Firebrand's 1983 GSR-II
-
- I like starions
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:24 pm
- Location: Wellington, NZ
- Contact:
Firebrand's 1983 GSR-II
So I've been asked to upload some better photos of my car as the old ones have been lost. Thought I should start a project thread anyway, here goes.
I brought the car at the start of 2009, sight unseen, picked it up from Christchurch and drove it home to Wellington. I was the 11th? owner since it was imported in 1990, at least two other forum members have owned it before me. This is how it looked when I arrrived home.
It has a TD05-16G Turbo and some kind of Aftermarket intercooler.
Pretty good nick, but needed a bit of tidying up of the interior and the engine bay. This car was repainted quite few years ago, but by the time I got it the new paint was flaking off in places.
I drove it around for a year or so as it was, then moved to Dunedin, drove the 800km down packed full of gear, no dramas. A few months after arriving there, I picked up this for 500 bucks:
It was rusty, with dents in nearly every panel and seized up brakes, the motor still turned over but it seemed pretty far gone. A while later I brought a house, so made the decision to strip it, a good number of the parts have gone into my one and other NZ Starions in need.
So nothing special happened the next couple of years, didn't have a lot of money to waste on the car and it spent more time off the road than on, however, I did refurbish or replace quite a number of parts, cleaned up the engine bay and the paintwork.
So at the start of this year, I returned home to Wellington, got a better job and am finally starting to make some progress on the car. I hauled it into my garage and went over it with a fine toothed comb, noting down every flaw to be fixed and improvement to be made. I ended up with a list of around 160 items! The major ones are a repaint (again) and new wheels (probably 15" this time), new exhaust, LSD, etc etc. I want to keep it SOHC and Throttle body injection as I think that's part of the charm of these cars, they are sort if a weird mix of old and new technology.
This is the newest pic I have, taken earlier this year:
More to come soon I hope!
I brought the car at the start of 2009, sight unseen, picked it up from Christchurch and drove it home to Wellington. I was the 11th? owner since it was imported in 1990, at least two other forum members have owned it before me. This is how it looked when I arrrived home.
It has a TD05-16G Turbo and some kind of Aftermarket intercooler.
Pretty good nick, but needed a bit of tidying up of the interior and the engine bay. This car was repainted quite few years ago, but by the time I got it the new paint was flaking off in places.
I drove it around for a year or so as it was, then moved to Dunedin, drove the 800km down packed full of gear, no dramas. A few months after arriving there, I picked up this for 500 bucks:
It was rusty, with dents in nearly every panel and seized up brakes, the motor still turned over but it seemed pretty far gone. A while later I brought a house, so made the decision to strip it, a good number of the parts have gone into my one and other NZ Starions in need.
So nothing special happened the next couple of years, didn't have a lot of money to waste on the car and it spent more time off the road than on, however, I did refurbish or replace quite a number of parts, cleaned up the engine bay and the paintwork.
So at the start of this year, I returned home to Wellington, got a better job and am finally starting to make some progress on the car. I hauled it into my garage and went over it with a fine toothed comb, noting down every flaw to be fixed and improvement to be made. I ended up with a list of around 160 items! The major ones are a repaint (again) and new wheels (probably 15" this time), new exhaust, LSD, etc etc. I want to keep it SOHC and Throttle body injection as I think that's part of the charm of these cars, they are sort if a weird mix of old and new technology.
This is the newest pic I have, taken earlier this year:
More to come soon I hope!
1983 Starion GSR-II (TD05)
-
- I like starions
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:24 pm
- Location: Wellington, NZ
- Contact:
Moving onto the front of the car now. Pulled off the fenders:
I think I've saved about 2kg in weight just from dirt and dust I've removed from underneath panels and other places. Luckily very little rust on either fender, which I am really happy about. Underneath the fenders looks pretty good too. Just needs a cleanup and a coat of paint.
The door in the background of the second photo is rust free and almost ready to go on the car also. Progress :)
I think I've saved about 2kg in weight just from dirt and dust I've removed from underneath panels and other places. Luckily very little rust on either fender, which I am really happy about. Underneath the fenders looks pretty good too. Just needs a cleanup and a coat of paint.
The door in the background of the second photo is rust free and almost ready to go on the car also. Progress :)
1983 Starion GSR-II (TD05)
-
- I like starions
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:24 pm
- Location: Wellington, NZ
- Contact:
So I've been making slow but steady progress, new door is on, rust free and straighter than the previous one. I've repaired both front fenders. Pulled off all intercooler piping, repainted everything and replaced all silicon joiners. New spark plugs & leads, gave engine bay a general tidy up. Replaced the gear shift bushing & changed trans fluid, gearbox feels much tighter now. There's so much more stuff I've forgotten about, but it's getting there.
I fixed up a whole lot of surface rust and flaking paint around the rear of the car.
I've decided against getting a full repaint for now, I don't have enough money at the moment, and I really want to just get the car back on the road.
So today, I put in a new battery, and fired her up for the first time in 6 months, started fine without too much complaining :)
Just need a bit more paint work, mostly in the rear lower fenders, then to reassemble everything. Once ready I'll book it in for a WOF, also needs new tie rod ends (and probably more), and the clutch is engaging with the pedal really close to the floor so I'll get that checked out too.
All going to plan it should be ready by the end of May (famous last words!)
I fixed up a whole lot of surface rust and flaking paint around the rear of the car.
I've decided against getting a full repaint for now, I don't have enough money at the moment, and I really want to just get the car back on the road.
So today, I put in a new battery, and fired her up for the first time in 6 months, started fine without too much complaining :)
Just need a bit more paint work, mostly in the rear lower fenders, then to reassemble everything. Once ready I'll book it in for a WOF, also needs new tie rod ends (and probably more), and the clutch is engaging with the pedal really close to the floor so I'll get that checked out too.
All going to plan it should be ready by the end of May (famous last words!)
1983 Starion GSR-II (TD05)
- perrinsohc
- Mine is bigger than yours
- Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 4:53 pm
- Location: Sydney/Christchurch
-
- I like starions
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:24 pm
- Location: Wellington, NZ
- Contact:
Almost back in business. I put on the late model (Widebody) tail lights I imported from japan a couple of years back. Still haven't fixed the dented rear corner properly, but I don't care right now, I just want to drive it...
Just a bit more reassembly to do, then in for a WOF, hopefully no major work needed...
Also picked up these nice old Clarion speakers (used but still in original box). I only got two, but I have 4 speaker holes to fill, so if anybody has a matching pair let me know:
Just a bit more reassembly to do, then in for a WOF, hopefully no major work needed...
Also picked up these nice old Clarion speakers (used but still in original box). I only got two, but I have 4 speaker holes to fill, so if anybody has a matching pair let me know:
1983 Starion GSR-II (TD05)
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