Vauxhall Owners Forum banner

Astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

32K views 178 replies 25 participants last post by  Rob 01 
#1 ·
well.. hello :cool:

bought this yesterday so im gonna get a wee diary thread up early on:) Always fancied mk3 astra, previously having a mk3 5door which didnt end so well i'm keen to keep this one top notch.

It was brought onto the island and for sale again around just under a year ago, Was all set to buy it then but unfortunantly it sold before my next payday so i bought this instead: http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/projects-restorations/447193-duo-gsi-mk3-astra-project.html

About 9 months on I saw the car advertised for sale, enquired about it and was keen to buy it but the boy took it off the market. A week later I gave him a phone, and made a better offer than his asking price and the deal was done. Picked it up last night around 10pm looking like this:



Today Rob and I checked for clearance on the wheels i'll be buying for it hopefully in the next week or so, as its really needing wheels. Heres a few snaps off it on 18" masitalys:cool:






Dont know if they're to everyones taste but i really like em;) better than the 14" wheels on it the now anyway! lmao

It started life off as a 1.4 auto and not far off poverty spec, if not poverty spec:doh: But a boy called Kenny put alot off work into getting it to look something similar to a gsi phs1/phs2.

Exterior wise:
GSi front bumper ( need fogs and the splitter )
GSi rear bumper
GSi spoiler
GSi bonnet
GSi phs1 skirts
GSi grille

After them parts being fitted it was blown over in ford radiant red? or so im told, downside was the doorstrips werent removed and its actually a phs1 rep so i'll need to sort that out. Engine wise its just a standard 1.4 8v with a manual box rather than the auto it came out as. Interiors quite a mess, the majority off the plastics and trims have been replaced to black trims as they'd have been grey as standard but its still a bit tacky. Its got pretty ragged phs1 gsi interior in it so i'll be looking for a clean set off seats aswell.




Some people might be famaliar with it as a boy called Ross had it on here. Heres a couple reminders off when he had it..

when he first got it..


and somewhere between then and selling it..


Its also had the irish plate replaced since i've bought it, let me know what yous think ;)
 
See less See more
9
#5 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

What a lovely looking car, im a big fan of a good looking Astra F. Is there any plans for a big lump or keeping it as it is mate
i've not put alot off thought into power wise yet, i'll deffo want more power but i fancy doing something different to achieve it. I dont know if you saw an orange corsa in this months total vaux mag? 1.4 8v with a big cam and throttle bodies, i'd love something like that but we'll need to see what happens :D i'm happy enough to leave it as a standard 1.4 8v the now, fuel is cheap and insurance is kooshy!

remember that car off mk3oc, i wanted his bonnet lmao

good luck with it mate!
hah cheers mate :)

looks well that, love the new wheels but that back box doesnt do it any favors
yeah i think the wheels suit it. No worries, i'm not keen on letterbox backboxs either! i've got a twin square 3" that'l be going on once i've insured it
 
#10 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

those 18's look superb!! Nice looking car!
Cheers mate:) yeah wheels suit it imo

Yehh i get you mate, just do what you feel is right. You could always bang a turbo on it haa
that'd be brutal orite, only had my license coming up 1 year tho and i doubt i'd make the 2nd in that case lmaolmao:doh:

ordered some mudflaps tnyt, was gonna order some shortened plates but the site i use aint working the now! Hope to fit the standard splitter on tomorrow and put a sub and amp into it as the standard speakers are shi*ate.
 
#14 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

what you thinking engine wise ?
thinking off a c20xe with an F16 close ratio gearbox, either that or a 1.4 8v with a big cam, throttle bodies and a few other wee bits! to be honest i've not put too much thought into it yet tho as it'll be a while untill i do start on performance.. that is if the current trusty old 8v keeps beating!

its super clean aswell, no signs of rot by the looks of it!

flame red GSI's/rep's ftw lmao
yeah its pretty clean, BEING PICKY there is a couple small bad reactions in places.. but i'm not gonna point them out ;)

well its a good start you have looked after it well keep it up
thanks bud
 
#15 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

riggggght.. wee bit off an update today. I was off sick work recovering from a.... cold:rolleyes:

But with the sunshining and the garage right beside me i couldnt resist to crack on with a few things that'd been bugging me! Not too sure if anyone noticed but its a phaise 1 grille but the drivers headlight was a phaise 2 and not lining up with the grille:doh: Also fitted the middle section off the splitter, had no wee brackets to put the sides on so i'll hopefully suss some universal ones tomorrow. Aswell as that i cut the front plate down a wee bit.





much better:D not the biggest update but i think its the small things that make a difference. while changing the headlights i realised the grilles got a couple broken clips so i'll hopefully get another.. possibly a smoothed one. Changed the bulbs on the lights while i was at it as there was blue/****** ones init before.

Hopefully tomorrow night i'll get my sound system in and working:cool:
 
#20 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

fckin minted!:D
cheers
spotted that its a c14se, get a nova/corsa sri manifold and twin downpipe, instead of the restrictive single one the astra has, makes a BIG difference :beer:
sounds good, is it a 16v manifold if its a corsa sri one i find?
 
#21 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

well i'm a happy boy today, got takn on as a apprentice mechanic and insured the astra :D Didnt really get much time on the astra today.. well thats a lie, i had plenty time but i wanted to drive it rather than work on it ;)

Made up a couple wee brackets to hold the 2 sides off the splitter on the front




Also wired up my sub and amp into the boot, hadnt ever fitted a sub before but it was pretty easy to do. All in all took about 20mins to get it in but i couldnt get any power on the amp... Finally realised the cd player wasnt giving the right signal, tried another player and it worked fine! So a dead battery later i jump started the astra and decided to give it a wash before heading out with it.







Not exactly fit for detailing world but it was just a quick rinse as some sound seagulls had picked on the car this morning..

and before any detailers do see that, I didnt use the brush supplied at the washer!




Buzzeeen to buy the 18" masitalys as these 15" wheels ruin it


tomorrows job will be too tidy up the wiring for the subs and get a couple pics aff it, hopefully my mudflaps will have arrived aswell so i can fit them as they should make a big differ
 
#23 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

i'll keep an eye out for one then :) engines going good the now, its recently just had a new head gasket and doesnt miss a beat. Seems to be good on juice so far aswell which is always a bonus.
 
#24 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

bit off an update, got my x2 1000 watt subs fitted with a 1000watt amp along with a brand new set off 6x9s. Pretty chuffed, also had to treat myself to a new sony head unit as my others wouldnt set up right with it. No photos as i've not tidied the wires up yet but heres a couple videos to show the power in them :cool:lmao

let me know iff the vids dont work and i'll try suss summeeen out





 
#25 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

Just a wee update before i head out with the car tonight, was working today so didnt get as much done as i'd ahve liked to but anyway. mudflaps came last week and I got some bolts and nuts to hold the other parts off the splitter on today.




Managed to get the flaps and splitter done after tea tnyt. Once they were done I gave the car a quick wash. Heres a few pictures :D












Gonna scan the net tomorrow and make up some decent plates for it :cool:
 
#30 ·
Re: astra mk3 - project/tidy up. (GSi rep)

well thankfully i can still say the cars no missed a beat and its up at 700 odd miles after tnyt. Only thing to go wrong is one off the doorstrips fell off on thursday, this left me with 3 strips and a silver plate off metal as one. Tried searching locally and online for another big couldnt come across any :(










that left me with no choice but to de-bump strip it, looks slightly more like a phs1 gsi now :) on the downside the wheels are letting it down and the car was resprayed in ford radiant red last year but under the doorstrips werent so theres a slight colour difference but its nothing too noticeable. I've got a few things to buy for it at the moment so i'm gonna wet sand/g3 it and hoepfully blend it slightly better but i hope in the next month i'll get the sides resprayed as i'm wanting to keep it as clean as possible :)
 
#34 ·
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top