alistair j (3.0 v6 conversion diary)

[alistair j]

well decisions made the three litre is the next engine. have got a lock up soughted and pulled the car of the road for the winter so have six months to sought this one out. will put all the pics up as i go along and try to build a guide as to wahts involved too.

still trying to work out of i go for motorsport or show inside the car. but i will sought the engine out and decide this in the later stages of winter.

main points with the car is the fact the rust is so bad in my astra it will need to be stripped to a bare shell to be fixed. the rack has already been welded after snapping off. Also i love the car but have absolutely thrashed it in the two years i have had it so should be quite a bit of damage underneath it.

oh and am just learning to weld so might be a difficult time ahead.
pics of the strip down will be up by tomorrow.

[Sipo]

Sounds like a good project matey! Will look forward to seeing it coming along, I think youive got quite a task ahead of you, good luck!!

[alistair j]

ha very true. some pics will be on of the gte and the omega am using tomorow. the rux=st and condition of the astras bulkhead is rather shocking and an indication of how dangerous a mk2 will deglect can be. looked immaculate on the outside but was like a rotten apple. inside its dead.ha

the cracks in it and damage to the front cross member are concerning to say the least,

[Ian T]

Sounds like it can all be fixed reasonably easily while the engine is out, you can get all the panels you will need to replace the front end if necessary.

Keep us posted.

Ian.

[Mark T]

There's a How To on my site for how I did mine, if you get stuck on anything.

[Tom]

ha very true. some pics will be on of the gte and the omega am using tomorow. the rux=st and condition of the astras bulkhead is rather shocking and an indication of how dangerous a mk2 will deglect can be. looked immaculate on the outside but was like a rotten apple. inside its dead.ha

the cracks in it and damage to the front cross member are concerning to say the least,
Was`nt fun finding that lot matey :eek: :(

[alistair j]

ha yeah after you left it got worse too.ha can be fixed tho which is all good.

yeah cheers mark i have been looking at the sight absolutely brilliant that is. thanks for the help so far too. very much needed.

no pics today tho was trying to sought my friends golf last night but defo have some on tomorrow.

[alistair j]

Well here are the pics of the cars rust. think its a case of know your enemy.ha and seems to be everywhere.

rust in the front end under the headlighti. this is rather bad and the picture doesnt do the rust justice to be honest.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9120/img01077bn.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01077bn.jpg)

The dangerous rust is located on the arm behind the rust under the head light. Most of the gearbox mount has corroded away and will come out by hand. Not good.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7503/img01081dx.th.jpg (http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01081dx.jpg)

Upon spotting that i was concerned, but turns out the astra had left the best till last on this weeks problems. I know when i bought the car it had had the steering welded up onto the bulkhead, but did know what type of job had been done. Well turns out it was a rubbish job, as can be seen from this picture, and to top it of the welds had not been treated, so have rusted.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/6073/img01158lp.th.jpg (http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01158lp.jpg)

This was a concern and at this point, tom gte and myself did know where to look. And to be honest was lossing interest. But when you see it from the back it is worse.

http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2480/img01178du.th.jpg (http://img390.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01178du.jpg)

The last picture shows rust with a hole enogh to get your little finger through at the bottom of the bulkhead. Another bit thats gonna be a pain.

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5743/img01140qo.th.jpg (http://img300.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01140qo.jpg)

This topped it of for the day. There is other little bits of rust couple of holes here and there. However these pictures show the worst of it. felt like crying, but can be fixed and with time and patients will be soughted.

[Mark T]

Ouch.

[alistair j]

ha i was thinking the same thing. been read mr stricklands sight today to get some tips as to bracing it up. think myself and tomgte are going to be welding all year, if it doesnt rust away first.

[dangte8v]

I still have my shell you can have mate, if it helps.

[alistair j]

oh right, its okay thankyou for the offer that is very kind indeed, ive already had this one painted and prep and all matches so its a case of i will be loosing big money to swope the shell. i might take you up on that offer as i still have the back end to strip and uncover more damage.ha

[BazW]

reading this is making me nervous, i've got mine to do soon :(

[alistair j]

be nervous. the pictures dont do justice to the damage. i knew it was there but didnt know that bad. it can all be fixed. baz check out tom stricks website he has the welding all pictured on there and thats what am gonna do it like something on them lines.

just got to grin and bare it. as soon as the carpets are pulled BACK YOU SEE THE HELL.HA

[BazW]

be nervous. the pictures dont do justice to the damage. i knew it was there but didnt know that bad. it can all be fixed. baz check out tom stricks website he has the welding all pictured on there and thats what am gonna do it like something on them lines.

just got to grin and bare it. as soon as the carpets are pulled BACK YOU SEE THE HELL.HA

that made me feel better lol :D i've spotted the inner wing near the gearbox mount is rusty, not looking forward to ripping out the sound deadening off the bulkhead and seeing what horrors are waiting for me

[Gteman]

Good on you for fixing her up.
I've found it best to concentrate on 1 area at a time. The big picture is to much and just makes you grey lol

Where's a link to Toms web site to see what you are all raving about please :)

[alistair j]

yeah i cant bare to break it into loads of bits, ive done that to too many cars now, got to give something back to the old motoring cars.


here is the link
http://www.tomstickland.co.uk/astra/mods2/suspension/Welding/day2.htm

just the seam welding and just the extent to which he has done all the seam welding.amazing.

your right just to concentrate on one bit at a time. to be honest good thing on astras is there easy to fix and sought out with plating. i was always going to have to strengthen it up for running the 3.0 litre just thought by ripping all bits of so i didnt leave any weak areas.

[alistair j]

on the positive side i have managed to plumb the mk3 heater matrix and heater ducts into the mk 2 bulk head and even modify the top half where the heater sits so that when i plumb in the mk 3 dash it will all work and so will all the heater ducts.

nice factory fit coming along i think. fingers cross. also electric sunroof is now fixed and wired up

the omega has started to get stripped down most of the bits that need to be moved have been. but got distracted last night had to wire up a push button start my mates golf. we ended up usinf the cigerette lighter as the push button, just like in my corsa. A quality mod.

[alistair j]

try ripping your carbon canister of baz thats what the hole is on mine. that caused it. looked fine before that :eek:

[alistair j]

well more work has been carried out on the shell more rust found. Found this under the nicely paint panela snd the battery tray.

Plan was to grind the tray of but realising how weak the metal was i have left part of the tray on until i weld in some plating and planals to cover this mess up. The gte vents are now a pet hate as my car has rust exactly where the water runs in from the vents so quite tempted with the new bonnet to leave a standard bonnet on there.

The rust under the battery tray is a bit worrying as its very weak underneath, the pic below shows the rust around the edges. Plan is to blank this side of anyway wit the battery relocated to the spare wheel well..
http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/2655/img01374cz.th.jpg (http://img478.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01374cz.jpg)

The second pic shows the rust on the strut sides, the hole in the bottom of the pic shows the air filter hole removed which i meant to do. the v6 will breath through this. The top of the pic shows where rust has eaten away under the strengthened struts. Can be plated but just more evidence of neglect.
http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/8296/img01367vc.th.jpg (http://img486.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01367vc.jpg)

All the welding equipment is back at mine now so a case of getting some wire and cracking on wit the repair work. Plan is full strengthening the bay, seem weld all the front end of he car, weld in the new v6 mount on the driver side, strengthen up the gear box mounts and double line the bulkhead and strengthen the drivers side power steering mount.

Got my mk3 dash too, and some mk3 gsi clocks with some nice white dails, ( thanks tomgte) swoped over the rev counter of set of 160 clocks so its accurate. Also have the gsi trip computer and the cruise control out of an omega so need to get this lot installed.

till next time...............

[alistair j]

Work on the astra has been slow as of late. i rent a lock up but can only really do work on a sunday, so tom gte and myself have been working like blue arse flies every sunday to prep my car for the engine. the welding has been completed in terms of all the seams. There are two more to do actually as i forgot to do them. These can be seen below

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2542/img01567yt.th.jpg (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01567yt.jpg)

The omega was the main prioirty this weekend wit the engine removal being essential. I found out last week that our house had been sold and therefore we are to move in a few weeks so it was the only weekend before christmas we had time.

Pic below shows the interior of the omega dead as ever now.ha The most shocking discovery was the phone system in the car, this had been upgraded from standard and you could plug a house hold phone into the car and get a tone.ha liked it till a hammer destroyed it :p

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3449/img01462my.th.jpg (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01462my.jpg)

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/5715/img01472ei.th.jpg (http://img460.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01472ei.jpg)


My advise is never by am omega never had such a pain in the arse car to get the box of, then it took the two of use to lift it into the boot :eek:. you need to remove the gearbox for the clutch and rear access to the engine its an evil lay out. Anyway on with removing the engine, this took four hours, now without the garage tools and a rap we did good, beer for tom gte tho for them help.

No pics of the removal was that cold we were shaking that much we couldnt keep the camera still :D

Once out we realise just how big the dam beast is. a very heavy engine but also a very cool looking piece of kit, pics shows the relation in size to the boot of the corsa.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/637/img01525hi.th.jpg (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01525hi.jpg)

Next two pics show the engine itself in the rear wheel drive format. front and rear views.

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3880/img01602he.th.jpg (http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01602he.jpg)

Just look at that jucy cambelt change a head, dear my haynes am gonna....

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/92/img01590cc.th.jpg (http://img460.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01590cc.jpg)

the need to convert to front wheel drive meant killing the bottom end of a cav 2.5, needed the front wheel drive sump and oil pickup pipe. the fella i bought it of said there was some oil in the block but not sure how much well after two drain pans full, more than was ever needed, it was time to get the sump of. a simple job mad worse by the fact the engine has sat on that sump for the last three months so would do not move of it for love no money. A lot of bad language and apin later it was off.ha

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/2043/img01637dt.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01637dt.jpg)

Sorry its on its side few beers at the time, 11.30 sunday morning :eek:

The astra at the minute dead as every and naked. Wont look like this for long tho, got my metal today for the plating and christmas coming means time fo work to fix the car. Good old santa.ha

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/8412/lockup1wj.th.jpg (http://img460.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lockup1wj.jpg)


Final shot pays homage to the little green gay machine that is my corsa sri, 1.4 16v lowered on billies and spax springs handles like a train but is only dropped 35 mill. now look at that with a 3.0 omega block in it, eat the coil overs effect :cool: Couldnt have done it without it. Also tom gte tom man for the help i will repay the favour at christmas matey

http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/4072/corsa3ap.th.jpg (http://img453.imageshack.us/my.php?image=corsa3ap.jpg)

[BazW]

3.0 rear engined corsa, nice ;)

[Tom]

Its coming along nicely now this project, it was good fun taking the engine out of the omega and finding sum trick electric bits that I can fit to my gte lol.

Was very cold though could still feel it even through my overalls,two fleeces and a hat :eek:

This engine is such a beastie I cant wait to have a drive when its all sorted :D

No worries for helpin out Ally, Im sure you`ll return the favour some how ;)

[Mark T]

You'll need the Starter from the Cav engine, and another Oxygen sensor if you intend to use the Omega ECU.

[alistair j]

ha cheers tom sure youll think of something to pay you back. yeah rear wheel drive corsa is a good idea unsure it would further into the corsa tho.ha

cheers mark your a legend, i got the starter of the cav block and i saved the two cats from the omega, so will use the two lambor sensors from them, got a plan of using the twin cats and standard gte system to keep the emisions down for the mot, how did yours manage on the emisions test?

then after the test will be constructing a one system with some 2.5 inch bore down pipes for some nice noises.

cut out some templates for some strengtening bits for the shell last night. will be welding them in on sunday with tom. nice bits for the steer rack mount on th e drivers side and the passangers side bottom of the bulkhead.

[Mark T]

ha cheers tom sure youll think of something to pay you back. yeah rear wheel drive corsa is a good idea unsure it would further into the corsa tho.ha

cheers mark your a legend, i got the starter of the cav block and i saved the two cats from the omega, so will use the two lambor sensors from them, got a plan of using the twin cats and standard gte system to keep the emisions down for the mot, how did yours manage on the emisions test?

then after the test will be constructing a one system with some 2.5 inch bore down pipes for some nice noises.

cut out some templates for some strengtening bits for the shell last night. will be welding them in on sunday with tom. nice bits for the steer rack mount on th e drivers side and the passangers side bottom of the bulkhead.


170 ppm HC and 0.43% CO, no CAT, breezed through (1200 ppm, 3.5% limit)

[alistair j]

my god really thats brilliant, am impressed mark. well i will take it for the test without putting the cat into it then i think just to see.

got to be more efficent than the old xe which was a bit dead.

[alistair j]

well been working like a beaver on the car last few nights not done massive amounts but got a lot boxed of. the following two pics show the rust cut out of the side of the strut and the battery tray. if there is rust best thing to do is just to cut it out all together not to grind it down just to cut it out to good metal.

pics on there side not me drunk dont worry

battery tray is cut out below
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/2315/img00013gk.th.jpg (http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00013gk.jpg)

and this is the strutwhere it has rusted just cut it out to add a plate to make it stronger and be able to seam weld the strut
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8528/img00031xh.th.jpg (http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00031xh.jpg)

now this is the welding on the rack. i have welded a triangl plate to the bottm of the corner on the bulkhead and to the endge of the arm on the car in 2 mil marine steel. behind the face plate next to the mount is three bits of metal like the bit welded on the top so it is divided into sections to be really strong. the rusty welding behind is a previous job the last owner did absolute shit job but will sort that at the weekend.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/8835/img00045wb.th.jpg (http://img66.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00045wb.jpg)
this one with the bottom section not added.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/8999/img00061ek.th.jpg (http://img66.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00061ek.jpg)
with te bottom bit added so strong now so very strong. this took the weight of me standing on it without bending one bit. no movement of the pedals either.

jobs for the weekend include a lot, i welded and strengtherned the gearbox mount last night veru hard and long jb not (big bit of metal pics to follow) and to finish of the rear of the mount and buy a new camera so that i can get some good pics of the car as my camera is shit.ha

using 2 mm stell throughoput the astra which is casing problems getting thin metal to graft to the thick stuff keeps burning back but getting there.

[Tom]

Will be up at weekend to take some decent pics :p

looking good tho chief :)

[alistair j]

ha nice one need a decent camera to get some pics mines shit .ha got it in a christmas cracker

[GazJevs84]

keep up the good work mate

[alistair j]

ha niceone matey, come down anytime you want you know.

[GazJevs84]

yeah will do one weekend i will give you a pm

[alistair j]

just a quick post to rant about my car. just come of a weekend of working on it. i am further on but it doesnt feel like it. i finished most of the welding but there is still a lot more to do. i have boxed the end of the sill up on the car so that sorted at least. however i realised that i have left a pencil in the drain pipe for the sunroof. stops it from melting witht e heat of welding. bad thing is i never took it out. good dam.ha

jobs for next weekend are

finish of passenger wheel well.
add bars to strengthen the bulkhead both sides.
add another layer of metal to the bulk head.
weld up all old holes and rubbish that needs finishing of.
weld plates into the bottom part of fllor to strengthen the structure

and clean out the lock up so i can actually get in to do some work.

next sunday is gonna be another mamoth session to get it sorted i recon or seems that way at least. praying for another dry day again.

i will get there like a well trained person keeping my head down and going at it as fast as possible. recon on three weeks to have the engne in. then three weeks to sort all other areas out on the car and thats it show time. aim is to have the car going in april for my birthday and then iron out any problems intime for the 21st of may at pod.

just had to tell someone., thanks for listening astra mk2

[appytiser]

i think you should stop messing about, pull a sickie from work tell them youve got some really nasty tropical disease and itll be a few weeks tilll you can come back to work. that way you can live in your lock up and get it finished.:bananajump:

roll on warmer weather thats all i can say. its really hard to get motivated to go outside when its this cold int it.

[alistair j]

HA HA i like that lee, very tempted now would finish it with two weeks battering it you know.

yeah its freezing in there and its sore after spending the day working on it beause lying on cold floor s aint fun like.ha

just thinking of what disease it could be, need to consult a large medical book tonight.ha hows the hand now? i will get it finish just got to keep going at it need some motivation. need a big can of read bull.ha

[appytiser]

still having probs with the finger.i had the joint taken apart and flushed (which was nice) then last week they told me that after 7 months ive still got an infection in the bone !!!
its only painfull if i catch it its more of a pain in the ass than anything else really as ive lost quite a bit of grip with it.as im a fireman now im going to get a nice claim out of the buggers as it does limit some of the things i can do.cant clench a fist with it anymore so if i get in any bother ill just have to slap em lol

[alistair j]

shit lee thats mad that sounds really painfull. hope all gets better. how about bathing it in some vodka. my hand has healed but keeps coming back when i get stressed at work which is five times a day.ha

hope it gets better. need a hand anytime #(pardon the pun) i will come down with pleasure.

[Tom]

Few pics of what Allys been upto :

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff320.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff324.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff319.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff327.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff332.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff330.jpg

[alistair j]

nice one tom legend you are does look like i have done much there you know. but i have honest mum.

[Mr-G]

No offence intended but you may want to reweld this plate or at least grind all the welds down as it will not pass its next MOT, I had to do some welding to untouchables nova on the sills for its MOT and they failed it on the re-test because my welding looked exactly like this, they said that the welds have to be neat and continuous, also it looks like there is no penetration with the weld so they will say that there is no strength. Like i said no offence intended just trying to advise while the car is still apart.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/stuff332.jpg

[alistair j]

ha no its okay i know. i did this plate as the first one i tackled. i need to redo couple of the plates as they loook like this. i had a fault on the welder the wire speed was not ajustable but sorted now. it let you increase it but not decrease it. if you saw the welding on the other side you would shit the bed as its neat as ****.

after about 50 hours on the car i can weld a lot neater. cheers for the comment tho gaz.

[Mr-G]

I was really pissed off when the nova failed its retest on the welding, the MOT inspector said that the MOD are getting tighter and tighter on MOT regs and one of the areas they are concentrating on is welding, I had to take off and reweld 5 plates because of that :(, the other thing he told me is that they are bringing in "shuffle plates", they are 4 plates that the car is put on that shake side to side and up and down to test the suspensions rebound rates

[alistair j]

really thats mad. if you notice the welds on the rack mounts and other seams all spot on were a got the hang of it, gotta finish of most of the welding on the astra at the weekend might just redo it then.

really when are they being introduced? dont know if mine would pass that.ha it doesnt move you jack it up in one corner and the whole lot lifts up its as stiff as a board now like.ha

hows your new sxi? i love them motors you know spot they are. you got any plans?

[Mr-G]

really thats mad. if you notice the welds on the rack mounts and other seams all spot on were a got the hang of it, gotta finish of most of the welding on the astra at the weekend might just redo it then.

really when are they being introduced? dont know if mine would pass that.ha it doesnt move you jack it up in one corner and the whole lot lifts up its as stiff as a board now like.ha

hows your new sxi? i love them motors you know spot they are. you got any plans?

The shuffle plates are designed to test for worn shocks and saggy springs so uprated suspension will be fine on them :)

The SXI is cool lots and lots of plans for it parts are starting to collect together ;)

[wildfire]

The shuffle plates are designed to test for worn shocks and saggy springs so uprated suspension will be fine on them :)



The shaker plates have not and will not be introduced for at least 5 years into a class 4 MOT, although they are currently used in a class 7 (HGV) test

The reason for this is VOSA have to give 5 years notice of a major change like that, the cost to change the ramps and/or other equipment will be steep, hence the long lead in time

[Mr-G]

The shaker plates have not and will not be introduced for at least 5 years into a class 4 MOT, although they are currently used in a class 7 (HGV) test

The reason for this is VOSA have to give 5 years notice of a major change like that, the cost to change the ramps and/or other equipment will be steep, hence the long lead in time

they will be introduced in about 5 years then lol, my mot guy was at a meeting last week about it ;)

[alistair j]

well my astra will have rotted by then.ha ha


as long as its coming a long gaz its good when it all comes together

[alistair j]

well hear is my weekly moan about the car. have spent the last two days doing twelve hours each day been mad busy and have done quite alot to be honest. i have added the plates to finish of the wheel arches. i have sanded the bulkhead back to bare metal also have plated the large part of the bulkhead with two mil metal which was a right pain to do. i also fitted some feet for the bottom of the bulkhead to add the strength to the floor and bottom parts.

waht a paon tho the plates have been two mill is thick metal and tell you what it doesnt liek to be bent onto a bulkhead. bigg hammer helped tho :applause: . then have seam welded most of the inside of the car but not all. still have the back of the rack to do and the other side foot whell to do. found another whole. of joy i say.ha then also have found a plate which a body shop was suppost to have doen only four tack wwelds on it. couldnt believe it will not be using them again. good news tho got the bailey header tank i bought of kev read to go on. just came through in the post made up very impressed with it.

looked back at the car late sunday night thought i might finish her today but nope still a weekend left to do on the welding not to worry tho. my body looks like a pot heads dream am covered in little rock burns of the welds, my mum is suspicious:hissyfit: .


on another note tho feel a though for hue. this is an older guy that i know bulding a integraile in a lock up on the same site. first test drive on sunday after spending thousands and six months doing it, went strainght through a hedge sideways :duh: he has totaled the car and think a farmer is going to sue him for damages too. oh well he will bonce back.

thoughts for next week finish my dam car. till this time next week :wave:

p.s. badass astra i have finished and redo the welding that looked bad, just for you.ha

[alistair j]

news update its now a three litre engine is just need to get the offside engine mount sorted and it will be able to drive. also sorrted all the welding too its totaly finished. The wiring is the next job now to get it all in and the dash board too. Will get the painting sorted to as well inside needs another a coat of paint primer on the inside and the seam sealing and its complete.

so till next saturday good bye.

[alistair j]

been a very long time since i last posted i have been locked in the shed with the car. well having spent the last few months fitting the engine its finally in. i have all the wires done now and sorted.

have bought all the samaco hoses for it but ran out of money as they where too much.ha

bought the adaptor plate of mark t to allow me to run the equal length shaft so that should be here an a few days.

just need to get the sump on tonight and seal that.

then its up with the exhaust to get it to fit. i have a normal system for the test but when its past i am making some 2.5 inch bore down pipes and 2.5 system which will go to one to two boxes in the middle of the car and twin side exits either side of the car(like the racer ones)

will get so,me pics up of the engine soon as.

[alistair j]

four words today.

i hate the car


truely do i hate it.aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


will post the pics when i have calmed down.

[Mark T]

What's up?

5 days, Ian's went from 150BHP rattly raspy XE to 195BHP silky V6.

Not too many headaches.

[Ian T]

LOL...

It ISN'T that bad really. Post up your woes and let Uncle Mark tell you what to do... ;)

Ian.

[Tom]

Couple of pics from yesterdays antics lol.

Its finally back on its wheels and running :applause:

Still abit left to do though but will be ready for the retro show (hopefully)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/CopyofImage008.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/CopyofImage010.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/CopyofImage011.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/TomGTE/CopyofImage013.jpg

[Ian T]

Good work, look forward to seeing it.

You'll love driving it. :)

Ian.

[alistair j]

ha well am finially back on the net. week of work you see.

mark dont worry all the problems got sorted last week. it wasnt really the engine thats given any problems to me honest apart from the engine managment light on its spot on really. but thats an earth fault i recon as it drives spot on. and yess ian i love it bit lazy low down but then once its on the move its a rocket very nice drive too.,

will get some more pics up and sorted soon as.

quick question for you mark and ian please what fuel pump ypu using as i have gone for the mk three tank and fancy beefy pump but just wondering if its worth it as have you uprated your ones?

fuel comp has a problem keeps turning of and staying illuminated and cant seem to do out to fix it. very strange but soon sort it i recon.

hows yours going ian? you got it all sorted have you?

[alistair j]

oh and thanks for the help and the pics tom big help dude. and valver spot on the pair of you guys

[alistair j]

uncle mark i do have a question.ha have you fitted a stabliser bar. because i notice that the engine under full throttle knocks the shaft in some situations. and seems to rock a bit?

[Mark T]

No.

I have solid rubber mounts (Poly Seam sealered)

Ian has standard mounts (V6 Donut), but his engine is 20mm shorter, so doesn't hit the bonnet.

We are both running 16V pumps.


EM Light could be EGR or SAI if you've not connected the solenoids.

You can paperclip the 3.0s.

[alistair j]

cool nice onw wih the pumps and the engine mounts,

the egr valve is wired up and bolt through the bulkhead to keep it there all the time. have the si wired up too. well the solenoid valve and the switch over valve which is all there is really. okay nice one will paper clip the managment light then and see what i brings up. thanks mark



thanks for the wiring diagrams and all the help too, without you i wouldnt have even etempted it. you going to retro show by any chance?

[Mark T]

Yes, we are.

[alistair j]

good stuff, be interresting to see yours to be honest. hopefully i will have mine sorted in time.

[Ian T]

good stuff, be interresting to see yours to be honest. hopefully i will have mine sorted in time.

Likewise, on both counts - I'm about to take the plunge again... with an angle grinder!

Ian.

[alistair j]

ha well hope the grindering went well. have to say the tbest tool invented is the grinder fixes all car problamatic situations.ha

[alistair j]

well beena might while since i posted on the thread but thought seeing as i now have the net i should update it with some pics taken over this year after the 3.0 conversion

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/FRONTBESTONE.jpg
the car as it is from the front
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/frontside.jpg
the arty shot.ha
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/sideview.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/rearview.jpg

the best bit of the car is this tho
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/enginefront.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/enginetopleftback.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/enginetopleft.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/enginesideleftfR.jpg

that is how it look last year. plans have already begun to change this with the inlets turn around and the fog lights back, better wheels will find there way onto it as well money permitting :Banane44:

[alistair j]

better digital camera too will find its way into my hands

[braders]

Alright Allistair, i see you sorted the plate out then. Glad to see the car all done looks stunning. My dads bought a 3.0 omega elite, he was speechless when i showed him your car lol. Anyway my cars still in bits (view my thread if you want) you an tom will have to come down soon and have a look. Keep up the good work mate.

[alistair j]

ha hello. in the end it was the dvla that had made the error any how got it sorted, sorry about all the messing with that. i well i bought an entire omega an broke it to get the enigine too.ha

really did your dad cry thats what few peoepl have done as the omega was the best car i ever own

tom and myself will defo come across interesting to see yours in bits now. just need to retax mine i think in febuary and can enjoy it again

enjoy the fiddling with the car chief. take care

[bigdrifter]

Looking very nice now, good to see it all back in one piece

[GazJevs84]

looking good fella

[mutznutz]

love this car, dark and moody, looks good with the turb fans aswell

[alistair j]

not sure as to go with black rims and twin head lamps think less is more sometimes

[mutznutz]

i agree, thats why im changing my cab, it was way ott in my opinion.
id stick with the gte lamps, but black rims might look good! stealth!

[alistair j]

ha well was thinking that you know.hhmm nice one know anyone fpr twin lights.ha
morette keep the indiacator ones

[mutznutz]

not sure what you mean?
would i sell my morette's, if thats what you mean then yes, there for sale.
but i would stick with the oe lamps imho!

[alistair j]

oh no i meant you wanna buy mine. but i take it thats a no.haha i will stick with them in fact hers the bonnet that use to on the car think might go back to that
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/badboy2.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/badboy.jpg

this is what it originally look like will go back to it?

[mutznutz]

i like that!, theres a dark purple one in south africa that looks a lot like yours,
same rims, etc, love it!!!

[alistair j]

ha cheers have to get weldin gthis winter me thinks on the bonnet

[Tom]

Get the badboy back on lad :thumbsup:

[alistair j]

ha will do dad

[GazJevs84]

Do you have morettes for sale fella?

[Sipo]

Agreed, get that bonnet back on :)

[alistair j]

i did chief but sorry they have just gone am affriad chief. back to the lad who sold him he could live without them me thinks.

badboy it is

[alistair j]

well after much debate its staying to do the shows this year in it.

update is have a tele for the centre of the dash, just put a four bar fuel pressure reg on there and new set of tyres coming my way with it.

[GazJevs84]

Nice one fella

[alistair j]

well aint had much time recently to do much but did manage a fair few hours on it the other sunday. so here we go

i am trying to clean up the rear lights as this is what you get when you too over excited with the wax oil this is what happens
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/lights.jpg
see mess.ha

inside shot of the dash and the tele in the box got it from ripseed, well i didnt i go this tele with a corsa i have just broke and sold so this is my prize and the only reson i bought the car.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/shotinside.jpg

the dash will be fibre glassed up and shapped t o fit the tele in. which should look something like this
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/tele.jpg

just paid for the shows so will defo be getting my teeth into this one i feel. however i do fancy a change so plans fr a turbo swope might go a head if i can sell the very very lovely v6. which i have to say will miss as its a great conversion just fancy something different

[alistair j]

another sunday spent messing. one thing i noticed when doing the mark 3 dash is that the gear selector sticks too close to the heatre controls. also am not a small fella so always wanted the selector further back, so 1.5 inchs further back should do it.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/nogearselector.jpgdash witout. looks funny.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/chop.jpg

so chop we go and reweld bit of pipe in there, and sorted sits further back just right so easier to change when in the heat of battle.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/shotinside.jpg
finished article, actually did this last sunday, this week i actually did the engine work the most

continued to mess with the 3.0 to extract more power but till next sunday,

good bye

[Ross_Mk2]

The teddy has more leg room now also!

[alistair j]

ha ha this is true he looks after the car. funny enough it has been in the car for the last two years so thinks its a little bit of a good luck charm

[alistair j]

well sunday night again so here comes a report. i am now made up late nights here we comewith the light so more can be done.

started today thinking i would reverse the inlets on the engine. i did do this the end of last year but used the car so returned it back to standard, so i have reperformed the work now knowing what needed doing.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/asitstartedtheday.jpg

the day started looking like this, as we can see the inlets breath through the side on the left however the ecu also fits there which is a tight squeeze and not one i wanted to keep. so inlets need to go on the right and this means the ecu should fit on the fire wall at the back neat and safe arrangement
so i have stripped the inlets down
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/noinlets.jpg
just think of three dirty great big 48 webbers on it. ooooh just cum. bike carbs be better give a lot of power. also the pic shows the compact nature of the engine

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/standardinlet.jpg
standard inlet, now this will sit oposite on the head turned around basically. so i need to turn around the wiring for the injectors so that the engine still thinks the inlets are the same way round.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/bottominletreversed.jpg
wires reversed on this inlet just the fuel pipes will sit at the front of the engine. now this will look neat but cant be having this for two reasons. one in a crash fuel would go all over a hot manifold not a good thing. But also two the engine moves so much under hard acceleration that we need to keep the fuel rails towards the back of the engine.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/reversedinltsatdown.jpg
sat back down on the heads we can see the difference.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/turnedaround.jpg
this is easier to see the change with the top cover on, this is the way i wanted it. looks funny but the engine is still reconisable as a 3.0.

i have however highlighted some problems. below is one of these the inlets are now in the way of the pipes of coolant but also the header tank
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/pipesandtankinway.jpg

so i will be selling the header tank and using a mark three one much neater and easier to sit further back,. Although i have been testing a corsa 16v one on the back fire wall

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/finishedreversed.jpg
thisis the final pic of the day with it complete. I have had to tke of the loom and mess about with it shorten but not lenghtern any of it. the omega looms are very long indeed. the ecu sits in the fire wall safely. but also its looking neater in the bay. just need to pain the top cover the engine in black to make it look neater and nicer.

the day had its moments i got electricuted by this little plug, health and safety look away now, i tried to pick it out the socket whilst turned on god it hurt
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/electricutmyself.jpg

will have to fix that and recover.ha

oh nearly forgot finished work on wednesday night and did a 300 mile round trip to Doncaster then Hull to get these lovely rims for 40 quid of a fella on mig lovely chapp too. and now got spares for this year now so can get them reconned, as cally rims are rare now so spare set is usefull
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/wheelsofmig.jpg

[BazW]

you've come to doncaster and not called in for a cuppa, i'm insulted!!

[alistair j]

ha sorry baz i would have but had a move on had to be back for 10.30 so didnt hve time would have otherwise. dont worry when i come to york drag strip i will tke full use of your hospitality and amenities, cup of t, watch your tele, shit in your loo and eat your food.ha ha

[alistair j]

right well got a few more itmes for the mark two last few days . i have taxed the dog so been using her. love it

the first item i bought was a singal wiper from Steve Heley,
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/signalwipertostart.jpg
this included the scuttle of a european astra so did away with the other wiper cut out much to my relief as i hated that, looked cheap on other mark twos when they do not use this

finished item
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/singalwiper.jpg

now i have always loved the cally turbo rims and i do have 12 spare ones so i do not really need no more, however we cnt have to much of a good thing so when carl offered me his set forthe same price of a new set of tyres i jumped and went to pick them up. i know carl as carl, but you guys know him as valver, any how the rims in a dark colour i thought would make the car, so i bought them
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/blackrims.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/backshotwheels.jpg

thanks carl

just a qick pic to to show the mini i have left in the garden, its in need of some love but i hate them nice 1275 gt, arrrghhh mini s are pooh
check out the rust on it rotten to the core
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/miniinthway.jpg

[alistair j]

right well two mor pics to add one in good light wit hthe black rims

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/mine.jpg

bit better quality

now the last pic od the effort tom and myself put in on his 4 hours to do his new exhaust from scratch with universal jetex stuff. this is what it looked like for 3 of those hours welding under the car making things fixed, sound ace when finished tho
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/tomdoinghis.jpg
and thats tom with no head

[Tom]

Looks proper mean with the black rims on :thumbsup:

[bigdrifter]

Loving the charcoal rims - l'm only slightly biased.........

[alistair j]

Loving the charcoal rims - l'm only slightly biased.........

ha ha biased is good ithis situation tho if you ask me.ha

[Brett]

Liking the wheels, im gonna do the same with mine. Ive got 9 Cally Turbo rims too LOL!

cars looking spot on mate, you gonna tidy the loom in the bay up when its done?

[alistair j]

ha i its alwasy best to have spares brett as they are hard to find when you need one.

yeah i have already dont it to be honest it just needs some bits sorting before i put the pics up.

the loom is all wrapped up again, so bit neater although hard work as the engine moves so much it keeps denting the bonnet out so the loom was left just to see if the movement effect it at all.

should look good on yours those ims tho brett. have to say too i have tried a lot of tyres combinations on them too 195/40/16s 205/50/16s 205/45/16s anf the ones i have now are the best mate at 195/50/16s nice compramise between the handling and the problems with the extra low tyres.

might help you a bit brett

[Tibs]

dark and moody, i like it!

Great effort!

[alistair j]

well another day to mess with the gte, have to say since putting it back on the road this year bored of the power now so needs bit more there i think, thinking of cams, leads and better pipe work manifolds the lot. but this takes time and will have to see what the budget holds.

one problem to report was a burst water hose. the one hoes in the bay, the only one, thats not samaco burst at a set of lights near to home so a limped her home to replace it again. have to say the cramped space of the engine conversion was to blame. The rubbing away of the hose on the rad caused the leak to unfold. oh well sorted now, do have some samaco to replace it but i needs to get some hose joiners first, so trip to demon tweeks is on the cards, tom gte your driving if your reading this.ha ha

any how today i fitted the screen for the dvd player, i have upgraded to the mark three dash in my astra so i have decided to take out the middle of the dash and fit it in there like the new golf and audi s (if you know what i mean)

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/bitcutout.jpg

first step was to cut out the dash centre like above and this means i can fit the screen, using a ripseed screen they are cheap and good quality from what i have seen to be fair.

below shows the cage the screen comes with, funny enough its a perfect fit for the mk 3 centre console so in it goes
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/gettingthereofferup.jpg

now i have to fill with the fibre glass nice tin from halfods, as paint shop shut, did the trick
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/fibreglassbit.jpg
this shows the level i got it too before filla was applied.

now the next stage is to get the filla on to make the smoothed shape appear on the center console
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/nertotheend.jpg
all filla'd up this was ready to be painted, still not to sure it looked good enough but i thought might as well fit it then see if filla sunk or shrunk before i go with the proper paint stage.

now the final stage today was later on as this took all day to do so here we go in the dark rubbish camera and here is the pic.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/theendbit.jpg
oooooooh suit you sir who is that fella with the sexy legs.ha ha

suzanne (my better half ) loves this and has bought myself the dvd player for my birthday on seeing this in the car, just so she can watch neighbours on the move.ha

so as my birthday is tomorrow i will have pics of it in use then, till then good night

[Dale]

looking good there Alistair!

[alistair j]

ha cheers mucker

[Tom]

so trip to demon tweeks is on the cards, tomgte your driving if your reading this.ha ha
Fine by me long as your buying lunch ha :thumbsup:

[alistair j]

ha sounds like a plan mucker

[johnl]

looking good.

[alistair j]

the fuel comp in mine wasnt accurate so thought whhy not. am pleased with it. have t see tho how it goes.

[alistair j]

well little to report. on the gte front. i have fitted a equal length drive shaft to the car this weekend wit hthe help of mark ts bracket, brilliant bit of kit.

and also replaced the hose i felt where too dangerous to be useing with more samaco so now the last hose to be replaced will be the rad to head hose and thats it all samaco.

most shitty thing this weekend has been the coolant leak of the front head. where the two heads are linked with the coolant pipes there is a small cooper washer not sealing it right so therefore it burns the water of as the hottest part of the engine there. so i never noticed it. kacking my pats i had bust a head gasket i thought hmmm, on inspection i noticed the small amount of steam meaning thank god i know what it is. so needs to get onto auto vaux to.

removed the 4 bar fuel reg too as over fueling and crap pick up where common place i have gone back now to the normal standard one and seems to use less juice now 18 to the gallon not 15, but also pick up betterout of the bends

i have just spent the day fitting the toad alarm i got of the ebay. a nice ai606 one. very easy to fit and has the cat one status, i know it needs to be a pro who fitted it, but its still safe. two immobilser cicuits and what have you brilliant. nice to know car is now safe. right am of to bed will get pics up this week of the progress.

thought fr the night 3 seperate imobilisers on the car now.

safe

[alistair j]

well here we are a free night from the moans and groans of women.ha ha

less of that anyhow, the new alarm i bought of ebay is quite frankly class to be fair, its a Toad AI606 Cat 1 beast. it does everything i expected but also more beside so i am more than happy really.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/alarm.jpg

nice few wires hanging around here to confuse even a BT engineer, veru good bit of kit easy to install.

well i have installed the tele and not really got a good shot of it ffor you guys so here we are another one
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/alarmandlegs.jpg

brilliant bit of kit from halfauds, 80 for the tele and 180 for the JVC headunit which does the lot even runs the DVDs and what have you easy to use and very cheap compared with the competation, just need to get some items to reduce interferrence although i am ata lose as to what i need.

now the astra is my pride and joy so when it gets full of dog hairs and they aint ever been in its a crazy time wit hte hover, just to introduce to two culprits for this are a cray pair of goldies Missy and Narla

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/missy.jpghttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/missyandnarla.jpg


The last real triumph i have had on the car recently was to include the Equal length shaft onto the set up again. Now as i run the V6 i can not just bolt up the shaft to fit. So therefore a vectra shaft is needed a late spec vectra one. this differs from the early shafts as has four bolts not just two. The main item here tho is that alloy spacer on the bracket, an item knocked up by Mark T on here, and have to say is the best engineered kit i have bought for a car absolutely brillaint and fitted mint first time.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/equallengthshaft.jpg

so this little thing helps to reduce the torque steer which isnt as bad as say a turbo model due to my nice linear power delievery, how ever the low down grunt on the v6 makes it fun in the wet and the dry so this combats such moments.

Still in need of a diff tho.

over and out

[alistair j]

well for got mot next week so spent the night messing. redone all the brake lines well drives rear and fornt to get them neater and better so they dont fail.

also had a few problems with the alarm so have to see about that too. but on the whole not to bad really. might book the day of work, as still got to do the rear handbrake cable. weld up the front cross member and sort out the bleeding the brakes really. too.

then dreaded trip to macs for the test see what falls of when he hits in about a bit. oh well thoughts for the evening are,


what the hell am i doing messing with a 17 year old car when i could just buy a nice new one. hmmmm

good night

[sri sev]

looking good matey!

quick question.

do your heater controls work in the mk3 dash?

if so how did you manage it?

[alistair j]

yes they do mate. normally people use a combination of cav mk3 cables, however i wanted to do it properly, therefore i fitted the mk3 astra heater matrix complete setup.

you need to produce a adaptor plate to get it to mate to the top area between the screen and the fire wall. Aside from this which is pretty much apparent when you have it in front of you, then the mk3 matrix fits in a treat bolts to the same place.

you then have the right hoses to use behind the dash the heater duct hoses but also the heater cables so the controls work. bit of messing but well worth the effort i think. i am not saying this is the best way as others have done other things but worked well for me . ,

if you get stuck can send you some pics if need be

[Ian T]

Good to see you've not given up on the old girl. I didn't spy your name down for PVS, are you coming down?

Ian.

[alistair j]

hello ian,

i did have my name down but i am having to go to my bosses wedding, so to earn a few brownie points i am going. to be honest dont think it wll be ready for pvs the bits i need to do. so think i am best to just aim for billing. then will have it all sorted for then i thinks.

how is yours going?

as much as i slag of the car i do love it so i am glad i stuck with it.

[sri sev]

yes they do mate. normally people use a combination of cav mk3 cables, however i wanted to do it properly, therefore i fitted the mk3 astra heater matrix complete setup.

you need to produce a adaptor plate to get it to mate to the top area between the screen and the fire wall. Aside from this which is pretty much apparent when you have it in front of you, then the mk3 matrix fits in a treat bolts to the same place.

you then have the right hoses to use behind the dash the heater duct hoses but also the heater cables so the controls work. bit of messing but well worth the effort i think. i am not saying this is the best way as others have done other things but worked well for me . ,

if you get stuck can send you some pics if need be
that would be great mate. do you have a gap between the dash and the pillar? (on the side of the dash)

[alistair j]

funny enough yeah both sides have gaps, i have a set of spare a pillar covers which i was going to be building out but never got round to it.

i havent really spent to much time on the fitment of the dash always something i would go back too. but as i have been sorting the rest of the car and its coming to an end, i recon that might put another dsh in, also i lefta solderin iron on and it put to holes in it. so i have to now to get it mint again.

yeah will post the pics up on the pages here for you matey see what yu think easy enough really

[sri sev]

cool nice one matey

[alistair j]

well quick update, bank holiday weekend thought right take astra out for little go as rare time it will actually get used.

alarm is fecked cant get in it use it start it or nothing. so rather a concern, think new alarm is needed.

however wheni was messing around with the car i fitted the new fuel lines and the old brakes lines. Determinded to use that car this weekend so might strip the alarm out of it for tomorrow and just use it.

so 1 week to mot, still needs brakes bleeding. fuel lines bonding into the car. front cross memeber making into a box section. rear handbrake messing with and tighterning up.

but alarm is doing my head in.ha

good night astra mk 2

[Ian T]

Good morning Ally.

Apparently there's a PIN override on your alarm, or it suggests so here...
http://www.autosecuritysystems.co.uk/70161/info.php?p=5&pno=0

Ian.

[alistair j]

ha thank you verymuch ian, much appreciated, i will lookinto this.

one question ianhow big of a tent are we allowed to bring to billing out of interrest as just getting ready to buyone you see

[alistair j]

right well been a busy body breaking the car this last few weeks. Passed th mot easy (not). Cut out 4 times on the old Mot station bay, so thanks to tom gte who helped hold wires in places whilst i reved and mac took the mot test.ha As you guessed broke wire causes all the pain but sorted now.

On way back from the test notice a twisting noise which a crunch at low gears and speeds. Thinking gear box but too on the right hand side to be that so think was a CV joint. One of those on order. whilst i was at it. ordered a vectra top hose for the rad as sick of the diesel astra one rubbing though. Also a spring retaining pad for the calipers was ordered as lost the other one of the discs, never a safe out come.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0030_009.jpg
parts all new and nice and shiney. Top hose is god send with the shows coming up.

Alarm issues turned out to be a dead toad, no not a real one the actually thing.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0012_003.jpg
so with this taken out new one in the car is safe again all the documents i need to and the code for the alarm.

always one to be different i went though the proccess of fitting the 3.2 top cover
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0009_001.jpg
This really shouldnt make too much difference however it does, top end more power is there, but also the noise is altered massively. sounds louder than a new m3 now on full belt. However that collector box needs reworking so will be next on the list. Think a jetex universal y piece will be needed.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0011_002.jpg
Fuel lines got the next set of attention. Here we are with them fitted well and nicely done. bit safer with the braided too so no rubbing issues. With the reversed inlets the rubbing caused some major issues.

Now you all know about the short shift kits fitted to mark 2 gtes and you can get them for 20 quid. However a company called G and E Engineering used to make whatis considered the best short shift kit for the mark2 there is. Just so happens when redoing the rack on TomGTES astra last winter i got chance of taking some mesurements over his to mine. Dont tell all the girls but his was massive (the linkage that is) ( he wishes, can mine at billing ladies). Anyhow i meant to mess about with the spare linkage i have had for ages but never happened. So i took the plunge.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0022_000.jpg
one cut later all in bits.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0028_000.jpg
this shows the linkage its shelf and below the small rod not the neatest but works a treat.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0029_000.jpg
And compared with the standard one the size difference
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0025.jpg

I cant reveal the measurements as Tom would hit me, hard, but have to say its brilliant lads absolutely transforms the car in the gears no more messing and for some reason it cuts out the lively wheel spin like crazy shifts with the v6 in it.

Any how few more jobs for billing but took the chance to polish her up last night so parting shot for the weekend this week was this

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0033_012.jpg

good night, take care

ally

[Tom]

Nice job on the quickshift chief :thumbsup:

[alistair j]

well as tested by your self on the break down call out to me its not bad is it.
ha

well another day messing about with the astra. driving back from liverpool i was sat in a petrol station and the clutch cabl;e went on me, again. so thought shit. funny enough round the corner lives my old mucker tomgte so one call and clutch cable on its way too me. made up i was. so thanks tom.

got the steering vagueness sorted today with the bolt that holds the coloumn on being missing so thought might help to bolt her up. job done. alarm sensors ajusted too stop it going of all the dam time. centre the steering wheel too as going round the bends and having to knock of the indicators is doijg my head in.

all in all few more bits done just the skirts to paint so needs to get them sorted. tom recommends the halfods stuff o have to see how that goes

thoughts for the day, nice one tom, just what mates are for

[Ian T]

Yep, Halfords Bumper Paint worked well on mine. :)

Ian.

[alistair j]

cool cheers ian one for the weekend that i thinks.

thought fr the night are if i manage to get a big set of brakes for the astra before billing it will be riding on a set of team dynamic pro race 1.2 s as might be changing with a friend as he likes my rims i like his so have to see how it goes really.

[Ronin]

Looking good Al, nice mod with the linkage, I should really get myself one of those. The 1.2's should look ace on your car, black with black ;) hardcore. I fancy a set for trackdays, will have to see how the money goes.

[alistair j]

well any one wanting the linkage doing then just send them to me and will do them no problem.

well took the car down to london for a few days with my better half, to see sound of music. Ran sweet as a nut did the full 422 miles on 65 quid which i have to say is rather good for the old girl. Nice freshen up hasnt half helpped recently. Only concern is the outside endges are worn down something rotten with the tyres so have to get the tracking sorted or the camber looked over either way. Possible due to the fact the car runs an inch of the road but still is a concern none the less.

Last time i did take the tracking in tho they refused to do it as they could get the machine on the car so wings are coming of and down to quick fit i will go i thinks.

Looking forward to billing tho now. Not due to the car looking any better as it actually looks well used and bit battered now days but due to meeting all you guys again and having a dam good drink (difference to a normal night is, its a different spot).

Billing is like a Vauxhall addicts answer to Glastenbry (bow)

[Ian T]

I can't speak for Mark T but we might be able to set your toe in/out tracking adjustment at Billing if you know the adjusters are free running...

Ian.

[alistair j]

thats ace if you could ian, getting somewhere to do it is rather a pain. The ajusters are free and will be as they arent that old and they have ben messed with a lot. you have a machine i take it?

[Ian T]

Mark's got a Trakrite, and the obvious time to do it would be one evening after the stand has been dismantled. It's a bit fiddly, needs a jack and the appropriate spanners.

No promises of course, I'll have a chat with Mark and see if he thinks it's practical. It also relies on there being a straight, level road in good condition.

LOL... if the outsides are getting scrubbed, should I be asking if you like roundabouts a but too much? ;)

Ian.

[alistair j]

ha ha so true. nah i know what you mean i do drive her hard but just the motorway trip as shredded em really to be honest.

nightmare but hey its part and parcel of it. Cheers for that ian spot on

thanks

ally

[Mark T]

insides and outsides go on mine quite rapidly.

hopefully, raising a couple of inches on the MK4 GSI springs will help.

[alistair j]

hmm thatswhat i was thinking. must just be the height nd the weight of the extra head and what have you hey mark. well got some cally turbo sprngs which i mght just see about fitting then to get it up a bit

[alistair j]

well got the week of so week before billing you would think do car stuff this week though has entailed digging foundations for the new garage at the bottom of the garden.

bought a new strut brace of mig web though, lovely guy to deal with too came mint even tho only paid 30 for it. nice shiney etech one too

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0047_000.jpg
a word on the brace tho it is the best and easiest one i have ever had to fit evry easy to ajust and get right unlik the omp one i use to have for the astra. That omp one would need a hammer to fit it on. ha

jobs for billing are to paint my side skirts but with no cover at the mo i acant with all this here rain thats about, pesky weather. oh well fingers crossed will end and billing will be on.

[Efrain A.]

well any one wanting the linkage doing then just send them to me and will do them no problem.

Hi mate, unfortunately im overseas so its a bit hard for me to send a linkage and then you sending it back, can you please PM me the details on it so i can make it. If Tom is ok with it of course.

Thanks,

Efrain.

[alistair j]

Hi mate, unfortunately im overseas so its a bit hard for me to send a linkage and then you sending it back, can you please PM me the details on it so i can make it. If Tom is ok with it of course.

Thanks,

Efrain.

sorry not to get back to you afrain. i will ask tom tomorrow and gte the old measurements out the shed for you mate and post them

well got the uxbridge show sunday and guess what just like the trip to billing car is messing around. got a wet passenger foot well, arrr, the starter solenoid seems to have been destroyed by the heat so thats going dead and to top it all of i dont have a fecking heater decided to pack in. Turn it on it takes power lights dim then nothing turn to three position dimmer lights but still nothing.

so yards tomorrow for starter, need to see if the vectra 2.5 starter is the same as a xe one i believe it is to be fair so might be in look. As for the heater those with v6 (alex mac as discussed at billing) the heat produced from the engine is insane so i dont really need one to be fair just for it steaming up if it rains never healthy really.

so busy day again just to make uxbridge, fingers crossed some scally has crashed the right cars for me into the scrap yard tomorrow.ha

uxbridge might be a trip on the old horse bannanride and with a vauxhall badge on it would look more like :kngt:

[Alex mac]

sorry not to get back to you afrain. i will ask tom tomorrow and gte the old measurements out the shed for you mate and post them

well got the uxbridge show sunday and guess what just like the trip to billing car is messing around. got a wet passenger foot well, arrr, the starter solenoid seems to have been destroyed by the heat so thats going dead and to top it all of i dont have a fecking heater decided to pack in. Turn it on it takes power lights dim then nothing turn to three position dimmer lights but still nothing.

so yards tomorrow for starter, need to see if the vectra 2.5 starter is the same as a xe one i believe it is to be fair so might be in look. As for the heater those with v6 (alex mac as discussed at billing) the heat produced from the engine is insane so i dont really need one to be fair just for it steaming up if it rains never healthy really.

so busy day again just to make uxbridge, fingers crossed some scally has crashed the right cars for me into the scrap yard tomorrow.ha

uxbridge might be a trip on the old horse bannanride and with a vauxhall badge on it would look more like :kngt:


Sounds like you are having abit of a bad time Ali, stick in there buddy

You are totally right about the heat the combination of sunburn and a fuming V6 up the M6 was not pleasent lol

Ref the heater fan, it sounds as if it is seized mate sometime if you manually turn it, it can free up, give it a go it may get you through uxbridge :2thumbsup:

[alistair j]

well alex it has got worse my friend. parked the car up last night came to it this morning and no go. wouldnt tick over still no heater and to do it all in parked in the prevous evening against the wall nose in so cant eve get at the starter.

spent the day trying to get a starter and get it going but no joy so no flaming uxbridge the second year in a row i have missed the one show i wanted to go too,

upside there is a fella near here who is selling dome throttle bodies for a v6 so think i might get them and a new starter of him. see about gettting 250 hourses.

got a funky mod tho for the gte crew on a f20 box to post about. tom gte invented noticed it and have to say its a class one so till tomorrow and getting the astra out from the wall i will have to wait to do it

well till i gte her going once more then good bye

[Mark T]

I'll send you a fiver for your UX Pass.

Not looking forward to fan failure on mine!!

Dash out again, as there's no way mine will fit though the hole.

[alistair j]

ha ha its today uxbrifge you know mark?

i havent any means of getting the pas to you mate in time for the show otherwise i would let you have it for free, dont mine you going down tho on my behalf mate.

yeah the dam fan is a mess i used the mark three matrix and surrounds and the mark two fan so should have used the mark three fan now me thinks.

[Mark T]

np, Had to buy one on the gate.

[alistair j]

np, Had to buy one on the gate.

sorry about that. gutted i didnt make it again. was it good? the few pics i have seen looked very good indeed?

[Alex mac]

If you could see me mate I am playing the smallest violin in the world, I nearly shed a tear, (remember the sad song) lol :bigcry:

Only joking mate, you are really having bad luck buddy (bloody fri 13th)

I will have a look in the scrappers today for you and see if I can get you a starter and fan motor, I will let you know :2thumbsup:

an F20 box trick INFO INFO :grinning-smiley-043

Cheers

Alex

[alistair j]

ha its okay alex got it all sown up here got the heater boxed of. doe got the new starter new enough ordered of the bay for 75 all in brand new so mad up.

forgot about it being friday the 13th am cursed, normal crap that tho. Yeah the f20 mod gonna do tomorrow night so will post up some pics mate you might just be interested so will everone i think you know. better throw on the gears and what have you.

[alistair j]

right well problems and all i have got the time to do the gte this week so got a lot done.

the heater motor had seized up at the bearing end.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0066_000.jpg
as can be seen above this siezed so a new one was needed (new one to the left) However on taking the old one of and bit of oil it was running again, typical dam vauxhall that. any how for £10 it was worth it for a better one and having a spare.

right well to appease alex i will explain the mod to the f20. This is solely down to tom GTE on here who spotted this so i have to say thanks to him, i was the test bed for the mod.ha arrr i hear you cry. well no brilliant i say.

Tom was in work and had to take the selector of a corsa so he thought will have a look around. now he spotted a few differences between the selector and the f20 selector. So on closer inspection he found these groves (as below)
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0061_000.jpg
now these help to guide the gear change but also stiffen it up a lot. More positive change indeed. Now looking oer the f20 one you see this (below)
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0065_000.jpg
therefore we see the improvement no outside movement and means more stable no gear stick movement or play really when in gear.

Thats not the only thing to be improved tho. You all know to line up the f20 linkage you need to place a drill bit in to the side of the selector housing. Well on the corsa box this isnt needed so as you can see from the pics below you do all the same techinic to line the linkage up but just push in the spring, thats it. Then once lined up sorted and no messing with drill bit. Very good for confined bays like mine.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0074_000.jpg
The difference is the corsa one on the left and f20 on the right. you can see the spring insert, where as the F20 has the cap and thats it you then stick drill in.

Now i got mine of a 1.2 corsa ecotec, that had only done 40k so all new, this can be seen on the pic below.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0077_000.jpg
The pic purpose tho is to highlight the gasket on the corsa one on the left. its only round to the edges of where meets so the rod and internals see a oil surpply from the gears below. Now the F20 is totally different
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0078_000.jpg

Not to sure if you can see too but the actually seltor rod on the corsa is spring loaded so when you change it clicks it in and out of the gear much much better this results in the better shift and more feel for sure.

The pic below shows the selector housing and castings inside the selotor that go in the box. the F20 seems more beefed up to the corsa one, however the casting seems better on the corsa, this can be seen below
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0068_000.jpg
The corsa selector is the top one it seems bit smaller and not as butch, but it is more than up to the job, you would have to be mr t to break it using a gear change. To be fair tho this only is used to select reverse so no way you could break it as you aint moving when thats selected, or you should nt be.

This gasket shows it stops the oil from splashing up so not the best but also gets gunky which aint ever good. Therefore we like and use the corsa gasket. (I worked this bit out tho not tom.ha ) the corse seletor was cleaner too so makes the box look better outside.ha



Now you all might say well hat the hell thats just the same but let me tell you on my gte with the short shifter fitted too its transformed the shift. It changes gear smoother more positively, it even changes faster with the seletor (might be in the mind that tho) never missed a gear with it, easier to get reverse too. Tom GTE is responsible for this so have to say thanks tom, he is fitting one at the weekend, just we did mine so that i dont use mine at all these days so any problems are not an issue.

Would recommend the mod for sure.

Any how back to my mods, starters fried on mine why i missed uxbridge again, so
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0079_000.jpg
brand new one of the bay for 57 with postage so was made up really was. Right am of to hide after getting the post up over the box first, ha sorry tom and thanks mate. And alex if your getting hard reading this i got hard driving the car after the mod.ha

[alistair j]

Well i have finally got a date to change over thr ims on my gte its this saturday so was looking for some brakes to use on it. I stubbled across these on the mig web and have to say was impressed set of two bells and rotors both 300 mm and calipers with turbo pads for 140. nice guy ( terry )too who was selling them so have to say thanks to him for that. Any how mean mine now has the black rims finally. This should make it look meaner but also raise her up as she hits on most thing s on the road surface due to the height it runs.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0047_000-1.jpg
Set of high spec bells and rotors are the gold ones, However this is where i need peoples helps what are the other ones with daft red paint on them as i need to get new rotors for these but aint a clue ( thought they might be willwood ). Thanks for any help?

Spent the rest of the night putting the starter motor on the car forgot how much of a pain and no space i have. funny thing is now tho. with all new one it goes funny the dash when it starts and seems to be hard work to get it to start not to sure why have to see really. Think the starter just needs to bed in even tho i have turned her over few times tonight.

[alistair j]

Had a busy weekend, got the chance to finally swap over the rims from the 5 studs to the 4 stud. Nice set of pro race 1.2 s in black. which i thought would make the car look better. Did it wit th eh help of tom too in his work which with the weather was a god send. few pics from the day.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/100_1110.jpg
one wheel on one off, can see the difference well.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/100_1104.jpg
myself looking like i know what am doing (never)
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/100_1106.jpg
difference now with 308 brakes on. they seem to work just as well as the 288s so have to see. same calipers well same piston size using the astra gte brakes. not to sure how much life is left in these highspecs tho. However i did get another set of discs with the kit so can always use them as they are new.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0052_000.jpg

final shot of the weekend
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r313/alistairj/Photo-0048_000.jpg

starter problems are still happening one new starter bought off ebay let go after two trips. Asda carpark was the scene of myself tom and a friend pushing the gte home. Much to the amuzement of a old women in a car.

hate the car.

[Tom]

Hate the car ? nah more like you love the evil bitch really.... ha (rally)

[Ian T]

Still having starter problems?

Sounds odd... are you sure the old one is definately fritzed?

Ian.

[Efrain A.]

looks great, i love this gte

can you please post or send me a pm with the details on the shifter mod.

thank you.

efrain

[alistair j]

Still having starter problems?

Sounds odd... are you sure the old one is definately fritzed?

Ian.



yeah

The old one was clicking, but i took it off and it seems to have been sorted as i have placed it back on now. i will see if i can get the other one changed from the fella of the ebay but have to see really ian. should do. if not will rebuild it myself. I think i know whta is up with it so just a case of re jigging it all.

Effian dont worry i have nt forgot about you. i will get the measurements sent across for you. i have forgot the top bar measurements so will have to see what it was on the astr will pm them you. will be tomorrow night matey. Tom just asked tho to keep your hat on the measurements as he didnt want them to get out.

thanks

[GazJevs84]

Car looking ace mate

[Danny]

Looking really nice with those alloys Alistair.

[alistair j]

cheers chaps

[braders]

looks better on those wheels now mate, nice to see G16 GTE lives on. Half the car was reshelled into my astra shell lol anyway you could of give the wheels a clean before you fitted them lol

[alistair j]

looks better on those wheels now mate, nice to see G16 GTE lives on. Half the car was reshelled into my astra shell lol anyway you could of give the wheels a clean before you fitted them lol




ha funny i always like to make an effort. yeah i love that reg too

[Alex mac]

Looking smart Ali, love the brakes look really well, and is that backs I see also

But who's the ugly bloke working on your car lololol

[alistair j]

Looking smart Ali, love the brakes look really well, and is that backs I see also

But who's the ugly bloke working on your car lololol

i know he also recons he knows what he is going on about, how foolish is he.ha if that ugly fella would leave it alone it wouldnt break down.

[alistair j]

well this is the last time i will post in this thread. the sad day draws to a close on project massive engine astra. the car is awaiting a new interoir and glass. and when it does the car will be sold on.

fair well my friend.

if you fancy this car on your drive £1500 will get you it. a monster of a gte and one i will miss dearly.

[Comi OPCS]

I read the whole topic,and only thing I have to say is:

Amaising!Exelant!!!!:grinning-smiley-043 :grinning-smiley-043 :grinning-smiley-043

Great GTE!!!Well done!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

P.S.Sorry for my bad English!