bunglebus Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 On 1/19/2019 at 9:33 PM, Austin-Rover said: How odd, these are my mum's previous and current GLS hatchbacks, in the same colours. Red one was getting tatty despite stupidly low mileage and being garaged, so when she decided she'd go to driving an auto I was pleased to find an identical spec, equally low mileage one that a friend wasn't using. She'd bought it from another of my friends and never even driven it in a year of owning it. Turns out the elderly owner who'd had it from new before my friends had it lives in the same village as my mum, and they have met randomly and chatted about the car. Last in a string of tedious coincidences is that I owned L510LTW for a short time, a 1.4 3-door Astra I fixed after it burnt an exhaust valve Skizzer, Angrydicky, Austin-Rover and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2flags Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 We bought my son a Daewoo Nexia. It was basically an Astra with a Daewoo badge. Great car, fully loaded and a years MoT for £500. My son was chuffed to bits. Eventually it died and got turned back into washing machines. Austin-Rover 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 We had a weekend off as the arm on the linisher had seized and a new one had to be ordered. Anyway, to bring things up to date; the off side sill is finished. See below. This weekend, work began on the bit that hides behind the rear bumper (and gets to rot away unseen!) Hopefully, more next weekend! MarvinsMom, Lacquer Peel, bunglebus and 19 others 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulplom Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Brave pills required there I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyrew Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Nice one, thats some Very neat work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisbon_road Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Very impressed with this hard work. These Astras almost define Autoshite, I have two myself. I know it was a couple of years back, but I am just so impressed with the AA story. I know very well that doing a water pump and belt on these isn't hard but at the side of the road is still awesome service. Gives me faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkNWeigh Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 On 1/18/2016 at 7:41 PM, Mr_Bo11ox said: Flippin ace!!!! Anyone got a scan of the article where Russell Bulgin tests one of these by caning it up and down a few busy motorways? At the beginning of 2016 MrsN asked me to paint the spare room, I’m going to show her this post to prove I’m getting shit done. Shep Shepherd, mat_the_cat, somewhatfoolish and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo_Raffo_TDS Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Typical astra driving rep hogging the middle lane. I expect my mk3 is rotting quietly in the same places ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 Remember that rusty rear quarter from above? Well, its solid again now. Just a little tidying up to do. ...and for comparison; angle, Brodders, bunglebus and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blguy1975 Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Holy cow That's some epic rust Great job with the welding ..Once it is painted it will look fantastic Keep up the good work Eyersey1234 and Austin-Rover 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 Love to see some good welding. What are you painting it with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 Today; closing piece for the rear quarter/wheel arch made and fitted. That's the welding done for the off side. rainagain, Angrydicky, Burnside and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 7 hours ago, sierraman said: Love to see some good welding. What are you painting it with? Just a coat of etch primer at the moment. There's seam sealer to deploy when all the welding is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2flags Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 That is fantastic welding. Is that a bought repair panel or do you have amazing fabrication skills and made it yourself? Either way, superb job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Astra Bank Holiday weekend update; There was a little bit more welding to be done on the off-side after all. A couple of small repairs; In the fuel filler neck where a metal tab that supports the filler neck needed replacing, and the jacking point at the front of the sill. Now it really is finished on that side! Today the driveway was emptied, I vac'd the dust off the Astra and a neighbour was roped in to push the car out the garage, down the drive, on to the road, turn it round and back up the drive and in to the garage. Time to do it all over again on the other side... Brodders, Lacquer Peel, Burnside and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 Begun work on the near side today. More of the same... Cavcraft, Vince70, paulplom and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Fearn Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Great to see such love for a mk3 Astra. I had a K plate 1.4 LS estate when I was teen and have such fond memories of it. I lugged mountain bikes all over the country and slept in it. The 1.4 engine felt like a rocket ship compared to my 2cv and 1.3 Fiesta, was great on fuel and utterly reliable. It had been in the family since 6 months old and never really looked after so when I got hold of it at ~8 years old it was well used. It also felt so well built, i think this was the GM ultimate era for build quality. I know they rust latterly but mine had no rattles and even with high mileage didn’t use oil. I remember thinking mk5 escorts were awful when compared to the Astra. timolloyd, rainagain and Cavcraft 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 End of the near side sill completed. On to the sill itself, next. Angrydicky, RoadworkUK, Cavcraft and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutty2006 Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Your fabrication skills are great. I wish I could make random panels like that lower rear quarter ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 In the past week; Patch for the sill marked out on the repair panel... Cut out... ...and welded in... rainagain, Angrydicky, Brodders and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisbon_road Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Very impressed with the quality of work and dedication. I've owned about six of these cars, most of which have been pretty much rust free. I did briefly have a 200K mile one which was a bit bad and had gone through underneath just behind the springs and the rear arches were hanging off. That was the only German built one I have had, though whether there's any connection I don't know. Do you have any idea why yours is so rusty? Appreciate the updates as they really encourage me to get with things - if you can do all this, we can all do something. Edit, just read through and I think this is a C16SE Astra. Must go quite well. Cavcraft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 The past few weekends, things have moved on to the nearside rear quarter behind the bumper; Cutting away the rot... Here's what it currently looks like after some repairs... There was also a bit of the back panel on this corner that needed work; Ta-dah! Ian_Fearn, bunglebus, Burnside and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blguy1975 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Sweet baby Jesus .that's epic Austin-Rover 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 On 7/6/2020 at 8:18 AM, lisbon_road said: Do you have any idea why yours is so rusty? Yes; its lived on The Wirral all its life, so surrounded by water on three sides! lisbon_road 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Weekend just gone, and work finally got round to the only visible bit of rot on the entire car (everything up to now is either too low down to see, or hidden by the bumper) and that is the nearside rear arch. It was only a small scab, and buying a whole wheelarch repair panel seemed a bit wasteful, so a bit of forming took place. It's not pretty, but it's nothing a bit of filler won't hide. beko1987, Ian_Fearn, bunglebus and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglebus Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Nothing wrong with that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundwave Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Excellent work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisbon_road Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 This excellent work really encourages me to get on with my two cars, which are similar but haven't lived so close to the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Be good if you could do a bit of a lesson on making panels up. Every time I knock something up it looks like I’ve formed it with a brick hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin-Rover Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Today, all the nearside floor pan had anything scabby looking rubbed down and treated. No surprise welding found on this side, thankfully! So, that's all the welding done! It's back to being a solid and usable shell for the first time in years! There's still the rear panel to straighten out (following being rear-ended on the M62. See further up the thread) as a 'big' job, but other things mean the Astra will have to go on the back burner for now. The day finished by reattaching the front and rear bumpers (They're self-storing that way!), getting it off the axle stands and vacuuming the dust off it. It's being moved outside next weekend as there's two Rovers that both need attention for the MoT, and they're currently 'bed blocking' on the driveway. So, this is likely to be the last progress report for 2020. rainagain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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