To swap or not to swap? That is the question.

[Delphia]

Some of you will have seen my thead in members cars some of you will not.

http://www.opelaus.com/forums/showthread.php?34716-Project-5k

In short, I am building a project with the aim of seeing just how far I can get a car from stock on $5000 over the quarter mile.

But I have reached a slight roadblock in my thinking, Should I...

A. Swap in a Calibra c20xe

B. campaign the x16xe motor

Both have their positive and negative aspects. The X16xe is already in the car and was running before I hacked the wiring harness to death. The C20xe is a motor with far more aftermarket research done. The X16xe is a badly factory strangled motor and could see significant gains with minimal outlay. The C20xe gives me significant gains before I even begin to tickle it.

The big problem I'm having is actually more of a moral dilemma. If I pull the X16 and fit the C20xe am I staying true to the project? There is already so little of the original car left that the only bonus I will have from starting with a Gsi is slightly better brakes than a 1.4L econobox. Is it still the same car? Part of me thinks that the objective is to see how fast I can go for $5000. In which case the c20 is a clear winner as a c20 can push one of these cars to a mid 13 on good tyres. But the other part thinks that If I loose the x16, I'm just building a "bitsa". That you can make anything silly fast for $5000 if you don't mind being completely insane.

So I'm opening the floor I guess, Input would be greatly appreciated.

(Also, Either way I plan on staying all motor)

[Feelinlucky75]

i say do the swap... the name is project 5k, not project project heritage drag corsa...

love your work so far, looks great with the matte black and rusty bonnet. it would suit the car more with the swap than to keep it stock. its already pretty bonkers :D

[adam_92]

I wouldn't class it as a bitsa with a c20 as its still an opel engine. I could understand if you were doing an rb or something insane like that. I highly doubt anyone on here will say no to the c20 route either!

[chris_r]

I wouldn't class it as a bitsa with a c20 as its still an opel engine. I could understand if you were doing an rb or something insane like that. I highly doubt anyone on here will say no to the c20 route either!

I'd definitely agree with Adam here. Sure, I'm somewhat of an advocate for the Z18 swap, but that engine is probably better suited for a road car. As for your project, the idea is to mod the living daylights out of it, so go balls out with the C20. And if you want to go with ITBs, the C20 would be the easiest to get them for, as off the shelf kits do exist too. The downsides are the cost of the swap (mounts, CV's and hoses mostly) and a C20XE with a F20 box is about 40-50 kgs heavier than the C16/X16.

As for calling it a bitsa, you do realise in the UK that the C20XE swap has been done that many times, it may as well have been a factory option. And the other beauty of the C20 swap is if you get the donor car, you can get the bits you want, sell some of it off (I'm sure there's always a few Cali owners looking for bits and pieces, especially on here) and then send the rest for scrap, so the conversion may not cost that much at all.