Pauls Astra Mk2 rallying adventures...

[RallyMarshal]

Another new month, another update...

Finished the Ryemoor rally last month in the black Astra. Good finishing position but had been bad fog and we lost time due to my lack of confidence..



Then spent some time cracking on with the "gravel car".

Back in the workshop, and on stands



Updated the To-Do list for the car on the board..



I already had one fuel line for the carb system installed so decided to use that as the return line and bought a stack of fuel line bits / pumps to properly fit the feed line.



The new feed system will run from the tank outlet (at the rear of the tank) in AN8 size, through a fuel filter and into the twin pump setup in the spare wheel well. It then feeds back into a single AN6 fuel line, around the outside of the tank (so its protected by the tank guard) and up the passenger side of the tunnel next to the return line. Cracked on with making up the lines..



and fitted the fuel pumps in their spare wheel well location. Now waiting on the Vauxhall specific angled fuel tank outlet pipe to make up the rest.



Also temp fitted my new seats into this car,. They mount wider than the older ones so will need a bit of tweaking. I had to get this done before starting to make the gearlever bracketry..



and then used an old mount (from the other car) as the basis for the cable shift lever mount. This puts the lever much higher in the car. Going to copy the system used in the tarmac car for this as it was excellent at Donington.



I was also offered a new project a few months back....







Its a nice straight, rot free 3 door shell thats been partially converted for trackdays.. However, the cage isnt to MSA spec and theres a few oddities added on it. Ive decided to build a decent spec road-rally legal and fast road car with it.

It needs to have standard inlet on the car to comply with roadrally rules but will have a slightly tweaked engine, hybrid gearbox with low final drive and long 5th gear, decent LSD, MSA legal cage and seam welded / strengthened shell and decent spec suspension. To that end Ive sold the black car (hopefully picked up this weekend) and this will be the next project in line after the gravel car is done and the tarmac car has had a few little niggles sorted.

Paul..

[RallyMarshal]

Cant believe its been a month since my last update!

Firstly, I decided to say goodbye to the black car.. Priced it keenly and it sold fairly quickly. Had some fun in it but the new project car needed the garage space.



Then kept on with the gravel car.. Cut off the old seat mount brackets as they were in the wrong place for the newer seats Ive got and Ste welded some new ones on..



Quick rattle can etch and glacier white later..



New 1600 16v flat flywheel arrived..



and I refitted the brakes





Then Dave cracked on with the engine build..

1400cc block bored to fit the Omega 1600cc pistons



Dave handporting the head



Much bigger and better now..



Then valve seats redone



Pistons and steel rods



Crank fitment



Final cleaning of parts before head reassembly..



I guess 2nd hand cams can look good but arent always...



So a new set of Piper BP300M cams ordered to be fitted..

[RallyMarshal]

Meanwhile, back in my garage, I got a new toy - a rivnut gun. So I swapped a load of previously awkward bolts and nuts to use rivnuts instead so its a one person operation to tighten and undo.



Then after the mounts were rivnutted, the tankguards were fitted



and both seat mounts were properly done, the gear lever mount was mounted properly after modification and it was all refitted inside.



The car was booked into Tony Law Exhausts this week so after our engine setback, Harvey and myself spent some time at the weekend. We started with this spare 1400 16v engine.



Bolted on a spare F16 box and using the engine crane



we had an engine fitted in the right position



We then fitted the sumpguard brace, sumpguard, radiator and off it went to Tony Law Exausts for the week to have a proper Manifold and System made for it

Paul..

[Iain]

Glorious work. Rivnuts are the future for making life easier down the line.

[Benn]

Yes^

[CorsaTR2p]

what pleuel use for piston 1.6 in 1.4 engine? Curious adaptation, I care enough to improve my c14se.

Great work in your cars. Regards.

[RallyMarshal]

Hi,

Do you mean the connecting rods? Theyre the same on 1400 and 1600 engines.

I started with a 1400cc block and had it bored to 79mm to suit the pistons as we then get an unworn bore to use rather than starting with a 1400 and having to use oversized pistons. We use a 1600 crank to give the correct stroke.

Paul..

[Iain]

Get on here and update this Paul.

Word is you finished a days rallying and did quite well too.

[RallyMarshal]

So another month and another update!

Been super busy plus on holidays for a few weeks and then a rally so havent had time to update.

Back in May, the car had its temporary engine fitted so we could take it to Tony Law Exhausts to make it a proper manifold and repackable system..



Was there a week and they did a lovely job..





Meanwhile, the engine build carried on..









and the gearbox from F20GTE - the 2000cc car was removed and the gearbox rebuilt with a new 4.8 SCCR gearkit






Whilst I was away on holidays, some good friends took it upon themselves to continue the car and fitted the engine for me





and we brought it home and continued with the big long list of finishing jobs..





Fuel pumps boxed into the spare wheel well

[RallyMarshal]

Car taken for tracking setup of the new arms



and then taken for mapping (sorry - no photos) where we discovered that the oil pressure was low.. This was 2 days before the cars first event so no time to investigate and so F2GTE - the 1600cc car was pushed into the storage garage..



and we took the decision to convert F20GTE - the 2000cc car - from tarmac to gravel spec. More of an issue than you would think as it had no fuel pumps fitted, no gearbox fitted and needed guards making for the fuel system as well as suspension changing from hard to soft settings.



After a long slog on Friday night and all day Saturday we eventually had the car ready, brakes bedded in and car loaded to go.



Started OK but a rear flexi pipe caught on the new fuel pump guard and split so we did a few miles of the first stage without any rear brakes and also had a couple of other braking issues throughout the day but battled on, resolved the issues and managed to set some good times to finish 8th overall - by far our best overall finish.



So all in all, it was worth the huge efforts expended to get there.

Next step is to find out what the issue with the 1600cc engine is - oil pump, bearing clearances or something else and hope that nothing got damaged...

​​​​​​​Paul..