1991 vauxhall Astra GTE 16v, stop the rot

this is the day i bought it in 2007 with go faster stripe, vw offset wheels and the loudest exhaust known to humanity



that was quickly swapped out for standard version sourced from opel in europe







the wheels went off to a happy mk2 golf owner and some temporary cavalier wheels for myself....





next came some vulcanised engine mounts, a tickle with the lowering bat, and a helical LSD







more to follow...

there was a sizeable oil leak when the engine was running, these engines are known for leaky sump gaskets but the engine was really mucky and hard to decide where it was coming from.

so from all angles the sump came off, replaced the sump gasket, took the oppertunity to fit some ARP rod bolts, also renewed the oil pump to block gasket









the following year was to get down to the bones of the bodywork issues.

dented wing



rusty arches



rusty sills











stone chips and scratches





work in progress at the bodyshop, i'm a spanner twidler, bodywork and paint is an art form that i am not blessed with !

while it was at the bodyshop i sold the cavalier wheels on and sourced some original 14" teardrop alloys ready for the cars return



and now for the after shots...























a little later that year it was my turn for the less cosmetic stuff, floor pan rot

















and the dreaded bulkhead rot !









rack mount repaired and reinforced



after all that work it embarassingly failed the MOT for 1 spot of the inner sill and corroded brake pipe

thanks for the comments

at this stage of ownership i was still only 1 astra up and still ticking all the cliche's for handling improvements.

supaflex bushes replaced the tired old rubber ones. the front wishbone bush was replaced with new factory item. all polybush designs are so poor for this application, the pivot bolt comes loose all the time and crush tube eats into chassis

rear torsion beam









and front wishbone REAR bushes, notice the superior design compared to powerflex it replaced





i also managed to source a lexmual exhaust manifold from german ebay. all the uk importers said it didnt exist



my local rolling road showed a nice increase from the manifold, even with stock exhaust.



at this stage with the car in good shape i had a change of heart, i remembered all the stories about my dads old cars, zodiac, mk2 cortina etc, how cool it would be to own them nowadays. so instead of buying an old car, why not preserve a car i have now, for the future? stick it in the garage and keep it in good condition for 20 or 30 years?

so basically i bought another GTE, one to modify for track days, be a little less precious over and worry less about spoiling.

so with that major U turn (possibly a retrorides first ?) i sourced some standard suspension to raise the silver gte and return back to factory, and then i could use the eibach and bilstien on the track day car.









and here is the next generation to modify, astra no.3 for me. its a 1988 gte16v, very early model with less luxuries but it does have the superior cosworth KBA engine. i will start a new thread for this car

Lovely GTE (s)! Despite the few scabby bits, the silver one looked pretty tidy overall for an old Vauxhall, including the inner front wings. Did you have to take engine out and steering rack off to have the bulkhead sorted? I would imagine the work cost a pretty penny? I am looking to get a similar level of work done to my Cav gsi, also in similar areas!

nice one thanks! the engine was still in but the inlet manifold and steering rack removed. it wouldve been miles easier with the engine out but I was trying to get it finished the week before vboa billing 2008 (finished about 4am on the first day of billing !)

sorry I cant give you any advice on the price as I do all the work myself (everything bar the respray)

its funny this thread popped up again as the car had to go back to the body shop on the 7th april to fix some prodigious mirco blisters all over the roof. they had laid dormant for nearly 4 years and popped up over the winter. caused by moisuture between the primer and top coat when it was spray in 2008

Great project. Hated these in the 90s but now I like them. They have a certain charm about them. Keep the updates coming.

haha, evil 5

Great project, shame about the bodywork 'popping up' like that but at least it's sorted now and looking smoooooth.