My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

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F3ARED
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

:lol: f*#k off c*#t, as if your shaming me into updating my own thread

I used to laugh when I'd flick through a street machine or fast4s or whatever, and heres the article where old mate embarked on a multi-year, spiralling out of control rebuild because the door handle broke and an indicator globe was blown. Funnier still was when I'd read "Yeah the we were still putting the car together the day before the wedding". Dickheads, how could you be so unorganized? :lol: Should have known given how far a quick respray and rering/rebearing spiraled out of control that anything was possible. True, i never planned on stacking the old girl, but life, circumstance etc conspiring and all that. Here we were, two days out from the wedding, doing the rain-dance - car into carport because torrential downpour, car back out because sun out, and rinse and repeat.

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Photo was taken only an hour apart! Thankfully, the sun held out long enough for me to do the s*#t that needed to be done outside - no space to leave doors open in carport y'see. Got it all done and a day to spare, with the exception of painting the black out under the stainless sill strip. Excellent! Little did i know that even with jonno no13bs help we'd still be detailing the car in the dark on Friday night at 11pm the day before the wedding :lol: Spent friday morning running around, ripped the BBS reps off my mrs car, got some goodyear 195/50's and get them fitted on - partly born out of aesthetics, partly because I agree with gamma and the old, hardened 165's have as much grip as a block of cheese.

This is where we hit our first hurdle/hiccup, that will have ramifications down the track which i will elaborate on. The wheels in question are 15x7 ET20, fit the Mrs Gemini perfect....except hers is a later model and apparently the gaurds ARE different [duh - i mean the wheel arch section]. The wheels SHOULD fit perfectly....dropped it on the ground and went f*#k x2. f*#k #1 - f*#k it looks tough. f*#k #2 - f*#k me dead the wheels are close to the gaurds :(

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[note - no, thats not a poor colourmatch on the door - its the light/shadow of carwash. I s*#t myself too when i saw it :lol:]

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On the day photos - had one of it in the driveway somewhere but eh. Warning - wedding soppy photo s*#t, but probably the best photos i have of the car unless no13b took some that i dont know about [post the driveway one if you see this Jonno]

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Big thanks to Jonno for driving the car up and back to the location too. Drove the old girl to work today and forgot how enjoyable putting along in it is. Now, back to regular programming.

First issue is the car needs some sorting out. Speedo does not work AT ALL, drive is correctly installed/engaged. Might be a dead gear inside the cluster, not sure yet. This is an OG JDM cluster with the tacho dash, so pretty rare and ive never actually used it before. Should be able to swap the speedo section with the one from my old cluster, so that should be fixable. Tacho not working however is an interesting one, especially with my lack of electrical knowledge. Technically, it should work as its plugged in given that the factory loom to cluster has a tach signal in it, not utilized unless something is connected to that section of that PCB - which in this case, it is. So either the coil-side of wiring is munted [possible, cars had like 30 different ignition setups] or the tacho is fried. Hoping its not the latter.

Second issue is a lack of power [im being serious dont laugh :rotflol:] This particular engine came out of a 1 owner low km grandma car i owned moons ago and has always sorta lacked a bit of urgency. Silent, yes. Bit of urgency, no. Even the rattling, old smokey pos that was in my mrs car absolutely ran rings around this and would rev its face off. This, absolutely nothing. Silent, smooth, but no real forward movement or willingness to rev. Timing is spot on [12deg BTDC / 98RON], mixtures are spot on, idle and choke etc spot on. Its not burning oil, absolutely ZERO colour out the exhaust on WOT so its healthy enough. Just. Lacks. Power. I *think* it may be a carb issue, because I ran it through the gears yesterday and ran out of fuel in the fuel bowl mid way through third :sad: . Needs to be fixed given that we will be driving the old girl on our honeymoon and...well...its only going to get worse with no power and luggage. Going to adjust the float height to hopefully solve the starvation issue, and throw a can of carb cleaner through the devils patented fuel mixer [f*#cking 2 barrel Nikki with vac secondaries] to see if i can get some life out of the old bird.

Third issue is the wheels. ET15 to ET25/15x7 is supposed to fit easily and be pretty much the perfect offset for a Gemini - the BBS reps are 15x7 / ET20 so should be good. Except i really dont see how im going to avoid smashing that guard on full lock over a bump, in particular the right hand side which is clearly a non-genuine guard. I pulled the arch out by hand a bit and gained a fraction more clearance, but its still eye wateringly close. It doesnt scrape/touch/rub with the wheel dead straight over bumps and at speed. Low speed/at lock seems to be ok. BUT. Full lock at ride height and theres pretty much bees-dick clearance between top of tyre and gaurd. Have no idea why it sits so wide/so little clearance. Are the wheels wrong? Are they actually 15x7.5? Will i kill a quarter panel and 11ty kittens by hitting a bump mid-corner? Its actually rubbed a few times when ive turned quick-ish through a LH corner :confused:

This also creates an issue for brakes. I have a complete VT 300mm front end kit ready to go but unless i buy wheels with an offset of ET35-40 I cant use these as they increase the track 10mm PER SIDE, which would effectively make an ET20 an ET10. Not going to work. Car is already at max-camber too [around -2.5deg] so that wont fix things either. Heres what i think about ET35-ET40 offset wheels:

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So either theres something wrong with my car [possible, shes had a hard life], i need narrower wheels [gay], FWD offset wheels [even gayer - all the wheels i have are ET20-25] or different brakes. I think its going to require a rethink and a completely different set of brakes. Rear brakes will be VL-VN discs off a 28spline borgy including matching calipers, which push the track out +5mm per side. Not a problem because the wheels actually fit like they are meant to. and dont touch/rub/come anywhere close.


Now to just decide what engine to put in it...
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redzone (coxy)
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by redzone (coxy) »

Roll the front guards with a proper roller and heat gun while the paint is still soft!
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F3ARED
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

So, its been a while. Last real installment was at the start of December 2016.....thats almost 6 months ago! Time flys it seems. Truth is i havent really done anything to the car apart from drive the f*#k out of it, so as a result i havent had anything to really post about. And when i say drive the f*#k out of it i mean it - ive racked up around 10500km since November. Its currently my daily driver while my wife drives the ute around until i get her a new car.

Last time around I'd just bought the Borbets. Did a test fit just before christmas, they sit ok - still 50/50 on them staying on the car long term though, but i'll reserve judgement until they are painted and on the car. Also considering getting the non-hex style center caps as well. Started to strip them down which is where ive discovered that this seriously is the worst job in the world. Fun fact - borbets have around 11ty layers of paint which seem to be 900mm thick. So far ive started two and given up for the moment :rotflol:

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To be honest, i think they need to be painted more of a charcoal colour to look right - the silver is too light and doesnt stand out enough. Problem ive got is i cbf painting it one colour, then taking one look and going nah - looks s*#t, strip it down again. f*#k that!


Got christmas out of the way and the time came to pack the car up and head off on our honeymoon. Yes, not only is my mrs stupid enough to have willingly married me, but shes also as broken as i am - honeymoon was planned around 4 weeks of road tripping the east coast. Original plan called for buying something stupid/random [ie old Jag or Land Rover or something dumb] and hitting the road. Common sense prevailed [oh the irony] and she suggested we take the Gemini. And by common sense I mean there was nothing we both wanted cheap enough to justify buying for the trip. Lets just recap this just so you can understand why this is a stupid idea and why our respective families think we are retarded - route was basically as follows: Melb to Ettalong [936km], Ettalong to Ballina [693km], Ballina to Hunter Valley/Pokolbin [637km], Hunter to Wollongong to catch up with my parents for breakfast who were heading north/also happened to be a day after my 30th bday [276km] before heading onto Eden [395km], before finally heading home [570km]. All in just under 4 weeks, smack bang in the middle of a searing aussie summer. We even got tangled in the heavy downpours on the way to Ballina just after new years day [note: car leaks like a sieve]. What could possibly go wrong...





.....actually, nothing. Car was mechanically bulletproof. Didnt overheat. Never not-started even though the starter solenoid is a bit dicky and sometimes clicks instead of actually rotating the motor. Didnt break down. Didnt end up on the side of the freeway. Nothing fell off* or broke. We even had people give us death stares as they sat on the side of the highway, bonnet up in their sub-10yr old broken down Subaru/Mitsubishi/VW/Fuckwesawsomanywelostcount while the almost 40yr old turd soldiered on past them**.




Seriously. No dramas. Here it is in the hunter valley***.

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...yeah right :rotflol:

*Had a bolt come loose and fall out of the upper ball joint, which, strangely has happened to me on another Gemini before. Fortunately there was still another 2 bolts holding it in [stub axle and another locating bolt] so it was literally just a matter of slipping a new bolt in and knock-be-gone.

**Also slipped out of 4th twice on one leg of the journey while engine braking down the hills on the way in to Wollongong. I put it down to the gearbox being hot / day being stupidly hot - was mid 40s that day from memory, and gearstick was scorching hot. Hasnt done it since.

Saving the best for last....

***Happened about 40km out from the hunter valley, mid day, peak heat. Coming up behind an RV going up a hill, the bloke did the right thing and moved over to let cars through. f*$kwit up front couldnt work out what the hell they were doing and after hesitating for an eternity went around the RV. By the time the time this had all happened, the road was now downhill and RV was now doing the same speed as us [just on 100kmh] and coming up to a corner, so i gave him a flash to let him merge back over. Van starts moving over...


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Stone/Rock/solid object, meet Windscreen. Windscreen...well, c*#nts f*#cked. f*#k. RV had flicked up a stone or whatever and launched it into the screen. Saw something small flying towards the screen and heard it hit the screen and then suddenly everything went white. Mrs screamed and im just like f*#k, this is going to be fun. Silver lining was I got a good look at the road before the rv moved over so i knew it was straight until corner at bottom of the hill, so i had to basically look at the white reflector posts out the passenger window and hope i could stop without hitting something. To be fair, not really the cars fault, but it just HAD to happen to this car didnt it. Which brings us to the next problem; remember when i said our families thought we were both crazy? Well....that might be because we didnt have any road side assistance/coverage.....

Ended up having to kick/punch/remove the windscreen from the car, before doing the next 40km with no windscreen....boy that was fun. Big thanks to NSW highway patrol who stopped to see if we were ok. Actual thanks/no sarcasm to old mate in the Golf who stopped to see if we were ok/had phone coverage/had water etc. Champion.

Rest of the trip was fortunately uneventful, and at least we lived to tell the tale i guess.

Came home from honeymoon, pressed old girl into daily driver duties. Poor thing had to live outside while we were living in Reservoir. Finally got around to fitting dads old rego plates which came a day after our wedding [spewing]. On the bright side, no longer suffered from One Venerial Disease and One IQ.

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March, and a Canberian-PFer decided to come down for the weekend to help Greg throw his Gemini together for Gemnats. While he was down we all thought we'd drop in at the Dandenong All Holden Day for a squiz. Pulled in, yep just drive down straight and park on the grass. Rolling through and mrs points out theres no parking here....i think old mate wants us to park in the display area. Same thing happened to another mate. That made my day.

This is where id put pro photos but, you know, certain PFer didnt bring is good camera. And even though i actually saw HEAPS of people taking photos of Shitboxen, didnt see any on line.

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Mechanically car has been pretty good. Hasnt used any oil or coolant so despite not exactly being the best example of a G161z, its performed ok. Had a bit of an ignition issue where the earthing strap inside the dizzy fell apart [goes from points base plate to dizzy housing]. Fixed that, only for the coil to s*#t itself soon after. Replaced that, all good coming up to Easter.

Now, Easter. Gemini Nationals - the Entrance, NSW. Add another just-under 1000km each way of driving plus the cruise [another couple of hundred through the hills of NSW]. Finish work on Thursday at 1pm, load car, drive the 10 or so hours. Do the weekend, leave Monday morning and home by evening. Cars behaved in the weeks running up to this apart from the ocaisonal cough or splutter under certain loads. Was going to swap to an elec dizzy but the inbuilt ignitor was dead so that didnt happen. Put the old points dizzy back in, timed it up and car was running ok.

Few days out from departure, i notice the charge light is dimly lit. FFS. Here we go again. Bit of poking and prodding and playing with switches, and i worked out that it only does it under high electrical load - so stereo, demister, wipers and headlights all at once. Phew, not the end of the world. But cars begining to cough a bit more frequently....hrm. Get home from work, pack the car up, go to start it and......you've got to be kidding, no spark. Had a bit of a fiddle and got it going. Smart idea to attempt a trip that long with a car thats decided it wants to play games? Probably not, but I aint come this close to give up. Took off, plan was to detour through Wangaratta and pick up another coil just in case the new Bosch one i had in there is about to s*#t the bed. Apparently pretty common on the GT40 series coils. Grabbed a new coil and put it in the boot, things behaving thus far. Maybe we'll be ok. Get as far as Goulbourn, pull in for fuel and a coffee. Fill car up, move it to the side of the servo while we have a quick stretch and a drink. Mrs was strangely finding this trip a bit hard and uncomfortable; this despite the fact that we've travelled a stupid amount of ks in this car. Called Dad, had a chat, got yelled at for taking a car that was playing up on such a long trip and why havent i put a spare tyre in the thing yet etc. What do you reckon happened next?

Yep. It decided it didnt want to start. f*#cked around a bit and it started again. Interesting. Coughed a few times and carried on but on we went. Got to The Entrance, sweet. Friday morning, same deal - refuses to fire. Coil is hot, maybe coil is dead. Tried cooling it down, nope. Tried changing coil, nope. No spark. Poking around, got the mrs to crank the car over while i was looking at the dizzy and low and behold, points arent opening. That is interesting, given that the points are new. Closer look and the neoprene block on the points werent actually contacting the cam on the dizzy. Bent the arm on the points to make contact, all the sparks, engine starts and runs smooth as f*#k. Success. One of other guys [another PFer] mentioned that the neoprene block wears out if there is no grease on the dizzy shaft. Said to pinch a bit from the wheel bearings, so popped the bearing cap off, smeared a bit on the dizzy and great success.

Without further ado, pic dump. Most photos stolen from Greg.


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33 cars at first meet point. PFer no13_CoupForgettobringmyfuckinggoodcameraeverywhere car on the left.

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Congo line at start of epic run through hills lead by NSW state rally champ, NFI why my Mrs is doing the YMCA in the middle of my photo. Few soft cocks complained ohhh its too long and too hard on the cars. f*#k off, i loved it. Towards the end there were a few of us [about 6 cars or so] running pretty hard, nose to tail. Good fun.

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Lunch stop at Wisemans Ferry. Another PF-ers car to right of screen.

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Fancy as night shots. Note PFers car to right.


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Home bound

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Sun setting looked pretty apparently. Greg demanded we stop and snap a photo...who am i to argue, looks awesome :D


And thats about up to date. Really, really, REALLY need to get started on the new engine for two reasons. Firstly, despite not using any oil or coolant, the engines getting a bit tired and unhappy, not helped by this weekends thrashing. Second thing is, ive been given a deadline [because these have worked so well in the past] to get it done. If it doesnt get done by then, well, lets just say it probably wont get done for some time after that.

If everything goes well this time, Ive been given a maximum of 40 weeks to finish it, although a few weeks have elapsed so it could possibly be as low as 32 weeks to finish....

:D

N-
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by DR_GEM »

Epic update - what a great read that was ! :)

Great to see the little thing going strong - and stout effort on the road trip too - what a champ she is!

Mick
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by moley »

Deadlines have also come down from Johnno
Apparently he is going to shout me 100 coronas if I make it to the meet
Not...
But I am trying all systems are go
Coupe rebuild number 6..
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by moley »

Car looks trick too btw the original meaning of my post!
Coupe rebuild number 6..
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by Jonno »

moley wrote:Deadlines have also come down from Johnno
Apparently he is going to shout me 100 coronas if I make it to the meet
Not...
But I am trying all systems are go
Heeeeyyaaannnggg on a sec..

I'll grab a case and you can drink them :P
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

DR_GEM wrote:Epic update - what a great read that was ! :)

Great to see the little thing going strong - and stout effort on the road trip too - what a champ she is!

Mick
Thanks dude. Its been a bit of a roller coaster owning this thing and theres been many, many times where i should have just walked away but just couldnt do it. Its here to stay now :lol: Been daily driving it since the wedding. Engines real sad now but meh.
moley wrote:Car looks trick too btw the original meaning of my post!

Deadlines have also come down from Johnno
Apparently he is going to shout me 100 coronas if I make it to the meet
Not...
But I am trying all systems are go
Cheers man! Lol 100? Is that all? Hes promised other people at LEAST 150. You should totally re negotiate a new deal.

Soooo....speaking of deadlines. My first child is due in December.....which, if you can count, gives me less than 6months to finish this car once and for all. This is going to be interesting... :lol:
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

Just like to take this moment to extend a genuine, heartfelt, f*#k you to the idiots that run Photobucket. That was a monster effort having to reupload that.

N-
Previously GeminiCoupe/GeminiRollingShell/SCAR3D/Jonnoisac#nt

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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

So, progress. Or rather, no real solid progress just useless s*#t ive done here and there when ive had time, and Im now solidly behind schedule. First born is due in less than 5 months and ive not done the following:

-Still havent upgraded the brakes; make that still havent bought ANY of the brake bits
-Still havent finished the Borbets
-LSD is still sitting on the shelf
-Still havent rebuilt the new engine

So, im going well then.

What I have done [besides absolutely f*#k all] is -

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Finally moved into the new house, which means i can actually work on the car out of the rain/wind/cold/dark again

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This isnt progress; i just like how shiny it is :rotflol:

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This, however IS progress. Put yellow adjustables in the rear set on i presume their softest setting. Holy s*#t what a f*#cking difference - everything i had was new and as a result in good shape, but f*#k me the ass end is so much more stable now. Will get this set up properly when i get ALL of the suspension finished [need an adjustable rear bar and the koni fronts]

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This has, on the other hand, been INCREDIBLY painful. Tried paint stripper, tried wire wheels, tried 3M strip discs. f*#cking hell why did i do this to myself and not just pay someone to media blast them. Rhetorical quesiton; answer is its because i am an idiot. And because I love starting something then rage quitting mid way through and letting it sit for ages, only to occasionally work on it and get angry again when im reminded why i stopped in the first place. Fun fact; borbet uses the THICKEST clear/base coat/primer system known to man. Its also impervious to wire wheels, paint stripper - everything.

Speaking of engines. Picked up a spare DOHC thanks to T

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Was too cheap to refuse so thought itd be good for spare parts. Figured though i may aswell have a quick look...would actually be pretty amusing if it was usable and i could throw it in.

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Ok so thats not promising.

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One of these is not like the others.

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Yep shes f*#cked, spare parts it is :rotflol: Made the decision to use the 1st engine i bought for the purposes of the rebuild, given that its already half apart - at least that way I can use the other one as a reference for setting the cam timing up properly etc. Picked it up [engine #1] from dads, unloading it aaaaaand...

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That went well. Suprisingly, no damage to the engine. Did however break a small chunk of concrete. FFS. Got it on the stand eventually anyway.

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No lips on bores, pistons look ok. Bores however do have a little bit of water staining.

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Crank and bearings were actually in really good shape given this came out of an IPRA car. Still original sized bearings too.

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All torn down.

N-
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by moley »

Small progress is progress. Im taking mine out Sunday to put the chassis rails in and paint the floor. Then it's back to get painted
Coupe rebuild number 6..
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

Update time.

Ive been saying for a long time now that this thing is on its last legs; it does the classic Gemini thing where it gradually just gets slower and slower, and runs worse and worse as time goes on. Still, wasnt left with much choice but to drive it daily as Mrs was driving my ute - after almost a year I still hadnt bought her a car to replace her old Caprice :knock:. Was getting a bit ridiculous expecting her to continue driving the SS to work; not exactly ideal for a pregnant woman driving something with a heavy clutch. And with baby 3 months away, needed to get off my arse and get something family suitable. Finally got her a new car ['15 WRX manwell] and finally got my ute back as a result. And just in time too...

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To be fair, i knew this was coming since it randomly blew the overflow tank away and began gurgling out of the heater core around 3 months ago. Proceeded to ignore it as i still needed to get to work and back. Which it did just fine on 3 cylinders and sometimes 4 thank you! Parked it in the driveway one day and big regret followed.

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After screaming and swearing and furiously scrubbing the driveway to no avail i thought maybe it would be prudent to open the bonnet and have a look, instead of just topping up coolant in the dark like usual before work.

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Oh dear.

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So I did what any sane person would do - torqued the head down some more, threw another 5L of oil and a rocker cover gasket at it and parked it not on my driveway. And then drove it for another 2months to work and back every day :rotflol: By this point is pretty clear the engine is completely f*#cked, but just in case you had your doubts, mix a bit of oil pressure light coming on randomly and some timing chain rattle with all the other rubbish. To be fair, it still runs and drives...just not very well.

This means its time to get serious about getting everything together and getting cracking on the new engine and drivetrain. Which I proceeded to do...

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Italics were implied. I was procrastinating again doing rubbish that could have waited, but i figured I may as well start cleaning up and assembling bits and pieces that need to go back on the new engine. Saves me time later having everything ready is how i justified it to myself. eg water rail/thermostat housing

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Pulled the oil filter housing apart and gave that a going over. Confirmed it does have a thermostat in it for the oil cooler which was good, saves me time/money/hassle.

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Dumped it in a bucket of hot water and degreaser. Bucket proceeded to explode on my toolbox, almost running hot water directly into the powerboard my phone charger and radio are plugged in to. Awesome.

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This is also where id put the picture of it nice, pretty, painted up and reassembled with AN fittings instead of the NPT/BSP combination of rubbish it had from factory, but I am an idiot and forget important stuff like that.

Had to also file the timing cover as the alloy is pretty soft and all the bolt heads had deformed the mounting faces. Again, im an idiot - i take photos of it filed, but not of how much out of whack it was or after i de-mankdified it :knock:

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Now it was time to stop umming and ahhing and start spending coin.

Brake conversion got nutted out first. Originally had planned to run the pretty common VT 300mm discs/Twin pots on the front with a VL-VS Solid rear disc and VL-VS rear caliper, using a 1" XB master on the standard booster. Heaps of people do it, already had the pieces to do it then decided it wasnt going to cut it as there are way too many downsides. No way in hell XB master would clear the throttle bodies - was already going to have issues with the booster let alone bolting a solid cast lump to the front of it. Started looking at the front brakes and the more i looked at it the more i decided i didnt like the idea - dont get me wrong, im sure it would stop - its made for a 1700kg commodore so on something as light as a Gemini it should stop grouse. Except there are too many compromises; the offset/track increase meant my wheels wont fit, the need to run a lock stopper to reduce the steering angle, the weight of the damn thing etc. Yuck. Forget it. So with the help and advice of some people that know more than me, went crazy and decided none of the bits I already had were going to cut it and I needed to do it differently :O

Fronts will now be MX5 270mm diam discs bolted to the back of the standard Gemini hub with FC RX7 alloy 4pots on the front. Rears, instead of the VL-VS solid rear disc, opted for DBA020 which is the VN Group A / VN HSV vented option of the same disc. Rear calipers will be Nissan R32/R33/Z32 alloy 2 pots.

Acquired rears

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Clearly, having DATSUN on my parts wasnt going to cut it.

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Nor was having MAZDA acceptable either.

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Filing the letters doing on the FC calipers was an absolute arse of a job due to the fluid bridge in close proximity, and not being able to get proper slide happening on the file. Alloy is also a lot harder than the Nissan calipers, and not as flat. After finally prevailing i realised you see f*#k all of the caliper behind the Borbets anyway! :rotflol: Guess this is why it takes me so long to finish s*#t. Anyway.

While i was in the mood for spending money, and by mood, i mean actually still HAVING money, decided it was time for some engine bits.

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36-1 Crank trigger kit. Ummed and ahhed about this for ages before i decided to stop being soft and just get it. I need to stop over complicating s*#t; was going to run a 36-1 outter ring and a TDC ref and modify the standard optical dizzy and its all too f*#cking hard, and seriously, at the end of the day expecting a 35yr old optical dizzy to not f*#k out is not going to happen. So f*#k it; batch fire it is.

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Whilst on topic of the injection side of things, does anyone have any photos of ways to mount the GM D514A coils, particularly on a DOHC engine? Ideally would like to be able to do it in such a way that i can use the OEM LS leads, making off the shelf replacement cheaper and easier.

Friday was a good day with a whole heap of boxes turning up. One of the boxes was a rather lovely white one with NUKE written on it. Have for a while been trying to find a reasonably priced surge tank that takes submerged fuel pumps. Plan is to try and replace all the lines in the boot with AN fittings and braid to get rid of that fuelly smell, and to not hear the pump whining its face off while it does its thing. Was close to pulling the trigger on a few other ones when i found this one.

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Actually a really, really well built product and well worth the $400 it cost. Only negative i have is the AN fittings it comes with are a bit...light duty feeling is. Thing is they are machined so the O ring sits inside it and seals to the top of the lid so kind of had to run with them. Regardless, will keep an eye on it and see how it goes. They even went to the extent of having proper little O-rings on the allen bolts that hold the top down.

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Inside this went a DW200 with a filter sock kit meant for a Forester. Had to squish the sock a tiny bit to get it in but it all fits nice and snug. Finding where to mount it in the boot and not eliminate the boot space....different story. Dont want to put it near the battery box in the case i ever have a line or fitting fail. With my luck - its entirely possible.

The other box to turn up was also quite nice to look at....

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Shiny!!!

Also had the head flowed. IN2 is intake, IN1 is exhaust.

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Ive had some serious help from another forum and a few other people on here sorting this out. Everythings 99% nutted out so once the cams are back I can begin assembly. Engine details are as follows:

Ported and shaved DOHC head
Standard IN/EX valves - 45.5 IN 37.5 EX
CP Forgies with +21cc Dome - 12:1 Compression ratio
Spool rods [150g lighter than std]
Cams - 258/258 @ 0.050, 12.5mm lift on inlet 11.7 on exhaust which gives an EX/IN ratio of 78%
Usual bulls*#t - balancing, 45mm throttle bodies, 4 coils, Haltech etc.

Once the cams come back from Tighe its time to go see Kanaris about getting some machining done....

:)
Previously GeminiCoupe/GeminiRollingShell/SCAR3D/Jonnoisac#nt

78 TD Gemini Sedan - R.I.P
81 TE Gemini Sedan
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moley
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by moley »

Moist in pants
Coupe rebuild number 6..
viewtopic.php?t=44564
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redzone (coxy)
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Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by redzone (coxy) »

Truck yeah
GARAGE REDZONE sunshine coast ph 07 54433507

1975 TX coupe 4ZD1 efi turbo 10.787 @ 123/128
1977 TC Fashion Pack sedan draw through turbo
1984 TG PF60E dohc Group A racecar
1984 TG Panelvan
2006 Crewman SS 6.0
F3ARED
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Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:55 pm
Location: Melbourne, Victoria

Re: My TD Gemini - The Hard Road.

Post by F3ARED »

Useless update #75561

Going on towards the end of October, had pre-booked a spot at the skid pan aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages back for first week of Nov. 2 weeks to go and I realized that quite obviously my new motor will not be ready in time [Im still waiting for cams!]. Need a car to skid. Thought about taking the wifes car [2015 WRX] but decided i wanted to spear off into the scenery backwards, not plough into it face first. Ordered a VRS kit and got onto it. Did it slowly over a few beers on a Sunday arvo and tidied up a few bits here and there. Also discovered whoever rebuilt this motor sometime in the past was an absolute f*#cking hack [O/S in #1 standard in the rest etc - probably standard RPM rebuild fare] but buttoned it up, did timing and got it all running smoothly. No pictures of any of that and besides, its pretty boring to look at anyway. Took twice as long because the apprentice kept causing trouble...

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Looking at photos only a month later its scary how much shes grown....her head clears the bloody bonnet! But i digress.

Made it to Canberra, made it to Suttons, and skidded it.

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Thanks to Joel i think it was that took these. Jonno supposedly has some which hell send me. Some day. Was probably asking a bit much of the tired old 161, and the brand new Khumos all round probably werent a fantastic idea either - had to drive it pretty much flat, and it would randomly grip up and want to go straight.

Anyway. Onboard footage.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HuXPCA7Eopk

So if you watch the video carefully you might notice that a couple of times when i go to take off it goes to bobble/almost stall. Which it didnt do BEFORE we left Melbourne, or when i started on the skid pan. And then it began to run on 3 and jump and jerk and stall. Uh-oh.....

Then this happened.

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Carby s*#t the bed, no amount of carb cleaner would fix it. Accel pump worked fine, worked ok on WOT but part throttle/cruising/coasting, forget it. It was like riding a bronco. So thanks to moose and jonno we cobbled together another carb out of s*#t bits that Jonno had lieing around. No accel pump, wouldnt idle - you have a choice of stall or 1500rpm, but at least it would sit on 110kmh, coast and go under throttle. Made it home, and now its parked. *MIGHT* put a good standard carby on it so i can drive it over summer seeing as the new engine wont be ready till next year now...

Meanwhile, ive still been ordering parts. This turned up.

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Inspector came round to inspect, seemed suitably impressed...

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...I know I was!

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45mm DCOE style throttle bodies for all of the Dort-dorts

Also waited a disproportionately long time for these babies to turn up.

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Worth it in the end, as close a match as i could get to the factory dash cluster.

Brakes came back from brake shop stripped down and cleaned. Masked up, hit with VHT, and into the Kmart grill oven.

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Dropped them off for re-assembly last night so they should be back this weekend rebuilt/rekitted and, in the case of the RX7 fronts, new pistons [f*#k you dont want to know how expensive they were!]. Unsure if hes ordered all the rotors etc but Ive got a spare set of stub axles at home so at least I can start mocking that up without pulling the car apart.

Thats all for now.

N-
Previously GeminiCoupe/GeminiRollingShell/SCAR3D/Jonnoisac#nt

78 TD Gemini Sedan - R.I.P
81 TE Gemini Sedan
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