The Continued story of a GTE Convertible

[tonyo]

Bought the GTE about 18 months ago from Dan. He had already done quite a bit of work to it..

GTE Convertible

Last summer I just enjoyed it, and did a couple of small jobs..

The Rear cards were peeling, so a bit of vinyl and some contact adhesive sorted that..




I also tried to give it a bit more bass by putting some larger speakers in without wrecking any trims..

Hole:


Filled:



Its not brilliant, and TBH it hasn't added a lot, but the best thing is that it is not fixed to the existing in any way, so it can be removed with no damage..

Around the same time I got rid of the main family car (a three year old Pug 407) that was going to cost the earth to keep on the road, and replaced it with something far more cost efficient to run..



Then I drove it until the MoT ran out, as I knew it would need some welding to get through..

[tonyo]

Over the winter..

During the 'off road time, I had the sills sorted, and replaced all the rusty bits in the rear body..

Sills Before:





And patched:




Rear Before:




During:





After:






There was also a nast hole in the front subframe and floor to sort..





Sealed it all in, and ready for paint..




Off it goes..

[tonyo]

So, it came back in the Spring..

I set about putting it back together..

Whilst I was doing the rebuild I supplimented the silly little bit of bitumous sound deadening.. Following a tip from AstraMk2, I went to Wickes and bought a roll of bitumous flashing for a fraction of the price of dynamat..



Mostly completed:






The person in charge of the house by now seemed happy with the progress, and inspected his inheritance..

[tonyo]

Whilst putting it back together, I modded the heater box. I understand why the centre vents blew fresh cold only, but on a convertible, I felt that I'd have more cause to want Warm. If I want fresh air, I can remove the roof..

So, cut a hole here:




And block up here:




The centre vents now blow the same as the rest!

On to the present..

After a tip off on here that there was a GTE convertible in a Scrapyard nearby, I went, and to my surprise found it had the right interior..

The door cards have holes for manual winders, but at least it gets rid of the horrid holes hacked in the current cards..




The Passenger seat trims were broken on mine:



These will replace them..



The bodyshop had managed to muller both the side repeaters, so on the drive to work in the morning they would pop out like trafficators..



Replacements found..



And I get a choice of clear or Coloured lenses

Also picked up a Fusebox cover that hasn't got a tab broken off..

May go back tomorrow, the centre console on the scrapper has unusually not had the locating clip snapped off the back like every one I've ever seen. The only issue is that as mine has an electric roof and windows, and the scrap one doesnt, I'd have to cut the hole myself to fit the switches. Think it may be worth it though..


There's also a couple of small runner trims on the inside of the passenger seat missing from mine, so I think I'll pick them up as well..

[Pitstoppete]

superb progress Tony, keep it going, fit an XE then I'll have it off of you next year......

[Benn]

Awesome work dude, looks great now. Clear side repeteds needed tho..

[Pitstoppete]

clear ones are crap, unless they were clear as std., everyone knows that. suker

[8valve-craig]

Not sure where about in wilts you are but theres a convertible gte in breakers in devizes. Cant remember what interior it is but might be worth a look if your close. Its in Jones's, caen hill.

[rc]

good work

[Benn]

clear ones are crap, unless they were clear as std., everyone knows that. suker

No you suck for no taste in these matter... Fool.

[tonyo]

Not sure where about in wilts you are but theres a convertible gte in breakers in devizes. Cant remember what interior it is but might be worth a look if your close. Its in Jones's, caen hill.

Yeah, thanks.. You were my tip off in your thread.. Jones' is exactly where I was today.. So now it's missing door cards.. I'm in Shrewton, so Caen Hill was about a 20 minute drive for me..

[tonyo]

superb progress Tony, keep it going, fit an XE then I'll have it off of you next year......

Well, it is Blue..

[Pitstoppete]

you've got it!

[tonyo]

Just couldn't wait to fit my purchases..

Changed the old bust seat trims:



Tada..



The fuesbox cover.. The broken one is on the left, and had lost the lower right clip.. The new one fits very toitly..



Next was the Roof seal, the old one wasn't too bad, with just a couple of splits, but seeing at the scrapper had a mint seal it had to be done..

From this..




To this:



Next was the first doorcard.. And how to plug the much smaller hole.. With a flash of inspiration, I shoved one of the blanking covers from the rear of the pocket into the winder backplate, and hot glued it into the card.. One day I'll get an upholsterer to use the old cards patch it, but for the moment it seems to do..



I havn't got the backplate for the other side, but I do have a pocket rear cover spare, so seeing as I'm going back to the Scrappy tomorrow (I think I'm going to get the centre console rear and have a go at adapting it for the leccy window switches), I'll have a hunt around and see if I can find it..

Next was the bargain boot carpet from Billing. Bought it for a pound, as the guy thought he'd never find a buyer, and was using it to stop panels rubbing together in his van.. lmao It's a belmont carpet , so doesn't totally fit, but its better than nothing..



Going in here..



The Convertible has a wider side trim, as the hydraulics for the roof are behind here..



Bit of trimming, and she fits..



Hurrah!

[Astra Dan]

Superb stuff Tony.

[tonyo]

Benn, Pete..

They are so quick and easy to change, I have a choice of clear or orange repeaters.. Tell you what.. For the next meet I'll fit one of each, then, as long as you stand on the appropriate side, you can both feel morally superior..

[tonyo]

Superb stuff Tony.

Cheers.. You and I had mulled over what to do with those holes in the cards many a time.. I have to admit, as astra_mk2sri52k had mentioned in his thread that it was red, I was expecting to find a light rainbow interior in it with a cream roof.. I climbed up the pile of cars, and opened the door to find the right card staring me in the face.. Sad, I know, but for that moment, it felt like christmas morning, with the biggest present under the tree being mine..

[8valve-craig]

I was lucky enought o get first dibs on that GTE when it came in, just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Had the digis (arch) and transducer, fuel tank and straps, pump and bracket, dizzy, coil and leads (brand new) metal oil cap and the badge from the front grille.

It was 1 owner from new, an old boy in bristol who drove it all the way to jones' to scrap it as they helped him out with parts a few years back, Unfortunately, not sure if you noticed, he was a "handy" diy'er and had used wood screws all over the body to hold bits on,

[tonyo]

I was lucky enought o get first dibs on that GTE when it came in, just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Had the digis (arch) and transducer, fuel tank and straps, pump and bracket, dizzy, coil and leads (brand new) metal oil cap and the badge from the front grille.

It was 1 owner from new, an old boy in bristol who drove it all the way to jones' to scrap it as they helped him out with parts a few years back, Unfortunately, not sure if you noticed, he was a "handy" diy'er and had used wood screws all over the body to hold bits on,

Yeah there were screws all over it.. Body trims loose? A couple of Screws to hold the ends in.. I looked at the Side repeaters on it, but walked away when I saw the mint ones (i.e no wood screws) on the 5 door.. I was really tempted to pull the original Radio cassette from the GTE as well..

I'm going back tomorrow.. I'd really like to get into the boot, but it was locked.. I'm hoping the key isn't lost.. I also want to re-assess the sill trims, mine is very badly broken on the top rear mounting screw on the passenger side, and I know the one in Devizes is cracked, but I want to see if its any better. Unfortunately some of the bits that arent only rare in terms of being from a Mk2, they are rare as they are specific Bertone parts, so now I've found one being broken, I'm tempted to have as many of the Bertone parts off as possible

[Benn]

Good work on the boot carpet, fit looks great.

[8valve-craig]

Wow you found the 5 door? Thats well hidden away. If you need more parts for the convetrtible ring "Noons" just outside salisbury. I was talking to one of the blokes who run it the other day and apparantly they have another yard. Im not sure where it is but he said they have a red convertible and a 1.8 manta GT/E there. Might be worth a call

They are all a bit grumpy but its the scottish bloke you need to talk to

All i was interested in was the sump off the manta (big wing). He laughed and replyed that it was the first thing to go.

[tonyo]

Noons?

I was there on Monday morning and specifically asked them if they had any Mk2's.. I was told no, I had a look as well (the Vauxhalls are always rowed up in front of the office)..

I take it that by 'just outide Salisbury' you mean Lopcombe corner, just up past the Pheasant? Or have I already found the other Noons?

[8valve-craig]

Ye thats right, lopcombe corner. I think when the guy mentioned his other yard its may be not open to the public and just where they store their race cars and the stuff they deem to good to scrap.

Unfortunately all the mk2's that get bought in are cannibalised for export. They gas axe the whole front end off, Doors, bootlids and engines and container them over to somewhere in eastern europe. Everytime i go there i pop into the engine container and swap all the metal oil caps over for plastic ones,,,,

[tonyo]

Went back to the Scrappy this morning..

Managed to get into the boot. The carpet wasn't brilliant, so I left it. I did however notice that the tool insert was different, it had an eye in it, so I picked it up..

Here it is compared to the one from my car..


Don't know if any of you more knowledgable people can advise whether mine should have the eye or not. I cant see any use for it, but hey, more is... well... more, so I swapped it..



On to the sill trim. Heres the one from mine:



Here is the replacement.. It is starting to crack, so I attempted to stabilise it by filling the cracks from behind with hot melt glue..



Next was the centre console.. As the scrapper had a manual roof and door winders, there was a pocket where the switches should be..



The real reason I picked it up was it was the first console I've found in about a dozen I've looked at, that hasn't got the clip snapped off in exactly the same place..



So, I cut the hole out and went to fit it..

What then happenned will not be mentioned any further, But I now know how easily they get broken..

Anyway, on to the Passenger doorcard.. It got the same treatment as the Drivers..

From here..



To here..



The one thing I did get from the whole centre console experience was another mirror adjustment switch. It had had so much water in it, it was never going to work. However, it did have the one thing I needed.. The really fragile little clear plastic bit to make the heated mirrors work. The one in mine had given up ages ago.. So a lot of very delicate swapping of bits from one to the other and I can see green again..



Lastly, some of the really small bits are actually the hardest to get. Thankfully in the Scrap one, I spotted a pair of these unbroken..



Fitted nicely..

[Astra Dan]

Yep, all GTEs have the tube behind the flap for the front tow eye to go in.