Ghoru's '90 Astina

[Ghoru]

Ok this is my first car i ever owned and will also be my first project as well so bare with me

So i first picked the car up about 2 years ago and it had 115000 km on the clock (cant remember if that was good or not but my 03 corola has more then that).
the engine was in good nick and there was no major mechanical faults we could find so we took it, regardless of the peeling paint (damn fruitbats) and front left panel damage. the interior however was pretty shot, the dash looking like someone had a go at it with a fireaxe or something and the pillar molda were rooted (at the time i didnt think much of it...till i went to price replacements....)
so after throwing on a quick vinyl job on the dash and some seatcovers i had a new runabout

Now that me and the missus have a kid we got a newer car (airbags ect) we took the stina off the road so i could pretty much rip the entire interior out and start from scratch which leads us to the here and now...

My Ideas and plans for the interior pretty much extend around creating a whole new colour scheme, new carpet (knox of course) and fiberglassing some new door cards and some new/reupholstered upholstery as well as a custom boot and such.

which is where you guys come in. As i have many ideas of my own as well as seeing many an idea floating through these forums i would love any suggestions to help me along the way that could save me a lot of pain and hassle

i will post as regularly as i can with progress or questions as well as some pics so you can see how im progressing aswell

[chrisw]

If you have the SP model... this job is SO much easier due to having electric windows, if you dont have the SP model, consider getting electric windows or SP doors, or your custom fibreglass work will be alot less extreme than wanted due to the lame BG winder.

knox is a fantastic choice i hear, im waiting for mine to arrive :)
at current, im upholstering everything inside the car except for the top dash, ill post some progress pictures of what that looks like with the centreconsole today actually.

once you get to this stage, the world is your oyster...
one reccomendation I have, is be careful when removing your headliner board, or have another one spare, i know mine was heavily destroyed, unbeknown to me and was held together by the fabric. So have some fibreglass on hand to repair it.

The removal of the BG interior is quite easy really, especially the seats. you will find with all the seats out, that the reupholstery work on the rear seats at least seems very simple, the fronts are a different matter.

expect to pay about 17-20 a metre for good headliner foam backed material
between 3 and 30 a metre for general upholstery in the car

[NaughtyGT]

flucking big job Ghoru if you havn't attempted interior work before? Certainly a project. If you got the car @ a reasonable price, which I believe you did, then, the learning is priceLESS ;) All the best mate & can't wait to see progress reports :cool:

[Ghoru]

i dont have an sp however there is an sp at the wreckers...with one doorcard missing tho
and as for the winders i have a plan for that needs some hammering out tho

http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/autoloc/product.lasso?prodinc=powerwindows

they have soo many goodies but a ittle pricey atm

and headboard is what exactly lol?

[chrisw]

hehe, sorry, by headboard, i meant headliner, the molded cardboard that the roof fabric is attached to

[chrisw]

oh and tell me how the electric windows thing goes, I'd love to do it, but ive never done it before

[Ghoru]

will do

[Ghoru]

so doe anyone know if it is a legal requirement to have the factory standard speedo? i was thinking of making a complete custom instrument cluster and a mate mentioned something about the odometer has to be precise or some such babble
any one know? qld transport takes forever to get back to me

[Ghoru]

also if my plans for power windows wont work i thought if modifying the winders a little bit

[Rix]

I think aslong as ur speed is accurate the cops won't care, the odometer much be set to the extact meters etc or else u could be fined. i know many people who have replaced their speedos etc but u just have to make sure that everything is set the same to ur speedo when u take it out

cause like if u sold ur car in the future and the odometer had 1000 km it'd be a little suss?

[Ghoru]

yeh that the only thing i could think of is when you sell the car the km's need to be precise
i was thinking of the new Drift Iridium series guages abd thye are digital so i figured you could set the odo on them

[Ghoru]

so im looking at a new front bar and im torn between these 2
http://www.carmate.com.au/product_details.php?productid=MZAST90OTFB

http://www.carmate.com.au/product_details.php?productid=MZAST90VSGFB

[Ghoru]

also does anyone even think this wing looks anygood?

http://www.carmate.com.au/product_details.php?productid=MZAST90MNRW

[mussing]

Can't say I'm a fan of either of those bars, or the wing. Just looks like rice- much better to keep it clean methinks.

[Ghoru]

yeh but i despise the look of the stock bar, if anyone can find a nice alternative maybe

[Ghoru]

ok so now im getting some money trickling in i have started work on the astina atm....and first hiccup.
the car has been off the road but i have been running it every month or so until recetly it wont start. got new battery a sthe old one died.
the motor turns over fine
all plugs and leads are sparking
there is fuel in it
CANT hear the fuel pump (im assuming is under back seat?)
dont know how to tell if fuel inj is working ie dead fuse?

can anyone help me out?

ps there is also fuel in the fuel rail

[Ghoru]

ok so now im in a 92 sp i picked up for $1000.
the only things so far that are wrong with it... the windows are sticky, as in they dont operate very smoothly and same with the sunroof. and there is some cosmetic damage to seats and panels but mechanically it is very sound. surprisingly so for a car with 350xxxkms on it. made it from landsborough to rockhampton no problems.

so first thing will be a tune up and filter change...new plugs and leads give the whole thing a clean down as there is a loota dirt and grease in there and i cant tell if that is whats burning or if i have an oil leak new headlights and bulbs.
now... the sunroof. as the car was sold as is w/o rwc the sunroof has some rust in it (which apparently is common) would it be easier to find a quick fix. ie grinder,bodyfiller etc or just go straight for a perspex replacement?