Hey all! I guess this makes my second post in the forums! Might as well get right on it! I recently acquired a 1973 PR95 Bellett 1800GT.

This story actually starts with, "Once upon a time... in October of 2009", haha.

I had just moved to Nagoya and my buddy took me to a shop called Classic Car Nagoya. They had tons of cool old cars, one of which is the Bellet pictured below.



I then moved places, bought a GC10 Skyline and an LT23 Mitsubishi (check the Mitsu out here: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/v ... sc&start=0 )

I went back to Classic Car Nagoya in February of 2010 (right after I found the Mitsubishi) and sure enough that Bellett was still there, only moved over one spot, haha.



I since started using Classic Car Nagoya to help me hunt down parts for my Mitsubishi (finding parts for a 1967 2 stroke kei jidosha aint easy, haha). So on one trip back trip for parts I took another look out back and sure enough, there was the Bellett, still sitting there, looking sad.





So I head in and while talking about brake parts for the Mitsubishi, on a whim, I ask about the Bellet. They say it's for sale for 4 grand, but that I might be able to talk the Shacho (boss) down a bit. So, I hem and haw and say "Well, to be honest, I have a GC10 in my garage that is completely rusted out..."
The dude perks up and says "If you want to trade it in on the Bellett, we could do that." Now its my turn to perk up. Not because I don't want a Skyline, but because if I restored just the body (not the interior, engine, or anything else, but just the body) on the Skyline it would be approximately 10 grand. I could probably restore that Bellett in it's entirety for 10 grand.

So after some negotiation, we settle on a price (The GC10 plus all its rusty parts and 2 grand for the Bellett). I say deal and get the Skyline all prepped and ready.

Here's the Skyline ready for them to come take her away.



Then, the new hotness shows up!



This car is surprisingly clean! Very little rust to speak of. Here she is getting unloaded.



And safely in her new home!



Wave goodbye to Skyline!



Hooked the battery up and fired up the headlights. That's six lights hanging off the front of this car!



It's a 1.8 liter SOHC engine (no DOHC love for me, but I'm still happy as can be, haha). After some work we actually got her to fire up, but one of the carbs has a stuck or sunk float and was spewing fuel everywhere! Aside from that, the engine sounded fantastic!



Picture of the gummed up carbs.



The interior is remarkably clean! Very little needs to be replaced, just some cleaning and it'll be like new!



Back seats are extremely clean as well!



A slightly old picture of the dash.



And the speedometer that fits in that massive hole. Yes, that reads 220 kph, a little optimistic I think, haha!



The center console just looks so awesome.



A bad shot of the underside, it rocks IRS with a transverse leaf spring, pretty cool stuff!



All settled in!



My garage is cool!





Summer is coming so I will be out there just about every night tearing it completely down, cleaning up the small amount of rust and prepping for paint! She's going to get a full restoration!
More below!

Cheers
David

I think I'm already in love with this car, haha. I thought the suspension was identical to a C2 or C3 corvette at first (double wishbone front, leaf rear), but upon further inspection the rear is actually coil with shock absorbers, it just uses the lateral leaf spring as a sway bar! I can't wait to let this thing loose on a track for a spirited drive one day, haha!

Ya, I think I could have done the C10, but to do it right it would have cost me more than it would be to buy one already restored. Since I had no really emotional attachment to the car it wasn't really worth the effort. I kind of miss the opportunity to learn some body work, but I'll get that chance on my Mitsubishi soon enough (updates coming on that one soon (double parenthesis, I feel like I'm programming, hah; no I didn't crash it, haha, just fixing the mismatched paint on it)).

I unfortunately didn't get the mirrors with it, but if I can't find any for cheap here I'll definitely hit up Mooneyes! Thanks Datsunfreak!

Alright, on with the updates!
A friend of mine from work came over this weekend and he'd never worked on a car before in his life, but was keen on learning something. So, naturally I gave him the tools, kept a watchful eye and a little bit of direction and let him go to town in dismantling the front. He had a blast and didn't break anything (the one thing that broke, I broke, haha).

First thing we did was take the carbs off (he had fun trying to get to the bolts on the bottom, hehe).



Gonna have to clean that intake manifold.



The fog lights are aftermarket items (and had the worst hack job wiring I'd ever seen). So we started pulling all the fog light associated wiring out. That involved this awesome old relay. I think these old electronic bits are just so cool!



Then we pulled the headlight relay off as well. This is the original relay so it was interesting to see how different it was from the aftermarket one used to control the fog lights.



Hood latch off.



Throttle linkage and main battery cable.



The biggest, coolest factory radiator overflow tank ever, haha!



Who's that ugly mug holding my radiator?



Fog lights and alternator off.



And the engine bay when we left it!





We both had a blast! Keep posted for more updates coming soon!
I can't wait to get deeper into this thing!

Cheers
Daivd

Cool find, I like your new Bellett - also like all the pic's of the components and goodies ... Thanks for showing, looks like you have a solid car to work with there ...

Regards
Mark

Fantastic pics and a good find

Keep us posted on the restoration, we see so few of the late model ones around (none in Australia with those tail lights) that it's great to see one saved!

Cheers,
R.

Hmmm...I remember that tiny workshop from the Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine Mitsubishi 360 thread, hehe, nice work. Good luck with the GT resto!

Thanks for the comments guys!

I've gotten a bit of work done on her in the downtime after working on the Mitsubishi (I work on the paint for the Mitsubishi 360 pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday, leaving only the weekdays after work to work on the Bellett).

First up, removed the washer tank. That thing is in rough shape, I gotta find a replacement, but I imagine finding one that says Isuzu on it will be a bit on the tough side.



Then the headlights and grill.





Popped the cam chain cover off to take a look at the insides. What a crazy head design, haha!



Fuel hard line out.



Then I thought to myself, "I'll just pop this fuse box out, disconnect the connector and put it somewhere where it wont break. I undid the screws and found this!



Sweet Jeebus that's a lot of wires! I don't have a repair manual either, so I was thinking about how on Earth I'd remember where all the wires went.



Pictures, lots and lots of pictures. These are my pictures I took along the way as I removed the wires one by one. I figure if anyone is doing the same thing I am, these pics might be useful if they can't make sense of the old diagram.















Whew, that was a lot of wires!



Door speakers and random interior bits out.



Front cowl pieces out.





And finally, hood vents out.





As soon as the Mitsubishi gets its paint on this project should really start picking up steam! I can't wait to get further into it, there's so little rust on it, it's just incredibly easy to work on!

Thanks again everyone for the comments!

Cheers
David

Work on this thing is slow, but that doesn't mean I aint progressing with it, haha. I have this set of Rays mesh wheels (from my old AE86) floating around, so I decided to see if they fit the Bellett. The wheels were staggered and the rear wheels were too wide to fit in the rear, but the front's could actually fit.

First things first though, while I had the wheels off I snapped a couple of pics of the suspension. First up is the rear. Semi-trailing arm with a transverse leaf spring to act as a sway bar, or near as I can figure, haha.



Pretty wild setup, haha.



Front double wishbone, now that's what I'm talking about.





Two jacks to put the rear wheel at the height that I want it. Looks damn good!



I think this is equal parts hella flush and tucked, haha.





Ya, don't really think it would work in the real world, would have to get skinnier tires.



On the front and the rear.



Now, I know I've taken quite a bit out of the car, but there was a lot of positive camber. Not sure if it's due to the light weight fun from me taking stuff out or just strange wheel fitment, but with positive camber like that, I'm tempted to hunt down something to drop it down a bit.



Alright, enough messing around with wheels, time to take more stuff apart. This is the lower chrome trim piece that runs along the rockers.



And where it used to be.



Finally starting to run into some rust. Looks like it's localized to the fender, but hard to tell. Will really be able to tell once it comes time to bust out the sander!



The rockers have seen better days.



Door panels out.





Brake master cylinder out, managed to break one line while doing this...



You can see the broken line in this picture.



Here you can see the original color. This is where the hood latch was. Whoever painted the car didn't take the two bolts out of the hood latch to paint underneath it.



Front bumper off.



Looking pretty bare.



I think the front bumper would look so much better without those little rubber bumpers on it. I think I'll weld the holes up, make them smooth and then re-chrome both the front and rear when it comes time.



Rear bumper off.



And this is how she sits now!



Thanks everyone for the comments, more to come soon!

Cheers
David

Hi Nakazoto
I have just completed a ground up rebuild on a 68 GT and wish I had documented the rebuild with pics like you are. You have a fantastic base to start with, and probably a chance to buy spare parts in Japan. Can you please post some more pics of the set up with the front bumper and the spot light bar?
To best of my knowledge the are not any of your model GT's, with the quad taillight, in Australia.
I have replaced the windscreen wash bag with a non genuine replacement that is very similar to original.
Keep up the progressive posts, very interesting,
Regards Geoff

What a history or story you will have to tell in future!!
I have GT and wish I had received when I purchased it, the detail you are accumulating, what a great record, no doubt we are all interested in your future posts.
Something you have said in your earlier posts leads me to think it is not a GTR, correct??

Enjoy your car, as we enjoy your record of progress.

Yes, agreed, great build record. Keep up the good work.

Very jealous of your 1800 SOHC engine, visually it looks the same as my 1600 SOHC.
Do you know, or does anybody know if the 1800 SOHC was a significant improvement over the 1600 SOHC? In that I'm aware that especially in the 60s, this assumption was often proved wrong. Lastly was the difference stroke or bore or combination?
Any help appreciated, and in the meantime I look forwad to the next installment. PB

GREAT READ HERE,well shown with the photos,value plus,that front bumper,love it,keep rubbers on Gerry

YES it is a very interesting post, keep em, coming!!! I need something to rwead at night. LOL. The missesd aint interested!!!
This will make a great album when the job is complete.

Hey there More Belletts welcome to the site, see by your profile that you have a GT, tell us more.
Regards Geoff

Just started on the forum and have looked and read your story. Great stuff. Keep us posted. A real page turner.