dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
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Went back to my car Monday morning after my drive back to work Sunday night to find I had a flatty :cry:
Found the hole so whipped the tyre half off so I could repair it
All done and back on the car, decided to take the wing off and fit my original wing back on as it was a better colour match than the spares I bought
I have removed the inner metal lip on both the front wings now as tyres would catch on them over bumps so hoping this will solve that
Also trimmed the last bit of bumper plastic at the rear which the tyre was catching on, and while I was at it thought I'd give the calipers a quick lick of paint to match the fronts
My new depo lights turned up today so fitted them (nice picture of the two cars)
Have always hated the chrome strip on the rear of the coupe just think it doesn't look right, weren't 100% sure how it came off so left it on and masked up and painted it in place, bit lazy really  msl:
And end result, just want to tint the top brake light and colour code the griffin badge now
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Only a small update but quite a pleasing one, since fitting the 2 1/4" exhaust I always thought it was a little too loud for what I wanted and it seemed to have a drone at between 70-90 which is what it's normally sat at on the motorway (private one of course) so relieved another landrover of its rear silencer (free from work :thumb and welded that in
Has a much nicer burble to it now and seems a fair bit quiter 
Also since removing the lips on the front arches I now don't get any scrubing, so really happy with that to say it has 235/35/R19 on a 8" rim
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
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Well not much has happen to the Astra in a while, not had time or money to even look at what with the holiday to pay for :cry:
Well finally got round to checking the timing today, turns out its a bit off at the minute msl:
Had my best mate strongbow on hand to cheer myself up though..... Mmmmm pear
On the look out for a new block and head for it now, already toyed with the idea of Saab lump or zlet but can't justify it for my daily tbh
On a brighter note I bought a irmscher bonnet extention a while back trial fitted it, just need to paint it now
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
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Small update, finally got round to painting my irmscher bonnet extention, primered and painted it only for the paint underneath to react and start bubbling in places :cry: so had to strip it right back to the plastic
What primer I had left
And what paint I had left, few coats of lacquer and job done. Not the greatest and could of done with some more filler primer tbh but ah well
Fitted it on, had to adjust a wiper as it was still visible but quick fix. Not 100% sure about it yet maybe it will grow more on me but annoyingly I can no longer see the end of the bonnet so parking should be fun msl:
Hoping to get a call of the guy I'm buying the engine off and I'll hopefully collect that this week fingers crossed and dropped in next week finally as I've been using hire cars since so be nice to have my own car back really
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Went and picked up the new engine last night, has done 82k with fsh so will swap my ancillorys over and my gearbox and see which clutch has te most meat on and sell what Evers left over to make some money back
Will start to remove the old engine Monday and hopefully have it all running sweet in no time Have really missed driving the car tbh, will be like getting a new car all over again as its been 5 months now :cry:
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Made a start on stripping down the engine as plan is to only use the tall block and gearbox as they guy assures me it don't crunch or whine etc so will leave the box on as its done 18K less miles than mine, I totally stripped the loom off as its had one repair so would rather keep my known working un molested loom on and swap all my new sensors and cleaned up throttle bodie, new alternator and plugs, I've ordered oil and filters for it and will change the gearbox fluid as well while I'm at it
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Have been slowly ticking over on the Astra after work, gonna be honest its a lot fiddlyier than whipping a xe or let out like I'm used to and can do in my sleep, it just seems to have everything connected via clips and brackets to get loom off and not wanting to break anything has been a lot slower than I thought as tbh its a learning curve these engines. With everything possible removed in the bay/front end time came to whip the bastard out, decided against using the 2 tonne jack and got the man sized one out msl:
Out she comes! Decided to take engine out the top as opposed to dropping the subframe as the ramps were being used
The track rod ends decided they didn't wanna come off so my mate angle grinder persuaded them So got on the blower to get some new ones dropped down as well as the correct size air filter and auxiliary belt
I have now basically swapped every known working sensor over and all pumps, water pipes, brackets, engine mount and alternator over as every thing is slightly different on the Vectra B lump even the inlet manifold has a extra vacuum but that's just gonna get blanked off tbh. Was all ready to look at dropping it back in when I noticed the gearbox casing is different as well! FFS :cry: Will see if I have free time tomorrow and that will be swapped and I'll pick which clutch has the most meat left and swap them.
Difference in gearbox
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dewismotorsport
Member
Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Changed gearboxes and clutches over and re assembled
All ready to be dropped back in
Car decided to test my patients by chewing the thread up on the cv joint :cry:
Luckily I had a spare calibra one which is the same in my corsa track spares box
All back in and lubed and bleed up
Bumper and bonnet back on time for the start up, turned car over and its a non starter :cry: Cranks, sparks, fuels but zero compression :cry:
Have tried some oil in bores but still no change, have put some redex treatment down the spark plug holes as it might be the rings have closed up, also may be that the lifters are empty so valves are not sealing so will give I tow Monday and get it running again hopefully
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
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Well time for a much needed update
The engine I put in Astra had no compression so decided to bin that off and get a replacement, luckily at work there was a range car that was destined to be shot up and blown up so saved it, 94k sweet runner with no knocks rattles or smoke
Engine out
Strip down on the Astra began
Once on the deck I swapped all my parts over and made a best engine from all 3 engines
I can now do these engine changes in my sleep msl: All up and running and back on the road after 7 months of being broke  Really need to find more time for my own cars in future
Although its been off the road I have still bought a few bits for it, so got myself some flocked A, B & C pillars off Prey and the quality is top notch and highly recommended by me, they look a million times better than the horrible beige ones
Also bought myself a central arm rest and its one of the best mods of done makes the drive so much more relaxing
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Well this is over due an update, generally just used the car as it's my daily bomber and just replaced stuff when needed really, first up was new rear tyres went for a slightly narrower 225 instead of the previous 235 as it just gives a slightly bigger gap from the arch
Next up was a air con re gas free from work
Dropped the front a bit more
Then this weekend just gone I had to change the slave cylinder as it had started to leak and stopped the clutch from working, so used this opportunity to change the timing chain as it was due, so decided to whip the engine out and do it all on the floor so it was easier to work on
Timing chain and balancer shaft is certainly a lot more complex than a c20xe/c20let like I'm used to doing
Bought a full kit which included everything from chain cogs, oil squirter and even brand new bolts all genuine GM parts for piece of mind
All timed up but after a few various rotations could never get the coloured chain marks back on the timing marks after much swearing and head scratch and probably 10 re fits I found out it's not a square engine so will never line back up buts as long as the crank and pulleys are all in there right places and the number 4 piston is at tdc then the chain links are irrelevant
All back in and running sweet decided to change the front wings over as I'd bent the lip on one of mine and also changed the anti roll bar drop links, bleed the brakes and clutch just need to re has the air con and it's all good.
Even treated it to its 3rd wash of the year!
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chris_uk
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Jul 03
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Thought about charging it?
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dewismotorsport
Member
Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by chris_uk
Thought about charging it?
I have actually mate. However it is my daily driver and I have a 400bhp Corsa track car for fun so decided for now to keep this sensible.
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dewismotorsport
Member
Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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[QUOTE=vocky;4946353]your water pump / balancer shaft chain tensioner has failed, the round cover is missing and the internal spring will be in the sump, you need to replace the water pump / balancer shaft chain kit ASAP
 [/QUOTE]
You my kind sir are 100% correct! I wasn't aware of the problem and just assumed that's how they were meant to be (never taken one of these engines apart before). I have two dead engines in my workshop and stripped the covers off them to confirm I had infact got a knackered balancer shaft chain tensioner! So nicked one off the spare engine
Whipped the old one off
Good one on the right:
God knows how long that has been like that all seemed to work fine and all marks lined up fine! Quite strange really but all fixed thank god.
Big thanks to Vocky I owe you a beer if I ever bump into you :thumb:
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Jason x
Premium Member
Registered: 19th Apr 13
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Looks so nice in this photo
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daine
Premium Member
Registered: 28th Feb 07
Location: rossington
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You fitted a tow bar to it Adam, what weight will the 2.2 coupe tow??
have a smart car trailer (1300kgs gross) and towed it with me Astra van........ ILLEGAL!!
Van can only tow 1100 kgs 
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Jed D
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Registered: 15th Mar 11
Location: Durham
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was going to ask about the tow bar there... thats one of the main things putting me off getting one of these for a daily.. not only that but the tax and general running cost...
apart from that iv had to look away because i still want one haha
great work btw
lot of car for their money these
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
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Cheers guys! Yeah has a tow bar on initially I was just towing a 900kg Corsa behind it using a A framed dolly so was legal ish but tbh 90+% of coppers haven't a clue on towing laws so just used to tow the spare track car behind it with a rented small trailer, even went 5 up to a track day
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dewismotorsport
Member
Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Just been using the car as a daily runner but with a track day booked at Abingdon and wanting to potential break my spare track (project pikey racing) I described to do it in the coupe, wanted to give it a full service first and replace anything I thought might be on its way out.
First up went the VBOA spares day and picked some vectra b alloys up for £30 the tyres were no use to me so binned them and fitted my spare set of R888's which were almost new, gave them a quick dust over as prefer black wheels
Fitted for the drive there
Next mod was to final fit the traction control loom, easy job and now fully switchable
Next up was a full service and change the brake fluid for a higher boiling point one and a inner CV gaiter
I managed to sever the wires on the abs so had to buy a new hub ;-(
And finally the rear wheel bearing had a bit of play so I changed that too, dust shield fell apart in my hand so just binned it
On the morning of the track day this was what we were faced with when driving onto the airfield
Few hours lost but once sun was at full strength it cleared up and was a loverly day, had a great day, and despite having the least powerful car there I wasn't the slowest by far and had good fun hunting down the quicker cars.
Only mods car has:
Standard engine but with pre cat removed and 2 1/4" exhaust from car back.
Turbo brakes with EBC discs and red stuff pads
JOM coilovers
Car handled well enough but with some body roll, plan is to get some 400lb front springs and a rear anti roll bar.
Had great fun battling with a 240bhp supercharged lotus exige, he had the legs on me on the straight but I caught him through the bends and later braking.
Here's the video:
http://youtu.be/AtjUwwSl6Yk
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jay26
Member
Registered: 22nd Feb 08
Location: North Lincolnshire
User status: Offline
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Your breaking project pikey racing?
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dewismotorsport
Member
Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by jay26
Your breaking project pikey racing?
Possibly mate, will keep the engine and box and sell the rest on, just doesn't get used as much now my mate rich (co owner) has a Clio 182 track car now and my turbo is up and running well, bit of a pain having to trailer it there, where as coupe can be driven to and from events
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jay26
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Registered: 22nd Feb 08
Location: North Lincolnshire
User status: Offline
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Was going to say I would have the engine if you break it. Good call keeping hold of it though
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by jay26
Was going to say I would have the engine if you break it. Good call keeping hold of it though
I'll keep that in mind in case we don't keep the engine you can have first refusal, it's had arp rod bolts, baffled sump and rocker cover mod done since it left you but runs sweet as a nut still.
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Been buying some more parts to try and improve the car a bit more, ideally wanted some carbone Lorraine RC6 pads but they don't make them for the turbo brakes so settled for the yellow stuff ones, treated it to braided lines as once fluid was hot you could feel the rubber bulging at the brake pedal, also going to machine the coil over platforms slightly to accept the 2 1/4" id coil over springs which are 350lb so hopefully a good bit higher than the standard JOM ones, I've also snapped a helper spring so they will be going into the bin. Also bought some stainless reducers as I've got a 100 cell sports cat I used to use on my Corsa so will replace the Astras one with that as want to keep it mot friendly.
Before the track day I had fitted a gear shifter rebuild kit, basically half a ping pong ball and a bit of turned down alloy but it's cured my horrendous play so happy days
Also gonna blank the EGR valve off so need to make myself a plate like so
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dewismotorsport
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Registered: 16th Feb 08
Location: Coventry & Poole
User status: Offline
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Finally got round to fitting the new discs and pads, I think I may have got them a bit hot at Abingdon, and I'm fairly sure I got every penny of my money's worth out of them
New stuff fitted and braided lines added
While I was at it I rolled my arches as the 19's have now gone back on
All bleed up and already a noticeable difference, even treated it to a fairy liquid wash
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Ojc
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Registered: 14th Nov 00
Location: Reading: Drives : Clio 197
User status: Offline
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Good project
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