John459 Astra atlas e-drive and ls hi-torq

[John459]

my 1995 Astra atlas will be coming off the road in August due to excessive corrosion on the rear inner and outer wheel arches, after owning it for 17 years I have decided I can't scrap it, so I ended up buying a 1.4 ls hi-torq to cover for it while it is off the road, but I will probably keep them both as I have spent 24 years of my life driving Astra's!

 

[Kev_mk3]

Nice to see 2 clean looking cars

 

[John459]

I was going to scrap the atlas e-drive and replace it with a 55 plate Astra h, but it had the 1.4 timing chain engine which usually sound like diesels, then one of the garages that I deliver to told me that he had the red ls coming in for an mot after being in storage for 3 years the owner was selling it after owning it for 23 years, and as soon as I saw it, I had to have it, and picked it up for £250, and I have spent another £550 pounds on it for parts and labour including a full service, cam belt change and water pump and also a gearbox oil change and the mot which she passed after the renewal of a brake pipe and two rear coil springs. The green one needs the inner and outer wheel arches doing at the rear and it is quite corroded around the fuel tank but she is repairable so I am going to store it for six months and save up to get the work done because she has only broken down once in 17 years and she runs like a Swiss watch!

 

[John459]

I have just been up to Scotland and the lake District in my 1995 Astra 1.4 ls hi-torq clocking up 900 miles between the 20th and 24th of September, not bad for a car which was in storage for 3 years until I bought it in April then I put it on the road on the 30 July and had quite a lot of teething problems including misfiring and cutting out at traffic lights when she was running on choke which was cured by changing the distributor cap, rotor arm and HT leads which made her feel like a different car, the central locking packed up in the first couple of weeks of use and despite taking it to an auto electrician, the central locking couldn't be fixed so I bought a locking fuel cap instead! The attached pictures where taken in the hotel carpark near spean bridge and at Glencoe on the way back from Scotland to Ambleside! I even managed to average 47 MPG during the trip which I was very surprised to achieve, meanwhile my Astra atlas e-drive is looking a bit sorry for herself in storage!
In

 

[John459]

We stayed at Ambleside on the way back for 2 nights before driving home to north Wales on the Friday calling at the Lakeland motor museum backbarrow on the way back and finding a Corsa b on display which was first registered on 9/3/95 which is exactly the same date that my Astra atlas e-drive was first registered which is weird! I don't know if they are trying to tell me something?

 

[John459]

Thanks Dave, we really enjoyed the trip, I have been driving mark 3 Astra's since march 2004 and now I have got two of them and wouldn't want to drive anything else!

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Cracking pictures, amazing scenery around there

Nice Mk3's you have there.

 

[John459]

Thanks a lot Andy, I wish I had done the trip earlier so I could have used the green Astra atlas e-drive, but I am glad I bought the red ls 1.4 hi-torq in April and I was very surprised at the fuel economy that I got from her on the trip! I am hoping to get the green one back on the road next summer as I miss driving it, seventeen and a half years is a long time to keep a car and I am only the second owner from new! I just need to buy the inner and outer rear wheel arches for her now, but when I was faced with a price of ? £300 for the panels or £250 for the red ls hi-torq, it was a no brainer at the time! I am glad I have got them both though even if I am paying £66 per month to keep the green one at hooton park in storage, it is better than scrapping it!

 

[Andy_Mk3]

The old 1.4's, despite lacking in power somewhat make up for it well in fuel economy for certain

 

[John459]

Cheers Andy! The Astra atlas e-drive x16sz 8 valve in the green one is the most economical petrol engine available in the mark 3, I managed 500 miles on a tank once which is amazing for a 52 litre tank but the 1.4 hi-torq 8 valve in the red one isn't far behind! I love my pair of mark 3's and I wouldn't change them for anything modern!

 

[harvey]

Looking good and those pics are great.

I once tried getting decent mpg after fitting the tweaked 3.0L V6 in the wife's mk3, never gonna happen as the noise is addictive lol

 

[John459]

Cool mate, I bet your car shifts, things have moved on from people putting 2.0 16 valve red tops into Nova's!

 

[John459]

The beast 2 on tour 2022

 

[astranaut]

Nice view, is that Llyn Gwynant? Looks familiar

 

[John459]

That's right mate, I took this photo first then Andrea went to take a picture and I decided that there was something missing and I stood in the middle of the road for the second shot

 

[John459]

Have you put your Astra into storage yet mate? I have had the green Astra atlas e-drive in storage for 14 months now but I will definitely put it back on the road one day and after owning it for 18 and a half years and not owning anything else apart from my mark 3's since, I don't intend to drive anything else until I absolutely have to and I absolutely love the red one now

 

[John459]

My Astra atlas e drive x16sz still exists although 26 months of dust doesn't do her any favours unfortunately, I still hope to get her on the road one day and I have purchased the four panels that I needed for £454 which certainly helps matters!

 

[John459]

And my 1.4 ls hi-torq is still my daily drive!