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astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 01:03 AM
My mk2 astra GTE 16v............ 5 door project.

My mk2 astra is a 1.4LX 5 door. look here for the spec of it a few months ago.
http://www.astra-mk2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184

I have owned it since may 2003. the car was given to me by my gran when my granddad passed away as it was his car and she can’t drive and she new I liked the car. I owned a mk3 astra at the time (1.4LS). I didn’t know which one to get rid of, so I waited until July 2003 when my insurance was up for renewal and insured this car and decided to drive it for 6 months to see what it was like compared to my mk3. the car was very tidy and didn’t have any surface rust at all! it had a 3”square patch welded on each sill and that was about it. Before I got it on the road I gave it a polish and serviced it and modified the air box, lowered it -60mm and fitted a set of 14”GTE wheels to it, clear front indicators, GTE rear lights and clear mk4 astra side repeaters and also fitted a full Sri interior.

when I got the car on the road I loved it. it was a lot quicker than my mk3 as it had an extra 15bhp and about 150kg’s lighter. it didn’t grip as well but in handled better, there was a lot more feedback through the corners and it could be chucked about and was more oversteery than the mk3 which I like. I decided I wanted to keep the mk2 as I was getting bored of the mk3. whilst the mk3 was off the road I tidied it up a bit, and modified it slightly (17’s, -50mm, colour coded bumpers, CD interior) all of this cost me about £150 to do as most of it was done as a favour for a favour. when the 6 months tax was up I swapped cars back to the mk3 and advertised it for sale. I priced
it a bit to high and it didn’t sell. I then swapped back to the mk2 and the mk3 finally sold.

I planned on getting a full GTE body kit and doing a big mouth front bumper, bad boy bonnet and smooth boot. I got a quote for all the work and didn’t have the money. I had already bought all the GTE bits I needed but in different colours to my car. I then decided to search for all the GTE parts I needed in the correct colour. and as the search went on I decided to make my car into a GTE 16v 5 door as a 16v 5 door was never produced and it would be very unique!

since July 2004 I have been bying some parts for it such as front upper strut brace, a few interior bits, exhaust system, and more recently new astramax wishbones, new track rod ends, and a front lower strut brace. I have also purchased a ‘quickrack’ off of Rob@RSC.

in December 2004 I noticed ‘ozz’ was breaking his GTE in the same colour as mine so I had the front and rear bumper, bonnet and bootlid off him. he had sold the engine, ECU, loom, and various other bits. he said the rest of the car would be scrapped and I could have it if I could trailer it away! it had a few bits like the rad, rear beam, fuel pump etc. that I would need to put an XE into my car. oh yeah and 2 F20 box’s. so a mate of mine picked the car up for me.

I am now 1 step closer to making it a 16v! these are the things I have left to do:

-fit my 5 door GTE side skirts.
-modify some GTE rear quarter vents to fit a 5 door
-green/blue tint side glass and front screen, as mine has bronze tint. I need the side glass from a CD or Sri model and have sourced a GTE screen.
-black GTE interior, take the rainbow trim from it and re-cover my seats.
-oh yeah and fit an XE with rear beam, fuel pump, digi dash, front struts etc.
-I will probably fit the quickrack at the same time as engine, don’t know if I can wait that long though!

astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 01:04 AM
i will put up some pics tomorrow.

Sipo
15-03-2005, 11:50 AM
Fair play dude, looking forward to seeing some pics!

Orange Peel
15-03-2005, 12:10 PM
Great project mate :)

Where did you get the 5 door skirts from. Been after a set for ages!!!

Ross_Mk2
15-03-2005, 01:35 PM
me too, i would like some modded nexia panels too for a 5 door if pos

astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 07:35 PM
Great project mate :)

Where did you get the 5 door skirts from. Been after a set for ages!!!


i got them off of someone on mig for £25 inc. p&p! cant remember who it was. even came with all the clips. will have to spray up the weldind i had done on the sills and fit them soon when the weather is nice!

astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 07:37 PM
me too, i would like some modded nexia panels too for a 5 door if pos

i have 2 pairs of GTE 3 door rear quater pannels i am goin to chop about and try to modify to fit, if they go well i might get some nexia ones to do.

astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 08:33 PM
just put up some pics. the steely's are on the front because the t.r.e's and lower ball joints and bushes are nackered and it was wearing tires out! so i stuck the standards on. replaced the t.r.e's last night, was gonna fit astramax wishbones tonight but i have been supplied with the wrong ones! again! so the car is up on blocks still at the mo. when i get the tracking done when the wishbones go on ill put some GTE rims with decent tyres on and fit my GTE 16v brakes to the front.

the last pic was taken the day i got the car!

oh yeah i also need to get hold of some black vinyl for the b and c pillars!

astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 09:23 PM
another trick little mod that i have done is to take the orange out of the front indicator lenzes and put ignigma blue indicator bulbs in. you could also use silvertec bulbs. well brett done the mod to the indicators, i done it to one of mine but never got around to doing the other so had bretts off of him as he has quads! just smartens it up a bit!

Brett
15-03-2005, 10:15 PM
its starting to get there isnt it. Seriously we need to get the skirts and bump strips on mate, it looks seriouslt bad with those evil LX bump strips.

Theres a 5dr SRi at Lydford scrappy I have just remembered, think he glass is complete too!

astrasteve23
15-03-2005, 10:52 PM
smart might give them a ring tomorrow lunch time at yours and see how much they want for the glass.

astrasteve23
17-03-2005, 01:17 AM
finnished fitting new track rod ends, astramax wishbones and lower brace just now! http://www.astra-mk2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1067

ASTRAVXR
16-04-2005, 10:01 PM
Great project mate :)

Where did you get the 5 door skirts from. Been after a set for ages!!!

the GTE side skirts do fit with a bit of work, in the process or fitting them to my 5 door at the moment.

Brett
16-04-2005, 10:10 PM
steve has a set of genuine GTE 5 door skirts mate, not 3 dr ones cut to fit.

They might be avalible shortly, depends if steve puts his GTE 16v on the road or breaks it. I expect they'll go for a mint if they do get sold though.

tomstickland
17-04-2005, 11:46 AM
anyway it has made such a difference to the steering and handling its unbelievable!
Suspension component replacement makes a huge difference. Good stuff.

astrasteve23
17-04-2005, 04:14 PM
can feel how bad the shocks are now. the n/s/f one is completely fuked! hopefully got some new second hand gmax shocks and -40mm springs coming in the week.

astrasteve23
17-04-2005, 04:16 PM
not selling the 5 door side skirts yet. depends on what i do with the new GTE 16v! when i do ill let people know and they will probably go on ebay!

astrasteve23
02-05-2005, 02:34 AM
I haven't done much to the car for a while as i have bought a GTE 16v which i have decided to keep and make into a trackday car as the shell is in very good nick! see my progress here. http://www.astra-mk2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1349
I have fitted some GTE wheels that i got cheap with brand new bridgstone potenzas so its looking better now without the steels on the front, this week i will hopfully fit the GTE front brakes with drilled and grooved discs that i have waiting to go on. i fitted the GTE bump strips to the car on saturday, apart from one side because i only have one, i need to get another one off of stt sometime. i also fitted GTE twin horns to it on saturday, i got then off of my GTE 16v. i have got to collect my new (second hand) Gmax shocks and -40mm springs on the weekend and fit them asap as my front shocks are completely fuked! I also plan to fit a GTE 22mm arb with polly bushes to the front and a GTE 16v rear beam with drilled and grooved discs which i have waiting to go on with polly bushes. hopfull tomorrow if the weather is good i will spray the patches on the sill's which have been primer for nearly a year since i had them done and then fit the side skirts. i am not going to put a 16v it in anymore as i want to concentrate on my other project. so it will stay a lookalike for a while. i will keep using it as my every day car and might put a 1.7td (82bhp) lump in it as the 1.4 is quite thirsty (30-35mpg). i hope to put a 16v in it one day! i also plan to get rid of the crappy SRi burbery interior and get some black SX interior for it. i will get some pics up of it tomorrow.

astrasteve23
02-05-2005, 02:50 AM
me too, i would like some modded nexia panels too for a 5 door if pos

i bought some nexia rear quater vents to modify to fit mine a while ago but when i cut them down they will look crap and might fall apart because of the angle on the 5 door ones comaired to 3 door so i am going to modify some GTE ones as they wont look bad modified.

astrasteve23
02-05-2005, 08:44 PM
i gave the astra a clean yesterday and took some pics of it this morning on craigs front lawn. didn't spray the sill's in the end as the weather wouldn't make up its mind! we kept getting small patches of rain in between very hot sun! i had everything ready aswell!

here are some of the pics.

Heathercdi
02-05-2005, 10:33 PM
looks very nice :)

astrasteve23
02-05-2005, 11:04 PM
thanks heather. i am trying to get hold of some black vinyl next to go on the 'b' and 'c' pilars like the GTE has.

astrasteve23
21-05-2005, 05:34 PM
the 5 door is now dead! i crashed it on thursday night and im gutted! see this link about accident. http://www.astra-mk2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1482
im not sure what im going to do with it now. just thinking about it for a few days before i decide on anything.

astrasteve23
12-06-2005, 02:05 AM
here are some good quality closer pics of the damage! :(

Kris
12-06-2005, 02:22 AM
Have you thought any further about whats going to happen to it ?.I hate when that happens ,its like loosing a pet or something .

Heathercdi
12-06-2005, 10:51 AM
sorry to hear about your smash mate, thats a shame

george124uk
14-06-2005, 01:01 AM
sorry to hear bout the car mate :(
what type of glue did u use to put the door bump strips on with? my 1.4 just went through another mot with out a problem altho he did advise getting the copper brake line that runs along the drivers side replaced, imtrying to get it sorted for the summer. :D
cheers

richie00boy
14-06-2005, 09:39 AM
The brake line is steel, replace it with copper and you won't have to do it again ;)

astrasteve23
14-06-2005, 08:18 PM
i used 'gripfill' a building trade adhesive. i advise not to use it as it is messy and you have to hold it in place for a while. when i do it again i will look for some double sided thick tape (similar to what they are held on with as standard) i used a paper sanding disc in an angle grinder to clean the old stuff off the back of the bump strips.

george124uk
18-06-2005, 02:21 AM
cheers steve , i was in the process of removing all the door s bump strips but the first one i tryed to take of was ok till the paint came off with it,there was bubbles of water lying within the paint and the door so im gonna sort that and put the strip back on

astrasteve23
18-06-2005, 02:25 PM
yeah i had little water bubbles in my paint. no paint came off with them tho.

astrasteve23
26-07-2005, 01:52 AM
right, last week i had a guy from the bodyshop about a mile down the road come and look at it, he said it is repairable and quoted £500+parts to do the work inc. spraying new bonet, bumper and wing and slam pannel, if i can get the parts needed in the right colour it'll be even cheaper! I had a good look at the car on sunday for the first time since the crash! i got the mini on its wheels again and out of the garage, cleaned and tidied the garage out, started the astra, smoked quite a bit as it hasn't been started for about 6 weeks. i had to drive it down the road! only went a few hundred yards. drove it under the carport and started to strip the front down, took the rad out, remains or headlight out, drivers wing off, and had a good look at it and it isn't too bad. i did find a crease in the inner wing behind the strut tho, it doesn't look too bad, that explains why it was off camber on that side and steered weird on full lock! now i have it stripped down so you can see whats what i will get the guy to come and have another look and re-quote and see what it will be if i supply the parts allready in the right colour.

will get some good pics of it up on wednesday night.

then i will ,ake up my mind weather to get it repaired or not.

astrasteve23
28-07-2005, 01:54 AM
a few better pics of the damage. its not too bad really.

astrasteve23
28-07-2005, 01:58 AM
more pics.

pajero1
28-07-2005, 03:57 AM
I've got an inner wing o/s complete genuine still in its black primer if you are interested

astrasteve23
28-07-2005, 08:19 PM
how much do you want for it? PM me a price. i missed out on one at billing, went to get the money, came back and it had been sold! it is a lot of work to fit it tho. ill speak to the guy and get him to come and look at it again and see what he thinks.

Gteman
01-08-2005, 11:36 PM
Glad to see your trying to get it fixed. It always looks terrible until you get all the broken stuff out of the way. IMHO its well repairable. Be sad to see the back of another mk2.

Graham