Engine Choice

[Masi]

Browsed the web for a bit and stumbled on here, was looking for help in choseing an engine. Basically i have a mint conditioned H Reg Nova 1.0. The car is in great condition inside and out, 1 of the best i ever seen! But the prob is 1.0! I'm bored of it and deiced to keep car cause of condition, and dump a new engine in, something with a bit of Ommph ;). Thinking of MK2 Astra 1.6 (Are 16v available?) i. But im not sure about of teh other stuff that goes with it (I know i need uprated brakes + suspension eg, Astra/Cavalier?) Ideas and help welcome pls ;D

p.s. Hi all btw :)[/img]

[Anonymous]

You have two fundamental choices at this stage:
big block motor
Small bock motor

If you go for the small block route, you will not need as much work, but will be ultiamtely more limited in terms of performance than if you go the big block (ie 2.0 16v route)

Best engine for a nova IMHO is the 1.6 16v from a corsa, althoguh personally i run a 2.0 16v from an astra GTE in mine, but the 1.6 16v smaller motor retains a lot more of the novas (in lightly modded form) nimble handling.

Chip

[Aragorn]

really depends how much power u want

a Nova GTE/GSi engine (100bhp 1.6 8v) will put out about 120bhp with some work and if you turbo it or add weber twin 40's you could be lookin at upwards of 160bhp. They are also reasonably cheap (around ?200) as lots of ppl are chucking them for 2L conversions and require pretty much no chassis mods except the wiring for the ecu and the obligitory fuel tank/pump if your keeping the injection system

the Corsa GSi lump (110 bhp 1.6 16v) will prolly cost u a good bit more and it a tad more difficult to install - u need to faff about with the alternator drive pulley cos the corsa ones is wider and hits the side of the engine bay
the enigine will provide a bit more power that the 8v possibly 200bhp with a bit of work and either turbo or throttle bodies

the next option is a 150bhp 2.0 16v engine (C20XE) from a number for vauxhalls ie astra gte and cav gsi's this engine is a lot more work to install - the engine mounts all change, driveshafts are different and u need to buy custom made ones engien is very heavy which fucks up ahndling and u need to strengthen the engine bay or the car will rip itself apart - i wouldnt reccomend this unless your lookin for over 200bhp. Throttle bodies will take it to somewhere between 200 and 220bhp, turbo charging will take it higher still

IMO a tuned 1.6 8v or 16v is the best way to go

a carbed 1.6 8v would be the easiest to install - you wuold prolly find u'd need to fiddle around with teh fuel tank as the carb needs a return line as does thre injection but this would be the case with them all - the 8v would slot streight in and iirc there is a guide in the articles section on the process

[carltoncrazy]

personal id go n find a decent gte engine,get the engine and zorst n put twin webers on it,
the 1.68v is far less work to install than the other
no seam welding

[Ben (lurk75)]

Above is mostly correct except you can buy a DECENT 1600 8v GSi/GTE engine for anything from ?1-150, for ?200 you should be looking at getting a 1600 8v engine with quite decent mods done to it (although i would buy a standard one as a blank canvas)

I am currently installing a 1600 16v engine in my GSi and i DIDNT have to modify the altenator or knock in the chasis leg (i am using a standard Corsa GSi altenator)

In my opinion i would go for a 16v engine as MOST of the 1600 8v that are for sale now have been around a long time and covered a lot of miles, and if you fit a more modern 16v engine it should stay for a few more years

Dont forget to consider the 1400 16v engine from the Corsas as these are capable of near enough 200 BHP when sorted out correctly goto www.novarally.co.uk for a look at Colin Smiths 1400 16v rally spec car (although now dosent exsist in one piece) The spec sheet is impressive.

Hope this helps :lol:

[Dicko]

lurk iv got another c16xe :P muhaha

have you managed to get urs working yet?

You could always ditch the injection system off yours and fit 1 of my spare 'pre-ecotec' systems ;)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.dickinson/P9110070.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.dickinson/Pa050428.jpg

[CP]

There are alot of alternatives and you can do anything but you need to consider 2 things:
1. Are you handy with mechanics and prepared to spend a lot of time changing not just the engine but also the brakes and suspension as you correctly mentioned?
2. Are you prepared for the cost? I don't care what anyone says its never as cheap as it seems when you start out on these sorts of projects cos modding gets addictive and everything just escalates.

If the answer to these questions is anything less than an enthusiastic yes I would seriously think about looking to buy a car that has already had the main mods done successfully and go on from there. In the end it will be loads cheaper and easier. If you look in any auto trader/mag there are always 2.0l/1.6l Novas for sale for next to no money compared to '000's spent to get them built up?

[Ben (lurk75)]

Dicko- Nah mine aint ready yet as loads of other stuff going on with it at the moment, cage being fitted and other little bits being done. I am leaving Thursday for three months and it is going to be up and running for January.

As regards to your C16 XE I dont want one, i had one at the same time i had my X16 XEL and i chose then to go with my choice. If i did want one there is a choice of about 3 down here at the moment starting from ?200

Thanx for your intrest though :!: