VXOC Astra-J/GTC

Well I said I was gonna start a progress thread so I thought I'd better start somewhere 

This was my previous car before I upgraded to the astra, called it yoda for obvious reasons





Only had it just over a year, I think it was an impulse buy and I got bored with it quickly after I done the work I wanted to do on it.

The astra visited the bodyshop after I picked it up because the roof needed resprayed.



Still early days and as you can see all ive done at the moment is upgrade the DRL's. I Have just ordered all the SMDs needed so I can do my conversion and then we will see where it ends up

(28:th-Nov-2015, 23:27:16)Shorty S91 Wrote: [ -> ]Well I said I was gonna start a progress thread so I thought I'd better start somewhere 

This was my previous car before I upgraded to the astra, called it yoda for obvious reasons





Only had it just over a year, I think it was an impulse buy and I got bored with it quickly after I done the work I wanted to do on it.

The astra visited the bodyshop after I picked it up because the roof needed resprayed.



Still early days and as you can see all ive done at the moment is upgrade the DRL's. I Have just ordered all the SMDs needed so I can do my conversion and then we will see where it ends up

you had a beautifull car too.
very nice the two cars.

Very nice mate, looking forward to what you get up to!


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Love the under car neons


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Cheers guys!

Started my SMD conversion last night and then I took the misses out for a meal so only got part of it done yesterday and then the rest tonight.



Yeah so I was driving around with part of it completed

Anyway got the speedo done at least, went with a blue and white combo in the end.


Going to chillout the rest of the weekend, just having a few ciders the now playing some fallout trying to wind down. Gotta deal with  an issue with my old car tomorrow which is a it of a bummer

Looks very nice mate.

Looks very good

That does look awesome! I wanna go for the black and white look myself but not sure I have the patience to rip the cluster out AGAIN haha

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Wow that looks great, how easy/hard is this to do? I'd love it done but only person I know is 6-7houts drive away lol


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(6:th-Dec-2015, 17:39:54)Tonto Wrote: [ -> ]Wow that looks great, how easy/hard is this to do? I'd love it done but only person I know is 6-7houts drive away lol


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If you've never done anything like this before its quite intimidating. the job itself is pretty straight forward a lot of patience and decent soldering skills are needed . I would suggest to anyone thinking about doing this for the first time to do there research and start with something simpler like the window switches as they are fairly cheap to replace if you make a mess of it.

More pics to follow guys when I get round to it. Still decorating which is taking priority on the to do list at the moment 

I'd love to do this but yeah I've never used a soldering iron before lol, my stepdad used to be and electrician and knows what he's doing so will get him to help and show me lol. What leds would I need, does each panel need different ones or are they all the same?


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its different ones for each mate, have a look through the tutorials section on leds how to the guys have got plenty of info and are always around if you need any help

Slow and steady progress. Ripped apart the steering wheel and done the steering controls



I done the headlight switch a few nights ago to



Got the window switches, mirror control switch and the ambient door lights done as well. Didnt realise I was gonna need to take the whole door card out for the door light. Soldered on a plcc-2 3528 to the circuit and blanked off the other contact plates so it would illuminate the SMD. Happy with it now just got the centre console to go and im thinking about startibg some hydrodip on the rockker cover and some of the interior trims.

very good look forward to the hydro dip bits

Looking good mate.

Nothing to exciting guys just updating the thread with more SMD stuff, almost finished   . Probably my last post until after Christmas and New year so I hope everyone has a good one and santa brings many car parts 

coming along lovely keep up the great work

Looking good sny questions about led conversion just ask I've done quite a few now

Cheers again guys! 

I got the rest of the centre console done tonight and I'm pleased with how it looks.



Leaving the hydrodipping for a while just now, I can't settle on a design I really like yet. Ordered 1m of blue strip lights so I can make up footwell lights and I've also just ordered some 8k HIDS and a cone filter to get fitted.Got some glacier white and clear lacquer so I can get the grill colour coded at some point, will no doubt be the same time im fitting the HIDS. Question has anyone de-wipered the rear window and if so what size was the grommet to plug the window?

Looking very nice mate.

I don't agree with fitting HID's into halogen headlamps as they aren't designed to be in them. Can I suggest you fit projectors into the headlamps like Tucpal did (how-to below)
https://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/Thread-Pro...a-j-5-door

Or buy a set like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Astra...SwYHxWIh-e

(28:th-Dec-2015, 08:48:58)Rusty2009 Wrote: [ -> ]Looking very nice mate.

I don't agree with fitting HID's into halogen headlamps as they aren't designed to be in them. Can I suggest you fit projectors into the headlamps like Tucpal did (how-to below)
https://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/Thread-Pro...a-j-5-door

Or buy a set like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Astra...SwYHxWIh-e

I've got projector lamps as standard in the GTC. Theres nothing worse when someones got H7 hids in reflector lamps :(. think folk jut put them in and do little research on them

Haha for some reason I thought you had a 5 door.


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Filter arrived today, think I need a bigger one to be honest



Got some turbo flutter just need to sort a housing unit for the MAF. Engine sounds really rattly here but it isnt as bad as it sounds.


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Don't know what happened to the first video I uploaded so here you go.

What engine are you pushing?


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(29:th-Dec-2015, 23:31:37)Nemo Wrote: [ -> ]What engine are you pushing?


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It is the 1.6 turbo engine mate. A16let

Petrol then?


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(29:th-Dec-2015, 23:58:55)Nemo Wrote: [ -> ]Petrol then?


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Haha yeah, it sounds like a diesel in the video but it isn't actually that bad. The cooling fan was on aswel because i had to move the MAF sensor.

See I'm thinking of a cone filter for my 2.0cdti but at the end of the day it's still a diesel and will always sound like a diesel aha


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I had a cone filter on my 2.0cdti and it sounded like darth vadar so took it back off after 1 day

TBH I think modern Diesels are too quite I loved the noise of the old diesels engines.

Now you only hear that noise when you drive them hard. I bet new 1.6 is even quieter.

Yep it certainly is but you can still tell its a diesel

I love to hear the turbo noise though, sound amazing IMO. Shame its diesel


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I was dreading the fuel bill on the 1.6T given that most vauxhall petrol engines are pretty bad n fuel. But I'm £100 a month sometimes just running back and forward to work. Never seen the attraction to diesel other than the fuel economy the noise that they make drives me nuts

I've had one petrol a 1.4 Astra G only had it 6weeks chucked it in for 2.0 Veccy B just hate petrol cars.


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Well my HIDs came on new years eve, but unfortunately I was working and I missed the postman which is never good. Eventually picked them up yesterday and I done a little test fit today to see how they looked.

before:


After:





The beam pattern looks ok, the lines at the top look consistent. I would say it looks a little scattered underneath, but I am parked pretty close to the wall. Ive still to mount the ballasts and drill the cap covers and actually fit them. Got some time off work just now because my back is playing up and im on strong painkillers. theres only so much sitting around you can do before the mind wanders 

much whiter for sure
they will not affect the beam pattern at all
just make them whiter

(8:th-Jan-2016, 20:51:02)tucpal Wrote: [ -> ]much whiter for sure
they will not affect the beam pattern at all
just make them whiter

I was mostly worried that the beam would still have some scattering but its looks ok. I just need to mount everything up. Got these of lush lighting and the ballasts and cabling is good quality pleased that the yellow lights are gone and there a good match for the DRLs to

(8:th-Jan-2016, 21:59:54)Shorty S91 Wrote: [ -> ]

(8:th-Jan-2016, 20:51:02)tucpal Wrote: [ -> ]much whiter for sure
they will not affect the beam pattern at all
just make them whiter

I was mostly worried that the beam would still have some scattering but its looks ok. I just need to mount everything up. Got these of lush lighting and the ballasts and cabling is good quality pleased that the yellow lights are gone and there a good match for the DRLs to

Hi mate you've got the exact same car as me lol. Is yours the twin exhaust one as well?i also got my hid from lush lighting and they are awesome lights and I agree the ballasts with their name on it are good quality and the cable. The bulbs on top and the wires are the same as everyone else's.

I too also thought they were a bit scattered but take them out on a dark road mate you'll soon see how good they are and its just the way they are. They are as bright as my afl on my other gtc except they don't move.

Anyway lovely car

I just painted my calipers red today and got all the interior upgraded to led lights and put my private pressed plates on. It's coming along slowly. I'll open a build thread soon. I'm going to get it remapped Tuesday too and have darker tints. Also thinking about getting the wheels done black and a black roof wrap but dunno yet lol.

Cheers mate, I've only got the single exhaust at the moment. I fancy finding a diffuser with the twins cut into it as I plan on a cat back system further down the line. I'm making a custom induction kit aswel. Ideally iI want to fit both of them before a remap. Who is doing your remap. What route you gonna go down ? Performance/economy or a 50/50 map.

I'll get the hids fully installed tomorrow and take them out for a drive at night and see how they are. Got a cruise on Sunday evening so it will be good to take it out on long drive to see how they hold up

(9:th-Jan-2016, 00:20:52)Shorty S91 Wrote: [ -> ]Cheers mate, I've only got the single exhaust at the moment. I fancy finding a diffuser with the twins cut into it as I plan on a cat back system further down the line. I'm making a custom induction kit aswel. Ideally iI want to fit both of them before a remap. Who is doing your remap. What route you gonna go down ? Performance/economy or a 50/50 map.

I'll get the hids fully installed tomorrow and take them out for a drive at night and see how they are. Got a cruise on Sunday evening so it will be good to take it out on long drive to see how they hold up

I'm going to scm remaps which is down by me and I know 2 people who have been there already and are happy. I'm going to go with probably like a 50/50 ish I want more torque in the lower revs so it pulls better but also so that my foot isn't to the metal all the time which in essence should see me get better mpg overall too. They also put it back on for free if the dealer wipes it during a service etc so all sounds good so far but only 1 way to find out I also want an induction kit etc but that's all to come.

Got everything fitted today, drilled the cap covers and just mounted the ballasts with cable ties for the moment until I find a good place to mount them. If anyone  is thinking about upgrading to HID's in their GTC and use lush lightings 9012 kit you will want to drill a 30mm hole in the dust caps for the headlights. I used a 32mm and the grommets still fit but I would have preferred they were a little bit more snug.



everything built back up inside:



I then decided to play a game of find the screw after I dropped one in when I first started hense why I just took the O/S light out.


But when I removed one of the headlight bolts i dropped that down into the cold air feed which I was delighted about.



Said screw 


Anyway... I got everything done and here we are 8k HIDS



Glad they are finished and got it all back together, but then again when I was putting the airfilter box back on I dropped another screw which landed on the under tray. By this point I was soaking wet, gave it the finger and went inside to warm up

Nice one mate. Be careful with the cable ties. The ballasts get hot and could melt the ties.

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(10:th-Jan-2016, 22:03:05)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]Nice one mate. Be careful with the cable ties. The ballasts get hot and could melt the ties.

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cheers mate I'll keep an eye on them, I couldnt find a flat enough surface for them to sit well

Is there not a spot physically under the headlight? I think that's where the oem ballast is secured. @rusty2009 will know that one though

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The OEM ballasts fix to the bottom. Depends on the size of the aftermarket ballasts tho as weather there is room but there should be.


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(10:th-Jan-2016, 22:28:29)Rusty2009 Wrote: [ -> ]The OEM ballasts fix to the bottom. Depends on the size of the aftermarket ballasts tho as weather there is room but there should be.


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I was wondering what square mold was for around the bottom of the light, that'll be to allows them to fit underneath then. thats a job for another day

He's a pic of the bottom of my Afl unit

(10:th-Jan-2016, 22:53:32)Rusty2009 Wrote: [ -> ]He's a pic of the bottom of my Afl unit

Cheers rusty did you mount yours onto the plastic or the chassis?, mines looks slightly different but i know my ballasts will fit in the space

Mine are factory so mounted on the bottom.

Mind you on the fiesta there was less room but still managed to fix them to the bottom


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Very nice mate and I wouldn't worry about the cable ties a lot of people done it that way with no problems.