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Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

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  • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

    Rust, rust, rust, as always. Cavity wax, ha! Would be interesting to think where we'd be if GM galvanised their 1980s output...given their mechanical strength, we'd probably still be overrun with them!

    Inspired by the interest in the poor old GTE, I've popped out to the garages with the camera;

    Usual holes in the front inner arch;



    Front hasn't suffered quite as much as the back...



    ...which, after a session with a big screwdriver, is looking alarming, if not quite horrific by Mk2 standards!



    Fortunately the inner sill doesn't appear to be in too bad a shape, but the outer sill is...unpleasant, shall we say. Annoyingly it was considered "not too bad" when the arches were done, and stupidly I haven't had the sideskirts off since.



    New sills ready and waiting.



    One thing I have done is sort out the front bumper, AGAIN. Remember the sob story about drilling the holes for the washers in the wrong place? Well, there'll be more pics when it goes back on, but for now the bodyshop has filled in the rogue hole very nicely and repainted, as you can see. Yes, I was embarrassed...




    Gratuitous pic of the SR in hibernation too, surrounded by the various GM panels which will eventually find their way onto it, along with a new custom-made Pilkington bronze-tint windscreen to OE spec;



    Last edited by Pigeonrat; 03-01-2019, 11:29 PM.

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    • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

      Right, a concerted effort will be made to get the GTE fixed soon. I miss driving it!
      Last edited by Pigeonrat; 03-02-2013, 03:32 PM.

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      • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

        Originally posted by Pigeonrat View Post
        Gratuitous pic of the SR in hibernation too, surrounded by the various GM panels which will eventually find their way onto it, along with a new custom-made Pilkington bronze-tint windscreen to OE spec;

        thats just pure filth.................... not the SR................ the collection of genuine rear quarters.......lol.......are you sure you dont want to send a pair my way haha.

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        • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

          Hard earned by late nights on Ebay and mad journeys to Wales/Barrow/Ipswich to collect them! They do still appear...keep an eye out and with a bit of luck some will turn up...

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          • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

            The mk3 is superb. Not many people have a pic of their car next to the Colosseum!
            That's the best engine to have I think. Almost as simple as the 14NZ, but with a livable amount of power.
            Go on, put new sills on that too.

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            • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

              Good to hear your still in the land of the living Paul, I hadn't realised the GTE was having problems and rust is always a killer,Cant believe its been that long since you updated this, i'm glad I'v kicked started some interest
              Do you have a spare offside rear quarter? lol.
              The MK3 has served you well, actually more than well that trip to Rome must have been a blast.
              This was our little old MK3 it was brilliant it went everywhere it cost us peanuts too, it was also the little 1.4





              Sorry to bung up your thread feel free to delete them. but the thing was well solid and well loved.

              Chris

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              • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

                Not at all Chris, good to see another well loved Mk3. Nice colour too (Lagoon Blue?), always liked that colour. Thing about my Mk3...it is by far the most abused, most used and least cosseted of my cars and yet it's the one which causes the least trouble LOL. And when it does "suffer" there's no pressure to fix it properly or anything - my favourite "fix", to solve the problem all the Mk3s had of water leaking past the scuttle panel seal and into the heater box, was to build a little roof for the blower out of that green corrugated plastic you use for edging flower beds. Works well, and a very appropriate fix. As Dan said, perhaps I should replace the sills, give it a polish, maybe go for GSi wheels and painted bumpers, but then I couldn't dump it anywhere in the car park and go shopping without wondering if someone crashes into it. Very relaxing, owning a Shed.
                Last edited by Pigeonrat; 03-01-2019, 11:23 PM.

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                • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

                  Love that read mate, shame to take that down frankly! Perhaps an 'adventures with other vauxhalls' thread would be a good idea to open with these posts! Got some tales to tell myself as well!

                  OT. Wonderful GTE you've got there, and it's always good to see them being treated well and stay original!

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                  • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

                    Excellent pics mate, would love to do something like that. How much money did you raise and for which charity
                    Pop round anytime mate, your always welcome be good to see the GTE this time

                    Chris

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                    • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

                      Bad news on the GTE sills Paul, my front passenger inner arch needs attention before MOT as its gone around the arch liner clip hole as yours has in the picture. Top marks on the mk3 I had the same model as my first car and clicked over 200k miles with only a new battery required in my ownership. Most reliable car I have owned

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                      • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

                        Love the mk3 not quite as much as your sr but it is awsome in its own way!

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                        • Re: Pigeonrat's 1989 GTE 16V

                          Originally posted by Vinci View Post
                          Love that read mate, shame to take that down frankly! Perhaps an 'adventures with other vauxhalls' thread would be a good idea to open with these posts! Got some tales to tell myself as well!

                          OT. Wonderful GTE you've got there, and it's always good to see them being treated well and stay original!
                          Well, I probably should take them down and keep it tidy, I'll see. Plenty more where they came from if such a thread is started!

                          Originally posted by 1800turbogte View Post
                          Excellent pics mate, would love to do something like that. How much money did you raise and for which charity
                          Pop round anytime mate, your always welcome be good to see the GTE this time

                          Chris
                          Thanks Chris, well worth it as I say. You have to have a sense of humour for it though...the theme for the Montelimar - Antibes stretch of the journey was "St Trinians" fancy dress, and no, there are NO photos whatsoever of that particular day. :cough: they were all mysteriously destroyed somehow . We raised about 550 quid, split between the "official" charity of the Aplastic Anaemia Trust, and the RNLI as I recall, which was nice. Yes, I'll definitely bring the GTE round once the swiss-cheese effect has been banished...

                          Originally posted by mrdezzer View Post
                          Bad news on the GTE sills Paul, my front passenger inner arch needs attention before MOT as its gone around the arch liner clip hole as yours has in the picture. Top marks on the mk3 I had the same model as my first car and clicked over 200k miles with only a new battery required in my ownership. Most reliable car I have owned
                          Cheers Kris. Yes, the worst thing about that was I was quite aware of the hole in the inner arch as it had been picked up during the previous MOT but wasn't too bad at that point. The horror beneath the sideskirts was quite unexpected. Well, actually it wasn't, rust is never unexpected as such on an old Astra, but it was worse than I'd hoped. My Mk3's sadly had more than a new battery (clutch, radiator, exhaust) but it's all been cheap stuff I've done myself so hasn't cost much. And to be fair, it was thoroughly neglected by the previous owner for ten years. Didn't even have any water in it when I collected it!

                          Originally posted by tonka666 View Post
                          Love the mk3 not quite as much as your sr but it is awsome in its own way!
                          Thanks very much...do you know, I'm actually quite touched that my beat-up Mk3 seems to have some fans, most people are very rude about the poor old beast. Even after it's jump-started their own car on several occasions LOL...

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                          • Well, as something of a postscript, I am delighted to report that - very belatedly - the GTE is now back on the road as of September 2020. It hadn't run between 2011 and 2018, but fired up straight away after just a few seconds cranking, which was mighty impressive...
                            ​​​​

                            I would love to do a proper update of the various works that have been going on sporadically behind the scenes for the last couple of years, but since Photobucket have basically destroyed the thread (and lots of others) with their greediness, it's hard to summon the enthusiasm. Perhaps I will if we get another lockdown! For now, I'll just run through it;

                            > Drivers sill replaced (full, not skin), rear lower quarter painted
                            > Front arch returns behind front wheels welded in the usual place
                            > Around 3 litres total of Dinitrol 3125HS sprayed into sills, front chassis legs, rear quarters, rear inner arches, rear corners and rear spring seats - the sod isn't going to rust again!
                            > New bumper bottom lips front and rear, and new rear bumper strips (fronts already replaced)
                            > Front CV gaiters replaced (genuine GM)
                            > Front droplinks replaced (genuine GM rubber bushes)
                            > Handbrake cable replaced
                            > Sump gasket replaced with GM bonded 8v one
                            > Cambelt replaced (the old one had done just 2000 miles but was 12 years old)
                            > Brakes overhauled all round, new wear sensors (GM)
                            > SFi box rubber donut and vac pipes replaced
                            > Coolant, brake fluid, PAS fluid changed
                            > Alternator wiring and engine block earths upgraded
                            > All rubber fuel lines replaced
                            ​​​​​​> Trip computer and air temp sensor fitted (though am actually preferring the analog clock and may well revert!)
                            > Rear quarter window black caps replaced
                            > Faded external door handles and quarter vents replaced
                            > 16V decal finally reinstated on front bumper!

                            Then off for the first MOT since summer 2011 a couple of weeks ago, which it passed fine I'm delighted to say. I've since clocked up an uneventful 250 miles and it's running very happily. There's a few jobs still to do - the mixture setting is a bit off (feels a touch lean), I may get the injectors cleaned, the gear linkage would benefit from a refurb and the clutch is dragging slightly (but was always getting close to the limit anyway so needs replacing at some point regardless.) All these will be fixed over the winter...

                            So, welcome back to the road F448 SNO after nearly a decade. Some things haven't improved...fuel is still expensive, the roads are still falling to bits and I can no longer leave my house without being assaulted by Sadiq Khan's poxy 20mph limits and speed humps, but mercifully it takes only a few minutes to escape into Epping Forest. Where the GTE is as brutal and effective at overtaking as ever it was
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                            • Good news, well done and she is looking good, love the colour.
                              You are right about the analog clock, it does look "right" for the car where it was placed by Vauxhall by the old timers.

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                              • I've just been reading through this thread, what a great car! Lovely to see the SR as well

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