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Project Lightweight XE
- Thread starter rc
- Start date
We have a caterham 620r in at the moment as he had a bit of a 'moment' on the track and spun it along a wall
When we got the rear tub off I discovered it's got pretty much exactly what I have just added to mine inside the rear!
So happy about that! If caterham do it then it must be correct lol.
I've been back on eBay again with the lucky £50ers
A exhaust manifold off a 240bhp xe Westfield.
It is going to be pretty dam close to one of the chassis rails but I can't try it on until the body is back off so will have to wait until then to try
I didn't realise how big it was until I put it next to a standard xe manifold
He did have a beautiful stainless silencer too but that bidded up to £200.
Next bit of ebaying had to raise up the recent £50 budget to £90 And won this. It' been fitted to a car but never on the road.
It's a 42mm twin core alloy radiator upgrade for a mk2 escort, which is what the GBS ZERO chassis is designed for,
A lot fatter than standard!
And lastly was a freebeey, my uncle had just changed the alternator on his karbota mini tractor and it looked suspiciously like the super expensive alternator SBD sell for the Xe!
For a bit of perspective.... here's a standard c20xe alterator!
It's 12v 40Amp so plenty for my needs on this. It's kackered but if it does work size wise I have a part number for a new one
Now moving on, over the years I've made some pretty epic build threads, if I do say so my self
, but as the world is evolving vlogging has far overtaken blogging in the car build game.
I watch over 60gb of youtube a month and all car related, mighty car mods, roadkill, engine masters, Adam lz, project binky, roadking, b is for build, the list goes on for ever.
So I thought I'd give it a go my self. It seems a whole load of hassle and make everything take 3 times as long and the internet always trolls you, you feel like an idiot talking to a camera, but it is the future!
So far I've only put up the slide shows of a few of my old projects, but the plan is when I get some more progrss on the Kit Car to actually start a Vlog with it.
Here's the channel
Super Ron
So check it out, subscribe up and once I have a decent amount of content I'll start uploading
I'll carry on build threads here too of course 
When we got the rear tub off I discovered it's got pretty much exactly what I have just added to mine inside the rear!
So happy about that! If caterham do it then it must be correct lol.
I've been back on eBay again with the lucky £50ers
A exhaust manifold off a 240bhp xe Westfield.
It is going to be pretty dam close to one of the chassis rails but I can't try it on until the body is back off so will have to wait until then to try
I didn't realise how big it was until I put it next to a standard xe manifold
He did have a beautiful stainless silencer too but that bidded up to £200.
Next bit of ebaying had to raise up the recent £50 budget to £90 And won this. It' been fitted to a car but never on the road.
It's a 42mm twin core alloy radiator upgrade for a mk2 escort, which is what the GBS ZERO chassis is designed for,
A lot fatter than standard!
And lastly was a freebeey, my uncle had just changed the alternator on his karbota mini tractor and it looked suspiciously like the super expensive alternator SBD sell for the Xe!
For a bit of perspective.... here's a standard c20xe alterator!
It's 12v 40Amp so plenty for my needs on this. It's kackered but if it does work size wise I have a part number for a new one
Now moving on, over the years I've made some pretty epic build threads, if I do say so my self
, but as the world is evolving vlogging has far overtaken blogging in the car build game.I watch over 60gb of youtube a month and all car related, mighty car mods, roadkill, engine masters, Adam lz, project binky, roadking, b is for build, the list goes on for ever.
So I thought I'd give it a go my self. It seems a whole load of hassle and make everything take 3 times as long and the internet always trolls you, you feel like an idiot talking to a camera, but it is the future!
So far I've only put up the slide shows of a few of my old projects, but the plan is when I get some more progrss on the Kit Car to actually start a Vlog with it.
Here's the channel
Super Ron
So check it out, subscribe up and once I have a decent amount of content I'll start uploading
I'll carry on build threads here too of course
A problem I found when I assembled the front suspension was that the thread on the top arm for the ball joint was full of powder coat and a bit chewed where they had tried to wind the ball joint in. The new joints I'd bought wouldn't wind in more than a turn
So had been asking around my friends for a M18x1.5 tap and one came up trumps
It was pretty full of powder coat and crap
Greased it all up and now they can run freely all the way in if needed
And then I got a rather peculiar message......
He was running 210bhp on my setup
As I'm not needing the manifold for (quite) some time, he's bought it back temporarily to stick it on the dyno
Back it goes
So had been asking around my friends for a M18x1.5 tap and one came up trumps
It was pretty full of powder coat and crap
Greased it all up and now they can run freely all the way in if needed
And then I got a rather peculiar message......
He was running 210bhp on my setup
As I'm not needing the manifold for (quite) some time, he's bought it back temporarily to stick it on the dyno
Back it goes
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Powder coat is a nightmare when they don't block all the holes up, I nearly wrecked an engine mount on my 1.6 after having it powder coated and being a bit forceful with a bolt lol. In future I'll send stuff with bolts in place!
Be interesting to see if he has actually lost 20bhp in a manifold
Be interesting to see if he has actually lost 20bhp in a manifold
Are both manifolds 4-2-1 ?
Not sure what the other manifold is like, apart from being shiny and expensive, but I've asked him to keep me posted on the results. I'm not sure if this manifold is going to fit my chassis still yet, but sounds like its a good one if it does
Sorry not had any time for progress but I did hear from the guy with the exhaust. It turns out it was the engine was at fault, not the manifold. They managed to blow 235bhp through it.
I originally bought the manifold for £55, and I was bidding on his silencer too but the bids kept running on that and I gave up at £190 I think.
I don't know if the other guy got the same request to buy the silencer back for the dyno or what ever, but he offered me the manifold and the silencer together for £195 delivered. Sounded good to me!
So a bigger box arrived this time
The silencer is made by Techcraft motorsport and is a good size, and repackable
It's a full 2.5inch system
He used it on track days so noise shouldn't
be too bad
Last week I went on a bit of a road trip to pick up another purchase. A lathe
I was not prepared for how heavy it was going to be! Lmao. Thank God I took my engine crane with me! We separated it into pieces, but even then I couldn't even move a leg, let alone lift it! The suds tray which is usually just sheet metal is nearly an inch thick cast iron!
Look how thick cast the legs Are!
And here it is, it's a 1950ish Fortis Model E/B 12x24inch bed, powered longitudinal and cross feed, full thread cutting gearbox (imperial though), clutch, backgears, loads of accessorie, 3 and 4 jaw chucks and faceplates, quick change tool post, fixed steady, won it for £460.
Gonna have lots of fun with this
I originally bought the manifold for £55, and I was bidding on his silencer too but the bids kept running on that and I gave up at £190 I think.
I don't know if the other guy got the same request to buy the silencer back for the dyno or what ever, but he offered me the manifold and the silencer together for £195 delivered. Sounded good to me!
So a bigger box arrived this time
The silencer is made by Techcraft motorsport and is a good size, and repackable
It's a full 2.5inch system
He used it on track days so noise shouldn't
be too bad
Last week I went on a bit of a road trip to pick up another purchase. A lathe
I was not prepared for how heavy it was going to be! Lmao. Thank God I took my engine crane with me! We separated it into pieces, but even then I couldn't even move a leg, let alone lift it! The suds tray which is usually just sheet metal is nearly an inch thick cast iron!
Look how thick cast the legs Are!
And here it is, it's a 1950ish Fortis Model E/B 12x24inch bed, powered longitudinal and cross feed, full thread cutting gearbox (imperial though), clutch, backgears, loads of accessorie, 3 and 4 jaw chucks and faceplates, quick change tool post, fixed steady, won it for £460.
Gonna have lots of fun with this
Awesome bit of kit! A lathe is something I've always wanted.. impressive
You can't go wrong with a lathe in your life my mate has one and we're always usein it for something and it dose pay itself off just in little bits. good deal mate
Still haven't had any time to work on the kit car, I've been working 70hour weeks the last few weeks.
Been on some cool cars though, just made a complete wiring loom for a 1974 Bmw 2002 this last week.
I designed it all from scratch
All good fun
I have still been creeping on eBay with the Zortex in mind. With the shallow Westfield sump I have it does leave the oil filter a bit vonerable, Westfields all seem to have remote filters so I kept a look out and this one popped up for a c20xe for £25
I spotted on a Facebook group someone was selling all his left over bits so did a deal on a injection pump, alloy bracket, sytec filter, and the module for the fog light to pass the iva, £40 posted all in.
And then pushed the boat out a bit when I spotted some cams, sbd 220 & 230 camshafts. Not been run for long, and in great condition. From what I've read these are the most wild cams on a hydraulic profile.
Won them for £200. So these will be pushing me well over the 200bhp mark
Been on some cool cars though, just made a complete wiring loom for a 1974 Bmw 2002 this last week.
I designed it all from scratch
All good fun
I have still been creeping on eBay with the Zortex in mind. With the shallow Westfield sump I have it does leave the oil filter a bit vonerable, Westfields all seem to have remote filters so I kept a look out and this one popped up for a c20xe for £25
I spotted on a Facebook group someone was selling all his left over bits so did a deal on a injection pump, alloy bracket, sytec filter, and the module for the fog light to pass the iva, £40 posted all in.
And then pushed the boat out a bit when I spotted some cams, sbd 220 & 230 camshafts. Not been run for long, and in great condition. From what I've read these are the most wild cams on a hydraulic profile.
Won them for £200. So these will be pushing me well over the 200bhp mark
Really good eye for detail on the loom I can't stand wiring lol and good score on the goodies for the kit car
That wiring is an art!
definatly a future project of mine is to complete rewire the astra i reckon, i have added a fair bit and it make a right mess! With all the battery power managment stuff you can buy now, could make it really neat and probably look ALOT of weight aswell!
definatly a future project of mine is to complete rewire the astra i reckon, i have added a fair bit and it make a right mess! With all the battery power managment stuff you can buy now, could make it really neat and probably look ALOT of weight aswell!
Hello guys, Sorry I've been a long time absent. I've still had the kit car all these years but it had just sat there untouched..... until now I've finally got my act together and brushed the dust off. I am changing platform and continuing the build on youtube, so if you want to keep up with progress here is episode 1 of the build:
Be sure to subscribe as I plan to really push on with progress from now on!
I've finally got my act together and brushed the dust off. I am changing platform and continuing the build on youtube, so if you want to keep up with progress here is episode 1 of the build: Be sure to subscribe as I plan to really push on with progress from now on!
Very impressive, I admire your work and talent mate. Your garage is seriously awesome.
Been watching your channel, you going to bring this to a vboa one year as it is Vauxhall powered
Maybe! Shame theres no PV at santa pod anymore, could of had some fun there!
I look forward to when work starts on the Astra again although I’m not sure when or if this will happen as lots of goodies are being robbed for this project but I must say I’m loving the YouTube channel and content, keep up the good work Ron