What have you done to your car today?

Dav4 · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:45

andy_mk3 said:
Ouch indeed, as below, a mk3 astra, with lots of lows!

I checked it today while on the ramp, I am amazed it didn't crack!

Today I fitted 2 new lower wishbones, the rear bushes had almost fallen apart Never EVER putting pattern parts on my car again! So got a pair of genuine vaux ones on there now. Also put it on the hunter and sorted out the front alignment, it dives different altogether now, very happy!

Gave it a wash as I got home as it was ditched.

Next job is sorting out fitting the Saxo electric PAS pump.

How much Bhp is that running? Bet it surprises a few people at the lights

shauncr91 · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:45

I really don't understand why you continue to keep the plate on your car if you're so sensitive about people commenting on it.

Rybo89 · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:48

Is it a private plate? Thought it was just a 11 year old BMW.

*runs*

J1nxy · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:52

shauncr91 said:
I really don't understand why you continue to keep the plate on your car if you're so sensitive about people commenting on it.

Muffin` said:
Lollllllll

Congratulations on avoiding the sarcasm in the last post

Muffin` · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:56

acemastr · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:58

Took all 4 wheels off, cleaned them entirely, rotated front to back and put my brake pads in properly (they had a clip, the stock pads had it outside, these fit inside).

Took a screw out of one of the tires as it's been in there for 2 months, turned out it was a self tapping wood screw, huge head but only about 4mm long! Win!

andy_mk3 · 19 Jan 2015 at 09:51

Fuzz said:
Looks like VX sumps are stronger than VW sumps then, mine left the contents of it's entire oil pan behind when the old dear hit an exhaust box in the road.
All I can say is thank **** she stopped when all the lights on the dash lit up like a Christmas tree.

Luckily it's a saab sump not vx, I don't think a vx sump would have survived either

Lucky she did stop! I've seen a few smashed vw sumps lol.

Munkyman said:
I'd forgotten how good the old mk3 astra looked, especially the 3 door. Looks mega in yellow

I do like them, I think they're quite understated in their looks, and have aged well. Thanks

Dav4 said:
How much Bhp is that running? Bet it surprises a few people at the lights

354bhp and 356lb.ft, yeah does shock a few, especially with the 1.6 badges still fitted

Diagro · 19 Jan 2015 at 10:23

atpbx said:
Took it for its MOT and ended up trading it in.

Wow

Diagro · 19 Jan 2015 at 10:27

metamorphpwner said:
Went out with the intention of changing my front speakers as one is making a weird noise and can't get into the car . Stupid weather has frozen my doors shut and it feels like the handle will break before the ice does when I try pull it open. The problem is that it's not even very cold here yet, so I'm going to be screwed when winter actually arrives.
I have read that rubbing alcohol/dw40/something similar may stop it when I eventually get it.

Last night was a very wet one, Didnt rain too much but when i got up there was a good 5mm layer of ice

Howard · 19 Jan 2015 at 10:40

That Astra is awesome. I think it looks great in that colour too, and looking (mostly) standard / "OEM +".. I'll forgive the exhaust on account of it probably being a requirement of that much horsepower :eek:

Are there any more photos / interior pics etc somewhere? I seem to remember you posting a link to a build thread before

andy_mk3 · 19 Jan 2015 at 11:59

Howard said:
That Astra is awesome. I think it looks great in that colour too, and looking (mostly) standard / "OEM +".. I'll forgive the exhaust on account of it probably being a requirement of that much horsepower

Are there any more photos / interior pics etc somewhere? I seem to remember you posting a link to a build thread before

Haha thanks! Yeah I've tried to keep it fairly standard looking with some subtle mods. And yes the exhaust is a requirement, 3" from the turbo all the way back! I'll find some pics when I'm home tonight as linking from Dropbox seems impossible from a phone.

andy_mk3 · 19 Jan 2015 at 19:17

And here are interior pics. The first two are older pics, I now have Sparco seats as seen in 3rd pic, rear seats are also trimmed to match. I want to get the door trims done to match as well I think.

lee1101 · 19 Jan 2015 at 19:19

I like it!

A nice steering wheel refurb would finish it off nicely

Howard · 19 Jan 2015 at 19:23

I like the attention to detail and how the interior isn't just a mess of gauges and holes where equipment and bits of trim used to live etc!

andy_mk3 · 19 Jan 2015 at 22:39

lee1101 said:
I like it!

A nice steering wheel refurb would finish it off nicely

Thanks. The steering wheel isn't that bad actually, I think it looks worse in pictures. It's from a Vectra, with all the steering wheel radio controls too.

Howard said:
I like the attention to detail and how the interior isn't just a mess of gauges and holes where equipment and bits of trim used to live etc!

Yup that's how I wanted it. I do around 20k miles a year, so I wanted something that was nice to drive as well as being able to handle track days etc.

There's many retro-fitted mods.. cruise control, trip computer, BMW auto-dim rear view mirror, down to things like the chrome door handles from a vectra and all sorts.

Still loaaads to do though, it's nowhere near where I want it to be yet. but I love it

I'm sure many people will think 'why bother doing such things to a crappy old Astra?'.. well I love the car, and enjoy doing it, and enjoy driving it even more

I need a new clutch though, my already uprated clutch is starting to slip in 6th gear now

Howard · 20 Jan 2015 at 08:03

Your next challenge should be retrofitting climate control from a Vectra :cool:

geekman · 20 Jan 2015 at 09:46

To any fans of my ever reliable and well travelled MR2, I'm sorry to report that it's been stolen, crashed and burnt out

Absolutely gutted, both at myself for not taking enough care of the keys, and at the people who took it. I doubt I'll ever own another car which which was so fun, cheap and reliable.

snips86x · 20 Jan 2015 at 09:47

I fitted new Bosch flat blade wipers, nice to have a clean windscreen for a change

adam cool dude · 20 Jan 2015 at 10:10

Any thoughts of going for a full GSI bodykit? Maybe some phase 2 Vectra GSI alloy wheels to really set it off :cool:

.

rodenal · 20 Jan 2015 at 10:16

geekman said:
To any fans of my ever reliable and well travelled MR2, I'm sorry to report that it's been stolen, crashed and burnt out

Absolutely gutted, both at myself for not taking enough care of the keys, and at the people who took it. I doubt I'll ever own another car which which was so fun, cheap and reliable.

Well that's just crap.

I'd love to be able to trust a turbo to run every day still