Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

[astrayorkie]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Should go well with this lump manifolds look really beefy.

[Harvey]

Collected the heads and intake from Andy at Cylinder Head Developments on Thursday and I’ve chuffed with the work. The white stuff on the valve guides is engine build grease which will burn off at initial start up and not grinding paste.

Very light skim and all valves checked and lapped with new stem seals fitted and heads checked over.





Intake







Exhaust





[img]http://www.em51ey.co.uk/Astra%20Arctic/P3240414Small.jpg[~original/IMG]

Plenum knife edged, plus opened up to match the 70mm throttle body and all intake smoothed as far as could be reached. Just need to get them hot washed for a thorough internal clean.











Also got hold of a Calibra Turbo 2.75 ration PAS rack so that’ll also be fitted to sharpen the steering up.

[Harvey]

Popped to a local engine refurb company the other week and left the intake system with them for an overnight hot acid bath. This has cleaned the insides of all the black oily gunk and metal flakes from the smoothing work done by CHD. It’s also stripped all the old paint from the outside so they are ready for a freshen up when the car goes in later this year for some paint.

Exterior paint stripped





Interior nice and clean







Finally worked out what size mains I require so all I need to do now is get the bearings and gaskets ordered for the rebuild then jobs a good’un.

[BenH]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Should have a bit of poke with that lump in there! Your cally t rack, is the rack pinion just the normal ZF multi spline and are the hydraulic pipes the same union as the car has already?

[Harvey]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Your cally t rack, is the rack pinion just the normal ZF multi spline and are the hydraulic pipes the same union as the car has already?

Yes and yes

[1800turbogte]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Interesting read Harvey, 1st time i'd seen this. Then I noticed it was started in 2009, how did I miss it

[BenH]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Yes and yes

Thanks , that will be another thing to add to the future list then

[Harvey]

Collected the 0.25mm oversize mains last week and just waiting for a larger parcel to arrive with all the gaskets, seals, rod bolts etc so I can begin the rebuild.

[Davey J]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Spoke to Andy last week Harvey. He's had a Heart Attack. Not entirely sure how that's going to affect him and his business going forwards. Worth the heads up if you plan on anything else in the near future.........................

[Harvey]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Spoke to Andy last week Harvey. He's had a Heart Attack. Not entirely sure how that's going to affect him and his business going forwards. Worth the heads up if you plan on anything else in the near future.........................

Oh my god, that's such shame as he's a really nice chap. Wish him all the best from me and a speedie recovery.

[Harvey]

Received a nice package from Vauxhall World Parts yesterday. All the gaskets/seals/bolts I require for the X30XE rebuild. Just need to find the time and motivation to stick it all back together now.

[Harvey]

I’d read and seen pictures of the hydraulic tappets stripped so I thought I’d give it a go. Took some doing but got there in the end. I had already soaked them in petrol for 24 hours then filled them with fresh oil before I realised I better strip them properly. Tonight I got a couple of bits of wood and a large hammer, placed a tappet face up as they are in the head before holding another piece of wood on top and hitting it very hard a number of times and eventually the plunger popped out. I then left them soaking in a bath of petrol as I intend on cleaning them before soaking them in oil and reassembling.

Took some work separating 24 tappets.







The ikle hydraulic part that gets gunked up and ‘sticks’ inside the tappet.



I also cleaned up the oil rings, lower ring, on all 6 pistons the other day as they were really gunked up and can cause issues if left. I can’t believe I managed to remove all the rings by hand and didn’t break them.





All that’s left now is to start reassembling everything so I better get my finger out if I want the car on the road by the end of the year as my projects seem to take forever.

[BenH]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

Looks good, but you want to be carfull about hitting them incase you bend the skirt. Seized lifters are not fun, I just pull the plungers out with mole grips on the tip the very tip rotating them at the same time helps to break the carbon seal while holding the lifter in my hand..

[Harvey]

Re: Astra mk3 Arctic 1.6 8v to 3.0 24v build

No issues with the tappets Ben as they are super strong and that's why I used a couple of pieces of wood to protect them. I tried mole grips but they just kept popping off so gave up and used my more persuasive method which has been tried and tested by others

[Harvey]

After leaving the stripped tappets for a few days I drained all the petrol and left them for a few more days so all fuel had evaporated. I was then left with 24 tappets to reassemble.



I filled each tappet with oil and dropped the small part of the plunger into the tappet.



Then the spring was put in place.



Before the plunger went in I oiled it on the inside and outside.



I then sat the tappet in a tub and placed the plunger in place before pressed firmly with my thumb.



When fitted you can hear a click as the circlip locates into position in the tappet. You also get a squirt of oil from the hole on the side of the tappet, the reason why I placed it in a tub. I then oiled the underside of the tappet after assembly to help protect them prior to install once I get the engine built.



I was going to get the crank fitted but decided I’m going to buy some assembly lube instead of using engine oil as I don’t want the new mains drying out and burning on initial start up. Crank timing ring fitted.