My GTE 16V Progress

[Astra Dan]

At last, the major bodywork is complete. Both arches replaced and a patch on the rear driver's sill and passenger spring mount. Fresh MOT on Saturday, ready for the next year in my ownership.

The pics:

As it arrived:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild1.jpg
Very good interior, despite 140k miles:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild24.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild25.jpg

Un-molested engine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild7.jpg

Faded, very rusty, but drove OK. Except that the ABS cut in at low speed braking.

Arch details:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild2.jpg

Sills:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild5.jpg


Slightly grotty, but solid. So off it went to Station Bodyshop for about 8 years. Well OK, it was 3 weeks but it felt like a century. Restoration begins:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild4.jpg

Inner arches not too bad (i.e. still exist).

Ready for primer etc:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild9.jpg

Painted:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild11.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild10.jpg

As it left the bodyshop (I'd painted the wheels myself by this point):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild12.jpg

Quick mince over to John's (Dave (whitevan)'s dad) for Benn to mop the faded bits and time to pose with John's new Champion beaut, Dave's 52k mile minter and John's old 8V:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild13.jpg

Back home, the rebuilding commences, starting with a the skirts. These rear bits with the proper Vaux clips was surprisingly satisfying:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild14.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild15.jpg

Whilst Benn gets the body work looking like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild16.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild17.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild19.jpg

Using this stuff:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild18.jpg

Enough for the day, we went for some mince pics. These are the pics that will make Rusty (previous onwer) cry. Unless he's cold and dead inside:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild22.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild21.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild20.jpg

One of the best bottoms in the business:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild23.jpg



I'm dead chuffed. the car drives very well, although I've not been for a proper drive yet. IT still has original suspension components at the moment. I don't plan to lower it, but some Bilstein blacks are on the cards, along with new arms, joints, etc. It still has the standard exhaust, including the cat! I don't mind loosing the cat, but I like the standard rear box and tail pipes, but as these are £110+VAT from Vauxhall Trade Club, I'm gonna try and remove this one and clean/ paint it.

Cost breakdown:

Initial purchase: £175 (Crazy, crazy man!)
Cambelt, rollers, water pump: £110
Arches, re-spray etc: £400
Two Firestone tyres: £60
Remote locking kit: £20
Total: £765.

Not too bad I think. As said, the car has 140k dead on. It came with an obscene amount of bills from Vauxall, with the service book all stamped up. It even had the manufacturer's specified 100k service at about £400! I've always wanted one, and now I have.

Just need a new bumper trim with towing eye cover and a wheel centre. Got a new bonnet lined up. Oh, and the ABS fault was due to a cracked ABS ring on the CV. Swapped for a good spare, sorted!

[aled2006]

nice car thats what i want mine to look like after ive resprayed mine

[Danny]

Good work fella. :applause:
Nice to another GTE saved from extinction.
One of my favourite colours for the GTE is red as well, so nice one.

[rhydgte]

Excellent work Dan, ben truly is a 'shiney shiney guy' lol

[James C]

Nice - engine has done a similar milage as my new one - is / was the sump really oily. I've not driven it since sunday when I changed the oil. Noticed it was really dirty but didn't start to clean it up.

It has left a smattering on the drive but its not in any localised place.

[rhydgte]

Show me an XE or 8v sump that doesnt leak lol

[astravanmk2]

Show me an XE or 8v sump that doesnt leak lol


LMAO aint that the truth. Cracking looking motor mate keep up the good work :D

[James C]

Too true - i'll have to tell my dad that. He was lucky enough to own a Mk2 was it was only a couple of years old so he hasn't experienced it himself

Hahahaha

[James C]

Back to Dans car, which really looks the business i might add!

If you haven't had a proper spat in it yet what are your feelings performance wise compared to the starmist?

[traffman]

That looks superb, just like the car in the 16valve brochure.

[Ian T]

Very nice job Dan. Must have been mates rates, those costs were very reasonable.

Hope to see it sometime, maybe at a Westerham meet?

Ian.

[mking]

that looks fresh as a daisy mate, well done i like it :thumbsup:

[Astra Dan]

Hope to bring it to some meets, yeah!

Thanks for all the replies and positive remarks. Just to make it clear, only the rear wings have been resprayed, I wouldn't hope (or want, probably) a full re-spray for £400. The rest is, as far as we can tell, original paint, so some credit to the previous owners I guess!

Um, I've not owned a Starmist, but obviously it flies compared to my mk2 (1.3) and my mk3 (2.0i 8V).

Been driving it quite a bit today. It's only managed 95 miles to £20,although the plugs are nice and light brown, so I don't think it's over-fuelling. Will monitor the MPG, I would expect to get near 30MPG.
Also one of the track rod ends broke the other day, so replaced both today and got the tracking reset, much better.

Next on the list is to re-wire the brake pad senders with the new items I got from Billing as this is the only part of the check control that doens't work. Then I need to dismantle the exhaust and replace the centre section and salvage the back box somehow. They're £110+VAT from Vaux!

[James C]

I thought that ....AKG was a starmist - my mistake.

When I first went out in my valver i was thinking whats the big deal, its not that much quicker than the GL...... how wrong I really was!

You are quite right though - a £400 full respray would be a bit dodgy I reckon.

Can you not get original looking pattern part exhaust backboxes?

I think mine is ok and I will be changing it in the not too distant future so you will be welcome to it.

My Dad does not want any more bits of exhaust in our garage!!

[Astra Dan]

Nah, AKG is/ was a good old 1.3L. Now with as many toys as a SRi :)

Cool, let me know about the exhaust.

[astrasteve23]

looking good. you going to bring it to the cheddar gorge meet?

[Astra Dan]

When's that?

[JOE-16V]

good one mate looks ace

[astrasteve23]

When's that?



http://www.astra-mk2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7734

[Sipo]

Fair play to you sir, a bargain car! Really cant believe how well the rest of the paintwork buffed up! Looks spot on 8)

[Astra Dan]

Yesterday I replaced the brake pad warning sensors. I got a pair of new Mk3 Cav ones at Billing for £3 each. They're about 200mm shorter than the GTE ones.
So I cut the broken ends off the old ones and found two of the right female sockets, on from a old Vectra one I had lying about and another was from the oil level sensor connection from a XE engine loom I randomly found.
Now the pad warning light goes out and I have a 100% working check control. :)

Also went to a local exhaust place and found Bosal still make the standard 16V back box, which sells for £56, less than half the Vauxhall price. It comes in tomorrow, but I made sure they know that if I don't like the look of it I won't buy it.

[bigdrifter]

Been trying to find a new OE spec exhaust for my 16v - does the Bosal one have the twin slash cut tail pipes do you know?

[micky taylor]

looking very nice mate, wot did you use to get it that clean??? was it all done with a buffer???? thats very shiney

[Astra Dan]

Been trying to find a new OE spec exhaust for my 16v - does the Bosal one have the twin slash cut tail pipes do you know?

The pic in the book looked identical to the GM. I'll let everyone know if it's any good. :)

[Astra Dan]

looking very nice mate, wot did you use to get it that clean??? was it all done with a buffer???? thats very shiney

Yeah, whole car gas been mopped and polished with some 3M fast cut. Then "Stage 2 Deep Crystal" was used then 2 coats of "Stage 3 Deep Crytal", both by Maguier's, applied by Benn off of MIG.

[mk2-dee]

looking goood

[Astra Dan]

Here's the rather dissapointing Bosal back box:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTEzorst1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTEzorst2.jpg

Total crap for £56 +vat. Can't say I'm really surprised I guess, but the fact they've not even bothered to weld the trim on straight is a joke. With kinda crap floating about, £110 for a GM one doesn't seem so bad...

[Astra Dan]

RANDOM DRIVE REPORT

Had a bit if time this afternoon and was going to replace the tank to pump pipe on the GTE, but realised it'd be easier if there was less fuel in the tank. And I've not really driven the GTE properly yet. So out I went to some national limit roads.

My WORD I've never overtaken that many people in one afternoon. I'm not the most 'sportiest' of drivers, as some will know, and I've not driven many fast-ish standard cars either, mainly engine conversions. But I do like a good blat and I'll overtake almost whenever possible and safe.
The GTE LOVES it. The pull from the car from almost any revs is nothing I've experienced in any standard car. Not as fast as a LET Mk3 Astra or a Nova obviously, but for something straight out of the box (it still has the cat, too) I'm amazed. Much quicker than the Leon Cupra R I drove (most dissapointing, frankly).
I actually started laughing to myself as I scudded a line of 3 cars and a van and noticed I changed UP into 5th whilst doing it, such was the ease. No wheel wobble or brake juddder, brakes felt firm and responsive. Her ass got a bit light around some corners and under heavy breaking, but black Bilsteins at the minimum are on the cards. No plans to lower, though. I think I've blown out some of the insulation in the exhaust somewhere, too. Whilst not making a classic blowing/ farting noise, it's got a real mean rasp to it now, which is actually fun.
Oil pressure seemed perfect to me, 4 straight bars (full) when thrashing, three bars when cruising in 5th and 2, sometimes 1 straight bar on hot idle. Temperature constant on 2 yellow bars. Engine sounds OK, no tapping or knocking, but there's been a funny sort of harsh noise from the bottom pulley area for a while, but I've fitted a new belt and rollers and pump, and had it apart again to check and everything seems OK to me. Belt is a smidgen tight, you can just hear it whining when hot. Well happy.

Pic:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/randomGTE.jpg

[Flashpascoe]

Looking sweet mate!! Hope my car looks as half as good as that when its done!! Shame i couldnt keep the original paint, but it was buggered and well past saving!!!

[Astra Dan]

Yeah, I think some credit is due to previous owners for the condition of the paint. I know Rusty gave a good polish ocasionally. Or at least once before this old pic I saw of it all shiney...

[micky taylor]

very good mate, i want my car mopped and cleaned now if it comes out like that!!!

[GTE16v]

Wow, that exhaust is so shite, who tried to palm you off with that Dan?

__________________________________________________ ________

Still wondering where my Signatures gone....

[Astra Dan]

Place next to Benn's work.

Been playing with it again today. Had a look at the back box closely for the first time and noticed a hole at the back near the pipe inlet with some of the insulation blown out of it! It's really rusted onto the centre section, which is very closing to having a hole in it, too. Luckily the centre to cat bolts came undone, so I removed them and wire brushed and copper greased them so when I come to replacing these bits it'll be easier.

I'm going to phone the Vaux dealer in Chichester tomorrow. I have a receipt from them showing the centre pipe and back box were replaced in 2001. The back box is listed at £33.75! Gonna see if they still do it at that price.

Have a issue with the cam belt, too. When I originally changed it and the rollers, it whined like it was too tight. So I loosened it. Then it was flapping so much it made a nasty rattling/ scraping noise. So I tightened it again and to me, the tension is perfect, 90 degree twist on the longest run, etc. But the bugger still whines! I'm happier with it whining than with the amount it was flapping...

[Astra Dan]

Car had the cam belt changed by Vauxhall themselves the other week! But they ripped the hose onto the airbox and left the other jubilee clip off! The poxy belt was also too tight and it was screaming it's tits off! So I had it all to bits again and now it's OK I think. At least I got the original nearly seized rollers and belt replaced FOC. Vaux tried to say it was me who over tensioned the belt. Yeah right, a canvas and rubber belt will damage two metal bearings the size of the moon.

Anyway, I'm quite excited as I've solved one of the most annoying 'faults' with the GTE; different bloody keys! It has a different fuel cap so has two keys. Really annoys me. eBay came to the rescue, complete, INCLUDING the glove box, lock set for £19 delivered! Yes!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/Car%20Stuff/lockset.jpg

:D

[Ian T]

Nice find, that little lot looks brand new. :)

Ian.

[GTE16v]

you fitted them yet?

[Astra Dan]

Not yet. 10 mins possibly.....

[Astra Dan]

Nice find, that little lot looks brand new. :)

Ian.

Yup, think so. Both keys still have the little number tag.

Local dealer had one lockset left for a mk2, but wasn't a central locking kit (no third positon on boot lock) and no glovebox lock for £70!

[Brett]

lucky git!! dont think I have EVER seen a complete lock set go before, deffinaltly not the glovebox too!

I've only got one key for mine.....I cehated -the only locks I have left are the boot and ignition... LOL!

[Astra Dan]

That is cheating!
Technically I don't need door locks as I fitted a remote kit not long after I bought the car. So I might not fit them just yet, just the others.

[Ian T]

LOL, my GTE must have had one just before I got it (probably years before but was never used since). I got two keys, one with the tag, that fitted everything and like yours they are suspiciously cl4ean for a 16 year old car.

I was going to sell them as a set, as I always knew I was going to bin the door locks, but that would have been more hassle so I simply cut Mk4 blanks to match so that the Vectra remote stuff worked.

Shame really, because I really was in two minds over removing the door locks.

Ian.

[Astra Dan]

Mk4 door blanks?? I've been looking at these on eBay, seen there's 2 types. Found the right type of key blank, you can swap Vectra stuff in??

[Ian T]

Yep Vectra central locking (remotes, ECU and motors even) will fit.

I've put Omega motors in my doors, left the boot lock standard and now have deadlocks, which are pretty cool really, as they get over the worst weakness in the lock design.

You'll realise there are two patterns, something like 'D' and 'G'? the first letter of your lock number will tell you which, but I think you know that too. :)

Ian.

[Astra Dan]

Noice! Is the Vectra controller have the same basic wires? Brown/ red/ white, and supply etc?

[Ian T]

Yep.

Time to write a How to.

It's simple really, you need to get an ECU and a few inches of loom (both connectors) from a Vectra that just has the central locking, not the alarm.

Cut off the plug from the Astra locking relay and match the colours onto the Vectra loom plug. You'll have several wires left over, one being indicator flash output, another being the diagnostics one. Problem is that they used the same colours several times for different functions. I'll dig out the info and post it up in the How to section if you like. One wire you'll need to run an additional core into the door for is the Black/Blue, which activates the deadlocks.

Note that Cavalier motors have the same colour codes and fit the Astra doors exactly the same way as the originals, but aren't compatible with the ECU.

There are some options, if you're getting rid of the door buttons, use rear Omega motors, but you won't have deadlocks. Or use front motors but transfer the rod eye from the top of a rear motor to each front one to get rid of the slop in the long slots the front motors have as standard - essential or you get a system that can't control the lock mechanism.

I'll go dig for the wiring info.

Ian.

[Astra Dan]

Thanks Ian.

[Astra Dan]

Couple of little mods:

First is electric levelling head lights. I've had a pair of brand new headlights sitting arond for a year now. They were bought by a friend as a random buy at a steam fair for £1 each! They were odd as they were electric levelling type, no place to fit the manual knobs. One day of messing around in my parts bins I found a random motor for a headlight. Something in my brain clicked and I tried it on one of the headlights, it fitted! Great, bet I'll never be able to find another one of them. Checked the number on EPC and it said it was a comon as muck Mk3 Cavalier one. Quick trip to the local scrappie and another was bagged.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/25-10-2006012.jpg

My mk2 doesn't have the wiring, but the recently purchased GTE does! Quick look at the dash next to the immobilser thingy revealed what looked like a Mk3 Astra/ Cav levelling swtich-sized hole. Plugged one in and it lit up with the sidelights. Good start.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/25-10-2006022.jpg

Next was the relatively simple job of swapping the headlights. Took about half an hour, also renewed a couple of them plastic clips that had gone brittle after 14 years.

All plugged in:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/25-10-2006015.jpg

Amazingly, it all worked first time. Nice little bit of spec there. Total cost, less than 3 quid. Mine has headlight protectors, so they should last a while! :)

Next was a phone kit. My other cars already have them, so it's a bit annoying if the phone rings when I'm in the GTE, as I have to ignore it really. Trouble is, the bracket you can buy that doesn't require any holes to be drilled is a bit intrusive of the indicator stalk. A bit of quick thinking by Tom Williams and myself saw a quick, neat soloution:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTEPhoneKit008.jpg

Nice and neat, and totally invisible when not in use. :) Big thanks Tom!

[Addz]

Looks good! How did you wire up the batter charger wire? Ive been thinking on doing this with my phone wire and my TomTom GPS receiver wire as well. Any tips on doing this mate?

[Astra Dan]

Um, Tom W fitted the kit for me, it's his job so he does it in minutes. I think it's pretty much an adaptor loom that plugs in between the stereo and the car.

[Astra Dan]

A miniscule update.... Spot the new 'mod'?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE005.jpg

Yeah that's right, it's outside, wet and filthy! It's now my daily drive.

So the interior has changed a bit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE007.jpg

The MP3 CD head unit from the recently departed MK3 is now fitted, not too bad through the standard speakers, either. I might look at fitting some up-rated jobbies in the standard places, but I'm sure this has been done before to not much effect.
Also there's a streering lock to hopefully deter any casual joyrider types.
Keen eyes can see the Vauxhall rubber mats to protect the tailored Vaux velour mats underneath in this cruddy weather.
So far it's been 100%, starts on the button even under inches of ice. Still a little juddery when really cold, but fine when warmed a bit.

[Brett]

Upgrade to a disklock Dan, add a few kill switches here and there too. You can never be to careful IMHO!

[Astra Dan]

It has a Cat II immobiliser as well btw.

[jordangte]

Looks great mate youve done a great job there good on you! Jordan :)

[Brett]

It has a Cat II immobiliser as well btw.

Ask my brother how effective they are. They got round his in no time, was a miracle we got that car back!!

Not wanting to be a doom merchant but you really can never be to careful!

[Astra Dan]

Too true. I must get agreed value insurance as well I think.

[GazJevs84]

Looks good mate

[Astra Dan]

Post Track day report:

My GTE was thrashed for 3 sessions (about 7-8 laps over 10 minutes) at Castle Comb last Friday for my 'stag do'. It's exactly 100 miles to Combe, I came back with 1/4 of a tank left. I took it our for 2, Tom Williams gave it thrash the 3rd time and drive it very well indeed, much more progressive and altogether tidier than me!
The whole day the car didn't put a foot wrong, and ticked over to 146k miles with Tom at the helm. I was extremely chuffed with it. I abused the hell out of it, powering out of corners with the inside wheel spinning, revving right to the limiter on far too many gesr changes, all sorts of bad things. I hope this goes to show the car has been looked after most of it's life and clearly proves the engine is in good health. I think in the 2 and a bit years I've had it, it's had at least 8 oil changes.
Now I've re-connected the oil pressure sender properly, it now reads, I feel, much more accurately. Which made me panic as it wouldn't go any higher than 3 bars on the track, even when revved hard. But then I realised this is exactly what the pressure relief valve is supposed to do. On hot idle (it went up to 3 ars on the temperature guage very soon after coming off the track) it still showed one bar, with the engine quiet as anything, so I think this is perfect.

This is the rear tyre after the first session:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/Combepics200608Danvids001.jpg

I got my dad to drive home as I was very tired. He commeted on how well it drives for it's age (17 years) and considering what it has to put up with. Obviously the standard suspensions and huge tyres hampered it's abilities on the track, but I'm happy with that. As I said earlier, I don't want to be tempted to push it much further and risk crashing it. As it is it's very controllable and you can really feel when you're pushing too far. I find on the whole lowered cars give a little less feedback than I'm used to and I wonder if this is how it was intended to be.
Also the brakes are clearly not up to the task, they faded very quickly on track, but did remain useful, just about. Obviosuly the desire to keep standard wheels limits the size of the disc, so a bit of investigation into pad compounds is in order. Saying that, 95% it's on the public road and GM pads are absolutely fine for this. I did, however, notice the brake fluid has dropped about a third of the way between min and max on the reservior, not enough to trip the check control though. So although the brakes recovered very quickly and were normal on the drive home, I thought I'd investigate. Good job I did:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/Pads003.jpg

These were brand new GM pads just under 2 years ago. It came with Greenstuff pads which I changed as the brakes have never been as good after it's first track session in 2006 I think. So I've refitted the Greenstuff for now as they have similar amount of meat left and interestngly have a slot cut into them where the GM pads have cracked. So although I get no more resistance to fade using the Greenstuff, at least they stay 'safe' if you intend to go on track.

[Tony25]

Wow looks like you had some fun on the track looking at those pads :thumbsup:
Have you tried dot 5 brake fluid with the greenstuff??

[DarrenH]

good shake down and report. i think you are right on the handling comments. while lowering does give more capable cornering prowess, regards lateral grip and corner exit speeds, i think the whole package changes into "quick" rather than "safe". thats not to say it handles worse when lowered, far from it, its just you are less likely to know when the car goes beyond its mechanical grip, and youll be going faster and harder like for like, with obvious consequences.

[Astra Dan]

Exactly!
It might well get a set of either new GM shocks, or Bilstein equiv, as I think I've just found the front suspension knock I've not been able to trace. The n/s shock piston appears to have play in relation to the leg, allowing substantial movement in the wheel. In theory the shock can't be 'broken' as the oil would obviously leak out and the shock wouldn't work - it appears in good order in that repsect.
So really, the big nut must be loose allowing the shock to move in the leg, depsite a tap with a hammer and chisel through the spring to attempt to tighten it.

[DarrenH]

you wouldnt notice an oil leak because the leg is sealed, but yeah it wouldnt be damping at all.

one of the kits i had years ago actually advised putting a few ml of engien oil into the leg, to help heat dissipation !

[Astra Dan]

Wow looks like you had some fun on the track looking at those pads :thumbsup:
Have you tried dot 5 brake fluid with the greenstuff??

No, but it is GM stuff.
Next on the list might be a master cylinder swap, then a fluid change with 5.1silicon stuff.

[Astra Dan]

you wouldnt notice an oil leak because the leg is sealed, but yeah it wouldnt be damping at all.

one of the kits i had years ago actually advised putting a few ml of engien oil into the leg, to help heat dissipation !

One (of the many) reasons I've not played with the suspension is the very good order it's in. Both wishbone ball joints are the original ones, still rivetted to the wishbones with no damage to the rubber boots. It definitely passes the one rebound push test on the shockers. I'm not suggesting the car was built with it's current wishbones or shocks, but I think it's GM stuff, possibly fitted when it had it's crazy 100k main dealer service.

Yeah, I put a few shots of oil into a leg before fitting a new shock. I'm not totally convinced it's needed, but decided it can't hurt.

[DarrenH]

deffo. i commented similarly a few days back in my thread about endurance and reliability of GM versus pattern ball joints.

only trouble is i'm on the arse end of a 2 week wait for a new offside track rod balljoint, and today vaux dealer said they are NLS :rolleyes: the actual computer is showing stock in germany. yet that have drivers side in stock in UK?

[Astra Dan]

Are they not they same as Mk3 Astra/ Cavalier/ Calibra ones? LH 90369704, RH 90369705.
Twenty quid a pop!

[DarrenH]

different thread :(

[Ian T]

TBH I'm pretty happy with the whole wishbones I bought off eBay... Nexia ones. They're rivetted like Vx ones and I can't see anything different about them except for the castle nut and pin being replaced by a nyloc.

We've already had that conversation though. :)

Ian.

[DarrenH]

actually i've only been told that

[Astra Dan]

different thread :(

Well cover me in eggs and flour and bake me for 40 minutes. I never knew that.
What about pinching some steering arms from a scrapper?

[Astra Dan]

actually i've only been told that

Ah. I shall look in my older TC book tomorrow I keep in my desk at work to compare part numbers then. Newer one here doesn't list Mk2 Astras.

[DarrenH]

that is an option though, mk3 arms

i know the part numbers are different mk2 and mk3 platform

it was somewhere on here that said the threads were different pitch

[Astra Dan]

Strewth. Knowledge added to massive current armoury.

[DarrenH]

wonder why though, maybe they thought it would sieze less. but were obviously wrong lol

[Astra Dan]

Smaller pitch = finer adjustment?
Or, more likely, somehow they could save 0.0001p per car made by switching suppliers or some rubbish.

[Astra Dan]

This crack was present when I bought the car:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE011.jpg

As was this bit of grot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE022.jpg

And this poo looking bit on the roof:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE017.jpg.

Along with the new 'Combe Crack':

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE012.jpg

...it was tme for some bodyshop loving. As usual, it went to Station Bodyshop of Fareham, to have the roof and pillars painted and a new screen fitted.

Mmmmmm:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE035.jpg

Ahhhhhhh:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE036.jpg

And this area had a slight dusting of surface rust:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE037.jpg

Whilst I was in the mood, I thought I'd investigate something brought to my attention by DarrenH (0ddball). Whilst doing the breather mod after being concerned about the amount of oil in his inlet, he found the small breather to the throttle bottle was jammed up with sludge. So packed in he needed to drill it out, but found the larger bore size meant the idle was too high after. I wondered if a blocked pipe could have a reverse, or at least detrimental, effect.

Removing the fitting (19mm ratchet spanner is ideal):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE027.jpg

I found if you removed the alternator belt and pushed the alternator back, you can feed the piped to the fitting out and above the engine to work on them easier.

Krunk!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE030.jpg

I used a lot of carb cleaner and some 0.8mm welding wire to clear it out. Took a while and a lot of soaking and probing.

This is how my inlet looks:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE032.jpg

So this is how the car stands, and how it will be at Billing, after a bit of treatment from Benn, Master of Wax. :)

[DarrenH]

good stuff !!

do you mind me asking how much the screen was ? mine looks like its been used as target practise by air rifles.

[Astra Dan]

It was £75, but I was expecting £65 (I had one fitted to my Mk3 last year and I'm sure it's the same) with a top tint.

[Ian T]

That's a good price for a screen, plus your paint looks good. :)

Up here it's closer to £100 for a top tint screen.

Ian.

[GTE16v]

Arn't your screens covered by yout insurance policy?

[Ian T]

Arn't your screens covered by yout insurance policy?

Even if it is, the excess these days is normally £60 and then you have the stigma of having made a claim. Always better in my eyes not to claim for things you can afford to fix yourself at little cost. :)

Ian.

[InnesKongSX]

The mk2 and the mk3 i had ,the track rod ball joints were exactly the same..maybe because they were both lower spec models. But its a mk2 passengerside one ive got on the SX:)

Innes

[Astra Dan]

GTE Fail!

Well, not really, but as some of you know (from my constant whining) that my GTE didn't make Billing this year.
The full story is that I was driving along on the A43, the last of our eight car convoy (as usual). The traffic got quite thick, as did the pelting rain. I had the rear quarter windows open and I was vaguely aware of a funny schreeching noise that I thought was one of the many lorries around me. 10 mins later in slightly freer moving traffic I was just thinking about how I could still hear this noise that the guy next to me was making a motion for me to undo the window. "I think you thrust bearing has gone mate!" he exclaimed. "Oh, well she's going ok, all my gagues are good!" I replied. "Yeah **** it, just keep going!" he shouted. So I booted it off and the noise sort of quietened down. As I got in front of the van, there was a clear bit of road and a layby, so I thought I'd pull in for a look. Sure enough, the nearer the engine got to idle, the louder the noise got until it was almost painful. Popping the bonnet didn't really help me locate the noise. My worst fear was a cam belt roller starting to seize so I switched off (see page 2 onwards for problems I had with cam belt rollers).
So I admitted defeat, and in the first time in 12 years of mostly Vauxhall ownership, I called the recovery. Whilst waiting I took the airbox off and both belts so I could run the engine again. The noise had gone. Hmm. Not quite so bad then. So I gave the alternator pulley a flick, but it didn't move. Then I realsed what had happened, but I don't know why.
Anyway, I got the GTE recovered home whilst Sharon cowered under the gazebow as, typically, I had the tent and bedding in the GTE. Got back, swapped the bits into the Scania and set off again. So I've spent £70 on fuel before even arriving at Billing! I got there at about 9PM in the dark and rain. The Saab, though, is an absolute mile muncher. I didn't feel like I'd just done a 125 miles trip at all. Such a well built car. Didn't really get over 35MPG though.

Pics and a vid:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE047.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/th_GTE050.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/?action=view&current=GTE050.flv)

Then, I spotted the problem:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE049.jpg

Annoying, as I had the brushes and bearings replaced by a guy at work who does them quite often just after I bought the car. In retrospect, I wish I'd just pushed on and fitted a replacement at the show. There were loads for sale, although fitting is a pain as it has to come out from underneath.
Shame, as I'd just fitted this awesome period option, thanks to pitsoppete:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE044.jpg

Superb chunky Irmscher wheel with cool touch sensitive horn pushes. Was a dealer option of the time. :cool:

[DarrenH]

delco :yuck:

hoepfully its all sorted now ??

and pmsl at the video, the slasher movie sound effects, and the cat coming into shot to investigate the distress call

[mick g]

Spot of grease needed Dan;) ;)

[Ronin]

PMSL at the cat!

[Astra Dan]

Oh yeah, I had a spare Delco (eew) in stock so stuck that on. It's done a fairfew miles I think, but seems to work OK. Just need the car workiing for the wedding a week on Sunday, then it'll probably go into hibernation.

[Dangerous Pete]

nice steering wheel my old buddy.

pmsl at terry the terminator learning about shagged french car parts so early on his his young life..

[Astra Dan]

Being the inquisitive soul I am, I took the buggered alternator into work so the guy who rebuilt it could have a look (he's just moved house so I didn't expect him to rebuild it again).
He said the Delco ones aren't as good as the Bosch ones (no surprise) as the collar bearing behind the fan is simply a interference fit and this is all that controls endfloat. The bearing at the other end is just a roller bearing. Bosch ones have a disc that holds the shaft and bolts to the case, a bit like a camshaft, to control endfloat.
So I took it to bits, simply 3 bolts. The bearing had slipped in the front case, so I pushed it back using a socket in the vice. Then to keep it there I tried to peen the edges over. Being cast aluminium, the smaller bits just broke, but a few will do the job I think.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE052.jpg

Once you pop the back off, the brushes spring out, so you have to stuff them back in then slide a 2.5mm drill bit in through a hole in the case to hold them there (just to the left of the rear roller bearing):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE057.jpg

Then once the two halves are back together simply pull the drill bit out.
Now we have clearance again!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE059.jpg

And it rotates freely and is good to go again I reckon.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/th_GTE060.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/?action=view&current=GTE060.flv)

So I might swap the alternators back again, then fit new bearings and brushes to the manky one currently on the car and keep as a spare.

[DarrenH]

nice job, dont see why that cant go back into service, its structurally sound and generates electricity !

[Astra Dan]

Only a small update.
I drove myself to my wedding on Sunday 27th July:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/ourwedding270708303.jpg

You can also see Dave (GTE16v)'s behind.
The 1.3 Mk2 was Sharon's choice for her bridal car:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/mix351.jpg

Our cake!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/ourwedding270708377.jpg

The poor Saab (which did most of the running about for the wedding) stayed at home.
The bridemaids made do with a Mk2 Jag.

Also the GTE passed it's MOT Tuesday with one small advisory which was n/s headlamp aim low. Probably due to it being shoved up the other Mk2's arse at some point...! :s

[Tony K]

That Irmy steering wheel is filthy, it would look soooo much better on mine.

I may have to get me one.

[Astra Dan]

Swap it for your wheels! lol

[DarrenH]

hey congrats you two !!!

p.s thats some mk2 dedication there having a convoy for your wedding vehicles !!

[Tony K]

Swap it for your wheels! lol

I think you know the answer to that one already.:grinning-smiley-043

[sri kid]

:grinning-smiley-043 Excellent a credit to you chap !!

[Astra Dan]

Ooo gimmie!

Today, thanks to Grak I collected possibly one of the hardest to find peices of 16V kit:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/UndertrayCollection7--9-2008030.jpg

It's in pretty good nick. I would have had a go at fitting by now, but we fell victim to the SatNav trap on the way, and ended up down the muddiest lane I've ever seen, whilst our SatNav actually directed us to the middle of a field! We didn't remeber to actually get pics of the bad bits, this is was the easy part:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/UndertrayCollection7--9-2008003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/UndertrayCollection7--9-2008021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/UndertrayCollection7--9-2008024.jpg

I've just spent an hour with the jetwash to get the worst off, obviously I don't want to trap any muck on the cat when I fit the undertray.

The things left I'd still like are the 15" star alloys (TonyK stylee) and a trip computer.

[Tony25]

Never seen one of them before, what’s the advantage of fitting it? Like the muddy car pics :thumbsup:

[GTE16v]

Never seen one of them before, what’s the advantage of fitting it?

it means he is catching me up on originality spec!!!

[DarrenH]

agree, i know they exist(ed), but ive only ever seen 2 in real life, one was J reg silk violet, the other was a right hand drive opel kadett gsi 16v.

it makes you wonder if every gte16v did actually leave the factory with them, because surely with the thousands of cars there would be more left kicking around ? was it an option, did vauxhall start removing them during services ?

odd !

[Jags C20LET]

AFAIK all 16v cars had one...mine deffo did (and the scrapper I bought for bits), but they aren't exactly strong and tend to get smashed and they're nearly £200 for a new one, as a result they don't get replaced.

My one off the scrapper may go on at some point, but the inside acts as a oil pan, and a very hot LET downpipe is a recipie for disaster. The best thing you can do is remove all the foam, so the oil doesn't soak in.

[GTE16v]

mine has one!!

[Brett]

I wouldnt be suprised if it was at least something to do with aerodynamics.

The motor industry was big on that in the late 80's.

[Astra Dan]

Ah yes, but I've fixed the oil leaks on mine, so she should be good. :)

Also I think there were thoughts towards quietening engines down. I think most will agree even the sweetest 20Xe is not as quiet as a 8V, I wonder if this aided in overall noise reduction? Can't think of any other reason for the foam...

[Astra Dan]

Had a trial fitment today:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting005.jpg

No idea what the scoop on the right is for.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting002.jpg

Offering up like this helped me indentify what holes are for securing the undertray.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting004.jpg

I noticed one of the bolts was still in it's clip. In fact it was rusted solid so I had to cut the head off. The factory method is spire clips with a M6x1.5 thread in. I've used ones that use a self-tapping style thread instead, simply as I bought a box randomly from eBay a while ago:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting001.jpg

I found some suitable bolts in the good old tin of random.

This is how is stands now. I slapped loads of copperslip around, slipped the clips in and did the bolts up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting009.jpg

There's STILL loads of damp mud stuck all round the fuel lines and wheelarches so it needs another good wash before I fit the tray proper.

[DarrenH]

No idea what the scoop on the right is for.

gearbox cooling i reckon

[richie kaye]

Another Quality refurb from astra dan!!!!

Cut along story short,you were the first person i ever contacted on mig about you c20 xe astra,since then ive owned a corsa 2.0 16v and an astra sport 2.0 xe.and now im after a GTE 16V

Keep up the good work!!!

[Astra Dan]

Cool. Get one, they're awesome.

[richie kaye]

Yeah im trying,looks like im going to have to sign up to every vx forum going,im gutted ive missed out on prob 3 GTE's so far,Gen 16v seem harder to get hold of than 8v at the mo???

Ive had a wannabe Astra Gsi(sport with valva xe)
so this time i want the proper original car:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[vauxmad]

i always asumed that they once had a muck tray but never seen one before!!!!!

As they come partway up the outter side of the chassis rail in the engine bay do you think if they'd have been left on most of our cars would have one less patch on then i know both of my shells have had patches along there where mud has been thrown at the seam and damp got in it.

[Graham]

Nice looking car. Hopefully mine will look like that again one day.

I got one of those engine undertrays.
Bought it off ebay last year for £10.50

[Astra Dan]

You lucky sod. Mine has "cost me a lot more than that!

The underside is still covered in mud after two hour long sessions with the jet wash and a hose:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting013.jpg

And caught in the sump fins (or where they used to be):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting011.jpg

On close inspection, it's cracked:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting024.jpg

Still it's not leaking so it's fine.

Anyway for the sake of completness, the tray has tabs at the front:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting014.jpg

That fit into slots in the lower fornt bracket (peculiar to 16V shells):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting016.jpg

Various fitted pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting022.jpg

BUT, amusingly, I've taken the freaking thing back off. I wanted to fit my re-built alternator back on as the temporary one I'd fitted sounded a bit rough and never goes above 12V on the dash, something I'd worked hard to at least partly eliminate.

For those that said earlier it's possible to change an alternator through the top: Yes, it's possible. In the same way it's possible to remove the entire engine withouth opening the bonnet. In my view, not worth the effort. It's rather tight:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/UndertrayFitting027.jpg

I did get it out, but scratched the hell out of the inner wing and broke one of the clips on the black plastic wiring tray above the injectors. OK minor stuff, but I'd changed the alternator loads of times before with causing any damage. Grr.
Anyway, wrestled the new one back in, only to discover I'd fitted the back case 120 degrees out so the wiriring didn't reach. Rather than risk messing up more stuff, I jacked the car up and took the undertray off. It's rather delicate so I've stored it in the shed till I've mananaged to get all the crud off the underside of the car.

So overall, not really worth it....... lol

[DarrenH]

tidy install there ! i always wondered what the slots were for in the lower cross member !

what did you use for the rest? just the normal expanding rivetts like wheel arch liners ?

[Addz]

Dan, I feel your pain mate, I changed my alternator last weekend too!

Tried a few times to get it out from above and the little bit that sticks out from the inlet manifold kept getting in the way, so down it went! Although that wasnt exactly easy either!

Oh and my GTE has a engine tray too! (not fitted, but it shall be going back on soon!)

[Addz]

Actually, whilst you have a photo of it, whats the purpose of the little black box with the wire sticking out of it on the back of the alternator?

[DarrenH]

its a surpressor (for radio frequency interferance) meant to stop that whining through the radio, and stop the ecu and engine sensors getting wound up

it doesnt come with new alternators, have to swap it over from the old one.

[Astra Dan]

Correct.

I've fitted it with spire clips and self tapper style 8mm headed bolts from my tray of random.

[Addz]

Ahhhh right, can these things go duff? Do you really need one? And any ideas on how much they are to replace?

Sorry to jump on your thread Dan, your GTE is looking sweet (if a little muddy!) :D

[Astra Dan]

It's possible they can go duff, but they're bascially capacitors.
No you don't really need one, it's more of a preventative thing, see what happens when you take yours off.
It's going to be a couple of quid max, IF you can still find a motor factor that sells them...

Thanks!

[DarrenH]

i've run mine without the surpressor for nearly a year, my lifters rattle on cold starts, but i dont think thats related

[Astra Dan]

Well well. A long time has passed. Not covered many miles in the GTE at all of late, but then that's how winter hibernation works!
The few times I have driven it I've been frankly amazed at it's blistering performance! I still love the distinctive sound the engine makes. It just seems to love being revved to the red line. The engine seems healthy and strong, although maybe a bit clanky when cold but it's whisper quiet when warmed up.
Otherwise, there's been a few niggles.
First on my mind was the alternator. I'd been noticing the bearing was on the move again. Not wanting to repeat my failed attempt to get to Billing last year, Sharon and I decided to do something about it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE052.jpg

In the above pic you can see the bearing that's peened in place when the altenator is assembled new. When I had it refurbished, there's no option but to push the bearing out, hence breaking off the peened bits. Normally the new bearing is glued in place, and this usually works. For whatever reason it hasn't here, and pushing it back and attempting to peen it over again hasn't worked. So, I had a plan, and out came the drills and taps.

I centre punched in three good places around the outside of the bearing and drilled through with a 2.5mm drill. Then turned it over and showed Sharon how to cut a thread.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE080.jpg

Then, back on the inside I put three 3mm screws in, with threadlock, to mechanically hold the bearing in place.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE081.jpg

That bugger aint gonna move again.

Next up was the front suspension. It's always had a wierd wobble at 40ish, that quickly goes away. Also it could be a bit rattley over bad road surfaces. I tracked this down to the pistons moving side to side in the shock absorber bodies. Through various deals I ended up with a set of Eibach springs, so I thought it'd be rude not to use them. After all, I can always change it back if I don't like it. Assuming they are -30mm springs, I made sure to mention this when the insurance renewed in February (no charge, good old HIC).
I was also reminded about how rubbish the brakes have been since it's first Combe session years ago. So while planning the susspention upgrades, I found some grooved discs from the good old eBay, and planned to fit it all with Red Stuff pads recommended to me by Pete (pitstoppete).
So, strip-down commences:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE082.jpg

The n/s outer CV boot had come loose again, seems to be a habit of late.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE086.jpg

The GTE has always been very accomodating when it's come to taking it apart. Nothing gave any trouble, I even got the track rod ends out of the legs, more to make it easier to transport them to Pete's to use his press to fit new bearings easier than anything else.

Front stuff off, with the Eibachs ready to go on. Laid out logically to keep everything on it's correct side. New discs waiting in their boxes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE083.jpg

Front legs off and bearings soaking in WD40. The o/s bearing was in very bad shape. Very rough in rotation and the seal had popped out. Surprised I hadn't noticed this grumbling or something.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE084.jpg

The circlip looked in very poor condition too and I was concerned it was going to put up a fight.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE085.jpg

As it turned out, they came out OK and popping the old bearings out and pushing the new ones in was child's play. Thanks Pete! Also tapped out the holes for the calipers and wheel bolts as they had become full of crud somehow.

So now came the fun part of building up the legs with the new shocks. After a quick trip to Benn's place, we were stocked up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE097.jpg

Had KYB recommnded to me a few times by name and they're stupidly cheap, so I plumped for them. Sharon got right on it:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE089.jpg

The beauty of a lady doing stuff up is that you know it can be undone again! Looked mightily satisfying when all together. Top mounts and bearings looked fine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE087.jpg

Slapping the new brakes on was lovely and easy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE093.jpg

Phwoar! They look like they mean business. Next up, the rear suspension. Comparison with the old and new springs:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE095.jpg

I'm wondering if these springs are uprated rather than lowering. Typically, one of the rear shocks put up a fight, so I got serious with it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE094.jpg

The rear suspension of any beam Vauxhall is dead simple as most are aware, so it was all done in no time:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE096.jpg

I'd also fitted a set of mudflaps. It had had them fitted before, so there was already holes in the front plastic underwing protectors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE072.jpg

Then, at the Spares Day in Coventry I managed to pick up a brand new rear wiper motor. Mine had the typical cracks in the cover, so we swpped them over. Removal was nice and easy. Just a case of removing the arm, then the large nut around the spindle. Then remove the boot lid trim, cut the cable ties and unplug the two wires to the connector. Unscrew the ground wire and feed wiring through.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE098.jpg

Old and new:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE099.jpg

All fitted and working lovely. I have also replaced the electric aerial becuase the reception was utterly awful. Maplins had one in stock for a reasonable £25. I've also replaced the front dash speakers with Kenwood KFC-E1052 100mm items (£20 delivered). These are a direct fit and plug straight in. The rears I found some JBL GTO6427 listed on eBay (£25) as fitting some VWs and Porsches, all being 4"x7". They aren't a direct fit as such, but as they're multi fit speakers, three out of the four holes can be used to mount them in the original spaces, so they're totally invisible and they plug straight in. Radio reception is near perfect now, and the bass is excellent! Even with the standard head unit.
Really pleased with my progress so far. Had the tracking reset, it was 3 degrees out. Doesn't look any lower to me, but the clonks and rattles are now totally gone. Just need to bed the brakes in fully to see how much, if any, they've improved.

One last thing to look at is the fuel tank. It seems to be sucking in for some reason, and I can't fill the tank past about halfway before the filling pump cuts out. If I keep trying, fuel actually spits back out of the filler neck. I've removed the filler pipes and the two thin breathers under the rear o/s arch, but as far as I can tell they're fine. There's no hiss or inward rush of air after the filler cap is removed, so I'm a bit stumped. I'll have to drop the entire tank and have a poke about I think.

[James C]

Looking good Dan.

I have the same springs and while the rears looked similer to the mk3 GSI that were on the rear the fronts are definately shorter than standard. Perhaps the Koni adjustible dampers that I have are shorter though too.

We barely had to use the spring clamps to fit the ebaichs into the carrier on the front legs.

I would say that mine sits lower than your shot of the rear above.

The handling was transformed I found. The spring rates are very much balanced.

[DarrenH]

nice update dan, and cool solution on the alternator bearing.

3 people using eibachs :D

[laney]

nice update dan, and cool solution on the alternator bearing.

3 people using eibachs :D

as above, nice work matey, im also using eibachs, lol

[Mr-G]

That disc is on the wrong way round ;)

[Gander]

That disc is on the wrong way round ;)

I was pondering that too :p

It's taken me an hour to read from start to finish but it was well worth it, it's threads like this that tempt me to sell my Cav runabout and get a GTE to use as a runabout but I can't with the Kadett sitting there waiting to be finished :rolleyes:

[Astra Dan]

Thanks.

The discs are on correctly after some thought and internet searching... :s

[untouchable]

So you changed them round then?

[Astra Dan]

The discs have straight internal slots, so they can't go on wrong.

[Benn]

That disc is on the wrong way round ;)

No they arnt, the cut out flick hot air, dust and such out as they spin. So they are fitted right.

[DarrenH]

grooves pointing towards the rear of the car, is correct imho

[Benn]

Snap Daz. Its how they are fitted to every other car, and how the makers tell you to fit them (on the box)

[Gander]

I've got a set of 300mm Black Diamond which have the grooves the other way round (To the front), A number of race cars I work on also have the grooves to the front of the car.

[himselfunknown]

Using this stuff:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTERebuild18.jpg



That Meguiars, it's a load of arse!!!!! :yuck:

[Mr-G]

I've got a set of 300mm Black Diamond which have the grooves the other way round (To the front), A number of race cars I work on also have the grooves to the front of the car.

That was my thought, pretty much every other car i have seen with grooved discs the grooves are facing the front.

[Astra Dan]

Small update. I managed to book a day on John's ramp to investigate the annoying fuel tank issue. I also found a spare tank in the shed! So I pitched up with the intention of simply swapping the tanks. You can just see in this pic the straight tank reataining strap and the tank curving up away from it:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE103.jpg

Getting the tank off is fairly simple, especially on a ramp. Simply seperate the exhaust on the join behind the 'cat' and shove it out of the way. The remove the hand brake cable. Next remove the feed, return, fill and large and small breather pipes to the tank, being prepared for some spillage.
Once the tank was out, it was obvious why I couldn't fill it much over half:

Look at the top and compare it to the other tank in the background:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE106.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE107.jpg


Behind the large filler pipe is a large diameter breather that lets the air out as you fill the tank (this is blocked off when you put the cap back on). This is welded to the inside top of the tank and is kept out of the fuel until the tank is almost totally full. As the top of the tank had been sucked down so much, this breather had been angled right down into the fuel. I'm amazed the pump was able to suck this hard and sill provide the engine with enough fuel. I have noticed no drop in performance.
Now, I obviously didn't want to simply fit the new tank only for it to be ruined, too. I checked all hoses and breathers were clear and in good condition. The only conclusion I could come to was that the pipe to the carbon cannister, or the cannister itself, has become blocked, so I've separated the pipe just after it joins and cable tied it above the tank. An earlier car without the carbon cannister would simply have this breather circle the tank at the top and it just ends, to let fumes/ expansion out, and air in when fuel is drawn out. Later on I'll extend this tube in the same way.
Amusingly, the fuel pump (which must have been having a VERY hard time!) decided to seize when I tried to re-start the car. I guess running it dry for a few seconds after sucking on the tank for months had just taken it's toll. Very kindly, John lent me his GTE Champion to get home, where I found another pump in the stores. Fitted it a few days later and it's good as gold now. The sender in the new tank works as well, which is a nice bonus!

[Yeo]

i had they exact discs on my rover turbo, and that was the way they were fitted to it and they worked perfectly. look daft pointing the other direction

[Astra Dan]

Another ***-bit of an update.

I've un-lowered it again! I just didn't like the drive, frankly. Bit crashy, bump-steery etc. And I sold the Eibachs to a guy at work (for me to fit to his car, my old mk3!)
Spring comparison:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/AstraG003.jpg

Whilst it was in bits I also replced both front brake hoses as they were an advise on the last MoT test.
Weirdly, today at the meet (first time it's moved in ages) I noticed it now sits level. The whole reason I lowered it in the first place was because it was sitting lower in the o/s, which I thought was due to a broken spring. Anyway, it's sorted. Of course, it meant the tracking needed checking again. Annoying more so as the steering wheel was actually straight for the first time in ages. So, not wanting to shell out another £20 and mess about going to a tyre place (who always use the specs of a 1.6 Mk3) I borrowed a set of tracking gauges from the legendary condiment man himself, pitstoppete.

First, one checks they read zero on a (reasonably) flat level surface:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE111.jpg

Then set them onto the rim edges:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE112.jpg

Have a kite down the little eyepiece and set the arrow onto the line:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE113.jpg

Then read off the setting in degrees and, if you want, use the wheel to convert to millimetres. A Mk2 should toe-out 1mm, plus or minus 1mm. So I set it spot on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE118.jpg

Drives much better now, with just a nice firmness over bumps. Goes round corners just the same and the steering wheel is still straight! I think that's what we call a win situation.

[Astra Dan]

As the GTE is now off the road 'till April, now is the time to do a few jobs. I haven't run it for ages, probably over a month and I gave the battery to my brother to get him out of a jam. I brought his battery back and charged it and seem to hold it. Stuck it on today and the GTE roared into life after 3 whirs instead of the usual 2. Not bad at all. I turned it around so the front is facing the bench in the garage and let it run till the fan came on a couple of time. No problems.
Next my plan is to take the inlet off and clean it all up and inspect any joining faces. This is because it runs 99% fine, but maybe a little uneven at idle and a little hesitant when driving it from cold. I'll see about getting the injectors cleaned out, or maybe buy a set already done.

So, inlet off:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE120.jpg

Behind engine reference shot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE122.jpg

No surprises here, it's all pretty straight forward and comes apart logically. A split in the large breather hose needs to be sorted. Quite pleased at the room and access to everything.

Rusty, the previous owner (bless him) obviously took the inlet off when he replaced the head gasket a few years ago. It was in the gutter and obviously not a nice job. I noticed he's had a quick clean of the inlet mating surface of the head, but not so thorough a job in the inlet itself. The old green gasket came off complete, but leaving quite a large lump of the old black gasket on the inlet:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE123.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE125.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/GTE126.jpg

I don't think it was any problem, that's the water channels and it's never leaked, but something I can sort anyway.

[Astra Dan]

Got a bit more done yesterday. Secured new nuts and studs (thanks Benn) so I thought I'd run a M8 tap down all the holes. Nothing is as nice as turning a screw in a freshly tapped hole (except for things that are nicer).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6259.jpg

New studs wound in after a clean up of the mating surface. Oooh it was nice.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6260.jpg

Next was a clean up of the inlet face. I also ran a M6 tap down any hole I could find, for completeness.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6261.jpg

I found this battery terminal brush perfect for removing the smeg in the injector holes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6262.jpg

From:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6263.jpg

To:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6265.jpg

Inlet back on with ICV replumbed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6268.jpg

Can't do much more till the injectors are fitted. I'm looking into sending these away soon to be ultrasonically cleaned and that.
In the stores I found a much nicer condition air box to AFM pipe. Mine had been ripped like that by none-other than a Vauxhall 'technician' when he totally failed to fit my cam belt properly. :mad:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6272.jpg

And some slightly better condition alternator mounting bushes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6270.jpg

Thanks to Peter and his bargain hungry fingers, I have a brand new GM doughnut pipe from the AFM to SFi box. Lovely!

[Astra Dan]

Small update. The GTE is out of hibernation and is taxed for 6 months. Refitted the newly serviced injectors. Running wise, they've made next to no difference, but at least I know I gained 4% more flow apparently! Also has new o-rings and pintle filters.
Still amazes me how quick the damn thing is. You can just see how clean the injectors are:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6295.jpg

Engine all back together with new SFI doughnut, intake hose and inlet gakset and a brand new GM battery (not shown).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6293.jpg

At the spare day I bought an 'everyday' set of genuine mats to save the velour ones for the shows:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6289.jpg

The other day Benn and I went for a random roar around the roads behind Portsdown Hill where there's a ford, so we took a pic of course:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/2.jpg

Weapon.

[AndyGee]

Didn't wade across the Ford to take the photo did you....

The Redtop is looking the business

[DarrenH]

nice pictures dan.

i know what you mean about the performance. when i drove mine daily you start getting a head full of ideas, LET this and throttle bodies that, like the 16v is not "enough" . then you drive round in something more mundane for a few months and every time you get in the astra its like the very first time you drove a gte16v. feels so quick and nimble, point to point acceleration is amazing.

[James C]

nice pictures dan.

i know what you mean about the performance. when i drove mine daily you start getting a head full of ideas, LET this and throttle bodies that, like the 16v is not "enough" . then you drive round in something more mundane for a few months and every time you get in the astra its like the very first time you drove a gte16v. feels so quick and nimble, point to point acceleration is amazing.

This was my thought exactly after 6 months of driving a 1.3 Fiesta. I'm so glad to have it back out.

Dan - I see there is a video featuring your GTE at a rolling road day on the new mig first page. How did it get on? Also have the new brakes and hoses improved general braking as I seem to remember there was an issue for you last year or so? Mine just had a full set of braided flexi hoses (along with front disks,pads and fresh dot 4) and its great.

[Harvey]

That pic is great as it looks like you chickened out at the last minute and are just testing the water to see how cold it is :)

Good work and nice to see a GTE getting lots of loving.

[Astra Dan]

Spot on observation Darren etc. Just as I start to think the Mk4 is rather nippy, I take this out and my parameters are reset!

James - I didn't realise that! If I remember I got 148BHP and 150Lbs/Ft which isn't too shabby really, and we all got the feeling the rollers were maybe a tiny bit pessimistic, but overall I'm happy with that. It also flipped over to 150k miles on the way home.
The brakes are much better now to the point I don't notice the softer feeling pedal like I used to - the Mk4's pedal feel is what I would describe as near perfect, fairly stiff but with a good feeling of precision when you need a quick pull-up - so this must be a marked improvement. I certainly didn't feel any problems the other day. The real test will be on the track of course.

Thanks for the compliments!

[Astra Dan]

Well, crap.
Anyone in the SC possé will tell you I'm a bit... particular about my cam belts. Once the time or mileage has passed, I change that sucker. It was the turn of the mighty GTE.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6353.jpg

So way overdue time-wise but only 9k miles sure, but they've been 9k hard miles. This weekend I'm expecting it to take us to Combe, then to Luton then to Duxford and home again, so I wasn't going to mess about. Also I picked the whole kit up at the last spares day for a Lady Godiva, so it seemed to make sense to use it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6356.jpg

All looks good here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6355.jpg

So that took all of 20 mins. You may remember I have never got the tension right and it's always been a smidge too tight and whiney (all the others I do are fine, it's just bloody mine for some reason) so I made sure to run it up to make sure it doesn't whine when hot. Left it running for a bit and all seemed good. Even better when I plugged the airflow meter in. I chucked the cover back on and got on the floor to refit the bottom pulley when I saw oil dropping all over the floor. :( Didn't take long to see where the leak was...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6358.jpg

Bugger. Oil had squirted around most of the wheel arch, too. Do I risk a few hundred mile trip, or call it a day and take the mk4 instead? I did come up with a plan. Started, as do most plans, by making the situation worse. Hack hack!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6359.jpg

Then I blocked the two pipes off with a couple of spare brake caliper bolts and some jubilee clips, just to save any oil spraying about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6363.jpg

Luckily I had just ordered this from the local dealer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6364.jpg

Whipped the cooler off and stuck this and the filter back on, all seems good! Pipes looked real bad close up!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6360.jpg

I have a plan to get a good condition cooler and pipes, cut the rubber pipes on that and join them to my rubber pipes.
Think I'll still take it this weekend, sod it.

[Astra Dan]

Well sod it indeed. The GTE did superb service over the last weekend. Sharon gave it a leisurely thrashing over the 100 miles to Combe, where we stuck it on the Mig stand, had a brew then wandered off to look the flash metal and even flashier driving throughout the day.
Next was the 130-odd mile drive to Luton and our hotel for the night.
En-route pics of Dave and Pitstoppete:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/everything030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/everything032.jpg

We got up to our room, had a brew then went out to find a pub for some scran. The local Weatherspoons proved superb, all 5 of us eating for just over £30!
Next morning we trundled up the road to the Vauxhall Heritage Centre where we had a brew and mingled with some like-minded Griffin (Wyvern?) fans. I noticed a rather stunning Mk1 Astra GTE was nestled up to it's bigger brother just after I arrived:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/everything042.jpg

Vauxhall themselves really deserve a mention here. There was a helpful lady in the parking booth all ready to let us into the car park for the centre. Once in, the centre itself was open and ready with a touring car Vectra simulation running for a pound a go with the staff on hand to answer questions. Next door there were loads of tables set out with complimentary biscuits and the tea/ coffee was a mere 30p a cup, served by cheerful and very polite young ladies. Can you really ask for more on a Sunday morning? We also got a Vauxhall pin badge each, too. Vauxhall Green Parts and Motorbodies had slightly smaller than normal stands, too.

Next up was the hour-ish jaunt to the Duxford Imperial War museum. Bearing in mind normal adult entry is £16, we drove straight in to a field next to the first hangar with our VBOA passes that cost us a tenner each!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/everything054.jpg

We set out the flag for Mig!

Can you see us?!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/everything055.jpg

We spent the next 3 hours or so wondering around the huge and very well set out musuem, even had a walkthrough one of the early prototype Concordes.
Then we came back to the cars, had a brew then started the 130-odd mile trip home. Overall my GTE covered 380 miles in total, and what a joy it was too!

[James C]

So any issues present themselves at Coombe without an oil cooler? How many bars did the pressure dip to on hot idle?.

Sounds like you had a good Vaux themed weekend. Duxford is good too - I went a couple of weeks ago. The Lightning that they have near the Concord is my favourite.

[Astra Dan]

I didn't go on track and noticed no difference in oil pressure readings over the course of the long drives either.

Attention whoring: It's in this month's TV in the MIG SC rolling road feature AND the MIG advert!

[DarrenH]

i didnt notice much difference day to day without a cooler. however it spiked 150C on track, and oil pressures were about 10psi less than normal conditions, like for like engine revs.

with the standard XE cooler refitted the temps never went above 110-115. oil pressures behaved normally

[Astra Dan]

Silly little improvement I've been meaning to do for a while. After sitting in the back of Dave's GTE for a couple of hours a few months ago I found it dead annoying that there was nowhere to rest one's weary head, meaning a decent snooze was all but impossible. Not to mention the nearside wheel spinning up all the time.
So, rear headrests then.
Take some rear head rest tubes from a CD model. Very rare these days:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6552.jpg

Then get the best colour match, with some plastic primer, and warm them up to get the paint to flow goooood:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/15052010268.jpg

Bit of undercoat:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/?action=view&current=15052010267.jpg

Whilst that's drying, get some spare rear CD headrests:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6553.jpg

And pull the poles out of them and the spare set of front headrests (headbolts optional):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/15052010264.jpg

So we end up with 'proper' rear headrests in beige. I'm pretty sure the CD trim came in beige, so to find them and the tube guides would be a handy bonus.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/15052010266.jpg

Then a final coat or two of beige (yes I know it's not the right colour):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6554.jpg

Then, deep breath, find the holes in the rear bench:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6557.jpg

Cut it good:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6558.jpg

Whack the guides in, then fit the headrests:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6559.jpg

Put the kettle on, stand back and admire.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6560.jpg

Could do with a bit more of a grey-beige, but it's better than blue.

[James C]

Good one if thats what you are after.
I personally found the headrests in my mk4 annoying as they block a bit of the rear view.

What do you mean by the nearside wheel spinning up all the time - in Daves?

[GTE16v]

What do you mean by the nearside wheel spinning up all the time - in Daves?

He does yes, I tend to drive mine quite hard!!

[DarrenH]

see thats where you need to spend 500 quid on a quaiffe diff, divert that lost torque from your spinning wheel into industrial sized dollops of extra understeer

[Astra Dan]

Good one if thats what you are after.
I personally found the headrests in my mk4 annoying as they block a bit of the rear view.

What do you mean by the nearside wheel spinning up all the time - in Daves?

Nah, both the 1.3 Mk2 and my Mk4 have them, never found them a problem. In fact I was pleased when I first put the CD interior in the 1.3 about 8 years ago that the headrests don't get in the way at all IMO.

[Astra Dan]

see thats where you need to spend 500 quid on a quaiffe diff, divert that lost torque from your spinning wheel into industrial sized dollops of extra understeer

Understeer? So do you think they're not really worth it?

[DarrenH]

they are great at proportioning grip. but first you need some actual grip to proportion, and there is the inherent problem with floppy sided 14 inch gte tyres. on track days i find the 14 inch gte tyres a bit like stopping a freight train with a parachute

[Astra Dan]

Hmm. Well I still have Debica Furios on the rear of the GTE, I need to get some decent tyres first before worrying about diffs!

[GTE16v]

ahh, the tyre of men!

[Astra Dan]

Little update. I've sent the tax to be refunded as the GTE is likely to be off the road for a few weeks for repairs, and so possibly for a long while since the big shows have passed.
The first small problem is the rad, which I suppose isn't bad for 20 years and 150k miles:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6595.jpg

Annoying as the rest of it is in really good nick. I suspect it's not even worth getting a new tank for it. Luckily I have a very good spare. Whilst it's out I might try and renew the PAS lines as the two straights to the pump look very crusty indeed.

Next problem needs a little more dismantling, so off with the scuttle:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6596.jpg

My tool was just right to get to the servo bolts:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6597.jpg

Can you guess what I'm getting to yet? Steering rack off next. Was pleased I could get to the bolts/ nuts easy and they all came undone no problems. It fell off and forewards enough that I don't need to try and disconnect any of the pipes which is handy. With the water bottle off I could easily unclip and move the insulation back to reveal this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6602.jpg

Which I'm actually pleased with. There's no real rust there at all apart from the slight crusting at the bottom. It's clear the spot welds holding the plate for the rack mount have come apart from the bulkhead. I'm just going to clean the seam sealer stuff off and try and to stitch the plate back on, then fabricate some extra plates to stiffen it a bit. But it's lasted a lot of abuse for this long, I reckon just some good strong welds will be enough on it's own so I'm not too concerned about going over the top.

[Astra Dan]

Benn had a go at fixing the steering bracket for me. Seam welded it back on, and welded a bit of angle in for good measure.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_9213.jpg

It's all repainted now. Tested it by threading a really long M8 bolt in the top rack hole and hanging off it with a large spanner. Put it all back together and was moving it out of the garage when I realised I could actually feel the throttle pedal moving!
So I stripped all the front carpet and insulation etc to have a closer look. Was an awful feeling, as it was clear none of this had been removed before, but needs must.
What I found was now the rack was secured to the bulkhead, it was now making the whole thing flex. This was due to rusty cracks right along behind the pedals where the floor meets the bulkhead. Passenger side was the same. I knew the wishbone mount was in need of attention on the driver's side, but from above, under the carpet, both sides were in poor condition. So, off to the body shop again! MOT had run out by this point, but it was still insured, so I duly dropped it off.

Welding.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6694.jpg

Welding!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6693.jpg

WELDING.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6699.jpg

WELDING!!!!11

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6697.jpg

So today's theme is welding. It's had a plate over each wishbone mount on the underside floor. A plate above each wishbone mount under the floor, and a plate over that on the floor, where your feet go. It's also had a plate at the top of the floor where it meets the bulkhead on both sides.
I also had to deal with three of these on the driver's side:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6686.jpg

I had the holes welded up. when I got the car back, I managed to remove the lump of dead floor by using the vice:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6683.jpg

Managed to chomp away then finally unscrew the coarse threaded rod bit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6685.jpg

Then I drilled the plastic mount to accept a M6 nut and bolt.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6688.jpg

Drilled a M6 clearance hole in the floor, and applied copious amounts of black hammerite, then bolted the clips back up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6692.jpg

Works a treat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6690.jpg

Then lashed on loads of underseal and wax.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6695.jpg

Then today I took it for MOT, where it flew through with no advisories! Well chuffed. Possibly the wettest it's ever been in years though, absolutely pelted down all day, so I was dead nervous driving to the MOT place with no MOT or tax in heavy rain in a 19 year old Astra that's not been on the road proper in about 2 months. But nothing went wrong and I felt the brakes improve the more I used them, and the engine seemed fine. Went straight to the nearest PO after and put a full year's tax on. It's only done 1400 miles in the last year as it only made one show at Castle Combe and the Duxford run before I noticed the bulkhead issue.
Next up is to sort the totally knackered headlining that's all but fallen down since my last attempt to fix it.

[DarrenH]

another depressing "gte rack mount parts with bulkhead" story !!

glad you got it all sorted, jealous of those floor pan repairs. blimey, all you can see is a swish of seam seal !

[BlackBox]

It seems Racks parting company is almost a deff with these cars ... good to see you got it sorted.

Would love to know what brand that seam sealer is, mine looks a mess ..

[Astra Dan]

This is exactly why I just CBA to try and weld myself. For the £250 I paid for that welding, I'd struggle to buy decent quality equipment for that. Then have to mess about sourcing the metal, then the really depressing stuff like grinding all the crap out etc. OK the car was away for about 3 weeks whilst the bodyshop fitted it in around other jobs, but long ago I came to the conclusion you simply can't have fun with just one car, you need at least two. I have access to four, so it stays fun with no pressure of trying to get to work Monday morning!

I will try to find out what brand the seam sealer is. As you say, looks like good stuff! I have covered it all in wax sealer and underseal since, too. It was literally dripping out of the sills!

[tonyo]

Whoops.. I have memories of rust in the floor like that. You probably did well to take it to a bodyshop, it was a real pain to get into the footwell and weld up plates into the holes.

[Astra Dan]

Update!

Being in the trade that deals with electric string, and coming from an apprenticeship that enforces you to do the best job you can, me battery terminals have been bothering me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6710.jpg

Minging!

So we get our Hellerman sleeve kit, complete with honeymoon pliers and sleeve lube.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6711.jpg

Apply lube and fit sleeve over terminals:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6712.jpg

Much better.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6713.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6714.jpg

Only a silly thing I know, and the rest of the car still looks ropey, but hey.

Then if you remember, the oil cooler looked like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6360.jpg

So I made it good like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/DSCF6363.jpg

Yesterday at the spares day I was lucky enough to find two of the shorter oil cooler lines, brand new. I wasn't too bothered about finding a pair as I know the oil cooler ends will not come undone, so I was just going to cut and join the hoses. Yes it did hurt cutting through brand new hoses, but I did try again to loosen the oil cooler lines. No chance and I was afraid of damaging the cooler, so I stuck to my plan. I already bought some 12mm ID hose joiners last year. My plan worked a treat and now it looks like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_3552.jpg

I think it may go on track in April! :)

[James C]

Nice! Sure the rest of the car is not ropey compared to many.

I seem to remember you saying that you had a braking problem with track driving. Did you ever work out the issue?

[dancedj]

Nice one Dan glad it worked !!!! If anyone else needs a pipe I have one spare for sale

[Astra Dan]

Nice! Sure the rest of the car is not ropey compared to many.

I seem to remember you saying that you had a braking problem with track driving. Did you ever work out the issue?


Um, kinda. I (meaning friend Pete) renewed the seals in the calipers, changed the fluid for 5.1 and fitted new redstuff pads and grooved discs and new front brake lines (MoT advisory). I really should have fitted GM pads and discs, as when cold the pedal is a bit loose feeling and the stopping power isn't great. But, once warmed properly they bite with hardly any pedal pressure at all and really carve off MPH when travelling fast. Should be going on track next month on the Action Day at Combe, so will be the first proper test.

[Astra Dan]

A small but significant improvement today. Just before I bought the car Rusty had fitted two Debica Furios! That's their sporty tyre you know. Anyway, the rears were pretty poor, so I fitted two Firestone Firehawks. It's been that way ever since, and that was what, 5 years ago? And about 10k miles. Probably nearly 10 Combe sessions ago. The Debicas I think have distorted a little, mostly I think due to non-movement and going a bit flat over the winter.
I was also fed up of the tyres being so rubbish it stops full enjoyment of the car. So I wanted a brand name tyre and I wanted to increase the size a bit. On eBay I saw 4 Avon ZV3 in 195/60 R14, up from the previous 185/65 balloons. Har har.

I think there's less than 2mm difference in diameter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_3641.jpg

Bit wider, and check out that tread!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_3643.jpg

Already got them fitted today:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_3645.jpg

Next time it's sunny I'll get the beast out and wear the glaze off these buggers.

[Astra Dan]

Like in Blue Peter where they take the tortoise out of the shoe box, so I open the garage and awaken the GTE. It's been grating on me that's it's been entirely road legal since September and I'm getting no use out of it. It was looking a little worse for wear. I'd removed the headlining a few months back in preparation for sourcing a much better condition one from Dale. Thanks Dale! The original was sagging badly and I'd attempted to glue it back up which, although it did stop it sagging, also looked bloody awful.
My garage is only a pre-fab so it was also covered in dust and some condensation drips.
First up was to get a 2 inch hole in the passenger sill seen to. I took it to my guy and he replaced a good 10 inch bit with a proper sill section I had left over. Then he painted in all the wheel arches with stonechip and wax after giving it all a good inspection. He could find no other bits that needed the attention of grinder or welder.
So with the structure once again intact, I set about fitting a new locking kit. I spent some good time on it and fitted it nice and neatly. The old remote locking kit had started to become a little unreliable and I had an idea. So I ordered one of these:
Rightclick (http://www.rclick.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=697)
...and one of these:
Rightclick (http://www.rclick.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=56&products_id=912)
spent a few minutes on the vice with my needle files and I end up with:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4834.jpg

It's actually waaay more awesome than it looks (which is pretty awesome). There's no real use for the boot button, so I ordered a Vauxhall logo from the same site and stuck it over it. Looks OK dunnit?

Next up before I refitted the rear 'door' cards I went nuts and emptied a whole aerosol can of wax spray into and over the inside of the arches and into the sills inside and out. This is over the stuff the welding guy did.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMAG0158.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMAG0159.jpg

Driving home from a good old mince session at Benn's I was sick of the roof looking like this, and having no sun visors was a right pain!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4825.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4826.jpg

So, I bit the bullet and set-to:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4824.jpg

I washed my hands so I didn't transfer and grubby marks to the headlining and very very gently fed it in place. It was a bit easier than I thought and in no time the car was once again complete:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4831.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4829.jpg

I'm vowing to stop worrying so much about using the poxy thing from now on and get some miles on it this year. Although very good condition overall, it'll never be a show winner and it's 152k miles is too high to really worry about keeping low. Plus we all know the stupid, outdated road laws in this country make it more difficult to do anything other than pay full whack and keep a car road legal unless it's going to be off the road for a very long time. Hopefully it's protected enough that some rain use won't hurt it. And if I'm going to be in it more often, I need to sort the tunes. The standard Vauxhall unit is OK and my plug in FM transmitter is fine for going to/ from shows, but it's a bit fiddly and today it kept turning itself off randomly. So I would like a cheap, simple head unit that takes SD cards and looks a bit.... well, miserable but does the job. It doesn't need to be pokey either as the speakers are hardly state of the art. A quick look on eBay brings up this:

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300661729496?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648#ht_3264wt_1037)

Almost perfect I think. The extensive use of orange ilumination and the small display give it a retro look I reckon. And so cheap! Get it done. What?

[dancedj]

Looks great as normal I want a key fob like that!

[DarrenH]

excellent work ! i guess if the stupid petitions for rolling 25 years 'Exemption from vehicle excise duty for historic vehicles' come to anything, classic low mileage insurance within grasp, MOTs going to 2 years to keep inline with europe. quite a few if'it's but could make it easier to roll them out every year !

just had a thought also, last year i did a "wash" on the conctrete bits of the garage with watered down "waterproof" pva glue (can get it from builders merchants in 5 litre tubs) i applied with a paint roller, let it soak in and dry, its all but deleted dust. i say all but, i still get the crud generated by myself with tools

[Astra Dan]

Looks great as normal I want a key fob like that!

Thanks John. I can sort these kits out for whoever wants them. Dead easy to fit and I don't mind filing the keys.

[Astra Dan]

excellent work ! i guess if the stupid petitions for rolling 25 years 'Exemption from vehicle excise duty for historic vehicles' come to anything, classic low mileage insurance within grasp, MOTs going to 2 years to keep inline with europe. quite a few if'it's but could make it easier to roll them out every year !

just had a thought also, last year i did a "wash" on the conctrete bits of the garage with watered down "waterproof" pva glue (can get it from builders merchants in 5 litre tubs) i applied with a paint roller, let it soak in and dry, its all but deleted dust. i say all but, i still get the crud generated by myself with tools

If only!

Took me a while to work out what you were on about there. I think the dust is from the asbestos roof more than the floor really.

[marks-gte]

I've just sat and read through this entire thread, some cracking work you have done and keep doing, really is dedication to the mk2 cause and as a result the car looks stunning mate, a credit to your efforts :thumbsup:

[Astra Dan]

Thanks very much! :)

This was the ICE situation in the GTE until recently:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4841.jpg

Factory fit radio/ cassette with a funky £12 FM transmitter doohickey. It's got a SD card slot, a USB port, aux in, Bluetooth and even a remote! Works very well, and I like to keep it with me as I'm in hire lorries/ vans and cars quite often.
Anyway, the standard radio has taken to turning itself off quite a bit lately, and with me promising myself to use the GTE more recently, an update was needed. So, remove old radio. New radio doesn't have a loom to swap over the memory and switched supply wires, and I couldn't get the sockets to pop out.
I found a short loom that's used for a unit that lets Kenwood stereos use the dash displays in Mk3 Astras and newer. It's pin for pin, but has a single pin out that would plug into a box. Not owning either the stereo or the car any more, I noticed the pins were easy to pop out, so I removed the redundant wire and made the supply wires swap here. Not having a CD drive the new unit is half depth, so there's plenty of room behind.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4843.jpg

Cheap and cheerful unit in place:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4846.jpg

Don't get me wrong, it's cheap and fairly miserable. But it has 4 speaker outputs, SD card slot (behind front panel), USB and aux on the front, Bluetooth for streaming and phone calls. Simple, easy to use and it's more than enough for the not-very-big-or-powerful speakers. I really don't own enough music to fill a 4Gb SD card, so I think it'll do. And in theory it looks crap enough not to be worth nicking.

Oh, and here's a pic of how badly I tried to repair the old roof lining. Might see if it's re-coverable, as the 1.3 Mk2's has gone pretty much the same way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4840.jpg

[Astra Dan]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, me PAS lines were looking slightly worse off than a set loaned to an American in the early 1900s and transported on the RMS Titanic.
So, I took them off and spent waaaaay too much time taking pictures of them for you.

To gets them out right I had to undo the ABS, dizzy, fuel pump relay, both battery terminals and the king lead, then the radiator as the pipes run in front in kind of a cooling thing. Amazingly both unions at the pump and rack undid really easily.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4857.jpg

Gory close ups:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4864.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4862.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4861.jpg

I gots some more from Astra_Kev. Thanks!
I painted them in Hammerite Smooth Gold because... I had a can of it on the shelf. This was after a mind-numbingly long time with the DeWalt and trusty wire wheel attachment to clean them up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4859.jpg

And installed them thus:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4867.jpg

I found it easier to simply bend the brackets out to remove then bend them back over the new lines. They're held by cross head self tappers, no way they were coming undone.

All nice and neat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/DanSilvester/GTE%2016V/IMG_4866.jpg

Reconneted lectrics and refittted fan etc and less than a litre of good old Dexron II had the system bled oot.