Harber's Mk3 Astra GSi

[HARBER07]

Don't post on here much really, but I do a lot of reading so thought I might as well stick a project page up. A bit of an introduction is needed I guess. Up until recently, I've been heavily involved in the classic mini scene, running a 1380 lightened and stripped out track spec mini, which I intended putting a tuned C20XE engine in and using for hillclimbs. Daily use took it toll and I needed a new car which I could put the XE engine into, so I bought myself a phase 1 GSi for the sum of £800 a few weeks back.

This is what I ended up with.









Ok so the wheels are a bit tacky, and the rear end has some rust problems, but I'm absolutely chuffed with it!. Its the 1.8 model (which I guess some of you would know just by looking), but in the grand scheme of things thats not gonna be an issue!.
It will need a pair of outer sills, inner and outer rear arches and some work on the valance. All common stuff I'm led to believe. Needs a few temp senders and bits like that, but really nothing too serious.

Since being into minis, I've done lots of fabrication, making various bits out of titanium and carbon fiber. Queue the filler cap solenoid mod/repair.





New rod was made from 5mm titanium (6AL4V). One job ticked off the list.

In an attempt to keep things interesting in here, I'll reverse back to the XE I've been building up over the last year or so (remember it was destined for a mini to start with!). Spec is roughly as follows, and I'm aiming for the roundabout figure of 260bhp with a big chunk of torque.

S80 Pro DTA ECU
Arrow/SBD steel rods
88mm Omega pistons
SBD throttle bodies
Z20LET pump
Mains girdle/strap
Lightened flywheel
Twin plate super clutch
Quaife LSD
VAG COP's
One seriously worked head
Solid tensioners/idler kit
SBD 300/295 duration cams

Probably lots more I've missed though.

















Anyways thats a little bit from me, and with any luck I'll be on here fairly regularly now!

Tom.

[HARBER07]

Started messing about with the block today. I wanted to see how everything fitted together seeing as a fair few things are non-standard rebuild parts. The Girdle needs fettling to marry up with the holes, and the pickup pipe needs shaving so it slots into the pump properly.
Also on the agenda is to check the clearances before it all gets built up the final time.







Tom.

[HARBER07]

Went down the garage this evening to play with my new space heater, after messing about for several days trying to get gas .



MEGA toasty now!. I couldn't really be bothered to do anything :lol: so just had a decent look underneath the car instead. Saw the rocker cover gasket was leaking (explains why I kept losing oil). Also whipped the rear lights out to have a proper look at the damage to the rear arches. I expected what I saw, but it's still not pretty!!.







Now normally I wouldn't go anywhere near a car with expanding foam, but would there be any harm done if I stuck some in?. New panels etc. are all being dealt with, but in this weather water is peeing inside, doing more damage and crudding up my carpets!.

And for those who may be interested, this is my other project:



1990 Mini Minus. For those who don't know, its a fiberglass mini shell, with a 2.5" body chop. It'll get finished eventually :lol:

Tom.

[HARBER07]

Changed the front crossmember today!. Didn't really make a start on it till midday, which is a shame as I'd have like to have finished earlier, but anyways it's done now.

This was the problem, which to my knowledge is an MOT fail anyways (rusted subframe mounting point)



So I got to work





















And jobbed

Sorry about the bad pics, but I'm no photographer!!

[HARBER07]

Changed the front crossmember today!. Didn't really make a start on it till midday, which is a shame as I'd have like to have finished earlier, but anyways it's done now.

This was the problem, which to my knowledge is an MOT fail anyways (rusted subframe mounting point)



So I got to work





















And jobbed

Sorry about the bad pics, but I'm no photographer!!

[HARBER07]

Bloody hell I've not updated this for a while!. Mainly due to being excessively ill and not being able to do much!. Anyways lots has been going on in the last week or so. I've been messing about trying to find a suitable clutch rated for 450lbft+ with plates that are available for the Vauxhall F28 standard spline. Demon tweeks just said the gearbox will blow up in my face, so I rang Superclutch/SBD and managed to get exactly what I needed. So that will be with me by the end of next week hopefully. Superclutch are brilliant by the way, SBD too but that goes without saying!.

Today I managed to pull my finger out and do something about the bonnet. I got all the paint a few weeks back so I decided to crack on with it. After messing about and repairing it, I threw some primer at it:







Got it nice and toasty in there!:



And should I feel the need to get high I'm pretty covered with this box:



Filled a couple of areas where the gelcoat had pitted a bit, then stuck the basecoat on. First time I've ever sprayed basecoat but it came out really nicely.







Gonna look ace with the Aerocatches!



And thats about me up to date. I've changed the rear wiper motor as well. Nothing major but it needed doing. Also the MOT is due at the end of next week. Fingers crossed and all that, as I've not really had time to do any major works. The only things that are concerning me are the sills, and the exhaust backbox has a hole in it. Hopefully nothing else will cause me issues!.

Thats all for now.

Tom.

[HARBER07]

Lots of good news for me!. Passed its MOT. Only needed a few brake pipes and a bit of weld on the exhaust. Exactly as I expected, but I just couldn't be arsed to do it myself. Also got an advisory on the rear disc shield, but I'm going 5 stud anyways so it doesn't really bother me.

Anyways a few bits turned up this week. Got myself some silicon hose for the washer jets, as 1), they are moving to the scuttle panel, and 2), the pipes ned replacing anyways.



For the washers I decided to use Vectra C heated jets. Not sure why really lmao. I saw them on eBay so went for them, the theory is to help stop the jets freezing up but TBH I've never had a problem!.



Some engine enamel was on the cards too, as It'll be off for balancing next week then as soon as It's back I'll be building it up.



And last but not least, A parcel from SuperClutch:




Thats all for now.















Just kidding!!







Absolutely BRILLIANT bit of kit. Massively pleased with it!. Service was spot on too, considering its not an "off-the-shelf" setup!.

Tom.

[HARBER07]

Had a semi productive day today. Managed to lash up putting the lacquer on the bonnet, which was nice. Only had 2 more coats to go on, and the gun decides to spray oil everywhere messing up the finish. So thats gonna be a whole load more flatting back. To add insult, the gas ran out so I couldn't get anything up to temperature!!.

Anyways apart from that, I did manage to get my Vectra C washers fitted, ready for when the bonnet goes on (if ever). Pretty please with them TBH.











Think I'll push them down a little more, but they aren't far out. I'll wire them in at some point too, but I'm waiting for the correct connector.

For the record, if anyone else wants to fit them (or anything similar like Insignia fan jets) It's a 15.5mm drill bit you need. I assume the size is the same across the range?.

Tom.

[HARBER07]

Had half a day off today, and incidentally tomorrow off as well which is pretty win! Anyways I got down the garage with the intention of removing all the old bonnet stuff and fitting the new one, which went pretty much to plan.











The brackets I made up had a little leg on them, which slides into where the clip for the wing would sit and is bolted right through. Seems pretty damn solid!.

All the old stuff like the release mechanism and the bonnet prop all came out as well.

[HARBER07]

Not been doing much on this lately, as I've been busy with other projects. I've been astra-ing again the last couple of days though!. Never really liked the way you can see 90% of the wheel well on the mk3's, so decided to sort that out!. Not into body kits, so it had to be a splitter. Unfortunately these are not available off the shelf, so a bit of DIY was needed!. I'll let the pics do the talking.





















Dead pleased with that TBH!. Totally transforms the rear of the car IMO. Along with the above, the whole rotating assembly has been sent away for balancing, and a Dewismotorsport baffled sump is on order. So hopefully there will be some nice progress on the engine soon.

Tom.

[HARBER07]

And thats me pretty much up to date!

Cheers,
Tom.

[HARBER07]

My fault for being lazy and not updating this very often, but its time for a bit more in here!

My baffled sump turned up the other day, from Dewismotorsport. It was absolutely spot on, but I modified it so the oil level sensor fits. I'v also had a load of Dremel bits turn up, so I've finished cleaning up the rocker cover and started grinding/ prepping up the block. Both of which should get finished tomorrow!.





Tom

[HARBER07]

A few pics from my weekend down in Newquay. It was actually a mini show, but me and Alex Crosse both went down in Astras, so we had ourselves a bit of an "Astra Owners Club" meet lmao

[HARBER07]

And to get me up to date,

I stripped the sound deadening out of the boot the other day, and was greeted with this:



Decided It wasn't worth buying a silly panel for that, so Decided to make one instead. One problem, It had a swage line in the floor. So I brewed this tool up from a block of ali I had laying around;









Hopefully will get a chance to repair that bit at the weekend now!.

Tom.

[myredtop]

good work there mate love the mk3 gsi keep it rolling
scott

[Melv]

Looks good so far.

What miles are on the car if you don't mind me asking?

[HARBER07]

Thanks!. It's on about 130k at the minute, but still goes surprisingly well considering.

I've just taken delivery of a Rivnut tool (wanted one for ages!), and a few bits from Probolt, so there should bit on that shortly.

[Melv]

Yeah, the 1.8 GSi's are pretty under rated. I've the same engine in my Corsa.

[HARBER07]

Ahh I think I've read your thread. Nice project!. The engines seem pretty tame till about 3.5k, then they seem to come on cam and pick up pretty well!.

[scooby-KILLER]

work/parts so far look awsome!!,

will be keeping an eye on this as it may help motivate me to get mine done at some point

[HARBER07]

Got a bit of anodized goodness for today!. I changed the rear diffuser fixings:



Front splitter mounts needed doing:



And a couple of bits in the engine bay:





And I absolutely love the rivnut gun!!



Thats all for now.

[dopey]

nice car you got their. keep the good work up

[HARBER07]

Thanks very much mate!. I hope to repair the holes in the boot this weekend, and I've also got a few other trick bits to reveal as well.

[HARBER07]

Got a tidy little update today. I got hold of some Titanium plate the other day, so I've been making good use of it. I also ripped out the ABS module mounting bracket and lightened it up a bit. Pics will do a lot of the talking, so here we go:

Horn mount:







Bonnet pin plates:









ABS Bracket:







And also had just enough time to make a panel for the O/S rear boot corner repair:





And thats just about it for today!.

Tom.

[HARBER07]

Done a bit more on it today and got the boot corner repaired.











And jobbed . Had to repair the arch and the closing panel, otherwise there was nothing to weld to lmao. Didn't get load of pics though as it was threatening to rain pretty bad.