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Restoration of 102/2000

thomcasey

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
Messages
907
Location
Indianapolis, IN
This is a restoration of a VR4 locally here in Indianapolis. Currently there is over 800hrs of work put into the Body,

paint and interior alone. There are still some items to restore in the interior and the engine bay. She has been dealer

maintained with ONLY OEM parts used throughout it's life. The person performing the restoration is a 15yr Mitsubishi Master

Tech. Car has a little interior work left, full suspension replacement, full brake system replacement and some under-hood

restoration left. This thread will be updated with more pics as the restoration progresses. I can't imagine how much this

is costing. No expense spared to keep it OEM.

Here are the specifics on the car:

1991 GVR4 (109/2000)
1 (Original) Owner car
305 K on original motor (rebuilt 56k miles ago, all OEM)
Original transmission and xfer case (rebuilt 56k miles ago, again OEM parts)
Fully functional rear steering
All components being used for the restoration, down to the clips for anything are OEM.
All rust was cut out, areas zinc coated and protected prior to undercoating or paint.
All painted trim was removed from the body of the car before prep and paint
Paint was heat baked for a few days and has been sun baking for several months (4-coats paint, 3 clear)
All satin black (factory) body surfaces are now gloss black, per owner request.
All indicator lenses and headlights were polished and cleared for protection
Working AC and 4WS is retained, car will be 100% stock specifications outside of gloss black trim and no polished lip on rims (again, owner request).

This is how she looked during bodywork:


Here are some pics of the final paint after wet-sanding. All body work was performed in his garage, as was the paint. A makeshift visqueen paint booth with down-flow fan and heating.







Underbody was repaired, all unibody rails were zinc coated and wax coated, entire underside was undercoated.
 

FlyingEagle

Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
1,635
Location
THE Ottawa
Makes me very happy to see this occuring.

I'll take two! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthy.gif
 

caanglin

Active member
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
31
Location
Jefferson, GA
He must love that car. He would lose so much money selling it.
Have $3k car spend $10k on it end up with $4.5k car.
 

MellowVR4

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
1,662
Location
Milwaukee, Wi
With the body work done to this, definitely worth more that 5k for sure!!
 

slugsgomoo

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Messages
3,776
Location
Tacoma, WA
totally agree Mellow VR4. This car is looking like it'd be in the same camp for me as #3... regardless of the engine/etc issues, the value of the shell for being so thoroughly gone through, and having pristine paint is worth a lot.

I'd pay more for a shell in this kind of condition than some of the running cars that sell for ~5k to be honest.
 

NateCrisman

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
2,054
Location
Blairstown, NJ
Quoting caanglin:
He must love that car. He would lose so much money selling it.
Have $3k car spend $10k on it end up with $4.5k car.



Um 800hours of labor is 20 weeks worth of "paychecks" ....unless your paying McDonald's burger flipper wage per hour for what looks like extremely professional body and paint work....the car has more like $25k worth of labor into it already. I know body shops in New Jersey get like $80/hr

I still agree with you on "he must really love that car" cause this doesn't make any financial sense unless you really really really want a stone stock new GVR4.

Hold the phone....did I see 305K miles on the chassis correctly? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Last edited:

GSTwithPSI

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Messages
3,460
Location
SoCal
Quoting caanglin:
He must love that car. He would lose so much money selling it.
Have $3k car spend $10k on it end up with $4.5k car.



Nobody who restores a Galant VR-4 to this level should be doing it for the resale value. Most people who put that kind of time and money into a VR-4 are doing it for themselves, because they appreciate the platform for one reason or another.

That being said, if you want to know what will set the run of the mill 5K Galant VR-4 apart from the ones that will eventually be worth something, take notes.
 

thomcasey

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
Messages
907
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Quoting NateCrisman:
Quoting caanglin:
He must love that car. He would lose so much money selling it.
Have $3k car spend $10k on it end up with $4.5k car.



Um 800hours of labor is 20 weeks worth of "paychecks" ....unless your paying McDonald's burger flipper wage per hour for what looks like extremely professional body and paint work....the car has more like $25k worth of labor into it already. I know body shops in New Jersey get like $80/hr

I still agree with you on "he must really love that car" cause this doesn't make any financial sense unless you really really really want a stone stock new GVR4.

Hold the phone....did I see 305K miles on the chassis correctly? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif



Yes, Mileage is correct. If you calculate it out that is an average of 12,200 miles a year over a 25 year period.
 

thomcasey

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
Messages
907
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Here is a pic of the Odometer:

img.php
 

Gabor

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2002
Messages
4,428
Location
St. Louis
I'm interested to see the restoration of the interior.
Working with classic cars every day, I see crazy money people spend on their car to have it restored.
Unless you're playing with a super rare car you "might make money on the end but most likely you won't.
It's all about the love of what you do. Props for the guy putting this car back all stock.
 
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