My 91 Red BG Astina

tonylr2001 · 02-04-2012, 03:05 PM

Hi All,

I picked up a cheap red 91 BG Astina last Friday. I have always loved these cars since the early 90s when I had a standard 1990 Mazda 323 and my neighbour had an Astina.

The Good- 12 months rego, new tyres, new discs and pads, new exhaust, only 180K on the speedo, the engine is smooth and gear box and clutch seem great. Interior is in great condition and exterior has no dents.

The Bad – Overheated driving home from the dealer, paint work on the bonnet badly oxidized, exterior plastics badly faded and some cracked and broken, a large split in the dash and the head lining has come away under the sun visors.

On the weekend I replaced a split top radiator hose and gave the exterior a thorough work over. Bonnet has come up well and so has most of the plastics.

I bought it as a run around and as a bit of a hobby, so am looking to reading up on the forum and getting stuck into improving my new car.

Rupewrecht · 02-04-2012, 03:21 PM

Welcome to AGT

derb · 02-04-2012, 04:07 PM

Overheating could be as cheap as thermostat or as expensive as a water pump or radiator. I've had heaps of cooling problems, but then again the stock system was never built for boost. I've put a 40mm aluminium rad in my Astina now.

Give the paint a serious wash/clay bar/polish/cut/polish and see what the paint looks like then. If the paint on the roof is OK, then it will be easy to buy spare panels and paint them yourself or get them painted and then put them on over time

Which exterior parts are cracked? Also i'm sure you could refurb most of the exterior plastics with some pressure pack black and coat of high temp clear. Dash split sucks, but there should be a few Astinas in wrecker yards with mint dashes. Same for headlinings.

Welcome aboard.

tonylr2001 · 03-04-2012, 10:21 PM

Thanks Derb, will work through the issues on overheating.

Think that the paintwork will come up well enough for now but like the idea of spare parts panels and then working them.

The external plastics are the left A-Pillar insert and the all of the external windows sills are cracked.

I think the dash will be a repalce but will talk to the welding people first to see how much and what the end product will look like.

Did my first major upgrade today. Stuck a Melbourne Demons 2012 membership sticker on the back window!

Clean_Cookie · 03-04-2012, 11:13 PM

Very subjective upgrade haha. Welcome aboard. Nice to see 5 new members this week! Plenty of wrecks out there too. Try a new thermostat, and new coolant flush first.

Astina-Apps · 04-04-2012, 01:56 AM

MY first bg astina split a heater hose on the way home from purchasing it... Then I found holes in the radiator and eventually tore the seals in the head... After all that was fixed it still overheated. So I took the thermostat out and it stopped overheating. Weird ! But go the bgs !!! I still drive one haha Congrats on the buy !!!

02-04-2012, 03:05 PM	#1
tonylr2001 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Melbourne Car: 91 Astina Posts: 3	My 91 Red BG Astina Hi All, I picked up a cheap red 91 BG Astina last Friday. I have always loved these cars since the early 90s when I had a standard 1990 Mazda 323 and my neighbour had an Astina. The Good- 12 months rego, new tyres, new discs and pads, new exhaust, only 180K on the speedo, the engine is smooth and gear box and clutch seem great. Interior is in great condition and exterior has no dents. The Bad – Overheated driving home from the dealer, paint work on the bonnet badly oxidized, exterior plastics badly faded and some cracked and broken, a large split in the dash and the head lining has come away under the sun visors. On the weekend I replaced a split top radiator hose and gave the exterior a thorough work over. Bonnet has come up well and so has most of the plastics. I bought it as a run around and as a bit of a hobby, so am looking to reading up on the forum and getting stuck into improving my new car.

02-04-2012, 03:21 PM	#2
Rupewrecht Administrator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: melb.vic.au Car: AZ-1, Astina Hardtop Turbo, BJ Protege, Beetle Posts: 16,525 View Photos By: Rupewrecht	Welcome to AGT __________________ jdmparts.rupewrecht.com Sourcing your not-quite-overnight parts from Japan WRECHT--\|--SLOWTEGE--\|--BEETLE--\|--SUBSTITUTE--\|--AZ-1

03-04-2012, 11:13 PM	#5
Clean_Cookie obsessed-incomplete-broke Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brisbane Car: BA Hardtop/Hatch Posts: 5,441	Very subjective upgrade haha. Welcome aboard. Nice to see 5 new members this week! Plenty of wrecks out there too. Try a new thermostat, and new coolant flush first. __________________ Worklog

02-04-2012, 04:07 PM	#3
derb Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brisbane Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X Posts: 1,822 View Photos By: derb	Overheating could be as cheap as thermostat or as expensive as a water pump or radiator. I've had heaps of cooling problems, but then again the stock system was never built for boost. I've put a 40mm aluminium rad in my Astina now. Give the paint a serious wash/clay bar/polish/cut/polish and see what the paint looks like then. If the paint on the roof is OK, then it will be easy to buy spare panels and paint them yourself or get them painted and then put them on over time Which exterior parts are cracked? Also i'm sure you could refurb most of the exterior plastics with some pressure pack black and coat of high temp clear. Dash split sucks, but there should be a few Astinas in wrecker yards with mint dashes. Same for headlinings. Welcome aboard.

03-04-2012, 10:21 PM	#4
tonylr2001 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Melbourne Car: 91 Astina Posts: 3	Thanks Derb, will work through the issues on overheating. Think that the paintwork will come up well enough for now but like the idea of spare parts panels and then working them. The external plastics are the left A-Pillar insert and the all of the external windows sills are cracked. I think the dash will be a repalce but will talk to the welding people first to see how much and what the end product will look like. Did my first major upgrade today. Stuck a Melbourne Demons 2012 membership sticker on the back window!

04-04-2012, 01:56 AM	#6
Astina-Apps Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Edensor Park Car: Mazda Astina bg sp Posts: 4	MY first bg astina split a heater hose on the way home from purchasing it... Then I found holes in the radiator and eventually tore the seals in the head... After all that was fixed it still overheated. So I took the thermostat out and it stopped overheating. Weird ! But go the bgs !!! I still drive one haha Congrats on the buy !!!