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About LinkBacksSorry I think I worded my post badly. The internal wiring is there, but as it didn't go through to the engine it was useless and I've basically wired it all from scratch.
I had to fit a 4 way brake switch and the clutch switch.
Sorry I think I worded my post badly. The internal wiring is there, but as it didn't go through to the engine it was useless and I've basically wired it all from scratch.
I had to fit a 4 way brake switch and the clutch switch.
They're there, in their room.
Hmm mines the other way round, got a 4 way brake switch and a clutch switch already, but no wiring at the steering column, its a 2004 with fly-by-wire, so its probably not going to be as simple as yours to wire up from scratch, as im guessing theres all kinds of stupid unnecessary ECU action going on!
Maybe I could look up the wiring and get the stalk plug from a scrappy and splice it in where its meant to go, but really dont want to be ripping stuff out too much as the car is mint and untouched and dont want to start chopping stuff around!
A little post-Billing goodies update.
At PV I managed to get a set of smoked rear lights, new and genuine too, for £50.
Then one of the first things I bought at Billing was a set of genuine smoked headlights. Nagged the guy and shoved £60 under his nose and he took it.
Also from one of those awesome stands that has loads of new stock in boxes that you have to root through to find the good stuff, I bagged a new number plate for no particular reason:
From the same guy I got a brand new ashtray. Didn't even know the opening action was meant to be damped, mine always just sprang open. Went to swap the whole thing, but it was such a pain to remove the cig lighter. I found the damping is doen by a little stiff cog thing that had broken on mine, so I simply swapped that over in the end.
Whilst there I noticed the wiring was in place for the heated seats, which I suspected would be the case, buy anyone know what the other two hooj connectors are for, taped up in the back there?
So after a year and 15k miles (now on 101k), it's starting to look a tiny bit more sorted! I've had no issues at all with the engine or running gear yet, and I've managed MPGs of up to 42 as well, so hopefully this is a sign of very good health.
They're there, in their room.
Looking good Dan. We toyed with the idea of buying smoked lights for Ellie's Astra but never got round to it.
Did I see you carrying coilovers back from the LMF stand too?
Cheers dude.
Yes you did, but they're not for this. The suspension is seemingly in good nick at the moment, so I have no immediate plans to change anything. I think it handles superbly and is very good at soaking up bumps etc in the road, especially as our others cars are lowered (except for the GTE) and can get tiresome on the ****e roads in this country.
They're there, in their room.
I'm with you there. Driving a car with standard suspension as a daily is so much better on the back and my sanity.
the std suspension on the van scared me, hence why eibach springs were fitted asap, lol.Originally Posted by Melv
The rear lights really make a difference
Mk4 is now on 105k, still plodding on with no major issues. A slight annoyance has been some knocking from the front over uneven surfaces (you know, British roads). A few times over the last 4-5 months I've had it up on stands moving, prodding, poking and levering everything, with no free play found at all. From the noises inside it sounded like both sides.
Eventually, I removed both front wishbones. What a pleasant job that was! The wishbones are simply nut and bolted in place. Both of mine came undone very easily, but even in a worst case you'd at least have the option of grinding through it without buggering up the subframe. The bushes looked very sturdy and absolutely fine. I certainly wasn't going to mess about poly bushing it, as was my first idea:
So I got a pair of ball joints from Benn's place and drilled out the rivets on the old joints. I was surprised to find standard 8.8 bolts on the bags with the new joints, they were also about twice the required length! A look through Benn's massive tub of random found me a set of perfect length cap head 12.9 bolts. Man style.
Whilst I was in there I freed off both sides of the tracking becuase as far as I know, it's never been adjusted.
I also set it to toe out a tiny bit by eye as when I rotated the tyres front to back, I noticed the outer edges of the fronts were a bit more worn. But that could be 'driving style'.
The knocking noises had got no better, but the slight wheel wobble at motorway speeds I'd had since swapping the wheels round had gone, so at least I had got somewhere.
Today I had another look and again, no up down or side to side play in either of the front wheels. Then I has the presence of mind to grap the ARB drop link. Hullo, it's pulls in and out way to easily for my liking. Totally shot at the bottom. Top seems ok. They were only replaced just after I bought the car I thought. Check the records. June 2009 at 87k. Probably way past any warranty claim point, but still annoying considering the originals lasted so long. Anyway, at under half the cost of GM ones, I bought First Line ones again mainly becuase I knew they'd be on the shelf with no hassle at Benn's place.
Before on the offside:
Sure enough, once off the bottom joint is as slack as a wizard's sleeve. Top one seems ok still. Compare with new (the old one is further away here, not smaller):
I like to re-use the GM nuts as they are flared and I have a inherent distrust of nylocs. Wouldn't mind if they came with washers.
Glad to see they copied the original design with the flats on the back for a 19mm spanner.
Offside after. Always pleasing to see new stuff:
Near side next. This side was totally shagged. The top joint had loads of totally free play, from here:
to here:
Utterly worn out. So this is kind of an advert against buying First Line stuff I suppose, but they are dirt cheap, and we all know you get just what you pay for! Hopefully I'll get another 15k or so from them. By that time I may have researched some metal ones like you get with coil overs, or I may even have bought some actual coil overs as I'm sure the rest of the suspension will have started to wear a bit by then.
They're there, in their room.
I detest plastic droplinks! The only thing worse is a fault you know is there and cant pin point!
Good work
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip!"
lol, cant say ive ever had a problem with them al! Ive heard people using metal ones from the mk1 ford focus
Ive never had a problem as such, but you wind up replacing them every time you want to remove them and the idea of a plastic suspension link is fundamentally wrong IMO, its like steel tyres...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip!"
iirc the corsa c drop links are metal and fit the mk4 astra, don't hold me to that though lol
Design to Eclipse - Yorkshire website design
corsa c and mk4 astra links are the same, but all corsa ones ive seen are plastic.
hahahahahaha i see what you've done there.
I'm louder than gods own revolver and twice as shiney.
Nice repeaters.
Thank you for the positive remarks. I know it's only small simple stuff, but still relevant I guess.
Two trips to work, 200 miles down. No clonking! Sorted.
I agree with Alistair, a plastic suspension component and balljoint just isn't right in my eyes. I found a set of metal ones on the bay for £40, but with coilovers under £200 these days it's almost not worth it!
They're there, in their room.
Buy the metal ones and some coilovers, win win.
I'm louder than gods own revolver and twice as shiney.
Looking good so far!
Wandered what them extra plugs where for, Been looking around and havn'r noticed anyhting about them anywhere!
Bit more mincing lately. Rear brakes have been squealing like a mofo for quite a while. Used to be able to silence it by applying the handbrake slightly. After standing idle for 2 weeks, it decided this was not going to work any more. Then over a few days the battery reserve dwindled to nothing, but I was glad of the excuse to put a GM battery in there instead of the Lucas one. So, a trip to a Vax dealer and a new 60Ah battery and a rear disc and pad kit was secured (mine's got the Bosch calipers with ridges on the body). Not much drama there, but you can can make the job easier by borrowing a caliper winding kit:
Old pads weren't that worn, but one side felt a bit powdery and was breaking up when I filed a chamfer on it a few months back.
Discs, which I think were probably original, had 0.8mm of wear left:
New pads come with different springs and a new caliper securing bolt:
All fitted:
I like that GM stuff has the painted bit round the edge and middle, so it looks neater. Then wind the caliper back. I opened the bleed nipple too, to be safe from back pressuring the master cylinder. Then just re-attach the hand brake cables, pump the pedal and tighten the nut under the handbrake lever.
Next, I was advised the middle section of exhaust was a little tired, and seemed to be knocking a bit lately. So I asked Benn to source me a new section. I opted for the cheapo VFM range by Bosal, as I had very good experience with them on my Saab. Fitted very well and actually looked a better copy than the 'proper' Bosal one. So, knowing I didn't need the car for the next couple of weeks, I jacked it up nice and high:
Got under to look. Hmm, yes, that's knackered. Only lasted 11 years! The cheek!
Still the bolts came undone with no dramas. I'd taken it off before so I'd loaded the copper grease on. The flange was so rotted it just broke up!
Got on eBay and ordered 2 45mm flanges, and they arrived the next day!
All I did was cut a slot just wide enough for the new flange to slide over the pipe from the back box, then filed it snug. Painted it with some good old satin black.
Next up was an annoying small fuel leak I noticed when I filled it up. Couldn't see much underneath, so I took the inspection cover off over the tank under the seats.
I thought that it was the big rubber seal under the locking collar that was causing the leak, so I took it all out, cleaned it up and added a tiny smear of sealant. Left it to dry for a week.
Next I needed to separate the middle section from the cat. This is a sleeve join for some reason. Previous experience with Steve Flatley's lead me to believe I was going to have to strip the downpipe or even the manifold depending on how many bolts shear. It's this bugger. Just has one clamp round it.
I gave it a cheeky wiggle and to my surprise it moved! A quick tap with the hammer and it fell out easily and crushed my neck! Awesome. Painted the new sections and the pipe on the back box to give it a chance of lasting a bit.
A week later and I'm ready to fit the new exhaust. Get it all offered up and in place. It's very well desgined, you can hang all the sections up on their own hangers with out relying on other bits to hold it up. Just as I was going to tighten it all up, I decided the leak marks on the fuel tank were too high to be coming from the pump seal.
So, I went for it and removed the exhaust again, and set about dropping the tank. It's all well designed and everything came apart nicely, even the large clip and fuel filler hose. With the tank down, it was easy to see it was the filler breather hose had perished.
I'd already cut the filler neck end of this off and replaced it a year or so ago. I still had a week before I really needed to use the car, so I packed up and called Vaux to order the hose. Amazingly they had one in stock, so I popped out and got it. £25.
Think it's a fairly common thing on Mk4s. Anyway, then I could get the exhaust on. This was all easy and the new flange worked a treat.
All gas tight and pukka.
They're there, in their room.
Great stuff Dan.
As always, top mincing.
Good work, well done
For the love of God, please read the rules
I'm really enjoying driving the new family SRi I've bought the missis. It's a 1.8 16v, a nice drive.
www.shonkyopels.de
I'd like to have a go in a 1.8, word is they're actually quicker to 60 than the 2.0 due to the gearing of the F18 in the 1.8 compared to the hooj F23 in the later 2.0s.
They're there, in their room.
im looking into these now when you say earlier models you mean prior to 2000 or what? cheers.
Last edited by slash; 08-05-2011 at 17:21.
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