Thought I'd introduce my Mk3s. I currently have three, two 5-dr Isuzu diesels and a 3-dr GSi.
Both the diesels are used daily, by me and Mrs Rancid.. I'm sad enough to keep a record of my fuel consumption and they return 54mpg, pretty much without fail. Both are LS's, one with a black interior and the other has a grey one.
Nothing very exciting I'm afraid, but I like them in their own way..
The White one-
[url=https://flic.kr/p/XVPq3H]
We've had this one 4 years or so. It cost less than a week's wages and was the subject of a desperate listing on ebay; the lad selling it was moving back to his home country and was going to scrap the Astra if no-one wanted it, he had no choice!
I can't let a good dog die, so took it on. It was filthy inside and out and letting in a lot of water. I cleaned it, pinned the (mouldy) head lining up and assessed it properly.
Underneath the grot was a good car. There was (and still is) virtually no rust. I serviced the Isuzu engine, put a belt kit on it and we've used it ever since.
It has needed an alternator, lower arm bushes, the scuttle panels fitting properly, an aerial, a front hub bearing and recently- glow plugs. Not bad for the service it has given us!!
Now on around 120k.
Onto the newest arrival, the Blue 'un-
[url=https://flic.kr/p/XEReTh]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WE3xoG]
I've just bought this, again from ebay, again it cost less than one monthly payment on a modern sh*tbox!! It's another car that was at the crossroads of its life. It looked 'ok' in the ad, but needed some love. The seller had warmed it up before I collected it and for good reason... it simply refused to start from cold unless you were very lucky!!
It's another Isuzu-engined car and these have a problem with valve seat recession. The valves therefore sink into the head to the point that they're held open all the time by the camshaft and there is a serious loss of compression in the affected cylinder. This lack of 'squeeze' means insufficient heat to ignite the diesel, hence the bloody thing won't start !!
The problem was fixed by removing the shims and fitting smaller ones in their place. It's not a difficult job but I needed to remove the camshaft. I combined the job with a belt change at the same time.
It now runs well. So far, I've fitted two lower arm bushes (so bad that the o/s arm was hitting the subframe and wearing a notch into it..), refitted the scuttle panels better, bought a new aerial (again!), and cleaned and greased the front brake calipers.
I spent a day polishing this one. The paint had turned into blue chalk! The paint on the bonnet is very poor . It's ok rust wise, but has a bleb on the base of the nearside rear arch. Looks ok underneath.
It has an MoT next month and will want new top mounts and bearings, I have the parts- just need to fit them and maybe the odd brake pipe.
I will update with any future major jobs! [/url][/url][/url]
Both the diesels are used daily, by me and Mrs Rancid.. I'm sad enough to keep a record of my fuel consumption and they return 54mpg, pretty much without fail. Both are LS's, one with a black interior and the other has a grey one.
Nothing very exciting I'm afraid, but I like them in their own way..
The White one-
[url=https://flic.kr/p/XVPq3H]
We've had this one 4 years or so. It cost less than a week's wages and was the subject of a desperate listing on ebay; the lad selling it was moving back to his home country and was going to scrap the Astra if no-one wanted it, he had no choice!
I can't let a good dog die, so took it on. It was filthy inside and out and letting in a lot of water. I cleaned it, pinned the (mouldy) head lining up and assessed it properly.
Underneath the grot was a good car. There was (and still is) virtually no rust. I serviced the Isuzu engine, put a belt kit on it and we've used it ever since.
It has needed an alternator, lower arm bushes, the scuttle panels fitting properly, an aerial, a front hub bearing and recently- glow plugs. Not bad for the service it has given us!!
Now on around 120k.
Onto the newest arrival, the Blue 'un-
[url=https://flic.kr/p/XEReTh]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WE3xoG]
I've just bought this, again from ebay, again it cost less than one monthly payment on a modern sh*tbox!! It's another car that was at the crossroads of its life. It looked 'ok' in the ad, but needed some love. The seller had warmed it up before I collected it and for good reason... it simply refused to start from cold unless you were very lucky!!
It's another Isuzu-engined car and these have a problem with valve seat recession. The valves therefore sink into the head to the point that they're held open all the time by the camshaft and there is a serious loss of compression in the affected cylinder. This lack of 'squeeze' means insufficient heat to ignite the diesel, hence the bloody thing won't start !!
The problem was fixed by removing the shims and fitting smaller ones in their place. It's not a difficult job but I needed to remove the camshaft. I combined the job with a belt change at the same time.
It now runs well. So far, I've fitted two lower arm bushes (so bad that the o/s arm was hitting the subframe and wearing a notch into it..), refitted the scuttle panels better, bought a new aerial (again!), and cleaned and greased the front brake calipers.
I spent a day polishing this one. The paint had turned into blue chalk! The paint on the bonnet is very poor . It's ok rust wise, but has a bleb on the base of the nearside rear arch. Looks ok underneath.
It has an MoT next month and will want new top mounts and bearings, I have the parts- just need to fit them and maybe the odd brake pipe.
I will update with any future major jobs! [/url][/url][/url]
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