E30 Zone

always been keen on mk2 astras and had a couple of soft tops in the past this was my last one.......





Was in real good condition for a MK2 astra, me and a mate are currently restoring a 4 door mk2, tbh if my mate did not have close connections with this car it would have gone to the scrap yard along time ago but his mum has owned it since new and he has many child hood memories from the car.

Its getting a full strip down rebuild, various new panels welded in, and we have a C20XE (red top) engine waiting to go in, then its time for a bit of track day fun.
Heres how the car was when we started work.........



Got quite far now had all the new bits welded in just needs a lick of paint and all the bits and bobs put back together...........

A mint original 16V GTE has an appeal what with its red top and digi dash. They were quick but handled crap.

Anything else is landfill imo.

bss325i wrote:A mint original 16V GTE has an appeal what with its red top and digi dash. They were quick but handled crap.

Anything else is landfill imo.

I agree this one would never have been a project had my mate not had a personal atachement to it.

By the time it's finished it will have the red top lump, we already have a full GTE body kit for it and keeping our eyes peeled for the digi dash.

Bit of fun really keeps up busy in the evenings anyway

I would rather have burst piles in a white linen suit.

I used to have a GTE 16v.. Awesome, and shite in equal measures. Loved it.

They are nasty cars tbh they Rot like fuck and handle like a boat but I get a sick sort of pleasure keeping old cars alive and out of the scrap yard.

It's nice to see it come along from a completely rusty shitter to completely rust free shitter with a factory fresh paint job.

It's had new rear arches, new floor sections, new sills, etc etc

Fairly sure this ones going to be one of the cleanest 4 door Astras in the uk, can't be many left now, you only really ever see clean examples of GTE's and rag tops and even they are getting thin on the ground

I also, had a GTE,back in the day.Black and one of the last on a J plate.It was a nice car,but as above,the handleing wasnt great.The ladys liked it though.

keep up the good work.
i never had Astras, but i had a few of these, full convertible with RWD



and a couple of these:



another RWD of course, with a Stag-esque T-Bar

adit wrote:keep up the good work.
i never had Astras, but i had a few of these, full convertible with RWD

Mk2 Cavaliers were FWD.

I've always like Cavalier convertibles.

I like the mk2 astras especially the gte`s
I didnt think they handled to bad for what they were
Had 3 at once back in the day
Green courtenay tuned valver , Ignore the 3 spokes (Came on car)
Grey valver with janspeed/powercap etc did lower it in the end
And my 8v cab that went nearly as well as my grey valver
Had a sri130 engine , 4 branch etc
A pic of them all together ..

Wern't these rediculassly easy to nick? I'm sure they were one of the "choice" cars for the Blackbird Leys joyriders of the early 90's.

They do look the part when they are in drug dealer black with the smoked rear lights and tinted windws , with a nice set of them big white 5 spoke star alloy you would see on the SRi Caviliars. I did my work experience at 16 in the old Oxford Vhuaxhal dealership ( it's now North Oxford BMW ) and remember seeing a good number of these coming in for servicing.

My 16v circa 2002




Spot the 2.8i in the background

Point to point one of the quickest cars I've had.

The back arches were fooked, the wheels were hideous and I put 2 digital dashes and speedo sensors through it neither of which worked - so I had no idea how fast I was ever going

I put a full janspeed exhaust system on it - which together with the rock-hard spax suspension that was fitted by the previous owner made it incredibly quick on smooth tarmac but very annoying on anything else. The torque steer was ridiculous

I put up with it for about 6 months and then p/exd it for a Cavalier CDi which was much slower but didnt give me a headache every time I drove it.

They are really bad cars when all is said and done, but they have a weird appeal, kinda like that bird who’s a bit of a minger but for some reason you find yourself fancying her.

They are stupidly fast in straight line though, and yes also stupidly easy to steal, just stick a carrot in the ignition and your away

I would love a GTE 16v.

I have just sold 2 sets of digi clocks with transponders.

Wrongun's! all of you!

adit wrote:keep up the good work.
i never had Astras, but i had a few of these, full convertible with RWD

TSW Evos's? ... Proper 90's rim that.... I remember Max Power put them on their Escort RS Turbo project car...

They did them in varying styles over the years, but these do look like em....

Steve-E30 wrote:I like the mk2 astras especially the gte`s
I didnt think they handled to bad for what they were
Had 3 at once back in the day
Green courtenay tuned valver , Ignore the 3 spokes (Came on car)
Grey valver with janspeed/powercap etc did lower it in the end
And my 8v cab that went nearly as well as my grey valver
Had a sri130 engine , 4 branch etc
A pic of them all together ..

Out of intrest,what year is the green one?

The green one was originally a early c-reg 8v
Engine was out of a white h-reg valver featured in total vauxhall
But ended up on its roof locally

Steve-E30 wrote:The green one was originally a early c-reg 8v
Engine was out of a white h-reg valver featured in total vauxhall
But ended up on its roof locally

OK cheers.I only asked cos my black J reg GTE apparantly ended up green years later!

Spooky
Car was originally black if i remember correctly
Engine bay and boot area were still black

The council force is strong on this thread !

A nice 3 door Mark 2 GTE is a very rare turd these days. Lovely engines (esp. the 16v) and easily sorted chassis. A red one with the standard alloys and the digital dash would be the way to roll.

White Andy..

Or a Champion -

Andyboy wrote:A nice 3 door Mark 2 GTE is a very rare turd these days. Lovely engines (esp. the 16v) and easily sorted chassis. A red one with the standard alloys and the digital dash would be the way to roll.

This was my thinking but....

I'd rather a '90 spec series 2 RST on totally standard outside but with a few basic tweeks to the donk.

Can't remember the last time I saw a Mk2 Astra on the roads let alone a GTE.

Agreed a standard mint 16v would make a very nice turd - I don't remember any particularly bad colours either - black, white, red, grey, magenta - all . Still quick too.

I saw a 5 door SRi in white today!

My cousin had one of those new as a company car - I remember it being quite nippy - and the tartan style seat centres !

I did really like the Vauxhall Recaro's back in the day

my dad traded his e30 in for a convertible mk2 astra in 1992/3 luckly it got nicked

My dad had a brand new J reg 3dr 1.3 Merit as a company car but it got nicked shortly after he got it.

Was replaced by a brand new Peugeot 205 XS, much better car and it was french!

Wasnt the mk2 astra the most stolen car in the 90's ?

The RST was at one point.

bss325i wrote:

Andyboy wrote:A nice 3 door Mark 2 GTE is a very rare turd these days. Lovely engines (esp. the 16v) and easily sorted chassis. A red one with the standard alloys and the digital dash would be the way to roll.

This was my thinking but....

I'd rather a '90 spec series 2 RST on totally standard outside but with a few basic tweeks to the donk.

PLus 1 on that one barry i love Mk4 RST

fowler wrote:

bss325i wrote:

Andyboy wrote:A nice 3 door Mark 2 GTE is a very rare turd these days. Lovely engines (esp. the 16v) and easily sorted chassis. A red one with the standard alloys and the digital dash would be the way to roll.

This was my thinking but....

I'd rather a '90 spec series 2 RST on totally standard outside but with a few basic tweeks to the donk.

PLus 1 on that one barry i love Mk4 RST

I prefer series ones but the Mk4/series 2 was the rival for the mk2 astra GTE 16V.

I'd rather have a mint 16v Mk2 Golf TBH.