My GTA V6 Turbo Project

Hi All

Well, I have had it delivered today and had a look round it.

I had put a post in the general section a couple of weeks ago when I viewed the car after agreeing to have it as the drivers door was dropping due to the hinge plates moving on A post - well today when we opened the door to put the car on the truck the top hinge plate sheared off (please see pictures below).

I managed to get it running (not run for a good while), just had to whip the plugs out and give them a clean as they were sooted. Engine runs mint once it had cleared itself.

First job as you will see is the drivers door post, passenger side seems solid but looks corroded the bits you can see so i dare say it will be in similar condition to the drivers side. A big thanks to Clee's mate Ryan as he sent me a very comprehensive guide to doing the door posts.

Looking round theres a few things I need to get, drivers side rear lamp (although it has A610 ones fitted - I want to put GTA ones back on), steering wheel and carpet to name a few bits.

I'm not overstruck on Pearlescent White, may go for solid white when having it painted - from memory this was an option when they were built?

Looks like a reasonable car - shame about those door hinges though. Don't recall any having red carpet though!

Looks like a reasonable car - shame about those door hinges though. Don't recall any having red carpet though!

no...looking through the photos of its previous restoration etc it had the correct carpet, and talking to my brother tonight it had the right colour in when he brought it, he then dyed it red so I'm on the look out for a carpet, this one will be coming out the weekend and going in the skip

If the steering wheel is just mouldy then make sure you give it a good scrub before you replace it.

Might be good to post up the guide on the door pillar replacements as it might give people an idea to the size of the job.

I remember seeing this car a couple of years ago on the Wales tour. It was before I got my 610, I was a passenger in my brothers GTA. I seem to recall he had problems with the brakes that day. I quite like the pearl paint. Looks good in the flesh.

Looks like a good starting point, I quite like the red carpet! Don't bin it just yet- if you want rid then drop me a line.

Good luck with everything- will look forward to following your progress.

thanks for all the comments guys

The wife got in from work at 5.30 and went in the garage and said what the hell, suppose it does look a bit dishevelled (sp?) now though with the door off and leaning up the kids BMX. lol.

Jon - As for the red carpet I'll happily swap it for a standard one

[BIG_MVS]

Looks like and cracking project and I admire your enthusiasm which is great. Keep taking plenty of pics and updates

I agree with the red carpet, it looks crap in my opinion but looks like you have a mug ahem I mean a customer for them

I agree that the 610 lights don't suit the car either. Don't know why but Renault had it spot on originally - GTA lights for the GTA and 610 lights for the 610. I think that "The Saint" was after 610 rear lights so again maybe you could flog them or do a swap with him

Good luck with it and let me know if I can help with the parts search.

This will make a grate car with a bit of work, i agree i quite like this colour, but not sure about the carpet! keep up the good work bud.

Before you put the doors back on, pin back the inside of the wings - you can see where they've deformed and it rubs in the picture, and I'm guessing you'll see it on the leading edge of the doors.

It's a common problem - the plastic wings are amazingly flexible but I think with age seem to want to bend out in that area. Most people fix it with a couple of self tapping screws; sounds extreme but they're hidden anyway and it works.

You can probably do it with the doors on, but much easier to do it with them off and especially if you're looking at a respray, you don't want them rubbing away the nice new paint.

I'll say it again though, even though my car's red I do like the pearl white

Before you put the doors back on, pin back the inside of the wings - you can see where they've deformed and it rubs in the picture, and I'm guessing you'll see it on the leading edge of the doors.

It's a common problem - the plastic wings are amazingly flexible but I think with age seem to want to bend out in that area. Most people fix it with a couple of self tapping screws; sounds extreme but they're hidden anyway and it works.

You can probably do it with the doors on, but much easier to do it with them off and especially if you're looking at a respray, you don't want them rubbing away the nice new paint.

I'll say it again though, even though my car's red I do like the pearl white

Hi Mate,

thanks for the advice, I'm not sure I know were you mean though, I can see where its rubbing in th epic but where do you mean to put the self tappers?

Thanks

Rich

Before you put the doors back on, pin back the inside of the wings - you can see where they've deformed and it rubs in the picture, and I'm guessing you'll see it on the leading edge of the doors.

It's a common problem - the plastic wings are amazingly flexible but I think with age seem to want to bend out in that area. Most people fix it with a couple of self tapping screws; sounds extreme but they're hidden anyway and it works.

You can probably do it with the doors on, but much easier to do it with them off and especially if you're looking at a respray, you don't want them rubbing away the nice new paint.

I'll say it again though, even though my car's red I do like the pearl white

i've seen this on a couple of cars, its all about panel fit. the door pillars need repairing first then the wings can be adjusted to give a good clearance. the most important issue here is the corrosion.

I'll post a picture of mine in a few weeks when I get it back and it'll all become clear.

As Andy said, plenty of structural stuff to get on with that's important first.

bit of an update.

Have swapped the A610 Rear lights for some proper GTA Ones - looks much better in my opinion with the correct lights, on the same token the gentleman who I swapped with reckons the A610 ones are better than GTA ones so its down to personal choice.

Anyway, today I have started cutting the rotten door pillar out.

The GRP is nice and easy to cut, marked it out before hand roughly where i wanted to go and also took measurements of the bottom hingeplate and door stay plate before cutting to give me a rough datum for lining back up on reassembly (couldn't do the top hing plate as it had ripped out )

You can see in the pictures just how rotten the box section is, The new one will be filled with Waxoyl and painted so it'll never need doing again!

On to the pics:-