I did really want the VXR version, but they seem to command silly money 2nd hand (like the Zafira GSI's and VXR's) and never turn up as salvage, so I thought I would get a nice solid reliable runaround.Originally Posted by John H
If all else fails in a few years time I can start looking at a transplant
Joff
100 percent steelies
Morning all,
Well after a 400 mile round trip I now have my 2011 project sitting on the drive.
Having inspected the damage most of the problem bits are bolt on / off so its really just the chassis leg that needs sorting (the bodyshop attached to my diddy Vauxhall dealer in Mappleton have said they can pull it straight for a reasonable price!)
And Spudly you were right - the wheels are steelies with plastic trims.
Joff
not to piss on this but if its had a smack on the leg end ill bet the legs gone out at teh bulkhead. they are very very fragile, and it usually bends the subframe too. heads up really mate.
Last edited by Sloth; 07-11-10 at 10:37 AM.
Thought they would be, Rob was saying to me before that they folled a lad in his bodyshop at stonacre in scunny, into prepping for rubbing them down for refurb, till someone pulled it off after a breif argument over whether they were trims or alloys or not
that chassis leg will needs lots of work but looks fixable.
chassis legs looks pretty straight further back though, Iirc the ends on these are designed to collapse anyway.
There the same as the crash cans on a Corsa C. I.e, collapsable.
And besides which this is Joff, it will be sorted 100% by the book as we all know his standard and attention to detail
Hi all,
I've had a change of plan due to the vectra starting to become a little bit unreliable.
It threw a cambelt last month which mashed all 16 valves in the head and yesterday a
brake pipe leak developed which I sorted this morning with a new length of copper pipe ,
some use of the flaring tool and a couple of unions.
So with this in mind I have swapped priorities and have decided that I need the new Meriva
fixed and onto the road sooner rather than later.
Therefore after fixing the Vectra this morning I have started stripping the front end in
preparation for it being put on a local jig and pulling straight.
Unbelievably the aircon system was still pressurised and there were no leaks on the aircon rad.
Once removed it was a bit twisted but its straightened up without problems.
The water rad is fubar'ed as the two top brackets have ripped holes in the endcaps on each side.
The offside headlamp seems to be fine and although the ABS unit is fine, the cradle that it
sits in is a bit bent - nothing that a trip in the vice won't fix!
Now that its stripped back it seems the impact on the chassic leg has rotated around the
point where it bolts to the engine bed, so going back to the bulkhead seems prettry straight
with none of the sealer cracked.
The fronts of both chassis legs need some work as the captive nuts in 3 places have ripped
out of the metal. I'll let the jig guys sort this when they are trial fitting the panels once the
leg is straight.
So it's gone from this at lunchtime ....
to this when I finished today.....
With this pile of scrap awaiting a trip to the tip .....
Next jobs are removing the arch liners and wings, then the scuttle panel so I can attach the
new bonnet hinges (as the existing ones were twisted in the impact).
Cheers
Joff
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