South Africa - 1982 GTV6 2.5 Restoration (50/100)
Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:49 am
This is Mike and over the next while I will be posting the journey of the restoration of a 1982 GTV6 2.5 in South Africa.
Still very much in progress.
The car was bought second hand by me in November 2014 for R35,000.
Initial view on the vehicle was that it was in reasonable condition, but as with any restoration project, the full story only comes out as you strip it down. The vehicle was NOT running smoothly when bought, was overheating and there was oil in the water system, a sure sign a head gasket was damaged somewhere.
The vehicle stood idle in one of my garages until late 2019. Work started slowly and picked up during the 2020 Covid months.
The initial plan was to just have fun and rebuild it NOT to original spec at all, but during the initial investigations, it transpired that the car was a NUMBERED one, 50/100 of the 1st 100 2.5 GTV6's in South Africa. There is still much mystery around these first 100 GTV6's, but the best information I have been able to derive is that they were full knocked down versions from Italy, where the shell and some parts came across from Italy, but a certain % of the car had to be manufacured in South Africa (interesting items like the de dion), and had to then be fully assembed in RSA. There are numerous unique identifers of these 1st 100, some of which are still questioned, and I will cover these in a future post.
With this being the case, I was strongly advised to restore it to original spec, and so the journey began.
To give myself flexibility once rebuild, I have elected to get as many of the cosmetic items "duplicated" so that one set would be to original specification and another to have fun with. This has included items such as duplicate bumpers, side skirts, seats, interior side panels, carpet and possibly more as things evolve.
Getting parts in South Africa is almost impossible, so you look out for the occasional vehicle being stripped, but I have had to bring in most replacement spares from the USA & UK via friends and family. Every time there is an oportunity - USE IT!!
Still very much in progress.
The car was bought second hand by me in November 2014 for R35,000.
Initial view on the vehicle was that it was in reasonable condition, but as with any restoration project, the full story only comes out as you strip it down. The vehicle was NOT running smoothly when bought, was overheating and there was oil in the water system, a sure sign a head gasket was damaged somewhere.
The vehicle stood idle in one of my garages until late 2019. Work started slowly and picked up during the 2020 Covid months.
The initial plan was to just have fun and rebuild it NOT to original spec at all, but during the initial investigations, it transpired that the car was a NUMBERED one, 50/100 of the 1st 100 2.5 GTV6's in South Africa. There is still much mystery around these first 100 GTV6's, but the best information I have been able to derive is that they were full knocked down versions from Italy, where the shell and some parts came across from Italy, but a certain % of the car had to be manufacured in South Africa (interesting items like the de dion), and had to then be fully assembed in RSA. There are numerous unique identifers of these 1st 100, some of which are still questioned, and I will cover these in a future post.
With this being the case, I was strongly advised to restore it to original spec, and so the journey began.
To give myself flexibility once rebuild, I have elected to get as many of the cosmetic items "duplicated" so that one set would be to original specification and another to have fun with. This has included items such as duplicate bumpers, side skirts, seats, interior side panels, carpet and possibly more as things evolve.
Getting parts in South Africa is almost impossible, so you look out for the occasional vehicle being stripped, but I have had to bring in most replacement spares from the USA & UK via friends and family. Every time there is an oportunity - USE IT!!