gtejon's champion project

[gtejon]

as some of you already know, my champion failed the mot badly a couple of months ago, and i've finally got round to starting to pull the car apart, it took me a while as i had a million other things to do, like making the car i'm driving now roadworthy :rolleyes:

so, this is where it all started, at the mot station when i received this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/failure.jpg

starting with the serious bits first the engine has to come out so a good job can be done in the engine bay, welding up the bulkhead / o/s steering rack mount and o/s front chassis. there is also the odd bit of rust starting here and there so it can all be repaired at the same time.

i spent my first proper 3 hours on it friday, before driving to devon for the weekend, and i made a bit of progress. as the car is so low i started at the top end, bonnet off, inlet manifold off, all wiring and pipework disconnected. everything that's in the way off.

the low suspension is a slight pain in the ar5e as i have to push the car onto blocks of wood to get the trolley jack underneath. the garage has a small trench across the doorway to let water run off down the drain, so the car has to be half outside when working on it otherwise the engine hoist will get stuck halfway. so i want to have it jacked up for the minimum time possible, to save myself some effort.

hopefully this week i'll get the time to go and get the car up off the floor and undo the last bits under the car, drop the box out of the way and lift out the engine. thats the plan, however i have a possible day on a job assessment doing plant machinery transport :) this week so i will have to work around that.

here's a few pics of what i've done so far.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/11.jpg

the part that i really am not looking forward to is the wiring :eek: the engine is to me, a relatively minor job compared to all that mess and jumble of spaghetti like wire. but i will have to cross that bridge, with a little help i'm sure :o

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/wiring.jpg

i also think my idle control valve has had it. there appears to be a hole at the bottom, which won't have helped my cars running i shouldn't have thought :o

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/fookedicv.jpg

[BazW]

i've got all that to look forward to as soon as I can get somewere to do it, the place I normally use is being a bit of an arse :(

i've got a spare idle control valve if you need it

[gtejon]

ooh yeah, think i might do. it's not urgent at the moment though. i'm in no rush.

i had to blag my 96 year old grandmother to put my old mini in her garage so i could get the astra into my dads. blatantly taking advantage of my family :eek:

[BazW]

no worries, think I might have 2 spares, theres so much crap in my shed I can't remember what i've got :) send us a pm when your ready

[gtejon]

right the engines on the deck, has been now for a couple of weeks, the servo was next and then the rack, finally able to start really hacking that manky sponge stuff out of the engine bay it was quite soggy at the bottom and easy to see why this does a lot of damage to the bulkhead of the car. with all this now out of the way i should be able to get it all welded easily. its just a case of trying to blag my mates brother or a geeza i know to come and weld it.

i have some more upto date pics but can't get them on my computer yet which is frustrating me. hopefully tonight.

[gtejon]

got some pics here, this was day 3 about 2 weekends ago,

from this angle you could almost jump in and go for a drive :p

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day3_11.jpg

but not so much from this angle

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day3_2.jpg

so the engines out, and what a pain in the a55 that was with only basic tools and a few borrowed bits :rolleyes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day3_1.jpg

my dad in the garage muttering to himself that i'm ruining the drive and telling me the car'll never work again, lol, ye of little faith

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day3_5.jpg

she still looks pretty to me though, even in bits

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day3_7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day3_6.jpg

[daz_gte_16v]

Looking like a nice project!! good luck, gotta keep the mk2s, especially the champs on the road!!

[DarrenH]

my dad in the garage muttering to himself that i'm ruining the drive and telling me the car'll never work again, lol, ye of little faith

we have the same dad :eek:

be interesting to see pictures of the bulkhead once youve delved under the soggy oily pulpy mess.

[Gteman]

yep ^^^^
Would like to see pictures of the stages needed to fix the bulkhead

[gtejon]

lol @ oddball :D

ok day 5 now and we get beneath the oily pulpy mess as described by odders,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_11.jpg

this is the o/s front inner wing behind the headlight

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_5.jpg

and the front chassis that needs welding

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_7.jpg

and yes that lot is going in there :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/day5_12.jpg

all in all it could've been a hell of a lot worse.

anybody live near slough and fancy a bit of welding 1 saturday afternoon??? ;)

[Jags C20LET]

I'm in slough, I cant weld for toffee, but know a dude who is a welding god. I can ask him for you if you like. He is pretty reasonable . I mostly go to his house, but he will prolly come out if i ask him nicely.

[GazJevs84]

very good progress mate keep up the good work

[gtejon]

thanks guys

jags where in slough are you? i'm in langley, i'm wondering now if it was you i pulled up next to at m4 j5 roundabout a while back, i'd have been in an ontime lorry. i could be wrong but the car looks very similar to yours.

[Jags C20LET]

Pretty much central slough, prolly just around the corner from you actually!.....PM me (once ive deleted some messages) if you wanna hook-up and have a chat.


Ps. merry xmas to all y'all.

[Jags C20LET]

Sorry mate....inbox NOW cleared

[astramad]

that nice vauxhall foam does wonders for tin worm!
keep up the good work

[gtejon]

soooooorted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

been having a chat yesterday (friday) with a chap i work with who is a dab hand at welding ..... reeeesult!!! :D

so he's going to pop round after new year etc is done and dusted and weld my car up for me, which is a weight off my mind.

i better start sorting the engine out ready to go back in :o

[Graham]

Car looks pretty good just keep the end picture in your head I did a few years back when I had welding done in my engine bay and sill and arches and floor and.....


PS was the cup of tea for the car? :D

[gtejon]

yes mate me and the car are heavy tea drinkers ;)

[Harvey]

Your drivers side steering rack mount and near side chassis doesn't look as bad as mine was. Had mine all welded up now and just need a bit more doing before she's getting a full respray...inside!!!

[gtejon]

Your drivers side steering rack mount and near side chassis doesn't look as bad as mine was. Had mine all welded up now and just need a bit more doing before she's getting a full respray...inside!!!

yeah to be honest it's 10 x better than i was expecting too.

the chappy thats going to weld it is sure it won't take a great deal to do it.

i'm keen to try strengthening the whole pedalbox/rack/bulkhead area somehow so it doesn't go again, i read somewhere about putting some sort of flange on the n/s bulkhead but am not sure quite the best way to achieve this with the best results.

any pics of mods on the bulkhead to strengthen the rack would be appreciated, if not pics a detailed discription will do ;) :cool:

thanks you lot :)

[Harvey]

As I had my roof skin swapped over to a none sunroof version my bodyshop guy used some of the old skin to make extra box sections to the bulkhead area, don't think it'll be going anywhere now
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/harvey.emsley/GTE%2016v/body%20shop/PC210007Medium.jpg

A few more pics here http://photobucket.com/albums/v214/harvey.emsley/GTE%2016v/body%20shop/

[gtejon]

today i thought it was about time i got the seats and carpet and the centre console out of the car so we can hopefully get it welded over the next couple of weekends (hopefully, depending on the blokey thats welding the car for me) so here's a few updated pics of the inside of the car.

seats out

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/frontstripped.jpg

centre console out and also the front carpet out

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/frontfloor.jpg

rear carpet out (thought i may as well clean the carpets out of the car as this would be easier)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/rearfloor.jpg

urrrrghhh more soggy horrible spongey stuff

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/foamystuff.jpg

passenger footwell

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/passengerfootwell.jpg

drivers footwell

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/driverfootwell.jpg

tiny crack in the bulkhead just below steering rack mounting plate

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/bulkheadcrack.jpg

after removing some of the seam sealer i found a bit of surface rust and a bit more flaky rusty metal

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/bulkheadengbay.jpg

the fella thats welding it up should be popping over tomorrow to see the extent of the rust. hopefully then we should have a better idea of what needs doing (as i still don't really have a clue :rolleyes: )

[daz_gte_16v]

today i thought it was about time i got the seats and carpet and the centre console out of the car

theres always room my way for the carpet and epecially seats my way if ur trying to make space ;)

lookin good so far, hoping the welding goes good, better to get it all done properly now like u are than suffer again in the future!!

good luck!

[gtejon]

welding done finally!!!

had plates welded up into the area around the o/s rack mount and seam welded the original plate (rack mount) to the bulkhead also plated the o/s chassis and stitch welded quite a bit of the engine bay for added strength.

got to source some parts now for the rest of the putting back together process, should start bolting bits back in next weekend.

will get some pics of the welding some point this week and post them. everything has been seam sealed to stop any moisture getting in so the welds won't be that obvious in the pics.

[gtejon]

i have decided that this will probably be the first and last car i rebuild completely! after having the welding done very poorly back in jan/feb time i lost all my motivation with my champ, i just couldn't be bothered at all. weekend after weekend went by and nothing happened to the astra and the more time that went by the less i could be bothered to do.

anyway there is a silver lining to this very black cloud hanging over me, in the shape of my 1979 mini, i stuck it on ebay and sold it for just under £1500, and then it struck me, someone i used to work with's son used to have a mk2 that was welded up and rebuilt with an let and 6 speed box, he also runs his own small garage locally and as i work for a recovery company we take lots of good paying work to him.

so yes the car has finally been back on the road,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/towed.jpg

but still minus the engine and interior, but it is in good hands now (not mine for a start :) ) apparently its getting stripped back as i'm writing this, and a pro welder/fabricator will be looking at it this week and hopefully will work his magic on it.

what with the whole de-motivation thing that i've been suffering from the last few months i haven't really been on here as it was all too depressing, but hopefully now that will change, its actually getting somewhere now and i should be able to start looking forward to driving it again and not just looking.

[astrayorkie]

good to see your getting it sorted now

[Sipo]

I was wondering where the hell you had got to! Really glad to hear of the progress being made. What sort of timescale do you expect to be looking at?

[GazJevs84]

glad you have started getting the project moving again bud

[gtejon]

well, before i lost my motivation my deadline was 21st may so i could meet you lot at santa pod for the rwyb session. obviously that hasn't happened so now i'm not thinking about it, i told the guy not to rush it, to do whatever he can in spare time etc so as to keep prices down, i spoke to him on thursday and he told me that he was coming in over this weekend especially to get mine stripped right back again for this welder to look at. i can relax now though coz this guy is good with mk2 16valves, and at least i can say its getting somewhere now. hopefully i'll have another update this week.

i must say that pic i took of it being towed is slightly annoying, i had to follow him all the way to the garage and all i kept thinking was, i should be driving that bl00dy thing, not following it!

[traffman]

glad its going back on track, i know what its like to be depressed about your car, i hardly posted on any forums until fairly recently.

[bigdrifter]

Know that feeling very well- I lose motivation very easily at times and find it very difficult to be bothered to do anything. Good to see its getting back on track now

[gtejon]

to be honest it just took the boot up the ar5e to get my old mini sold, 4 cars is too many cars to own at once so now 1's gone and a friends lad is buying 1 of my cheap fiestas off me i can focus my efforts back into the astra and hopefully drive it again in the not so distant future.

[gtejon]

yey, some news, my engine bay is all welded up now and hard as a rock, nice! its taken a while but it's getting there slowly. i'm hopefully getting my mates brother to paint the engine bay ready for the engine to go back in, and hopefully in the next few weeks i'll have a coscast head coming my direction off an f plater thats been kicking around for ages (the engine is the only bit worth taking). which will be good as i can rebuild the engine before the cars ready. also now i have a donor gte for spares that i'm currently ripping apart as quick as possible. i got to sell my 2 fiesta's and strip this gte and i'll be back to a more manageable ammount of cars, 2 instead of 5! nightmare!

hopefully more news soon :)

[daz_gte_16v]

good to hear she is moving along, not heard from u in ages, will be lush when shes back on the road, urs was the first pics i saw of a champ and looked lush, good luck for the rest of the project!

[Jags C20LET]

.........about time too!!!

[astrayorkie]

:thumbsup: good to see things are moving again

[Dale]

any more recent pictures of the work being done!

[Sipo]

Good to see some progress Jon, stick with it :)

[vauxmad]

come on lets have an update!!!

[GazJevs84]

nice to see some progress with this

[gtejon]

hi peeps, i got a bit of an update. i've had a lot of delays 1 way or another but i've just loaded the champ onto a lorry ready to got to the bodyshop 1st thing tomorrow (saturday) morning :) i'll take some pics in the morning in daylight of the rust, and boy there's loads :( in fact it looks like i'm taking it to the scrapyard, but hey ho the guy doing the work is keen and good so hopefully this part will go a little smoother than the rest of it has done. another update soon and some horrible pics.

[mick g]

Plenty of pictures would be good:)

[bigdrifter]

Glad to hear you sticking with it, bring on the pics

[gtejon]

here we go then, i hate looking at these pics!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop003.jpg

^ this is the paint a friends bro did on the engine bay, monkey job so now got to be done again!

and the rest speak for themselves really....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop009.jpg

n/s rear arch

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop008.jpg

and from the inside. o/s much the same.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop010.jpg

n/s sill

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop011.jpg

n/s lower wing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop013.jpg

and behind the wing below rear washer bottle

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop014.jpg

nice rims!!! might leave them on when its done lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop015.jpg

both inner wings at the front are corroded so they need to be sorted and where the o/s wing bolts on behind the front bumper is quite rotten.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop017.jpg

the mini in the background was heavy! a slightly pearled mauve/silver mk1 pick-up mmmmmm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/carjustbeforebodyshop004.jpg

and the n/s sill.

andy the painter tells me he probably won't get it started for another week but i should have it back in about 6 weeks, so i got to sort out 3 garages now rather quickly and find all the bits i need for it to go back together and rebuild an engine. i also seem to have wound up with a shed-load of spare parts inc a rear bumper and boot spoiler in bordeaux red if anyone is interested. hopefully another update here fairly soon. :)

[gtejon]

a little update for you. my extremely long term project is still going, slowly but surely. the car is almost rebuilt except for rear quarterlight window rubbers which i'm struggling to locate, looms in, dash is in, carpets are in, seats are in, glass is in except for rear quarterlights, c20let sourced, stripped and fully rebuilt with a rebore, new pistons, polished crank, new core plugs, skimmed block, skimmed and pressure tested coscast head, valves removed and inspected, cleaned and re-lapped, new crank seals, new oil pump, new hydraulics and all new gaskets. steering rack needs to be fitted, master cylinder needs to be found (i've lost it, don't ask how coz i don't know), brake pipes need to be re-attached, i need a 2wd conversion kit for the f28 gearbox and the engine needs to be bolted together and fitted which with some help from my next door neighbour will hopefully happen sometime in the next couple of months, if i can source the few parts that i need to get. i do however need a wiring guide for an let into a mk2 as i haven't got a clue, and i believe i need to modify the rear engine mount too. am off next week and should be tinkering a bit, so will get some pics. you never know it may see tarmac by the end of the summer..............we'll see.

[mick g]

Hi mate, I replied to your post on MIG last night about the seals.Vauxhall dont have them but the Daewoo seals are the same, part no; d90186653 & d90186654.. Its worth ringing round dealers to see if they have any old stock as I found one that way... You can get them from Germany at £350 a pair so im told

[richie00boy]

Wiring guide used to be in members section but it got ripped off and sold on ebay by somebody unscruplous. Might be worth sending Allen/Steve a PM to see if they can send it to you.

[gtejon]

thanks mick, thats a help, i will leave the germany lead as a last resort for that money i think and try daewoo/chevrolet dealers.
richie thanks for that will pm them, i had a wiring guide and lost it.

[gtejon]

bloody hell, its nearly a year to the day that i posted on this thread last lol, i should change the name to extremely long term project!!! its been a while now since the car came off the road but it is still in existence even if it hasn't seen the light of day let alone the feel of rubber on tarmac for a very long time. its getting there slowly now, the turbo's not going to happen unfortunately as money does not allow for me to go this direction anymore (misses wants a holiday and a new car and i have a child now that apparently needs my money more than i do) so an xe is going back in, its going to be an everyday car so that maybe for the best. over the last month or 2 i have tried to accumalate all the bits and pieces that have been lost/borrowed and not returned so with any luck the car should be in an motable condition fairly soon. my cavalier is sacrificing its engine and either going to the great scrapyard in the sky or being sold engineless, i also have an f20 with lsd (again from the cav) going in. it will be nice to have a pretty much original champ in a mint condition on the road in time for its 20th birthday in august.

[astrayorkie]

wow jon long time .

good to see you have stiil got it. was thinking a while ago how you got on with this.

[neilb1798]

looking good the hard work will pay off lovley car you getting rid of the champion wheels

[gtejon]

hey liam, long time no speak mate. yea the cars still alive, she be out again this year. i'm just waiting to mot another car to get me around whilst i rape my cav of its engine. neilb champ wheels are staying mate, am going for the original look! i should really put some pics up but i'm so lazy, its looking good can't wait till its all together again!!!

[astrayorkie]

nice one should come for a meet when it's together. get some pic's up ya lazy git lol

[gtejon]

yea mate will do, am trying to get a mates mk1 gte together as well with a redtop, will be nice to have a mk1 and mk2 running together!!!

[Danny]

Keep going John! You're doing well.

My GTE project has taken me four years so far and there's still a fair bit to do lol, but will be worth it.

If you ever do go down the turbo route type "allen meade+turbo guide" or something along those lines into the search part of this site and you will find the wiring diagram you need.

I did this a while ago for Astrayorkie and the guide is on here it just takes a little bit of searching.

[gtejon]

My mum always used to say good things come to those who wait, well i'm saying she best be right!!!! lol. I doubt very much now the turbo will be happening, as my circumstances just don't allow for it. If i wasn't messed about so much at the beginning by retards that pretend to know what they're doing but actually don't have a clue then things could've looked a bit different, but hey ho, that's what they call life i suppose. Off to clean and heatgun my kit and trim now :-)

[gtejon]

allen meads turbo guide comes straight up on google, now i'm not leting it i found it straight away. typical. anyway a small update on my champ. my cavalier got raped for its engine and scrapped and my daishitsu taht i was given has popped a head gasket and done the head so i've been transportless for 2 weeks and have pulled out all the stops on the gte. so as of this evening the engine is in and running, the alarm and locking is sort of working, the siren isn't but thats a minor lol, track control arms have been sorted, driveshafts and cv's sorted, brake pipes replaced, ignition problems solved. all thats really left to do before the mot is an alternator belt, gearbox oil and a transponder (when it arrives), bonnet on, wings on, front bumper on, front wheels on, cat replacement pipe on, jack the back end up, replace complete rear brakes, remove rear bumper to connect fog lights (which like a retard i forgot to do) and number plate light. tracking will need adjusting and then mot. fortunately my mot tester lives next door so he can look at it before i move it off the driveway. i can see the light at the end of the tunnel finally, and i tell you what if a car ever gets to the stage where it needs this ammount of work doing again i'm going to scrap it and buy another one!!!!! lol. i'll try and post some pics up soon as i've not posted any for ages.

[gte malin]

Credit to you to keeping at it after all the set backs but by the sound of it your deffinatly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel well done to you

mark.

[gtejon]

legal and back on the road!!! still a few nigglies to sort out, but what a buzz i'm getting having her back on the tarmac! i'll really have to post some pics up. its been as manic 4 weeks getting it finished off. the misses got the arse for spending every hour of daylight out on the drive way.

[astrayorkie]

Bring it to vauxhall live at castle combe circuit next week 7th aug .me and danny are going so more than welcome !

[gtejon]

i would mate but we're away for the weekend next weekend.

[Davey J]

legal and back on the road!!! still a few nigglies to sort out, but what a buzz i'm getting having her back on the tarmac! i'll really have to post some pics up. its been as manic 4 weeks getting it finished off. the misses got the arse for spending every hour of daylight out on the drive way.

I am having that problem with mine at the moment. She seems to be unable to see that me condensing the fleet down to one is going to have long term benefits for both of us because right now it is taking up my spare time. I never moan when she spends 3 hours in a salon though.

[gtejon]

I am having that problem with mine at the moment. She seems to be unable to see that me condensing the fleet down to one is going to have long term benefits for both of us because right now it is taking up my spare time. I never moan when she spends 3 hours in a salon though.

lol thats the way of the woman unfortunately! she's moaned at me for the best part of 5 years that the car will never get done, so when i do finally pull my finger out to get it done she moans about that. i honestly believe that the subject of the moaning is immaterial its just that they have to moan about something lol. all i need to do now is sell my let engine and fix and sell the old daihatsu sportrack currently parked on my front lawn, then all she's got left to moan about is her car, but being as we can't afford to replace that yet moaning will get her nowhere.

[gtejon]

ok so i finally got round to uploading some pics, here the back windows have finally been fitted after a long time finding some half decent rubbers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/012.jpg

interiors back in
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/022.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/019.jpg

its starting to look like a car again now!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/024.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/025.jpg

[gtejon]

next was the plastic trim. soapy water, scotch pads, elbow grease and some bumper treatment and wow what a difference!!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/054.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/053.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/055.jpg

[gtejon]

i didn't actually get any pictures of the engine going back in as it pi55ed me off so much i was close to beating it with a hammer, it was in and out 3 times due to threads being knackered on the gearbox. but it went in in the end and here's a few pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/073.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/072.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/070.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/071.jpg

my mate dean above who has a mk1 gte with an xe in, we got to get his on the road now.

i also seem to still have a bootful of parts, i'm really hoping at this stage that some of it isn't needed

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/074.jpg

[gtejon]

wings and bonnet on, n/s wings not the best and doesn't line up with the bonnet overly well, i will try to adjust it but i'm not holding my breath. bloke that sorted the bodywork was a lot of an arse!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/007.jpg

complete new brakes on the back end, and new braided hoses all round (no pics) but brakes are now bled and the wheels are on. time for a maiden voyage around the green, this is the 1st time the car has moved under its own steam in 4 3/4 years!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/011-1.jpg

just making sure it doesn't ditch out on the kerb

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/012-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/015.jpg

[MK2-JOHN]

Very nice mate, i wish mine looked that good, are you putting the skirts & graphics back on?

[gtejon]

mot'd taxed and insured

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/001.jpg

kits on

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/012-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/011-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/009-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/007-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/gtejon/010-1.jpg

so we're n ow at the present day, those last few pics were taken this evening. there's still a few bits left to do, bump strips and champion stickers need to go back on, the paint still needs a good mop and polish hopefully as soon as i get paid in a couple of weeks. i'm sure there's more bits and pieces that i've forgotten but for now its as good as done.

[cthomas443]

Looks the dogs bollocks, well done for sticking with it.

[G.TERI.E]

looking good m8 well done m8.

[dancedj]

Well done mate some major surgery but looks amazing - so will ask you for advice on mine as I want the engine out for the bay to be done as some minor rust creeping in !!! PS I have some Grill badges for Sale LOL!

[gtejon]

i'm completely out of funds at the moment, i have an old daihatsu sportrack to sell and a rebuilt let bottom end, hybrid turbo, loom and ecu thats all got to go. when i get paid next week i'll get the paint sorted, i'm not completely satisfied at the moment (but then are you ever completely satisfied???) but he's going to take the car in for a day and hopefully work his magic and put a smile on my face again. then the side graphics and the bump strips will be refitted. as much as i like the clean look with them off i always wanted the car to be mint and original so they have to go back on. i'm away this weekend so bhopefully next weekend for that and then i can get some more pics up. i also need to replace both side repeaters (not a massive job), maybe replace the fuel pump, refit the plastic trim in the front arches (no point doing that until the repeaters are done) and eventually get round to replacing the fuel tank (its sucked itself in) but that won't be just yet! i'm also going to run what you brung it in october just to see how it performs, and rolling road it to see what power its pushing, the downside to both of these is the other cars i'll be with are 300+ bhp subaru's, so i will lose dismally!!! but i will have the rarer car :-) i might try and drag my mate up there with his mk1 gte with an xe, just so i have some sort of competition and don't just spend the day getting blown away lol.

[gtejon]

Well done mate some major surgery but looks amazing - so will ask you for advice on mine as I want the engine out for the bay to be done as some minor rust creeping in !!! PS I have some Grill badges for Sale LOL!

i have loads but they all looked quite worn and scratched, but i found a decent 1 at my mums today and it is now fitted! got to have a gte badge on it :-) and as for advice, don't send it to the same tw4t that i sent it to near sandwich in kent, and don't leave it for 5 years before getting it back on the road. i've missed my car big time, to the extent that i actually dreamt about having it back on the road and then waking up to a pile of poo out on the drive lol. its been 8 days back on the road now, its used every day and i still have to look out of the window to just double check i'm not still dreaming!!! :-)

[dancedj]

Meant to ask where did you get the rear window rubbers from as I am planning a full strip down re-spray - my champion is sat in a farm yard currently waiting for me to have all the polybushes done & new bilsteins put in & some new EBC Grooved & drilled front & rear from Courtneys to go on then booking it in for full works in a body shop. New bonnet & tailgate to go on it too - missing it already!

[gtejon]

Meant to ask where did you get the rear window rubbers from as I am planning a full strip down re-spray - my champion is sat in a farm yard currently waiting for me to have all the polybushes done & new bilsteins put in & some new EBC Grooved & drilled front & rear from Courtneys to go on then booking it in for full works in a body shop. New bonnet & tailgate to go on it too - missing it already!

well hopefully your bodyshop will do a better job than mine did! i'm still having issues with my n/s wing not sitting in line with the bonnet and the door :-( i also take it you've read the thread on here about the front polybushes and the wear they cause to the front chassis? if you haven't then you need to! as they can do a lot of irreversible damage! rear window rubbers aren't available any more for the mk2 and the daewoo nexia, i just had to hunt around for a decent looking set on a mk2 being broken. (the w4nker that sprayed my car bent mine up when removing them) i took a close mate of mine who used to be a windscreen fitter and he everso carefully cut them out with a long knife and lots of glass spray so the knife didn't get stuck, he then cleaned them up with a very sharp blade and glued them into my car for me. the rear screen rubber isn't available anymore either and i had the same friend make 1 up out of a universal window rubber and bonded into place, this looks fine i don't think you could tell the difference to be honest. oh by the way windscreen glue is extremely good at sticking the sideskirts back on and getting a nice seal, providing you never want to take them off again lol.

[gte nutter]

well done dude car looks amazing great job

[ag51bye]

saw this flying up the m4 on sunday getting off @ colnbrook. looks mint!

[gtejon]

saw this flying up the m4 on sunday getting off @ colnbrook. looks mint!

Yup that would be me. Thanks for the comments, but the rear arches are already rotting out again. The w@nker that did the work to my car really pulled my pants down with this. Shame really because it should have been mint!!! I have all new suspension coming to be fitted hopefully by the end of the month -35mm all round as opposed to the 60/40's that's on there now, the ride in it is ridiculous, especially with the roads in such a state nowadays, and as its my daily driver and got my 2 year old strapped in the back most of the time plus the fact i'm now 32 i need a little more comfort back in my life :). I'm hoping that with all new suspension, new 195/50 15 tyres (which are 195/45 15 at the mo), strut top mounts, bottom arms, a new exhaust gasket between the manifold and cat replacement pipe and some powersteering additive it should change the driving of the car completely. My n/s/f shock is now so knackered i can't accelerate at all as the wheel doesn't stay in contact with the road for long enough between bumps to put any power down lol. Ford Fiesta power all this week :(