The white GT, much travelled, some history

[Glenn]

Thought I might add some pictures and history of my old white GT with sedan front to this area.

Like most here, I always lusted after having a GT having only had sedans. GT's then were elusive to find at the time and even more now of course. I had a tip of there was a GT in a lady's backyard up near Ringwood (Melb) I arranged to see it and found the remains of a very damaged GT with no wheels and with dirt up to the body. When i say remains, i mean just that. It was a body shell with no front panels, no interior and no left door. The front had suffered a hard hit to the front left with the efect of shifting the whole of the front area to the right side about 4" and bending the cross member. My Dad, who has done a lot of car rebuilds, said i was mad to buy it but having little other choice (none) to get a GT in better shape, i plunged in and bought it. I had an old parts sedan as it happened so figured I could use that for panels etc.

I was going to TAFE college at the time (Hobby car resoration etc classes) and put the remains on their body Rack over three night clases. I had to trailer it there and bring it home each time so was not an easy task. Anyway, with the help of the hydraulic rams etc it was pulled back into shape. It was also found it had a slight twist in the body from the accident and that was also fixed. Many thanks to Bob Blackwell who donated a a door, some old GT seats and guages for the project.

Lot's more work and then paint etc followed and was done at home in acrylic. (the car now has new paint i believe) The sedan donated the front end, front panels and grille. At the rear, the boot was rusted out and the sedan also donated a whole rear panel section and boot floor.

There was no engine with it so a twin cam Toyota engine was installed much to members dislike ! But again, I couldn't get anybody to part with a GT engine for it but a little later I bought an Isuzu 2L DOHC with auto trans. In the deal I got a Rodeo 5 speed manual box which I adapted to it. Mainly clutch changes etc (hydraulic). The DOHC had efi on it which i wanted to retain but it was a 117 motor i think and it interfered with the inner guards. I then got a Gemini style "ECGI" manifold for it, which clears fine. Since i wanted to retain the efi and also had the original computer, the problem now was to wire it. All of the wires had been cut off the computer about 6' long and all were black ! Since i had a new manifold also, nothing looked the same there either. It took about a year of tracing wires and using my electronics knowledge, to 'figure' it all out. I had no wiring diagrams by the way for it. I hooked it all up with the motor sitting on the floor of the garage and with a radiator hooked up also. I turned the key (ie pressed 2 wires together) and after a few seconds turning over, it burst into life ! I was shocked and stoked at the same time !

The motor was trial fitted into an old front section from Peter Mckills yard and then fitted to the GT body.

Following are some pictures of the cars build. Not great quality as pictures of pictures from my album.

Glenn

[Glenn]

more pics of re-build

[Glenn]

This the engine running on the floor of the garage.

Also, i fitted a Gemini column, to get the steering lock. This is a simple thing to do as the Bellett shaft fits the Gemini bearings. I removed the locking section from Gemini column (section with the slot in it) and welded it to the Bellett shaft. I also had to turn 2 grooves into the shaft to retain the upper bearing circlips.

Glenn

[oz_toffa]

Thats some real work there, Glenn!

You must have been very very very keen to get a GT on the road.

thanks for sharing all the pics. love following a car build/re-build.

cheers


OZ

[Glenn]

Thanks,

yes, was 'desperate' at the time. LOL

The next 2 GT's were much easier to find !

Been going through some old albums here. I have a few pics of my Piazza turbo conversion too so will post them later in case anybody want to do it.

Glenn

[1968GT]

Glenn,

It is not only the time and effort you put to the cars, also the quality of your work!
I have had many comments about my GT when mechanics have had the car on a hoist, comments like " WOW someone has spent some time and effort on this car!", evey comment has been complimentary, along with Isuzu Car Club members who also respect your work and quality.
Now I am the benefactor of that work and why I stay in contact with you to keep you updated on what and where I go and do with the GT.

Hoping to see you and Melina in Merimbula!! Travel Safe!!
Dave M.

[Glenn]

Thanks Dave.

The white GT though needed a bit more work on it at the time to tidy things a bit, but time was an issue then to get it to an outing but afraid it never got it

I posted some pics of the blue sedan DOHC also.

glenn

[65bellett]

Great Pics and story there Glenn. I'm glad you mentioned that you changed intake on the engine as I was a bit confused, I thought it was a Piazza engine and I couldn't work out how it ended up with a 117 computer.

I will have to throw a few pics up of hacked Delco system it is running now. Commodore coil packs look right at home in the engine bay of a twin cam GT.

[Glenn]

Would like to see that. The original computer is an analog type. Not a digital type like 'modern' ones. Back in 1976 or so there were only analog efi computers. The computer came with the engine though.

Glenn

[dave]

Wow... I had NO idea how dire the car was until these photos were posted.

I'd seen the one of the shots of it sitting on those hurricanes (so phat!) but not with the front missing!

Gav Porthouse told me that it was the first GT he ever saw and he thought it was awesome, so there's no better person to now own it.

[Glenn]

Hi Dave
yes, she was a bit of a challenge ! You might notice in 1st picture also that the left front was higher than it should have been also, from the accident. If you look close you will see where i grafted on about 8" of the innner section from the spare car. I never took a picture of the car before i actually started to work on it. No digital camera's then !

The rear had been hit also as you can see from the strange cutouts in the panel.

The guy who owned it also had another GT which he rallied and I don't know what happened to that one.

glenn

[Glenn]

Cleaning up the shed slowly here, in anticipation of our house moving..... found some old Bellett stuff from this car. Will post some

here are the wheels for example i had on it originally.

[Glenn]

Found original receipt for the car.

This could be interesting as the engine number of the car and previous Reg is listed. The engine was not included with the car and maybe one of you has it now ?

The owner also had another GT in the yard which was a rally car, a bit sore and sorry to see but still registered i think at that time. I have no details of it but it was white also.

[dave]

Wow some awesome extra info for the old Datsun Bellett I used to own!!!!

[Redzone]

I have pics of this car from when I nearly bought it in 2001 out of the trading post in Brisbane. . The guy whose name escapes me also had a green wasp for sale & a spare 117 coupe type green top g180w on his workshop floor. I'll have to scan the pictures. .