Originally Posted by
chris_r
I'll be straight up and honest here, it's not really worth putting the Z18XE in when you can buy a proper SRi cheap these days and if your budget would stretch that far, buy one. The biggest hassle you'll have with going to a Z18XE from the Z14XEP is the wiring and the ECUs are totally different. The Z14XEP uses a Bosch ME 7.6.2 ECU, the Z18XE uses the notorious Siemens Simtec71. Neither ECU is pin compatible and requires a full engine loom swap. And to make things easier, those looms and the ECU has to come from the Barina SRi, as Astra looms are totally different again. Yes, use the Astra engine if you get it cheap enough (My Z18 is from an Astra, although it won't be in the car much longer), but the electronics will be of no use to your car.
If you just want it going, then you'll have to get another Z14XEP, provided the damage isn't too great to the engine you have now, but being driven in it's current state and it will be cooked by the time you get it. Proper Corsa/Barina leather interior can only be sourced from the UK or Europe (unless someone's done the importing for you). Although, I have Astra G leather front seats in mine at the moment (require a couple of simple mods and are better than the Corsa seats). Brake upgrade isn't too hard, I have written a how to for fitting the 308mm brake setup off an Astra (They need 16s to fit them), 280mm brakes can be had in the same way using the suitable Meriva carriers and will fit under 15s.