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DarrenH 1989 astra merit D estate

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  • the 1700 engine is kind of weird, despite being SOHC isuzu origin like the rest of vauxhalls range, its a reverse flow head. that means the inlet and exhaust are on the bulkhead side of the engine. that also means most of the exhaust is unique to the 1700 diesel, and being estate that also means the exhaust is unique to the 1700 estate bar the backbox. it comes in 5 sections, the cast manifold, the down pipe, a short bus stop round the gear stick (presumably this was future proofing a catalyst option) then the long mid section, then a backbox.

    so you have a relatively rare car, with a rare engine, with an exhaust that is unique to the engine car combo. i need a short cat replacement pipe, never going to be able to find parts for that, right? wrong ! there were 3 new old stock GM items on ebay, and also a raft of pattern versions from MTT, klarius and bosal. damn, parts supply actually seems to be getting better ?

    then i thought, shall i punch in the numbers for the whole system, maybe try and get a whole spare system in the attic? so far ive managed to get all of it except the long mid section.

    down pipe



    this is the bit i actually need and the seller had 2, so i bought them both as they were only 26 quid



    cant find a mid section yet as mentioned, but did find this backbox on ebay. i know this is really nerdy but it was incorrectly listed as mk3, and was reeealy cheap. weirdly it was for sale in my home town by a breakers yard, when i picked it up it still had an ancient vauxhall picking slip tied to it for greens of rainham, which is the vauxhall main dealer my car was sold in 1989, the garage shut down probably 10 or more years ago. who says fate doesnt exist ?

    Last edited by DarrenH; 26-04-2019, 02:27 PM.

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    • Lovely find, you get that warm fizzy feeling when stuff you need like this pops up

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      • I do like a genuine GM exhaust, they just seem to fit better. I find it worth painting the welds with high-temp silver paint though as this is where they always seem to go eventually, it seems to help them last. I'm surprised how many large parts like this are still available, I found a complete Mk2 Cav 2.0 exhaust in genuine GM for somebody a few months back. I thought such things would be long gone.

        DMB will still sell you a Greens dealer sticker from the period if you are interested!

        The only official Ford graphics supplier in the UK. For all classic and modern Ford RS and ST Decals.

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        • Originally posted by Pigeonrat View Post

          DMB will still sell you a Greens dealer sticker from the period if you are interested!

          https://www.dmb.uk.com/prod/5992/gre...dealer-sticker
          I actually have one of those but never fitted it. I was enquiring about repro dealer plates then they stopped doing them ☹️ I still have original dealer plates but they are in sorry state

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          • Originally posted by DarrenH View Post

            I actually have one of those but never fitted it. I was enquiring about repro dealer plates then they stopped doing them ☹️ I still have original dealer plates but they are in sorry state
            Yes, it's a shame about the dealer plates. I bought a few sets for different cars over the years (manky originals, much the same) and they were very well done. It got gradually stricter and the last set was a faff, I needed to send the original V5 off to them (and a utility bill I think), and then shortly after they stopped altogether. I presume the DVLA started going for them for using the old font, not having their own suppliers postcode etc on them. Pity.

            Fancyplates will still do you the pre-2001 font and your choice of text at the bottom (eg. dealer name) but I'm not sure how much further they can go in terms of recreating the original design.

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            • did another thing ! all of the pipes arrived from around europe. search for a GM mid section continues



              this is the bit that needs replacing, pipe is rusty and thin and the tapered gasket each end are shredded



              downpipe is still ok, bit of onion skin rust at the Y split.



              bad bit removed



              these are the tapered gaskets which make a ball and socket style flexi joint at either end. they were rusty and gone hard, making temporary exhaust leaks as the engine vibrates (which it does, allot, idi deisel ) also making a horrifc metal on metal squeaking at idle which is embarassing at junctions!



              you can see why the pipe has a kink in it, to dodge the gear lever linkage which pops throug into the tranmission tunnel



              while i was in that area i replaced the rear engine mount to help with the vibration and engine movement. its a lemforder one, top quality and only 30 quid !

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              • Still in shock lemforder do anything for a mk3 let?s hope the do the other mounts

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                • spring update on the sports hearse

                  i got caught napping at the MOT which it failed for front tread depth (notice i said it failed, its the cars fault obviously) RIP the much "loved" debica passio.



                  i drove it straight down to my usual tyre place to find they didn't have a fantastic array of 155-80-13 tyres (fair enough they probably don't get allot of BMXs or 2CV coming in). tap tap tap on the computer, she announced with alarming pleasure that they had a thing called "a century tyre" at 31 quid per corner fitted, including valves and balancing. that was sharply followed by blank looks when i said "hmmm, i already have linglong never-grips, do you have anything more expensive?". turns out they did not have anything more expensive and i had to return in an hour where they could shuttle over some other tyres. they offered me continental eco contact, hankook kinergy, or dunlop street response 2. naturally i went for the dunlops, i was dazzled by energetic name plus any tyre that's so responsive it gets a sequel, must be good.



                  also some bad news, the recent sun has completely fulfilled my scepticism about spray contact adhesive, my refurbed head lining is sagging in the red circled areas. i'd already succumbed to yet more middle age by getting one of those foil windscreen blind things to keep the sun out. the most gutting thing about this is not really having to revisit it, or the work involved, but just a relentless pattern in my life where even if i apply NASA levels attention to detail / effort to things, they still end up flawed.

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                  • Gutted for you on the roof lining Darren, I dropped by to see where you got all the stuff from and what you used... Mark and I have two to do, one more urgent than the other.

                    Ian.
                    See my project car HERE.

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                    • That's a real shame about the headlining Darren, what a pain. There is nothing worse than something recent and/or new failing, especially when you've made the extra effort, and back you go again. So frustrating! (I speak as someone who has just replaced a 18-month old master cylinder and a 2 month (!) old front shock cartridge which have both failed!). What makes it even worse is when you see some of the bodges people get away with which somehow DO work absolutely fine!

                      ​​​

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                      • it needs a tin of stick you bastard. i was originally going to use some super tenacious spread-on upholstery glue, but was warned off of it because it might not be smooth enough finish (and show through the cloth)

                        wish i had now.

                        might be able to take the grab handles off, cat flap it up and use some of the above snot
                        Last edited by DarrenH; 28-05-2019, 04:15 PM.

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                        • couple of pictures from VBOA national rally 2019, taken by and full credit to Mr Mead of this here parish

                          66112128_10158667817289447_1592402452622082048_o.jpg

                          66471490_10158667817524447_2205967208352317440_o.jpg

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                          • in my head i thought i did a service once a year in the summer but i just checked and i last did it in january 2019, shrug! yesterday i did "a quick oil and filter change" however, when removing the sump bolt it was a bit tight, like wrist effort with a spanner the whole way out kind of tight (sheeaaart) when it got all the way out i saw razor sharp wiry remains of the sump thread wrapped round the bolt panic!

                            the bolt was weird it had no thread for 5mm at the start where the copper washer sits, so i figured once the bolt goes into the boss in the sump most of the thread probably pops out the other side into the oil, and actually has minimal thread engagement down near the the washer. brain wave, i go and get the bolt out of the spare 1600 engine, hunch correct its threaded all the way along, so i wound that all the way in until the copper washer snugs down, but it still doesn't tighten. panic x2! then, when i wound the bolt out a couple of turns it was quite tight bodge tastic survival mode kicked in, how do you make the bolt tighten a couple turns out? you use 2 copper washers instead of 1 obviously, plus ptfe tape on the thread, plus wind it with a puckered sphincter, the bolt tightens!!! i look around to see if anyone noticed, no humans, the cats on the drive but hes looking over at the road, lets just pretend thats ok for now and if it holds oil i will look for a new sump. panic x3 they are unique to 1700 diesel engine, i.e RARE!!

                            then i go into EPC and get the part number, sure enough the sump is unique to 1.6D and 1.7D for mk2 astra, a hit for 1.6D mk2 cavalier, and also hit for early mk3 1.7D (but only the non turbo GM engine). why is it unique? looking at the list it seems to hold more oil than the other engines its based on. crap it, what have i got to loose, onto ebay and paste the part number, top result brand new old stock GM sump, 32 quid!!! w000t ! the astra gods are smiling on me.





                            the other thing i wanted to look at was the gearbox which has been whistling a bit in third, just a faint whistle if you have the radio off, quiet tarmac and listen, in actual fact it whistles in all the gears and increases with road speed but just goes inaudible frequency in 1st or 4th 5th. thats kind of good news as it means its not the main gear clusters, just end case bearings or diff bearings. (another) weird thing about the 1.7D is that its based on big block engine, but has a smallblock gearbox. despite being the least powerful engine it still healthy torque and a flat curve from idle revs, so its probably got munched because being a bit under-specced. the gearbox are considered sealed for life despite it being the 1980s, they are usually very robust (isuzu design) so the most optimistic-but guaranteed not to make a jot of difference thing i could do is change the oil, and that means removing the sump pan....



                            not much to see there, crown wheel looks great, diff sun gears and spider gears are pretty warn but in dead ahead position, and with tread depth same on the tyres they are not turning, so it cant be the noise. cleaning up the sump here and a new genuine gasket.



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                            • Lucky lucky on the sumpage front

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                              • Excellent news on the sump - amazing what you can still turn up if you look hard enough, especially for the non-GTE cars. Never stripped a sump plug but can imagine the horror of doing so!

                                I really should take the bottom pan off the F10 box in my Mk3 and have a look, but after a quarter-million miles I dare say it won't look as good as yours!

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