Mk4 AstraVan Tidyup

[Fow16v]

Bought myself a mk4 van now the tigra has been sold as a run about and to chuck my mountain bike in the back as im fed up of folding the seats down in the coupe, so the other day i was browsing ebay as you do when i came accross this van only an hour away and for a good price so i bid and didnt think anymore of it, i then realised the next day that i had won so jamie sorted me with a lift and we picked it up from swansea yesterday.

its got a few little problems which i will be getting sorted, its got tax and mot until end of jan, 125k and a pile of recipts from about 2005 on.

A few things that need some attention are,
Paint work is faded and needs a good compounding
Bootlid is bubbling under the window seal
Rear drivers arch needs some attention
intermitant wiper doesnt work
Steering wheel and airbag badly worn and taped up, also airbag light is on constant.
I think it needs some new sparkplugs, and i think the rear brakes may be sticking abit.


Apart from tidying it up im planning on getting a set of alloys probably mk3 astra ones, and probably gonna drop it quite low with a set of mk3 60mm springs that are lying about the unit. Also gonna colour code the bumpers, skirts, door strips etc.


Rear bumper and door need looking at





Pretty bad paintwork and the rear arch









Back has been lined with a rubber mat, im planning on ply lining the whole of the back, fitting a mk4 estate headlining and some interior lights. Ive also got some 6x9's that may fit somewhere in there


Ive got a mk3 leather steering wheel which i will see if i can fit.


Only things ive done so far are fit the radio on the lower slot, a quick wash, a quick hoover out and fixed the remote central locking.


Ryan

[beeson1987]

how much did u pay mate? what engine?

[Fow16v]

its the 1600 petrol which is the only downer, i would of liked a diesel but i see alot of them with fuel pumps gone.
Just got up off nights so i think im gonnna go make a start on it

[RobJenko]

petrol is the safer option (which is what i thought when i bought mine) egr valves, plugs work their way loose and thats about all the have gone wrong in the two years of owning the mk4 1.6 8v car we have. nowt went wrong with the van. looks a good work horse to start with fow. mk3 springs wont go on the rear fella, they are way too short to stay in. mk4 car ones do fit and drop it a bit. dons mk4 gsi ones worked very well in mine.

[Fow16v]

no egr valve on this one as its the earlier engine so thats one less thing to worry about, the plugs are very strange looking things im sure they are the wrong ones as the electrode is very shallow. rob the mk3 springs will fit but will be loose on the rear, just like fitting the 90mm rear springs on a corsa, all sorted now anyway 40mm on mk4 springs

update coming up

[Fow16v]

Just a small update with not many pics, i fixed a few little niggly things today starting with the dash lights, whilst i had the clocks out i took the steering wheel off and tried to fit the mk3 one but that was one great big fail, so back on with the crap one until i get one or find the mk4 airbag i should have up the unit somewhere.

Changed the stalk on the wipers to fix the intermitant wipe but its still the same so i need to get hold of a new motor, some flat blades got fitted that don had there to replace the crap wiper blades on it.

The drivers side mirror was getting on my nerves as it kept moving as the internals wernt cliped in so thats now fixxed, ive also robbed a cd player off don to replace the tape unit in there.

Had a look at the plugs as its got a missfire and i think the wrong ones have been fitted, they look like the super 4 plugs but there is no electrode showing it kinda looks like its been pushed inside the plug.


Airbox de-restriced as with all the vauxhalls ive owned, bay now wd40'd right up for a shiney finish


Next out came the megs DA and g3 compound to have a go at the paint work, i got the bonnet done and it came up well but then my pad self destructed as it was only a finishing pad, im waiting on a compound pad to do the whole thing.

took a few half and half after just one pass with the soft pad, ive now finished the bonnet and give it a coat of autoglym srp







The boat like suspension has been ditched and replaced with a set of 40mm koni springs that don took off his gsi, its stiffened it up nicely and drives much better now. I forgot to take pics tho

[Murray]

Not bad start to a project.

It'll be good to see it lowered and all polished up .

[slash]

yay you put your thread up. ill be watching this one fow.

[RobJenko]

christ that is an early engine! have a play with the wiper relays and have a search on here, mk4 wipers going wrong used to be quite common.

[beeson1987]

bonnet looks better with that bit polished, looking good.

[Fow16v]

will have a play with relays wires etc on wed, hopefully my compounding head will be here by then to finish the paint. im pretty sure the engine is the single point injection x16szr?

[Fow16v]

ah now i mite be lying, ther may be an egr valve under the gay black cover

[RobJenko]

my two (van and car) were both multipoints and never had the black plastic cover.

[Fow16v]

will have to do some poking about in the bay, see whats what. hopfully its the mpi one.

[Fow16v]

spent some more time with the poilisher and cutting compound today after getting a new cutting pad, i got the roof, boot and passenger side done with one pass, will need another quick one and the drivers side needs doing. also slapped a bit of bumper care on at the same time.

Debadged and shineyish, need a new boot lid really tho.






roof is still a bit cloudy aswell as the side panel, they will need another once over






i think its a massive improvment already going from the pics above.

also bought myself a set of 17's which i will be picking up sometime over the weekend.



thanks for looking

[Fow16v]

Also planning on self tinting the headlights to look like the gsi smoked ones.

[Dell Balallan]

nice one, it looks 100% better already!,

[Fow16v]

cheers dell,
Today the van got some new spark plugs and an oil change as it was getting a mssfire after driving for a long while and the oil was very ****ty. And the best bit so far is the new wheels are on after a trip to bath last night to pick them up got them for a bargin with 4 very good tyres






I think it looks awsome now, the old steel wheels were a bugger to get off had a lump hammer and a block of wood and beet **** out of them lmao
New spigot rings on order and after christmas i think i will get some vauxhall badges for the centres

Ryan

[Melv]

The rear of the van is sitting quite well in those pics above Ryan

looking 100 times better already.

[Fow16v]

needs more lower imo, if the front was a bit lower maybe i would leave it but i cant resit dropping it on the mk3 springs lol

[Jamie_Hastings1]

I want a new job that i have to drive to so i can have some work van tuneage. lmao

[Fow16v]

just get one anyway for a laugh, ive bought mine for lugging the mountain bike about

[RobJenko]

what is it with you pontypool boys, forst there was don buying a mk3 the same colour as mine, now you buying a mk4 van and sticking multispoke 17's on it! lmao lmao
only joking fella, looks very good, big improvements already.

[vauxal]

Hi mate van is looking goood ! ive got a full colour coded red front bumper going for cheap if your intrested it was on my van ?

[Fow16v]

lmao rob it doesnt count anymore coz yours is gone aint it? lmao

al yea ill take the front bumper off your hands mate, i was gonna try colour code the one on there but it will save me the hassle, how much you want for it?