around january 2012 a wrecked lancer gsr came up for sale the vehicle had essentially been stripped of all parts it was quite literally a bare shell with one wheel a dif a fuel tank and a tail shaft. it had been involved in a front end collision and as a result had the rad support pannels cut out and part of the chassis cut of behind the front right strut. despite the car not being on the wovr it was bound for the scrap heap and at $300 i considered it a bargain. and almost missed out on it entirely as interest from other qld members was hot infact even interstaters wanted in on the action. after a short session of convincing the folks to let me buy and store this wreck they reluctantly agree and i had my cousin helping me out by borrowing his Ute and a car tailor. i cannibalized one of my chrome rims as they were multistud and would fit on the car making moving it slightly easier.
then i got it home. my mother wanted this peice of scrap outa the way and fast so i got stuck in. first i turned the car( if you could call it that) on its roof
and started unbolting the diff, fuel tank, struts etc anything that i thought might be different to the coupe. ( i almost didn't take the fuel filler neck but im glad i did they're different.)
i then began the 3 day long task yes 3 days of drilling out the spot welds on the floor pan. rear diff hanger and most anything else that stood in my way after many many holes and almost as many drill bits it was time to cut a process that chewed up 4 cutting disks. after i completed this the shell was promptly and dutifully sent to the scrap metal pile completely striped of all parts of worth and only half the car it once was. almost a year passed while i sources the remaining part mostly from the front end.
in order to run all wheel drive in a coupe you need the k frame (i was lucky to get this with the shell as a chucked in extra) along with the north south cross member awd gearbox awd flywheel(if you don't already have it attached to your motor they are different to the fwd ones) and transfer case. i also need a fuel pump another clutch front hubs to match the rears PCD which changes from 4x100 to 4x114.3. in September of 2012 i was set to head back overseas to Singapore and Thailand so 5 weeks prior to the trip the car was pulled off the road.
the front end parts
the above has the gearbox n/s crossmember transfer gearbox and drive shafts along with the new power steering rack
front hubs
in this time the engine was pulled out and some oil leaks addressed (almost i pinched an oring reinstalling a part cranked the engine over and poured about 1.5l of oil all over the workshop floor face palm.) and other parts like a aftermarket s2.5 inch stainless dump pipe were installed. then the car was sent to the panel beater to have him complete the work while i was away, this turned out to be a waste of time and a major headache.
as 2 days before i was due to fly home expecting to find my car with a rear diff and engineer certified awaiting only the tail shaft being shortened i get an email from said engineer that the work had not been started and that supposedly qld transport would not allow such a mod. so after i return home i get the low down and am informed that i need to fill out form f1854 application for approval to modify. so i dutifully go ahead and fill out the form and collect the specs sheets. raid the forums previously mentioned for info from previous build of which i could find 18 in Australia none of which were in qld which makes this coupe the first and only known to the community. and supply a brief on the work to be carried out.
2 weeks later i get a phone call which went alittle like this
qld T: hello we are cancelling your application for approval to modify because a mod plate you already have contains the wrong code for the engine conversion you will have to reapply through your engineer to have this plate removed and have the engine work re-certified only your engineer can do this it's illegal for you to remove the old mod plate and we request that you waint until nov 1 when the ncop takes effect"
so i go ahead and enlist my engineers help. 5 months pass and things really start to stagnate so i take matter into my own hands calling vehicle standards and regulation only to get the usual government bureaucracy and mixed answers this time i am told i only need to apply for the plate to be removed and that the engineer could certify and plate all the work without the from f1854 being processed as it is obsolete so i get back onto my engineer and basically get fobbed off. so once again i take things in hand. and go speak to a freind of our in the industry who points me to classics and chrome who have a shop just down the road from them.
i speak to the guy there and they were realy interested in the project after a 30minute discussion an agreement was made to come look at the car get a quote and go from there this was january 31. i get the call at 4pm that they're on their way and to meet them at my workshop they check over the car and issue a quote for $3500 to complete all the work and have it certified. at this i was stoked and informed them i would have the car on a flatbed and at their shop a soon as they had room well they had it and 2 days later the car was at their shop
these are some photos from February 2
down off the stands
i can't move so tow me
just alittle out of the boot please doctor
work began on the installation of parts on the monday and i visited on tuesday
this is how the car looked
this is a photo from underneath looking up at the roof (yes that is the workshop ceiling you can see)
from the back looking forward that silver sheet is where the rear seat should be
those are the only photo i took but don't fret here's the photos that rick from classics and chrome took
floor out
removing excess metal
sectioned chasis rail (inside is where the captive nut plates are) most people cut open the top and weld the plate in rick decided using part of the rail they were originally welded to and fusing that with the coupe would be stronger (he's the pro and done it many times before in old classics with terminal chassis rust)
mmm clean welds
setting the new floor in place
getting tacked down
prime the captive nut rail sections and goupe along the floor cut.
paint the work inside and out
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