Restoration From Hell!

GTAm · July 9, 2012

Komi if it was a 2000 GLS it would have come with power steering, Power windows, 5 speed and even central locking. Your mum's one could have been a Fuel Injected one with 122 bhp! Rare indeed. I always thought the 132s in SL had weber carbs. There also was a supercharged one with 135bhp I doubt any made it here. Btw one of our pals here on Autolanka, Milindu has got a nice 132 2000 GLS.

Komisiripala · July 9, 2012

On 7/9/2012 at 5:30 PM, GTAm said:

Komi if it was a 2000 GLS it would have come with power steering, Power windows, 5 speed and even central locking. Your mum's one could have been a Fuel Injected one with 122 bhp! Rare indeed. I always thought the 132s in SL had weber carbs. There also was a supercharged one with 135bhp I doubt any made it here. Btw one of our pals here on Autolanka, Milindu has got a nice 132 2000 GLS.

Milindu and my brother are thick as thieves. And bro says we had the only 2 liter 132. The rest were 1800cc. Again I have no evidence to verify that. Milindu may just have ended up with the same fiat. Yes it had 5 forward and power steering.

miniace · July 10, 2012

Hey GTAm mate, Pictures itself a scary episode when it comes to restoring her. But in this small island,its only you and your 'takaran baas' can give her life ,not anyone else. Good luck mate!

MINIACE

milindu · July 10, 2012

@ Komi: Our car is a 2000GLS with carbs (7 Sri). I remember chatting about it with your bro and coming to the conclusion that your mother's might have been the only EFi model.

GTAm is right about the handling being 'soft'. But the set up is just fine for the city runs (you can run over potholes without a care) and is quite fun to drive around with the power steering, synchro box and the RWD setup. The 'roll' is felt only around track

GTAm · July 10, 2012

On 7/10/2012 at 1:51 AM, miniace said:

Hey GTAm mate, Pictures itself a scary episode when it comes to restoring her. But in this small island,its only you and your 'takaran baas' can give her life ,not anyone else. Good luck mate!

MINIACE

Thanks Miniace. Yes anywhere else in the world it would have been junked long ago. The previous owner had actually let it get smeared with cement!!!! My takaran baas coming out of retirement and actually pitching for new work was a big reason I decided to take the plunge in to the dark water. (I'm still worried that I might find a great white shark in there .) For this I must reluctantly thank the downturn in the SL economy. He can no longer afford retirement ....

GTAm · July 10, 2012

On 7/10/2012 at 5:24 AM, milindu said:

@ Komi: Our car is a 2000GLS with carbs (7 Sri). I remember chatting about it with your bro and coming to the conclusion that your mother's might have been the only EFi model.

GTAm is right about the handling being 'soft'. But the set up is just fine for the city runs (you can run over potholes without a care) and is quite fun to drive around with the power steering, synchro box and the RWD setup. The 'roll' is felt only around track

Absolutely the 132 is the ideal Colombo runabout with our pot holes. Plus you have enough oomph to surprise quite a few modern machines.

For the track you have your 131 Milindu. That handles beautifully and can be enhanced quite a bit. How's progress with it? Will it be ready for our track day in August?

carboy2011 · July 11, 2012

as they say there is a silver lining in every cloud and yours was the SL economy downturn mate ;-))

please document the progress like Sumiya and Master Don with pics and update us as well dude!

On 7/10/2012 at 5:31 AM, GTAm said:

Thanks Miniace. Yes anywhere else in the world it would have been junked long ago. The previous owner had actually let it get smeared with cement!!!! My takaran baas coming out of retirement and actually pitching for new work was a big reason I decided to take the plunge in to the dark water. (I'm still worried that I might find a great white shark in there .) For this I must reluctantly thank the downturn in the SL economy. He can no longer afford retirement ....

GTAm · July 12, 2012

On 7/11/2012 at 10:45 AM, carboy2011 said:

as they say there is a silver lining in every cloud and yours was the SL economy downturn mate ;-))

please document the progress like Sumiya and Master Don with pics and update us as well dude!

True, although the down turn is affecting me as well However this guy is dead slow, so my payments are stretched over a year (or two in this case). So it's a bit manageable.

I doubt I can do a detailed job in updating like Master Don but will definitely keep posting. This way I thought it will help motivate me and keep frustration at bay.

Btw I've found a bonnet, boot lid and the front air vent panel (just in front of base of the windscreen - which is curved and not easy to turnout) in Aussie. Need to make arrangements to have them shipped over.

GTAm · July 21, 2012

A bit more inspiration for me

NZer · July 21, 2012

Bass coming out of retirement can also mean real crap job. Hope he is good as you say. Otherwise you will be broke as well as have a heap of rust to deal with. Anyways its cool if you can pull through but the pain is the hard part to deal with.

GTAm · July 24, 2012

Thanks Nzer. His retirement was very short lived. He was a big fan of the present govt. and thought after end of the war he can chill out and enjoy life with his school van service and income from his grown up sons. Looks like his calculations were very optimistic. Whenever I talk to him now he's bashing the govt.

The Don · July 24, 2012

On 7/24/2012 at 4:12 AM, GTAm said:

Thanks Nzer. His retirement was very short lived. He was a big fan of the present govt. and thought after end of the war he can chill out and enjoy life with his school van service and income from his grown up sons. Looks like his calculations were very optimistic. Whenever I talk to him now he's bashing the govt.

Yes it's quite sad how the optimism after the end of the war seems to be disappearing. One type of war in the North ended another seems to have begun, this time over resources.

We were talking about USP's of different car brands in another thread GTAm. But Sri Lanka as a country need to quickly discover a USP because we cannot run on a service based economy model, will struggle for self sufficiency and will need to engage in trade and at the moment we're not as competitive as we once were. The global economic downturn has just made it worse.

GTAm · July 25, 2012

Fully agree Don. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The worst is yet to come. I won't go into details of my thoughts in this thread. We will need to start a new one to discuss this topic.

GTAm · August 9, 2012

First Visit to Senor Scalietti, I liked what I saw. The floor and valences are taking shape!

carboy2011 · August 9, 2012

so far he has done a good job on them GTAm

Davy · August 9, 2012

On 8/9/2012 at 12:29 PM, GTAm said:

First Visit to Senor Scalietti, I liked what I saw. The floor and valences are taking shape!

This guy sure is neat! Perfect kinda fellow to carry out this type of restoration.

Komisiripala · August 10, 2012

Nice! Dude sure is a perfectionist! Superb

GTAm · August 10, 2012

Thanks guys. He's an artist I tell you!

Supra_Natural · August 10, 2012

Wow... those actually look like they were turned out by the factory.. this chap is a true artiste!

The Don · August 13, 2012

Fantastic job GTAm ..... sadly I also need an artist like this but none available

GTAm · August 20, 2012

On 8/13/2012 at 4:46 PM, The Don said:

Fantastic job GTAm ..... sadly I also need an artist like this but none available

I will gladly introduce you to this guy. You can book him for once he's finished with this. Out of curiosity what is the project you have in mind?

miniace · August 20, 2012

Hey GTAm....you running this weekend Italian Club event at Pannala ?

MINIACE

GTAm · August 20, 2012

Yes Mini Ace. Hoping to take my Giulia. Are you coming?

miniace · August 20, 2012

Sure I am....Me and John busy preparing the 1100. Heard its 12 laps this time.. thats shocking mate!

MINIACE

The Don · August 20, 2012

On 8/10/2012 at 5:09 AM, GTAm said:

Thanks guys. He's an artist I tell you!

On 8/20/2012 at 5:59 AM, GTAm said:

I will gladly introduce you to this guy. You can book him for once he's finished with this. Out of curiosity what is the project you have in mind?

Thanks a lot for that GTAm. Well my current issue does not involve a classic (Don't think I will do a restoration in SL while I'm overseas as I don't really have anybody to look over stuff, perhaps when I settle down in SL....) but a 90s Mitsubishi which is suffering from the classic roof rust, and a number of repairs have been attempted and failed. The only known cure is to fabricate the entire roof skin or replace (I'm trying to see if I can buy the panel brand new). Sounds simple but needs to be done by a proper bodywork expert to avoid the rust returning......