Your not the first person to say that..Originally Posted by 8valve-craig
Interested in the engine or shell?
Paul..
Your not the first person to say that..
Interested in the engine or shell?
Paul..
Engine. Could probably do some kind of deal on a c20xe package. Just something to maybe consider I'm in no rush.
So much for the multiple updates! This is gonna be a big one to catch up.
Started OK at Fulbeck in August with the new 1600cc.. However we had the "wrong" rear springs fitted as they were far too stiff and I struggled to get used to the car. However we got quicker through the day until the brake master cylinder failed and locked the front brakes on meaning we retired. Managed to fix it by borrowing the hydraulic handbrake cylinder and and do a couple of stages after for fun / testing.
Gave the car a once over after the event and discovered the new suspension brackets had pulled out a bossed mount, bent the bracket and snapped a captive bolt..
Then I managed to snap an "easy out" in the snapped bolt!
So out came the holesaw and the whole lot got removed..
Ste came over and welded in some new bosses for me and I fitted some spare brackets
Then we did a charity day to give rally rides to disabled kids and their carers..
and then the bottom hose decided to give up the ghost! Luckily it happened with the car switched off waiting to go out!
So both cars were then treated to some Roose hoses..
and we finished prepping the car to do the rally at Melbourne in early September..
We were having a really good run until we had some fuelling issues which meant we retired from the event. Pity as car and driver going very well! Managed to temp fix things to get going again but had dropped out by then.
The week after Melbourne was the Astra Mk2 track day at Blyton Park.I was supposed to be doing it as a shakedown for the next event at Donington so prepped the 2000cc car. New hoses...
then got suspension changed over to harder, shorter springs and tweaked things a little.
Got it MOTd..
and ready to do the trackday on the Sunday morning, alongside Harvey, Iain, Laurie and others.
As with the rest of the year, didnt quote go to plan as a nasty tap tap noise started coming from the engine on the sighting laps. After spending 4 hours stripping the top and bottom ends in-situ, we took the car to the workshop and removed the lump..
We later found that one of the valve guides had broken up and caused this..
So with a broken 1600cc car (with fuelling issues) and a broken 2000cc car (with engine issues) I saw this come up for sale and decided it would make a good roadrally project at some point so roadtrip to Scotland.. It has Proflex suspension fitted which will be migrating to the 1600cc car over the Winter plus some other bits to make it a good roadrally basis.
Then thoughts turned to our final event of 2016 - the Dukeries Rally at Donington Park. The 2000cc engine needs money spending and the 1600cc needs less money spending so I opted for th2 1600cc. With a holiday booked until 3 days to go before the event, I got everything ready early, bought 2 new Bosch 044 fuel pumps
All fitted, car starts nicely..
Reprepped suspension and swapped springs etc,,.
Then off on holidays. Only thing left to do was roadtest it all.. Morning after we landed from holidays I took the rallycar to work to roadtest it. Fuelling issues not resolved and RAC tow home!
Thursday and Friday nights were spent tracing the issues and replacing pipework between pumps and fuel rail etc. Still not resolved so Saturday morning we removed the whole tank, pickup etc
Then worked through it logically again and found a cone filter in the pump feed that looked fine but didnt flow properly so we think it has gummed up somehow. Removed that entirely, roadtested it and got to scrutineering as last car
Donington started OK, got worse as I managed to put a wheel on the grass and nudge the barrier then got a lot better as I woke up and drove properly.. Ended up 25th overall (from 80 starters) and 2nd in class so we got a trophy.. which kinda made all the work worthwhile..
So thats August to end of October updated.. Lots of issues in a short period. Each one is being properly fixed so shouldnt reoccur..
Next installment will have some upgrades to the 1600cc car for 2017 season - Proflex and a turretted rear end for 60mm springs plus Ive also got plans to add a dog box all being well. Plus the 2000cc car engine is going to be rebuilt with bronze valve guides and maybe some porting....
Paul..
An emotional tale to say the least.
XE valve guides must be a problem now they're getting older if it's happened to both of us.
With hindsight its easy to say that we should have changed them when building the engine originally but no matter. Will be redone now.
One small update - the Mk2 project shell and donor car I had accumulated over the past few years for a roadrally project has now been sold and picked up so Ive got a little more space. Just one more car to finish stripping and scrapping then Im down to what Im keeping for a while (until something else comes along of course)...
Paul..
So November involved the following...
Stripping and removing useful parts from the last of the "spare" cars that wasnt a keeper. Not much left!
Then started on the road rally project car. Moved it into the garage and unwrapped it to give it chance to dry out
These are the reason I bought the rolling shell really.. 3 way adjustable Proflex front and rear.
Stripped bumpers, trim, sumpguard, front subframe and suspension off to inspect it all
plus swapped rear beam to an old one so I can recondition this one properly.
Also made a start on the 2017 upgrades for the 1600cc stage rally car. Up on stands.
Rear suspension off to be checked and beam strengthened ready for coilovers..
Proflex stripped down ready to be sent off for checking and a few bits changed.
More to come in December!
Paul..
Always an interesting read your thread, keep up the good work
January Update time... Part 1...
As we had a couple of decent events in 2016, we managed to get a nice Trophy for being the top club members on the 3 x Dukeries MC organised events in 2016
Lots happened since the last update but all time consuming things to get right..
The main fabrication job was to turret the rear of the Astra. We stripped the fuel system and tank, beam etc off the rear end of the car. Then bought these..
Made a "jig" to ensure the turrets would be located properly in the shell.
Then started cutting..
Then trimmed the turrets themselves
Fitted in the car with a fair bit of slicing
Then welded in fully on top and underneath
Then started on the other side
Used the jig to get the heights correct then checked with a level
Then some etch primer and after this went paint..
The underside was etch primed then Gravitex stone chipped then painted to protect it
Part 2...
We also wanted to strengthen the rear beam mounts. This hadnt been triangulated when the shell was built in 2011 and the holes were starting to get small radial cracks too.. Cleaned up first
Made some triangulation pieces - really awkward shape to do
Had some strengthening pieces made..
Then they were welded onto the holes and the triangulation added and etch primed then painted afterwards. Not going anywhere now.
We had an issue with the bottom arm brackets last year and bent some so over-engineered them this time. On the left is a Hockly supplied one and on the right is our new one from 6mm plate with a bend..
Also made a spare wheel mount for the top of the fuel pumps for events where we need to run one (like on race circuits etc)
Then once everything was painted, we started the reassmbly.. Fuel tank, pipes and pumps first
Proflex arrived back from full rebuild with new damper rods and some other new parts..
Then started on the rear beam conversion. Off with the old damper brackets and cleaned up
Then made some new ones from 5mm steel and tacked together - mocked up on the beam..
Lots more still to do. First event is hopefully a trackday in early Feb then a rally the week after if all is well..
Paul..
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