‘97 Mk3 Astravan, just me and old faithful

Vans have to be saved!!
Top stuff there looks fantastic

Just so long as you don't finish up scared to use it for its intended purpose.

P45.

Todays progression



Front grille straightened up / flatted back



John had fitted a repair panel to the OSR wheel arch and I wanted to ensure that both panels (inner / outer) were sealed against each other



I always apply a primer to new work before applying a seam sealer



Front slam panel had been left the original white of the van - but its the first thing you see when opening the bonnet



Its also harbouring a load of surface rust and to be honest I could just ignore it because when you close the bonnet it goes away



And after all its just johnthesparky's works van



However and most importantly its my workshop and the following applies 'My workshop - My rules' - so the rust got knocked back and Hydrate 80 applied to it whilst the rest of the panel was flatted back for paint



Then my new Mirka sander turned up - this system is lighter than your conventional DA - has its a small low voltage motor in the head



Powered by an external transformer



Which makes it a lighter & easier to use - what is also nice is that the speed can be regulated by the palm trigger much like an accelerator pedal - makes it simple to drop the speed when you working around tight / restricted areas or close to trim etc



Sanding discs turned up too so the remaining flatting could be completed on the bonnet & doors



Then it was just a matter of flatting all the areas by hand that cannot be machine accessed



And by late afternoon this had occurred



3 coats of 2 pack primer filler



The trick with primer if you are using a darker top coat is use a darker primer - use a light / medium colour (normally grey) and you going to be using more paint to gain the coverage



Left to cure overnight



It can be flatted in the morning and all being well we could possibly see some of it painted in final colour by tomorrow afternoon

I haven’t done much! Not having the van sort of put a stop to that

I did order some cheap speakers and mounting rings





Number plates turned up too

And unfortunately Spud lost his fight last night
Sleep tight Mate

RIP spud...sad day

No good news about Spud. RIP Spud! All the best to you. You will miss him.

Commiserations re Spud

My condolences regards Spud. I’m sure he had an incredibly full and happy life, it certainly looked it at least.

I have realised just now I’ve only ever commented in this thread about Spud! Think I like dogs more than cars.

Astra is looking good. Interested to see how the full respray goes. Is it all your own work? Good luck with it, I’ve tried numerous times and made a total puss ear every time!

It’s not my work currently, I handed in over to Chris on Monday and helped strip some parts from it.

I’ll collect when it’s done, and am expecting to refit the parts I removed on Monday (mainly because I’d like to keep the price down where possible)

So none of the current paint repairs are mine.... at some point I’d like to have another go at some bodywork repairs, but would like to have some inside space and a compressor and spray gun available if possible, maybe when we get round to painting the Fug!