My astra turbo progress thread (56K Warning...lots of pics)

[Reece]

Before pic and spec can be found on my thread in the "your rides" section

last day or so ive been redoing my boot install ready for VBOA 2005

firstly stripped boot out and started on making a false floor, using my boot carpet as a template



then cut wood down, trial fitted several times, taking bits of wood off here and there until it fitted, pic makes it looks like a shyte fit buts its really good



after that i retrimmed it in some black acoustics solutions carpet i managed to get stupidly cheap from a mate, also hoover it as you can see it was covered in crap from being on the floor



Then set about sorting out where things were going, after about 3 hours of doing fark-all apart from talking about where things could go and where they couldnt, i decided to make some shelfs for the xbox and amp that looked as if they were floating, did this by making some supports and fabricating a few brackets up.



this is the one i trial made for the xbox, as you can see thats only the top half of the xbox the rest is in my bedroom waiting for a new PSU. Also as you can see having a huge box and 18" sub allows no space what so ever to do anything with.

then removed the xbox shelf, and made the amp on which sits slightly higher up, covered it all etc



Then began wiring the amp up but need to wait till tomorrow for some connecters and more cabling.

i know it doesnt look too fancy but when its all together, not including cables and components to make this thing its cost me 14 quid and will allow access to the spare wheel within 10 mins

more pics tomorrow

 

[AL]

Sweet dude - that sub is feckin huge though! lol

What is quality like on it? :|

 

[dogsy]

looking good mate. ive done a few boot builds in mk3 so i know how hard it is to make a floor that fits !! looks like a top job tho, and loving the idea of 'floating' shelves .......... is the idea copyrighted, and if not can i nick it ??

 

[chrisgsi16v]

i got that amp :w00t:

 

[lewism]

i always wondered this,

where does your shopping go?

 

[Reece]

shopping goes on the back seats and in the rear footwells

 

[Reece]

As some of you know i advertised the car forsale a while back after splitting with my ex girlfriend

well decided to keep it today and treat it to some new bits, ive already bought
- 16 Valve stem seals (to stop it smoking more than i do)
- Throttle body gasket
- Top hat gasket
- Water pump
- cambelt kit
- Crank oil seal
- Stabilzer bar setup from a vectra..hopefully to stop me snapping rear gearbox mounts (on my third now)

and tomorrow i *should* also be getting K-Tec FMIC for it aswel

the install will be redone for a fourth time becuase basically ive destroyed this one, had to acess my spare wheel for my dad in a rush and couldnt be ****d to dismantle my install so took a lump hammer to the xbox rack, amp rack and false floor.

will update tomorrow with pics when the work starts

 

[AL]

the install will be redone for a fourth time becuase basically ive destroyed this one, had to acess my spare wheel for my dad in a rush and couldnt be ****d to dismantle my install so took a lump hammer to the xbox rack, amp rack and false floor.

lmao!

Glad to hear you're keeping it dude - assume it means things are working out - am happy for you

Anyway, good luck with it all dude - fmic will be nice!

 

[Reece]

wouldnt say things were working out but i just figured ive put too much time, effort, blood and money into this car to let it go before ive got it exactly how i picture it in my head for when its finished

p.s work pics wont be until tuesday or wednesday cos local vaux made a ****up and my bits wont be here till tuesday now

 

[johnsastra16v]

good to hear your keeping it.
its a real nice looking car.

good luck with it. You should pop down with it at uni and take me for a spin! ;-)

 

[Reece]

dont trust leaving it at uni, ive only ever taken it twice in the last year and that was for about 2 hours or so


didnt buy the k-tec fmic in the end, i got a 4x4 shappire cosworth fmic in the end...not sure if its gonna fit tho as its about 4-5" thick, if not ill sell it on i only gave 80quid for it and its as good as brand new

 

[Reece]

Update:

Bout time i updated this thread..forgot all about it.


Valve stem seals
First thing i set to do was valve stem seals and wasent gonna be taking the head off either, now you can buy a tool to remove valve stem seals..well a valve spring compressor anyway whilst the head is still on, however these dont work with vauxhall 16v engines as the valve setup is recessed into the head casting.

Which meant i had to make a tool, this was made from an old spark plug spanner, calibra rear seat bracket and a couple of nuts and a bolt.... after messing about for a while this is what it ended up looking like



thats it in use, basically on the other end of the thread u can see on the left, is a nut welded in place inside a modified spark plug spanner (windows cut out for removing/replacing the collets)


Crank seal
Basically the old crank seal was shot and leaking oil everywhere, after alot of messing around screwing screws into the old one to remove it it finally looked like this


Intercooler
First i found out its not a shappire cosworth intercooler is apprently and escort cosworth intercooler, for a laugh i offered it put against the standard one to see the size difference


after that i offered it up onto the car itself


After doing that i noticed it just wasent wide enough for the end cap pipes to go round the radiator, so its been at the welders for 3 whole weeks having and extra inch welded into it, got it back last night and did a quick trial fit and it seems it will fit quiete nicely after some angle grinding on the front of the car..again


will update tomorrow if i get chance with some of the other things ive done like modifiying the inlet manifold top hat..(polished internals and inlet bore enlarged)

 

[Ben]

looking sweet though reece. thats a lot of butchering going on behind that front bumper! :w00t:

 

[Dave GSiT]

and tomorrow i *should* also be getting K-Tec FMIC for it aswel

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Dave GSiT]

For your information Reece, that Escort Cosworth Intercooler you bought....... Has an Integral Charge cooler at one end! Good find!

 

[Reece]

For your information Reece, that Escort Cosworth Intercooler you bought....... Has an Integral Charge cooler at one end! Good find!

yeah i was told that, but the other one i looked at had a pipe coming out of it for the charge cooler part whereas mine doesnt :s

 

[Reece]

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

?????

dunno it it was a k-tec fmic or even they make them, i was just buying an intercooler from a mate and he said it was made by K-TEC but it was pathetic so opted for the escort cosworth one instead

 

[Dave GSiT]

Some info :

Escort Cosworth Big turbo version had integral charge cooler, later / smaller turbo one dosnt. In haste I posted a moment ago without looking closely at urs.

DO NOT BUY THE K-TEC FRONT MOUNT! IT IS THE ****TEST INTERCOOLER I HAVE EVER SEEN! AND THATS BEING KIND! Lost count of how many ive taken off R5's cos the owners got fed up with the stupidly high charge air temps!