Bonney
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 04
Location: St Helens
User status: Offline
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Car is looking great!
I regret selling mine, I was going to do the v6 conversion before I sold it but ended up trading it in 
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Should have done it! It's not to difficult of conversion and you don't see many about too which is cool 
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Had some issues with the speedo not working, so replaced the abs hub with speedo sensor
Gave the hub a wire brush and quick paint with some black hammerite before fitting but didn't take any pics of that
Wasn't to difficult to get the old hub off
Started a little late in the day so had to work under a flood light. Clamped a 50w LED flood light to the fence as was in a hurry. Its amazing how much light it puts out (same as a 500w halogen but its cold to the touch which is much safer). Its 6000k colour temp too which is a much nicer/ more natural light to work under
Decided to replace the track rod end at the same time
Had a few problems getting the old one off. The locking nut was completely rusted on.
Turned to the trusty angle grinder for this one. Had to be extra extra steady to only cut the nut, without touching the threads on the steering rack. Quite proud of myself for not completely fucking everything up here
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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Nice little project
V6 sounds great as mentioned in your rain repelant post.
With the seats, just use some APC and you will regain the factory matte finish that they once had, easy to tell if it is worn/dirty is because they go shiny!
Preferred your Sparco seats too, should have kept those bad boys in!
ReLly like the LED fog lights, they look really fresh. Will use less power and I'm guessing a bit better than the standard setup!
The gloss black centre bit by the handbrake looks factory, and I have similar finish in my M3 and DS3 and I know what you mean about the dust, constant dusting required!!
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Thanks Jambo, the sound is the main reason i done the conversion.
Whats APC? i prefer the matte look so will give it a try
I preferred the sparco seats too, but they didn't match the rears. Might get some rear seats recovered in leather /alcantara to match in the summer...........bet they would look pretty good in an m3 
I keep a microfiber cloth in the car now to keep the shiny center console clean lol. comes in handy for demisting the window too.
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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APC = Meguirs All Purpose Cleaner
Know what you mean about marching, try Karisma Corsa on here, he does trimming and is reasonable too.
Haha bet they would look good In the M3 but it's going so!
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Bonney
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 04
Location: St Helens
User status: Offline
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It was next on my list too, I just got a bit fed up with the car at the time. Still see the car about, think it's swapped hands a few times too!
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Cheers jambo will give it a look
what astra was it bonney?
Replaced the drop links too ( done all this last weekend)
Old vs new
New track rod, drop link and hub
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Gave the wheels some attention this weekend
They have been cleaned plenty of times with a decent acidic type wheel cleaner, which does a great job but still wont shift the really stubborn baked on brake dust etc, or get rid of the curbing.
So plan was to to give them a good polish with some 3m fast cut,and touch out the kerbing marks with a touch up brush.
some before pictures
Someone had done a poor attempt at touching out some scratches in the past with the wrong colour silver. After a bit of elbow grease and some cutting compound they already looked better.
Ended up taking off a couple of wheels to work on. I already had some vauxhall star silver pain in, which was hoping would be a good enough match. done a small test area and it was perfect so proceeded to touch out all the scratches
I know ideally they need a proper refurb to get them like new, but happy with them for now.
And back on the car
Going to give the paint a couple of days to dry before giving them a going over with some auto glym srp and some collonite 476 wax to keep them protected.
tires need some Tyre gel on too
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Adam C
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Jan 07
Location: Cornwall UK Drives:Arden Blue Gsi T
User status: Offline
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One of my favorite projects over on AOC, haven't seen many V6 conversions in these before, yours is the only one I know of or have seen online.
Really did like those Sparco seats! But the leather works well too, I'm also envious of the finish you got on the center console, looks awesome!
My Arden Blue Astra GSi MK4 on BBS LM's Project Thread
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Bonney
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 04
Location: St Helens
User status: Offline
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This was my old one, before I sold it I took the wheels off it.
There is a build thread on here and aoc for it, not sure if it will still be on there!
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Adam C
One of my favorite projects over on AOC, haven't seen many V6 conversions in these before, yours is the only one I know of or have seen online.
Really did like those Sparco seats! But the leather works well too, I'm also envious of the finish you got on the center console, looks awesome!
Thanks adam, ive seen a couple of v6 vans online, but not seen another 3door hatchback like mine yet. As much as i like to encourage other people to have a go at doing the same conversion, as its a pretty awesome/fun car to drive day to day. I do kind of like being different so happy for others to take their time lol.
Its actually hard to get decent pictures of the center console as the finish is kind of too perfect. In real life it looks more deep gloss black.
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Looks very tidy that Bonney. Im not usually a fan of 5 door mk4s but that looks lovely. Wheels suit it perfect.
Would have surprised a few people with a v6 in it
Ive got a coupe chrome boot strip sitting around my lock up that i might give a try after seeing yours. Is it a direct fit?
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Bonney
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 04
Location: St Helens
User status: Offline
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It would have, was reading into it and was close to doing it! Think I just got bored of the car.
Yeah the trim just stuck straight on, just used strong double back tape I didn't use the coupe mounts for it
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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If you ever change your mind and decide to do another one bonney, let me know as will be happy to give you any advice.
another update
on monday i Wet sanded and buffed the front bumper.
First going over with some 1500 w+d
I forgot to get some close up before pictures. It wasnt too bad to begin with, but can see some of the imperfections, and orange peel being corrected still
Then after 2000 w+d
Here is how it looked after its first going over with some 3m fast cut, looks better in the picture but there is still some scratches left over from the wet sanding
And after its 3rd going over with the buffer, with all scratches removed.
As it went dark i had to wait untill the next day to give it a quick wash to get rid of any left over polish, and then gave it some collonite 476 to keep it well protected
Can see from the reflection of the car next to it, how perfect the finish is. Very happy with it
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Just realized i haven't give any info on the boot build. I bought it around 18 months ago off ebay. Its been custom made with fiberglass and mdf to fit perfect in the contour of the boot. I was planning on making one myself, but when i seen this one pop up for around the same price it would set me back in materials alone (with the added bonus of coming with an amp and speaker) I couldn't turn it down.
Which kind of leads me on the next little up date
Ever since fitting the sub, i have been without a boot light as its on the same side. So when i was cleaning the rear boot carpet i decided to wire an led strip on the other side
used the same 12v led strip i used for the number plate light
looks more blue in the pictures,and not as bright as it is in real life
Its definitely a huuge improvement over the crappy yellow standard festoon bulb
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vx-scottw
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Feb 11
Location: sheffield
User status: Offline
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looks good mate fancy donating gsi bumper
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MatthewR
Member
Registered: 21st Oct 02
Location: Rickmansworth
User status: Offline
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Love this!! attention to detail is epic
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by vx-scottw
looks good mate fancy donating gsi bumper
not chance im giving up the front one after the amount of work i have put into it 
I do have a spare rear gsi bumper i bought that i have no use for now though. Needs a bit of work.
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by MatthewR
Love this!! attention to detail is epic
Its the little detailed bits im enjoying doing on this car now all the big jobs are out the way
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Another little update from last weekend
Gave the whole car a clean, and wax with some colonite 476. Wheels and tyres treated with shimonz tyre gel and auto glym super resin polish. When i was buffing the bumper i gave the headlights a going over too before waxing them
Front drivers side wheel
When i had the wheels off last week, i gave the brake calipers a quick going over with some detail spray too. Look Like brand new behind my shiny 'new' wheels
Rear drivers side
Gave the exhaust a quick polish with some 3m fast cut as i didn't have any metal polish in. Still does a good job at getting rid of carbon and giving it a bit of a shine.
Front passenger side
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Fitted Some ultra bright CREE LED reverse bulbs
Old standard bulb on drivers side, and new LED on passenger side
Can see the difference in the 2. The amount of the light the old style bulb puts out is pretty pathetic in comparison. The CREE LED uses around 5 times less power too
Opened the front door and just one side lights up most of the hallway ! Can just see the oscar the cat photo bombing in the background
Both LED's fitted
Have the benefit of a small projector lens in each led too. So when your looking out the back window all the light shines just where you want it.
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Some pictures of the CREE LED interior bulbs. They are t10 501 fitment and use the same CREE LED chips inside as the reverse bulbs. But as they have a smaller heat sink they run slightly dimmer. Still easy about 10 times brighter then the original standard 501 bulbs though
They don't look as bright in the pictures as they do in real life
Can see they are so bright they light the floor up when you open the door!!. Which is actually very handy.
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Was curious to see what the engine bay would look like with the standard air box
I had to cut away some pieces from the underside of it to make it fit so sounds pretty much the same as the cone filter,or a drilled airbox
Give it a quick jet wash, and some auto glym plastic bumper restorer before fitting so looks like new
Think i prefer the more standard look. Engine looks a lot more at home now.
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cheekyalex
Member
Registered: 5th Jan 06
Location: liverpool
User status: Offline
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Completley forgot i picked up this bargain almost a year ago and never got round to fitting it. Think i will give it a try and see what its like .
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