X20XEV block on a 20XE?

[Dod]

I've heard the Eco Bollox block is stronger than the XE, anyone got any insight? I've also been told that the block from the early ones is the only suitable one, is this true?

Any help would be lovely. :D

[Sloth]

afaik the ecowreck is the same but there mabe issues with the oil restrictor, and other little bits. there was a guy on vaux-extreme that built a 2.0 8v t from one. strength wise..... hmm the blocks are gonna be younger so in theory less stress, but not sure bout the actual casting etc. hope this helps.

[craig green]

Age shouldnt affect the block*. The XEV runs a girdle accross the mains which adds stiffness to the crank area of the block. Only necessary at big power levels but a good consideration anyway.

A lot of hassle to change a block though simply for the crank case, the XE rods & pistons are better & need to be retained.

* If anything an older block is proven through use that it's good for more, hence why BMW used old blocks from family cars in their turbo'd F1 engines that were allegedly stored outside & even pissed on if the myth is to be believed.

[Sloth]

what bout age related stress? surely if engine x has done 150,000 and is 15 years old, engine y at 50,000 and 7 years is a better prospect.
true bmw did use old m10 blocks in their f1 cars, simply cos there wasnt enough new blocks, as it was their core engine and the time and demand outstripped supply. the piss myth is just that a myth.

[Dod]

Right, well its like this lads. I've got a spare Coscast head and a dead Head gasket gone Ecotec here. I wanna build a spare engine and as XE's make £600+ over here geting another XE block isnt really an option.

Can anyone outline what needs to be done to mate the two?

PS, Cheers for the replies lads. :thumb:

[craig green]

Put the XE crank, rods & pistons into the XEV block.

Put the XE head, exh & inlet manifolds & cams etc incl all the Motronic ECU hardware onto it. Quite simply all you keep from the XEV is the block casting & maybe the sump & dipstick & other odds & sods.

Unsure about oil pump, though seeing as people have used Z20LET pumps on XE's, I'm sure its compatible.

Anyone know if the XEV runs balancer shafts or if it was just the ZLET? GM make a blanking cradle for it anyway which saves fook loads of weight aswell as allowing it to rev higher more easily.

[Dod]

Ahhh, so I still need a crank, rods and pistons from an XE. Oh well, thats that nipped in the butt. Cheers anyway Craig. Much appreciated.

[ck]

i believe the blocks stamped HH1 were what were used for motorsport purposes by vauxhall back int he day

[Dod]

So the XEV Rods, crank and pistons arent compatable then?

[Sloth]

nope nice bit of valve mash if ya do. there was a set of std xe rods and pistons on the e-gay fer 50 buy it now. dunno if there still there????

[ck]

both the xe and xev i think are 86mm X 86mm (bore x stroke) so as long as the big end bearing journals are the same then i assume it would be a simple case of switching just the xe pistons/rods.

i may have a set of 4 going cheap soon..

on another note a while back while reading on Migweb some one knew there xe had a xev block. he removed the head to find it still had the xev pistons fitted (no exhaust valve cutouts)

[Dod]

Can you pm me a price for the Rods and pistons posted to NI please mate? A Crank might not be too difficult to find.

Cheers for the Info chaps.

[turbo-boy]

all the blocks are basiclly the same the xev is basically a 8v bottom end i hav a xev bottom end ,redtop head ,let turbo manifold all bolts up ok.the xe crank and rod and pistons will fit striaght in..but i hv friend tht has a xev bottom end with red top head and its still going.thats the way we do it in belfast

[Dod]

So there are no issues with XEV Pistons, crank and Rods???

[Clean 2.0 nova]

Haynes manual shows stroke (86mm) and bore is same size (though this will depend on re-bores / manufacturing tolerances). Compression is 10.5:1 with the xe whereas its 10.8:1 with the XEV. This value is probably due mostly to the head than the pistons. The pistons on the XEV have two slight valve shaped indentations on them whereas I believe the XE's are flat. The top of the pistons come level (by sight) to the top of the bores in the block and assume this to be the same for the XE. I'm pretty sure the indents account for a neglible change in compression,

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x198/iaingra/IM001779.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x198/iaingra/IM001781.jpg

[Sloth]

actually the xe does have cut outs. this is a mates xe post apocalypse. ignore the dents, you can see the cutouts. i have been told that its down to valve angles, and that the xe valves are more angled than the xev.
http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp138/sloth_mk1_cav/DSC00172-1.jpg
i wonder if, with a thicker head gasket, it will work?

[Dod]

Hi, I've been doing a little more research on this from people that have actually done this and the answer is yes and no.

Early Ecotecs (single piece sump engines) are a direct swap, no internals need changed but later ones are not interchangable (2 piece sump) as castings are different.

So Dod, theres your answer. Hope this helps mate. :thumb:

[Andy_L]

You could use an NE block

[AlanH]

xe pistons have cutouts at front and rear of piston, xev only has them on exhaust side IIRC, dont see why there'd be any problems with a std. xe head and cams but if you put higher lifting cams in there could be valve/piston contact on inlet side. handy to know the blocks are the same though

[Dod]

Cheers for the insight, but I've spoken again to a chap thats done this a few times and he reckons I have the right block to fit the Coscast 20XE head. I'm removing the Ecobollox item tomorrow so I'll post up details then.