started the clean and paint of the front end gear.

[Leeroy]

A little more progress today. Picked up the new bushes for the front end.

Looking good, thats more than what i replaced in mine.
Whats on the package in the top right hand corner of the photo?

[Cottees]

Whats on the package in the top right hand corner of the photo?

That is the sway bar bushes, part 42226. There was no listing for that bush, but got the closest universal bush available.

[Leeroy]

That is the sway bar bushes, part 42226. There was no listing for that bush, but got the closest universal bush available.

Oh ok. Take some photos when your putting it on. Im keen to see where it all goes.

[Benharjon]

Doin some great work mate! keepin another ol'Mitsi on the road! keep it up

[A112H]

Not exact material cottee's but probably as close as you are going to get.

http://www.pentastarparts.com.au/sunsho ... ail&p=2694

[tre04z]

Sun damaged? Then you can't do much i'm afraid. But the chances that you find the same fabric are almost non-existing :s

That is why I have come to the conclusion that hand looming the fabric is the easiest option.

I'll check in my garage but i'm fairly sure when i re-trimmed my back seat for the same reason your discussing this topic i kept my old trim that i have no need for. i'll check and get back to you but its yours if its there to strip and re-use as you see fit. just give me about 1 hour i'll check it for you.

Cheers Trev

[tre04z]

Hey Cottees
Checked my garage and was unable to find the trim. i do however have the standard trim in my spare LC that i can remove for you. the tartan section appears to be fine so please let me know how you'd like me to proceed. I have also enlisted the help of a friend of mine who works for SPOTLIGHT here in NSW who is looking for same or similar.
I look forward to helping you.
Cheers
Trev

[Cottees]

A little more work on the LC today. Wire wheeled and painted the front wheel arches.



Also got some paint for the repare of the paint. The blue isn't exactly the same, but very close.

[geezer101]

You and 84 were busy today! A bit cold and crappy for doing this kind of stuff outside, hope it turned out o.k.

[Cottees]

Yeah, got a decent amount done. Luckily it was just over cast, and didn't rain. I was busy cleaning up wheel wells, and 84GKSIG was busy painting and setting my crossmember on fire

[A112H]

Good ol' fashioned crossmember fire

[84GKSIG]

some times fire is the only way.

[A112H]

I think fire should always be the FIRST choice, hell it is an insult to all those people that put so much time and effort into manufacturing extinguishers, smoke alarms & fire blankets if we aren't even going to start fires.

[Cottees]

A little rust in the bottom of the guards, but nothing too bad.


Steering and front suspension gear cleaned up ready for reassemble.


Cleaned up cross member, and started the clean up of the engine bay.


The old idler arm bushes. Looks like they used the wrong bushes, tried using an aluminium shim, and it ended up disintegrating.

[75wagon]

Yeah nice bush.
You should see the lower ball joints in the GD wagon I'm about to rebuild, someone has welded them in
Looks like those lower control arms are going in the bin?

[Cottees]

Put the Chrysler badge back on the bonnet.


Reassembled part of the suspension.



Top 2 bolts were from the Blue/Silver LC were bent, and needed replacing. The parts from the Orange LC were not bent.