When I finished straightening up the garage Saturday night, this is what the engine bay in 195/2000 looked like.  Dirty, but complete (for the most part).  Saturday morning, Michael Rodarte and Mike Foster came by to help me pull the engine and transmission out so I can get the front end repairs completed after the Kia incident that occurred almost two years ago.  Can you believe that?  February 4th 2010 will be the 2 year anniversary of the Kia Incident and 4 years that I’ve owned this car.  It’s spent half it’s time with me unregistered in my garage. Read the rest of this entry »

Aluminum heads are fairly common these days.  Since the bolts are now harder than the object into which they’re threaded, applying too much torque results in the threads being ripped right out of the aluminum.  Now you can’t tighten things back up and you’re in trouble.  Fortunately, this happens enough that there is a commonly available solution to the problem.  It just takes a little patience and time.  Here’s how to repair a bolt hole with a Helicoil.

Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend, I finally got tired of tripping over shit in my garage.  I hadn’t planned on actually living up to my agreement with Vanessa about making room for her Amigo in there next to 195, but it ended up being the case.  The garage organization details are over on the other site, however, as this site is all about the Galants.  A clean garage is a place in which you enjoy spending time and what better way to spend time in your garage than tinkering on your Galant VR4?

Read the rest of this entry »