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Old 18-04-2013, 06:17 PM   #1
Hiro
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Sydney
Car: '91 Red BG Astina SP
Posts: 5
Restoring my BG10P1/SP

Hallo~!

Hiro here, I've been a member here for quite a while, usually just looking at what other members have been doing with their BG Astinas, and usually I find the answers that I'm looking for before even reply, but I've decided for the first time to ask for help.

I've got myself yet another BG10 Astina, this time a bright red SP model, and better yet a manual transmission, and it's in pretty good condition... mechanically... for the most part, though It's as stock as a rocket.

On the outside... well, It's seen better days. It has a stock sunroof that's in it's terminally ill stage of rust around the edges, and it's at the stage where it might just spread onto the main body, and finally today, I had water seeping through the cracks and forming droplets on the passenger seat. The week after I got it, the front drivers-side wheel-cover-panel / wing was massively dented and scratched while I was at work, and several days later, my mum reversed her Pajero into the corner, smashing out my rear passengers-side tail-lights and making a massive dent in the bumper bar. It took about a week and a half for a new set of tail-lights to replace the smashed ones, and at one point, water was getting into the car from the cracks.

I love the BG model Astina, because it somewhat resembles my childhood dream car... the 'Toyota AE86', which I don't think you can get these days unless you're prepared to fork out a small fortune. I've had two other Astinas in the past. The first one blew up on me before I got much mileage out of it, and was quickly replaced by my uncle's old 3rd-Hand, Automatic Transmission, White, BG Astina with only a SOHC, but it ran splendidly, and I had it for around two and a half years, before I transfered it to a friend who promised to love and cherish it while I was on a one year Hiatus, doing some martial arts training while teaching English for work in Japan.

I came back and it was as dead as disco. The Battery was flat, the remote for the Immobiliser had gone missing, Half the Key was stuck in the Ignition, according to my friend it blew smoke a few times before it died, and the windows were down when the battery died, so it's worn all the elements, so it was best to red rid of it, as I was flat broke from all the souvenirs I'd spent my savings on while I was overseas.

Seven months later, I got myself this one. This time it's Red, it's a Manual, it has Sick LED's under the Headlights that make it look like an Audi when you're looking at it head-on, it has the Mazda Insignia sticking up like the Shuriken peace sign at the front of a Mercedes Benz (and it hasn't been stolen yet), It has a Mad Muffler that sounded pretty loud compared to my old Astina (probably as loud as my mum's 16 year old Pajero), It has different coloured Headlights, Stock Yellow and Light Blue (which I think wasn't supposed to be but I never bothered to change them) and it even has a fully sick Amp and Subwoofer that looks like a relic of the Cold War, and coughs out some retro sounding J-Pop I stream over an FM Transceiver, because the Head-unit looks like it was installed before the days when Bluetooth came standard, and who bothers to burn CD's now anyway ? The seats smell like ass sweat and rain water that's been distilling for years, the plastic that covers the spare tyre is missing, so the subwoofer sits on a wooden plank roughly cut to size with a piece of carpet sitting over it. The steering wheel came from somewhere else, and the horn... there is no Horn. The drivers-side rear passenger door doesn't open from the outside, only the inside, but a mate decided to be a prick and put the child-lock on... and now that door can't be opened. Same problem on the other side, and I'm keeping my mate well away from it so he doesn't child-lock the door shut. It It feels every bump on the road so I'm guessing the Shocks are gone, and even though it's not lowered, it makes a grinding sound whenever I go over an oversized speed-bump, the ones you find in the residential areas of Chatswood.

Though I live and lurk around the Northern Beaches of Sydney, NSW, Australia, there's nowhere to this day in my area that specializes in JDM or any sort of Performance Parts. I've been advised to go out to Parramatta & Blacktown if I want parts or anyone who knows how to get their hands on spares or aftermarket parts, maybe even mods once I get the car back to it's former roadworthy glory.

My first main concern is getting a new Sunroof. My last resort is forking out $5000 to cut out the existing one completely and install an integrated Sunroof from Doyle's In-Car.

I've seen some amazing mods here on the forums, and I'd like the End Result of my little Astina, to look as good as the Astinas you guys have passionately put your blood, sweat and tears into.
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Old 18-04-2013, 08:15 PM   #2
Cosmo Dude
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Location: Location: Vic
Car: Mazda '95 Astina I4, '86 B2K and '10 3 MZR-CD
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First thing with sunroofs is that Mazda has never, at least to my knowledge, ever even tried to make a waterproof sunroof. All sunroofs have drains and if you are getting water in your car then a drain is blocked and needs attention ASAP.
On the BG I don't know where the drains are but look in the door jambs and in the rear wheel wells for rubber tubes that point down like drains and see if you can blow some compressed air up them.
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Old 18-04-2013, 09:01 PM   #3
Hiro
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Sydney
Car: '91 Red BG Astina SP
Posts: 5
A drain !?

That explains why I never got water in the car when I left the sunroof on tilt while I left it out at work. That changes things... does that mean I can get tempered glass in it's place, get a new rubber seal from Clark Rubber or somewhere, and not have to worry about it being perfectly waterproof ?

No the reason for water getting in is the rust on the sunroof has cracked the surface of the thing, thus when it rains, you can feel the fabric on the backside of the sunroof is damn... not only damp, but when it soaks up enough water it starts forming droplets towards where gravity intended it to go, and since the curb I park on is a slope, it'll always fall to the passenger's side, and after having another look at it today, the droplets have made a leap from the fabric on the back of the sunroof onto the fabric on the interior ceiling, then proceeded to trickle down the front passengers side window.

I could seal the crack and fill it with silicon or something but, it's starting to look ugly so I want to replace at least the panel. The guy at the Mazda Dealer said that the '91 Astina's sunroof has had this problem from the very beginning, prematurely rusting, and most people just put a metal panel in it's place so there's no longer a functional sunroof but an ugly 'fake sunroof' which is as useful as a fake scoop on a Ford Laser.
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Old 19-04-2013, 04:59 AM   #4
Alemenara
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Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Car: 94 V6 BA Hatch
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Im not sure what your financial situation is like but if you plan to completely strip down and repair this car from scratch (12+ months off the road) then it sounds like it might be a fun project and a good time to learn some new skills.

However if you're looking to create a cheap daily and start with a good base on which to start mods, i'd not spend ANY more money on the car you have now, save it and buy another BG, get a manual one, preferrably the same year or older so you can simply remove your engine & gearbox in one piece and put it in the new car. I'd look to buy one for about $700-$1000 and just make sure the electricals and body are in good condition, you can re-use your motor if its been looked after.

Once you have secured another car, i'd start replacing any RWC items and the weekend before your rego runs out on your current car i'd get in and swap out the motor and take it in for a roadworthy on the monday. You'd be in and out super quick.

To knock out the dings you have described and fix the sunroof it would probably cost you more than the car is worth, that combined with the doors that don't open ETC. it would be more efficient financially to use the car you have now as a parts car and make one exceptionally good car and use it as a base to start modding, you will pick up alot of skills and you will have the satisfaction that you did it yourself, plus spares are always good to have.
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Old 19-04-2013, 06:25 AM   #5
BG1.8sp
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Sydney
Car: 2009 BL MPS
Posts: 2,300
Drains for the sunroof channel are 2 small holes in the front corners. They run down your A pillars (on the inside of the car) and come out from
The guards.

If you remove the inner guard lining... You will see the drain pipe (roughly 1 or 2 inches above where the indicator is.

Unblock these lines using pressurised air,
Then run some water through an make sure they are clear.

I still have a sunroof panel from my old Bg.
It was rusted Etc, it has had all the rust cut out and has been fiber glassed up, and sitting in primer.
I will have to pull it out and check current condition.

It's a freebie if you want it lol
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Old 25-04-2013, 03:15 AM   #6
Hiro
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Sydney
Car: '91 Red BG Astina SP
Posts: 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by BG1.8sp View Post
I still have a sunroof panel from my old Bg.
It was rusted Etc, it has had all the rust cut out and has been fiber glassed up, and sitting in primer.
I will have to pull it out and check current condition.

It's a freebie if you want it lol
A Freebie you say !?
Oh how I've been looking for one, for months on end and to no avail, prepared for fork out at least $500...

I'd gladly take it off your hands... but I'll have to give you at least something for it to show my appreciation !!

- - - - -

I found the drain and it's good now, though there was a considerable amount of sunroof crust sitting where it shouldn't have, but that wasn't the cause of the water leak... it was the sunroof itself that's gotten so rusted there's cracks forming, so while an average rainy day won't do it no harm, that tropical hailstorm-like rain we had coming into Spring was like pouring buckets of water over a crack that conventional raindrops might never have gone in through.

Yeah, this'll be a bit of a long term project, but now there's an idea... buy another one in better condition and re-shell it... I'm seriously considering that now. Only problem of mine with having a long term project that's gonna be off the road for 12 months is; I don't have a workshop / garage / carport / driveway in which I can slowly take my time on, and I don't think my mechanic would be so kind as to have my car taking up space in his little workshop for that long.


Now there's an assload of mods I want to do had I the money, time and know-how, including the borderline unrealistic... for example;
Like a smartkey proximity sensor automatic drivers side unlock, password protected ignition, power button, neons that fade on/off when remote-locked/unlocked, drivers door & boot opens via remote; MightyCarMods inspired iPad embedded into the Dashboard; White Leather Interior, Seats taken out of a Lexus or something; Matte Black or Fibreglass wrapping around the whole car instead of spraying over the shiny red paint; pop-up angel-eyes headlights with Xenon Projector Globe Highbeam and yellow Foglights underneath; tail-lights from a GTR Skyline or Mazda 6 through fogged / smoked tail-light covers that look black until the brakes go on and light passes through it; A small inconspicuous Scoop and a curvy Spoiler on top of the pseudo stock spoiler... And an 'Argumented-Reality' Heads-Up-Display Projector on the windshield for directions to places and how hard and tight the next corner down Galston Gorge is so I know how fast to attack the corner... to name a few of the extremes I've been dreaming of.

Such is my fondness for the BG Astina... I could probably get all that and more in a modern new car, but I'm in love with the shape of the car... it's beyond all logic, but that car... it's perfection.

Last edited by Hiro; 25-04-2013 at 03:57 AM.
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