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AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject: Al's Mk3 Ashtray Project

*copied over from various other forums - better on here than the 'other' site smile

*

Well I decided it was finally time to make a progress thread of my poor Astra. I've had her for 2 Years and 4 Months (nearly) now - been through a lot and am not letting the bugger go unless I write it off! Sad I know, considering that after all it is a base model 1994 Astra 1.4...!
Well i'll go through some of the older stuff before the recent bits smile

The day I first clapped eyes on her, New Years Eve 2004 - my Dad purchased her on Christmas Eve without me knowing - i'd been after a Nova SR or Corsa SRi at the time!

She wore a set of Sport 15's for a while, along with cheapo side repeaters, a set of brand new GSi rear lights and some ghey M3 mirrors. Then after a bit of wheeling (excuse the pun) and dealing I purchased these 16" Team Dynamics of Mazz. He was originally going to put them on his Nova but the offset was a bit much (ET38).

Unfortunately it turned out that they were buckled - Mazz never knew as he'd never used them, bit of a **** that was but I lived with it - they were ok for commuting to work, and if you did over 80 on the motorway the shakes went! Eventually flogged them on eBay to a chap from Wales. Swapped to a set of 14" Mk2 GTE 'Teardrops' which were going to be my 'Winter wheels - kept them on for a good while though! Looked lovely in Rover Charcoal Metallic.
I also added a Steinmetz kit to the car in April/May '06 - left unpainted as it went quite well with the bumpers. How she looked at PVS 2006:

(Thanks to Dan for that pic...)

In between she went through a couple of interiors. Swapped the horrible standard stuff for black Calibra leather before swapping to a GSi interior (complete with doorcards) a few months later. This lasted a while before I got bored and stripped the rear out. Bagged a set of Corbeau buckets and ran with those for quite a while. The drivers bolster got a little tired so I ended up with the passenger seat in place of the drivers and my original GSi passenger seat back in place. Looked quite comedy to say the least...

At the same time the car was auditioned for a BBC show where they wanted something a bit 'boy racer-ish' - unfortunately the car was deemed 'too sensible' and never made it to the small screen. Here's how she looked at the time:

Additions to this stage were a later spec rear bumper, colour coded rear spoiler and rear wiper removed. Plus different mirrors, indicators etc. The mismatched wheels were the result of an error on my behalf - i'd been having a rubbing noise for ages and couldn't put my finger on it - until I relaised that the larger Sport/GSi spec front brakes had been rubbing on the wheels for several months! The Astra's offset of 46 with the wheels offset of 49 upset it just enough. So a sey of Corsa SXi wheels were sourced (from written off cars that came through our dealership...LOL) hastily repaired, sprayed black and had Toyo's wrapped around them. I eventually bothered to do the second two wheels and gave them the same treatment.

A while late I bit the bullet and decided to give her even more of a thrashing than usual by chucking her around Castle Combe:

That was Eurofest back in September - highlight of the day was creaming on a 2.2 Vectra B SRi smile

The Steinmetz front spoiler was sold on as I was sick of catching it on my driveway - its not mega steep but just enough to catch. Everything quietened down for a while, she just kept clocking up mega miles going to Northampton and back, or on this occasion up to Grimsby:

Raving all the way lmao:

I rather stupidly offered advice to a couple of local lads that wanted the wheels on their Corsa's to look like mine - ended up with several sets of black corsa c sxi wheels floating around, so changed back to silver - which I now regret!

That was her last Mig meet before she came off the road for a bit of TLC...

Next installment shortly smile

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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject:

Mid February I took a trip up to the Cally Killer himself, Mr Turbo Chris and bagged a set of Calibra cream leather seats - wanted comfort, got it! Yeah OK so they're hardly mint but being in the back is like sitting on a sofa, absolutely brilliant!

You can almost see the black dash that was a **** to do (booked the days off that we had the heavy snow, ****ing big mistake!). Plus the black plastics, dark carpet etc.
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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject:

Anyway after the interior work, I realised that it was getting dangerously close to MOT time and I really wanted to give it a good service. Oil had been leaking out fron the head gasket (behind the exhaust manifold) for quite some time - since the previous MOT as it happens - so an overhaul of the top end was in order! I got all the bits I needed, booked the week off work and went for it! Started minutes after getting home from the VBOA spares day in Coventry and went from there.

Check out the sexy green cotton filter bought at the VBOA day and fitted before I left the carpark Tongue

Induction noise is cool.

Whipped the cam/rocker cover off and discovered why there was a small leak on to the inlet:

Few bits off:

Refreshment mid way - wanted a few bits (WD40 etc) and couldn't resist:

Breaker bar + extension + Halfraud's socket =

Head off! Nice and dirty down there:

One of the water pump bolts decided to have a hissy fit and not come out. So we CHISELLED the head off it pmsl. The pump still didn't want to come loose, I got bored and eventually pulled it out after 2 days of watching TV (well I was on holiday from work...), a lot of hammering, swearing and being pissed off. Fair enough - it'd been all snug for 12 or so years, i'd be reluctant to come out too!

Well naturally a thread stuck in the block presented a problem. However me being be I decided to throw it all back together, fill the gap with compund sealant and hope that belt tension would keep it in place. Pikey, me? Never!
Before it did go back together however, the bay was cleaned up and I painted the manifolds etc:

Got myself a labourer - didn't help much though:

Starting chucking it all back together with new gaskets, headbolts etc etc.

Then it all went to ****. When the head came off a couple of the rockers that sit over the valve springs had come loose. I whack them back in to place assuming they just went on like the one next door. As it turned out they didn't! More on that in a minute...
I banged everything on, timed it up...and she just wouldn't start. The water pump was on the piss and it made all manner of odd noises when turning over.
By this stage I was thoroughly pissed off. It was now Friday so I only had a weekend to get it running. Dropped the engine off it's front mount on Saturday to see if we could get the thread out. No such luck! Just couldn't get at the bloody thing Sad

So off she went to the garage on Sunday:

It all came apart again, engine out etc, back in - went to start it - no compression? Remember I mentioned the rocker cap things? They'd gone on the wrong way round, putr a bit too much force on the valves and smashed them on to the pistons. 3/8 ain't bad!
Back off it all came again, head went to the engineers, new valves, new guides, a slight skim and a bit of tidying up on some previous work carried out.
All went back together for the umpteenth time, ran like a champion and was ready for the MOT!

Stay tuned smile

_________________
Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject:

So she was ready for the MOT, went in, and failed spectacularly! The list:

OSF Wiper
NSF Wiper
Both headlights not in good working order
OSF Headlight insecure
Rear reg plate light
NSF headlamps 'not in clean condition and function impaired'
NSF Heamlamp aim dazzles other road users *dangerous*
OSF headlamp aim too high *dangerous*
OSF Brake Binding *dangerous*
NSF Brane Binding *dangerous*
OSF Brake Pipe Excessively Corroded *dangerous*
Brake pedal spongy *dangerous*
Rear exhaust system (backbox) mounting does not fully spport exhaust *dangerous*
Handrake rear mounting seam fractured (read as: ****nig big hole) *dangerous*
OSR handbrake lever/caliper has restricted free movement *dangerous*

Not bad eh? Needless to say the whole lot was sorted! Had part of rear brake assembly replaced, exhaust hanger modified, hole in floor patched and welded (stupid bastard burnt the interior carpet!), new front pads, new headlamps etc etc. Did the re-test and she flew through. Good Friday, the day before Donny show and she was back on the road. HOORAH!

How she sat when I arrived on Friday - headlamps had finally arrived and could be fitted:

She sat a bit low on the brake tester:

I could then finally crack on and get everything sorted for Donny! Including cleaning, polishing, re-fitting the interior and getting some (gentle) miles under her belt.

Finally back home after 4 weeks of Rehab:

After a session of claying and a quick coat of P21S she looked a lot lot better!

All of that just to drag my arse up at this horrendous time of the morning - well, I was part way there by then!

The following week saw over 1300 miles racked up. Donny and back, trip to Demon Tweeks on my Birthday and various trips to Cannock smile

On the way to Wrexham this little bugger appeared:

But bugger it I though, she is still running fine!

And finally, a pic taken on the Autobahn (M6 Toll) last Saturday evening - she's going a bit better than she used to smile

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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject:

Couple of pics from Donny show:

early Saturday morning after a wipe over - I was the only bugger up and on the stand by then! lmao

She did a fine job of providing the entertainment on Saturday night too - 6x9's + 10" sub = happy Streetracers! smile

Proper proper (i.e. not taken on a phone) updated pics coming soon smile

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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject:

Exhaust purchased from Astra Dan. I love it looooooooooong time - better than my shoddy old powerflow!

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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:33 pm Post subject:

Well time for a bit of an update of the bits that have gone on since Donny smile

I still need to give it a good clean, tidy up a few bits and re-paint the wheels before I go and take some 'proper' pics again.

But for now...

Just after Donny cleaning off the dust:

Picked up the new exhaust that was sent from the legend that is Astra Dan (Mig User), delivered by the equal legend Tom Williams - glad you enjoyed your breakfast ;) It has replaced my tatty cheap 2nd hand Powerflow system (for sale soon...lol) and is sooo much better. Took a bit of jiggling to get the old system out - would have been easy if I went to the garage and used the ramps, but me being me I did it on my driveway and ended up dropping the rear beam on one side to get the old system out...lol.

Old and new:

Bend on the powerflow pipe:

Bend on the new stainless system:

Gave it a quick coat of wax one afternoon, can sort of see the exhaust in place. It sits a little lower under the bumper than my old one but will have a play with that over the weekend. Sounds deeper, looks nicer but doesn't pop, bang or flame quite as much any more Sad

Then this week had a bit of a problem. Tuesday morning I went out to sort the stereo wiring (had a slight problem with power cutting out) - moved the car and noticed water on the floor. Closer inspection revealed a slight drip from one of the core plugs on the front of the block. A quick tug on the throttle cable soon turned this in to a pissing big spray! Checked the header tank and it was properly empty - assume it must have been leaking throughout Monday evening - which does kind of explain the sligtly erratic temperature readings and tendency to get hot very quickly when not moving. Whoops!

Not the most accessible place, right behind the front engine mount.

I stripped it down on Wednesday morning before work, couldn't get the old core plug out, even after removing mount, manifold, rad etc etc. My old man was a champion and did it when he got in from work that evening. Old one was a bit fooked whne it came out - with a new one for comparison:

And the cost of this part?

Half of that to be precise - as we got two not being sure which size I needed...LOL.

Unfortunately while stripping the car down in the first place one of the HT leads didn't quite want to unstick itself. So it threw it's dummy out and came apart.

Closer view:

Fucked and not fucked:

New set of leads is now on and it runs fine. They came in at about £15...lol. Loads of work planned for the next few weeks - whole car will be getting a mega clean inside and out. Have a large tin of satin black hammerite that will be trating theu nderside of the boot, behind the rear bumper once the rust has been removed, the calipers all round as am bored of the red etc etc.
Plus painting the wheels in a new colour. Might take the rear seats out again, fit my other JBL speakers in to the rear doorcards and chuck my Sabelt harness in before God of The Pod for a laugh. Shall see smile

Comments/criticism/idea's welcome as ever!
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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:34 pm Post subject:

Well another 'proper' update will be coming again soon...

Quite a few other changes made recently! Just relaised that i'd not mentioned the nice shiny front strut brace that you can see in some of the pics

The cat has now been replaced with a nice bit of stainless pipe courtesy of Kev @ Powerflow - louder, pops more...could I ask for any better service? lol

On the downside the brakes am a bit fucked - front discs are warped to hell and have been ducious about the rears since they were fitted. So eBay to the rescue and a nice full set of drilled + grooved discs should be on there way to me at present - front pads were replaced not that long ago and the rears had been done just before I got the beam anyway Quick coat of Halford's high temp paint before they go on (stop the edges/centre from rusting...) and it'll all be looking good again.

Oh, and my clutch is starting to go...again. That'll be the fourth in just under 2 years!!
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Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

AL · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject:

Right then! Front discs have been done and the difference is incredible - doesn't seem to lock up any more which is ace considering how wet it is at present. And no more juddering...WHOOP WHOOP!

Only downside was that I couldn't get the rears fitted - both retaining screws obviously like their home of 15 or so years and are a little reluctant to leave. Even after 45 mins of drilling, bashing, swearing and tantrums the disc was still in place.

Anybody got a solution?

Will get pics up shortly smile

_________________
Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

Long Live The Nova · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 6:39 pm Post subject:

Nice thread, looks a tidy motor. Nod

Did look much better on the black Sxi rims.

gazzaMEC · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 9:51 pm Post subject:

biiiig thread Thumbs Up

AL · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 10:32 pm Post subject:

Ste · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject:

nice project..

found a pic i took of this at trax last year..

AL · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 1:48 pm Post subject:

Oh quality, nice one dude!

Some one took a pic of my car smile

_________________
Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!

Violet · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject:

I like the front bumper, where do you obtain that front splitter from?
Are you bumpers new or painted?

AL · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 6:41 pm Post subject:

gazzaMEC · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:12 pm Post subject:

gonna be breaking a mk3 in the next couple of weeks, (im having the engine) but ill have the hubs mounts PAS setup and my old engine and loom 250 all in everything to fit + run £250, let me know if your interested.

wayne451 · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:28 pm Post subject:

AL · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:49 pm Post subject:

AL · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:53 pm Post subject:

Anyway its about time for an update! Theres all sorts of lil' bits gone on - keep meaning to get pics off my phone but am easily distracted!

Today I have been down to deepest darkest 'Sarf' London to have the Astra detailed by the legendary Spanishfly. To say the least he has done an outstanding job - gotten out most of the scratches and swirl marks - given my baby back a bit of a shine which it has been lacking of late!

Side:

Roof:

Got that close to the kerb and didn;t touch my wheels...phew!

Went down to Crystal Palace to take some scenic pics:

Massive massive thanks to Rob for all of his hard work! The paint is like glass smile

Thanks to Flatout and Dom for being around most of the day too - made for a good laugh!

New front doorcards going on this week smile

_________________
Will be coming back to the Vaux side soon... I hope!