Popular Post DriveBy Posted March 22, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted March 22, 2014 After keeping my eye out for a good one of these for a while this 1973 Mitsubishi Galant GTO popped up on here a couple of months ago and it now resides in my garage. Big thanks to forum member Runamuck who got me in touch with the owner Basil. Had a bit of a chat with Basil, liked what I heard so we agreed on a price and I posted a cheque down to Basil and Captain Transporter bought the GTO up to Auckland where I picked it up and drove it up to Whangarei. It drove perfectly and was a bit more powerful than I expected. The engine has been reconditioned relatively recently and doesn't use any oil or water which is a first for any Mitsubishi I have owned. The interior is pretty good . Could possibly do with some new carpets but not urgent. Has the original AM radio so listened to talkback all the way home. Was relatively enjoyable so I think the AM radio will probably stay. The paint is not too bad. It's definitely not perfect with quite a bit of brushed on other shades of yellow in areas where surface rust was obviously treated. The passenger door is a slightly different shade too. I wasn't that sold on the yellow when I saw the original pics and the plan was/is to respray back to original silver but the yellow has grown on me. A respray, if it happens, will be a few years down the track. It's had a few little nudges over the year, the original wheels have been painted silver, the front grill has a few cracks and there are various other little bits that need attending to but all in all it's a bloody honest little car and a real credit to the previous owners. Plans? This will be relatively slow. Need to find a couple of badges that are broken, I want to take the rear screen out and check a leak going into the boot (I think there may be some rust around the screen), then get the dents taken out of the bumpers/rechrome and basically tidy her up. The skinny rear wheels on her can be a bit frightening powering through corners so maybe a set of wider wheels but I don't really want to ruin the originality of the car. Maybe some Advan A3A's and a little bit lower might work. Feel free to comment or maybe even tell me where I can get an air filter for her. The paperwork included with the car seems to indicate the mechanic couldn't find one to replace the dirty one in there at the moment and I haven't got around to looking! Discuss/Comments - //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/42845-drivebys-1973-mitsubishi-galant-gto/ 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveBy Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 Bit of an update. Have changed front to some lower springs and shorter shocks. Inserts in the front shock housings were changed and the ride is slightly firmer but not bad at all: Struggling with the rear. Ordered some 2 inch blocks which were apparently guaranteed to fit, unfortunately blocks didnt's fit, u-bolts were wrong bit of a blow out so decided to get the rear leaves reset instead. Mission getting the old bolts off etc... Also ripped bump stop off and can't figure out how they come out properly so I can replace them. Pissing me off to be honest. But I did get the reset leaves and new u-bolts back and they look good. Will get around to fitting them in the next couple weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveBy Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Got the rear springs in quicker than expected so now she's closer to the ground and doesn't have the ass in the air anymore. Needs wheels now. Will start looking for some 14's. Originals are 13's. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveBy Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 New wheels - Got a set of Advan A3A's in 14 inch. Rears are 6.5 inch and fronts are 6 inch. Offset +6. There is more room in the rear to go wider but will need guard rolling. Front has no more clearance to the guard but could fit another inch or so toward the strut. Rears running 175/65/14 and fronts 165/65/14. Surprised how much better it stops than it did with the 165 supercats on the stock 13 inch wheels. Any serious brake application use to result in more tyre squeal than stopping ability. Have had a couple of hairy moments. Pic of wheels: And a pic in front of a suitably old school backdrop Not sure what's next have been mulling over getting a pair of sidedrafts and learning about carbs. There is a poorly listed sidedraft manifold on trademe that should fit but it has no linkages so not sure if it's worth buying bits and pieces or just bite the bullet and order this: I was going to start tidying up the body but I have come to like some of the poorly handpainted patches and dings etc. May just get the big dings out of the bumpers if it doesn't mean rechroming and try and find a front grill as the one on it is a little bit rough. Any opinions/thoughts - //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/42845-drivebys-1973-mitsubishi-galant-gto/ 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DriveBy Posted December 14, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 14, 2014 Headed to Auckland and spent a bit of a mission weekend picking up this parts car. Car had been sitting in a barn for 15 or so years, hard up against a wall, rear brakes locked on, all tyres flat and the shed was at the bottom of the steepest driveway ever. My brother got his work van stuck, we broke the winch on the trailer getting it on. Tow car was probably not the best - an old auto e36 328i and the transmission was stinking by the time we got to the top of the Brynderwyns. Got home eventually: Had a good look over it and it appears to be pretty solid. One bit of rust in the passenger A pillar, a bit in the right rear, boot is rusted through, other bubbles coming up here and there but nothing serious. Rubbers are all shot, sunroof is crap and the roof has been walked on at some stage. Has obviously been kept dry for the last 15 years. Everything is there except the engine which was blown up causing the car to be put in storage. The car had been dismantled and we chucked the doors back on just to get her home. Front guards are fibreglass and all the rest of the panels are present including a front fibreglass spoiler which is relatively rare. Too good for parts so will become another project. Thinking repower with a SOHC 4g63t just because they are easy and will give a bit more power. Oh it was rolling/not rolling on what I was told were old cheviot mags but when I got there I was pleasantly suprised to find they were actually on 13 inch Hayashi Streets. Missing one of the front ones though which I will need to get hold of. Plan is to roll them as is. Even down to the white writing balloon tires. Still on the look out for a parts car too! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTO74 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Hey, how much did you lower the car in the rear by resetting the leaf springs?? I'm looking to do the same. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DriveBy Posted October 25, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 25, 2020 No update in years but have done quite a bit of work. Rear panel had rust around the tail lights so has been sorted, other bits and pieces sorted, new tail lights, some new rubbers around screens etc... put some different wheels on. Has been in the shed for a year or so now and just pulled it out for some assembly. Really need to finish it off, take engine out and paint engine bay as it is still original silver. Then drive! 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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