experiences from japan

[Stickman]

Who's da man?
GT Orphanage he da man!

That's Mr Orphanage to you Sticky
Yes sir, Mr Orphanage sir..... please don't beat me to death with your twin cams

All it took was some of Australias finest and most dedicated Bellett enthusiasts to break the ice with the mother land to get things up and flying.
What was it they used to call out right before take off? Oh yeh, CONTACT!

And we have lift off
Nice work guys and gals, can't wait to see you all home again safe and sound.

[gt orphanage]

Well Sticky funny you have something to say about this as they are now well aware of you and donkey you are known in the motherland also as you were or lunch conversation As i mentioned Isuzu sports took us to lunch. My first impression was it looked a little like hogs breath a few fun things around like a plane as if it came through the roof ect. It had a funny name and our interpreter told us in english that it's called suprise donkey mmm not again we ask questions again but all good beef FROM COW what part of the cow who cares we eat macca's and dont ask.
We trid to get something to give to you but with no luck. We have asked our lady friend to email the name in japanese for you sticky i reakon it needs to be stickered on donkey our japanese friend was laughing when we discribed donkey and then we told him the we travel with donky a lot and do 1000's of km with him was priceless. It is hard for them to believe a road trip for 6000km.
On another note we were approached at the last nationals to run 2015 in qld in which we hope to accept the challange soon and i have invited these guy's as guests for this event fingers crossed they make it as they asked to be informed.

[Stickman]

Donkey's name in Japanese, hell yes please!
Keep spreading the Donkey love my friend, there's plenty of him to go around (if only the cheeky bugger would start )
Should your new friends from the mother land decide to come over for the 2015 nationals we could take them on a good old fashioned QLD ROAD TRIP one they will never forget (for all the right reasons of course)

Gotta say GT, you are positively glowing in that photo with the Isuzu Sport crew. Soakin' up the good life
looks like there are going to be more stories to be told then there are hairs on your chinny chin chin

[BULLITT]

GREAT WORK GREG .. LOVE THE STORIES AND LOOKING AT THE PHOTO IS THAT A WHITE HATCHBACK GETTING READY FOR DELIVERY ..BEHIND YOU ...CHEERS DAVO

[gt orphanage]

No Davo the blue car is also a fastback me was in love but it was SOLD the other white one is NOT for sale yet. They have gone to a lot of effort to collect all the parts needed to put it back on the road in Japan. To rego a car here the car needs to comply with the paperwork that is supplied by the manufacturer dated back to when it was first registered. This car has a g180s engine in it as it sits. They tell us that car has to be inspected every year and any car has to remain as it was sold old or new. This explains why some cars here are cheap if it is not exact it can't return to the road. This white car shows 30000km's on the clock with plastic on the doors a engine transplant says it might have done a lap or two. It requires a fair bit of body work so their intention is to restore it the it will be for sale. I would assume if you wanted it bad enough they would sell it but you would have to pay well for it. I could order it Davo if you like it will be ready in 2 years like new Start saving . They have a spec car here you can look at and discuss with them what specs you would like to build your car too and how much you would like to spend then put a deposit down then go home and wait for 2 years before you get the call to come pick it up. Or pick one from the lot basicly is how it works. Most are for sale they have exported cars to other countries in the past.
Road trip I spoke of our road trip and yes if these guy's come over they will be invited on a couple of road trips i can offer a gt maybe they might borrow Donkey for a run
When we were there yesterday a tilttray came in with a 117 that had been sheded for 30 years i did not get close to it as we were out of time but it looked like it would be nice when the dust gets removed. Japanese barn find
I spotted a gt in the workshop yesterday that has under gone a full resto it was sweet the quality of this rebuild this was everything done fresh engine, carpets recaro seats the works. It was a nice machine i am recieving a written quote from them in the comming day's ball park figures is between $40000 and $50000 completed. No i am not buying it i consider this is a guide to revalue some of our cars replacement costs for insurance reasons.

[oz_toffa]

117 barn find. oh oh oh yes.

there will be one or 2 here in AUS still. lots are hidden away...

keep them noses to the ground guys as they continue to found.

great story GT, you have done us all very proud. made some contacts and connections that we can all benefit from in the coming years.
Good job and well done!!!


cheers


OZ

[BULLITT]

I AGREE OZ GREG HAS DONE THE ISUZU AUSTRALIA PROUD ..WELL DONE MATE ...ITS OBVIOUSLY OPENED A DOOR WHICH REQUIRED SOMEONE ...LIKE YOU ...TO DO ..AND YOU HAVE DONE IT ...CHEERS DAVO AND YOU AND LIZ HAVE A SAFE TRIP HOME ...

[Stickman]

They would be more than welcome to Donkeys keys, I might have to put some seats back in by then for them though.
Now that would be a photo I'd be framing for the wall. They just might never want to restore another Bellett again after having experienced a bit of the Donkey love.
After you've had a little Donkey, nothing else seems to satisfy

[Early GT]

Yeah I agree Stickie, that photo is priceless . Looks like 3 generations of mechanics there.
Well done Greg!. A great finale to a journey you have planned for some time

[gt orphanage]

We just entered the final 24 hrs of our Japanese tour. Not the way i expected to with my bum firm on the dunny and head in the bathtub while the rest of the crew are at mt fuji speedway. I rule out food poisonin for two reasons 1 the last meals we shared with our friends and i am the only down. 2 the people here are so proud of their jobs and work ethics i feel i would be at a higher risk back home.
With this being said it was the farewell meal we had we had a our Japanese classic car member from Japan join us for a meal at a restaurant last night and the supprise was it turned into a dinner party with some faces we had met and new faces. Including the head of nostalgic hero the boss of the guy we previosly met.
The night rolled on and phone calls were made and interpreted between people after dinner in a private room and even more contacts were made. In my wildest dreams i could never imagine the people we met and how we are accepted and the contacts we made. Only last night i was invited back by a gentleman over the phone, on a recommendation, that i only met to join them in a yearly new year run on the same date every year unfortunatly this is a bad time of year for us. But it appears we are accepted in this loop.
This leads to a issue that we have came across here and the friendship aka bellett family is not so stong as we enjoy. As i thought it was strange that at 1 of the car shows one group of belletts never mingled with the other and the 117 guy,s didnt acknowledge belletts and vise versa. With a bellett guy here i asked the question and the answer was quote some old guy's dont aggree with others and don't let the issues go away and younger opinions also get in the way. unquote. Again we are lucky as a whole we are prepared to help each other and get on reasonably well.
On another note i did find what i was after and a deposit has been paid pending permission to enter the country and shipping cost's are with in reason. The proccess has been started and time will hopefully see this little lady sitting with my other cherrished baby's. The car i chose was the ugly duckling of the three maybe four i could buy. i chose this one as the best most expensive 2 were enhaced with filler. The other was the white one at isuzu sports Davo picked out it was not for sale yet as it was about to enter their production line but money would have bought it. This way i can restore it to it's former glory it had a small tap in the nose i would assume as a new panel has been placed and the late model indicators have been welded up. The interior is perfect it has been sitting for 13 years lh sill needs replacing and it's ugly as it sits the font guards have been resprayed the rest has had a couple of touch ups. At least this way i know what i have got as the first two cars you could feel the bog.
The fastback was as most will know hand built and transport records show that only 330 fastbacks were registered in Japan, they can be found here but are not a desired car. Most locals are only interested in gtr and replicas i also found a sweet pr90 this would also be a dream car here. I was told after placing a deposit on the car i was a true enthusiest i asked why and the reply was fastbacks only go to collectors. I have been told since the story that it was not a desired car as far as the public that wants to drive them and more of a collectors car. I only hope it makes Australian shores.
We got a price on iterpreters for the day with isuzu sports they ranged from $1500 to $2000 per day this was more than we were prepared to spend not knowing the outcome but when we were in the post office the last week a young lady from the uk spoke Japanese to the post office so we put it on her she could not do it but as luck would have she has a friend here setting up a business as a private tour guide as you contact her and with your interests and she makes contact and interprets. This amarican lady married to a canadian living in nigeria was here on 8 weeks holiday with her new business in mind. She worked in japan for 7 years as a english speaking interpreter for a company and was later expected to translate during meetings like listening to english comments while speaking japanese. Today her job is all on line as a interpreter via internet and translates writing documents she has offerd this service to us either keeping links open with non english friends and also she has a couple of nostalgic hero articles for us coming soon. If anyone needs this done she can do it fo $50 per hour.

[mrflibbles]

i have enjoyed reading of your experiences over in japan, thanks for sharing your experiences. I cant wait to see more pictures of everything!

[Glenn]

Enjoyed this 'trip' a lot also Greg. Pity more of us couldn't have been there but i think too many would be difficult anyway.

Well done and i think a white Fastback will be here soon?

glenn

[KJB]

Welcome home and back to work , Greg
Enjoyed your reports - it takes alot of time and effort to write ongoing reports when on a trip/holiday.
Fostering of even better relationships with our Japanese counterparts was a great thing to do.
We (Bellett Enthusiasts ) will all benefit from it.
Well done and thanks,
KB

[BULLITT]

ditto ...

[gt orphanage]

Thanks guy's so many stories to tell. At this stage I have some good contacts in Japan not only bellett. I am not in the business of spare parts. As most here will know I have been involved in the reproduction of parts and I did promote these parts in Japan. I am happy for anyone wishing to get a quote on parts and arrange them to be ordered. My plan would be to accumulate a order get prices and place the order I have no intention to profit by this and pass the parts on to who ordered them I will require payment prior to ordering. The issue is I do not want to overwhelm these contacts with enquiries and no sales. If someone wants anything it was suggested that a photo of the part to confirm we are on the same wave length. Fiberglass panels are also available I have not made contact with these guy's however they are aware that we exist now and I have contact details and a young lady that will communicate with them if the need arises.

[gt orphanage]

Over the next few days I will drop a random Isuzu pick. There is thousands of photos but I will pick about 10 I think are of interest here.
I don't want to overload the forum so I will try 10 picks in 10 days.

[GerryBellettGT]

Sounds great,this has been one fantastic adventure to read,looking forward to see and here more hope Lizz is doin well

[gt orphanage]

sorry doubled up

[gt orphanage]

Liz struggled at time but we had Irene with us and she had her issues also they were named hobbles and wobbles
Tonights pick is the gt i would like to see at my place of all the jap cars. It is for sale at Isuzu sports this is a high end car and quite impressive rebuild. I have a quote coming for it and want to use this as a guide for the replacement cost of a high end example in Australia. This car is mid $45's The insurance values of our cars are not high enough as $20/$25000 is not going to replace a car here that is in a prime condition. Our cars here are well under the Japanese market. The one sold on ebay not long before we went to japan would be worth a lot more in japan.

[Stickman]

I'm surprised you didn't give it a wash and wax before taking a photo. It's almost as dusty as Donkey..... but not quite
A very nice looking GT