MK3 Astra 5 Door

[brad35]

I noticed on Monday when I got home that one of my neighbours car had been attacked by a brick through one of the rear quarter window. Did the neighbouly thing and gave her a knock just to inform her.

She grabbed her shoes and came and had a look.

I didnt realise but it had been stood for some time as she is unable to drive due to a medical condition.

I had done a timing belt and water pump last year and new the car well. 1.6 8 valve on a R plate

Give me £100 and you can have it she said, the tax and MOT have both expired.

Go on then. Remembering Ronnies AWESOME turbo I thought its got to be worth it.

Anyway its in my garage. Battery was flat so jump started it just to get it there and have now taken the battery off to leave on charge overnight.

Going to give it a good look over tomorrow and get some pictures up.

Just got to decide what to do with it.

WHAT HAVE I DONE

[brad35]

Fully charged battery back in the car and it started.
Check for charge

Alternator seems to be healthy.
Anyway in all its glory


Inside wants a hoover but can wait.


And the 1.6 lump. Not sure if im gonna keep it.


And the vandalised quarter glass.
.

Spent most of the day clearing the garage of the crap from my last build, a little clio.

Come on peps what engine should I go for or should I keep the little lump.

Overall for £100 BARGAIN.

[brad35]

Oh dear. I noticed the bumper was sitting a little to close to the near side wheel for my likeing compared to the other side.
I had a funny feeling what the problem was and decided to take the rear bumper of to investigate.



All comments welcome

[astra16V2004]

umm thats not good. probably worth more in scrap now mate. unless you wanna spend out on it to repair it??

[brad35]

Originally Posted by astra16V2004

umm thats not good. probably worth more in scrap now mate. unless you wanna spend out on it to repair it??

That sounds like good advice. But its the cars only real problem. The floor is sounds and theres no rust on the arches. I cant see it being that much to repair, can it

[Fow16v]

looks tidy enough apart from the back depending how good of a job you want done just go at it with a sledge from inside till its sort of in the right place, if all else fails you can make money by scraping it

[brad35]

I had thought of doing that. Was just after a few opinions on what should be done with the car. Its only single layer so shoudnt take much doing with a big MC.
Its either been hit hard and been repaired and they have left the lower valance or one of the cars previous owner had backed into someting. I am just amazed of the damage as the rest of the panels look untouched. The colour match seems perfect. Im no expert though.
Im still pleased with the car. HONEST

[donvaux]

nice one mate i love a bargin motor , if it was me i'd give it a good go with a lump of wood and hammer

[escort1989uk]

machine mart get there slde hammer/dent puller tool will pull the worst out and is about £20

[brad35]

Many thanks to all that replied.
New window fitted £10


Had to be in the right mood to use my weapon of choice. Sorry photo took after I used it. I think it was resting. Sssshhhhh

Picked up some paint from halford I think its the wrong paint code


The damage isnt all out. Sledgee woudnt fit into the corner. Would have to slide hammer that out but im not to bothered. My priority was to get the bumper sitting right.

Have been busy ordering parts. Waiting on a new rear seat belt as its a bit frayed. Then can reassemble the back half of the car, but the bumper on then turn the car around and see what need doing at the front.

[brad35]

We a bit of a play today.
Started looking at the front brakes.
Not great. Cant see the MOT tester letting them pass

Stripped it all down. The pistons in the calipers went back. No seizing here.

Both sides done. Loads better.
Renewed spark plugs
Let it warm up then dumped the oil and filter.

Thats seen better days. Renewed with new oil and filter.
Then had a problem with the coolant radiator fan not switching on so stripped the radiator out and renewed the fan switch. Filled with coolant and water. Waited for it to warm up then the fan kicked in. Result.
And last on the list was the pollen filter.

Am feeling very confident the car will pass. Just gotta book it in when time permits.
Spent so far.
£70.

[brad35]

Well took the car down to my local MOT station today. I didnt think it would pass first time so went down there for a list of repairs that needed to be done for it to pass.
Well it was the longest hour of my life
Well what did it fail on I here you ask.
Both front side lights not working. (didnt check them. 2 new bulbs) Sorted
Nearside front indicator incorrect colour. (fitted 2 new orange bulbs) Sorted

£3.50 for some bulbs and it passed with flying colours.

Gobsmacked aint the word.
Just going to wait till Friday to tax it.

Then can start playing with it.

[brad35]

Well today was the first day of my 2 week holiday. I love this car. Have covered 200 miles in it and have loved every minute of it. Its got a few problems though. Its got a judder when you take up the clutch and and 2 oil leaks one from the timing belt end crank shaft and cam shaft. So have made the big discision to pull the engine out and give it a little bit of a freshen up. I was going to change the engine for a 16 valver and even explored going down the V6 route but I think the little 1.6 8 valve engine is going to stay. Had a great day today starting nice and early.
The engine is out and the gearbox is split.

Plans are
Head gasket
Timing belt kit
Take sump off clean and reseal
Fit new oil seals
New wish bones
New drop links
New clutch kit
Parts will hopefull come in around the £200 mark. I would love to lower it but just dont have the funds. Will have to wait for another time.

Well heres the engine bay minus the engine


Very worn clutch

Freshend up servo

Am just itching to strip the engine down but am waiting on my engine stand to turn up.

[brad35]

Well stripped the engine down today. My engine stand arrived today but to my horror a craddle arrived, which doesnt fit my engine.
Any way blocks of wood it is.
Only a matter of time before the head gasket blew

Cylinder head in good nick/ Gonna get it skimmed though


Then turnt the block over and took the sump off.

Inside sump not to bad.

Any way all stripped down ready for the big spend on Friday.

[brad35]

Well parts total came to £140 in the end. Bloody cheap for what I got for the money.
Well wasnt to happy building the engine out in the open so took it into the kids play room (Sssshhhh) which is just by the front door
Any way as was going excellent right until the very end where I made a very foolish mistake. Not a major problem. Can anyone guess.
Well first things first flip the engine over and install sump gasket. I used black very thinly spread just to make sure it doesnt leak

Then sump on

Flip in over then start rebuilding the top
Having no engine stand may be a problem

Head gasket on and then cylinder head



Got there in the end
Timing belt kit on

I should of spotted it but thats the picture that any keen eye of you will know that my F#@K up.
Then clutch on

She aint pretty but she will run loads better and once the block is treated to a steam clean should look good
Should all be complete tomorrow. Ive got some hired muscle arriving to give me a hand connecting it to the gearbox and then putting it back in the car

That was yesterday
Well had to strip down a little today as I forgot the thermostat and housing



Got the engine to the garage

Gearbox hooked up


Installed brake servo

inlet manifold

Engine in

30 minutes later

A big thanks to my hired GUNS Jordan.
Then built up both front hubs

Then spent most of the day sorting the gear linkage, water hoses, radiator, pas and filled the gearbox up
Then pluging the engine in.
Well whats left. Engine need filling up with oil and the filter needs changing and antifreeze and water. Thats gonna be Tuesday though. Cant wait

[brad35]

Well great success today.
Filled the engine with oil.
Added coolant and turnt the key

Left it to idle until the oil from the manifold burnt off. No leaks. The only problem a noisy tensioner wheel from the auxilary belt.
Then went for it again

Have changed the oil and filter and torqued everything up.
Waiting on antiroll bar drop links which should hopefully be with me tomorrow
Then can get it down the road. Cant wait.

[DaveB]

Cool little car for not much money. Could have had an XE in there though for not much more than the rebuild cost you.
Cheap motoring though

[brad35]

Originally Posted by DaveB

Cool little car for not much money. Could have had an XE in there though for not much more than the rebuild cost you.
Cheap motoring though

I really had considered it. But I wanted to keep things simple. I had my 16 valver fun in the corsa. I know the 8 valve engine is slow but its going to be very reliable. Maybe in the future.

Anti roll bar links finally arrived. I almost rugby tackled the postman for them.
Fitted then put the wheels on and drove it around to the house and removed the rub strips and badges which left the glue behind, out with the toffee wheel took care of that
Gave it a good clean




Have covered about 50 miles in the car and it feels tons better. Performance has increased only slightly and the clutch pedal is very light.