Another new guy

[ausratty]

Hey all I'm From Forbes NSW
We just bought a combo van and are looking at putting a 1.8 in it. So from what i can tell this is the best place to get some info and join like minded members .
Cheers

[chris_r]

Welcome, which model Combo van is it that you have?

[ausratty]

Hi mate its a XC 03 model it has a 1.6 in it at the moment which i bought on the weekend which wasnt smoking or anything seemed to have plenty of power on the way home. 5hr drive didnt get hot or anything.
However when i started it in the morning it spat out a pluum of smoke and each time on rev. Im thinking the valve stem seals or head gasket.
Done a comp test today and each cylinder is around 130psi which is a little low. Im just weighing up wether to take the head off and do the head gasket and valvestems and reseat the valves etc. Or just put a 1.8 in it.
It looks like i've picked up a sri for around 500$ however the motor has quite a few kms so id rather rebuild it before bolting it in.

[chris_r]

Well, if you've got the SRi, then use that as a donor vehicle. Z16SEs aren't the easiest to source parts for here in Oz. Z18XEs, on the other hand are plentiful and cheap. $500 can get you a low km Z18. But you'll still need the SRi, as to make everything work, you'll need to swap the engine bay looms over too. Not that hard to do, seeing as I've swapped looms myself recently(although mine had a bit of extra work required for the Z20LET engine).

Also, if you plan on going to a Z18, buy yourself an OPCOM reader/programming tool off eBay, you will need it for a couple of little things.

[ausratty]

i've got a obd II scanner with some software i'll check it might work. Do you know what needs to be adjusted ? also do you change the dash out etc too ?

[chris_r]

The OPCOM is an Opel specific tool, whilst your generic OBDII tool should work alright with the Combo, there's a few programming things that you may need to perform that you can't do with a generic scanner.

I might sound like I'm all high and mighty here, but there's not much I don't know about the Barina XC/Corsa C and SB/Corsa B models. I can tell you that my latest project has been one hell of a learning curve. If by the dash, you mean the instrument cluster itself, then it's a fairly simple task.

[ausratty]

Hey mate I never said you were all high and mighty :) I'll take any advice i can get and you sound like you know your stuff !
I'll grab one of them tools off ebay. Any other tips you can suggest ?

[Raisin]

Welcome!

Listen to Chris on this lol, he speaks from experience.

[chris_r]

Hey mate I never said you were all high and mighty :) I'll take any advice i can get and you sound like you know your stuff !
I'll grab one of them tools off ebay. Any other tips you can suggest ?

That's okay. As Raisin said, I've got a lot of experience with these models in particular and I'm usually pretty willing to help others out where I can. When I used to work for my parents, we had two Z14XEP powered XC Combos and I always thought that the 1.4 was too small for it. With the OP-COM, you can do certain functions like program keys to the ECU, change variant configurations in the body control module (ie disable/enable things such as AC, cruise control, ABS, etc), as well as read error codes and other data. I've owned mine for 6-7 years now, it's been well worth the money I can tell you.

As for any other tips, well if you're putting the Z18 in after a rebuild, use the F17 box from the SRi too (it's a stronger box than the F13 in the Combo). In fact, you may want to swap in as many components from the SRi that you can, like the driveshafts etc. The brakes you currently have on the Combo are the same as what's on the SRi and any other XC Barina sold locally. If you want a brake upgrade (and I highly recommend one with the bigger engine, particularly if it's going to be in a commercial application), you can directly bolt on the larger 280mm brakes from the later 1.4 Z14XEP engined Combo (rear brakes are larger too at 264mm) or you can check out my 308mm brake conversion tutorial in the how to section of this forum. Both brake swaps use the exact same caliper, differences come solely from disc size and the caliper carrier. Beware that the 308mm upgrade requires a minimum 16" wheel to fit (factory SRi 16" wheels fit, some aftermarket ones may not) and the 280mm requires only a 15" wheel size.

Also, swapping stuff in. You'll need to swap the ECU transponder ring on the steering column and swap the transponder chips in the keys, which should mean everything should work fine. You may or may not need to swap the BCM over, if you do, then you will need the OP-COM to disable the ABS as your Combo doesn't have it. I'm not 100% sure on how you go with the cruise control though, that's something I'm still looking into for my SRi, seeing as I'm working with a different type of engine.

Other things I recommend, are mainly general service items. New clutch kit and new timing belt kit mainly. I say new clutch should go without saying, you've got the engine out and apart, so it makes sense to change it at this time if it needs doing. New timing belt and water pump, I've said it a million times before, this is an absolute MUST. No point just dropping an engine in not knowing when these items were changed last and having them fail on you, resulting in an engine failure. Also, use genuine GM or Gates parts when it comes to the timing belts, as the genuine parts do have a solid guarantee on them and most aftermarket belts will fail before the 60,000km interval. Gates are also the OEM belt supplier to Opel/Vauxhall.

Other than that, good luck with this little project. There's another user on here who has done this to his Combo van, but somehow also goes by a similar user name (@Chris R). I don't know how that happened, but apparently its easy to get the two of us confused. He hasn't been on here for a while I think. He had a build thread on here too, which should make for good reading.

[ausratty]

Thanks again mate, i'll see if i can find these other threads.
Ive got a set of chrome starcorps to throw on it so maybe i can go with the bigger brakes,. Whats the cost normally >

[chris_r]

I reckon I spent just over $700 on the 308mm brake swap, with rotors and pads accounting for just over half that. It's the Meriva VXR carriers that also accounted for another $240, which I had to buy new (you'll be hard pressed to find them second hand, as only a handful of Meriva VXRs hit the road).

[dutchy]

Welcome to the forum mate.

[ausratty]

might just go the next combo up brakes. Anyone have any laying around :)

[ausratty]

can you swap the cruise from the sri to the combo to ?