Darren

[rleete]

Holy smokes, Darren!  I spent a couple of hours reading through all 10 pages of that.  Wouldn't it have been easier to make a new car?  If I found something that rusted, I'd consider it a parts car at best.  You're a brave man for putting all that effort into it.

My Miata is about to go under the wrench again this weekend.  Needs some suspension tweaking, and I'm prepping it for the supercharger install with a new fuel pump, injectors and fuel rail. 

[Darren]

TBH despite the work, which hasn't taken long anyway, I had two choices.

Buy this car back for the engine as I'd already spent loads on it and done little mileage since.
Or buy another Astra with a view to doing the engine again and still find rot when the carpets etc were lifted. Also I know my old car inside out and it helps that the last owner did zero mileage in it since he bought it from me eight years ago.

The engine has done 12k since the re-bore and crank work, so still hardly run in yet.

The engine work wasn't cheap, the pistons cost me £400 back then and are about £550 now, add the boring work, crank regrind, con rod work and uprated bolts, lightened flywheel, head polish and flow along with valve stuff, gasket set and all the time and effort and the I can safely say that I bought it back for a lot less than those costs alone.

There is other stuff to consider too, like suspension mods and the head on this one is rare. It's made by Cosworth and not GM. Not many about now and worth more than I paid for the car on its own.

I did think at the purchase time that if the chassis turned out to be scrap I would still be quids in on the engine alone. By the time I've finished it'll be solid at a good price all round .... well that's the plan anyways.

It's only a little welding after all   Oh, and I'm enjoying the re-build, great to get back into a bit of car stuff .... bike next... maybe...

[NickG]

That sort of fuel economy is really impressive for an engine dating that far back. Having said that I've seen up to 42mpg on a run in my knackered well used Clio 172! Which people find difficult to believe too!

I still think engines have come a long way though, well some manufactures have continuously improved engines anyway, one i'm thinking of is BMW. They seem to improve them every couple of years or so, where as other manufacturers just seem to stick with the same thing for decades.

The 3.0 twin turbo diesel engine from BMW is a good example of what can be done http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=46882
they are doing the same with their petrol engines too http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=46874
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=46831
Good blends of economy and power there.
As a comparison with that last engine, i've got a 1989 Escort RS Turbo - 1.6 turbo (No doubt more ford bashing coming up    ) so 21 years old this year, I doubt that'd do any better than 35mpg and that's with 50bhp less than that new mini engine. From another 10 years or so prior to that another car I had was the 1500 MG Midget, something like 65bhp from the 1.5 but that'd probably be more like 30mpg max, so the mini is producing nearly 3 x the power with 50% better economy! So I think things have moved on a lot in the last 30-40 years, it's just getting harder and harder to find any big improvements in how you can more efficiently burn the fuel and transfer it into kinetic energy, which is why the manufacturers are resorting to scraping tiny dribs and drabs from everywhere such as aerodynamics, tyres, alternator not charging unless it needs to, regenerative braking etc. Suppose a real issue these days is the weight of the damn things.

I've got a similar project looming with my RS Turbo Darren, I thought I'd done all the hard work with the engine rebuild  - expensive like yours with forged pistons and the like, only to find the shell is pretty much rotten, that's where the project stalled nearly 6 years ago, I'm good with mechanical bits but not so with body work. I am coming to the conclusion that I need to just shell out for someone to do the welding and worry about cosmetics later when funds allow! It can either sit and rot further, be worth nothing and get no enjoyment or I spend another £1500 or whatever on it and it'd actually be back on the road and worth a couple of grand.

I'm off to read your car post now. 

Good luck with it.

Cheers

Nick

[NickG]

Had a quick read through your Astra project Darren, great work there, wish I had the patience and skill to get mine done.  This and the fact my mate has just bought an old beetle is giving me some inspiration to stump up the cash and ask someone to do the welding for me though.

Nick

[Darren]

Thanks Nick,

On the fuel, it might not stay that way as I may put carbs on it to release some more horses ..!! But even then it'll still be better than the TVR I nearly bought at 8mpg when you "drive" it ... That was about the only thing that put me off.  I suspect carb'd it'll still return 40mpg on a run and 30ish thrashing about.

The Escort turbo was the Astra's arch rival at the time I seem to remember? One point on welding, it's not that hard to mig steel. Ok you'll need a little practice but it doesn't take long to "get it". My son has welded about half this project, his first go with a mig. Sure we had to grind some of the welds back and start again, but after a couple of days at it I would be happy to let him do the whole car next time. It really is that easy.
Besides, you could buy a welder and do the job for less than paying someone to do it and you get to keep the welder, or sell it. Just don't rush out and buy the cheapest as the bottom end of the market is no much cop. Just ask if you decide to go that route.

There's not much to update on the project at the mo as I'm just prepping the bodywork with filling and sanding. It's a chore but gotta be done. I'm hoping to be spraying by next week .... fingers crossed.

[NickG]

Yeah the carbs might cut it down a bit. It'd probably sound a bit nicer with webbers too though 

Yeah it probably was at the time, the Astra was pretty damn quick though, was it 156bhp standard? 

I bought most of the panels from a bloke that does them up all the time, full floor, inner and outer sills, still need some arches and it needs either some patch up work on the chassis legs or the whole new leg. I bought a mig years ago with the intention of doing the welding myself, one of my best mates is a welder by trade so he could help out / teach me, i tried a couple of practice runs and you're right you can seem to pick it up fairly quickly. I'd need some sort of proper gas bottle and regulator though as the 1 that came with it was just cr@p and ran out really quickly too. I suppose a few things are putting me off, even though I have a double garage now so I have the space -  making all the racket of grinding and cutting stuff out, welding on the bench I had no problem with but under the car or in awkward positions with bits splattering on me may be a different kettle of fish and I'd need to know what to do to support things / the order in which to do things when cutting bits out such as the sills.

The welder I got was this http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/135te-turbo-mig-welder/path/diy-mig-welders so I think it should be ok with the panel work and hopefully the structural stuff in the right hands.

Excellent stuff anyway, you look a dab hand with the painting too, I will keep watching.

This is what's so tempting about asking the guy I bought the panels off, as he has done many such projects before, lots of escorts and other fords so knows them like the back of his hand, he also paints, he works in a body shop and does all this extra work for people at home.

I would like to do it myself but just not sure I have what it takes really!

[Darren]

Yes carbs will prob do that, I was thinking a set of bike carbs not webbers as they should be better/more precise. Deff help with the fuel. At the mo I'm thinking of using R1 carbs.
Injection bodies would be better but would mean a new fully mappable ECU which kinda gets expensive. Carbs of course dispense with all the electronics in the ECU. More power with TB's though, carbs about 180bhp, injection about 220bhp. And all without a turbo in sight. My main reason for not wanting to go down the turbo route is that they rob bottom end power and that's not helpful for normal road driving. But with a turbo 400-800bhp is possible. Most peeps stick to under 400 as that is what the lump can stand reliably without crank changes and the like.

All at the wheels which of course Vauxhall quoted their 156bhp at the wheels and not the crank like most other manufacturers. Since the dynos have cropped up all over the place this has proven to be an under estimate as many of the earlier GTE 16V made more with the Coscast heads sometimes giving 170bhp with just an exhaust manifold change, again at the wheels. So prob around 185 or so at the crank.

That welder should be up to the task ..... just get on with it 

[NickG]

Yeah throttle bodies are nice but expensive!

You're right, 156bhp at the wheels is good for a 2.0 na even now.

Cheers, I was getting lots of  from my mates at pub last night to get on with it. One of them has just bought a 40 year old beetle though so he's about to find out how hard it is to get the time to do it, as he has wife and daughter now too! From what I've seen the beetle looks a bit of a rot box too!The other 1 has all the time in the world as he's got a young, understanding? girlfriend and only sees his son on saturdays, so he's got plenty of toys and plenty of time to use / fix them!

I'll get there 1 day!

[Darren]

A little update for those following.

Ralph, almost bought a stand alone fully mapable ECU on Ebay tonight, but bottled out at the last min thinking I'd be better getting back together first.

Can't decide if to go carb or throttle bodies (cheap/not cheap!!)

http://tiny.cc/dcfea

[Brass_Machine]

A little update for those following.

Ralph, almost bought a stand alone fully mapable ECU on Ebay tonight, but bottled out at the last min thinking I'd be better getting back together first.

Can't decide if to go carb or throttle bodies (cheap/not cheap!!)

http://tiny.cc/dcfea

If you are gonna do it, do it right. Go with the TBs and get a Megasquirt setup. Getting ready to do a microsquirt on a bike for a mate. The tuning, mileage and driveabilty are worth it in the long run. Well, just my opinion ofc.

Eric

[Darren]

Hi Eric, I would like to know how you get on with fitting and setting up. 

It seems a lot go for the meggasquirt/volt these days and I don't read any problems from anywhere. So they must be pretty reliable and easy to get going.

Good luck with it 

[DMIOM]

TBH despite the work, which hasn't taken long anyway, I had two choices.

Buy this car back for the engine as I'd already spent loads on it and done little mileage since.
Or buy another Astra with a view to doing the engine again and still find rot when the carpets etc were lifted. Also I know my old car inside out and it helps that the last owner did zero mileage in it since he bought it from me eight years ago. ...........

In the third photograph http://tiny.cc/dcfea  is that an early Recaro? or a custom lightweight front passenger seat?

[Darren]

Don't be silly, it's a Panton ....

[Divided he ad]

Looking good there chief 

looks like paint codes are a bit of a nightmare then?

New ECUs and bigger better fuel supplies.... Gonna cost the bucks! But fun though    (you'll probably not be happy with one till you've tried the other anyway.... Well that's how a lot of the lads I know are        )

Nice bulk head bracing (hope all the bits miss it!?) Can't see it moving in a hurry.


I'll check in on it again in a while, let you get a bit done first 






Ralph.

[Rob.Wilson]

Lookin good Darren    ,,,,,,,, looks like it will be on the road soon

Rob