Mk4 Astra (G) coupe…

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Hello..

I’ve no idea how often I’ll update this but here goes…

after losing  my job in August ( partly my fault), I decided to sell an unfinished bmw e30 project as the rent needed paying and having a running driving motd car is useful for job hunting / work transport. 

the brief was;

* cheap for parts ( bmw parts are ££££)
*full or long mot
*nothing too fragile and mostly fixable at home era
*petrol powered so can go anywhere ULEZ if needed but not a dealbreaker
*everything one colour with minimal body damage…

then as a bonus something I actually like as anything past 2010 is meh to me…

£700 later and a trip to Rhyl in north Wales….

 

one 2004 Astra coupe 1.8 petrol. 216k miles one owner with full service history and years mot. Full new exhaust was fitted month before I bought it and that was £400 odd 

its a bit careworn in places but cheap solid and runs. So this is now the project / back up family car.

rest of September was mostly on  job application duties did get some temp agency work as it paid more than dole… so I put a private plate on and changed the front grill.

 

Unfortunately when I got the car the rear spoiler was in the boot as it’s sheared off right by the baseplates. Removing the baseplates and bolts was a ball ach but they are off… 

there isn't really much wrong with the car immediately*  inside needs smarting up, exhaust rubbers need changing maybe a twist too as it knocks every so often,  the front suspension is tired (but easy to change) which is just as well as the modern ish family car has thrown a hissy fit for the 3rd time this year so this is doing the daily duties of shopping & dropping the kids off here and there plus the wife’s 30 mile a day commute.. ( garages locally have a waiting list of at least 2 weeks) 

I haven’t taken a load of photos guess I could try for more

I’ve a pile of parts to fit to improve it ( if it stops raining) but more importantly…. I got a full time permanent job start of October so normal family stuff resumes without the fear of cost of living bankruptcy as the wage is the same as was pre August.

in my opinion, all Vauxhalls are not shit ( just the selliantis(?) ones ) as this (and the other 3 in the house) are doing just an car stuff just fine!
Yep, already been to the tip with a trampoline in the boot, no show ponies here 
 

*of course, a week after I got it,  the “lovely” scraping noise from the back brakes.. the left sliders had seized and burnt out the inner brake pad.
no photos as it was busy but a set of brake pads to change and grease up on the pins was done. The cheap wind back tool didn’t break so that’s good! and change from £50 whole job..

[davehedgehog31]

@Split_Pin to the beige courtesy phone 

[Split_Pin]

Aye I owned mine for 13 years, any G is ace tbh!

This is mine in 2018 just before I sold it. I fitted a lot of nice parts to it in that time. 

They're very rare cars now.

I always wanted one in Titan gold, if one came up I'd be on it!

Look forward to more updates.

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36 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Aye I owned mine for 13 years, any G is ace tbh!

This is mine in 2018 just before I sold it. I fitted a lot of nice parts to it in that time. 

They're very rare cars now.

I always wanted one in Titan gold, if one came up I'd be on it!

Look forward to more updates.

I’ll see what I can do with updates, weather and daylight permitting!

Some of the Irmscher stuff is priced a bit steep…

gold ones do pop up in good order…

[sierraman]

They weren’t a bad looking car at all those. It’s only struck me now you rarely see them these days? 

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Crazy to think this is one of the younger ones and it’s 21 years old… 

[Motown]

Nice car that good colour too! Mk4s in general are rare sight these days never mind a coupe

I didn't own the coupe but i had a Mk4 sport hatchback (52 plate) in prestige blue about 11 years ago.  It was a pretty clean car but on the way to the scrap heap because it had a fault were it would randomly keep stalling and the guy who owned it couldn't figure out why. He had spent a small fortune throwing parts at it I bought it for £500 and soon found the issue was down to a faulty EGR valve. I bought a replacement on Ebay for £10 and had three years of trouble free motoring

It was fairly nippy and great on fuel but more importantly it was a real workhorse it didn't matter what you threw at the thing it would keep going and i absolutely thrashed it too. 

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Nearly finished  an awkward job sorted this weekend.. 

The kids got a few useful bits for me for Xmas so popped them on.. ( brighter headlight bulbs etc)   one was insignia washer jets at it sprays the whole screen like a mist instead of just two points ( and the old ones where not great anyway ) 

fitting means scuttle panel off with means wiper arms off… which are seized solid! 
 

removal ended up being wedging the scuttle unbolting the wiper motor and taking off as a unit.. then a lot of chisel work to remove the wiper arms from the linkage, of course something plastic snapped on the linkage…. 
 

one used wiper linkage later lobbed it in and that had a ball joint on the crank that wouldn’t hold… ( once all refitted) stripped down again & so drilled a hole in the top and self tapered it in job done & everything rusty cleaned up and greased

tested it out was ok, a while later now the main washer pipe has fallen off…  but at least the wipers work as this has to be family duties as the modern has injected issues.

one step forward and all that… 
 

 

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Trying to get this in better order as the family hack has massively shat it’s fuel system ( fuck your Henry Ford and your penny pinching ways) and this is doing life stuff… 

changed the indicator and wiper stalks as after 220k they are knackard. Intermittent wipers now work and indicators actually turn off! Pattern parts but new and feel better to touch.

aftermarket radio lobbed in and steering wheel buttons made to work

changed oil & filter ( checked level and it’s used near all of it 3k ) 

Front bumper was looking sorry for itself; Lost the left front bumper trim in the heavy rain, a very used example from the eldest boys post crash old bumper helped me out, cable tied everywhere to stop it popping off again.

Front fog lamp semi fell out, saved it but it’s bumper off as the mounts sheared off and access poor- sticks like shit and self tappers for the win

while the gloops is out, gobbled a load in the rear spoiler mount voids ( the base sheared off) and stuck the bases on with tape for pressure on top. It all sounds skinflint repairs but rear spoilers are £££ of late. I’ll leave it a week to cure then bond it on the boot with some self tappers as well

steering wheel is shit so I got a gsi one cheap needs recolouring ( unsurprisingly, these are old cars now) new horn/ airbag middle section was cheap at £11 so waiting on that.

dash bulbs have been intermittent so some led straight swaps are going in 

once the family hacks back I’ll get on with suspension parts as it’s a bit more than a few hours task… 

cam belt and water pump are needed soon as it’s going to be a luggage cart to Gatwick in April, are they simple  enough to do anyone? 

 

[Unknownfnch]

Cambelts are nice and simple on these. Crank pulley has a notch to line up on the cover,  Two cams have a couple of lines that face each other. Jam a tool between the pulleys to lock them (can be done without but one of the pulleys likes to twist round and can be a pain to line back up without a third hand) air box off for access. support engine  from underneath and remove engine mount.do the Waterpump at the same time as it’s cambelt driven in these. Have had a fair few Astra g’s over the years.  Coupes are really rare nowadays as the banger boys bought them all pretty much. Still loads of convertibles around though but not as nice to drive as the coupes. 

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All bobbed back together… and it didn’t rain! 
 

front bumper mounts had to be manipulated with grinder and attached with whatever I had lying around in an old sweet tin.. same as the made at home foglamp bracket think it was a ikea unit to wall bracket before
 

anyway, I think it looks a bit less shit now…

[tooSavvy]

Lash-up 'n bracketry.... Meat & drink to me, over a lifetime ⚒️🦾👍

My auto has had a J tranny cooler fitted... The garage [when they did all the belts] fitted it behind the lower grille using 'odd bits of bracket' but they wouldn't connect up the tranny/cut the pipes off the radiator 🙄.

I discovered the i.d. of the GM tranny hose is 10MM = 10MM copper central heating pipe was lashed in, by my friendly spanner man, and I crushed the banjo pipe ends to seal the existing radiator ports.

Bodging is not bodging if it's good and reliable ⚙️😉

Keep it Up, m9

🚙💨

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It’s not a bodge if it works it’s an alternative repair! …. some say artisan… 

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So, did some front  suspension work..

Lower arms, track rod ends and tie rods

lower arms was a faff using the cars weight to seat the steering knuckle ball joint in ( took a few goes) 

tie rods and track rod ends had to be cut off with angle grinder and access for tie rod was  tight against subframe, water pump pliers and a big heave got them off. ( swing arm tool for tie rod was useless) 

always annoying when track rod ends spin trying to undo nut on hub, new ones have torx hollow section to assist in not spinning which was a god send.

pair of Falken tyres on the front (had really old budget tyres that where like plastic in the wet and a bit out of shape as where on the back) and a wheel alignment, drives really well now  way less “baggy” and crosses off a few mot advisory’s from last year.

went to do front shocks etc  before the tyres but need another tool so job for another day.

satisfying job done all on Jack and axle stands and hand tools ( bar the cordless angle grinder) 💪 

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Gave it a wash and popped on a rear spoiler I “fixed”months ago.

Screwed, bonded & taped down overnight…. See how long it stays on 

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Been a while… 

spoiler has stayed bonded, not the prettiest repair but 90mph hasn’t pulled it off yet so that’s a win…

 

had a mot ( first one with me) and failed ( garage has a new tester and seems too keen, maybe last mot was generous idk 🤷‍♂️)

mostly on rust and a few stupid things like headlight aim and bulbs pointing out at funny angles ( missing teeth on bulb holders, Chinese plastic replacements fixed that.) 

the rust was epic…

upper front subframe mounts both sides ( bought pre made plates to save on labour) 

nsr inner & outer sill and inner wheel arch area.

nsf chassis leg 

osf floor

 

So well beyond my timescale / ability so I paid some one a fair bit who did a great job and it’s sorted… as usual it’s worse once the knot wheel starts spinning,  

it’s done it’s back on the road there is still a bit more welding to do but not immediately so I’ll have a look and have a bash another day.

replaced the dash clocks as the plastic plug turned to dust and wouldn’t connect correctly, it’s had a hell of a haircut but I know from the mots what it should be, needs opcom (?) to reset  or TEC  2 (?) 🤷‍♂️

replaced all the dash  bulbs  as the nights are coming in and it’s roulette in the dark with the heater controls all out.

bit of a shitter missing the Cornwall meet up but priorities & resources where needed at home.

 there’s still more to go! More jobs for me to keep costs down 

timing belt and pump have arrived

front shocks & 40mm lowering springs ( rear shocks are ok and only 40k miles old, according to invoice) 

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

That's impressive service...221k! A work colleague years back owned a similarly silver example on an X plate - they always referred to it as 'The Bertone'. Still makes me chuckle. 

Great to see it keeping on, anyhow. Get the inside of those welded sections lagged in wax to keep it solid!

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4 minutes ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

That's impressive service...221k! A work colleague years back owned a similarly silver example on an X plate - they always referred to it as 'The Bertone'. Still makes me chuckle. 

Great to see it keeping on, anyhow. Get the inside of those welded sections lagged in wax to keep it solid!

Cheers, yeah it’s still got some oomph to it, most of its life was on motorways, a lot of the suspension I changed recently still had GM stamped on it… 

id like to Saab turbo it when it goes bang… untill then ill fix the other bits .

good shout on the wax, think ive got some waxoil knocking about, gun might be solid with old tho! 

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Does clean up well…. From the heatwave we had I did a polish etc 

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Did a seat tilt cable replacement ( it was getting annoying only one working )

the parts super cheap (£11) and a sacrificial metal teaspoon to hold the latch  in place for reassembly…

First one I’ve done, it was fiddly and at times working blind… this video helped massively & gloves do stop you cutting hands on the metal knife esc edges…  much success!