Neil Adams Astra

[Astraoid]

After reading Oddball's build diary, I thought I'd have a go at doing something similiar. Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of photos going back to the old days.

I bought the Astra in 1995 ( :eek: 10 years ago) from the first owner. It was a completely standard 2.0L 8v GTE in midnight blue. Due to a ridiculous act of stupidity, I was still serving a ban for drink-driving when I handed over my cash for the car, so it was sat on my driveway for a good 2 months or so before I was able to drive it. At the stroke of midnight on the last day of my ban, I took the car out for my first drive and I was so pleased with it.

In 1998, I was driving my flatmates girlfriend home in the wet and took a hairpin corner a little too quickly, the back-end stepped out on me and I instinctively corrected it. The car drifted neatly around the corner and I was so chuffed with myself... So chuffed that later that evening I was approaching the same corner so said to my mate - 'watch this.' he watched in total amazement as I piled into the corner, let the back-end step out again and then proceed to plough into a brick wall. This was the fateful moment that lead me into the world of modifying.

I got on the phone to PSG, who had been responsible for a number of feature cars in the modified car magazines. They proved a total nightmare to deal with and I'd never recommend them to anyone, but eventually the stuff arrived. I ordered a Zender Wide Arch body kit, A twin headlamp conversion, A Mantzel Whale Tail, a pair of BMW M3 mirrors, and a blue Max Power sticker for the windscreen :rolleyes: .

Once on the car I asked the bodyshop for their book of colours, and I picked out a beautiful shade of yellow. The bodyshop told me to stop being so stupid and pick out another colour, and handed me their book of blues and purples. Despite my preference for yellow, I settled for some kind of honda purple. And this is how it looked after I picked it up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/056.jpg

Still running around on standard GTE alloys and the original 8v engine, I was a sitting target for the newer cars coming off the production lines. The decision was made one evening on the way home from work to go turbo. I got rodgered by a Golf VR6 on a dual carriageway so called up a local engine tuner to see what they could do. I had read about what other Vauxhall tuners had done with Calibra Turbo conversions, so asked if they could do a similiar job for me. They happily took my £2,500 and chucked in a C20LET... pretty much litereally - their work was shockingly poor. I won't go into it all here but needless to say that particular tuning company is no more.
Here's the original LET in the car anyway:

http://www.btinternet.com/~neiladamz/engines.jpg

At about the same time, I made a few changes to the bodywork. I got rid of the twin headlamps, had the bonnet bad-boyed and installed an F50 bonnet vent. I had the car resprayed in a pearlescent blue and added a set of Antera 121 17in alloys.

http://www.btinternet.com/~neiladamz/leftfrontbs.jpg

After a few years of running around in this car, it was starting to fall to pieces. I'm not a mechanical kind of chap, and 'conversions' like this need someone who knows what they're doing to be keeping an eye on things. One evening I was out an about drivng the thing and I began to notice this green 1.6L Mk2 Astra following me. I was showing off a bit and driving it quite quickly until the guy in the green Astra signalled me to pull over. We got out of our cars and he introduced himself as Mike Hayward (someone who knows what they're doing). We had a chat and he told me to have a look at Migweb next time i was online. This would be the point where I started to take my car a bit seriously.

I got to know Mike and RDS from mig quite well and it wasn't long before we started to make some plans for my car. In June 2002 we ordered the first phase 4 'kit' to be sold in the UK.

[Astraoid]

At an old barn out in the sticks, we ripped the tired engine out of the Astra.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/59ce88b7.jpg

The rest of the car was stripped out, while the engine was broken down. The block was sent off to Germany for EDS to modify the head was sent to V-Tuning for a port and polish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/4443c0d8.jpg

The engine was totally rebuilt by a local firm. (Sorry the pic is a bit blurry)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/214f6d9b.jpg

Whilst the engine was out of the car, I had it seam welded and then made some more alterations to the bodywork. The doors were de-locked and de-handled and the seams were smoothed out:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/9bb9ec41.jpg

The tailgate recess was welded over and smoothed:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/e8ef00a7.jpg

And finally the whole car was resprayed in a blue/purple/gold flip.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/a186f876.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/a6ad4ded.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/ad655a01.jpg

[Astraoid]

With the car all sprayed up and the engine back together, Mike Hayward and RDS, reintroduced it to the Astra. Chucking out the old F20 box in favour of a new F28 box complete with Quaife LSD courtessy of V-Tuning.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/4f07b958.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/107a9b16.jpg

A bigger FMIC was added as well as some better looking blue silicone hosing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/6634a4f4.jpg

Finally the Phase 4 ECU was wired up to the Apexi AVC-R Boost Controller

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/bae871d6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/055.jpg

It would have been a bit silly to go running around with all this Bhp without a means of reeling it back in properly, so Gav at Wallace Performance sent down a set of 335mm Discs and Hi-Spec 6 pot calipers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/051.jpg

[Astraoid]

Unfortunately, a short while after having the car back the bonnet pin failed on the dual carriageway and I was left with a windscreen full of F50 bonnet.
The replacement bonnet was a big disappointment to me - the F50 extreme:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/f0b2e69d.jpg

And this is how it stayed for a year or so:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/024.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/029.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/048.jpg

Then Max Power saw the car at PVS2004 and asked to do a feature - I was happy as they were able to get me a set of Toora 18in alloys and some brand new PXR 888 road legal slicks for free!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/maxpow04.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/116.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/maxpow02.jpg

[Astraoid]

A small fight with a Porsche boxter left me with a crumpled bonnet, which meant that I was forced to change it again - back to standard (well except for the badboy) :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/a5e6eac8.jpg

A couple of months ago I decided to ditch the Phase 4 in favour of some programmable management. An Autronic ECU came up for sale at a good price so I snapped it up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/bd483119.jpg

It needed a new loom so whilst I was waiting for that to arrive I started to think that it would probably be a good idea to get the most out of the ECU and go for a big turbo too:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/327173d3.jpg

The manifold is a pretty tasty looking affair:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/0a142ca6.jpg

After unpacking all the goodies, we (Mike Hayward and I) plonked them loosely on the car to see whether or not it would all fit in. As you'll see from these next 2 shots, the turbo does fit in but unfortunately it fouls the front engine mount:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/2a9f4121.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/6e9e788f.jpg

We weighed up a few options to relocate the engine mount and settled on mounting it to the front crossmember using the power steering bracket bolt locations. First of all we made up a template using cardboard and polystyrene:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c58ff641.jpg

And then made it up in steel:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/709b36a0.jpg

[Astraoid]

After years of crashing into things and other modifications, my crossmember was in a bit of a sorry state. If it was going to support the engine it would need to be much stronger.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/66234e2b.jpg

Mike was let loose on the front end with an angle grinder :eek:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/7169ce3f.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c64b8573.jpg

Until the crossmember was freed. At this point we discovered there was some stuctural damage to the nsf chasis rail due to previous accidents.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/e7c56bf2.jpg

Mike made up a box section to use as the replacement crossmember. and set about welding it on - this time slightly more forward than before to allow better chearance for the turbo outlet. Additional strengthening was also carried out to ensure the engine mount would be suitably supported.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/7e04201d.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/243343bd.jpg

This shot shows the crossmember in place. As you can see it's a great deal more substantial than the previous item. The additional repairs required can be seen on the right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/63d56399.jpg

[Astraoid]

We put the newly fabricated mount in place to double check that we had our calculatiuons correct and then put a dab of hammerite over the new welds.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/1a6e80d7.jpg

We slotted the new engine mount into place and dropped the engine back off the jack. All seems well, athough we have a larger scooby mount in the wings if this one isn't up to the job.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/97714d1a.jpg

Now with the new mount in place, it was time to get rid of the original mount position - that prevents us from connecting the turbo inlet to the air filter pipe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/db29041d.jpg

Here it isn't - all gone and painted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/ad187408.jpg

I'm allowed to do something useful from time to time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/a5c38a86.jpg

Mike cleans up the iron filings from the cambelt as the hammerite dries

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/f3522f85.jpg

[Astraoid]

Now we can put the manifold and turbo back on. Connect the new oil feed and return pipes on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c82cacb0.jpg

The air filter pipe now fits snugly onto the turbo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/f458cd53.jpg

We connect up the K&N RS500 Air filter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/3f9cf970.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/2603383c.jpg

The FMIC needed a bit of modifying to fit in front of the crossmember, including some changes to the existig stainless pipework.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/fb38e8fc.jpg

As the day was coming to an end we were pretty much finished.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/fb8d2664.jpg

Here is the 3in downpipe, with separate wastegate pipe in place.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/1ead539f.jpg

And 8 hours after we started - heres the (almost) finished article.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/e7665b08.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/2e792e42.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c267a0d9.jpg

Left to do is obviously a custom radiator, mocal oil cooler, and to wire in the autronic loom. Then it's over to MADevelopments for the mapping.

Big thanks to Mike for doing all the hard work whilst i wandered backwards and forwards to and from the toolbox carrying spanners. I'll update as the progress continues.

[Sipo]

An interesting read mate, I really do love your car! Fair play, so much work has gone into it and I think it is stunning! How often do you acctually use the car?

[Sipo]

blimey, that last couple of posts have came up now as well, constructing your own mounts etc as well and that manifold does look damn sexy!

[Brett]

wahay bout time Neil!

I've known Mike and Neil a few years now and I think it can only be said that Neils astra is easily one of the most mental I know off. In Mike hes got a fantastic bloke doing the work - nouthing is to much trouble for him.

good to see all that gear of RDS cally not going to waste!

[Daza]

Great diary! Great car!
I prefer it with the standard bonnet back on.
What make is the new turbo you've stuck on, and manifold.
What sort of power are you expecting when it's all finished and mapped? Got to be around 400.

[Astraoid]

I don't need to use the car so much anymore, but when it's all done I don't think I'll be able to leave it sat in the garage much. It has a leaky sunroof and I don't like driving it much in the wet, so I'll probably save it for dry days.

I'm expecting around 450 from this setup, but we'll know for sre in about 3 or 4 weeks time. The Turbo is a Precision Turbos unit: Click (http://precisionturbo.net/turbochargers-display.php?company_id=101795&category_id=3024) and the manifold is a DNP item Click (http://www.dnperformance.com/eclipse.html)

[Tom]

Awesome !! cant really say much more lol :D

Have to agree with Daza about the bonnet tho.

What are you doing with the oil cooler ? I need to move mine so I can move the rad further forward.

[Gteman]

Great read neil you must have spent a pretty penny on mods over the years. Love the paint job. That a nice bit of welding by mike on the crossmember and mount, should help out the next time you bump it. :D
What arches are on it don't think you've mentioned them.

Graham

[Dan Gliballs]

Fabulous work, loads of detail!! :)

Can't wait to see the RR results!!!

[Tony K]

Oh, I think I've messed myself...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/a186f876.jpg

[Daza]

450BHP!! Very nice indeed. Can't wait to see it.. ;)

[tomstickland]

Very entertaining read, the engine mount part, I love that sort of stuff. Anything involving and angle grinder is good.

[DarrenH]

the car is a legend plain and simple. didnt realise youd owned it so long, makes the rest of us seem like beginners lol ! top marks for thinking up new and crazy ideas to better the car, and its great it still keeps you interested and keen after so many years of mk2 ownership :)

chopping in a 4x4 floor pan next i hear !

[Astraoid]

Cheers guys.

Yep, i bought a Cally turbo last week, and we plan to start on the 4x4 conversion in November (Just got to find a big enough garage to do it in).

I'm not expecting it to be a perfect runner right away, but hopefully by March / April time it'll be good enough to chuck around Coombe or something.

[Astraoid]

A quick update on todays progress:

We started the day by unwrapping the parcel containing the new 13 row oil cooler I had ordered.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/b68c7b74.jpg

Unfortunately the thread was slightly damaged on each of the connectors, so it'll have to go back. Even so we went along to our local branch of pipe makers to get some oil pipes made up to our spec.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/1c82529d.jpg

With all the wiring connectors on order, we weren't able to do as much as we had hoped, but we made some headway into getting the Autronic loom ready for installation

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/5c7ec6de.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/e9857e72.jpg

Seeing as we had to wait for the connectors to arrive before we could make any more progress with the Autronic side of things, Mike decided to remove the Bosch 909 fuel pump and replace with this higher flowing Pierburg Hi-Flow pump.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/f2a171dc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c35f784f.jpg

Lastly we put the Bosch 600cc injectors into the fuel rail and connected back up to the car

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/05305383.jpg

We also removed the Scorpion Monza Group A Exhaust (Buy me on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4578318451&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1) ), and removed the plenum to have a temperature sensor connected.

[astrayorkie]

cars looking good i like it
what size a/r ect is the turbo what turbo is it?

[richie00boy]

Another great diary, another awesome Mk2. It's really good to read stuff like this with details and technical stuff.

[Astraoid]

Today we completed the Autronic wiring. Mike did a great job, ensuring the right connectors, plugs, insulators, terminals and all the gubbins were used. He made sense of the ridiculous amount of electrical c'rap that littered the engine bay - a legacy from the cowboys who wired in the original LET conversion many many years ago (There were actually 2 looms in the car a LET loom and the original 8v GTE loom). Anyway it looks a lot lot neater now

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/913d6765.jpg

As Mike was making sense of all that mess, I opted for the much simpler challenge of making up some brackets for the Mocal 13 Row oil cooler, mounting it and plumbing it in. A little more of the front bumper needs to be cut in order to go back on, but as the new turbo is oil cooled only, it'll have to be done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/d5b0e20f.jpg

The car is provisionally booked in at MAD for it's mapping at the end of the month, so just a few final things left to sort and we're away!

[Astraoid]

Success! Just got the laptop connected to the ECU.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/049-AutronicConnected.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/050-AutronicConnected.jpg

[Dan Gliballs]

Incredible work!!! :), but far too mind bendingly technical for me to understand LOL!!

If ever I see a laptop linked up to a car I just glaze over and go blank :(

[Jags C20LET]

WOW.......2 words, one's "Hell" and the other starts with an "F" and ends in " 'king "

[tomstickland]

Unfortunately the thread was slightly damaged on each of the connectors, so it'll have to go back.Small file would have sorted that.

Looks good. You doing a full 4wd conversion then?

[Astraoid]

Small file would have sorted that.

Looks good. You doing a full 4wd conversion then?

It was more a point of principle sending the cooler back tbh. The supplier sent the thing down with absolutely no protection at all and I just thought why should I have to sort it out. I had to wait an extra week for the hoses so sending it back didn't hold things up anymore.

We're going to get the car running and mapped first and then enjoy it for a month or so, then it'll come off the road again in December for the 4x4 conversion. We're not too sure how we'll go about it yet, but after reading Animal's Manta thread the other day, it's clear that what we're trying to do is pretty straight forward on the grand scale of things lol.

We had a slight problem yesterday though. The ignition coil was wired up incorrectly and we managed to burn it out. Luckilly I've got an MSD coil on the way, so I guess it was fortunate it was the old one that we burnt.

[Jags C20LET]

Just out of curiosity, how much cash does this beasty owe you? I'd put a figure of about 13k on mine over 10 years.

[Astraoid]

Just out of curiosity, how much cash does this beasty owe you? I'd put a figure of about 13k on mine over 10 years.

I'm embarasserd to say this car has taken well over £30k from me now. I think the last time I added it all up it came to £35k (ish)

[Jags C20LET]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right, next time the wife moans about the cash thrown at mine, I'm gonna quote you on that.

[Astraoid]

After trying out a few different rads vauxhall had to offer, and finding none would fit and provide a decent enough surface area we decided that a custom jobbie would be the way to go. I carved up a cardboard box, and some chucks of polystyrene and made up a template.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/f9cdca4e.jpg

I took the template to a local rad supplier and asked if they could make one up for us (wasn't quite brave enough to do an 'Animal' style home made attempt like on his Manta). It came back exactly as specified.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/66bb7fa7.jpg

Mike slotted the rad into place and, as planned, it fitted perfectly.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/5f3e494c.jpg

[Harvey]

Cracking project and I love it when people try something new, gives us all something to think about for future mods. I would get some clear laquer on your intercooler as it's looking like the weather is getting to it.

[DarrenH]

dont suppose you have an finer details on your oil cooler install ? like which sandwhich plate you use, whether it has thermostat, thread sizes on the sandwhich plate and cooler.??

[Astraoid]

dont suppose you have an finer details on your oil cooler install ? like which sandwhich plate you use, whether it has thermostat, thread sizes on the sandwhich plate and cooler.??

We retained the standard sandwhich plate and had 2 hoses made to fit the plate and cooler. I'll try to get some better shots.

[GazJevs84]

absolutely amazing what a car you must be very proud of it all that money and hard work but it is well worth it it just gives every mk2 owner confidence in achieving a car of this quality

[DarrenH]

thanks for the info neil

[richie00boy]

How much did the oil hoses cost? I'm looking at getting some new ones.

[Astraoid]

The hoses cost £40 from Pirtec in Plymouth

I did take some pics but they came out a bit cack - sorry, but for what they're worth here they are:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/8a8fea41.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/4927f80f.jpg

Not really relevant or anything but I just thought I'd add this pic of Mike starting to get a bit brutal with the underside of my 4x4 donar.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/63948963.jpg

[richie00boy]

Cheers, £40 doesn't sound too bad.

I think Mike is a bit suicidal looking at that jack and not much else supporting the car that high and angled :shock:

[Sipo]

As above, I'd say your mate is a bit of a nutter! I hate to say it but that calibra looks a tidy example! You taking the LET in as a spare or selling it on? As I said on a previous page, loving this thing mate! What a fecking monster it will be with the 4x4 floor plan!!

[Astraoid]

lol - I said to Mike at the time that he was being a nutter under the car - I can't tell you how windy it was too!

Mike and I bought the Cally for £300 without the engine and box, and sold the leather for £320, so to date, the 4x4 conversion has actually made me money lol. TBH the car looks better in the pics than it is in the metal, there's a few scrapes here and there, but it's free from rot in the places that matter.

[Brett]

LOL Typical mike, how is he having time to work on his car, and yours?

and no doubt Sorrell's Corsa is now sporting a LET and puching out 250bhp too......

[Astraoid]

Got the exhaust made up this weekend. It's 3inches all the way through from the manifold to the exit pipe. We made sure that they didn't put one single crushed bend anywhere, and had it made as straight as possible.

After having twin rectangular exit pipes for so long I fancied a change and went for a single big slashed cut tailpipe. It's probably not to many people's taste but personally I think it suits the car.

As the car is still unmapped I didn't want to cane it home, so kept the revs under 2k which didn't really give me a good impression of what it sounds like, but it seems to have a scooby-like burble to it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/b6cf23aa.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/0c527930.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/84ebc5de.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/7438cc2f.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/dc469a15.jpg

[Daza]

Very tasty! I like it.

[Orange Peel]

Very nice indeed :)

[DarrenH]

beauty of an exhaust mofo, how much did it set you back? i had a 2.5 inch stainless system hand made about a month ago, only difference is i had a centre box, that was 400 quid.

[Jags C20LET]

Oh Yeah, Baby.......I'm still stunned by this monster you've created...top work fella.

[Astraoid]

:D Thanks guys. I stood there with the fitters for about 7 hours as they made it, just to make sure they didn't do anything they shouldn't. Even then they did manage to ditch a piece of my downpipe that had the wideband plug in it - which I later made them put back in to their annoyance lol.

They charged me £450 which I moaned a bit about and they dropped it down to £400, but I did supply some of the pipework and the flexi. I must admit I was very happy with their work and they were a nice bunch of guys too.

[Brett]

very nice neil, obviously not worried about noise? even for castle coombe?

[GazJevs84]

very nice mate i am with you there think it suits the car tbh

[Tom]

Awesome stuff, looks really well made and thought out :)

Tailpipe choice does suit your car too :cool:

How loud is it tho? Because I dont have a middle box just a rear one similar to yours but in 2.5" and thats loud lol

Notice your not running equal length shafts ? made a big difference on mine.

[Astraoid]

With only a couple of days before mapping, we wanted to get all the little bits and pieces finished. I set about removing all the sound deadening gunk and hammeriting the floor, so that Mike could wire in the MSD ignition.

It was too bulky to mount in the engine bay so I stuck it under the passengers seat. I didn't realise at this point that it's actually quite a noisey little unit when operating - not that I can hear much in this tin bath anyway lmao

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/cffab63d.jpg

After the little fire I had the last time I upgraded the Astra, I didn't want to rely on a half empty bottle of volvic to bail me out again, so I pinched a decent little extinguisher from the local primary school to mount behind the drivers seat. (nb passenger gets 10,000 volts and I get a fire extinguisher)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/ffd924ef.jpg

We got RDS's old top hat adjusted so that it's pointing the right way, but unfortunately we haven't had a chance to get the pipework sorted from the intercooler so it wont be on the car in time for the map on Saturday - shame really cos you can see there's quite an improvement in the size of the opening.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/2bf9bff1.jpg

So that's it really - nothing left to do before Saturday except to give it a quick clean and swap a couple of tyres around. Here's the engine bay all done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/4f22c600.jpg

P.S: I also did a quick oil change and was recommended Silkolene Race Oil by a local tuner / rally driver. Anyone else used this stuff before - it looks like blackcurrent juice :confused:

[Anthony]

Absolutely loving the progress you've made with this car Neil :cool:
Good luck with the mapping, should see a nice healthy number!


P.S: I also did a quick oil change and was recommended Silkolene Race Oil by a local tuner / rally driver. Anyone else used this stuff before - it looks like blackcurrent juice :confused:

Haven't used it yet, but have a couple of tubs in the garage. Oilman has recommended it to me and he seems to know his oils also :)

P.S. Anymore gen on the manifold? Like ease of fitting in the mk2 bay, price, where you got it etc?

Cheers

[Daza]

Looking very impressive neil! Good luck with saturday.
I use silkolene pro 15 50 in the turbo, also reccomended to me by oilman.

[DarrenH]

love it, look forward to the next update after mapping :cool:

what flavour is the extinsuisher ? powder ?

[astrayorkie]

nice tophat looks alot better,

my local powerflow wont do 3inch pipework for me :( said they can go 2.75 at most

were did you get it done?

[Astraoid]

love it, look forward to the next update after mapping :cool:

what flavour is the extinsuisher ? powder ?

Yep it's a powder one - the guy who supplies our company with extinguishers gave me a sly one from his secret stash lol




nice tophat looks alot better,

my local powerflow wont do 3inch pipework for me :( said they can go 2.75 at most

were did you get it done?

Longlife did mine - I've never had a problem with powerflow before but as you say they only do up to 2.75.

[Astraoid]

Mapping Update:

Got up this morning at 5am to get myself to MADevelopments by 10am. Took it nice and easy on the way up - just cruised at between 60 and 70 mph so it seemed like a looooong drive.

Met up with Mark Shead and got started on the mapping by around 10:30ish. The 'track' was very quiet so it was easy for us to do several run ups without anyone getting in the way. Each time the car was getting faster and faster. After about 10 - 15 minutes he had the car seriously shifting and by the end of the first 30 minutes it was fully mapped to 1 Bar. This was probably down to the original map being T.F.S.'s so I guess it was just a case of making relatively small adjustments.

Mark was then keen to get moving onto the serious boost levels. He's a bit of a nutter to say the least - he told me to put my foot to the floor and run it up until he says stop. I planted my foot and off we flew. It wheelspan through 3rd from about 3500Rpm but all was fine in fourth. The car was absolutely phenominal. I struggled to keep my foot down which was annoying Mark. He told me that 95% Throttle just wasn't enough to map it properly, and to keep my f'uckin foot down! We did it again and the car was boosting to over 2 Bar. He told me that the Bosch 600cc injectors were at 100% duty, so we were totally maxed out on fuel unless we upped the fuel pressure from 3Bar to 3.5Bar.

Unfortunately, the regulator in the alternator had suddenly decided to expire, giving us 19v to play with, so it was game over. I've had problems with alternators in the past so knew what was wrong and that it would mean end of play for the day. :(

I asked Mark where we stood at that point, and he said that his a'rse dyno was reading between 450 and 500Bhp before we pulled over :eek: In shock I asked what our potential was, and he said that once the alternator has been sorted, the top hat replaced, and boost pipes sorted he'll be taking it to 500Brake. :eek: :eek:

Despite spending the last 6 hours on an AA Lorry, I must admit I'm feeling pretty damn happy with myself, and am seriously looking forward to my return trip.

[Sipo]

Holy shit mate! A lad I kow is putting a LET in his Nova convetable. When he approached a couple of tuning companies at Trax he asked what he needed to do to get the LET to 500 brake and they told him it wasnt possible! Im glad to see you are getting some serious power mate, your car is awesome :D

[Astraoid]

Si, it's definately possible. Mark Shead is some kind of spooky genius, and if the right oily bits are on the car he'd happily map it to over 500. He's upping my fuel pressure to 3.5 Bar to try to eek out more fuel. I asked him what would be needed to do to get 600 and he showed the first signs of negativity. He thinks 500 ish is the engines limit without making some serious changes.

[DarrenH]

i imagine the bottle kneck for future power is the cylinder head and valve area.

[GazJevs84]

500bhp in a mk2 that is sick

[Anthony]

wow :eek: 500+ will be an awesome achievement, congrats :D

I'm chuffed it all went well on the day for you ;) (apart from the alternator) Haven't alot of others, rds, tfs etc failed when it came to to the mapping stage/hurdle?
Looking good for you so far :D

[Astraoid]

Finally got RDS's top hat on the car (amended to face in the right direction). And a slightly beefier Greddy Blow-off-valve.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/fc323fbb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/193caedd.jpg


The Idle Control Valve is a T.F.S. design (Sorry about the patent theft mate), made out of a B & Q washing machine tap, some plumbing pipe and a bit of samco hose. It works a treat and allows you to adjust the idle revs to whatever you prefer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/9583fd8f.jpg


The car is booked in with Mark for the mapping to be completed next Thursday, so fingers crossed it should be banging out 450ish horses by this time next week.

[Sipo]

Loving the home made goodies, great job there. Let us know how you get on with the mapping on your next session :)

[Jags C20LET]

:eek: OMFG!!! Other than that, I'l speechless!.

[mking]

This is the car that inspired me to get a mk2 in the first place, awesome motor!

[Gander]

Top stuff Neil, got any more info on that ICV? I'm lovin it :D

[Astraoid]

Top stuff Neil, got any more info on that ICV? I'm lovin it :D

Here's the link to T.F.S.'s original thread - mine is basically the same just looks a bit prettier really.

MIG Link (http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=215538&highlight=tfs+icv)

[Astraoid]

Well we got to MAD at about 10:30 and it was cold and wet. Mark told us to p'iss off and get some breakfast and hopefully the rain would pass. Unfortunately the rain never totally disappeared, but it calmed down to the odd slight shower which was good enough for us to go out and play.

Mark got himself hooked up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/e671a0a4.jpg

We agreed to reduce the boost levels from the previous 2.2Bar down to a more sensible level and upped the fuel pressure to 3.5Bar. The final mapping only took about an hour before it was finished. The hour was another scarey as hell affair, going through the 'corner' in the wet at over 130mph with my road-legal-slicks (Although Mark felt the tyres were probably well suited for the conditions as there wasn't any standing water). This time I managed to keep my foot down until I was told to back off. The result? All I can say is that I am really really impressed. Mark's estimate is around the 450 mark which is where we wanted to be, but we're going to try to get it dyno'd this weekend to see what the exact figures are.

The first 3 gears are a bit useless and 4th scrabbles for grip for a brief moment (but it was damp so I'm not too worried about that) and then it just f'ucks off. We also sorted the Launch control which now works a treat although I am all fingers and thumbs trying to operate it at the moment.

The drive home was very frustrating because it was just too busy and too wet to have a play, so as soon as I get a dry day I'll take it out and get some footage. Cheers to Mike for taking a day off work to come up for the day just in case something bad happened - fortunately this time, no disasters!

[Orange Peel]

Top stuff Neil, very impressive :)

[Sipo]

Top stuff! I wanted to see 500 brake though!!! lol only kidding, some spot on results. How are you looking for the 4x4 conversion Neil?

[Astraoid]

Top stuff! I wanted to see 500 brake though!!! lol only kidding, some spot on results. How are you looking for the 4x4 conversion Neil?

Just looking for a garage to do it in really - down in this neck of the woods, most get taken up by yachties storing their boats over the winter and they're all willing to pay top dollar for the privelige too so decen sized garages are a bit thin on the ground.

[Belmont turbo]

450 bhp fair play mate cant wait to see it go at pod or somein. are we looking at the new fastest road legal astra then :cool: you can come and practise the 4x4 thing on mine if you want :D ;) :rolleyes:

[Dan Gliballs]

The first 3 gears are a bit useless and 4th scrabbles for grip for a brief moment

But the same happens for me with just Phase 2 (propbably 275bhp-ish), so how on earth will you drive that thing in the lower gears?? :eek: (I have a Quaife LSD and Toyos BTW).

[Astraoid]

450 bhp fair play mate cant wait to see it go at pod or somein. are we looking at the new fastest road legal astra then :cool: you can come and practise the 4x4 thing on mine if you want :D ;) :rolleyes:

Fastest can mean so much tbh. I'm not trying to build a drag car, I want an all round well balanced car. That's why I want the 4x4 really, not to make it faster, but to make the power I have more manageable.


But the same happens for me with just Phase 2 (propbably 275bhp-ish), so how on earth will you drive that thing in the lower gears?? :eek: (I have a Quaife LSD and Toyos BTW).

275 is a lot of power, and can spin the wheels in 3rd. I never used to have a problem with 4th before but I guess everyone's car is different. In low gears you just have to remember not to accellerate to aggressively I suppose. I haven't had a chance to see what it's like yet, but whilst out mapping I was spinning the wheels in 3rd as easilly and as violently as I can in 1st, with a rolling start of around 60mph. It is silly and there's no way a FWD car can realistically make use of this sort of power.

[AstraPower]

mental car mate!

[GazJevs84]

excellent mate a massive achievement in my eyes inspiration for everyone else

[Black Magic]

get a rear stabiliser mate, keep that front end down! ;)

[Astraoid]

Getting a bit close to PVS now so I thought I'd better step things up a gear in order to get things finished. With Mike well and truely snowed under with other things and more often than not, recovering from a nasty hangover I decided to get my own hands dirty for a change. My first attempt at getting the head off didn't run as smoothly as I'd have hoped. A bolt snapped off in the bottom pulley and I managed to round another off. :rolleyes:
The cambelt cover took me about an hour to work free. 7 hours after starting the head was off. Mike turned up for the final 20 minutes to tell me how much he'd have done differently and to generally criticise my efforts. Even so, his help was very much appreciated as the light was dimming and so was my enthusiasm.

(Sorry for the blurry shots - camera must be sick of seeing my car)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c1269e86.jpg

I made up a channel shaped bracket.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/00d42832.jpg

This will sit nicely behind the numberplate.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c332347a.jpg

It'll do more than support the registration plate though! Until I can set enough time aside to take the car off the road to fit the big intercooler (Currently with another migger), I'm going to continue to use the EDS intercooler. So this CO2 spray kit will give a slight helping hand when it's needed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/785f1674.jpg

Fixed into place the jets spray CO2 onto the intercooler (You can see them protruding slightly underneath the number plate). Ideal for just before a run up the pod.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/8607b474.jpg

I made up another bracket and mounted the canister in the sneaky little compartment underneath the scuttle panel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/444a169f.jpg

The system will be operated by a dash mounted push-button. I just need to get the canister plumbed in - the kit was missing a couple of connectors so I'm just waiting for them to arrive.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/734973c3.jpg

Now that the head is off, I can get the new valves, double valve springs, and cams on then it's off for it's final mapping session.

[Harvey]

Just proves how mental things can get when you own a mk2 for so long, you power crazy person.

[Brett]

fair play Neil, getting your hands dirty mate, just like I do, take a spanner to it and see what happens! I remember when I first removed and XE head on my own, took me hours and loads of skinned knuckles. Got there in the end though!!

do you still need that washer bottle? i looked it out but never posted it I just remembered! I dont have a pump though.

[Astraoid]

Yes please Brett. I'll definately need it for the Aquamist anyhow, even without the pump. I may even add water-spray jets to compliment the CO2 jets. I'd settle up with you a PVS - but I see you're not coming!

Neil

[Brett]

PM me your address then matey and I will get it off to you asap!

[martin1]

AWESOME....

Where is the front splitter from?

[Astraoid]

AWESOME....

Where is the front splitter from?

It's part of the Zender kit - but there are many similar replica splitters out there too.

[Astraoid]

Just got home after my 3rd mapping session with MAD.

We (Mike and I) got the head back on the car on Monday evening complete with a set of steel valves, and double valve springs. The head needed a light skim which revealed some corrosion and so once repaired a further skim was needed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/123acc27.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/64ee0ca4.jpg

We swapped the LET inlet cam for an XE inlet cam. The and I ran the car like that for a couple of days. The plan was to get the vernier pulley on and retard by 7 degrees, as well as get the Aquamist water injection installed the night before mapping.

We got slightly sidetracked by Mike spotting a mint Golf GTI up for sale in the Autotrader for silly money so we went to take a look at that, which resulted in him buying the Golf and me buying a Laguna from the same geezer. Anyway that cost us a bit of time so it wasn't until 2am that Mike finished the timing. The water injection bottle kindly supplied by Brett in the nick of time was suitably positioned, however, we couldn't install the nozzle where we wanted to in time so the rest of the system will have to wait for another time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/79896dc0.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/05d27ba2.jpg

So with just 2 hours sleep I set off for the 3rd mapping session with Mark. He's mapped it to over 2.2 Bar of boost, however, the intake temps were getiing ridiculous with no Water Injection and most importantly, without the bigger intercooler. At one point the intake temp was 68degs. He's therefore given me a map for 'everyday' use until the intercooler and WI are on the car.

The changes are quite impressive. The car now has a much longer powerband and the power delivery seems to be smoother. He'd have me building the revs up to 5500rpm, holding it there in 3rd or 4th gear (Keeping the intake temps down) then boot it. This means I'm holding the car at roughly 110mph until he says go - and the car then pulls like crazy to beyond 130mph. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like with consistently high boost!

On the way home, besides a number of 'Japfest' stragglers, I had two unbelievable races. The first was with a Corvette . I was clearly faster than him (Kept surging up on him in spats up to around 120mph) but he just completely refused to move over.

The second was awesome. An Aston Martin DB9 (Reg ? DBL) loomed up into my rear view mirror, so as soon as the traffic cleared i nailed it. I pulled away from him up to around 120mph then i held it there as i entered a long sweeping right hander. I checked my mirror again and he's sat right on my bumper so I do the decent thing and move to the outside lane. He overtook me relatively easilly, but once we exited the corner there was nothing between the two of us. In fact on accelleration in the midrange i was all over him. Once he had had enough he pulled to the side and gave me the thumbs up.

[Sipo]

Posts like that will get you in trouble with the fuzz good sir!

The mods just dont seem to stop from you Neil. Loving the car, loving the power and loving the work. Keep it up!

[Brett]

glad the bottle reached you in time mate. You coming to billing with it this year?

Mike was on about a golf last time I spoke to him, he certainly changing just abut every aspect of his life at the moment!

[Astraoid]

I may well do billing this year - but not sure yet. I'm getting married this summer so I've got to make sure I don't commit to weekends which might clash with stag nights etc lol

Mike has indeed bought himself a golf. It's a nice clean motor but if I'm totally honest a bit boring imo.

BTW. don't suppose you've got a heater fan kicking arounf do you?

[Brett]

I have a spare but I dont know if the one that came in the yellow shell works or not so im hanging onto it. pm astrasteve23, Im sure he has a spare that works.

good luck for the wedding mate, still hiding astra expenditure from her?

[astrayorkie]

i have one you can have are you going pvs this year?

[Astraoid]

i have one you can have are you going pvs this year?

Cool - yep I'm at PV this year. Could you bring it mate?

[minty]

damn good effort!!! good to see another local car on the forum!!! keep up the good work and see you around!

[Astraoid]

Got the water injection sorted this week. Had a nozzle plumbed into a straight section of boost pipe just after the intercooler - Longlife did a nice job!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/082-WWINOsdsa.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/083-Aqdkdkdppp.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/084-Aquamhdhdhwww.jpg

The pump was mounted behind the battery under the wing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/085-Aquapmmdddd.jpg

I found some methanol to add to the mixture too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/086-MethanolforWaterInjection.jpg

Also managed to find a nice spot to mount the CO2 pulseoid.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/087-CO2Pulseoid.jpg

[Efrain A.]

Neil good job on the nozzle... :)

why dont u send the baterry to the boot?

[Astraoid]

Neil good job on the nozzle... :)

why dont u send the baterry to the boot?

I will - in fact we were cursing the damn thing while looking for places to mount the water injection pump.

[Brett]

good work neil, battery should be going into the boot of mine soon so kee an eye out if you wantt o see how we are going to do it.

Ive got a spare heater motor now mate if you want it, tested last night and working fine. Its in a 1400 im breaking tomorrow!

[Astraoid]

Putting the new FMIC alongside the current EDS intercooler it's clear the larger surface area and bar and plate design wont do my high inlet temps any harm!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/c5e28a14.jpg

The intercooler had been altered previously to for 2in inlet and outlet pipes. I've wanted to increase my own boost pipes from 2in to 2.5in for some time so now seemed like a good time. The inlet and outlet pipes on the intercooler were changed back to 2.5in and all the boost pipes were re-created exactly in 2.5in. I also got ERL to send me down a bigger jet for the water injection.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/653b2283.jpg

I forgot to buy bigger miklaw clips so we just mounted the cooler to the car and connected all the pipes to make sure everything fitted as it should.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/ca7def08.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/1213d740.jpg

The oil cooler has been relegated to behind the front bumper in the front of the wheel arch. The bodyshop will be making some changes to the front bumper to accomodate the bigger intercooler and so they'll sort out a cold air feed to the oil cooler at the same time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/17aac9eb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/875204d5.jpg

I've been after an oil catch tank since I spurted a litre or so out of the rocker the last time I was at coombe, so I finaly bought myself a Mocal jobbie. Finding enough space to mount it looks set to be a bit of a nightmare. Mike wants to move the battery into the cabin so there's an opportunity to site the tank in it's place. Does anyone know whether or not that would be too far away from the breather outlet or whether it makes any difference at all?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/435d0272.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/RDSmig/877ef5cd.jpg

[DarrenH]

nice kit, assuming youll make a cover for the cooler? it will get dessimated otherwise from debris off the wheel

[Anthony]

Coming along nicely:applause:
How much was the mocal catch tank if you don't mind me asking?:)

[Astraoid]

nice kit, assuming youll make a cover for the cooler? it will get dessimated otherwise from debris off the wheel

I plan to, but for some reason Mike is really dismissive of it - I'm more paranoid about this sort of thing so I'm going to make a plate up myself anyway.


Coming along nicely:applause:
How much was the mocal catch tank if you don't mind me asking?:)

£75 mate