Vectra a from belgium - full rebuild

[Maikel]

Today I started to prep the front shocks and hubs. Sandblasted a set of gsi front shock supports, removed the damper/hub and bearing. Also I got rid of the spring cup since I’m going for airride




Made some air bag supports on the lathe, these wil be tig welded on


Test fitting


Next up, drilling the holes to mount the bags to the support

[Mazza]

Air ride... mmm I’m also looking at that for my cav turbo, but got a long way to go...

Which one you going for ?

[Maikel]

I’m building a homemade set with Accuair management

[Maikel]

Today my front axle parts arrived.
Sandblasted, metalised and powdercoated


Got my shock towers both sandblasted, and covered in etching primer and primer.
These things rust as hell!! Had them untreated for 1 night and already had surface rust



And a while ago I refurbished the steering rack

[Mk3alan]

Looking good, very good!
I have had pieces shot blasted and from experience and they need to be painted immediately!

Alan

[Maikel]

The intercooler back in place



Next up, finishing the shocks and waiting for the powerflex package

[Robsey]

Excellent work so far.
It will be a superb car when finished.

You can't beat the look of fresh shiny paint and equally shiny parts on a car rebuild.

[Maikel]

Exactly! The idea of being able to work on the car without being completely covered in dirt sounds amazing. The engine bay isn’t that shiny anymore atm. Had some flaws, so I sanded it again

[Maikel]

To continue on the airride build.
Got my hands on a set of rs6 bags from a friend. The new bearing and hubs have arrived.



Made a new set of mounting plates on the lathe, these will be welded on the shock towers

[Maikel]

Finished the first one, only a new coat of paint left. Looking forward to testing!

[Maikel]

The original stickers for the front shocks are in.

[Robsey]

Coming along nicely,
That leg looks really smart.

I presume your stickets have different Alpha-codes and part numbers on.
(Due to being handed - left and right).

[Maikel]

Finally the first one is finished, second one should be done soon aswell, can’t wait to get them fitted

[Mazza]

Coming on nicely.

How do you plan to control the airbags..?

[Robsey]

Coming on nicely.
How do you plan to control the airbags..?

I’m building a homemade set with Accuair management

Looking forward to seeing how this goes.

[Maikel]

been a while, But I did do some work.
bought a gsi front bumper, wich are pretty rare here. It had a little crack in it, but that's solved





and then had to cut it up to make some room for airflow. so I made a cutout template



and a mesh grill to cover it off, it's the exact same size as a license plate.



but If you look closely, you'll see that the cnc missed a hole in the left bottem corner.. and it drove me crazy. So made a new one and coated it satin black along with the steering rack brackets



Due to a few busy weeks at work I won't be able to get back in the garage for a while, but I'm trying to design something myself though, and if it works I think it will be awesome.

[Robsey]

Nice work.
That crack does looks quite big from here.

The obvious question is, where are you going to put your license plate?

And I am going to guess that those brackets are adjustable strut top mounts.

All very interesting. I look forward to seeing your next post and pictures

It is a pain how work always gets in the way.
Slow progress is better than no progress