# 2005 Vauxhall Astra Diesel 'Life' Clean Up



## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Hi all......this lovely Astra Diesel Life has come into my possession this week. It bears all the hallmarks of a typical 10 year old car with all the usual grime and dirt tucked away nicely. From a distance doesn't look too bad but as you delve deeper there's plenty to contend with. Hopefully it will look a different car when done and to add to this it will have a 05 reg number on it after the 51 reg has been transferred. So here are some pics - well a lot actually of how it's landed. Will be starting this tomorrow so will post up progress as it goes.........

WP_20150522_006 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150522_007 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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WP_20150522_062 by jpappleton, on Flickr

A quick test with AS G101 and a Toothbrush to see how things went.......

WP_20150522_063 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150522_064 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Another little job was to prep some cheap replacement wheel trims.....

WP_20150522_001 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Add a set of Silicone Vauxhall Badges from ebay.....

WP_20150522_002 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150522_003 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150522_005 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Cheers for now.


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## TOMMY_RS (Aug 2, 2010)

Can't wait to see what you do with this one :thumb:


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## J306TD (May 19, 2008)

Ouch. More green than silver. good luck with this one


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## Hufty (Apr 27, 2015)

She's seen a lot of 'life' what's the mileage like. 

Looking forward to a big improvement, maybe you should take a straw pole of value now and value done?


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## Ian D (Mar 16, 2006)

Would like to see how you get on with the headlights, one out ours is similar, ours isn't far of being as bad, after someone keyed it down one side is not really loved anymore. Added to the 191k miles on it.


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## recarouk (May 5, 2006)

any updates? love your threads


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

As ever i'm looking forward to the finished results....it should be like a new car going on your past details 

I like those wheeltrims, they are pretty much OE looking, like these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-...Make:Vauxhall|Model:Astra&hash=item51a8877ac8


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## Brian mc21 (Aug 4, 2012)

Let's go. Love this guys work.


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

I'm sure you're not going to let us down, keep them coming matey.


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Hi all.......thank you for the comments, much appreciated! A lot of bitty jobs to do today - something that was annoying me was little bits of over spray on the front & back bumper inserts/grilles etc. These were the remnants of some previous bumper repairs where the repairer decided to paint and mask the bumpers on the car. So no choice but to whizz the bumpers off.......

WP_20150523_001 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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As you can see........silver paint on the plastics.

WP_20150523_005 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150523_006 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Same with the number plate lights!

WP_20150523_007 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Quick test of Matt Black repaint......

WP_20150523_008 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150523_009 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Same with the Front Bottom Grille.....

WP_20150523_010 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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Whilst waiting for the Painted Plastic Parts to dry i thought i'd tackle the headlamps.....

WP_20150523_018 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Wet Sanded with 400 Grit first.....

WP_20150523_019 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Then 800....

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Then 1000

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1500 on a Trizact Disc.....

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After 3000 Trizact then Polished with Menz 400 on a Hex Pad.....

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Same Drill on the O/S......

WP_20150523_027 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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After the same process.......

WP_20150523_033 by jpappleton, on Flickr

All Plastics now dry and ready for rebuilding to the bumper.......

WP_20150523_034 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150523_036 by jpappleton, on Flickr

All rebuilt and back on the car.......

WP_20150523_037 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Finally managed to get some cleaning done......here we are after a full hit with AS G101, De Tar with Tardis and a go over with the clay cloth.......

WP_20150523_038 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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That's all for today......weather being ok should be sorting the interior out tomorrow.

Cheers for now.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

nice progress, another fantastic start :thumb:


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## ZAFBLOKE (Mar 6, 2015)

Not sure if you have ever done it but love the Autosmart Satin Black on wheel arch liners have also used it as a substitute for Autosmart Black Die on boot carpets when I have run out of the Die.


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

I knew you wouldn't let us down, another fine everyday car back on the road and looking decent, lovely jubbly


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

I hate to see the aftermath of sloppy painting/spraying....with things as removable as they are these days there is no excuse for overspray  But nice recovery on the plasics 

It also looks like someone has jacked it up on the passenger sill at some point too


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## jamie crookston (Aug 30, 2010)

Wow what a difference. I love the threads you put up.


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## Prestige car care shop (Mar 29, 2014)

stunning work


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Hi again.......in between darting in and out of the showers today managed to get a bit more done.......

First up was to respray the numberplate light holders that had not been removed when the bumper was repaired.....

WP_20150524_001 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Next up was to clean the arch liners then repaint the Wheel bolts and tidy up the centres.......

WP_20150524_002 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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After the rain I got chance to start the dry vac process.....

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So after removing all the debris and dust etc it was on to some wet work. G101 on all the plastics/Dash etc then a quick go over on the seats with G101 and the mini steamer.......

WP_20150524_010 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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Hopefull all should dry nicely overnight. Wheels now ready to place New Trims tomorrow.

WP_20150524_016 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150524_017 by jpappleton, on Flickr

So should be done tomorrow - got the boot area to clean and dress, quick polish on the paintwork & door shuts /dress plastics/ clean windows and sort out any touch ins etc.

Cheers for now.


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

MadOnVaux! said:


> I hate to see the aftermath of sloppy painting/spraying....with things as removable as they are these days there is no excuse for overspray  But nice recovery on the plasics
> 
> It also looks like someone has jacked it up on the passenger sill at some point too


Amazing that some simple bits that just un clip get masked off rather than removed. To be fair the bumper does have to come of to remove those inserts but can't understand why the attempted to mask the numberplate lights when they just pop out.

Having said that i've seen some painters even mask a full numberplate!

And yes indeed some genius in the past has jacked up on the sill.


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

ZAFBLOKE said:


> Not sure if you have ever done it but love the Autosmart Satin Black on wheel arch liners have also used it as a substitute for Autosmart Black Die on boot carpets when I have run out of the Die.


Hi yes I have seen AS Satin Black - I know from the rep that a lot of regular valeters use it for speed to cover badly stained carpets etc. To be honest i've always done well with regular Matt Black as an all rounder. Covers well and it also dresses nicely when required.


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Another great read so far! 

I've currently got my cousins Vauxhall Zafira in for a full works like this ready for resale, it's a mess and spent at lest 6 hours cleaning the interior so far! 

The dash has been out just to replace two bulbs!

Keep up,the good work bud! Looks great


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## RSPSTEVE (Jun 1, 2010)

Great work as ever...how many hours to you usually spend on each car as an average?


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## IamDave (Feb 6, 2015)

Looking very tidy so far fantastic turn around!


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

okcharlie said:


> Amazing that some simple bits that just un clip get masked off rather than removed. To be fair the bumper does have to come of to remove those inserts but can't understand why the attempted to mask the numberplate lights when they just pop out.
> 
> Having said that i've seen some painters even mask a full numberplate!
> 
> And yes indeed some genius in the past has jacked up on the sill.


Bumpers are fairly easy to remove though in the grand scheme of things, and i remember a car on here in the studio had had the numberplate masked, as there was runs behind it, madness!!

I see quite alot of cars with sill damage due to jacking, my Insignia has this, (now covered by side-skirts) it must be idiot owers trying to change a wheel in a hurry i would think rather than a garage?....mind you, my last car had been jacked up on the floorpan with a garage jack/lift!!


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Hi again.......thank you for the comments. I'm struggling with internet speed again at the moment so will post up some finished pics tonight when sorted.

WP_20150525_005 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Cheers for now.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

looking great :thumb: another fantastic job. Was having a look through your photos on flickr, presuming your in car trade for how many cars you get through?


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Hi again.....finally managed to get some decent internet speed. Here are the 99% done pics. Just needs the seats going over again and paintwork touching in when i get the correct colour. Not the best pics due to bad light etc but there's a few.......

WP_20150525_006 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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WP_20150525_048 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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WP_20150525_054 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150525_055 by jpappleton, on Flickr

WP_20150525_056 by jpappleton, on Flickr

Here with New Wheel Trims Fitted......

WP_20150525_058 by jpappleton, on Flickr

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With the replacement Number Plates......

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That's it! Thanks for reading if you got this far.....Cheers.


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## mechrepairs (Aug 11, 2008)

Amazing.

Carl


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## recarouk (May 5, 2006)

mechrepairs said:


> Amazing.
> 
> Carl


what he said! although im not called Carl  :lol:


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic job:thumb:


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## ZAFBLOKE (Mar 6, 2015)

Would be nice to see photos and a run down on the Zafira Valet as will be doing mine soon ready for Holiday in 4 weeks time

That G101 is wonderful stuff and has many uses


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## Guest (May 26, 2015)

Excellent work as usual....you certainly know how to add some value to the cars..:thumb:


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## TonyH38 (Apr 7, 2013)

A superb job thanks for the pics.


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## Ian D (Mar 16, 2006)

Looks great, I could really do with giving you ours to do!

Just a quick question, were you not tempted to take the wheel at I liners out? As ours was full of muck underneath


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## detalierg (Nov 4, 2013)

As always a great turnaround and a great interesting read, well done buddy :thumb:


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## sonny (Feb 26, 2008)

Brilliant a real credit, very well done!!


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Hi....thanks for the comments - appreciate it. Hopefully all being well I should have some more coming up in the next couple of weeks.



Ian D said:


> Looks great, I could really do with giving you ours to do!
> 
> Just a quick question, were you not tempted to take the wheel at I liners out? As ours was full of muck underneath


I don't usually take the Arch Liners out as I normally have the wheels off and thoroughly clean with G101 and Tardis as per some previous threads.

Cheers.


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Cracking job :thumb:

Well done


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## subarufreak (Oct 20, 2013)

stunning work


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## terrytibbs (Feb 16, 2011)

Great work!! Can I ask what trim dressings you use? And what you use on the tyres? Many thanks....


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

The finished result is absolutely brilliant! I'm intrigued to see the next one!


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

Proper job.


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## ColinG (Jan 20, 2013)

You've done a cracking job on this, :thumb: I always enjoy this type of thread with a regular every day car more than the pristine super cars, it's great to see the turnaround must be very rewarding.


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

great job fair play and looks a different car now


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

terrytibbs said:


> Great work!! Can I ask what trim dressings you use? And what you use on the tyres? Many thanks....


Hi.....I use AS Highstyle on the Rubber Trim & Tyres.

Cheers


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## threadbear (Apr 13, 2012)

Stunning work on an ordinary car. This is what valeting is all about. Well done.


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## cantpolishaturd (Nov 16, 2014)

speechless


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