Astra GTE 16V Restoration

[swayzeee]

Hi
New to the forum, so forgive me if this is posted somewhere else but i cant find it. I have just bought a G reg 16V, its in a bit of state but was bought as a project to restore. I have been trying to find part lists/exploded diagrams etc so I can list out what i need and where to start first. Have got a Haynes manual but that doesn't show everything. Can anyone help with this, give me any tips on where to start?

Thanks

[mrdezzer]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Best place for a parts list is vauxhall EPC you can obtain a disc from eBay this will give you lists with part numbers. Probably best looking at the other restores on here first will give you an idea. First places to start are the bulkhead check, remove skirts and check sills, rear arches inner arches, inner wings, rear seat belt anchor points etc etc this will give you an idea of the structure of the car and an idea of how much work is involved (welding). The rest is just cosmetic

[BenH]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Hi, and good luck! I'd strip out the inside's, side skirts bumpers engine ect and sort out the rusty bits first there are a lot of places tin worms like to hide And get some pics up so we can see what it's like. Mine was pretty rust free but I still had a lot of patches to do in many hidden places!

[tonka666]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Hello and welcome! They can rust anywear! So as above strip the car down to a shell and go from there any questions there are plenty of people on here who can help. Also check out the how to section as this covers lots of issues the gte's have.

[swayzeee]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Thanks for the info, have ordered the EPC from ebay. Gave it a good clean inside, need to sort the garage out before I start the strip out! Its going to need front wings for sure, looks like the one rear arch has been done, not sure about the other yet.

[dongaz]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

welcome to the site.

looks like a nice car that back arch looks ok to me the whole thing looks clean. but as already said check all the hidden places

[easytrans]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Hi swayzeee,

Welcome to the site and forum, I'm sure you'll get all the support and knowledge you need to succeed with your project. I actually joined the club and re-started my GTE restore just over a month ago (you can see from my and many others restore threads how even a car that looks reasonably clean, can be hiding a lot of the usual rust worms, so take a look at a few build threads and it will save you time by seeing the best order in which to tackle things).

Your car looks good and mostly original ....

You will find quite a few people selling parts so most things can be sourced second hand and another member "dancedj" had been able to supply some new parts (although he has probably stopped ordering parts now) but he probably has a small stock of some useful parts so always worth checking his "more new parts for MK2 Astra" thread in the For Sale section.

Also you know that if you join the club (£10) you have access to more useful information (best tenner you can spend on the car).

I look forward to your build project thread ....... Good luck.

Laurie.

[swayzeee]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Short update on the strip down, took the seats out tonight and had a look at the floor pans, looks like I'm going to be replacing both! the drivers looks the worse though.
Right floor pan.jpg

Left floor pan.jpg

It also looks like something has been done the drivers side pan, there is some overspray and some cracking, anyone seen this before, or know what it might be a sign of? I have a horrible feeling its been hit, the drivers seat has been out but the passenger appears not to have been touched, bolts really tight with the original thread lock.

Drivers pan.jpg

[BlackBox]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

That looks pretty good, wire brush it and paint it over ....

[BenH]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Is it wet under there? Probley a hole along the bottom of the bulkhead under the rack.

[tonka666]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

I hate to say this but in the last pic it looks like the vin has been cut out or plated over could just be distortion in the shell but it shouldn't look like that so its had a knock or its a ringer or a dodgy re-shell This is how it should look

[swayzeee]

Vin plate 2.jpg Vin plate.jpg Vin plate.jpg Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Thanks for the comments, I've just gone an had another look. Scrapped the point off and this is what i have found.

It doen't look that good, I did do an HPI check and the car came back clean, there seems to be a yellow colour underneath the paint, dont suppose thats a primer...

Vin plate 2.jpg

Vin plate.jpg

what do you think?

[Astra Pete]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

hey your gte looks good i will be looking forward to your restoration,also where abouts in the southwest are you from?

[tonka666]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

Looks like somethings going on they dont normally rot there. If someone has re-shelled it it wouldn't come up on hpi. The ford boys do it all the time with mk1 and 2 escorts just get a good base model shell in good nick cut the vin out the rotten RS and weld into the donor and swapping the riveted plate is easy. Unfortunately this is illegal as i looked into doing it with my merit and gte but decided against it as i would essentially be driving a ringer. Makes no sence but we seem to have alot of stupid laws in this stupid country of ours. Also if it was a stolen car given the identity of another it wouldn't come up on hpi. I don't want to put a downer on it and it still could be accident damage. Andy

[Astra Pete]

Re: Astra GTE 16V Restoration

i`d get it checked out mine had rot to the right of the chassis no and to the left but got my mechanic mate to check it and all was good .