Time for my ride of the "school bike"

[Guest]

Just agreed to buy this familiar machine:

 

This car sure gets about!

[Baz]

I thought that it was You that sold it in the first place?....I dunno....I lose track of these things....Maybe it's my age!

[Guest]

Nope, I've never sold a car, ever.Not getting it for a while though, as it is getting some bodywork done for nowt! Bonus.

[Baz]

Nope, I've never sold a car, ever.Not getting it for a while though, as it is getting some bodywork done for nowt! Bonus.

Hmmm....Sounds familiar....Good luck!

[Milford Cubicle]

Ahaha, I knew it was going to be that car... How many owners now?Looks a suitable companion for the Charmant.

[r.welfare]

It's saved! Praise be. Glad it is returning to the fold. Hmm, following DC's rant on R-R re. this car's sale I am feeling unhealthy love for his very early 205, as I suppose it resides not a million miles away from me.

[Spottedlaurel]

Well done Hirst! It found a decent home in the end, poor old thing's had quite a year in 2007 after I imagine many years of peaceful doddering.First Datsuncherry, then me (with help collecting from Wuvvum), then Streetrules off R-R (and you'll see his exploits with in a future issue of PC). I think it was MikeD who first saw it and strated the ball rolling?You'll like it Hirst. I'd love to see your Work Equips on it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I presume i will own this car at some point, not at the moment though.

[Mike D]

It was indeed me who first clapped eyes on the old beast I pointed it Darrens way to ease the pain of losing out on a lancer estate Good on ya for saving it Hirst. I have a lovely set of wheels that would look the Don on it should you feel so inclined!

[Guest]

Yeah, I saw what DC said about it and agreed - it's an absolutely perfect car for the retro scene, yet nobody was biting - why?! I was getting sick of the excuses people were leaving. I mean, just look at it! The only issue I could even think of was the fact it has a 4 speed box, which is something you could whip out and replace if it bothered you that much.

 

Rundown:

- Old and Japanese, which is the trend lately

- Rear wheel drive thus ideal for "drift cocks" and the Irish export scene

- Beige, which is the new black in retro terms

- Smart condition and pretty low mileage

- Linked to turbo/sports models, thus opening up interesting engine swaps and off the shelf lowering springs etc.

- Obscure enough to be a bit wacky, yet probably not massively difficult to get mechanical bits for

- Both taxed and MOTed

 

This car was ideal for my next work car, the only problem was that it's not convenient for me to have it straight away as I'm in the process of sorting out a lockup to stash the Avanzato in and can't have any more cars until then.

 

I had an idea - I could have the car, as long as it could be held for me for a bit. So I sent Streetrules a PM to see if he would be able to oblige. Turns out that not taking it away straight away works out great for both of us, as he wants to use it for an article now that it hasn't sold. This will mean the dent in the back will be pulled out and some minor blemishes repainted courtesy of a scratch/dent removal type place and I can have it afterwards.

 

So for the price of £350 I get an absolutely mint Galant with the dents and stuff fixed for me! What can I say, so glad I didn't just sit there thinking "I have no room for it yet".

 

Oh and SL:

 

First thing I get it back I'm going to try the Equips on for real and take a few pics, I'm sure people will be kicking themselves for not getting it. I'm actually going to press it into use as a daily driver when my work moves to Castleford at the end of the year, the middle of bloody winter seems ideal for starting to use an unfamiliar old car.

 

Wonder if the 4 speed box will be an issue? Can always fit a 5 speed if it bothers me that much, but the roads I'm driving it on are all 30-40mph cruising roads, not carriageways. SL, could you shed any light on your experiences of this car? Does it have a jacket hook so I can hang up my matching beige suit jacket? What's the radio like? Where is the aerial?

[Spottedlaurel]

It sounds perfect for your requirements! From my brief drive, 4th gear will probably suffice most of the time as the engine seemed quite willing even at low speeds.Sadly I can't answer the more detailed questions, the radio must have been a MW/LW push-button job (Mitsubishi brand I would say), the dash was a more chocolatey colour than the caramel of your Charmant, my Accord and Mat's 323. Been a long time since I've hung a jacket in the back of a car...I was going to write a fairly long post myself about this car in its for sale thread but couldn't copy it across for some odd reason. Perhaps a special R-R filter? I think it was something along the lines a lot of bandwagon jumping in people talking up cars like this but not actually doing anything about owning them.I mean, £350?! Difficult to lose on that, given that it had T&T. If someone were so minded they could buy it, drive it until the MoT runs out and still get a decent amount for it off a banger racer. So taking tax out of the equation, selling it for £100 to a racer it would give nearly a year's motoring for less than £200. Not suggesting it should be raced of course, it's too good for that, but it's something I always consider as a way of underwriting a purchase.Hirst, as another benefit you forgot to say how plentiful these apparently are in Australia, so should be good knowledge on them there. And it has the good 4x114.3mm PCD for wheel options.

[Guest]

The interior looks lovely to me, not sure about the seats though - might disguise them with some wooden beaded seat covers or put in some more luxurious seats from another car.To begin with I reckon I'm going to do some work to make the car nicer to use day-to-day, I'll need to get it to decide what to do, but to start.....- Give it a full service, new wipers and things like that if required- Paint up the inner arches before unleashing it onto the gritted roads- Get it on a ramp and examine gearbox leak- Whilst it is up there check the exhaust out, was welded for the MOT- Lots of polish/wax action (my favourite bit!)- Fit a nice period steering wheel, I hate those rotten vinyl-ish wheels- See about a tape deck, maybe a Nakamichi or just some Mitsubishi one pulled out of a Starion or something, probably in addition to the stock radio rather than to replace it- Get hold of a gauge cluster with a rev counter in so I can bosh that in instead of the clock, don't like not having one!Then comes silly "styling" stuff:- Investigate Japanese spec stuff, fancier grilles, tail lights, etc.- Period wheels or perhaps the black steels and trim rings option- Sort out the suspension height- Period-looking numberplates as they don't appear to be the originals, some Serck-ish ones will doAnd that's it basically! This has to be a daily driver so I want it to be fairly discreet, no lacy seat covers or fender-mount mirrors etc. Wouldn't say no to a nice set of wheels at some point though!

[michiel]

Well done Hirst!

[pogweasel]

Excellent work, D.Hirst!!!1!You know I spent about half an hour pacing round the garden wondering whether to give Jones a ring about this. In the end I decided against, as it would eat into the money for my 'do want' new toy (if I ever find what I am looking for!!). I understand the frustrations of DC, SL et al. Seems to be alot of folk who will merrily express interest in the form of:"ZOMG! J-tin, OOF... that would look orsumz on banded steelies/cut springs/nato paint (whatever)... I'd buy it if I wasn't more than a mile away/could afford to insure it/wouldn't get told off by my mum/actually had some money/wasn't a total spanner/the dog hadn't eaten my homework (delete as applicable)."Very frustrating, I had a similar experience when I put my BMW up for sale recently... lots of twits who wanted to have it 'in six months' (WTF!?), little interest right now. GAH.

[AnthonyG]

Well done Mr Hirst - looks like its going to a loving home after all!

[retrogeezer]

I like it a lot, £350 seems like a bargain to me....I would have been happy to pay it if I had storage space for sure.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Nope, I've never sold a car, ever.Not getting it for a while though, as it is getting some bodywork done for nowt! Bonus.

Hmmm....Sounds familiar....Good luck!

Oh dear - don't do it Hirst - you won't see the car for 2 years! It's a trap!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Then comes silly "styling" stuff:- Investigate Japanese spec stuff, fancier grilles, tail lights, etc.

I know you also expressed a liking for rear lights like me - and the Japanese ones are usually madder - but personally I prefer the UK spec ones I'm afraid (if they're anything like the difference between the UK & Jap spec 240K Skyline ones anyway!)

[mk2_craig]

Period-looking numberplates as they don't appear to be the originals, some Serck-ish ones will do

Here you go guys and gals.

[King Maz]

Can you register 'drift-cock' as a trade mark?

[Guest]

I am pretty fond of these rear lights which appear to be on the higher spec models but I dunno, wait and see:

 

I've also been investigating and it appears the gauge clocks are very similar to the Starion:

 

If I got hold of the dash clocks out of a Starion and the extra sensors, I could have a fuller range of info, though at the very least I'd like a rev counter. Boost gauge might come in handy later, mind! There was a mad digital dash in Japan and also on some Starions, but I suspect they require a bit more effort to get working.

 

Period plates: Yep I know where they're off and snap, I think I might just go for those!

Drift cocks: Probably an official team name for someone by now, due to the "wacky" nature of drifting.

 

I leave you with this simulation of me driving to work (via the sea) played by some guy who is apparently a rockstar in Japan (hence why he dresses like a geography teacher):

[seth]

Well done on saving it Hirst. I could have bought it (having just viewed something that was gonna cost more) but it just doesn't float my boat. You would have thought there'd be enough people after it at that price though - seemed silly. I reckon once you've sorted the daily driver "necessaries" you shouldn't go mad on finding foreign spec trim, lights etc as about 99.97% of the people you encounter in the car wouldn't know any different. Spend the money on wheels and ride height first Plus there's likely to be more survivors in other market spec so why remove all the unique Brit stuff?

[Guest]

Yeah fair point Seth! I quite like the look of the standard trim to be honest. The UK cars are subtle changes to the look/badging more than anything else, they've not intentionally set out to "bland up" the car, more just set about subtly adapting things like having the plate mounted between the tail lights. I'm definitely keeping all the Colt brand stuff on it.As for wheels and ride height, I'm on it! When I get hold of it, I'm going to fit the Equips off the Charmant to see what width wheel is required to sit right. Something suitably old, Japanese, 14" and decent dish will do nicely I reckon! Got to get the car first, though!

[Spottedlaurel]

Well done on saving it Hirst. I could have bought it (having just viewed something that was gonna cost more) but it just doesn't float my boat. You would have thought there'd be enough people after it at that price though - seemed silly.

Seth, I don't think you, Pog or anyone here needs to feel guilty - you all put more than enough into your own areas of interest :wink:Hirst, I reckon you should be able to run some very low offset wheels on it - seemed as if there was plenty of room in the arches. You won't get any comedy rear camber though when you lower it (probably good for a daily?) as it has a live axle. I think the 2-litre Japanese-built GLS/Turbo models came with IRS. All the Oz-built models had live axles though, but it could be completely different and something sourced there to satisfy local content.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Nice one Hirst Looking forward to claiming my free sit in it at some point I also had to make my excuses with this car, If I had got it I would have had to get rid of the wagon Can't wait to see a readers ride thread on it

[Guest]

Being reading up on the suspension as per the above, the chassis is in the same family as the Sapporo (as suspected). Read up on the KYB catalogue and found the following, seems that they are grouped as follows:Galant, Sapporo, Sigma1600/1800/2000: 365028, 3430572000 Royal/2600: 365029, 3650202000 Turbo: 365029, N/A on rears2300 Turbodiesel: 365029, 343057I'm going to take a wild guess based on this and say that the 1600/1800/2000 and 2300 Turbodiesel have a live axle, whilst the 2000 Royal/2600/2000 Turbo have IRS. Wonder why the front shocks are unique on the 1600/1800/2000, though? This is the sort of mystery which demands investigation. Seems like Stuyizz (lowered Sapporo owner for non-RRers) may well have identical suspension to me, unless anyone knows different.Still, I'm at a loss what to do with this car when I get it. On one hand I want to use it as a sensible daily, but on the other hand I'm really bothered by how no one wanted to buy it, so want to do something wild and really let them know what they missed out on. Something faintly ridiculous, a severely lowered car with mad negative camber and a Lancer Evo engine. And the engine has a huge turbo on it and puts out 400hp. And when you let off the accelerator it cracks yard long flames out of the exhaust. And I'll stop here before people start encouraging me.Free sit is available in all Hirst motors!

[Spottedlaurel]

Free sit is available in all Hirst motors!

Indeed, I took up this offer in the Charmant at our Autumn Billing meet. Marvellous.

[Guest]

You also got to play with the twin gloveboxes, so bonus.

[Milford Cubicle]

Wonder why the front shocks are unique on the 1600/1800/2000, though?

Heavy duty shocks for the heavier engines - 2600 and 2300TD?

[Guest]

That would be OK, but the 2000 Royal is different to the 2000!