Johnthesparky
Club Member
Ah 
Must have just got lucky then
Must have just got lucky then
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Astravan Epic!
- Thread starter Johnthesparky
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Johnthesparky
Club Member
That’s not gone well
coming home the other night, car alongside changed lane from lane 2 to lane 1, not the most complicated manoeuvre.. so to spice it up the driver without the use of their eyes!
anyway, 3rd party insurers have accepted liability on his behalf. They’ve agreed to let the engineer speak to me and deal with it, rather than trying to sort through the system.. so should all be fine, just need to find some bits
think I’ve found a nos door skin, so just need the side molding strip for the door, and if possible the one for the rear 1/4 (of course this is the van only one
)if anyone has a lead, please let me know… thanks
Johnthesparky
Club Member
Thanks to Keith at VauxhallGreenParts I now have a door,
He also sorted the part numbers for the other bits I need, and pointed out so new old stock moulding strips on eBay
I found the one for the door in the UK, the blank bit that would say LS or merit that fits in the door panel came from Essen
So I’ve got all the bits I need (with the exception of any broken clips when I swap stuff)
Insurance engineer called and said I had 2 options, write it off or they’d offer payment in lieu of repairs. This means I can fix it, it won’t be recorded as write off or anything.
He offered a bit over £1000, not sure if I’d have beeen able to argue with him, but to be honest it seemed a fair price so I accepted
I’ll fit the door to the van to check it fits, then get it tidied up and painted and I can swap all the parts over myself over a weekend.
Can fit the spare white door whilst I sort it so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem
He also sorted the part numbers for the other bits I need, and pointed out so new old stock moulding strips on eBay
I found the one for the door in the UK, the blank bit that would say LS or merit that fits in the door panel came from Essen
So I’ve got all the bits I need (with the exception of any broken clips when I swap stuff)
Insurance engineer called and said I had 2 options, write it off or they’d offer payment in lieu of repairs. This means I can fix it, it won’t be recorded as write off or anything.
He offered a bit over £1000, not sure if I’d have beeen able to argue with him, but to be honest it seemed a fair price so I accepted
I’ll fit the door to the van to check it fits, then get it tidied up and painted and I can swap all the parts over myself over a weekend.
Can fit the spare white door whilst I sort it so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem
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Sounds like a good outcome in the end tbh and glad you got all the parts
Johnthesparky
Club Member
I looked for some when I resprayed the van, couldn’t find any anywhere so refreshed the ones on there.. so couldn’t believe my luck when they popped up on eBay!
Especially the rear ones that are can specific
Yea you basically have to just keep searching the internet for the same thing again and again, then one day, bam your in luck!
Johnthesparky
Club Member
Took a while, but sorted in the end
Even though it took a while, preferred doing this to getting a courtesy van and waiting (comparing it to having newer vehicles repaired)
And now it’s back to it’s former glory it looks lovely again.
Needs another 10k service, and investigate a slight knock on the front end
But nearly 3 1/2 years ownership and coming up to 50k miles, got some rust blebs to start investigating soon, the downside of using an old vehicle all year I guess
Even though it took a while, preferred doing this to getting a courtesy van and waiting (comparing it to having newer vehicles repaired)
And now it’s back to it’s former glory it looks lovely again.
Needs another 10k service, and investigate a slight knock on the front end
But nearly 3 1/2 years ownership and coming up to 50k miles, got some rust blebs to start investigating soon, the downside of using an old vehicle all year I guess
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Johnthesparky
Club Member
Yeah been scrutinising it quite hard and can’t really tell a difference.
Was passable with the other door, but so nice to have it looking shiny again
Johnthesparky
Club Member
Another 10k miles so van got a service.
Also had developed a bit of a creak/clunk at the front end
Top mount had split and started to bulge, so swapped for a second hand spare, but creak continued
So decided to give the van a bit of love.
Swapped both top mounts, lower ball joints, track rod ends, drop links.
Whilst there I’d warped a disc, so did discs and pads
Also swapped the engine mounts too
And still had a tiny creak! Grrrr
That turned out to be subframe bolts
End result is it feels so much nicer, back to where it was when I first went through the front end.
I’ve tried to use better quality parts (ordered off of autodoc and branded) so hoping they’ll last a bit longer this time, but we’ll see
And then swapped wheels back to the steels
Gave it a wash and polish, and today took it to a car show locally. Classic Stony
Also had developed a bit of a creak/clunk at the front end
Top mount had split and started to bulge, so swapped for a second hand spare, but creak continued
So decided to give the van a bit of love.
Swapped both top mounts, lower ball joints, track rod ends, drop links.
Whilst there I’d warped a disc, so did discs and pads
Also swapped the engine mounts too
And still had a tiny creak! Grrrr
That turned out to be subframe bolts
End result is it feels so much nicer, back to where it was when I first went through the front end.
I’ve tried to use better quality parts (ordered off of autodoc and branded) so hoping they’ll last a bit longer this time, but we’ll see
And then swapped wheels back to the steels
Gave it a wash and polish, and today took it to a car show locally. Classic Stony
Looking good. Well done John. It will be a bit late for this year's event, but I really would love to see my old van one day at the Thirlestane Castle festival. 2024 maybe?
thirlestanecastle.co.uk
BVAC Classic 2023 - Thirlestane Castle
18th June 2023 Join us for The BVAC Classic Festival of Motoring, the premier classic car show in Scotland. This has been held annually at Thirlestane Castle for over 15 years and organised by the Borders Vintage Automobile Club. This festival of motoring attracts over 1,000 classic and...
thirlestanecastle.co.uk
Johnthesparky
Club Member
Been a good while, mileage is now about 165k
Had a gearbox driveshaft bearing fail, so swapped in my spare gearbox.
Exhaust rotted where it goes over the rear axle, so bought a new system.. and forgot I need a van silencer not an estate one. Only difference is the hangers so they got cut off and welded to the new silencer.
Changed an engine mount, some rubber parts and the crankshaft pulley as it was vibrating
Passed another MOT, will need the back arches and some rusty bits looking at soon, and paintwork needs some love, but I’ll have owned it 5 years in February and still really enjoy the simplicity
Had a gearbox driveshaft bearing fail, so swapped in my spare gearbox.
Exhaust rotted where it goes over the rear axle, so bought a new system.. and forgot I need a van silencer not an estate one. Only difference is the hangers so they got cut off and welded to the new silencer.
Changed an engine mount, some rubber parts and the crankshaft pulley as it was vibrating
Passed another MOT, will need the back arches and some rusty bits looking at soon, and paintwork needs some love, but I’ll have owned it 5 years in February and still really enjoy the simplicity
Still looking good. Well done.Been a good while, mileage is now about 165k
Had a gearbox driveshaft bearing fail, so swapped in my spare gearbox.
Exhaust rotted where it goes over the rear axle, so bought a new system.. and forgot I need a van silencer not an estate one. Only difference is the hangers so they got cut off and welded to the new silencer.
Changed an engine mount, some rubber parts and the crankshaft pulley as it was vibrating
View attachment 27800
Passed another MOT, will need the back arches and some rusty bits looking at soon, and paintwork needs some love, but I’ll have owned it 5 years in February and still really enjoy the simplicity
View attachment 27801View attachment 27802
Johnthesparky
Club Member
Not quite a year! Oops!
We’ve got a race car that came back from having the cage rebuilt in April, and I’ve been flat out getting that rebuilt to race. We got it on track at BugJam a couple of weeks ago, so with a bit of time available I gave the van some love!
It had been losing a bit of coolant, not much, maybe a litre in 3000 miles, I kept looking but couldn’t find anything. Then in that hot spell in early July it actually left a puddle whenever I parked up. Found a witness on the side of the rad so ordered one up, and then it went back to normal… so it got left until next service (today)
Also there was a weep from around the sump plug, but a dent in the pan.. so I knew I’d cracked it. Took that off welded the crack and added a plate over the top. The exhaust and subframe hit first, but I went down a road a while back that had bad subsidence, suspect that’s when it happened
Also the paint had gone really bad with horrible watermarks and bloom on it, It gave me the hump and I tried ignoring it, but it was starting to look really scruffy so it got a wash and polish too
The songwriting is fading and aging (it was painted about 5 years ago) which I really like
The paint still isn’t great, but it looks loved again now.
There’s some rust breaking through on the usual places again, and it’ll soon be due a cambelt, and the clutch too I reckon
So it’ll be getting a bit more love when the race season finishes
The racecar, if anyone’s interested
We’ve got a race car that came back from having the cage rebuilt in April, and I’ve been flat out getting that rebuilt to race. We got it on track at BugJam a couple of weeks ago, so with a bit of time available I gave the van some love!
It had been losing a bit of coolant, not much, maybe a litre in 3000 miles, I kept looking but couldn’t find anything. Then in that hot spell in early July it actually left a puddle whenever I parked up. Found a witness on the side of the rad so ordered one up, and then it went back to normal… so it got left until next service (today)
Also there was a weep from around the sump plug, but a dent in the pan.. so I knew I’d cracked it. Took that off welded the crack and added a plate over the top. The exhaust and subframe hit first, but I went down a road a while back that had bad subsidence, suspect that’s when it happened
Also the paint had gone really bad with horrible watermarks and bloom on it, It gave me the hump and I tried ignoring it, but it was starting to look really scruffy so it got a wash and polish too
The songwriting is fading and aging (it was painted about 5 years ago) which I really like
The paint still isn’t great, but it looks loved again now.
There’s some rust breaking through on the usual places again, and it’ll soon be due a cambelt, and the clutch too I reckon
So it’ll be getting a bit more love when the race season finishes
The racecar, if anyone’s interested
Johnthesparky
Club Member
MOT time, and it passed!
But not without some work
A couple of holes in the floor, caused by scrapping it and letting the elements in.
And the sills are losing the fight, I have ordered a pair of outer sills, but for now have had to slap mot patches on.
Also started sorting out the rust in the rear passenger arch
This next year will be a bit of a rolling resto underneath to sort any rotten bits out, but at least it’s still out there working!
Now with 178000 miles
But not without some work
A couple of holes in the floor, caused by scrapping it and letting the elements in.
And the sills are losing the fight, I have ordered a pair of outer sills, but for now have had to slap mot patches on.
Also started sorting out the rust in the rear passenger arch
This next year will be a bit of a rolling resto underneath to sort any rotten bits out, but at least it’s still out there working!
Now with 178000 miles
Well done John. Keep up the good work. It's so much more than I could ever have achieved.