The road to Total Vauxhall feature - Astra Coupe

[johnsastra16v]

Rewind back to August 2007 when I picked up my 2003 Astra Coupe 2.2 to replace my old mk3 astra 1.4 16v

after seeing many, that paintwork was relay bad condition. i started thinking about going to see some 1.8s. ideally i wnated the 2.2 though. then saw this immaculate 2.2 in the auto trader, drove up from birmingham to nottingham and fell in love with it. so put my deposit down

its an 03 plate,
2.2 16v
with only 21k on the clock!
not a single mark on the body work either. not even a single scratch.

Full dealer history
cruise control
leccy windows
abs
air con
heated unmarked cream leather seats
leccy mirrors
traction control

here are the pics.....

First thing to do was swap over all the ice from my mk3 into the new coupe.

I received my new Infinity 6.5" components today, so tomo it starts.

Heres my plan of how i hope for it to go.

Kit consists of just things i have at the mo.

So...

JVC 70w headunit
6.5" infinitys up front
standards in the back
Pioneer 13cm in the boot (for show)
12" audiobahn sub
500w stealth amp (powering sub)
4ch Sony amp, powering front components and boot speakers.

And how i left it.

So from this....

to this.....

and then this.....

i took the box apart and carpeted it so no wood could be seen from the perspex panel. then i decided id do a graphic to stick on it. it wont be to everyones taste, but i think once i get a blue led inside the box, it will realy show up the lettering and the reflection from the audiobahn sub.

comments.....

then the mod that would cause some controversy, but no doubt get my car some attention

heres how it started...

well there were mixed opinions on me putting these wheels on my coupe. many were saying that the tyre size was wrong. and i couldnt agree more. tyres wee 225/45/17 which looked huge on the coupe.
so got some new tyres fitted.

it could do with being slightly lower too, but i need it to be prectical. and even at this height ive been hearing scrapes when going over bumps

 

[johnsastra16v]

much better dont you think?

then came some recognition in total vauxhall magazine

few random pic whoring images

Then came PVS 2008 where the coupe was voted one of the top 15 cars on the AOC stand

after PVS i decided the coupe needed something more to improve things

que.,..

my new custom 80/80 springs from coilsprings.co.uk

[/

much needed to bring the coupe down a notch

nice n LOWWWWWWWWW

 

[johnsastra16v]

new engine cover done too with the oil cap smoothed over

a moment of madness from me...lol

ever since i bought the replica amg rims, i couldnt help but want the real thing. which would have a deeper real wheel at 8.5j wide

Fronts are 7.5j et35

and rears are a nice 8.5j wide and et30!

Swapped my 195/40 tyres onto them

 

[johnsastra16v]

but then came ET0.............on an astra

everyone was telling me it couldnt be done, which made me want to prove people wrong

and here are the pics that were emailed to total vauxhall to see if they would like to feature her

rear 30mm spacers on, and the 10mm on the front

ET25 at the front
ET 0 at the back

constructive comments always welcome.

I had a mad rush to get these mods done as i was supposed to be having my TV photoshoot before xmas, but that never happened.
new mods have included;

front and rear opel badges (still tying to find one for the steering wheel)
front and rear white dutch plates (show plates only)
alloy wheels have had lips polished
boot build has been retrimmed in cushioned cream leather, body coloured amp.
cream and body coloured engine cover with smoothed over oil cap
cream leather cover for inlet pipe stiched with bergundy stiching

Well finallyit was my total vauxhall photoshoot in january 2008

Met with Simon Patel (had the orange/grey corsa cover car afew years back) and alistair the photographer at star city.

We then headed off to the Greek Community Church, which has an area of land beneath the motorway/spaghetti junction.

The guys loved it, and thought it was the perfect location, with lots of area and varied backdrops to take photos.

The rain held out for the entire shoot which was great.

Alistair took over 700 photos. They look absolutly amazing! i couldnt have expected better!

bought a new camera so tried some HDR photos

 

[johnsastra16v]

then a mod which i had been thinking about for ages, that it hought would cause a stir, which they did, as ive NEVER seen this done before......EVER

i know theyre not going to be everyones taste, but i love them!

love the m3 evo seats, and these rare as rockin horse **** items came up on ebay the other day. and a bonus is they are the exact same colour as my interior, and just slotted in perfectly.

im not even going to say how much i paid! lol

then for 'Big Pimpin' lol

and then some of the final pics i took at PVS and at home before i returned the car back to standard. i do really miss how it used to look, but the irde was uncomfortable, and tbh i was getting abit bored with her.
sold the wheels and suspension, and then got married, and bought the wife an rx8 lol

 

[johnsastra16v]

Then the total vauxhall feature and some never before seen pics on the net

hope you guys have enjoyed the read and the pics. i look forward to creating another mamouth thread for my GSi soon too

comments always welcome

 

[Mark3]

Blimey!

 

[Alex]

Good read John, I remember reading your feature, was a good read

 

[johnsastra16v]

Good read John, I remember reading your feature, was a good read

cheers alex

 

[BenAstra]

Stunning!

Defo needs 56k warning in the title though

 

[johnsastra16v]

Stunning!

Defo needs 56k warning in the title though

i was looking for the 56k ikon but couldnt find it lol

 

[kevseymour]

Looks great in those TV shots, i like the rhubarb n custard theme!

 

[johnsastra16v]

i like the rhubarb n custard theme!

ah nice!!! lol

 

[MK3MAD]

Thats one clean car mate, well done with it, very subtle mods but affective,

 

[Gareth]

definitly nice shame you put her back to standard

 

[David]

Love the wheels and love the colour of the paint mate. Excellent work!

 

[D4N13L]

Great read that, lovely car that was. Nice to see something different with the wheels.

 

[charlie]

car looked great!

 

[Neve'o]

I was following this on AOC mate, nice work!

 

[johnsastra16v]

cheers guys