I reckon if he put this on a pay-per-view basis ( nearly 500 so far)he'd earn enough to cover the cost of parts.
Proverbs 20:29
I reckon if he put this on a pay-per-view basis ( nearly 500 so far)he'd earn enough to cover the cost of parts.
Oooops my laptop froze sorry.
Great read, whens the next chapter ????.
There will be a next chapter, yeah. He's not going to disappear again, is he ???
old age and treachery will outdo youth and skill anyday
So, what did I find?
Nothing unexpected really. I started with 'visible' stuff:
The Towbar and that ghastly exhaust were put on the 'Bin' list straight away:
The rear arches (a notorious rot spot) had been made worse by a previous poor quality rust repair. The bodyshop* had very clearly just slapped a load of filler over the rusty arch lips and blown them in - thus ensuring that they carried on rotting. Sadly they're at the stage where they require cutting and welding. That's not going to be cheap. It's particularly galling as the rest of the exterior metalwork is pretty good.
Goodyear Eagles all round - A decent make and all with relatively recent date codes. To me that suggests a healthy financial attitude towards car maintenance. However, all four alloys were badly pitted and corroded beneath a thick layer of brake dust. The overall exterior condition of Hermes reminded me in many ways of the Black GLSi I had.
Now, in the pictures so far, the bodywork looks relatively clean and shiny. Don't be fooled. It was badly swirled. This is the bonnet, and it is representative of the condition of the rest of the paint on the car. Sunlight is a blessing and a curse - It flatters paintwork from a distance, but up close it highlights every last defect:
The interior was reasonable, and though Son did smoke, he didn't have the car long enough to pong it out - and by the looks & smell of things, Dad and the owner prior to him were non-smokers. In fact, Hermes is the first Galant I've owned that's not been blighted by a smoker.
The boot was looking very used. Lots of staining on the carpets and a fair bit of junk in there too. That's the original rear silencer. Unfortunately it had been sawn off rather than unbolted, so it was pretty useless.
The spare wheel had never been used - I was amazed when I saw how shiny it was. Seeing such a pristine spare further highlighted just how dreadful the condition of the other alloys was. A real shame as I do like the design of these wheels.
The engine bay was similar to the rest of the car; It needed a damn good clean. But everything that should have been there was, and there were no obvious horrors jumping out.
Another surprise - the undertray was still there!
So on the surface, all was well. Time to jack him up and take a closer look at the bodywork and the mechanical bits....
* = If you happen to be the person responsible for the appalling job on the rear arches, please send me your address and by return I shall send you some rusty pans for you to beat yourself with.And yes, I'm afraid you will have to self-pan.
Every time I see the intake manifold it always reminds me of:
Looks like you've got TCL there
If I'm replying to your thread and helping you out, it is because I like you and want to help out your VR-4 ownership. No other reason
Originally Posted by kieran
Your surname isn't Holmes is it?
It's been a crazy year, But through all the damage done,
I have turned and I have learned, To make next year a better one,
Singing Oh Hallelujah,
Singing Oh I am home.
Just that recently K has been asking me a few strange questions about TCL on full auto's versus tip models, the difference between Alamo and Finesse green and some other crap that only someone like me might know
With the 'obvious' stuff checked, it was time to expand the Carchaeological exploration and take a closer look at things.
So, up in the air went Hermes (and yes, that is the Yellow Peril in the background):
The chassis rails looked okay, though there was quite a bit of surface rust on the sills. A good jabbing with a screwdriver and a brisk wire brushing confirmed that this was surface only and hadn't penetrated. It looks worse than it was really, though obviously the rust got a foothold. But for now it could be contained with brushing, rustkiller, paint and a Waxoyl type product - particularly for the sections that are inaccessible. 8Gs suffer badly from poor rustproofing and in the UK, where the weather is frequently cold and damp and we use rock salt in the winter, these cars suffer. Badly.
This is the the front of the car, looking upwards from underneath. You can see the front chassis leg and the underneath of the panel beneath the battery tray. Again - Rust killer, paint and waxoyl would be used, with the inside of that chassis leg getting a good saturating. The rust has spread quickly along the surface here. I ascribe this to the lack of paint; most of that panel is factory primer and no topcoat. Shame on you, Mitsubishi. Have your accountants shot, or at the very least panned. Or Woked if they're easier to procure in Japan.
The rear chassis rails next, and rust is running right along the seams. Brushing and waxoyl required again. To help the waxoyl creep, I apply it hot and thin it with 10% white spirit to help it get into the seams and kill the rust lurking there.
Another reason for relocation of that exhaust can to the bin. Not only did it sound dreadful (quite an achievement given how sonorous the V6-24 usually is) but as you can see, the welding leaves something to be desired, to say the least...
If you have a Galant with hairdryers, this is where the AYC pump lurks. It's looking good and that metal splash shield has withstood the continual spray from the wheels pretty well.
Within the rear wheel arch, looking outwards. That poultice of mud and road poo was doing the already frilly arch lips no favours. As I've already mentioned, the arches have reached the point where they need cutting out and replacing. That's beyond my skill and my budget right now, so the best I can do is to keep the area as clean as possible to discourage the accumulation of mud (and therefore slow the spread of rust down until I'm in a position to deal with it)
The fuel filler pipe - Or, rather, the scabrous remains of the fuel filler pipe. Unsurprisingly this also went straight on the 'bin' list.
Back above the car, I had my first nasty surprise when I wiped away some of the muck around the suspension towers:
I have seen a lot worse than that, but that little seam of rust usually originates from underneath - water and road poo finds its way up the inside of the [appallingly unprotected] suspension tower and there it stays, gnawing away. It was therefore likely that the inner front arches would need attention. I just hoped that this was surface travel and not penetrative rust. This is the same area from behind. To illustrate the shot - The camera is pointed upwards. the ribbing is on the outside facing part of the strut tower, and you can see the seams around there. Rust started on the seams and just worked along the gaps in-between the spot welds, until it was visible within the engine bay. Luckily, it was still at the 'spread out' rather than 'bite into' stage; repeated screwdriver poking were met with a variety of 'thuung' and 'clonk' sounds - not the dreaded 'crunch'.
There was, however, a lot to be grateful for. The main thing being that there's no evidence of previous accident damage, as evidenced here:
The seams where the rear quarter panels are welded to the inner panels were still showing their factory seam seal:
The rear panel was also original:
And the rear panel to boot floor seam (a common tell-tale of a rear end shunt) was also flawless. Well, apart from the muck, anyway:
As you've already seen, the chassis legs were still straight and the crumple areas on the inner wings proudly showed off their factory seam seal beads. The crumple area is alongside the ABS fuse at the rear of the engine bay - that little area of metal between the two seams - in the event of a heavy head-on, it's designed to give way.
With the bodywork survey completed, I had a better idea what lay ahead. A lot of hours spent washing waxoyl out of my hair, probably. The underneath may look pretty rusty, but fortunately was all on the surface, and though I knew that I would never eradicate it, brushing, treating, painting and waxoyling will stem the rust and extend the service life of the metalwork - which is the main goal here.
Time to turn my attention to the oily bits...
Aw come on, whens the next chapter.
hmmm fuel filler looks okay! I replaced that on Anna's colt when she finally ushed the fuel nozzle clear through the filler and started gushing fuel across the forecourt!
It was hanging on by a rust thread!
Still here somewhere........
hurry up kieran! Ive only got another 12 hours before I get bundled into the back of a van with hood over my head and hidden from the world for 7 days!
Did you buy Apex springs or did you get something better?
BMW E60 525i (3.0) M-Sport.
Great lunch time read
Next installment by 12.30pm tomorrow please.
Good to see you back K.
K, glad to see you around here again. And nice, entertaining writeup there...
the one and only...Pearl White Legnum 25 ST-R...registered in Germany - now featuring a 6A13TT engine
Its more than 2 days since he said "its time to turn my attention to the oily bits".
There cant be that many of them surely.
Kiteman- You clearly don't know Kieran. This thread has only just started.
So I've lots more enjoyable reading to look forward to, and you're right I dont know him at all at all.
Don't fret peeps
And yes - There's a LOT still to come.
On the edge of my seat Kieran, keep it up
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