1981 L200 'ClubSport'

[tortron]

Hi guys, i keep a project blog over on oldschool.co.nz but i thought i would post some of it over here as well

This is my NZ built 1981 L200 Sport
It was owned by a mechanics for around 10 years and they did the engine conversion, tray swap, suspension mods. They sold it to the guy i got it from about 15 years ago, and he had it in storage for around half of that.












Specs are
1981 L200 Sport
Engine: Holden 3.8 V6 (Buick V6)
Trans: TH700R4
Suspension: raised to 460mm front, 520mm rear. Front is achieved with the use of L300 springs
Wheels: Toyota Surf chrome steel 15"
Steering: Fitted with power steering box (typical box from that era that fits the later l200's D50's Starions etc) running off the holden pump
Body: Later model tray fitted (long tray has been hut short just in-front of the fuel flap
other: Electric fan, VN commodore instruments, Mesh sunvisor

[tortron]

Not long after buying it, i went for a roadtrip around the North Island, im not sure ow many km's i went, as the odometer stopped working, a common issue with the holden gauges




It runs really well, but a few issues came up. The previous owner had put up with them for 15 years but it took about 15 days for them to drive me mad.

Speedo gets to 80, then bounces back to 0, and due to the trans and wheel swaps it reads about 25% too fast
After digging around i found the bouncing to normally be caused by a blown fuse, the wiring in this ute is terrible and i have been tidying alot of it up. I found that one of the wires from the speedo had never been hooked up to power and had been left taped up in the loom, so i wired this into its spot on the fuse block.
The speedo correction was easy with a yellow box from yellr.com, really quick install and set up, and has features like replay top speed.
Odometer was repaired by replacing a small cog

Temp gauge not working - just needed a new sender. amazingly the engine runs quite cool even with the smaller radiator. Warms up a bit on a hot day in traffic, but the fan keeps it at an alright level

Fuel gauge - the mitsubishi sender and holden gauge dont match. i have rewired a holden gauge to work and will install this in the future.

Hazard flashers dont work - Replaced relay with one that suits the Led front lamps.

rebuilt the neutral switch. the contacts had worn down, so i cleaned it all out and reset them, should be good for another 100,000km, now it doesnt start in gear.
-rebuilt the wiper switch and rewired it. similar to above it was half worn inside, and for some reason the wires have been all changed around. probably the reservoir has been moved to fit the engine, it says made in japan so i assume its not the holden one. Background - there is an aftermarket intermittent speed unit wired in, and a toggle switch to run the washer pump.
Took a bit of looking, because i dont have an l200 wiring diagram, the wires are spliced with different colours, and they are all taped up, pluss there are extra wires not attached to anything, and im not sure which loom was used for half the stuff anyway. Anyway, the pump is supposed to be set up with a live wire and then the switch completes the circuit through a common earth. They had taken the live wire, and cut it, earthing one end to the floor, and the other left cut off an inch from the pump plug, another wire had then been added to the pump plug and earthed out to the engine bay (coupled with the switch wire earthing through the switch), so all that mess had been bypassed with a toggle switch.

[tortron]

so theres "some" rust, typical of an 80's Mitsubishi
in the windscreen cowel/heater box area in the firewall where every car with this set up rusts out. right in the centre of the firewall, the hoop on the inside is pretty much gone too so will need to make a bigger hole and put one back in.
its not a major at this stage and is pretty centralised at that one point
it was still full of leaves

I also imagine the drains at each side are blocked too because ol mate has bogged up some rust where the inner fender meets the firewall and I get some water coming into the cab from somewhere near there.
theres a bubble on the inside of the drivers door frame, and a streak of rust coming out from behind where the visor is mounted

it also appears that a few unneeded brackets have been chiselled off from the engine bay and some lovely jagged holes left behind
some of the bedliner has failed and is getting rust behind it, so il clean that up

the rest of the thing seems to be ok, I checked out the inside of the doors and they are very nice, needs to have the underside redone, and il be waxoiling the chassis

[tortron]

[tortron]

[tortron]

Took it for a wof and it failed, i knew it would because i saw the brake machine dials
failed on.
-left rear brake lens and reflector faded
rear brakes imbalance
park brake imbalance
right front outer tie rod play
steering box leak

not too major, glad the rust was sorted (well he didnt notice another patch that i found the other day). have ordered a new pair of tail lights (the other side is cracked as well so may as well), picked up the tie rod and il have to open up the brakes this weekend to see whats up. it failed on this last time too according to the sheet i found behind the seats, so i bet they never fixed it and conned a wof pass.




So, steering box had a bit of a leak. ID'd it as a 2nd gen l200/starion/dodge d50 box. ordered a kit from the states

stripped it down, input and output seals were dried out, output seal shattered to bits when I removed it. Teflon inside was looking sad and the fluid was pretty dirty

tight as to pull it out, but not as bad as it could be






Also, here are the VN gauge faces inside an L200 cluster, i will need to think of how to do the idiot lights, but its a close match

the housing will need to be cut up, and il make a new loom for them (original is a plastic pcb that bends and cracks) and i will be deleting half of the commodore idiot lights

[geezer101]

Geez it had a fair bit of rust through it. I'd be scared to tackle most of these repairs (my lower rocker sills are garbage but I have a clean pair I can salvage from the wreck I bought). Looks like the vehicle inspections are really tough in NZ. Did you need an engineers report for the drivetrain swap? The L200 is becoming more of a Commo than a Mitsubishi - the purists will not be happy lol. You are doing a really thorough job though, worth the effort. And is that a Morris I spy lurking in the back of the shed?

[tortron]

Hi, the engine swap was certified (the plate on the firewall) back in 1999, theres a few things it would need updated if it were to go through again but nothing major. ITs probably the rustiest car iv had, and iv had alot of old brit cars haha, but its nothing major, just a weekend on the firewall, perhaps a little will need doing on the sills, im pretty sure some rust was just bogged and painted over, but it hasnt fallen out yet so it can wait for another day. There is a guy over here making new sills as well.

Thats my 51 SMM minor in the background, i have had it about 10 years and at this point every single part of it has been off and rebuiltn its got the 918cc flathead which iv tuned up with twin carbs, extractors, high comp head, light flywheel, port and polish, electronic ign, it almost goes the speed limit now

[geezer101]

Thats my 51 SMM minor in the background, i have had it about 10 years and at this point every single part of it has been off and rebuiltn its got the 918cc flathead which iv tuned up with twin carbs, extractors, high comp head, light flywheel, port and polish, electronic ign, it almost goes the speed limit now

lol Moggies weren't the choice of Brit racers were they. They are scarce now - I haven't seen one out on the road for a long time. And L200's are far and few between at least in my state. Did it need a brake upgrade to compensate for the increase in engine CC's? You've got me curious in how the regulations differ from Aust and NZ.

[tortron]

i believe as long as the car passes 3 stops from 100kph one after the other then the brakes are considered good enough, (a problem if you have a vintage car thats modified to period correct standards and still cant do 100). I think our rules are pretty good, some things are a bit tight because people have gone and ruined it for everyone else. The LVVTA holds all the standards http://www.lvvta.org.nz/ and now you can just buy the sections that you need which is nice. Luckily there is a tame certifier in our club which is handy to bounce questions off.

The brakes are all standard at the moment. The previous owner mentioned that he used the ute to tow his stock car, and well yeah i guess it has the power, but the braking would have been terrifying. Im going to see about some Pajero calipers, and will probably put a 2nd gen LSD diff in as theres quite a few around

[tortron]

I went and had my pick over an 83 going to scrap, it would have been a nice little truck before it got parked up and engine removed years ago.


Original owners manual and service book

A much better dash, in a lovely tan... only 2 small cracks rather than the huge bogged up splits in mine, plus the trim (mine is cut in half)


and a complete 1st gen tray. its got a little rust, around the bodyline seam, with the worst being in the bottom of the tailgate. But well within the realms of me fixing it.

Quite hard to find a wellside tray, as the typical dealer option over here was for a flat deck tray for farmers, and any that did option for the wellside have since rusted away

I also got a bunch of plastic trims, a not scratched passenger window and a step ended bumper/tow bar to match the tray. A good little haul, I could have taken more but there are actually quite a few 1st gens sitting around deregistered and going cheap ( I guess as they get scrapped that number is going to drop a lot)

[geezer101]

A good collection of stuff you managed to get your hands on. Decent 1st gen parts are getting harder to come by - door glass being the top of the list. I got lucky when I bought a complete wreck that had been rolled (only the windscreen broke). The PO had all the glass tinted and it was in relatively good condish. My door glass was badly scratched up from sand or something in the scraper seals.

[tortron]

Pulled apart the drivers door and swapped out the door card with an original.




Which i did because of this


So i also made up a new plastic barrier to go in behind, theres no speaker in there now until i get a decent one, it was held in with roofing screws too.
Will keep an eye out for a passenger door card. i noticed there seems to be 2 or more different types, the other style has more diagonal lines. Looks kinda funky as the replacement ones actually match the vinyl on the seat.

I also went ahead and installed some remote central locking. Im used to old cars with funny door handles, 1/4 light window latches, and manual locking so i dont notice it, but every time i take someone for a ride, the passenger door gets left unlocked. Even when i remind them to lock it they tend to forget to lift the handle when closing.
Very easy install, and i only had to drill 1 hole for the solenoids





needs just a little spacing to clear the rubber boot a bit more, and il find somewhere good to attach the unit up under the dash

[tortron]

So iv had a week off, but have sat inside bored out of my mind because I did a half assed job at removing my fingers last weekend
Sun came out and I can sort of use the hand as long as I don't reach for anything or lift with the thumb

so this was pretty difficult


removed seats


not as bad as it could be

Front corners and back of cab are all rough patches




New floor covering I picked up. not sure who made it it was just wrapped in a plastic sack with L200 80-85 single cab written on it. No cut out for the shifter so probably aftermarket

bit of sound deadening on the back



Its a poor fit tbh, theres no cut out for the steering column, yet the edge is all bound and it doesn't like the corners.

I stuck it roughly where I thought it should go and screwed all the edges down, cut the shifter hole, the went at it with the heat gun and blocks of wood to contour the sills. It needs a lot more of that action but it fits in now.

Vacuumed off the speaker box material that was in the back and put the seats back in. The loom from the tunnel is too short to go up behind the carpet and underneath so I had to de pin a plug and run it over the top for now. so bad,


also fixed the folding forward passenger seat so it locks back in place


ADEQUATE

[geezer101]

The flooring in the L200 were either rubber mats or carpet so this is an aftermarket item. And it was probably for a different optioned truck (auto, 4WD...?) Getting a decent fitting aftermarket flooring that actually fits is no mean feat. It's like they don't have a clue on how to do it. The front carpet half from a Sigma or a Scorpion might fit(?). Same width, same era of production.

And what did you do to your hand dude? Gotta be careful with your poseable thumbs as it's what sets us apart from the other monkeys!

[85Ram50]

Just in case you guys can get access from these sites. Auto Custom Carpets (accmats.com) makes molded carpets. They sell on Rock Auto 50% cheaper than they do from their website on up. EDIT- Just realized the foot pad for the driver will be on the wrong side. It should still fit otherwise.
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,1985,ram+50,2.0l+122cid+l4,1096208,interior, flooring,1264

[tortron]

I knocked my angle grinder before it stopped spinning (like you would a door with your knuckles). Through the nail bed on my middle finger, flesh on ring finger, and the joint of the thumb. No damage to the bone, but I got a nerve in the thumb so the topside of it is now numb. But it's healing up alright.

No auto first generation available here, possibly it would fit a 4wd a little better did they have a larger tunnel? Though it would still not fit around the column or clutch lever. So it's just a typical replacement that doesn't fit. This one was cheap enough that I don't mind it not quite fitting nicely, if I ever want another Il get a local auto trimmer to make one hp

[geezer101]

I knocked my angle grinder before it stopped spinning (like you would a door with your knuckles). Through the nail bed on my middle finger, flesh on ring finger, and the joint of the thumb. No damage to the bone, but I got a nerve in the thumb so the topside of it is now numb. But it's healing up alright.

lol I did a similar thing recently too. Cut a trench lengthways through the top of my index finger middle joint. Happened when I swapped the cutting disc over and went to turn on the grinder but forgot to turn it on at the power point. Flicked the power on - it kicked in my hands and it just buzzed into the joint right in the middle. Angle grinder is one of my least favourite power tools (next to a circular saw, just scary...)

[tortron]

Also i removed the bright red air horn in order to tidy up the engine bay a bit


and installed some dual tone mitsuba horns behind the grill on the unused bumper eyes




next i will tuck that loom away down by the chassis rail i think

[tortron]

little bit of rust



nope, i think the bolts for the visor have let water in between the pillar and rain gutter layers. Someone had MIG'd up a few holes along time ago, and then the last guy has bogged up everything when he painted it about 5 years ago




Cut it ALL out




Inner layer back in


Add the gutter layer back, and re attach the Lip to it






Nice thick layer of anti corrosion primer until i have enough patches to warrant a top coat
have a little (famous last words) in the front of the drivers sill which il get done next weekend. Il bet the passenger side is similar, its definitely got a thick skim of bog on it, but it hasnt fallen out yet so it can wait till next time

[geezer101]

It's funny that your L200 actually has the Dodge style grille on it. I thought they had the horizontal slat grilles for the non US market. My L200 has the same rust in the window pillar (might be from the sun visor as well - or just a location where it wasn't rust prepped very well from factory)

[tortron]

So i have gotten familiar enough with the truck to realise that most of this doesnt do anything




Suspicions confirmed when i noticed that the part near the firewall doesnt actually go through it, its all part of the original Mitsubishi loom, and comes from the other side of the engine bay, around the grill, and back up the other side
chop it out i reckon




hers some of the BS i deal with




Unlimited Power!, theres a few weird joins like this, both other ends go back inside the cab, with a long length of do nothing wire. Iv cut them all short and left the joins for now incase they actually do something



Kind of funny, there was 3 sets of wires for the washer pump. and none of them worked (they needed to set the pump ground back to the switch, i fixed that when i first got the truck)
and the air horn wires did a whole loop around the engine bay


All the wires including the spotlamps stuff now fits in the split conduit behind the grill now

at least i wont need to buy wire for a while. i totally removed what i could, had to cut some off where the loom splits inside the cab as it was just going to turn into a huge mess if i took the cab fuse boxes out and deloomed everything





Looking better. the conduit only houses some 3 core wire for the washer pump (which only uses 2 wires), so i think i will remove it and run a new wire down the drivers side and across the grill with the headlamp stuff. That way the passenger side will only have the holden engine loom, and i can plug up the old loom grommet

[camoit]

If you upload the photos to the board it will resize them automatically and make a thumbnail you can click to expand.

[tortron]

Are they coming up a funny size? I copy the same post between a few forums

[tortron]

Have had a bit of an oil leak, getting worse over the last few months, looked like the power steering pump. I think probably just the reservoir o-ring, but I got a whole seal kit anyway




looked decent inside, and has been good the last couple of weeks

Got stuck into some more rust this weekend
had planned to do some down in the sill, but wanted to clean up some of last times stuff. This got me to picking scabs. It all looked good with the paint on, but I had been getting some water dripping from the upper door trim plastic, it could only be coming from a hole in the rain gutter, so I stripped it back



yup pretty manky, about a 1/4 inch of bog up the a pillar and roof, I think theres a lot of bog on the roof as some has cracked (probably before it was even painted because the clear coat is smooth over it), some rough old patches, and some good old space age nu-tech better than metal filler

chop it out
Coming in though the bottom too

so cut that out as well




door frame back in

found some more filler on the corner, theres an aweful lot of nutech near the screen seal, from what I can see through the hole it doenst look like its full of holes, probably just the good old technique of bash it in with a hammer and fill over everything


I'm wanting to use the truck so I cant take the screen out right now, but at some point il take it out and baremetal the roof


all patches in, looks rough as can be because theres a step down on the roof filler to the metal, oh well, hopefully I get some time off this summer and il get it looking decent