astra VXR engine change

[nigelh]

Over the weekend I changed the motor in the red rocket (Kim's old vxr) to Alex's crate engine.
1st step was remove all the hoses and wiring from the top.
2nd remove exhaust pipe between the 2 cats and then drop the sub frame with the steering rack and pump still bolted to it along with the engine mounts.
http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af198/Nigelhervey/e7a9eecc.jpg
3rd with that removed I could get the engine/ gearbox stand under and then it was just a case of removing the left and right mount bolts then lowering the engine/gearbox assembly out of the car.
http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af198/Nigelhervey/5c383194.jpghttp://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af198/Nigelhervey/196d3cc1.jpg
once this was done it was a case of swapping all the parts over to the new engine and fit the new turbo.
http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af198/Nigelhervey/f972c961.jpg
then refit engine/gearbox assembly and sub frame ect.
here is a photo of the dual mass flywheel fitted to the vxr
http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af198/Nigelhervey/dd218c54.jpg

hope you find this interestinghttp://www.opelaus.com/forums/images/smilies/oasmilies/smilewinkgrin.gif

[guy 27]

nice work. at least its a fairly straight swap over and you start off with a fresh engine.

[CNBLU]

very nice!

how much was the crate engine?

[liam]

What engine have you put in? or am i missing something

[poita]

same type of engines gone back in liam

the original motor sucked in a lung full of water, so he bought it cheap and is gonna fix it up ;)

[kabel]

This was my car that was written off due to storm damage from a hailstorm we had in Perth in March 2010.

Seized motor due to water being sucked in through the induction setup.
Along with some panel damage came to a total of $26,800 to repair.
After 3 months of waiting for the paperwork to be completed the insurer told me a few weeks back they would be writing the car off.
I bought the wreck and on sold it.

The new owner had an AH SriT crate engine he purcahsed from Holmart a while back and this engine along with a new turbo have been installed into the VXR.
Original engine from the VXR now belongs to NigelH who I am sure will rebuild it and find a home for it !

Hope that clears it up.
See also here http://www.opelaus.com/forums/showthread.php?26933-VXR-Red-No-More-Written-Off-!/page3

Thanks for posting the pictures Nigel,hopefully Alex will be kind enough to let me have a look during the week.
P.S
My parts from Forge are in transit from the UK and should be here by middle of the week.
P.P.S
REALLY mammoth effort mate to do all of that in one weekend and glad to see the Red Rocket will be on the road again soon.
I miss it.....even though the Mrs is wrapped with her new White Knight !

[Nurb608]

very nice!

how much was the crate engine?

http://holmart.com.au/online/prod226.htm

[Nurb608]

Very nice work Nigel!

Are you bringing it up to the Z20LEH spec or just leaving it as is?

[boorny88]

can you fit the z20ler into the astra g's?

[gmonkey]

Yeh u can matt it's pretty much same design engine as the let.. But trying the ecu is the big problem as it's a canbus based one

[boorny88]

Ok damn canbus haha

[glider]

Yeh u can matt it's pretty much same design engine as the let.. But trying the ecu is the big problem as it's a canbus based one

I'd suspect if you used a LET loom you'd have no issues, sensors should be all the same, only thing that may be different is coilpack

[gmonkey]

i was thinking sensors would be the main difference oh well i dunno.. id imagine someone done it in the UK

[glider]

from personal experience with c20let and z20let (for this post I'm going to refer to them as 1st and 2nd gen of the 20LE)

sensors were the same
2nd gen had stronger block (but the exterior remained basically identical) and smaller head (possible to to balancer shafts and coil pack)

if sensors were incompatible between 2nd (ZLET) and 3rd gen (LER), you could probably source 2nd gen senors and use them with not much issue, the only thing that you would have to check is if the head has any additional senors but its probably not likely

[mania]

It goes very well.. and strangely sounds better then the mapped sri-t (bigger inlet pipes/intercooler?).

Performance wise it's a vxr, vxr map, vxr afm, (a new) vxr turbo and vxr injectors. Internals differ.. but it'll be plenty strong enough for stock hp.

Only the pits to go :)

A massive thanks to nigelh. Especially for taking time to drain the intercooler.

[ChrisMaz]

Congrats guys. Can't wait to see it in action.

[Nurb608]

It goes very well.. and strangely sounds better then the mapped sri-t (bigger inlet pipes/intercooler?).

Performance wise it's a vxr, vxr map, vxr afm, (a new) vxr turbo and vxr injectors. Internals differ.. but it'll be plenty strong enough for stock hp.

Only the pits to go :)

Could have atleast removed the balancer shaft while you were at it :p

Nah, nice work guys :)

A massive thanks to nigelh. Especially for taking time to drain the intercooler.

[Keep'emRunning]

engine wiring & sensors are all the same according to the TIS schematics.... the only mechanical diff which may affect the let ecu map are the cams (although timing gears would be identical I'd imagine)

Good job on the swap.. but we all wanna know... 'ow much!? :D

[kabel]

He stole the car me and held Nigel at gun point to do the engine swap !
So bascially nics.

[mania]

I basically did. I'm ashamed... but at least it has a good home :).

afaik a LER and LETs are identical. Cams etc are the same - I think they're only named differently because of the low power LEL 3dr AHs use in europe.

Kim, our cams are the same :( . Good luck with the intercooler! Eventually I think I'll get the same forge one and finally be able to proceed to phase 2 on the IPF. It's been 18 months on phase 1 now... :crazy:

[Shay]

ok nigel since you foiled my engine plans.
hurry up and rebuild the ZLEH so i can buy the CLET off ya ;)

[absolut_tommy]

she's a beaut 4294 :D

[kabel]

When can I take a close up look Tommy ?

[Shay]

gotta get a bit more active on the forum now tommy ;)

[kabel]

Gotta be more active on the cruise/show days too......need another VXR along for support !

[gmonkey]

no plates? still not registered but yet its at alex's work hahah?? Looks good mate but alex is getting a bit jealous now ahah

ps tommy what happened to the track day pics from ages back? :p

[kabel]

I think it may be rego`d now.
Mania sent me a text to say it passed pits ?????

[btm]

sexy in red!

[Shay]

Need to make up some SRiR badges...

[gmonkey]

Or VXi-T

[mania]

It is rego'd now, just an older pic...

Kim, pm'd ;).

[gmonkey]

Tommy interested in dynoing it? See what a new engine puts out :p

[mania]

A bit hard on an engine and turbo with just 1000kms on them I would have thought? :p

[gmonkey]

too true never thought about the 'run in' period ahah

[ChrisMaz]

I guess I should expect at least 3 VXR spec Astras at the next track day then!? :D

[kabel]

Tommy has an SriT engine in his VXR...Someone else will have the VXR spec engine in a Calibra though !
Or are you getting a VXR Chris.
City Motors have a red one in their used stock.

[Shay]

if the next track day is next feb/mar, i may have a more than VXR spec veccy ;)

as for running in, arent all crates usually ran in in the factory for a bit?

[gmonkey]

crate motors are ussually fresh motors with no kilometres on them at all.. not starter motor on them or manifolds of any kind so wouldnt think they were startable at all.

think chris meant cause alex's is pretty well VXR territory now days and possibly tommys will be aswell soon or later maybe(did tommys get SRiT turbo or VXR turbo? or are they the same on the H's?) + yours which is now beyond VXR :p

[Shay]

i was under impression for a full crate they turned the motor over externally in order to properly seat the bearings and pistons. which is mostly what the running in is for...
and btw alexs crate came with intake manifold ;)

[mania]

Considering the strong smell of varnish the engine had for the first 250kms.. I think it's fairly safe to say it hadn't been run in at factory.

See you all later today :)

[kabel]

crate motors are ussually fresh motors with no kilometres on them at all.. not starter motor on them or manifolds of any kind so wouldnt think they were startable at all.

think chris meant cause alex's is pretty well VXR territory now days and possibly tommys will be aswell soon or later maybe(did tommys get SRiT turbo or VXR turbo? or are they the same on the H's?) + yours which is now beyond VXR :p
VXR Turbo on Red Rocket.
SriT and VXR have different turbos from factory.

[gmonkey]

Thought so but was unsure if was just the g srit that did

[gmonkey]

Hating removalist trucks right about now :(

[delemonte]

Hating removalist trucks right about now :(

:( That doesn't sound good... What happened?

[Wraith]

Nice work there to all involved...

Afaik re. turbos all later production AH's have the same, ie. B.W K04, only early production vehicles still used the older K03 (as used in the TS turbos) on the AH SriT's :)

[sooty]

:( That doesn't sound good... What happened?
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss172/gmonkey14/5af91ac4.jpg

[delemonte]

Oh dear... Were you parked or driving?

Insured?

[mania]

Tom came back to find it looking like that, parallel parked legally in what looked like a safe bay :(. Hired removalist truck clipped it going around the corner.

Fortunately door/bonnet are both fine, only really wing/headlight/wheel/front bumper damage and they left their details.. time off the road really sucks though.

[gmonkey]

Atleast they left their details!

[kabel]

?????

[gmonkey]

Red rocket is cursed :(

[delemonte]

Ouch. Good on them for leaving their details at least. I know that's the least they could do, but a lot of people don't even do that!

Hope she's not off the road for too long...

[ChrisMaz]

Bound to miss trackday :( Bad news for the Red rocket.

[kabel]

Red rocket is cursed :(
Just unlucky.....Unlucky it got caught in a hailstorm im March,lucky for Tom he was able to get into a VXR as his first car REALLY CHEAP,lucky for my Mrs she ended up with an Audi as a replacement.
Unlucky for Tom that it has been damaged,but lucky the culprit was honest enough to leave their details.

Cursed ?

[gmonkey]

I'll answer that when I see it at a cruise in hopefully not to distant future :p

[mania]

Just unlucky.....Unlucky it got caught in a hailstorm im March,lucky for Tom he was able to get into a VXR as his first car REALLY CHEAP,lucky for my Mrs she ended up with an Audi as a replacement.
Unlucky for Tom that it has been damaged,but lucky the culprit was honest enough to leave their details.

Cursed ?
It just has lots of luck :). Net positive.

[absolut_tommy]

http://tinypic.com/r/24uyj9j/7the car is indeed cursed. :(
its spent more time on the back of a truck then in my possession :(
the insurance companies have been notified and repairs will hopefully be underway soon!

i think it needs a nickname
"lil bastard"

http://i55.tinypic.com/359erk3.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/20t3qjl.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/jhei5z.jpg
http://tinypic.com/r/24uyj9j/7

[gmonkey]

still think try and get some hellabeams or angeleyes on insurance :P

[mania]

The last page of this thread makes me sad. :(

[absolut_tommy]

and maybe a nice new set of wheels :p

[gmonkey]

hahaha if thats the case ill swap my 18"s with ur 19"s if ur planning on getting rid of them :p

[kabel]

I had intended on painting the wheels black,but never got around to it.
P.S
Tommy......CLEAN YOUR WHEELS !

[gmonkey]

I had intended on painting the wheels black,but never got around to it.
P.S
Tommy......CLEAN YOUR WHEELS !

Noooooooooooooooooooö!

[absolut_tommy]

i try i try! they get dirty again within a few hours :p

[gmonkey]

Sounds like someone needs a ap racing brake kit hahaha

[absolut_tommy]

SO HAPPY :D


http://i54.tinypic.com/k01ok2.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2h5mt8o.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/zldm4j.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2qlh05x.jpg

[gmonkey]

Now let's keep it that way!

[boorny88]

good to sse she is back and not damaged nice one

[delemonte]

It looks like they did a pretty good job on the repair. Glad to see she's back in action :D

[Shay]

that was quick!! looks good again, comin out with alex next friday to the track day?

and what springs are in it, cos it looks LOW!!!

[kabel]

Springs are Eibach Pro`s Shay.
But it rides 10mm lower at the front than my car with the same springs.
It was also a much harsher ride than mine.
I still have one pair of VXR springs sitting in the garage......along with assorted other VXR parts !

[ChrisMaz]

Springs are Eibach Pro`s Shay.
But it rides 10mm lower at the front than my car with the same springs.
It was also a much harsher ride than mine.
I still have one pair of VXR springs sitting in the garage......along with assorted other VXR parts !

Shotgun VXR brakes? :D

[Shay]

Shotgun VXR brakes? :D

haha, i already dibs'd them, but hes not getting rid of them any time soon...

[kabel]

haha, i already dibs'd them, but hes not getting rid of them any time soon...
We can talk next week.
I might start off-loading parts soon,got too many now !

[mania]

and what springs are in it, cos it looks LOW!!!

Should have seen what a mission it to get it on the flatbed truck!

Repair is seamless :).

[kabel]

Should have seen what a mission it to get it on the flatbed truck!

Repair is seamless :).
I remember it went on the flatbed 3 times in two days after the storm before settling into City HSV for 3 months waiting for insurance assessors.