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Retro Build thread - Not T4

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  • Retro Build thread - Not T4

    Meaning to dig these photos out of the loft years ago and put up my earliest documented build thread, there was a lada and a mazda 323 before this one but no photos taken of either.

    Bear in mind there was very little aftermarket, no internet, no ebay and no forums - but in much the same fashion as today I had to make do with the wrong tools, no money and advice from equally clueless mates.

    My first car, a 1200S mk 1 Astra, I passed my test in this one - really wish I still had it

    It needed a couple of patches on the sill, using some ghetto car ramps a borrowed mig with pub gas got the patches attached, bet the welding was hideous.
    I'd previously rebuilt the drivers side inner wing with lots of little patches using my arc welder and 1.6mm rods - guess I must have kept blowing holes or discovering more rust as I seem to remember putting on 20+ patches, no picture of this though.

    Click image for larger version

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    Note the plastic bottle used as an indicator

    It must have also needed an exhaust repair, at some stage I welded on a piece of stainless tube to the tailpipe and knocked it into a square shape to try and replicate the back box on the GSI? mk2 astra

    Click image for larger version

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    Note the lovely standard beige interior in a green car - mmmm nice!

    Mum's micra is hiding in the background - I partially inherited this little box of misery at some point a few years, that one I've no wish to own again.

  • #2
    Originally posted by regcheeseman View Post
    My first car, a 1200S mk 1 Astra, I passed my test in this one - really wish I still had it
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]7428[/ATTACH]
    Thanks for sharing Reg, I wish I could of fitted two sheds on our drive!

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    • #3
      We had a 89 mark one Micra in the early 2000's were given it and used it to take Rosie to her Special needs school in Worcester it keep the mileage on the VR6 down and was fantastic on fuel. Head gasket went, it sat on are yard for ages as 3 headbolts snapped off in the block when I stripped it. Body was real tidy. Got fed up and had it crushed then a week later a clients failed the test and was too rotten to bother with but had a good engine and box. If i'd waited another week could have built a good one out of the two.

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      • #4
        Anyone else got any first / old car pics to throw up.
        Cheers Reg, Its got me searching the loft too.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Activ8 View Post
          Anyone else got any first / old car pics to throw up.
          But not in this thread, next instalment coming.....the full saga is pretty funny......
          Last edited by regcheeseman; 19 January 2018, 11:09 PM.

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          • #6
            For some unknown reason I painted the inside of the car with emulsion, probably because it is what was lying around - I had just bought one of those wagner electric spray guns which cost around Ā£12, maybe I did the emulsion to see what it painted like???

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            Looks like I may have used proper primer on the outside though

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            I noticed in the background that at this point my parents didn't have a garage, so it will have sat outside like this for a little while....summers were hotter back then, endless weeks of sunshine.

            I distinctly remember sitting in the car at some stage and watching a wasp fly in and disappear down the hole in the centre of the steering column, and then come back out again. Over the next few hours it continued to fly in and out with bits of leaves and take them down inside the column, it did this a few times until it's path became mysteriously blocked with a strip of masking tape. It buzzed around for a bit before buzzing off

            I also remember taking it for a quick spin up the road in this state, sat on the floor....seemed like a good idea at the time.
            Being a lad I did a wheelspin away, forgetting that the steering wheel was not bolted down. As I did a reverse roly poly into the boot, the steering wheel came off in my hands. Some how I managed to stop the car - tricky trying to press a brake pedal when you have nothing to brace against!
            Last edited by regcheeseman; 19 January 2018, 11:19 PM.

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            • #7
              Lovely kadett D [emoji106] [emoji108]

              Sent from my SM-G930F using Just T4s

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Hans View Post
                Lovely kadett D [emoji106] [emoji108]

                Sent from my SM-G930F using Just T4s
                Most common as the Vauxhall 'Astra' in the UK. Though I did own a Opel Kadett SR a few years later.

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                • #9
                  Love the MK1 Astra. My first car was a mk2 Astra 2.0 GTE, 8v 4 speed. More rust than car but good fun


                  Sent from my iPhone using Just T4s

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                  • #10
                    Some time must have passed - quite a lot of time but I don't remember this build taking that long, but there is a now a garage built at my parents house in the place where the micra was parked

                    Click image for larger version

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                    And for some reason I've fitted the windows back in so I can mask them off - gawd knows why??? I can only think that I'd seen cars being sprayed and they had always been masked up so that's the way you are supposed to do it???

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                    That 'primer' does look white - I think it may well have been emulsion as well

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                    • #11
                      This is a cool thread. I admire your honesty, 'fessing up to the emulsion. Saw a mk1 nova yesterday, only here they were called corsa. ...wouldn't sell many if they called them novas.
                      Me cago en la madre que te pariĆ³!

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                      • #12
                        Was that a magic micra then Reg? Instead of a bean stork it grew into a garage. Handy to spray cars in and no giant turning up wanting to eat English men.

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                        • #13
                          Not sure what this photo was supposed to show, maybe the fact I'd bought decent thinners rather than the gunwash I use now

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                          Looks like dad was storing a sack of potatoes in the garage, bet they tasted good after soaking up plenty of overspray.

                          Back in the day there was 'Vauxhall Sport', the factory race cars used three coloured stripes, a theme that was carried over to the 'hot' production models similar to the M-sport logo BMW use.

                          The BTCC car



                          I was intending on doing something similar, but betterer, moar indervidjual.

                          Time to get some paint, there was some stuff in the magazines at the time called re-paint that was aimed at DIY car work and supposed to be applied with a brush and give great results, I couldn't find any in the local shop so bought 3 litres of tractor enamel from a local farm shop.

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                          • #14
                            And......how did that go? Please tell me you have photos.
                            Me cago en la madre que te pariĆ³!

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                            • #15
                              Oh yes. I have photos....

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