FTO AUSTRALIA

Hello all,
Well, I joined just last night and already I am happily overwhelmed at responses, intrerest, support, hearty banter and sincere best wishes from members.

Or was that just because I naively posted an immediate comment that my son wanted to ( had to ) sell his complete turbo unit? I was grateful for being courteously ticked off that it wasn't quite kosher to just lob in off the street, as it were, and assume I could list something for sale, even if it wasn't mine.

Anyway, my son also joined up today, after my baptism of fire last night, as he too has become a proud FTOwner. He got his 97 maroon, turbo'd GPX a couple of weeks ago but I've had my 94 silver GPX for about seven years, having it imported it myself after buying it online at an auction house in Tokyo. It was the first thing I ever bought online .

I got it with 40,000 ks and it is now in the high 90s, which no doubt means I have to face the cost of having the timing belt replaced. Ugh!!! Any hints about how to minimise the cost of this, anyone? Maybe change the platinum plugs at the same time, eh?

Guess I quickly became an FTO nut because the second thing I ever bought online was a plastic glue-it-yourself model FTO, also imported from Japan. These model GPXs used to be all over eBay but I haven't seen one for yonks now. No, my model FTO is not for sale . And it's still in its box.
I became even more nutty about my GPX when it died on me, or at least wouldn't idle, so after getting a quote of $600 for the local (Hobart) Mitsubishi dealer to fix it, I hunted around online and taught myself how to pull apart the stepper motor and put a new coil in it. Whole job cost me just $35. Yeah.

Please give me a bit of time to upload some photos because I'm not quite as young as I used to be and, well, I've never uploaded pics on any website before. Guess I've got to ask my kids or wife for a few pointers. Please be patient. Cheers, Brandt

welcome to the club.

sucks about your engine dying. but if it gets you down again, ive been through 2 engine rebuilds and a replacement engine haha.

wish it costed 35bux to fix it.

Hehehe.. Well welcome..

So where in Tas are you??? My parents retired and made the move from Sydney to Tas some 5 years ago... They ended up buying a place in Sorell..

Official Welcome Mate

As for belt get a timing belt kit yourself and waterpump, tensioners, alt and p/s belts, plugs yourself then get installed will only be labour charge via mechanic then but expect to pay around $400 for labour still and part will be roughly same. Dont have to du plugs and other belts but i just recomend seeing as as everything is ready exposed to do

I got it with 40,000 ks and it is now in the high 90s, which no doubt means I have to face the cost of having the timing belt replaced. Ugh!!! Any hints about how to minimise the cost of this, anyone? Maybe change the platinum plugs at the same time, eh?

You can get aftermarket belts and other goodies for most of the bits required. For example A Gates timing belt will set you back around $100 while a genuine belt will cost more around the $350 mark. There are plenty of threads up here that cover the different bits you need and where to source them from (just do a search for timing belt or gates). Alternatively, when you are ready to go, just send me a Private Message and I can point you in the right direction as well.

Guess I quickly became an FTO nut because the second thing I ever bought online was a plastic glue-it-yourself model FTO, also imported from Japan. These model GPXs used to be all over eBay but I haven't seen one for yonks now. No, my model FTO is not for sale . And it's still in its box.

Hmmm, your not the worst offender there im afraid, ive got all 3 plastic models and one of the small diecast ones, most of the original brochures, the parts breakdown book and have owned around 14 FTO's now (ive lost count - have 6 at the moment) Having said that, there arent many people with the models. Are you ever going to put it together?

Ive started the papercraft FTO as well, but thee are an awful lot of hours work in that one...

Hmmm....I would love one of those diecast models but cant seem to find them in the shops. They only have the latest cars or those really old classic ones. Oh well...

Hi Guys., thanks for all the feedback,
I will check out all the timing belt/gates stuff on this site, and no, I haven't put my glue-it model together. I just like looking at all the bits and pieces perhaps that's just the old panel beater in me (though I would like to soon get another plastic model to put together).

Diecast! You lucky duck. They're rare as!

I live at Kingston, just south of Hobart (about 40 min from Sorell) and I have put more info on my personal profile so you can all see what I'm about.

I don't panel beat any more but my long background in motoring journalism, crash repairs (in Brisbane), new car sales (including Magnas in Sydney when they first came out), as a specialist court witness and as a general rev head all helped when I was looking for a second family car about seven years ago. I was looking at local Camrys and Corollas but saw sense and bought an FTO online at an auction in Tokyo and imported it myself !!!!! Never regretted it. Her name is Lilly.

Cheers for now, Brandt

Welcome