Heylow!

[Smiley]

Hey all, I'd just like to start off by saying I'm probably the biggest noob on the net right now when it comes to knowledge of cars lol - One of the main reasons I came here - to learn some more stuff about the car I own. And that car I own is a Holden Vectra 2000 CD 2.2L

Anyhow, I've come to this site basically to learn some new things about cars in general and hopefully can get some really helpful advice from you lot, cause as I said before, I know blank all about cars - Well I do know a few things, but compared with you guys, I'm the student.

Anyhow, here's a photo of my car;

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/5373/img3547.th.jpg (http://img22.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img3547.jpg)

Now with you having seen that, I've got a number of questions I want to ask about modifying my car and some technical issues, but I'm not sure whether or not I should ask them here or leave them for the Vectra section? Anyway thanks!

Cheers.

=)

[auzvectra]

hey, welcome to the site ;).
this is ur thread so ask away :D.

[Shay]

welcome mate
yay first new veccy on here in a while.
looks good from the thumbnail.

prolly best make a thread in the veccy section
try to get Jerram and Nuggz's attention there pretty mucch the go to guys with veccys.

but everyone will try help you out.

what state you in mate and how old are ya?

[sooty]

Welcome mate, you can also use the search function too :) chances are if something's wrong with yours, or you want to do a certain mod, someone has fixed it or done it before and written about it:cornut:

[Shay]

fire away then we can point you in the right direction. :cornut:

[hazrd]

Welcome mate. As said, there are a few veccy guys floating around, always willing to help :thumbs:

[nuggz]

Nice veccy there mate
and welcome to the site!

What kinda spoiler you got on the back there? dont think ive seen one like it? more pics please :D

[HappySlapper82]

First thing I'd do is take out the 4 pot and whack in a 2.6 quad cam :D

Welcome to the site mate, nice Veccy :)

[Shay]

theres actually very lil dif in the power to weight ratio of the 2.2 and the 2.5. and the 2.2 does hold onto its power better... :D

[HappySlapper82]

theres actually very lil dif in the power to weight ratio of the 2.2 and the 2.5. and the 2.2 does hold onto its power better... :D

I said 2.6 :p It was what the 2.5 should have been

[Shay]

same dif. and you know it :p

what help were you after smiley?

[btm]

g'day smiley and welcome to the site

tidy looking veccy you have there

[PaulyJ]

Welcome to OA
You'll find most of what you need on here. If not, just ask.

[nuggz]

theres actually very lil dif in the power to weight ratio of the 2.2 and the 2.5. and the 2.2 does hold onto its power better... :D


power to weight is almost the same
its the torque the 6's put out baby

[Smiley]

Wow, didn't expect this many responses in just a day haha.

Well, to answer most of your questions so that you may answer mine;

I'm from South Brisbane, Queensland and I'm 17 years old.

Firstly I'd like to start by saying I don't wanna make my car a super charged uberless ultimate flying vehicle of awesomeness, just yet. I'd like to just make it look, and sound nice for the time being, until I can gather some more coins to take it to the next level.

First thing's first. I've got this weird whining noise that comes off my car when the engine's on. I've asked around and some people are saying that it's the fact that I've just replaced the timing belt a few months ago, and it just needs some wearing in. Others say that it's meant to sound like that and will never go away. And the rest say that it sounds sick and needs a doctor. The whining noise sounds like this.
wEEEEEEeeeEE... Nah just joking lol, here's a link;
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UFGGV5BL

Second thing's second, I'd like to get a body kit installed on my car. Now, I've heard that body kit's for Vectra's (especially my model( Vectra JS series 11)) are extremely hard to find. I've already tried contacting one guy up north side, and he said that Vectra body kits were one thing he couldn't get. I've searched on this site and found one really nice looking Vectra, but I'm pretty sure it's not the same model as I own. Does anyone know where I could get one, or if it's possible to have the custom made? I was also looking at getting new tail lights and stuff, but I'm not sure whether what I should get first - does it really matter?

The same goes for getting a new muffler. I wanted to get my car just to sound a lil more aggressive lol. I think my friend mentioned something about a resonator, but as I mentioned before, I can't tell the difference between the left and right indicator.

Umm, another thing too, someone mentioned that if I do get a body kit, don't get one that's too low, so that I can lower it, and not have to drive extra slow over speed bumps - What's your guys opinions?

Oh and I was looking at getting some new rims, but I think I should be able to muster that up myself. =]

I think I went overboard with that "question" I was going to ask, so just move the post if it's inappropriate here lol.

Thanks anyway guys, very much appreciated.

=)

[auzvectra]

timing belt could be too tight.
did you replace the water pump at the same time?

[Jerram]

gday matey and welcome to the site.

When they were new, you could option a "Holden By Design" body kit that consisted of a different front valance (lower bumper), skirts, wing, and an "under-wing" rear spoiler. I'm reasonably sure this was all made by Talon, who are one company that did make body kits for the Vec and have them here down under. As you said, they're very hard to come by - you can't get them new and the only time I see them are once in a blue moon when they pop up on eBay (I was lucky enough to get some side skirts that way).

Dannilicious, a user on here, has gone down the other track for kitting a Vectra and has had parts custom made. She'll tell you how much that was, but I'm guessing it wasn't the cheapest thing in the world.

As far as engine mods go, The best power/$ mod you can make initially is Auzvectra's remap. Lucky for you, he lives here in Brisbane. The gains from that differ, but I think the best he's got from a N/A is something like a 12% kW increase.

If you want to work on your exhaust, be prepared to shop around a lot because the rarity of the Vectras (in the modding world at least) means that a lot of shops have never dealt with them before and will charge you some ridiculous price. A catback system will give you more exhaust sound, and you'll get one of those for between $650 and $1000. If you want to go the whole hog and get some power gains, a 4-2-1 extractor back exhaust will probably be at least $1500 installed. (You'd need to reasearch it though, I have on one occasion seen Extractors for the Vectra on eBay sell for about $160).

Lastly, and most importantly, I don't know what your family's car history has been, but if you've never had anything to do with Vectras (or Calibras) before remember this; KEEP MONEY ASIDE FOR MAINTENANCE. As nice a car as they are when running well, the Vectra can be a real bitch on things breaking. Typically something is going wrong, has gone wrong, or has just been fixed after going wrong. Most of the money I've spent on my car has been to maintain it.

Common things to watch for are;


Watch that the Idle Control Valve does not clog (this will cause your car to idle roughly and stall)
Change the timing chain sooner rather then later. Most people change at 80,000km intervals, although I'd probably recommend 70 as you don't want to have to rebuild your head (it'll almost cost more then the car's worth)
Watch the engine and gearbox mounts around 175,000km. This is when they needed to be replaced on mine
Watch for oil leaks from under the rocker cover (the top cover of the engine that encloses the black Ecotec cover). The rocker cover is of poor design, and can leak easily. If it happens I reccomend buying a new gasket off ebay, then heading down to a local garage (not a holden dealer) and gettting them to fit it with a silicone sealant).
Watch for groans from the steering. The rack is naturally heavy, even with power steering. However, groans indicate that the CV joints are on the way out or that the rack is bent or something similar

Anyway all bad stuff aside, just remember that it's a great idea to find a local mechanic who knows how to work on a Vectra. Holden charges ridiculous prices, and as I'm a student myself I know that you don't wanna pay heaps for something someone else could do for a third of the price.

Good Luck and ask lots of questions. Chances are either Nuggz, Auzvectra, Shay, HappySlapper, Myself or other Vectra history owners will know a good answer.

[Jerram]

timing belt could be too tight.
did you replace the water pump at the same time?

I'd tend to agree with that; it sounds like something's trying to spin but it has a heap of lateral pressure on it, which would be consistent with your chain (it's a chain on the 2.2 not a belt I believe) going too hard around the idler pulley or pump wheel.

Who changed your chain?

[Smiley]

timing belt could be too tight.
did you replace the water pump at the same time?

The car is relatively new, and to my knowledge the water pump hasn't been changed yet. The car has only done around 90k's :S



...you can't get them new and the only time I see them are once in a blue moon when they pop up on eBay (I was lucky enough to get some side skirts that way)....


Ah ok, do you think it's possible that, say, a bodykit made for a different type of Vectra, could be altered to fit mine? Or would it be cheaper just to keep an eye on ebay?



Dannilicious, a user on here, has gone down the other track for kitting a Vectra and has had parts custom made. She'll tell you how much that was, but I'm guessing it wasn't the cheapest thing in the world.


Yeah I noticed her car, looks mint as, but I don't think I've got that kinda money right now. Well maybe, hopefully it wasn't like 5k or something haha.



As far as engine mods go, The best power/$ mod you can make initially is Auzvectra's remap. Lucky for you, he lives here in Brisbane. The gains from that differ, but I think the best he's got from a N/A is something like a 12% kW increase.


I'm not too sure if I wanna get more outta my engine, but that doesn't sound too bad, where can I find this remap? (I just tried searching and it led me back to this topic lol. Unless you're refereing to something else in car slang, then I have no clue what you're talking about haha.)



If you want to work on your exhaust, be prepared to shop around a lot because the rarity of the Vectras (in the modding world at least) means that a lot of shops have never dealt with them before and will charge you some ridiculous price. A catback system will give you more exhaust sound, and you'll get one of those for between $650 and $1000. If you want to go the whole hog and get some power gains, a 4-2-1 extractor back exhaust will probably be at least $1500 installed. (You'd need to reasearch it though, I have on one occasion seen Extractors for the Vectra on eBay sell for about $160).


What kind of sound should I be expecting from those two types of exhausts you're talking about? Is it more of a rasp noise or like a gurgle? Because I'm kinda in the mood for some gurgling lol.



Lastly, and most importantly, I don't know what your family's car history has been, but if you've never had anything to do with Vectras (or Calibras) before remember this; KEEP MONEY ASIDE FOR MAINTENANCE. As nice a car as they are when running well, the Vectra can be a real bitch on things breaking. Typically something is going wrong, has gone wrong, or has just been fixed after going wrong. Most of the money I've spent on my car has been to maintain it.

Common things to watch for are;


Watch that the Idle Control Valve does not clog (this will cause your car to idle roughly and stall)
Change the timing chain sooner rather then later. Most people change at 80,000km intervals, although I'd probably recommend 70 as you don't want to have to rebuild your head (it'll almost cost more then the car's worth)
Watch the engine and gearbox mounts around 175,000km. This is when they needed to be replaced on mine
Watch for oil leaks from under the rocker cover (the top cover of the engine that encloses the black Ecotec cover). The rocker cover is of poor design, and can leak easily. If it happens I reccomend buying a new gasket off ebay, then heading down to a local garage (not a holden dealer) and gettting them to fit it with a silicone sealant).
Watch for groans from the steering. The rack is naturally heavy, even with power steering. However, groans indicate that the CV joints are on the way out or that the rack is bent or something similar

Well we bought the car relatively new, second hand and there wasn't much wrong with it, but I guess as all things, when they get older, they need a lil more taking care of, so yeah thanks for the advice man, I really appreciate it.


I'd tend to agree with that; it sounds like something's trying to spin but it has a heap of lateral pressure on it, which would be consistent with your chain (it's a chain on the 2.2 not a belt I believe) going too hard around the idler pulley or pump wheel.

Who changed your chain?

I think my Vectra is a belt, because I remember my dad mentioning it a couple of times.
:: Yep, just asked, it's a belt lol. We got it changed at one of our local mechanics (not some back door fella, I hope lol)

[immenotu]

Welcome to the site mate!




...Dannilicious, a user on here, has gone down the other track for kitting a Vectra and has had parts custom made. She'll tell you how much that was, but I'm guessing it wasn't the cheapest thing in the world...


Nah Danni imported hers from the UK. She only had minor modifications done to it here :)

[Jerram]

Well with yours the "alternate type" would be a bodykit for a JR or JS series one Vectra (common known as a Vectra B Pre-Facelift or Vectra B MkI (yours is a 'Facelift' or 'MKII'). I'm pretty sure they'd fit yours - the bumpers would be fine because you'd be taking the ones you have on off, and I think with the side skirts that are on there at the moment you just take them off to get back to what the prefacelift has).

A remap is where you alter the way the ECU "drives the engine."
Auzvectra comes round to your house (I'm guessing) and installs it. It'd be $600 I think.

As far as exhaust noise goes, you can tune the pipes by adding things like resonators to get the sound you want. I'd suggest consulting an exhaust shop for this.

Interesting to hear that it's a belt because I thought they went to chains with the c22sel engine; maybe I'm thinking of the z22se. What do you have Shay?

[HappySlapper82]

Ah ok, do you think it's possible that, say, a bodykit made for a different type of Vectra, could be altered to fit mine? Or would it be cheaper just to keep an eye on ebay?


You could always try and get the JSII V6 CD front bumper and side skirts from a wrecker. I think they look ALOT nicer, especially the front bar than the 4cyl bumpers. Here is some crappy shot's of how mine was done - http://www.opelaus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21214

[Neeko]

Welcome to the site mate :)

[auzvectra]

As far as engine mods go, The best power/$ mod you can make initially is Auzvectra's remap. Lucky for you, he lives here in Brisbane. The gains from that differ, but I think the best he's got from a N/A is something like a 12% kW increase.



thats from a 4cyl, the 2.6L was beta then that :D.
but through a diag port dyno, so i didnt trust it as tru figures.

[auzvectra]

oh and the astra 2.2L has the chain. the veccy has the belt.

the water pumps tend to die prematurely on the opels and it's beta to change them when u do the belt ;).

[Smiley]

I'm a total noob, but this wouldn't fit my car right?

http://www.smk-tuning.com/?id=7&cat=&p=&prodID=522

[hazrd]

it will fit mate
vectra b is what u have i beleive

[Smiley]

it will fit mate
vectra b is what u have i beleive

To be honest, I don't really know what I have lol. Well yes yes, I know it's a car, it's a Holden, It's a Vectra, blah blah.

But I mean, my car has CD written on the side, and in the handbook it says, Vectra JS Series 11, April 1999.

[immenotu]

I think the only problem with kits for the vectra between series I and II as that the headlights are slightly different. You may need to modify the front bar to suit the headlights if its for the wrong series.

Im pretty sure a series I bar on a series II veccy will leave a gap below the headlights. Its not huge but definitely noticable. Nothing some fibreglass cant fix tho ;)

[Shay]

k time for me to catch up,

with veccy bodykits the prefacelift (JS)(Mine) and facelift (Yours) are slightly different.

talk to dani more about that tho.

exhaust:
think jerram over quoted a bit
should be able to get a catback for about 500,
should give you a nice gurgle, once you get a high flow cat you get a rasp,
ask for 2.25" pipes a resonator and a straight through muffler.

[Smiley]

exhaust:
think jerram over quoted a bit
should be able to get a catback for about 500,
should give you a nice gurgle, once you get a high flow cat you get a rasp,
ask for 2.25" pipes a resonator and a straight through muffler.

That 2.25" pipes, resonator and a straight through muffler will gimme the gurgle burble I'm after? If it does, if I decided, further along the track, to upgrade the engine and stuff itself, will that affect the muffler in anyway? Like will it need replacing or anything? Or all good?

[Shay]

will give a good burble. and will be fine for future upgrades.
the 2.2 is pretty deep note anyway as long as you got no crackle sounds sweet.

mines a bit raspy but i got a stainless hi flow cat which is why. apart from that mines the same as describeb above.

[Smiley]

Alright cool, how about that Whining noise I got off my engine/timing belt? Anyone got any ideas on fixing that?

Btw, should I start posting in the Vectra section now? lol

[Neeko]

Where abouts in South Brisbane are ya mate?

[Jerram]

That's a nic-ish kit you're looking at there (not a fan of the front spoiler though; the GSi spec one is better).

Keep in mind if you're buying things like that from the UK that it will cost you a lot to post it, and if the total value is over $1,000 then you will need to pay duty and GST.

[Shay]

mines got a pretty loud belt noise too, think its just how they are

btw your waterpump and cat and maybe rocker cover gasket are likely to go pretty soon.
'just at that age/kms.
so as jerram said make sure you keep some cash in your pocket,

as for rims talk to the boys on here, SRi-T rims look pretty nice and are 17's think a few guys are selling them atm.

[Smiley]

Where abouts in South Brisbane are ya mate?

Acacia Ridge mate.


That's a nic-ish kit you're looking at there (not a fan of the front spoiler though; the GSi spec one is better).

Keep in mind if you're buying things like that from the UK that it will cost you a lot to post it, and if the total value is over $1,000 then you will need to pay duty and GST.

Hmm, to think of it, I don't think they even ship to Australia lol.


mines got a pretty loud belt noise too, think its just how they are

btw your waterpump and cat and maybe rocker cover gasket are likely to go pretty soon.
'just at that age/kms.
so as jerram said make sure you keep some cash in your pocket,

as for rims talk to the boys on here, SRi-T rims look pretty nice and are 17's think a few guys are selling them atm.

Alright thanks mate. Sounds like I need to fix her up before I can start sprucing her up haha.

[Shay]

personally i think "sprucing" is overrated the amount you pay to make it look good could be used so much better for making it perform well

body kit for 3000 or a low boost turbo setup, id take the turbo.
but each to there own

[Smiley]

personally i think "sprucing" is overrated the amount you pay to make it look good could be used so much better for making it perform well

body kit for 3000 or a low boost turbo setup, id take the turbo.
but each to there own

True true, but I don't plan on racing anyone anytime soon, and I think I'd rather be cruising around in something that looked good, and then after sometime, looks good and performs good. But I dunno, what would you do overall? Cause I'm just learning all this stuff at the moment lol

[Shay]

for you:
exhaust ("look" plus performance)
CAI (performance and a nice sound IMO and not too costly)
Lowering (helps hanndlin and look)
stereo (stock isnt that great)
rims.

let the rest come later

me, haha here we go...

Eaton M45 supercharger
Extractors
Cold air intake
convert to manual
intercooler
racing seats.
coil overs
limited slip dif
internals
fuel pressure regulator
enlarged throttle body.
weight reduction.

brocky style bodykit eventually.
sleeper all the way!!
but unfortunately ive never seen a leprechaun, let alone stole his pot of gold.

[Smiley]

for you:
exhaust ("look" plus performance)
CAI (performance and a nice sound IMO and not too costly)
Lowering (helps hanndlin and look)
stereo (stock isnt that great)
rims.

let the rest come later

me, haha here we go...

Eaton M45 supercharger
Extractors
Cold air intake
convert to manual
intercooler
racing seats.
coil overs
limited slip dif
internals
fuel pressure regulator
enlarged throttle body.
weight reduction.

brocky style bodykit eventually.
sleeper all the way!!
but unfortunately ive never seen a leprechaun, let alone stole his pot of gold.

hahahah sounds complicated. I'll be researching some of that stuff up when I get home.

But for the moment, I just want to clarify something, do I have a Vectra B or C? The seller said that the car is a 2000 model, whilst the log book reads April 1999. I don't if like it's the same principal on which Centuries are calculated or what, but yeah, I'd just like to know lol thanks.

[auzvectra]

it's a veccy b facelift ;)

[Shay]

yeah its complicated.

Auz is right.
the difference betweew pre-facelift and facelift is basically you get nicer bumpers and interior, different head and tail lights, and colour coding.

check out my thread (shud be in my sig) and compare it to urs, mines the prefacelift.

[nuggz]

I have on one occasion seen Extractors for the Vectra on eBay sell for about $160).



they were mine! :D Poita's got em now

[Shay]

they were mine! :D Poita's got em now

did they help much thinking about making/getting some made. already got the rest of the exhaust done

[Smiley]

Ah yeah I can see the difference, well thanks for clarifying that for me anyway.

I think I got most of my newb questions outta the way, I think I'll start posting in the Vectra section :P.

Thanks guys for your help and welcomes.

=]