New member. Old bodges.

[cliffjockey]

Hi there. Just newly joined. Thought I'd make it official so finally decided to put some pics up of my first Mk3 project. looks not bad from the outside.......

But she's a horror show under the skin. Currently undergoing a bit of a restoration.....

 

[Mr.Negative]

Nice to see an estate getting some love..... 16" irmschers?

 

[Kev_mk3]

Nice to see an estate getting some love..... 16" irmschers?

yep.


So simple just wheels and spoiler the car looks great. How you getting on with rust repairs?

 

[Vauxestate1]

I really do love an estate

 

[cliffjockey]

Thanks guys. She's going to look pretty sweet once the restoration is done. Currently it's in quite a mess. Worked my way from the drivers side front to the rear repairing as I go. It's been quite a slog so far but really loving it. Starting to look a lot better. I'd put the pics up but there are quite a few....lol. There's a lot of damage to sort but I'm getting there. The project is currently shelved for the moment. I've finally decided to rebuild my garage, so it'll be a wee while before I get back on to it. I'm still fixing wee bits in between times. Hopefully the old garage should be down soon and the brickwork up for the new one shortly after. Still keeping my eye out for bargains and shiny bits so not completely ground to a halt. So much so that while looking for parts I ended up buying this instead.....
Was supposed to be a parts car, but it's way too nice to break.....so......unbeknownst to the wife.....
It's project number 2.....lol.

 

[cliffjockey]

Nice to see an estate getting some love..... 16" irmschers?

Yep. 16" 4 stud Irmscher. I've got 2 sets so the best ones will be getting a refurb and colour change for the red astra, and the others will be in storage for the gold astra.

 

[Vauxestate1]

Unfortunately iv just rolled my estate and just had to sell my other estate to get another car but i'l get another estate soon even if its is a curse lol

 

[astranaut]

Thought these wheels were rare I'd only seen Kevs set before I got mine 6 months ago looks tidy enough bud keep us updated.

 

[cliffjockey]

Aye they are quite rare. That's why when I got the chance of a second set I jumped at it....especially since they were free......
Tidy isn't a word I'd use for the red one though...
The gold one has almost no rust that I can see except for a couple of spots on the arches and wings. The only problem is the rear inner wheel arches. 2 holes about the size of a fist. Easy fixed though. The red one is a different story though...
It's literally falling apart at the seams. I'll stick some of the photos up from the restoration so far...

 

[Kev_mk3]

Dam I need gold parts but do love a nice mk3 estate

 

[cliffjockey]

They're getting hard to find these days. This one is an Astra Duo. I've not seen one of those since the late 90's. Spotless inside too.......

 

[Kev_mk3]

ahhh its making me want a estate again ffs

 

[cliffjockey]

Aww.....well have a look. This might to put you off a bit....lol.
And there's more.....


Lol.....scary stuff.....even more so that this had 6 months of valid MOT left on it when I got hold of it....

 

[Vauxestate1]

Wow

 

[cliffjockey]

Lol yeah.....pretty bad......however......

Went from that to......this quite quickly....
And.....
All made and beaten from sheet steel with my own fair hands....lol.
And this.......

Is in the process of going from this......
To this......(had to make it myself as I could only get the outer lip).

To this.......


And now it's fully seam welded and dressed, it's lying on the roof but looks like this.....

Haven't had a chance to get any further so it's sitting there waiting for me to finish the garage, then the wheel arch is getting fitted properly and the new 1/4 panel soon after.....

 

[Kev_mk3]

brilliant work though

 

[cliffjockey]

Thank you very much. Not bad for someone who learned to weld a few months ago...lol.

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Estates always seem to have a habit of rotting worse than others I think.. but great work with the repairs so far. It's nice to see another being saved

 

[cliffjockey]

Yeah, that's true. I think its those big rear 1/4 panels all seem to catch the mud and it gathers up inside. Mine was choked full of the stuff...

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Yes very true, especially with the filler neck for everything to catch on too.