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Hi Guys,
Since you can't access the original VODC site due to 'Technical Issues' I have cribbed the original thread to this so to help build up this site. I've had to edit it but have lost the original comments to the thread so have posted it in chronological order from my www.MK3OC.com post.
Astra Mk3 3 dr - A car for a Project. Work in Progress.
14th March 2009
Well Guys and Gals.
As some of you may know I am a greedy s*d and own 3 Vectra B's, 2 of which are Manual Box's and 1 is an Auto Box.
I really like Mk3 Astra's, bought one last year for my daughter.
Well I've been thinking about one myself for ages and been looking around and ideally wanted a Mk3 3dr version as I personally prefer the look of the 3 door to the 5 door.
Went to see a Astra Arctic on Thursday night in the Stoke area, ebay pics showed a nice looking car but when i got there instead of a Flame Red car, it was part pink (colour fade) as these pics were obviously taken some time ago, the car was a 'shed', bumper's hanging off, A/c not working, engine devoid of oil and blowing. Totally misrepresented so walked away and a waste of money the guy wanted £500, more like £100 is like nearer its value. I hate Sellers to use ebay to misrepresent cars and try and flog rubbish.
So after a couple of phone call to another Ebay Seller, yesterday I travelled up to Manchester area (got a lift up) and bought back with me a P Reg 1.6 8v Automatic 3 door in one of my favourite VX Colours Burgundy (Satin Red Z72L) in very good condition, no rust except for a bit on the bottom of the drivers door and 81k on the clock. Sat on 13" Steelies.
The Seller had a start of 99p, but when I spoke to him he wanted around the £560 mark. Hmmm. Paid £300 cash.
The car has a month or so's MoT and no Tax, the Trade Seller and I went to tax it up there and found out it was registered to a disabled guy (doh must read the V5 more carefully) so couldn't tax it. So its off to the local DVLA office on Monday to get it altered.
15th April 2009
It seems a nice car, the Seller said to me that the battery was flat before travelling up so we took up a spare battery off a 1.7TD Astra to jump start it (being an Auto), started first turn of the key, sweet as a nut. Drove it back some 55 miles on its battery parked it up yesterday afternoon, went to start it today and flat battery so will fit the big diesel battery tomorrow, hope its just a knackered battery and not something electrical draining it with the keys out.
Anyway my plans for the car are for a few discreet mods and before anybody say 'slam it to the deck', no way.
My immediate plans are to on Monday to go to the DVLA office and upgrade its registration status from DISABLED to normal PLG use so I can TAX it.
It's MOT expires 25th April 2009 so get that booked in for the following week so I get a 13 month MOT.
Fit the alloys I have here which are the genuine VX Irmscher Softstars and tyres which I collected last year and came from Ady347 (Adrian in Shrewsbury) as a freebie off his Astra Cabby, thanks again Adrian.
Clear side repeaters.
Fit a roof mounted radio aerial.
Source both front and rear colour coded bumpers (front with fog lights)
Fit a 4 dial set of instrument clocks - Rev Counter-Speedo-Fuel-Water).
Upgrade the Radio/Cassette Player to a Sony Minidisc player.
Fit a Nokia HandsFree car kit and fit outside carphone antennae.
Source a identical coloured Drivers door to replace the rust on the bottom of the door.
Source a identical coloured Bonnet to replace the peeled lacquer on the bonnet.
New number plates
18th March 2009
Just an update on the Astra.
Went to the local DVLA office in Shrewsbury yesterday in one of my Vectra's to get the Astra's V5 (log book) changed into my name as the car is currently sat on my daughters driveway and the V5 at DISABLED status and need to be changed to PLG so I can tax it.
The girl on reception there said that yes, no problem but it order to change the registered user from the disabled guy to me I would have to tax the car, my plans were to tax the car as of the 1st April as we are well over halfway through the month, so I bit the bullet and said ok, tax it now. She said no problem, can I see the insurance details for the car, I told her it wasn't insured until 1st April, she said unless I insure the car now and Tax it I can't get the V5 put into my name.
So a wasted journey.
If I wanted to keep the car off the road ie. SORN for a few months and I want to register the car in my name on the V5, I have to Tax and insure the car, then send the Tax disc back for a refund and lose a month's money.
What a ripoff this is ?.
22nd March 2009
An update on the ASTRA or 'SATIN BEAR' to give the car a name (Heidi's & My Choice) LoL.
Went on Thursday to the DVLA office at Shrewsbury to tax the car,
Tax was £180 for 12 months.
Insurance was £173 for the year.
Spent the whole day polishing the car, worked my fingers to the bone Moan Moan Winge Winge!!!. :Cry:
Aaww! I tell a lie, got the local Turkish Mafia to wash, dry and hard wax polish the car for £20 in Telford. I know lazy but... :redface:
Went to a local tyre fitting place and took the Irmscher alloys with tyres and got them to swap over the steelies for these Irmscher 14" Softstars. Lockable wheel nuts went on as well.
Went and picked up a set of new clear side indicators for the Astra from the VX Dealer to replace the standard orange ones and fitted them.
Decided to take some pics of the car as it was nice and clean, so you guys could see the transformation from the original standard car with steelies.wheel trims etc.
So that's it so far
It's back to work next week so only the weekend for doing things.
Need to get the bottom of the driver's door done and the bonnet lacquer peel problems.
Used Photobucket to host the images, Yeh got it working. LoL
I know the 14" Irmschers Softstars look good, but they don't fill the wheel arches well. They are miles better than the standard steelies but may look around to get some 15" Vectra Arctic ones (same as on my Vectra Arctic's) or 15" or 16" Irmscher Sofstars in there to fill it out a bit
Need new number plates as well.
26th April 2009
Well, just picked the Astra up from the Garage, it failed it's MoT yesterday on two Failures and three Advisories.
The Failures were
Offside Front Brake Pipe excessively corroded
Offside Front Lower Rear suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement.
The Three Advisories were
Front Brake Disc's slightly pitted
Slight Coolant leak from Radiator
Rear Number plate slightly deteriorated
So £158.17p lighter in my wallet, the car (Satin Bear) is back on the driveway.
The £158.17p includes the £48 MoT fee.
I will do a complete change of Front Disc & Pads soon when the car is serviced soon.
I have a choice of replacement Radiator, either £50 something pence for a new one from a local motor factors or £20 from a local scrappy.
The number plates were earmarked for replacing anyway so will be done in due course.
So there we are, car back and a 13 month Mot until April 24th 2010.
As for the Radiator, I know the thermostat needs replacing as it is stuck on the Temp gauge just above the Blue Cold Mark even after a long drive, so it look like a Thermostat/Radiator/AntiFreeze change is on the cards shortly. As the leak is very minor I will just top up the Coolant levels for a while when the car is used, usually just over the weekend until funds permit as its only used local to home.
3rd May 2009
Yesterday, she had a full service-Spark Plugs-Oil & Filter-Air Filter-Pollen Filter-Fuel Filter. Also had the Cambelt, Water pump, Thermostat and brand new Radiator fitted filled with new antifreeze. Also had the front brake discs and brake pads were replaced with new ones.
She needs the back brake shoes replacing as the are getting low and wheel cylinders replacing as both cylinders are weeping but that's a job for 2 weeks time with a full brake fluid change.
On Friday night she managed to blow holes in her middle and back box exhaust area's, so now she 'gurgling' like a good one. So a full new exhaust system is on the cards.
Got my VX Mechanic friend to do all this and the overall bill wasn't cheap, the new rad was £85 (Auto Gearbox Oil cooler version) alone. Total cost came in at just a fraction over £300 for parts and labour.
Took about 4 hours to do the Full service, Rad-Cambelt,Water Pump-Thermostat and new Front Brake Discs & Pads. Also gave the cooling system a good flush out and no air locks. Might be cheaper to run the Astra up on full interior heat settings and cook the Sunday Roast rather than heat up the Oven !!!
I think my VX Mechanic friend is getting a tad greedy on his 'mates rates', may have to look elsewhere.
Sorry Guys no pics on all this work, forgot to take the camera with me.
When I bought the car, the guy selling it said it had just had the cambelt done not too long ago but the receipt for the work wasn't dated.
I decided that I didn't want any problems in that area and decided to have a new belt fitted, as it was the old belt looked reasonably new and slightly worn, consigned to the bin. The existing water pump was leaking and wobbly/rattly (bearing gone !!!) and the old Thermostat was stuck open so all in all new parts fitted and worth it for peace of mind.
I would rather have a well serviced car and spend the money there than spend it all on cosmetic upgrades at this stage, get the car serviced and hopefully reliable then do the cosmetic bits at a later date.
Sorry guys but this update is about all what's gone on under the bonnet and not outside.
Since you can't access the original VODC site due to 'Technical Issues' I have cribbed the original thread to this so to help build up this site. I've had to edit it but have lost the original comments to the thread so have posted it in chronological order from my www.MK3OC.com post.
Astra Mk3 3 dr - A car for a Project. Work in Progress.
14th March 2009
Well Guys and Gals.
As some of you may know I am a greedy s*d and own 3 Vectra B's, 2 of which are Manual Box's and 1 is an Auto Box.
I really like Mk3 Astra's, bought one last year for my daughter.
Well I've been thinking about one myself for ages and been looking around and ideally wanted a Mk3 3dr version as I personally prefer the look of the 3 door to the 5 door.
Went to see a Astra Arctic on Thursday night in the Stoke area, ebay pics showed a nice looking car but when i got there instead of a Flame Red car, it was part pink (colour fade) as these pics were obviously taken some time ago, the car was a 'shed', bumper's hanging off, A/c not working, engine devoid of oil and blowing. Totally misrepresented so walked away and a waste of money the guy wanted £500, more like £100 is like nearer its value. I hate Sellers to use ebay to misrepresent cars and try and flog rubbish.
So after a couple of phone call to another Ebay Seller, yesterday I travelled up to Manchester area (got a lift up) and bought back with me a P Reg 1.6 8v Automatic 3 door in one of my favourite VX Colours Burgundy (Satin Red Z72L) in very good condition, no rust except for a bit on the bottom of the drivers door and 81k on the clock. Sat on 13" Steelies.
The Seller had a start of 99p, but when I spoke to him he wanted around the £560 mark. Hmmm. Paid £300 cash.
The car has a month or so's MoT and no Tax, the Trade Seller and I went to tax it up there and found out it was registered to a disabled guy (doh must read the V5 more carefully) so couldn't tax it. So its off to the local DVLA office on Monday to get it altered.
15th April 2009
It seems a nice car, the Seller said to me that the battery was flat before travelling up so we took up a spare battery off a 1.7TD Astra to jump start it (being an Auto), started first turn of the key, sweet as a nut. Drove it back some 55 miles on its battery parked it up yesterday afternoon, went to start it today and flat battery so will fit the big diesel battery tomorrow, hope its just a knackered battery and not something electrical draining it with the keys out.
Anyway my plans for the car are for a few discreet mods and before anybody say 'slam it to the deck', no way.
My immediate plans are to on Monday to go to the DVLA office and upgrade its registration status from DISABLED to normal PLG use so I can TAX it.
It's MOT expires 25th April 2009 so get that booked in for the following week so I get a 13 month MOT.
Fit the alloys I have here which are the genuine VX Irmscher Softstars and tyres which I collected last year and came from Ady347 (Adrian in Shrewsbury) as a freebie off his Astra Cabby, thanks again Adrian.
Clear side repeaters.
Fit a roof mounted radio aerial.
Source both front and rear colour coded bumpers (front with fog lights)
Fit a 4 dial set of instrument clocks - Rev Counter-Speedo-Fuel-Water).
Upgrade the Radio/Cassette Player to a Sony Minidisc player.
Fit a Nokia HandsFree car kit and fit outside carphone antennae.
Source a identical coloured Drivers door to replace the rust on the bottom of the door.
Source a identical coloured Bonnet to replace the peeled lacquer on the bonnet.
New number plates
18th March 2009
Just an update on the Astra.
Went to the local DVLA office in Shrewsbury yesterday in one of my Vectra's to get the Astra's V5 (log book) changed into my name as the car is currently sat on my daughters driveway and the V5 at DISABLED status and need to be changed to PLG so I can tax it.
The girl on reception there said that yes, no problem but it order to change the registered user from the disabled guy to me I would have to tax the car, my plans were to tax the car as of the 1st April as we are well over halfway through the month, so I bit the bullet and said ok, tax it now. She said no problem, can I see the insurance details for the car, I told her it wasn't insured until 1st April, she said unless I insure the car now and Tax it I can't get the V5 put into my name.
So a wasted journey.
If I wanted to keep the car off the road ie. SORN for a few months and I want to register the car in my name on the V5, I have to Tax and insure the car, then send the Tax disc back for a refund and lose a month's money.
What a ripoff this is ?.
22nd March 2009
An update on the ASTRA or 'SATIN BEAR' to give the car a name (Heidi's & My Choice) LoL.
Went on Thursday to the DVLA office at Shrewsbury to tax the car,
Tax was £180 for 12 months.
Insurance was £173 for the year.
Spent the whole day polishing the car, worked my fingers to the bone Moan Moan Winge Winge!!!. :Cry:
Aaww! I tell a lie, got the local Turkish Mafia to wash, dry and hard wax polish the car for £20 in Telford. I know lazy but... :redface:
Went to a local tyre fitting place and took the Irmscher alloys with tyres and got them to swap over the steelies for these Irmscher 14" Softstars. Lockable wheel nuts went on as well.
Went and picked up a set of new clear side indicators for the Astra from the VX Dealer to replace the standard orange ones and fitted them.
Decided to take some pics of the car as it was nice and clean, so you guys could see the transformation from the original standard car with steelies.wheel trims etc.
So that's it so far
It's back to work next week so only the weekend for doing things.
Need to get the bottom of the driver's door done and the bonnet lacquer peel problems.
Used Photobucket to host the images, Yeh got it working. LoL
I know the 14" Irmschers Softstars look good, but they don't fill the wheel arches well. They are miles better than the standard steelies but may look around to get some 15" Vectra Arctic ones (same as on my Vectra Arctic's) or 15" or 16" Irmscher Sofstars in there to fill it out a bit
Need new number plates as well.
26th April 2009
Well, just picked the Astra up from the Garage, it failed it's MoT yesterday on two Failures and three Advisories.
The Failures were
Offside Front Brake Pipe excessively corroded
Offside Front Lower Rear suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement.
The Three Advisories were
Front Brake Disc's slightly pitted
Slight Coolant leak from Radiator
Rear Number plate slightly deteriorated
So £158.17p lighter in my wallet, the car (Satin Bear) is back on the driveway.
The £158.17p includes the £48 MoT fee.
I will do a complete change of Front Disc & Pads soon when the car is serviced soon.
I have a choice of replacement Radiator, either £50 something pence for a new one from a local motor factors or £20 from a local scrappy.
The number plates were earmarked for replacing anyway so will be done in due course.
So there we are, car back and a 13 month Mot until April 24th 2010.
As for the Radiator, I know the thermostat needs replacing as it is stuck on the Temp gauge just above the Blue Cold Mark even after a long drive, so it look like a Thermostat/Radiator/AntiFreeze change is on the cards shortly. As the leak is very minor I will just top up the Coolant levels for a while when the car is used, usually just over the weekend until funds permit as its only used local to home.
3rd May 2009
Yesterday, she had a full service-Spark Plugs-Oil & Filter-Air Filter-Pollen Filter-Fuel Filter. Also had the Cambelt, Water pump, Thermostat and brand new Radiator fitted filled with new antifreeze. Also had the front brake discs and brake pads were replaced with new ones.
She needs the back brake shoes replacing as the are getting low and wheel cylinders replacing as both cylinders are weeping but that's a job for 2 weeks time with a full brake fluid change.
On Friday night she managed to blow holes in her middle and back box exhaust area's, so now she 'gurgling' like a good one. So a full new exhaust system is on the cards.
Got my VX Mechanic friend to do all this and the overall bill wasn't cheap, the new rad was £85 (Auto Gearbox Oil cooler version) alone. Total cost came in at just a fraction over £300 for parts and labour.
Took about 4 hours to do the Full service, Rad-Cambelt,Water Pump-Thermostat and new Front Brake Discs & Pads. Also gave the cooling system a good flush out and no air locks. Might be cheaper to run the Astra up on full interior heat settings and cook the Sunday Roast rather than heat up the Oven !!!
I think my VX Mechanic friend is getting a tad greedy on his 'mates rates', may have to look elsewhere.
Sorry Guys no pics on all this work, forgot to take the camera with me.
When I bought the car, the guy selling it said it had just had the cambelt done not too long ago but the receipt for the work wasn't dated.
I decided that I didn't want any problems in that area and decided to have a new belt fitted, as it was the old belt looked reasonably new and slightly worn, consigned to the bin. The existing water pump was leaking and wobbly/rattly (bearing gone !!!) and the old Thermostat was stuck open so all in all new parts fitted and worth it for peace of mind.
I would rather have a well serviced car and spend the money there than spend it all on cosmetic upgrades at this stage, get the car serviced and hopefully reliable then do the cosmetic bits at a later date.
Sorry guys but this update is about all what's gone on under the bonnet and not outside.
