History
I bought this car, my third Gemini panelvan, in about 1999 after a brief love affair with a blue rocket that was full of bog and despair.
I decided I wanted an u*********, original chamois Gemini van that hadn't been through a bunch of teenagers. Turns out, the very first one I looked at was THE CAR.
It was fairly original; it's got repairs on both sides that were handled properly, presumably when the car was fairly new, plus it's had a new front valance and second hand rad-support panel put in it, but it's otherwise u*********.
It was my daily driver for a few years and took my now-late wife and I on our honeymoon around Tasmania in 2003. We also put it on the Indian Pacific and drove it up to Coffs Harbour then all the way home. It did the hard yards, let me tell you.
I also dabbled in some super-sprinting at Mallala raceway, getting down to something like a 1:36 on race tyres. My wife Sarah tried her hand at it, starting out at 1:45 and gradually getting her times down to about 1:38. Had me nervous, let me tell you. However, an engine upgrade brought us unstuck. The 1949cc G200Z I installed had been subject to a big dollar rebuild before I bought it, but there was something amiss with it. It just didn't pull adequately for its size and didn't like to rev. I mean, I know the G200 isn't that happy to rev, but it should have pulled 6000rpm OK with a big Webber and cam, which it had.
Under road conditions it was fine, but when I got onto the track, the increased, sustained revs would cause the inlet manifold to crack. I went through about four of them before I worked that that I think the head hadn't been machined properly true on the inlet side. Couple that to an ongoing issue with blowing oil filters off when cold (like, when starting; not when driving like an idiot when cold, which I never did), made for an unhappy engine combination.
I eventually retired the car and my wife and I never raced it or anything else again, sadly.
More recently, I dug it out of the shed and sold the G200 back to the previous owner, who wanted to re-install it in his show Gemini. That's fine; the exchange included a G161Z, so its back to square one with a stocker 1600, sadly. Then it developed a miss and I pulled it off the road.
Hmm, all this talk makes me want to get it out again and drive it!
Modifications
G200Z SOHC 1949cc Isuzu engine - since replaced with a stocker
Pedders lowered springs
Pedders shocks
14in BMW steelies
MOMO Shuttle sports steering wheel (although sometimes I go rogue and put the original back on)
TD Gemini SLX seats
GD Galant factory-style VDO tacho
