AnnoyingPentium's *an Vectra*: Business as Usual.

[Wibble]

Liked because you’re sticking with it and that your Grandad’s on the mend. Keep on carrying on!

[red5]

On 10/09/2024 at 05:02, Lord Sterling said:

As spoken about recently, love the Vectra Ryan. In fact, I like the earlier ones more than the later ones, particularly with smaller bumpers.

The thing I love about these Vectras is that they do 'an car' so much more well than other cars that try so hard to be status symbols or lifestyle cars, then you've got others that are generally modified "cuz yeah man loik 🤘" etc...

In one way or another (mainly thanks to Red5) I've often found myself in Vectras. The first Vectra I ever drove was a 1.6LS that belonged to a mate's brother;

It was honestly such a nice and soft car to drive, something to poodle about in for a bit. I drove it frok Birmingham to Telford and back again, it was honestly just nice.

Some years later I after picking this uo for Red5, I ended having it off him;

It was a 2.2 SRi DTi. Sadly, despite how utterly clean and rust-free it was, I didn't appreciate it enough as I never gelled with it. Again, because I also wanted this which I gelled with much more;

Sadly this ended up with a knocking bottom end as I was told it's own engine might implode.

Still, I'm now back in a 'B and I love it. Its a 2.6 V6 SRi, sounds amazing (much like an old 6-cyl BMW)

Oh yeah, and my fave mod;

Hahaha.

I'd forgotten the 2.2dt estate 

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

Argh! It's that time...

I'm coming to you live, from the breakfast bar in the kitchen... this'll be fun.

I know it's not going to pass, but it's a matter of how badly it's going to fail...

Getting dropped off at 0830, will get done "eventually", so F5 is seeing a lot of action today.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Ya dancer! On my way to collect it.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Good work that man. 

All Vauxhalls aren't shit! 

[tooSavvy]

Bum flap..... 😲

 

.... totally agree 👍😉

🚙💨

[beko1987]

Yey nice one! May as well ignore those droplinks over winter/spring for now if it's not clonking

[AnnoyingPentium]

18 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Yey nice one! May as well ignore those droplinks over winter/spring for now if it's not clonking

Beginning to clonk but I have spare ones here!

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Beginning to clonk but I have spare ones here!

May as well wait until they REALLY start to clonk before bothering, get 100% of the wear out of them 😂

[big_al_granvia]

nice one mate

[AnnoyingPentium]

Sitting on eBay the other night, and see a set of Vectra B headlight protectors up for sale... cheap enough too. Click buy, and see the seller is in Mauchline (o'er tha hill fae me), so a jaunt last night was required.

Lo and behold, it's one of my Dad's mates from back in the day. Small world.

Anyway, got them fitted, since I do love a GENUINE ORIGINAL accessory and it suits the mildly giffer image of the car.

Extra Griffin points.

[Wibble]

4 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Sitting on eBay the other night, and see a set of Vectra B headlight protectors up for sale... cheap enough too. Click buy, and see the seller is in Mauchline (o'er tha hill fae me), so a jaunt last night was required.

Lo and behold, it's one of my Dad's mates from back in the day. Small world.

Anyway, got them fitted, since I do love a GENUINE ORIGINAL accessory and it suits the mildly giffer image of the car.

Extra Griffin points.

Brilliant and the connection to your Dad, absolutely priceless!

[Lord Sterling]

On 04/10/2024 at 13:50, AnnoyingPentium said:

Sitting on eBay the other night, and see a set of Vectra B headlight protectors up for sale... cheap enough too. Click buy, and see the seller is in Mauchline (o'er tha hill fae me), so a jaunt last night was required.

Lo and behold, it's one of my Dad's mates from back in the day. Small world.

Anyway, got them fitted, since I do love a GENUINE ORIGINAL accessory and it suits the mildly giffer image of the car.

Extra Griffin points.

OMG. I honestly need a set of those. Did you get them mats fitted?

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, Lord Sterling said:

OMG. I honestly need a set of those. Did you get them mats fitted?

Aye mats went in great! Just need to get the wee pin things to hold the driver side one in place. I don't think mine came with mats in the first place.

[Lord Sterling]

On 19/10/2024 at 22:41, AnnoyingPentium said:

Aye mats went in great! Just need to get the wee pin things to hold the driver side one in place. I don't think mine came with mats in the first place.

*warning, boring mats explanation "

Yeah it's strange that a lot of them didn't seem to come with mats, I don't think my Vectra came with any unless one of the sellers took out the mats to sell them separately which is something I see a lot of.

However it seems that quite a few 90s cars didn't come with mats as standard, it seemed like a lottery. I seem to remember my Mum's Mk3 Fiesta came with original mats but many others didn't. Micras only came with mats in higher-spec models or as a dealer-fit option.

In fact when Dom Littlewood did some car dealer type show in the late 90s, I always remember him insisting to buyers to ensure a car dealer offers mats and a full tank of fuel. The problem is, what kind of mats? My Mum's blue Micra came with some cheap canon squares in the front that slipped about  on the floor until I bought some universal mats which fitted better, then I bought some original mats off eBay after getting some for my Rover 827.

[Matty]

On 04/10/2024 at 13:50, AnnoyingPentium said:

Sitting on eBay the other night, and see a set of Vectra B headlight protectors up for sale... cheap enough too. Click buy, and see the seller is in Mauchline (o'er tha hill fae me), so a jaunt last night was required.

Lo and behold, it's one of my Dad's mates from back in the day. Small world.

Anyway, got them fitted, since I do love a GENUINE ORIGINAL accessory and it suits the mildly giffer image of the car.

Extra Griffin points.

Looking very smart indeed 👌 

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

*warning, boring mats explanation "

Yeah it's strange that a lot of them didn't seem to come with mats, I don't think my Vectra came with any unless one of the sellers took out the mats to sell them separately which is something I see a lot of.

However it seems that quite a few 90s cars didn't come with mats as standard, it seemed like a lottery. I seem to remember my Mum's Mk3 Fiesta came with original mats but many others didn't. Micras only came with mats in higher-spec models or as a dealer-fit option.

In fact when Dom Littlewood did some car dealer type show in the late 90s, I always remember him insisting to buyers to ensure a car dealer offers mats and a full tank of fuel. The problem is, what kind of mats? My Mum's blue Micra came with some cheap canon squares in the front that slipped about  on the floor until I bought some universal mats which fitted better, then I bought some original mats off eBay after getting some for my Rover 827.

Aye my Grampa always demanded they give him proper Vauxhall mats with the purchase of his new Cavaliers and Vectras. When I got the car it had four universal rubber shite things stuffed into the footwells. Sounded like I was driving in wellies. 🤣

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 hours ago, Matty said:

Looking very smart indeed 👌 

Cheers!

[24vdiamond]

On 19/10/2024 at 21:07, Lord Sterling said:

OMG. I honestly need a set of those. Did you get them mats fitted?

Did you want a set of headlamp protectors? ive some here 👍

[AnnoyingPentium]

Further sad behaviours got me OPEL wind deflectors.

Nice.

[Lord Sterling]

3 hours ago, 24vdiamond said:

Did you want a set of headlamp protectors? ive some here 👍

Yeah, sure, that'd be great. Chuck us a PM on how much etc...

[AnnoyingPentium]

VELOUR!

MORE VELOUR!

MATS WITH VELOUR!

Mmmmmm, tasteh!

Front and rear, too. (oooh err Missus etc)

These honestly make this car such a nice place to be. Many, many thanks to @Lord Sterling for letting me live out my Vauxhall-induced sad bastardry!

Other than that, this has been performing absolutely spot on lately. Covered ~140 miles in it today and it didn't even bat an eyelid. Mixed road stuff as well, none of your motorway shite like all those other repmobiles, I've had this on all sorts (without falling into ditches, @PicantoJon will be glad to know) and it just tackles it no bother. I could get used to this decent sized car malarkey. It's just been a brilliant all-rounder now that the teething problems have been worked out. It'll really do just about anything I need/ask it to without hesitation.

Going to be using the Skoda a bit for the rest of this week (as it hasn't moved more than about half a mile in three weeks), plus I need to shift Fat Spaniel (TM) about so Fabia it has to be as the Vectra is too clean inside... fun stuff, I know.

Big shoes to fill for the Fabia to fill in order to keep up this week. We're talking about 300 ish miles forecast for the rest of this week. We'll see what gives out first, me or the Skoda.

Whilst I'm not using this as heavily this week, I'll get around to another service (it's nearly on 56k, that's some fucking mileage man!!), get it farmed out for drop-links and the rocker cover gasket as I'm really not keeping the best at the moment and most things are knocking seven bells out of me - I'll live, I'll just be dramatic about it first. Despite this, I'll do the servicing myself, along with the idle control valve as that's not too taxing by the looks of it. Shock absorbers are... a bit lacking too, especially on the rear. I think these are a slightly more complex job than what I'm used to (the Fabia), but I'll have to have a proper look.

It's going to need discs and pads before the year is up I think, as well. I'd rather not farm this out, so I'll wait and see how I feel soon, as they're not in a dire state at the moment yet. I think the rear ones might be original though, or a fair age at least.

TL;DR? Car is working, now with mats. Work needed soon. Will fix.

[Split_Pin]

My Sep '99 facelift LS had the same interior trim as yours, must have been a changeover thing between pre and post facelift. Anyway, that brings back memories!

[Lord Sterling]

Nice one. Those mats do make the interior look utterly sumptuous. Glad I got them for you. Make sure you put the first aid in the right place as I was told to by the owners manual:

I do love these early Vectras, I'm starting to pap them where I see them and have noted a few down I've seen but not managed to pap yet.

I also remember @garycox was giving away an early Vectra for free some years ago (Here) but I don't think anyone took it on, or at least not off here. Shame, I wish I had been braver and took it on.

Although, I still remember the first Vectra B I drove:

And I now I know it was a 1.8 LS and I remember it being sooo comfortable to drive.

Oh, also, you can't be an enthusiast and not have one of these on a shelf somewhere;

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

1.8 LS

With GLS wheels, LS would have had plastic trims.

Both yours and mine were phase 1 facelifts. Yours would have been the first of the 1.8s to have the small block X18XE1 engine (prefacelift 1.8s had the X18XE which was a big block). Mine was an X20XEV, still the old big block. In 2001 the 2.0 was dropped in favour of the Z22SE and the Z18XE, with a 10bhp or so power increase, filled the 1.8 role. In that year they also changed the interior trim to the 'dots and squares' type and a new model designation. LS continued and GLS became Club. 

Crikey I did learn and retain some shite back in the day 😂

[Westbay]

18 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

With GLS wheels, LS would have had plastic trims.

Both yours and mine were phase 1 facelifts. Yours would have been the first of the 1.8s to have the small block X18XE1 engine (prefacelift 1.8s had the X18XE which was a big block). Mine was an X20XEV, still the old big block. In 2001 the 2.0 was dropped in favour of the Z22SE and the Z18XE, with a 10bhp or so power increase, filled the 1.8 role. In that year they also changed the interior trim to the 'dots and squares' type and a new model designation. LS continued and GLS became Club. 

Crikey I did learn and retain some shite back in the day 😂

🧥   🤣

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

as I was told to by the owners manual:

 

You actually read the manual?

Mind you, from those days, I guess every other entry was not 'refer to dealer' or 'non-user function' and so on?

[AnnoyingPentium]

5 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

My Sep '99 facelift LS had the same interior trim as yours, must have been a changeover thing between pre and post facelift. Anyway, that brings back memories!

Up until about 2000 they seemed to use this interior! There's a fella I know over at Muirkirk who has a W-reg 1.8 LS with that seat pattern. The original Arctic had a different interior, Car 300 cassette instead of the 400, and different alloys, they ran from 96 to 97 from what I can tell. Only available in silver or dark blue. Premium Blue (like mine) wasn't available until the launch of the later Arctic (II?) from what I can tell.

My Granda had a late 2001 1.8 LS saloon years ago (it's why I bought this car), and his had that black cloth with the white dots and a few other extras. 

[Cheezey]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

LS continued and GLS became Club. 

 

This clears up where my Dad’s ‘99 V reg silver facelift spec fitted in. It was a Club. It had alloys but he was always annoyed it didn’t have rear headrests. I don’t think it had air con. The Artic was the aircon model with different alloys and rear head rests? 
I’ll be asking my Dad later if he realised Club = GLS. 

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, Cheezey said:

This clears up where my Dad’s ‘99 V reg silver facelift spec fitted in. It was a Club. It had alloys but he was always annoyed it didn’t have rear headrests. I don’t think it had air con. The Artic was the aircon model with different alloys and rear head rests? 
I’ll be asking my Dad later if he realised Club = GLS. 

Now that's confused me! I always thought a Club was a post 2000 model only and there were definitely no GLS's made after that date. Seems it was an intermediate model between LS and GLS then!

Dougie Rankine would know for sure!