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Astra Arctic 16 Valve

898 views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  Steve_G 
#1 · (Edited)
16 Valve Arctic.


Well this is how it arrived home. It had been advertised on ebay and I thought it had sold and then on Gumtree. It's only done 35K miles but hasn't been well looked after and has stood outside for a year without being used. I was really looking for a cheap 1.6 estate but having looked at some real heaps decided this might be worth a go.





Since getting the car I have

Fitted a passenger set to the drivers side,
Rebuilt the brakes,
Changed the cam belt,
Fitted a new rear silencer,
Fitted a better drivers side front wing,
Fitted newish shocks and front springs, and
Polished it up so it doesn't look quite so pink !

Thats just a list of the basic bits. My old Estate donated the front springs and shocks as I had fitted GSI spec ones to that along with the rear ARBs.

Since getting it back on the road I have had to replace the alternator which decided it wanted to try and cook the battery.

It's now in a reasonable state and can be used properly. Hopefully I can get the air con working and do some paintwork when the weather gets better.

This is pretty much as it is now apart from having a slightly better front wing on it. This one has a big clod of filler in it over the arch and is a bit orange compaired with the rest of the car now it's had a bit of a polish.
The last picture shows the 'new' drivers seat, actually a passenger seat from another car and the genuine Vauxhall mats I stole from my old estate.



 
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#3 ·
It's not a bad old bus. I've got to sort the air con out as it's not doing much at the moment. It's supposed to be a second car for my other half to use during the winter so her MX5 doesn't get salty, she's only driven it once so far though.
I had a MK3 Estate before but it was a real pain to get cheap insurance on due to me fitting an old MK2 Cav engine in it. I keep taking bit's off that to fix the new one so not sure what to do with that yet.
 
#7 ·
Nothing major but I want to try and make it last. Due to the low milage it's in pretty good condition underneath but it's suffered in a few odd places. The scuttle drain into the engine compartment fell out due to rust and the screen surround is in a bit of a state. I'm planning to take the screen out and sort the surround out when the weather gets better. I might have to strip all the interior or at least the dash to fix it properly and can do the scuttle at the same time.
It needs some minor bits done here and there and some paintwork.
One thing I dislike is the later style front grill so I might get a badgeless one to go on it.

I'm quite pleased with the suspension. The GSI front springs and rear ARB's along with the new shocks have transformed it. I didn't want to lower it as it has to be used for shopping etc. Our local multi story has exhaust removing ramps !

Many years ago I worked at a Vauxhall dealers and got to drive a lot of Astras when new. For some reason I always liked the small block engines ones best. Not sure if it was down to the lighter engines or just the noise they made but they seemed more fun to drive. It was only after getting the car I realised the engine was one of the better ones to have along with the close ratio gearbox.

I'm glad I managed to save it as it would have probably been scrapped if I hadn't bought it.
 
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