VAUXHALL ASTRA GTE MK1 CAR PERFORMANCE SPORTS TURBO
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Lee's MK1 History

 
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Delmastiff
Astra Messiah
Astra Messiah


Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 6441
Location: Herts / Essex Border

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:26 am    Post subject: Lee's MK1 History Reply with quote

Wow, where to start!! I suppose the beginning will do!

My first ever MK1 was a Black GTE Reg No B781 JMY affectionately known as Jimmy, which I bought new when I was only 18! I loved it and after selling it 1989 to raise cash for my 1st marriage, I vowed that I would own another one day.
I bought this black one off ebay in 2004 and after having some welding done to the sills it was quite a solid car.

I’d only had it about a month when this one came up for sale, complete with C20LET engine fitted.

It was owned by Jacko who had bought it a couple of months earlier from Glenn, it was Glenn that converted it and had it painted in the photo above. When I picked it up, I was totally in love with the power, but the paintwork was looking a bit tired so I decided to have it repainted. After 6 months in the bodyshop I got it back and I then set about tarting up the inside of the car. I had a new custom made headlining fitted and after sourcing some Champion Connolly Leather seats off Ebay, I had them retrimmed in black and grey leather.


This car was featured in Total Vauxhall magazine and was also featured with my old black one above on a TV show!
Don’t ask me why, but after spending the best part of £10,000 on the car I decided to sell it. GteGary bought it and I’m pleased to say that he is looking after the old girl very nicely.
After selling that one, I was MK1’less for a few months but after a while I then bought a white GTE that had accident damage. My affair this one didn’t last long so I sold it on to Hot-Hatch who has since sold it on again.
A short while later, I bought this rare little number from a lad who had inherited it from his Grandfather.

It was a one owner car and in very good condition having been kept garaged all it’s life. It’s an EXP-S and is one of only a couple left in the UK. I didn’t keep it long, I sold it to Jacko who is currently preparing it to be a Track Beast!!
A few more months went past, and feeling very unhappy to be MK1’less again, I was very happy when Gonch decided to sell his MK1. I had liked this car having first seen it at one of the summer shows in 2004. Gonch had had it re sprayed and it looked gorgeous.

It still had it’s 18E engine which although quite rare to still find fitted these days, was never gonna be fast enough for my appetite. So I bought a C20LET for it from up in Scotland and organised to have it fitted by one of V33tra’s mates.
After only a week of driving the car up to Scotland for the new engine to be fitted, I heard that the famous MK1 owned by John Lynch was up for sale. I couldn’t resist it, and after some mediation by Mark and a phone call between me and John, the car was mine!! I then sold the White one on to Masch.tab who is now doing an XE conversion on it big grin

And so on to my current MK1..................................

Now this car is very famous in the MK1 world having been owned by the previous owner since 1986 and has competed in shows and won many trophies across Europe.
He was one of the first to carry out a MK1 C20LET conversion which he did in the early ‘90’s having paid £2500 for the engine.
The car is in exceptionally good condition having undergone a ground up restoration in 2000 to a very high standard.
It is currently putting out in excess of 300BHP….. with more to follow big grin and it is my plan to keep this one for a very long time………… but with my track record, you just never know.



The spec is as follows:

ENGINE

• Mahle oversize low comp pistons
• Gas flowed coscast head with matched
• inlet and exhaust ports
• Saab turbo red injectors
• EDS phase 3 adjustable boost kit
• 4.5 bar fuel pressure regulator
• Regal high power fuel pump
• Turbo Dynamics stage 2 turbo
• Crankcase breather modification
• Front mounted intercooler
• K&N air filter
• ERL Aquamist water injection
• Bailey Motorsport alloy header tank
• Meercat 3 inch stainless steel exhaust system
• Bailey evo dump valve
• Polished rocker cover and timing belt cover

TRANSMISSION

• Getrag f28 6 speed gearbox modified for fwd
• Quaiffe ATB LSD


BRAKES
• Front- Wilwood Dynalite 4 pots with 310mm cross drilled discs
• Rear- MK2 16v Astra rear axle, Black Hawk pads, braided hoses

SUSPENSION

• Spax PSX kit with adjustable dampers and 50mm lowering springs

• Stainless steel custom made front strut brace

WHEELS

• 7" x 17" Kosei S5R

EXTERIOR

• Fully restored GTE bodywork resprayed in original Carmine Red
• MK2 GTE electric mirrors
• Clear front indicators
• Opel grill with late spec Vauxhall Griffen badge
• Aero alloy filler cap
• Jamex bonnet lifters

INTERIOR

• MK2 Astra Champion Connelly leather Recaro seats
• MK2 GTE digital dash
• MK2 Astra electric windows with ford switches
• Momo alloy pedals
• Regal six speed alloy gearknob
• GTE floor mats
• MK3 indicator stalks
• Water injection indicator light
• In car boost switch

2004 PERFORMANCE FIGURES

• 312 bhp/320 lb torque
• 13.2 ¼ mile time

HONOURS
• THREE MAG FEATURES IN THE LAST TWO YEARS
• 1ST IN CLASS OPEL BLITZ SHOW IN BERLIN
• EUROPEAN SHOW WINNER AT BELGIUM 1ST / 2ND
• VAUXHALL NATIONAL DAY SHOWCAR WINNER 2002/2003
• VOTED BEST MODDED MOTOR AT CRAIL 1/4 MILE THRASH






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Last edited by Delmastiff on Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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Delmastiff
Astra Messiah
Astra Messiah


Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 6441
Location: Herts / Essex Border

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And the latest pic that I have, taken with the MK1 Stig (Huxley) behind the wheel on the strip at this years PV Show


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Delmastiff
Astra Messiah
Astra Messiah


Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 6441
Location: Herts / Essex Border

PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2007 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

May 2007

Time for an update!!! I must be bloody mad, thats all I can say!!

I sold the red one above to masch.tab as I thought I'd had enough of MK1's......how wrong could I be!!!

My old blue one pictured earlier in this thread came back up for sale in Sept 06 by the guy that I sold it to. He had one of the chassis legs come away so decided to sell it. I snapped it up and at £2k less than I sold it for big grin Sounds good yeah....... wrong again!!

This was when I went to collect it. Chassis leg welded back in place in 30 mins flat and back on the road again big grin



Having seen the state of the chassis leg, it was decided that a full front end rebuild was required so I dropped the car off at Skipps in September 06 for what I thought would be a period of a month or so...........wrong again!!

Chris removed the engine and proceeded to remove the sound deadening from the bulkhead................. holy sh$t, this is what he found







Sad huh?? Here's a reminder of how it looked before he stripped the front end, unbelievable and gut wrenching believe me



So, not to be deterred, I decided that repairing the car was not really an option, not with 300bhp going through the front end, so I was on the hunt for a 'solid' (is there such a thing??) MK1 to use as a base for the re shell.

Luckily for me, Ed was selling up so WUX3Y was up for sale, WUX is the 2nd oldest GTE still in known existence and was built in Germany not Ellesmere Port thank god so is quite historic in iot's own right. I snapped it up straight away and had it trailered down from Wales back to my lock up in Essex

This is WUX a couple of years ago, looking good!



This is WUX in my lock up fresh off the trailer. Not looking so good



Next step was to get the car down to Skipp's for the re shell to begin big grin
The following pic's are a small part of the extensive photo file that I have of the rebuild but these give you an idea of what's been done so far. The car was reasonably solid, the most important part being the bulkhead was anyway, but it does need inner and outer sills, bit of floor work and I have treated it to new GM inner wings.
The aim is to get the car to look identical to the blue one, fingers crossed yeah!!



A small piece of my blue car welded in Dancing Dancing



New inner wings











So, with a bit of luck she'll be ready soon'ish. Can't wait!!

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Delmastiff
Astra Messiah
Astra Messiah


Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 6441
Location: Herts / Essex Border

PostPosted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So after 16 months she's finally back with me big grin Couple of small jobs to do but here she is, almost the same as A221 YMH.

Reading back through this thread it's clear that I have had alot of MK1's, but this one is by far the best because it's SOLID!










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Delmastiff
Astra Messiah
Astra Messiah


Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 6441
Location: Herts / Essex Border

PostPosted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Couple more recent pic's. Grill now has white stripes as standard GTE. Really like these two:












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Delmastiff
Astra Messiah
Astra Messiah


Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 6441
Location: Herts / Essex Border

PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote






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