strip down and re-build number 2

[_SBD16v]

As many of you will know i built my astra from a bare shell and finished it the start of this year but i am now pulling it apart and starting again,

some of you may be thinking what for mad man but i have very good reason anyone thats built a car from scratch before will know its not till you have had the car on the road for a while you start finding things you just do not like, and things you should have done a different way.

so i have decided to pull it apart and start again with the good ideas from last time and remove the bad ideas and try to correct them with better ones lol .

so here are my first pics of pulling the car apart

engine out
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/new%20build/engine-out.jpg

inside has been looking a little sorry for a while now but it is all coming out
pic of the bottle mounting as i was asked about it a little while ago
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/new%20build/inside-car.jpg

[_SBD16v]

here is some pics for oddball or anyone else that might have any ideas what has been done here

i brought the car preped for rally use but and belive these are stronger mounting but any idea on why


this is the lower arm bolts you can bolt them from inside the car ???
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/new%20build/lower-arm-mounting.jpg

and this is my front gearbox engine mount ??
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-mount-gearbox.jpg

thanks for looking i will update as it gets more stripped and as it starts coming together :D

[Brett]

got a pick of the wishbone mounts from under the car Rob? are they the standard mounts?

we welded the drivers side on the yellow shell there last night as I found some corrosion....

[_SBD16v]

my wishbones are just like normal ones but instead of a bolt going up into a fixed nut in the chassis of the car mine goes throu the floor and you use a nut and bolt

[richie00boy]

Maybe the wishbone mount like that is to enable you to use nylock nuts?

Scary amount of rust (albeit only surface) for a 1 year old car :eek:

[_SBD16v]

Maybe the wishbone mount like that is to enable you to use nylock nuts?

Scary amount of rust (albeit only surface) for a 1 year old car :eek:


when i say surface i mean you can wipe most of it away with a rag but in the seams you cannot and thats going to be the problems its never been done properly so not its time to get it done so it lasts :cool: :cool:

[DarrenH]

yeah just looks like reinforced rear mount. triangulated and boxed in. only ever seen that with nylon or rose jointed rear mounts though.

that exact spot usually bubbles up with rust for some reason. nearly all gte's ive seen bare shell have rust there. did you do the stich welding round the seems further up ?

[_SBD16v]

yeah just looks like reinforced rear mount. triangulated and boxed in. only ever seen that with nylon or rose jointed rear mounts though.

that exact spot usually bubbles up with rust for some reason. nearly all gte's ive seen bare shell have rust there. did you do the stich welding round the seems further up ?


i did not do any of the stitch welding i brought the shell prepared but its had nearly every seam done including rear aches underside of the car it had every hole filled with a little metal plug then welded in

[DarrenH]

what about the gearbox mount ? so it still slung under the chassis rail but you have 2 long studs right through the rail ?

[_SBD16v]

what about the gearbox mount ? so it still slung under the chassis rail but you have 2 long studs right through the rail ?



well its had a hole cut in the chassis rail then a piece of box inserted thats solid and got two holes in it you just drop a bolt in and put a nut undernetiht the mount if you see what i mean

[DarrenH]

proper job, i like that.

[richie00boy]

Yeah I hate it when the paint prep hasn't been done properly and rust comes through dead quick. I can recommend No 1 Rust Beater (brush or spray) as a primer then overcoat with normal booth sprays, or if you are doing it yourself and can spare the paint taking 48 hours to harden properly, RePaint Coach Enamel. Don't use Smoothrite/Hammerite if you ever want to paint the car in a booth again as it is silicone based.

[_SBD16v]

proper job, i like that.


i have charged the camera now so i will not be rushing the pics i will clean up all the mounts and take some good pics tomorrow you will then be able to see exactaly how there done :cool: :cool:

[_SBD16v]

Don't use Smoothrite/Hammerite if you ever want to paint the car in a booth again as it is silicone based.


:o :o :o :o thats how i was going to do the inside of the car but after about a ft sq i just thought wow that looks shite
:( :(

[richie00boy]

RePaint Coach Enamel I recommended is available from Halfords and similar in finish - maybe a bit tougher - to Smoothrite, but it is a 'safe' compatible product. Only downside is it takes longer to dry. It can be sprayed in an electric sprayer or similar if thinned.

[_SBD16v]

RePaint Coach Enamel I recommended is available from Halfords and similar in finish - maybe a bit tougher - to Smoothrite, but it is a 'safe' compatible product. Only downside is it takes longer to dry. It can be sprayed in an electric sprayer or similar if thinned.

thanks mate but its going into the body shop now to have everything done properly :)

[DarrenH]

did mine with hammerite "garden shades" applied with a brush.

http://www.astra-mk2.com/0ddball/diary/astraevo09.JPG

[Heathercdi]

MAD......always pays to do the job properly like you say though. Keep the pics updated on your progress Rob

[_SBD16v]

well i dont some work on it yesterday morning could only spend the morning on it but got lots done :):)

stripped the dash and electrics out

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/inside-stripped.jpg

thought i would give a patch of the inner arch a clean to show its still good underneath
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/inside-wheel-arch.jpg


and then for odders

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-mount-passengers.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-mount-gearbox.jpg

[_SBD16v]

and one of the front end
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/front-stripped.jpg

and one of the steering rack mount has this had a plate under it ???
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/steering-rack-mount.jpg

[Brett]

looks like someones been in there strengthening that area mate, they all go there as Im sure you know.. both my GTE 16v shells have rot there!

[_SBD16v]

yea i know but this is ythe only gte i have looked at in a long time and could not remember if that was standard and just welded or has a plate ;)

[_SBD16v]

well its time for a update

one of the things i was never happy with was the cage so while i wanted rear coilovers fitted thought it was time to do something about it so my dad is fabricating a new cage for it was we speak and seeing as he just sent me some pics i thought it was time for a update

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/cage2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/cage.jpg

[Harvey]

Looking good. What's happening with the floor pan where the rear seats are normally located, are you putting a different fuel tank in there?

[Brett]

turreting the rear's then? I like the way your harness bar is a strut brace too clever stuff!

[_SBD16v]

Looking good. What's happening with the floor pan where the rear seats are normally located, are you putting a different fuel tank in there?


if you look past the cage you will see a red box that is the lower part of my fuel cell it used to live on the flat section where the spare wheel used to be but because it was past the rear beam it whats called pendulm (SP) weight and this is bad it needs to be infront f the rear beam so i decided to move it to where the seats used to be but thought about it and decided that we could cut a hole throw the floor and mount it down in the floor to move down the center of gravity

[_SBD16v]

turreting the rear's then? I like the way your harness bar is a strut brace too clever stuff!


sort of turreting it but not were are not putting in turrets like most ppl do i have deceided that just making more room then plating back up like it was origanly will be fine as all the weight is taken on a weld in cage

oh p.s brett the strut brace is only a strut bace the harrness bars are the indivdual ones on each side of the cage

[DarrenH]

good idea that, on the turreting. perhaps some steel half pipe so it blends in with the arches more ? as opposed to square mk2 escort style turrets.

[_SBD16v]

good idea that, on the turreting. perhaps some steel half pipe so it blends in with the arches more ? as opposed to square mk2 escort style turrets.

from what i gather he is going to use a flat peice of steel and panle beat it to shape so it looks the same as an original arch just with some weld marks and wider

[storming]

what are the trurruts for

[_SBD16v]

what are the trurruts for


you cannot fit rear coilovers to a mk2 shell for 2 reasons one is because there is not enough room and the second is because the rear inner aches are not load bearing

so we fit turrets to give more clearance to for the coilovers and then link the cage in to make it wall load bearing

[storming]

so basicly you need more space to put different springs on ( penny drops ) lol

[Harvey]

I hope the lower shocker mount points on the rear beam are getting extra plating to get them beefed up, this can be a weak point when converting to coilovers.

[_SBD16v]

I hope the lower shocker mount points on the rear beam are getting extra plating to get them beefed up, this can be a weak point when converting to coilovers.

tbh i have never heard of this before how and where do you beef them up extra plate bent around and welded in place ???

[rhydgte]

Why not cut the standard ones off (gas axe) then fabricate some heavier duty ones and weld them in place..

[Harvey]

You can triangulate the front and rear parts of the lower mounts and box them in. With the extra stress on this mount caused by the coilover I would do it. If you don't know what I mean I can do a really crap drawing for you.

[_SBD16v]

You can triangulate the front and rear parts of the lower mounts and box them in. With the extra stress on this mount caused by the coilover I would do it. If you don't know what I mean I can do a really crap drawing for you.



no its ok i know what you mean will have a word with him


some more pics of the rear end taking shape

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/innerarch1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/innerarch2.jpg

he is just about to start the other side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/innerarch3.jpg

[Harvey]

Looking good, they are chunky now. Glad you know what I mean about the lower mount as I'm crap at drawings. What are the coilovers off that you will be using, like the one in the last pic above?

[_SBD16v]

Looking good, they are chunky now. Glad you know what I mean about the lower mount as I'm crap at drawings. What are the coilovers off that you will be using, like the one in the last pic above?


yes the ones in the pic above were the ones i was going to use there gax ones off a nova but there to short i need them about 4'' longer (story of my life :( :( )

but i will get some more 24 inch ones and prob use gaz again in the rear untill i can aford some leda's

the front is going to be running leda converted coilovers that were re-built about 1000miles ago so there all good

[_SBD16v]

got some more update pics

other side turret done now
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/turretdriversside.jpg

pic of the fuel cell in its new mounting its not a low as i would have liked it but it was as low as we could go without getting in the way of the exhaust tunnel
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuelcellmount.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuelcellinmount.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuelcellromfront.jpg

[rhydgte]

Making good progress I see :)

[_SBD16v]

ok well for the work today

as you can see the rear beam mounts that the original shocks mount on to dont look to strong to me and they were deff not intended for load bearing so we decided to do something about it

this is the original one

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/beam1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/beam2.jpg

and here is the new one

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/beam3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/beam5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/beam4.jpg

[norm61]

awsome stuff! makes me want to get the welder out!

[_SBD16v]

when i fitted my eccentric top mounts to my astra i found a very disconcering problem when i tightened them because they were a little bigger than the standard ones and flat (standard ones are slightly curved) i found that the top mount was pulling the ''shell'' down to meet the mount instead of the mount into the car and seeing as this is a big point for adjusting camber/caster on the astra i felt this was a very bad idea


this is the best pic i have showing this (its a crap pic but you can see how it has been pulled down)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/front-stripped.jpg
we came up with an idea to machine a plate cut the top of the front mount off and replace it with the machined plate that would also be flat,we could then gusset that plate for the rollcage to be linked into the strut tops giving it a very very rigid mounting point on the front for the rollcage

so here are the pics

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/ast-gte-002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/ast-gte-003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/ast-gte-001.jpg

[richie00boy]

Some really good work going on there. Welding looks quite neat, nice to see for a change.

[DarrenH]

you know that bit at the beginning of terminator 2 when the nuke goes off and rips throught he kids play ground ?

well if that happens, all thats gonna be left standing are those rear shock mounts lol. beef tastic.

know what you mean about the top mounts pulling the turrets flat, i just let it get on with it, quite flimsy really arent they.

[_SBD16v]

you know that bit at the beginning of terminator 2 when the nuke goes off and rips throught he kids play ground ?

well if that happens, all thats gonna be left standing are those rear shock mounts lol. beef tastic.

know what you mean about the top mounts pulling the turrets flat, i just let it get on with it, quite flimsy really arent they.

lol at terminator


yes the front shock mounts are flimsy tbh i was not bothered about them being like that before but now i am getting all the suspension done properly and spending money getting it set -up by motorsport companys i did not want to go to them with a shell that was twisting all over the place not a very good idea to get correct geometery

and also putting the cage to the front struts is all very good but if all the metal is flexing around it well whats the point

might be doing somthing a little special with the lower wish bones at some point aswell getting well into this handling thing now

[Harvey]

Those rear lower shocker mounts are are bees knees, fantastic stuff.

[Brett]

wahay rob thats all looking bloody good mate!

I dont think to much of the rear shock mounts on the Astra's either, thats why I opted to swap to the Cav Estate beam as thats a chunkyer setup but it looks puny compared to that!!

[_SBD16v]

well i just had a call to tell me i have just been sent the last of the pics because this is the final work he is doing on it as he started at the rear and is now on the final work on the front

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC000131.jpg

cannot say how happy i am about the work that has been done

[DarrenH]

stupid question, but i'm assuimng that clears the servo and MS, or are you going pedal box and remote resevoirs ?

[_SBD16v]

stupid question, but i'm assuimng that clears the servo and MS, or are you going pedal box and remote resevoirs ?


what do you think mate ;)

[_SBD16v]

p.s servos are for girls

[astrasteve23]

some really good work been goin on there rob! gonna start looking into what to do to my suspension soon. prob give you a call for a chat in the week.

[GazJevs84]

excellent work mate :applause:

[_SBD16v]

stupid question, but i'm assuimng that clears the servo and MS, or are you going pedal box and remote resevoirs ?


loads of room

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00046.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00047.jpg

[_SBD16v]

well time for a little update

collected it from the body shop today

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-bay-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-bay-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/astra-inside-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/astra-inside-1.jpg


must admit it looks better in the pics than real life but its all one colour and all the surface rust is now gone so its all good in my eyes

unfortunatly i wont be working on the car much for the next few months now with work comitments taking me to portsmouth but will be building the engine soon and then getting it fitted for later this year

[astrachamp]

looking really fresh that, must be chuffed with it mate

[_SBD16v]

looking really fresh that, must be chuffed with it mate


yeh like i said its not like an outside paint work if you get me but its all one colour and was very cheap 300 inc paint for inside and under the bonnet

[Gteman]

Looking really good their Rob.
I'm struggling to find the time to finish mine as well :grumpy:

[stt]

any progress on this rob?

[_SBD16v]

any progress on this rob?

i am afraid not mate :(

i have been very very busy for the past few months was on a course in portsmouth with the car in plymouth from june till november then the first week of novemeber i lost my garage i was renting so the car has been stored outside my mates paint shop and a couple of days after that i went to sea for 6 weeks and only just got back before christmas :( :( :( :( :(


BUT its going inside next week and i have a weeks leave so should be able to get some work done on it


there has been a few small things done thou in my spare min here and there

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

engine is all but built the last parts turned up for it friday

head is in one piece and so

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00098.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00099.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/head-big-valves.jpg

will do some updates next week once i have started bolting things onto the car

[_SBD16v]

little update after loads and loads of messing this week

got some of the fuel system fitted just a few more connects and thats inside the car finshed fuel wise

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuel-system-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuel-system-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuel-system-3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/fuel-system-4.jpg
will finish the fuel lines and get the brake lines in tommorrow

[untouchable]

Looking good Rob....keep us posted :D

[_SBD16v]

fitted the seats in today so i could make a braket for the hydraulic handbrake and make sure its got all the room needed

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/inside-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/inside1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/hydraulic-1.jpg


also finshed the last fuel lines inside the car today so thats the whole of the inside fuel system done

[Belmont turbo]

good work keep it up.

that engines looking sweeet!!!

[GazJevs84]

Good work fella starting to come together :grinning-smiley-043

[Anthony]

Looking good there mate:grinning-smiley-043
New seats? or have you always had them?

[_SBD16v]

Looking good there mate:grinning-smiley-043
New seats? or have you always had them?

no mate always had the seats got new harrnesses now thou

[_SBD16v]

done some other bits today got all the brake lines fitted inside the car aswell now :thumb:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/brake-lines-inside-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/brake-lines-inside-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/brake-lines-inside-3.jpg


taking my time over it getting it right this time and the fact i am going back to sea in 2 weeks :( could mean its going to take some time lol

[rhydgte]

good work there mate, very tidy :thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

not done much :( been working late getting the boat ready to go to sea but have fitted the steering column now using a mk3 astra one as when compared to a mk2 looks like a much better item without a silly little push in cap at the bottom that falls out lol while fitting the column i also put the dash in around the correct position to check that while seated i could see it ok i also moved the column down about an inch and moved it to the right to make it feel better for my seating position with low side mounted seats

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/steering-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/dash-mok.jpg


packed the car away now under cover in my mates workshop ready for when i get back from sea so :(

[KEV]

Looks ace mate. Every time I see pictures like these it makes me want to add to my cage and make my own dash. Hmmm

[DarrenH]

looks good.

that comment about mk2 column made me chuckle. for years i wondered what that bright orange sleeve did. used to push it back up twice a week lol

[_SBD16v]

looks good.

that comment about mk2 column made me chuckle. for years i wondered what that bright orange sleeve did. used to push it back up twice a week lol

its amazing how loose the steering feels with that bit of plastic out its such a silly idea but the mk3 ones have all round nylon bushes built in much much better imo and also on the bearings are much better quality in the mk3 one aswell

[InnesKongSX]

I know how you feel about not having time to do these things for because of work...i only get to do work on the sx every 4 weeks or so. Hoping to get her done before i go to sea. What you do at sea mate?

[_SBD16v]

I know how you feel about not having time to do these things for because of work...i only get to do work on the sx every 4 weeks or so. Hoping to get her done before i go to sea. What you do at sea mate?

i go deep in a big tube full of seamen

[alistair j]

i go deep in a big tube full of seamen

must smell.ha ha ha

[Dale]

maybe he like it?

[vauxmad]

looking good, glad to see some progress on it again. must be good to see it all coming back together

[Dale]

i love work rob, ever since i saw you out in swindon in it! reason i bought one! i still remember you racing me and my mate in Scooby P1 and flying past us, my jaw hit the floor! was great car first time round lets hope it even better this time!

[_SBD16v]

i love work rob, ever since i saw you out in swindon in it! reason i bought one! i still remember you racing me and my mate in Scooby P1 and flying past us, my jaw hit the floor! was great car first time round lets hope it even better this time!

i can't remeber who you are tbh mate prob would if i see you if you know what i mean

it WILL be better this time the only reason i took it apart was there was alot i bodged last time and i mean alot this time that aint happening its getting down exactly how i want it and this time if i cannot have something when i want it i will just wait :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


and it would be rude not to have more power this time ;)

[_SBD16v]

few pics of my turbo comes from a friend and its done a genuine 2k miles as you can see from the pics

its a t34 with a .48 rear housing so a hybrid turbo but i am changing the rear to a .63 so it will be the same as a big escos turbo good for 380-400 bhp without the nitrous.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/t3448.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/t34.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/t34a.jpg

[Anthony]

Nice turbo there, should be able to take plenty of abuse:thumbsup:
What manifold you opting for out of interest?

Regards

[_SBD16v]

Nice turbo there, should be able to take plenty of abuse:thumbsup:
What manifold you opting for out of interest?

Regards

i have just been reading vauxsport so i am not surprised you mentioned that lol

at the moment i am going to be using a modded 200sx one as funds cannot stretch any more at the moment but i might get a better one at a later date

[Anthony]

lol i was hoping you'd gone for one of them peterg manifolds. They really do look spot on, but at £800 odd quid, not sure i fancy getting one to then find out if, it will fit in a mk2 astra or not!
I'm sure it can be made to fit but its a case of how much works involved?

Regards
:)

[steveboyslim]

Hey, there nice pistons.:thumbsup:

Steve

[_SBD16v]

not done anything to the gte for ages now :( but in about 8 weeks i should be in my new house with a big garage so i can get on with building the gte at the moment i have just been buying parts will get some pics up of my inlet once i have the other bits


some pics of my new manifold


http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf00092.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf00112.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf00102.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf00122.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf00141.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf0017.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/6075/dscf0015.jpg

[Anthony]

booooh, i want my manifold too. Have paid my deposit but now he wont answer my pms!? :(

[_SBD16v]

booooh, i want my manifold too. Have paid my deposit but now he wont answer my pms!? :(


hmmmmm please dont worrie in the slightest bit he is 100% genuine i will get him to pm you althou i know for a fact that they should have had them all finished this week but ran out of gas on the one after mine:yuck: :yuck: :yuck:

so there waiting for gas but they WILL be turning up soon

[_SBD16v]

well i still have not done much tryed my new lights in wont be to everyone taste but i think they look really good

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/twins-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/twins-1.jpg




as you can see thou she is looking a little worse for wear


well i went to get my new toy yesterday and i LOVE it so could not resist a little sneaky pic

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/gt3071.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/3071.jpg

i will be starting to do some serious work very soon have a week off work where i am going to attack it LOL

[Orange Peel]

Holy BIG turbo Batman!!

The manifold looks amazing!

Where do you store the Astra? Looks like a decent sized unit!

[Alex mac]

Holy BIG turbo Batman!!

The manifold looks amazing!

Where do you store the Astra? Looks like a decent sized unit!

I am guessing you could store a decent underwater tin can boat in there ;)

Looking very smart the manifold I mean (rolf2) is that going to be a tight fit to teh rad, but I have seen them fitted to a nova once, so you should be ok :2thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

I am guessing you could store a decent underwater tin can boat in there ;)

Looking very smart the manifold I mean (rolf2) is that going to be a tight fit to teh rad, but I have seen them fitted to a nova once, so you should be ok :2thumbsup:


i really dont have a clue how its going to affect the rad lol i know for a fact it wont fit in with the standard one in there i will prob move the rad right fwd under the slam pannel and use a smaller one like a cossie one

[Alex mac]

i really dont have a clue how its going to affect the rad lol i know for a fact it wont fit in with the standard one in there i will prob move the rad right fwd under the slam pannel and use a smaller one like a cossie one

You could use the same method I have on the V6, use a larger rad, keeps the cooling right, and move to below the slam panel, you will have to form a new cross member, to allow this, but thinking on it this may effect the positioning of your intercooler

Some the the nova turbo guys have ordered specialist, combined s/s intercooler, rad and oil cooler, smart looking piece of kit, and all cooled by pacet, twin fan set up, just an idea, I can get you the info if you wish :2thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

You could use the same method I have on the V6, use a larger rad, keeps the cooling right, and move to below the slam panel, you will have to form a new cross member, to allow this, but thinking on it this may effect the positioning of your intercooler

Some the the nova turbo guys have ordered specialist, combined s/s intercooler, rad and oil cooler, smart looking piece of kit, and all cooled by pacet, twin fan set up, just an idea, I can get you the info if you wish :2thumbsup:


i will more than likly be using a pwr charge cooler so th intercooler aint a issue


my cross member is already heavly mod'd and strengthened so i dont want to be cutting that but i will have a thinker one that sits under the slam panel i think

[Brett]

****ing hell Rob that one mahooseive turbo! From what you said yesterday this is going to be one hell of a build:)

[Dale]

crazy, looking good tho!

[_SBD16v]

time for a update:

i am off work this week so thought it was time to start doing something to the gte.

so last week ordered the rest of the bits to build the engine inc some new arp bolts.

first off it was time to clean the engine and gearbox and then pop some paint on there

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/block.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine1-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/gearbox-1.jpg


it was then time to get on with some real work ;)

first thing was to remove the crank (needed to take off the internal triger as using a external one )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/bearings.jpg

once this was out i could go about fitting my new arp mains studs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/arps.jpg


and there they are all fitted

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/arps-fitted.jpg


there is just something about a set f stud's fitted thats just ummmm


after such good work it would have been rude to have stopped so while i had the go i got the rest of the bottom end together

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/bottomend-built.jpg

so the bottom end is now all torqued up got all the oil pump and seals ready to go on tomorrow

if i am lucky by the end of the week it will be in :D

and my new management turned up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/sm4.jpg

so a happy boy at the moment

[astrayorkie]

:thumbsup: nice bit of work going on there

[mick g]

How much power are we going to get from this set up? Looks like lots:thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

How much power are we going to get from this set up? Looks like lots:thumbsup:

turbo is on its last legs at 480

i will be happy if we see 450 from it +the gas obviously

[astrayorkie]

what spec are you going for?

[_SBD16v]

what spec are you going for?


turbo or engine

[untouchable]

Ooooooo shiney gearbox...look after it Rob ;)

[_SBD16v]

Ooooooo shiney gearbox...look after it Rob ;)

don't worry i will hopefully it will last longer than my other boxes LMAO

[astrayorkie]

sorry engine

also wanted to know a little more about your manifold

[F'astra 16v]

mate that car is awesome you got any idea how much it weighs?

[_SBD16v]

sorry engine

also wanted to know a little more about your manifold


bottom end is

re-bored block to 86.5mm checked for straightness of the bores and all the bearing journals were checked for size.
SBS 86.5mm mahle pistons with the tops machined to bring compression down to around 8:1.
early UNGROUND crank.
steel rods.
arp2000 rod bolts
arp mains studs
new oil pump with sbd steel inner pump gear.
sbd nylon release valve
SBS head stud kit
steel head gasket

head

gm head
Gary Poole port and polish including chamber work.
34mm 1 piece 214n race inlet valves
30mm 1 piece 214n race exhaust valves
bronze valve guides
SBD double valve springs
SBD steel valve caps
SBD steel double valve spring platform
xe inlet and exhaust cam

i think thats about it prob forgot some bits lol

on the manifold front things are about to change because of the size of my turbo i cannot run it the original way

so atm beardy is making me a new one once its made i will be trying it on my car to check for clearance then he will be offering that type so they have more clearance.

[_SBD16v]

mate that car is awesome you got any idea how much it weighs?

somewhere around a tonne will get it weighed once it is all together

[Anthony]

Your engine spec doesn't differ that much from mine mate so looking forward to seeing what you achieve on this gt30... sm4 is a bit flash tho ya rich bugger:grinning-smiley-043

i never heard back from beardy so i'm assuming hes waiting on making mine again untill yours is sorted!??

Regards
:thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

Your engine spec doesn't differ that much from mine mate so looking forward to seeing what you achieve on this gt30... sm4 is a bit flash tho ya rich bugger:grinning-smiley-043

i never heard back from beardy so i'm assuming hes waiting on making mine again untill yours is sorted!??

Regards
:thumbsup:


he is making my new one this week i have seen some pics of the mounting position and it looks much better i should have that next week once mine is sorted and i am happy he is going to make yours the same


most the big engine specs are the same mate there is not really alot more you can do to one that really is about ti

bar a girdle there aint much more LOL

[Anthony]

Good news on the exhaust manifold. Look forward to hearing how the new one turns out mate please if you dont mind keeping me updated.:thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

Good news on the exhaust manifold. Look forward to hearing how the new one turns out mate please if you dont mind keeping me updated.:thumbsup:

once i have some decent pics of it i will post them

[p8wle]

I have a girdle in mine :Banane44:

how much u pay for the sm4 and where can i get one from

[_SBD16v]

I have a girdle in mine :Banane44:

how much u pay for the sm4 and where can i get one from


mark shead is the only autronic dealer in the uk about 1500 quid

i was temped by a girdle but tbh could not be arsed will fit one to the next engine i build but i dont think at 450 bhp its really needed

[Tom]

Looks great Rob :grinning-smiley-043

Would the turbo need an extra support brace to the block or is it ok like it is ?

[_SBD16v]

Looks great Rob :grinning-smiley-043

Would the turbo need an extra support brace to the block or is it ok like it is ?

well i did ask but beardy said it will be fine if it does crack will send it back to him and he will sort it out but it should be ok

[Tom]

well i did ask but beardy said it will be fine if it does crack will send it back to him and he will sort it out but it should be ok

Ah right, just to me it looks like theres a fair bit of weight hanging off the exhaust studs.

[_SBD16v]

Ah right, just to me it looks like theres a fair bit of weight hanging off the exhaust studs.

yeh i agree there is quite a bit but they are very well made manifolds

[_SBD16v]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/bonnet.jpg


just to let you know i aint forgot about her ;)

[KEV]

Was that on ebay? If it was I nearly put a bid on it!

[_SBD16v]

Was that on ebay? If it was I nearly put a bid on it!

it was

and i won if for £21 :stirthepot: :stirthepot: :stirthepot: :stirthepot:

[Anthony]

it was

and i won if for £21 :stirthepot: :stirthepot: :stirthepot: :stirthepot:

flipping jammy bleeder. I really need to keep my eyes peeled on ebay more often!

[_SBD16v]

flipping jammy bleeder. I really need to keep my eyes peeled on ebay more often!

hee hee

[_SBD16v]

well seeing as i now have a astra-mk2 track day to prep for thought i better get my finger out my ****

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-2.jpg

just need to source a few bits and then the engine can go in

[InnesKongSX]

Good work mate, how do your engine so shiney? Did you send away of just pressure wash it? lol. Im doing mine on the sx over xmas:)

[_SBD16v]

Good work mate, how do your engine so shiney? Did you send away of just pressure wash it? lol. Im doing mine on the sx over xmas:)

i normally get them acid cleaned then paint them with hamerite

[astrachamp]

you definatly win the trophy for the shiniest block and also for the tidiest bedroom award!

[Ian T]

It'll be a shame to use that engine... ;)

Ian.

[KEV]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-2.jpg




That style of bed frame and mattress looks familiar. Thats got to be an MOD block room!!

[_SBD16v]

That style of bed frame and mattress looks familiar. Thats got to be an MOD block room!!


my married quarter spare room ;)

[g3dd35]

just read the whole lot and really intresting stuff mate keep it up.

[_SBD16v]

ok ok not a lot to report but i thought it was time for one non the less.

the car has been living outside for a while now, so i bought it a car cover

this is how i found it at the start of this week

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00783.jpg


unfortunatly over my leave period with all the bad weather it was blown off and with no one to put it back this is how it was found, now there was a reason for the car cover (its no show car so was not to protect the paint) it had no door seals or tailgate seal. so the car was in no way water tight.

so i decided that my first job was going to be to get rid of all the this is how i found the car inside.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00831.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00829.jpg

i used a sponge to get rid of the water, and thought i would put it into a bucket and it filled a 5lt bucket :help: :help:

but its all gone now i also got rid of most of the oxidiation its like surface rust but just goes with a wipe or a little t-cut so that will be ok soon.

i also took all the windows out today so so that i can clean up all the window holes ready so the windows can be refitted an better sealed.

it was then time for some real work, yesterday i painted the coilovers

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00838.jpg


good ol hamerite smooth

and then was the moment to get fitting

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00835.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00836-1.jpg

because of the extra think top mounts fitted the the shell i may now have a problem add that to the thinkness of the alloy top mounts and it raises the car by around 50mm :dunno: :dunno:

the problem with this is the coilovers will no allow me to go low enough without bottoming out, so the plan at the moment is to look into building them up so the top mount is ABOVE the car part of the top mount then drilling the holes larger so instead of using 2 m8 bolts i will use 4 m10's and that should be more than enough to take any abuse that putting them ontop could cause.


back onto it again tommorrow to refit all the windows and then build up and fit the other coilover.

[vauxmad]

some more good work going on. i see the wheels have gone black to match the lights.

bit of a bugger to find teh car doing an impression of a swimming pool

[_SBD16v]

I decided that I did not like the idea of fitting the strut tops ontop as it seamed like far to much of a bodge so I decided the old way forward was new suspension so the leda stuff has been put on the shelf and I have ordered some new gaz coilovers, there being made at the moment

I also decided it was time for some decent brakes

these are the same as mine but not mine as mine should be in the post on there way to me :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/reylandbrakes.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/reylandbrakes2.jpg


I also this week recived my new intercooler that looked like ti was going to be a tight fit

and I think to say it is tight is a under staightment

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01489_renamed_30597.jpg

but I am glad to say it DOES all fit behind the bumper without it looking stupid

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01493_renamed_17077.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01490_renamed_28762.jpg

[mick g]

That intercooler is huge! Looks a bit like an rs500 one, what is it off? Nice brakes too:thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

That intercooler is huge! Looks a bit like an rs500 one, what is it off? Nice brakes too:thumbsup:

intercooler is a £100 one off ebay BUT i am really impressed with the quality of it has a very nice core



got all excited a min ago as there was a knock at the door and i thought it might have been my brakes but it was the electric man to take a reading

GUTTED lol

[Tony25]

That intercooler looks like a bargain, what power are you aiming for??

[_SBD16v]

That intercooler looks like a bargain, what power are you aiming for??

450bhp + gas

[Tony25]

Should get you from A to B fairly quickly. :grinning-smiley-043

[_SBD16v]

well been waiting around for a while for a new deleivery :):)

and today i got these

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/gaznew3.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/gaznew.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/gaznew2.jpg


now all i need is to get them fitted :D

[Dann]

they look siny so must be expensive, also i just noticed nova front shocks are REALLY different to astra ones!

[_SBD16v]

they look siny so must be expensive, also i just noticed nova front shocks are REALLY different to astra ones!


yeh the nova ones are arguably a much better design and is now what all the vauxhall range follows

[Dann]

yeh the nova ones are arguably a much better design and is now what all the vauxhall range follows

^^^^^ this guy has alot of sence,he knows nova=future!

[_SBD16v]

^^^^^ this guy has alot of sence,he knows nova=future!

yeh sure thats why i built a 20k astra

nova=:yuck:

[Dann]

yeh sure thats why i built a 20k astra

nova=:yuck:

:P 0ne day ill have a nova that will enialate your astra,many many many years from now but 1 day i hope,

[Harvey]

Nice one Rob, I've dropped you a PM btw. So glad the rears fit as I was beginning to have doubts myself, only reason I mentioned it was because my mate had issues with his Nova rear coilovers but obviously the Astra has better clearances.

[untouchable]

:P 0ne day ill have a nova that will enialate your astra,many many many years from now but 1 day i hope,

And in Danns next post Rob, he will tell you his dad is bigger than you dad no doubt :rolleyes:

[Belmont turbo]

very nice what involved in fitting the rears then?

[KEV]

Oh yeah, looking good! Loving the coilovers and go faster brakes Rob, PM sent. She's getting all the right bits thats for sure.

[DarrenH]

top job rob. they look great. are they standard hub carriers? i.e you have to donate a pair of struts for them to create your coilovers ?

[DarrenH]

:P 0ne day ill have a nova that will enialate your astra,many many many years from now but 1 day i hope,

theres always a faster car than yours, doesnt matter if its a turbo astra or a noble M12 GTO. i have allot of respect for anyone who builds something, and i'm not a massive fanboy for any particular model or marque of car.

to some extent the owner is a big portion of the car, the work they have put in and passion, their attitude and commitment are part of its apeal. in that sense robs astra will always "annihilate" your nova.

[_SBD16v]

top job rob. they look great. are they standard hub carriers? i.e you have to donate a pair of struts for them to create your coilovers ?


yep

i have just been dealt one of them blows that threatens to cripple the whole think.

my new coilovers are not quite what they seam, my dad has by accedent sent small block legs to be converted.

so the big block hubs wont fit :(

going to call gaz tommorrow and see about getting the hubs changed over but i can see that being around £300, so a large set back to say the least

:(

[KEV]

(shock) Ouch. Gutted for you mate.

Hopefully you'll sort something out.

[_SBD16v]

(shock) Ouch. Gutted for you mate.

Hopefully you'll sort something out.



yeh it will get sorted even if i have to pay another 400 to have a new set BUT it WILL GET SORTED as i am building the car right this time how ever much it costs.

[DarrenH]

thought the only difference was inside diametre of the bearing (the splined bit for the CV join stubs). so you just need to press big block wheel bearings in?

could confirm on epc, but dont have it here

[_SBD16v]

thought the only difference was inside diametre of the bearing (the splined bit for the CV join stubs). so you just need to press big block wheel bearings in?

could confirm on epc, but dont have it here


jamie f thought that aswell these have a 65mm outside diameter a calibra turbos 2 different sizes are 72 and 74 mm


dont forget these will have been mk3 astra ones :( :( :(

[Jonas Jonsson]

Have you done any reinforcement of the connectionpoints for the rear suspention. None of them will last very long if you dont reinforce them and still go for coilovers.

How strong springs are you using?

[_SBD16v]

Have you done any reinforcement of the connectionpoints for the rear suspention. None of them will last very long if you dont reinforce them and still go for coilovers.

How strong springs are you using?



have a read of the thread mate

400 on the front 350 on the rear

[_SBD16v]

just to let you all know

coilvers are going back to gaz tommorrow to ave the cast hum changed over to big block ones

the correct thing to do

[Harvey]

Nice one Rob, I'll be contact GAZ in a couple of weeks once I've got a set of big block legs ;)

[_SBD16v]

Nice one Rob, I'll be contact GAZ in a couple of weeks once I've got a set of big block legs ;)



dave lyon mate

;) told him to expect you

[DarrenH]

right you are. i see 66, 72 and 74mm.

good work on getting it sorted so quick :)

[_SBD16v]

right you are. i see 66, 72 and 74mm.

good work on getting it sorted so quick :)



my wallet dont agree lol

but i REALLY want it done in time for combe on april the 19th

[_SBD16v]

another day


another big box :D:D:D:D:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/reyland.jpg


so now it should stop well this time

[Anthony]

Lovely jubbly, you uprating the front pads mate or going with the ones they supply as standard with the kit?

Regards

[_SBD16v]

Lovely jubbly, you uprating the front pads mate or going with the ones they supply as standard with the kit?

Regards


going to go on the standard ones for now

did you find them good or bad ???

[Anthony]

going to go on the standard ones for now

did you find them good or bad ???

Never had a problem with them tbh mate. Only time i ever noticed any slight hint of overheating was after constant laps at the ring.
Have just had to replace them and Martin rated the ferrado 3000's very highly if main use is trackdays so i will what extra improvement there is.

Regards

[KEV]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/reyland.jpg




I am on the hunt for some big brakes, these look like they would stop jupiter!

I'm not very sure what to get, I like those 4 pot wilwoods that Rally D sell and I've heard good things about the Hi-Spec setup so I'm not sure yet.

Rob-on the wheel front, are your cesaro's 16"? What are they like on a track day? I like the way my fifteens handle, problem is, I may get bodies or turbo power one day so I don't want to buy brakes that fit under 15's then find that later on they're not up to the job and I need bigger brakes and wheels.

Are you getting the coilovers back soon then? I think you'll start a trend with them.

[_SBD16v]

*yesterdays update*


well the engine has been sat around far to long half built, and seeing as i now have a deadline i guess its time to get on with it.

spent yesterday and today sorting out twin plate clutch issues, finally got the clutch to fit inside the gearbox and thought right time to line up the clutch, to my surprise the gearbox went straight on :o :o


so i thought it would be rude to stop there got the rest of the clutch bolts in and then fitted the gearbox up.

head is now fitted and TQ'd down so she is ready to go in now.

depending if anyone is down the car club tomorrow will the decider if it goes in but if there is i shall put it in tommorrow.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/enginetogether.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/enginetogether2.jpg[/quote]

[_SBD16v]

*todays update*

well with the engine done it would be rude to not get it fitted 8) 8)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00912.jpg

fell in the engine bay i love putting a engine in a car it was designed for lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00913.jpg


its amazing how much room there is in a mk2 astra engine bay

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00915.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00918.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00917.jpg


so she is all bolted in now.


starting doing little jobs the kind that take time but you dont like doing, but they all need to be done so its all progress

[mick g]

Nice one there, it sure looks roomy without all the other bits fitted..

[Paulwoo]

Looking good m8. Do you own that small bit of land there? Or is it just somewhere to keep your car?

Looks really well though so far.

[_SBD16v]

Looking good m8. Do you own that small bit of land there? Or is it just somewhere to keep your car?

Looks really well though so far.



own it i wish lol


its inside the naval base

[_SBD16v]

bit more progress

before i can start to wire the car i had to decide what to do about a dash.

my original alloy dash i made i was not to happy with it did not look tidy and when i turbo'd the car i had to more gauges to house, these ended up at the bottom of the dash on a piece of old number plate.

original dash

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/olddash.jpg

i first decided that i would totally loose the dash and just fit the clocks

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00122.jpg

however after putting them in and looking thought the screen it was quite clear that was going to be a bad idea as the white of the inside of the car ment the bar going across the car was right in the center of the windscreen.

so that idea was put to bed.

i decided that making a new alloy dash was going to be the best idea but with the knowledge of what did not work before and what i did not like i was in a much better situation to make my new one

so first was to cut some alloy and bend her up into shape.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00930800x600-1.jpg

once it was the correct shape it was time to start cutting holes.
because of the odd shape of the clocks there was not many ways to make the whole the best i could think of is to drill lots of wholes hacksaw them out then file it to the correct size
so out came the drill

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/dashcutting.jpg

once that whole was cut up and cleaned and filed, the clocks were fitted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/dash1.jpg

it was then time to fit some gauges fitted the wide band, fuel pressure and boost gauge, this was done with a 51mm hole saw bit and again a file

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/dash4.jpg

as you can see straight away glare from the alloy would be a big problem.

i had thought of these already and when out today picked up some hammerite matt black BBQ paint.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/dashpainted.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/dash5.jpg

very happy with the results, i decided to refit the wiper stalks so dont have anywhere near the same amount of switchs as before there will just be a few to the right hand side of the dash.

[Paulwoo]

Looks really neat m8. And lol @ the switches in place of the indicator stalks, madness!

Definatly looks well though

[Mick8v]

Very tidy work going on there, love that minimalist approach.
What did you paint the engine and box with btw?

[_SBD16v]

Very tidy work going on there, love that minimalist approach.
What did you paint the engine and box with btw?
engine and gearbox are silver hamerite

[Mick8v]

thanks for that, doesn't it burn off the engine block??

[_SBD16v]

thanks for that, doesn't it burn off the engine block??


nope done really get that hot

[GazJevs84]

Looking good mate:grinning-smiley-043

[PaulGTEturbo]

awesome mate, i love it..

[astrayorkie]

what about heating, cooling,and demisting of cabin and screen ?

[_SBD16v]

what about heating, cooling,and demisting of cabin and screen ?

heating is for girls and de misting is for ppl that drive there cars in the winter

[vauxmad]

heating is for girls and de misting is for ppl that drive there cars in the winter

my sentiments exaclty, if your cold put a jumper on! (weighs less than a heater box)

some more great working goin on there mate. i am having ponderings about my dash too.

keep us updated.

[4doorvalver]

The dash is awesome, would look mental in carbon fibre, I'm now pondering more ideas for mine now..

[_SBD16v]

The dash is awesome, would look mental in carbon fibre, I'm now pondering more ideas for mine now..


i was going to make one out of carbon, and i still might.

but the problem i can see with it will be the glare again ontop would be horrible

[Harvey]

Stick with alloy and the matt/satin black as carbon is for the bling possy. Only reason I still have the dash is because I've kept the heater matrix and ducting because I'll be using the car on the road in all weathers as well as track when funds allow. If it was for use on dry Summer days and track only I would of removed the heater and dash to save even more weight.

[KEV]

If it was for use on dry Summer days and track only I would of removed the heater and dash to save even more weight.

Same here, but I know by virtue of location that I will be doing wet trackdays, and I'll need that demister. Even then I would rather have one than not, its another way of getting heat away from the engine.

[bigdrifter]

Looking good, the new dash is very neat. Whats the rust staining all about though on the n/s a pillar, l thought it was all new paint inside?

[_SBD16v]

Time for another update, ( i know i dont understand where all the enthusiam is coming from either but i LIKE it :lol: )


well after some more money to gaz and another set of shocks yesterday i finally got the correct ones :clap: :clap:

first things first i need to say my praise for GAZ suspension, it has been a pleasure dealing with them, just incase you dont know the story my dad by accedent sent the wrong legs to be converted to coilover, he sent small block ones. After getting these on a saturaday all i could do all weekend was try and think around the problem coming up with all ideas like the nova boys do with fitting weird and wonderfull bearings with maching.

however, one call to gaz and i was well on my way with the correct solution they said they would change the hubs over for around £100 bargin, a few days after i sent them i gave dave a call and he said because i wanted them a little shorter it was easyer for them to just make a whole new set and they were just machining the new parts, knowing the last set was £400 i expected them to be quite a bit, but correct dont come cheap so i did not even say anything.

anyway about a week later i get a call and there all done

£131 including postage back :o what can i say thats just such good customer service considering it was OUR **** up.

anyway lets have some pics



first thing to do was get the suspension fitted and brakes had the brakes for 2 weeks now in the front room gagging to fit them

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/brakesfitted.jpg

when i fitted it all up i said to a mate i NEVER want to fit a wheel, they should not be hiden :lol: :lol: :help:


once the suspension and brakes was on it was time to start checking the brake clearance, on went the wheel and it all looked very good put some bolts in nipped them up and still had caliper clearance and the wheel could turn, however the next bit was not so good tightened the wheel up when to turn it over and it caught on the caliper and took some paint off :( must only hit by 1-2mm shame so after a bit of thinking about it im going to file a few mm off the caliper till they fit not to keen on spacers.

so off they came they was not going to spoil my fun for the day finished putting the other side on then got the rears on and droped it down on the floor.

im totally made up with the way the car sits im going the springs are as low as they can go but im going to fit some 1 inch shorter springs this will allow me to go down 1/4 inch on the drivers side to make it level with the passengers. and give 1/2 adjustment down for corner weighting.

the wishbones are just off level ( the correct side) and the steering arms are practically level (gaz also lowered them when they lowered the legs)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/astraside-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/astradrivers.jpg


i think its a good result on the looks just needs to be set up and she will be all good to go suspension wise.


there have been other things happening on the scene at the moment,

i was not happy with the way my turbo sat so after talking to jay from NORTECH (01709888170) the bloke that made it he said he is happy to make me a new one how i want it, so with alot of chating we finally got what i wanted and here it is, this is the best pic i have one he sent me via txt message, but as my engine is in i wont get a better pic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/Downpipe.jpg

again more than happy with how it is now and once i get all this back its really going to start to take shape


:D

[_SBD16v]

Looking good, the new dash is very neat. Whats the rust staining all about though on the n/s a pillar, l thought it was all new paint inside?


it is mate BUT under the wiper panel water collects in the side, and there is a VERY small leak there its literally a water stain rather than rust i just aint got around to cleaning it, ill do it tommorrow for you ;)

[InnesKongSX]

Looking good!! Keep it up! Big drifter..you got eagle eyes!lol Innes

[DarrenH]

fantastic progress :) that manifold is astonishing creation ! looks like a giant mutated bamboo plant.

i guess its no skin off gaz nose, they can just sell them to the next nova owner that asks for a set of legs ??

[_SBD16v]

fantastic progress :) that manifold is astonishing creation ! looks like a giant mutated bamboo plant.

i guess its no skin off gaz nose, they can just sell them to the next nova owner that asks for a set of legs ??

actually the next astra owner but yeh they wont loose any money but there is not alot of companys that would do it for so cheap they would just see it was well he is going to have them anyway ...................

[_SBD16v]

Stick with alloy and the matt/satin black as carbon is for the bling possy. Only reason I still have the dash is because I've kept the heater matrix and ducting because I'll be using the car on the road in all weathers as well as track when funds allow. If it was for use on dry Summer days and track only I would of removed the heater and dash to save even more weight.

i spent a winter driving it without a heater was not bad just had to regulary rub the screen with washing up liquid neet (old kit car trick)

[PaulGTEturbo]

it has a nickname......."mighty white", what do you reckon....lol

[untouchable]

Looks fantastic Rob, really coming along in leaps and bounds now :D

[_SBD16v]

ok this update is mostly of bits that i have shown already but i spent the day making these bits fit properly, there not perminatly fitted as i dont want to leave it on till its totaly sealed, but its ok as because they straight fit now its only 30 mins work to fit it all up :D

new top hat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01527.jpg

decided to go 2.5 inch as thats the same as my boost pipework


then it was turbo and manifold time :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01528.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01533.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01532.jpg

is a very tight fit but the rad just about goes in, turbo did touch the block but only on the power steering lug so i done some mods to that ;) now it all fits.

also managed to get the cailpers to fit need a little more messing but they should be fine.

there FOOKIN close thou.:D:D:D:D:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01538.jpg

[Anthony]

Looking awesome mate!!!
I thought you had different plans regarding the inlet? You mentioned a plenum from a guy off PF before?

Regards

[mick g]

Serious stuff now mate, it looks fast parked up:thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

Looking awesome mate!!!
I thought you had different plans regarding the inlet? You mentioned a plenum from a guy off PF before?

Regards

i have a swedish plenum from a cossie BUT seeing boys making 400+ on a standard manifold i ahve put the plenum in the corner and im going to give the standard route a go for the min LOL

[Dann]

FOOK ME! you could live in that turbo! looks very nice, hopefully will be finished soon :)

[_SBD16v]

hopefully will be finished soon :)


no need to hope mate it will be ;)

[_SBD16v]

progress update, well if you can call it that !!!!


had a small issue got all the drive shafts in, ball joints all conected all was going really well and was going to start getting boost hoses on and exhaust/ turbo and then i found out the clutch did not have enough leverage before hitting the gearbox ooooops.

last twin plate i made a bracket to extend the cable BUT this time it did not work,

sooo only one thing to do

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/enginebackout.jpg

:confused: :confused:


on a plus point im getting quite good and it only took 12 mins to get out lol

took it out at around 6 and by the time i went home the problem was solved, i welded the outside part of a f18 release bearing to the calibra one and it now has enough cleanence althou i forgot to take a pic before i put the gearbox back on.

and this is how she stands

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/endofday.jpg

so engine should be going back in sunday (not tommorow as i have wife things on tommorrow)

so only a few hours behind at the moment.

[_SBD16v]

well with the clutch problem sorted it was time for the old girl to go back in, so this afternoon i went to work on the car.

as usual engine did not take long and within 30 mins she was in a bolted up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/enginein2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/enginein.jpg

the car club where im building it has a leveler for use with the crane, i advice anyone that takes engines out regulary to get one it make getting engines in and out a dodle.


i have hit a bit of a wall at the moment, since chips failur i have been worried so i am now waiting on a 1.9mm headgasket to make sure i have more than enough clearance, that should be hear tuesday (thanks mr slim), so untill then i am just fitting things to make sure they fit, which might i add nothing does, so alot of mods are taking place lol.

i did however decide that i wanted to try my new coated cambelt cover for my little bit of bufty lol

i love it thou
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/engine-3.jpg

painted the inlet black just to make it look tidy and i think it does the job perfect

[screamer69]

shes looking good m8 :)

[Paulwoo]

:propeller:

Looks stunning m8. Can't wait to see it finished

[_SBD16v]

been getting jons done but not really things you can take pictures of so for a few days i have not bothered with a update.

so a little catching up, i recently found out that the autronic needs to know the compression ratio of the engine and althou we could make a good guess that was not very professional, and would make marks job difficult writing a base map, so i thought it was time to get the head off and measure it, the second reason i wanted to take the head off was because i was not sure on piston to valve clearance and althou there should be no problem i would feel much better with a 1,9mm gasket.

so i ordered a 1.9mm gasket from mr slim and took the head back off

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01026.jpg

cut up some perspex (hole saw bit perfect)

and measured the block and head then chip worked out the compression ratio.

happy with the 8.3:1 it worked out out, and a good job was done on the head the head cc'd at 44ml 1 more than standard so its had some good chamber work to take it to 1 point more than standard.

mid going the compression ratio a visitor turned up

the man mr jamie F

so with a quick bolt back on of the head it was time to get the engine timed up

and this was why mr F was hear, i wanted the cams set up at a perfect setting so when it goes for mapping i can tell mark what the cams are set to

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01540.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01539.jpg

proper setting up of the cams with a dial gauge, im on standard XE cams inlet and exhaust

and they are set 115 degs on both to dial out some of the mid range Tq and send it up the rev range.

while jamie was setting the cams i started to fit the cam belt rollers

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01542.jpg

as some of you will notice thats the lower roller on the upper hole, i was just checking jamie to make sure he keeps up his game lol

engine is now all timed up and fitted with the correct rocker cover

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01038.jpg


because of poor weather i then had to retire indoors so i thought i would start on my bonnet.

i bought this a few months ago got it for a steal of 26 quid but it was damaged.

at some point the lad that had it left the pins off and it come over and hit the windscreen, it was built as a dirrect fit but damage to the parts the original hinges bolt to ment that was no longer possible, however i was not happy with the weight of it so instead of repairing them i decided it would be better to just pin it in 4 corners

this means so weight could come off :p:p
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01019.jpg

after some pulling and messing around with a screw driver she looked like this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01020.jpg

i have decided to leave the F/G going on the front part as it make it alot stiffer and should stop the bonnet lifting in the center at speed.

then it was time to start fitting the pins ive decided to go for lockable flush mount pins as they are a much nicer finish and much easyer to see at a glance there not cliped down, so to the hole cutting back out with the drill and LOADS of holes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01031800x600.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01036.jpg

dont look to bad fitted in, the ones i have at the moment are mount under ones but im going to mount them ontop, unsure at the moment if im going to sell these on and get 2 new sets of top mount or just get one new top mount for the rear.

and here she is all fitted up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01035.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01034.jpg

getting there i am going to paint the bonnet before anyone ask's lol

[DarrenH]

top job! dear dear jamie fishcakes

[_SBD16v]

time for a update

done another day on it today and things are starting to come together now.

brakes are on and ready for bleeding (after i get a few fittings from think auto)

was quite a job to get the calipers to clear but they do now there is prob 1mm of clearance between the caliper and the wheel, that should be enough.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01565.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01566.jpg

thats one job finished there on and not coming off lol


im getting to the point where the jobs ive been putting off as thats not needed jobs are starting to be the only ones left or even holding me up

so i decided to mount the coil pack, im using a coil pack from a C14xe iirc as it has built in ignition amp, however with mine being a non coilpack head i needed to make a braket to hold it after a few hours of messing i finally came up with this, im happy with it now, leads fit perfect and there is no movement in the coil.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01556.jpg

just needs to come off to be painted.

also fitted the turbo, manifold exhaust downpipe today filter and pipework few pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01553.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01552.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01557.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01555.jpg
those not familar with the mk2 will not know about the 4 inch hole in the inner wing, the filter sits dirrectly above this hole so im going to use the foglight duct to put air upto the filter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01554.jpg

also thought i would fit my irmscher rear lights

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01550.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01562.jpg

they suit the car well with all the black bits going onto it


and for a few outside shots as it was looking good :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01563.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01560.jpg

there is something about the car with this green bonnet fitted, for some reason it just screams track car at me, i put the white bonnet on it and it just dont have the same feel lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01568.jpg

is it wrong i think it looks kool lol

[untouchable]

Looking ace there Rob!

I actually quite like the bonnet green as well lol

[Gteman]

Getting there Rob

She is going to look awesome (surf)

[richie00boy]

Have you got any more details of the wishbone pivot mounting? Mine needs attention and I'm wondering if doing it this way might be easier than trying to replicate the original 'hidden skin' method.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/new%20build/lower-arm-mounting.jpg

[DarrenH]

i think that is the same as standard, just sides welded on between the chassis and footwell skin, rather than covering it.

[InnesKongSX]

Have you got any more details of the wishbone pivot mounting? Mine needs attention and I'm wondering if doing it this way might be easier than trying to replicate the original 'hidden skin' method.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/new%20build/lower-arm-mounting.jpg

ive had to do his on my driverside as the bolts snapped on me! They wouldnt drill out, and i tried welding a bolt on but nothing so i did this..just need tidying up like robs. Innes

[_SBD16v]

Have you got any more details of the wishbone pivot mounting? Mine needs attention and I'm wondering if doing it this way might be easier than trying to replicate the original 'hidden skin' method.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/new%20build/lower-arm-mounting.jpg

sorry mate im afraid i dont have a clue i can get some measuments if you want and ill have a look to see if the underside is standard metal or if some angle has been added in

[Brett]

Rob, are those wheels from a Vectra ST? are they 16's?

It looks like its coming along very well mate, fair play!

[_SBD16v]

Rob, are those wheels from a Vectra ST? are they 16's?

It looks like its coming along very well mate, fair play!




no there from a vx4 90 mate and there 12"

(wonder's if he has thrown brett off the trail)

[richie00boy]

sorry mate im afraid i dont have a clue i can get some measuments if you want and ill have a look to see if the underside is standard metal or if some angle has been added in

Thanks, if you could see if there is any extra or if the whole lot has been replaced by thicker plate I would appreciate it.

[Erx]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01556.jpg


Hello, used to check your topic time to time and your effort is :thumbsup:

Just one thing I noticed - I am using the same coil like you are, and at first we also made identical fixing plate to bolt coil. Thing is, that we two times had coil failure - engine started randomly misfiring. At first it took us time to understand, that it is coils fault, and it took us second coil to understand, that there is something wrong with fixing it in this manner - it either overheated or vibrated too much, but after we replaced it to the chasis, bizzare problems ended. Anyway we are still not sure what was the problem.

By the way, if you roll over, the coil is gone also - found it out the hard way (it was third one) :D

[200TS EC]

How is this Car running?

[Mark T]

It's smoking and not idling well.

It is far cleaner now though after the Billing Trip.

[_SBD16v]

well after chatting to a few ppl at billing i realised i was well out of date with my thread LOL

as most of you should know its now running, im stil having teething problems one of which is a head problem that is going to need a new head.


few pics from billing this is after she was cleaned LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/IMG_0274.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/IMG_0271.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/IMG_0273.jpg



anyway now the car is mostly in one piece i can start doing those little touches, the outside looks cleanish now so decided to start on the inside and here is the first

because i dont have any door cars the doors have always looked quite untidy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01242.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01240.jpg

quick rub down and a few coats of satan black hamerite

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01244.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01246.jpg

the finish is more like the passengers side the drivers looks so shiny as its still wet

[screamer69]

them doors look better than mine :) that reminds me ive got to clean and get mine painted on the inside :) :)

[_SBD16v]

them doors look better than mine :) that reminds me ive got to clean and get mine painted on the inside :) :)

im seriously amazed at how much better it looks with £10 worth of paint and half an hour of work got loads of little jobs like that now to be getting on with

[200TS EC]

Nice!!

[laney]

wheels and tyres lookin shiny in the pics lol. keep on with the polishing mate, smother the surface the faster it goes. well that what i tell my self.

[200TS EC]

12.6 still your best time???

F20 or F28?

[_SBD16v]

12.6 still your best time???

F20 or F28?

f28 on concrete open diff

i know the numbers talk but the car would have run a 12.1/12.2 if i took the same car minus the missfire to santa pod shame

i should get it on the strip before the end of the year thou

[200TS EC]

Should even run 11's.

[_SBD16v]

Should even run 11's.

this time thats what im hoping for

[_SBD16v]

Fancy updating this thread a bit please Rob?

yeh i have been a little lapse lol, aint done alot so tbh dont bother with updates.

been a while since a update so here is one.

most of the work on the car atm has been making things stonger or better, when you build these cars it is always the case that some things get rushed first time around.

one of these things was my trigger wheel for the engine, on my engine i run an external trigger wheel, when i first went for mapping crank sensor errors stop'd the mapping and this was put down to a poor disc.

the dimensions of the original one was a tooth that was 4x4x4mm but the autronic is more happy with a 8x8x8mm tooth.

this was the original

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00205.jpg

at the start of august my training moved onto machine shop work PERFECT, so after a few weeks of learning lathe work it was time to start building my own stuff :D

first of was the trigger disc.

started with a lump of metal

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01257.jpg

and after some measuring and maching it begain to take shape.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01264.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01265.jpg

the old trigger disc was totally flat that ment that the only thing that centralised it was the 2 bolts holding it on this was not good enough so this time i make a recess to hold the pully onto the disc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01266.jpg

i then drilled all 6 holes to hold it onto the crank bottom pully, on the vauxhall engine all the bolt hole spacing is different so the disc can now only ever go one one way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01271.jpg

next the teeth were milled using a dividing head to make sure the teeth were perfectly 180 degs opposed.

im afraid ive lost the pics of this :(.


but by then i was getting the hang of this machine work.

good job really as 2 days later i lost the ablity to release the cluth, because im running a twin plate cluch the release bearing needs to travel more than a standard clutch now when i was fitting the engine i had to make a temp fix my fixing 2 release bearings together.

this ended in tears LOL

upon taking the box off this is what i found

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01324.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01327.jpg

so back onto the lathe a new bearing was purchased.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01332.jpg

again this needed to be extended but this time i had new skills.

so fired up the old lathe again and made a spacer to space the bearing..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01328.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01331.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01342.jpg

this bearing set up works perfect im very happy with the feel of the clutch now :D.

[_SBD16v]

well with most of the mechanical work done it was time to get the car ready for its first track day. one of the most important thing for me was to get the F/G bonnet on, due to it being a manta 400 rep one it has massive cut outs above the turbo which will help alot with keeping everything cool.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01348.jpg

i also spent a few days tightening things up which has made a massive difference to the feeling from inside the car it now feels alot more solid less vibration and rattles.

onto the first track day combe eurofest.

suspension was setup with a tape measure as he ran out of time (was still bolting the gearbox on 3 days before and only got the tyres on that morning etc)
the engine was running a whopping .7bar of boost, and was in limp home mode due to a faulty MAP sensor.

chip det checked it with in-the-ear headphones hidden under my crash helmet ON the track.

however the day was a massive sucess, the car performed better in both handling and straight line speed than i expected it would, the handling is more like i expected it to be once set-up so for it to perform with the most basic of set-ups, was a real treat.

some pics of it on track

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/2008_0318TraxCombe0015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC_4844.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC_4958.jpg

little wheel ****ing going on :D:D

overall very impressed with the car, best lap of the day was a 1m24 not bad for a first day at combe.

couple of videos of the day


http://www.vauxhall-sport-forum.com/rob-combe.wmv

http://www.vauxhall-sport-forum.com/chip-combe.wmv

[_SBD16v]

After a fantastic time at the weekend (eurofest at combe) i really wanted to know what power the car was putting down.

i was not to intersted in the actual number just what the number was for how it felt, just to give me a indication of what to expect when i get to the power figure i would like of 400.

i booked the car in for a power run session at jkm in portsmouth a very good set-up and the guys operating the rr know what there talking about and what there doing, very impressed with the set-up and the way they run it and id highly recomend them to anyone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00186.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00185.jpg


the car was run in 2 different boost settings the first was what i really wanted to know what it was at the weekend so the first run was done with .7 bar spring pressure as i have been driving it around.

this made 273bhp and 280ftlb of TQ these are both at the flywheel.

this was a little lower than i expected purly due to how the car drives, althou im not disapointed as the car goes very very well for what is such a low power reading.

we then made a very pikey boost controller (bleed type with a hole in a piece of brake pipe) this enabled us to achive 1.2 bar and another run was done at this boost level.

this made 309bhp and 330ftlb of TQ again at the fly. (261.3bhp and 280ftlb TQ @ the wheels)

some graphs of the day

BHP vs Torque

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00198.jpg

BHP vs boost

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00201.jpg

BHP vs AFR's

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00200.jpg


as you can see the car had no problems holding the boost and it makes the boost at a nice early rpm, im very happy with how soon it makes 300ftlb of tq (the final value we would like all across the range)

however due to the fact this is still a basic base map, with most of the adjustments being just making sure the car has no det, in part the timing has been removed to much this shows by how fast the TQ falls instead of there being timing in the map to bring this back up the map is far to retarded, this will however change once the engine is mapped.

it is also shown in the afr graphs how rich the engine is dropping well into the 10's above 6000 rpm.


so overall quite a bit to come from the mapping and obviously the fact it will just get more boost,

overall im very happy with the car at the moment the jigsaw is finally starting to come together.

[laney]

nice work mate, hat reminds me of when i used to do sheet metal fabrication/machine work. not for a while now, dont like getting my hands dirty. lol. i see that haynes manuals do have a purpose, lol fooked bearing holders.

[Harvey]

Fantastic stuff Rob, coming on nicely then :)

[KEV]

Love the way the cars come together Rob, makes me want an LET. This thread has just made me smile! It also serves as a timely reminder that I need to stop fiddling with dirt bikes all the time and get on with mine. Video's are good, fighting with the wheel a fair bit there, she's a beast, no doubting that. What tyres are you using?

Good old lathe work, such a satisfying job. If you ever leave the Mob mate I have found that these sorts of skills are forgotten now, not many people get taught them these days, so they look good on a C.V.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01265.jpg




This photo below Rob, are those bonnet fastners the quick release flush fitting ones? Do they secure like a shoot bolt? I need to sort bonnet pins on mine, think I'll go for ally plates and normal style pins. Wish I'd linked the cage to the pillars and front struts like you too. I'll save that for my rebuild 2!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC01348.jpg


Awesome picture.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC_4958.jpg

[_SBD16v]

wellllll ive been at it again LOL

there were some things i was not happy with, and with a looming trackday i thought started to attack them.

after looking into the inlet manifolds i found that the dis and let ones are quite different.

this is a let one

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00315.jpg

and this is a DIS one with the same gasket.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00314.jpg

as you can see the DIS one is quite a bit smaller, so a new inlet is going on help free some ponys.

the turbo also needed to come off as the last time i was out i blow another manifold to turbo gasket ( that one lasted 10 miles) so the manifold needed a skim.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00376.jpg


with just the engine bay being in bits it felt like i was spoiled for time so i started another job.

the car was totally re-wired last time the car was on the road, but the switch side of it was not completed, it was working to get it thou a mot but was nothing even close to the standard i wanted.

after cutting a few cable ties it showed the mess that was behind the dash :O

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00386.jpg

it was worse than i remebered so decided to cut out all the switches and redo from the relays back

this is how i left it tonight

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00389.jpg


good thing is every time it comes apart it gets a few steps better, once all this is done the car will be very close to finished, (as close as these cars ever get lol)

[laney]

oooh that wiring could do with a laney fettle mate, also lookin a bit dirty in there, in never knew that the inlet manifolds were different. nice one mate keep up the good work.:thumbsup:

[_SBD16v]

oooh that wiring could do with a laney fettle mate, also lookin a bit dirty in there, in never knew that the inlet manifolds were different. nice one mate keep up the good work.:thumbsup:

its getting a rob fettle ;)

[Brett]

the comparison of inlet manifolds is interesting, I assume you mean DIS-pac XE when you say DIS inlet? Im picking one up at the weekend, for a while I read it round the wrong way and thought you meant it was larger than the LET, got my hopes up!

[_SBD16v]

the comparison of inlet manifolds is interesting, I assume you mean DIS-pac XE when you say DIS inlet? Im picking one up at the weekend, for a while I read it round the wrong way and thought you meant it was larger than the LET, got my hopes up!


lol yes DIS xe manifold is smaller than the let one,

imho i dont think that it would matter for most ppl, but trying to hit big amounts of power its not a good idea to stay on one we KNOW is worse than just a let one.

[_SBD16v]

im a bit usless when it comes to updates, but i have been making progress lol

first thing was to sort the mess of wiring for the dash, its a bit rubish to take pics of but as you can see its now alot neater and there is a discontection block for when i need to take the dash out


the electrics now for the first time EVER all work :D:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00431.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00430.jpg

wired in all the gauge lights this time as it makes the car look more alive when its on

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00442.jpg


while the car was apart and i was doing electrics i decided to put the race battery in, i decided to put this under the passengers seat, now anyone that has see these will knwo they have m6 terminals this makes it very hard to get jump leads on.

so i have wired the car in with perimiant battery posts to make jump starting much easyer

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00454.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00453.jpg
brilliant little things lol


i decided a little while ago that i was going to get rid of the hydraulic handbrake as i dont use it, and tbh its a waste of time on a track car, and i could think of something much better to go in its place.

i have now fitted a brake bias valve instead, this combined with my bias pedal box should allow us to fine tune the breaking of the car.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00450.jpg


im still waiting on some engine parts to turn up but im hoping they are hear later today.

ive also spent alot of time tidying the car this time welding up holes here and there that ive made over the years.

im hoping this will be the car near enough finished :D:D

[Harvey]

I like the battery posts, looks like I've just found something else I need to buy.

[_SBD16v]

I like the battery posts, looks like I've just found something else I need to buy.


include a through bulkhead adaptor with that order there brilliant

[astrasteve23]

would you sell hydro h/brake? im after one for the manta.

[_SBD16v]

would you sell hydro h/brake? im after one for the manta.

thats the plan !!!

[_SBD16v]

wellll today a nice big box turned up :D:D

and inside was my new inlet ive been waiting for :D

here are some build pics there are 4 main parts to the manifold.

first is a head flange this is cnc cut on a milling machine, out of billet alloy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00212.jpg

in this pic you can also see one of the runners that is the 2nd main part to the manifold

next is the base plate for the plenum

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00208.jpg

the ''lines'' are just machining marks that look worse because of the camera, you cannot feel them to touch.

this plate has built in velocity stacks for proper air flow.

and the final part is the plenum.

add all these bits together and you have :D:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00461.jpg

cannot wait to get it fitted now and get it back on the Rolling road to see how it effects the power output

some pics of it all fitted up (with one bolt lol)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00466.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00464.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/twitchell/DSC00468.jpg

more than happy with the manifold just hope it goes as well as it looks