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Thought it's about time I started a thread as my collection seams to be growing. I've always been a fan of late 80's/90's hot hatches, some of you will disagree weather most of them could be considered "retro" but these are the cars I grew up with as a child and always dreamed of owning. Now in my late 20's, house and family sorted I've been granted permission from the Mrs to start my hobby which is slowly getting out of hand  . It all started towards the end of last year when I started trawling eBay and gumtree for cars. It wasn't long before I found this...  Xr2i 1.8 Fairly local to me, still mot'd but a none runner. The head gasket had gone on the previous owner who had the head rebuilt but then couldn't get it running again. I had a bid but didn't actually win the auction. Emailed the seller saying if the winning bidder didn't purchase it to let me know. A week or so later he messaged me back saying he had been messed about and if still wanted it I could have it for £500 which was actually £100 less than I'd originally bidded, Bonus! Got it recovered home and had a good look around it. Long story short the engine appeared to be scrap and it needed some welding, although I'm a fairly competent diy mechanic it was a bit more work than I was prepared to do so it was sold back on. In the meantime I also bought this...  Mk1 Saxo VTS Bought on a whim, I wasn't actually looking for it but it popped up on eBay again fairly local and it was very cheap with only a couple of hours left. I won the auction for £300. It was pretty high mileage but it was a runner and had a couple of months mot left so it seamed worth it. I used it for a couple of weeks but I didn't really bond with it, I had a VTR when I was 18 so it brought back a few memories but as I'd already owned one before it didn't feel much different. Also even though the mk1's are getting quite rare now it still didn't stand out enough from the norm and just felt a bit like a wanna be boy racer so again it was sold. Next was this....(apologies for the sideways pictures)   '94 Corsa Gsi Once again found by accident on gumtree literally two mins from my house. Had been off the road for two years as the previous owner had bought it but couldn't get insured. It was cheap at £400 but due to this...  Crippled rear quarter panel. Someone had reversed into it in a car park then the previous owner had tried to push most of it back out from the inside. It didn't phase me as a mate owns his own body shop so i bought it. Came with a stack of history right back to 94 and only three owners from new. It appears to have been well looked after in the past, first owner appears to have owned it for most of its life but then neglected slightly by the last owner. Nothing that can't be rectified. I still own this ongoing project so updates to come. The story continues but I have no more pictures at the min so I will update in due course! |
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2016 9:09:22 GMT by southside
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After a good look over the corsa I was pleasantly surprised how solid it was underneath with a lot of it being undersealed. I only found a couple of grotty bits, first being the driver rear inner wheel arch.. This was after id'd prodded it a bit  And also found some bubbling through on the driver side front inner arch  Welded up the rear arch first and seam sealed. Ignore my shocking attempt at seam sealing! Lol never used it before and due to the heat it was drying quicker than it was coming out the tube. Will look fine when painted and I undersealed  |
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Nice little hot hatches man! I am similar age to you so these are cars i grew up with too, tho more 80s for me as in rural devon old cars live longer! I like the old fizzer, shame it was scrap.. where abouts are you btw? I think I saw that forsale too! I only just got rid of my corsa, me and mates had them when we past our tests tho all 1.2s! There pretty good cars, like a bit of rot tho! Look forward to updates!
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2016 9:43:30 GMT by s1105117
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Jul 19, 2016 10:07:19 GMT
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Thanks! There is more to my collection but no pics at the min. I will update soon.
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Jul 20, 2016 19:21:20 GMT
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Cool collection of cars there  Shame about the Fezz as I'm a big Ford fan!! |
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Jul 20, 2016 19:37:30 GMT
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Man after my own heart I love hot hatches from this era. I too would love to build a collection. Already have a 92 xr2i but always need more haha
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Cool collection of cars there Shame about the Fezz as I'm a big Ford fan!! I have another one pics will follow In other news..... Rear quarter repaired on the corsa  |
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Last Edit: Jul 21, 2016 6:50:09 GMT by southside
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Jul 22, 2016 18:14:06 GMT
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As promised. Obviously after I sold the first xr2i I was originally looking for another one, even though I bought the corsa and Saxo inbetween oops!, well eventually I found another one local. Completely original (apart from the exhaust) 1990 xr2i 1.6, genuine 70k miles and only three owners from new, solid and rust free in all the right places. Even has its factory stereo and uncut parcel shelf. It was listed in the wrong category on eBay, car parts and accessories, and I won it with the only bid of £600 if I remember correctly. From what I can tell, just like the corsa the first owner had it for Most of its life, it was then unfortunatly written off due to a damaged drivers door. The second owner then purchased it as salvage and made a complete bodge of fitting a "new" white door and painting it Matt black with rattle cans whilst on the car without masking anything around it. Hence now the once mint drivers side now has a Matt black door and Matt black overspray on everything in its vicinity including the glass!! Luckily the third owner saved it from any further bodges and planned on getting it back to its former pristine state but unfortunatly he also had an escort rsturbo that was taking up his time and it was left stored in a garage for two years. It's now awaiting my care and attention dry stored in my mums garage. These are the only pics I have for now.   |
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Jul 22, 2016 18:52:59 GMT
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That is a good looking fizzer! Blasted bodgers, still it deserves the proper attention its now gonna get! Another nice hot hatch that I have only had the mild versions of! Thus far....
And the corsa seems to have held up well behind those arch trims, my old one was shot there..
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Jul 22, 2016 18:53:15 GMT
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Stupid double post....
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Last Edit: Jul 22, 2016 18:54:02 GMT by s1105117
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Jul 22, 2016 20:37:31 GMT
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And the corsa seems to have held up well behind those arch trims, my old one was shot there.. They have, other than the couple of areas shown in the pics it's surprisingly solid for a 90's Vauxhall. I expected the sills to have dissolved behind the skirts as well but they're solid and clean without a spec of rust. |
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Jul 22, 2016 21:53:30 GMT
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Seems to be luck of the draw with 90's Vaux, my Astra has a gritty bulkhead, but near mint arches, yet my bro's had a fist sized hole in his arch, and was split mint everywhere else. Nice collection you have there |
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Jul 24, 2016 17:46:48 GMT
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Finished off the rust repair on the rear inner arch today. Painted and undersealed. You can also see new suspension fitted. The car had lowering springs fitted when I bought it but I'm guessing they were for a 1.0 or a 1.2 as the car nosedived at the front and was very crashy over the bumps. I wanted to try and keep the car as close to original spec as possible but although I still had the original dampers the springs were long gone. Standard springs are still available new but at nearly £40 a corner plus postage it was a little steep. I opted for a cheap set of fk coilovers off amazon instead, there's mixed reviews of them online but as I'm not planning on doing any track days they'll do for now.  I've also had the wheels refurbed. The previous owner had badly painted them black and a lot of the paint was chipping off. I had them done by city powder coaters in Birmingham, again mixed reviews about them online but I've used them before and at only £20 a wheel for a dip, strip, repair and re-powder coat in a range of colours i can't complain. The finish isn't flawless but if you want them perfect you'd pay three times the price. I had them done back in the original silver  |
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Last Edit: Aug 20, 2017 19:24:41 GMT by southside
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Jul 25, 2016 11:04:08 GMT
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 corsa gsi has future classic written all over it. seems to have fallen into the astra gte segment of "retro" scene. low in numbers, relatively unloved, stolen, abused, barried up, then eventually vaporised quicker than base models to near extinction. according to howmanylies theres only 45 on the road out of 300 total ! my sister had a 1.2 "arizona", and a friend has a grey gsi. never known a car with such a chasm between the quality/feel of base model to top end sport model.
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Last Edit: Jul 25, 2016 11:13:04 GMT by darrenh
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This happened last week  Alfa 145 cloverleaf Bought on a whim. Like most of my other it's been off the road for a couple of years due to the previous owner having a bad accident at work and couldn't drive. I don't think this one will be staying long, shame really as it really is a good one and has the biggest service history of any car I've ever owned, the service book is full plus another a4 sheet of paper with more stamps on it. I've even found the sales receipt that the previous owner paid £1600 only a short while before he stopped driving. This one will just be getting an mot and a quick play then sold on purely because I don't have anywhere to keep it. I've always liked these and just wanted to experience owning one. |
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Last Edit: Aug 20, 2017 19:20:49 GMT by southside
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Jul 30, 2016 16:19:34 GMT
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corsa gsi has future classic written all over it. seems to have fallen into the astra gte segment of "retro" scene. low in numbers, relatively unloved, stolen, abused, barried up, then eventually vaporised quicker than base models to near extinction. according to howmanylies theres only 45 on the road out of 300 total ! my sister had a 1.2 "arizona", and a friend has a grey gsi. never known a car with such a chasm between the quality/feel of base model to top end sport model. Totally agree, would you believe overall there's more Nova gsi' still in existence than there is corsa's? |
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bmstew
Part of things
Posts: 276 
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Jul 30, 2016 16:26:45 GMT
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nice collection there, like the alfa a lot
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BMStew
73 BMW 2002
90 BMW E30 325i Cabby
96 BMW E36 328i Cabby
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Just a small update. Fitted the wheels back on the corsa yesterday, although like an idiot when I had them refurbed I forgot to plug the threads for the centre cap retaining bolts. Obviously with the fresh thicker powder coat and paint the bolts would no longer screw into the threads. Had to re-cut them  Also I've decided the punto is the first to go from the fleet. Gutted really as I've always wanted one and it probably is one of the cars I'd rather keep just for the fun of the turbo but in reality it needs to much work for me so it's on eBay. |
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Last Edit: Aug 20, 2017 19:21:46 GMT by southside
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Apr 22, 2017 12:39:45 GMT
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Long time with no update, probably due to nothing really happening over the winter due to a few family problems but the better weather has made me get my finger out my backside. As said in my last post the Punto was the one to go. Surprisingly even with an honest description about how much welding and work it needed it still fetched just shy of a grand on eBay  The Alfa is currently down my yard looking sorry for itself, four flat tyres and slowly getting more and more green. The fiesta is still in my mums garage untouched and the Corsa has sat on the drive only being moved now and again when it's in the way. But despite the lack of motivation I still found time to buy another one a few months back. I give you a '93 Clio 1.8 16v  Had a good look over it and it seams pretty solid to be honest and appears to have been well looked after in the past. Last on the road in 2014 and came with stacks of history. One thing I did notice though it seams to have had a light front ender at some point as a few things didn't add up, like the bonnet had holes for bonnet pins but the car didn't have or has no evidence of pins being fitted. Also the front bumper was missing it's fog lights and looked to have been painted. I've managed to find another bonnet so I decided the first job was to start stripping the front end to see what lies beneath  |
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Last Edit: Aug 20, 2017 19:12:09 GMT by southside
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,607
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Apr 22, 2017 13:00:57 GMT
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Always worth a look when you can see something has had repairs, regardless of how good the seem superficially, but especially when it is obviously a budget job.
Hope you've at managed to enjoy some of the toys properly along the way.
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