The Pineapple!

[AXrescuer]

Finally hit the road again today after 5 months laid up with oil starvation problems and general lack of progress due to shitty weather.

 

Now running sweet as a nut and looks good after a 4 hour session with the polishing mop and some Meguiars goodies!

 

[M'coli]

Nice!

[Station]

I love these in this colour, those Sport models are quite tasty.

[barrett]

I had a 'moment of claritiy' looking at one of these earlier and decided they are actually pretty smart looking cars. may just be because i am drunk, but especially in 3dr form they look very clean indeed. yours needs a dulux roller paint job and some poundland trims to be proper desirable though....

[Cavcraft]

Noice! You look like you're lucky enough to have rear wheelarches too.Love that colour, excuse my ignorance but what engine is in it recall seeing a pic of the bay and an Ecotec lump but wasn't sure what cc?

[trigger]

That does look clean, I remember years ago having a Tigra MTV in that Pineapple yellow come in for a rear 1/4 and bonnet to be painted, We had such trouble matching the colour as the original paint had dulled off and started to turn white and wouldn't polish back that we ended respraying the whole car, The boss wasn't best pleased as we had to foot the bill.

[Guest]

Nice one! I'm quite fond of MK3 Astras and I bet that's about the best one you could ever drive.

[outlaw118]

Lovely, I miss my old Astray Spurt Estate, rusty old POS that it was.....

[Milford Cubicle]

What's the score with the 'Sport' version? What's the difference between it and other versions?Your car looks minty fresh!

[trigger]

I think Sport was one of the last models, the predecessor to the SRi's.They came with a 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 Ecotec engines and had Sporter seats, Fog lights, Alloys etc.They also came in Green and Red as well as the yellow IIRC, I'd have one.

[Milford Cubicle]

According to Parkers there was a 1.7 TD Sport available.I don't know what kind of sport that would be taking part in, darts probably.

[trigger]

Bowls more like.

[Mike D]

That looks really well, Pineapple is a gorgeous colour!I had an Estate 1.8 sport, it was a nice old bus, but it had the most horrifically gruff engine ever, went like the fuggin clappers though, redline in top! Mine was purply-blue, and had really nice comfy recaro style seats, they came with the onboard computer readout mpg thing too.Nice work on getting it sorted!

[AXrescuer]

Thanks for the kind words guys. It is indeed a 1.8 with the C18 XEL which is one of the less desirable detuned Ecotecs. Still goes well though and is very light on fuel consumption.It's also got a full set of leather Calibra seats and an electric sunroof courtesy of a written-off Vectra.

[Cavcraft]

According to Parkers there was a 1.7 TD Sport available.I don't know what kind of sport that would be taking part in, darts probably.

I wonder if they were the Slow Blow engine, just to really rub it in like?

[AXrescuer]

Update: She lives! The Ecotec unit is purring like a kitten after a marathon fixage session. New oil pump and water pump, a bit of fettling and she's now fit to cruise again. Bonus is that she seems to have escaped any main bearing damage after the oil starvation issue. Sadly this now means my brief foray into Xantia ownership has come to an end and my fine French friend is now up for sale.

[CIH]

According to Parkers there was a 1.7 TD Sport available.I don't know what kind of sport that would be taking part in, darts probably.

I wonder if they were the Slow Blow engine, just to really rub it in like?

Those old Issyzu turbo dizzilers were decent old lumps IIRC.

[Milford Cubicle]

Not if you want to go anywhere fast. They have some tuning potential, but I'm not sure I'd want to subject a 165k engine and distributor pump to that. The Isuzu engine seems very sturdy and well-engineered though, I'm sure it will outlast the car.Good work saving the Astra's engine from death AXR, is the oil pump weak on them?

[AXrescuer]

Cheers.

 

The GM manufactured oil pumps are generally pretty sound. Sadly at some point my car has been fitted with a pattern part that when inspected was found to have smaller oil galleries and so became clogged the minute anything with a little mass went through it. It was actually blocked by a small piece of sealant which I assume was left over from a bodge job by the previous owner.

 

Anyway, a new minor wife pleasing addition are these purple leds. She wanted some in her car but asked if she could see how they look in mine first! Actually, I'm getting in touch with my feminine side and keeping them!

 

[Cavcraft]

Hey, what's going on with the radio display panel and the fancy trip computer bit? Not seen one of those before and even my Mk4 Sport didn't have one, looks a nice touch that.CIH: the Isuzu engines are indeed ace, it was the GM ones that were shite!

[Mr Lobster]

Nice work! I do quite last this model of Astra, much better (as far as I'm concerned at least) than later models.

[Station]

All the Sport and GSi models had that MFD computer. Think Vauxhall had a load of parts left over from the GSi and put them on the Sport.

 

[Minimad5]

Nice slippers AX

[AXrescuer]

They're my son's feet Mr B! I was taking the pic.

[Minimad5]

I hope he has a flat cap and a pipe to suit ?

[AXrescuer]

Well he has a kind of flattish cap. He's a Police Officer cadet!

[Marshall]

 

I think that looks nice

[Split_Pin]

That's super-tidy An awful lot of these have been 'upgraded' by the Total Vauxhall Brigade, so its nice to see a standard one.I like the MK3.

[AXrescuer]

That's super-tidy An awful lot of these have been 'upgraded' by the Total Vauxhall Brigade, so its nice to see a standard one.

I agree. My son and are both making sure any mods done to our Astras are done to subtlely enhance rather than deface. Of course that flies in face of some of the forums we frequent.

[AXrescuer]

That's super-tidy An awful lot of these have been 'upgraded' by the Total Vauxhall Brigade, so its nice to see a standard one.

I agree. My son and are both making sure any mods done to our Astras are done to subtlely enhance rather than deface. Of course that flies in face of some of the forums we frequent.