Redtop Costs

[chrissawyer21]

Can someone please help:)

what are the approximate costs of fitting a C20xe and C20let engine in a Nova not including the cost of car

1) All costs excluding buying the car (assuming the car is a Nova GSI or GTE) and excluding paying a mechanic

2) As above but including the cost of paying a mechanic

[GRUNT 16V]

As Much As Your Willing To Pay Bud!

[Jay]

C20xe - £300
C20let £1000

[Paul]

C20xe - £300
C20let £1000

cobblers.

[chrissawyer21]

C20xe - £300
C20let £1000

behave is it that cheap!

[Paul]

behave is it that cheap!


No, hes talking drivvle.

An XE engine £200-400 depending on market etc.

Brakes inc new pads at a minimum £50.

Wheels to fit the brakes over with tyres £150+

Fuel pump (if its carb add £40 on fuel tank) £15

Shafts £100, if you use conversion shafts and hubs £200ish, if you use equal length then £300.

Mounts £40-50

Filter £20

If you can weld then £15, if not then £150+

If you can paint then £40, if not then £150+

If you cant do it yourselof then £500+ depending on who you know/dont know.

A well built turbo one WILL cost a minimum of £5,000.

[james_19]

go ask someone who does engine conversions give them a ring
e.g counterny sport

[Jay]

Sorry guys, read the thread wrong, i thought you ment how much did the engines cost to buy.

[burgo]

for me its cost

engine,box - £70
suspension - £150
brakes - £20
mounts - £40
shafts - £100 as ive gone for equal length

[james_19]

its not how much is it guna cost, its are you willing to pay what it costs.
400 for c20xe, a goodish one,
up to 1500 for a good let.
with ecu box wiring loom. etc
then maybe say 100 for mounts

and then ask a conversion place to price up for you for labour

[james_19]

then you suspension and brakes

[james_19]

which could be 200- 300

[burgo]

its not how much is it guna cost, its are you willing to pay what it costs.
400 for c20xe, a goodish one,
up to 1500 for a good let.
with ecu box wiring loom. etc
then maybe say 100 for mounts

and then ask a conversion place to price up for you for labour£100 for mounts!!!! your getting ripped off mate

[james_19]

i know thats not right mate, was just out the top of me head. i seen some corsa mounts for £90!

[burgo]

your still getting ripped off. corsa mounts cost £45

[james_19]

oo i know thats was i saying. way to dear

[Sloth]

ive built a 2.0 8v nova for £300 including buying a nova, and a full calibra. i use astra mk2 mounts, and gte shafts. ive done corsa b xe's for 800, using chris astley mounts and hoses and shafts etc. thats without the corsa obv.

[Paul]

this isn't a contest for whos built the cheapest XE, the bloke wants to know the average price. If you get offered/find the right things for the right money and wait long enough then anyone can built them cheap.

This isnt a dig at anyone in particular, just trying to keep the thread on the right tracks.

[draper]

a grand should see you right imo, that includes the brakes suspension upgrades aswell

[Sloth]

agreed paul, i just posted to show its possible. id say 800 to a grand for a xe, and 5k+ for a let.

[draper]

i fail to see how a standard LEt conversion can cost an extra 4k ?

[chrissawyer21]

why is it such a huge difference for a turbo?

i the engine is a few hundred more? but what else is a major difference?

[matthew172]

you realy want to be putting a new waterpump and cambelt kit on the engine too before you put it in

think waterpump is about £35 and cambelt kit will be about £70 - 80

[chrissawyer21]

you realy want to be putting a new waterpump and cambelt kit on the engine too before you put it in

think waterpump is about £35 and cambelt kit will be about £70 - 80

plus fitting £200

[Sloth]

rebuild costs, and strenghening. and all the other bits needed for a let-tuice. its far more involved.

[Sloth]

plus fitting £200

WHAT?!?!?!

theyre raping you for that price, try 100 at a push!

[matthew172]

WHAT?!?!?!

theyre raping you for that price, try 100 at a push!

or just fit it yourself!

alot of people think its just a case of chuck the xe in, 5 min job etc and dont realise its not as easy as that

theres alot more involved than meets the eye and alot more money involved to do it right too

[Sloth]

this man is correct/\/\/\/\/\/\

[chrissawyer21]

another thing

is it cheaper to convert a GTE/GSI as i beleive more modifications are required to convert a 1.2 Nova

so if i were to buy a 120k mile GTE with no rust, strengthen it fully, replace engine, brakes and suspension

Car = £1200
Engine and upgrades = £1000
TOTAL = £2,200 would this be possible for a c20xe GTE?

[Sloth]

by mods not really, just the tank tbh. and try finding a rot free gte mate, very unlikely. id rather convert a mint 1.2 merit than a rusty gte just for the tank.

[matthew172]

gte will have 22 spline shafts in, but you will haveto buy inner cvs, (40 quid each)

[chrissawyer21]

i have an idea about buying a high mileage already converted c20xe Nova (100k+ miles) and just replacing the engine with another c20xe when that one blows

is this a good idea? or is still cheaper to convert myself?

[muzzy]

The cheapest way is always going to do it yourself if you can do it properly. Your best off starting with a clean shell and just buy the all the extra bits than buying a GTE/GSi and patching it up etc

Up here at the moment an XE with box, wiring and ecu is going for £350-400 but you might be wanting to rebuild it or at the very least do the belt.

[Jack]

Yup, if you DIY then at least you know the quality of the work and whats been done.

I would budget about £1k for an XE conversion - engine, mounts, brakes, cooling, front tyres, fueling, etc. If you get change then great, thats money to spend on better parts/beer/pr0n. Don't forget to also budget an extra couple hundred quid for increased insurance and road tax costs (the latter assuming you're not starting with a GTE/GSi of course).

God knows how much I spent on mine as I did it in drips and drabs over time, I could probably tally it up though.

[Rich]

Is easy to price up what you think it will cost, but it never works that way.

I'd rather spend more and get it all in properly than lash it in. You need bigger brakes, better suspension definatly. I put an xe in my corsa for about £300 altogether but thats because i managed a full mount kit/shafts/power cap for £80, engine £200 from mates.

[chrissawyer21]

yeh but i have no experience and very few tools so i would need help for starters so i can learn how to do it

how much is an engine hoist and other tools needed for the converison? would it still be cheaper and the best option this way?

[Jack]

yeh but i have no experience and very few tools so i would need help for starters so i can learn how to do it

how much is an engine hoist and other tools needed for the converison? would it still be cheaper and the best option this way?
Same boat I was in, luckily mine was stored in a farm shed right next to all the tools needed :D Lee also came and did the conversion for me - if it wasn't for him then the engine would still be sat on the floor next to the car now lol

If you don't have a crane, how about renting one? www.yell.com should find you a local tool rental shop

[chrissawyer21]

any1 near Hampshire who would help me do a conversion?

[vx kev]

Yep, you could get a cheap engine and a cheap conversion kit and just fling it in as is for about £400. :tard:
or you could spend a bit more time and get valver brakes, springs etc. for about £500. :(
or you could get some strengthening done, decent brakes, suspension, zorst etc. for upto £1000. :wtf:
or just pay someone to do it for quite a bit more. :eek:

Depends how much you want to spend, what model you've got and how much you can do yourself :thumb:

[blue_peg_16v]

not understanding the extra 4k people are quoting for a let over an xe, if you seem weld for an xe its the same as a let and a fitting kit (if your using a chris ashley or similay kit) is still the same price were is the extra comimg from when the saloon wa in tv it had a valver on carbs and since going for the let it stands me at no mor that the old engine as the sale of the old enginr covered the cost of buying the let

[Nobby]

(sits and waits for stoo to start about the PNG Search tool!!)

As people as said it can be done for cheap but do you really want to be blasting round in a 150bhp Nova thats been done on the cheap - imo do it once do it right!! ive just put an xe into my Cavalier and people on Cavweb said it could be done in 2 hours!! bollox!!. There will always be something that goes tits up or something breaks! Its part of the job - Get yourself somewhere to store it and get all your bits and do it slowly not rushing and as said get the water pump n Cambelt replaced you dont want to spend ages putting it together and then 3 mile down the road bang!! Just my opinion Good luck!! lol

[Lee-1984]

any1 near Hampshire who would help me do a conversion?

were in hampshire are you?

[Paul]

A let is £1000-1200.
Beltkit £100
Water pump £50
F28 £250
Quaife £500
MountKit £50
Shafts and Hubs and CV's £300
Filter £20
Tank and pump £100-150
Brakes £100+
Wheels with tyres £300
Welding as said varies but if you cant weld say £150
Paint bay if you cant paint is £150
Intercooler £100
Pipes £50
Clutch £120
Service £80
Track Rod Ends, ball joints and tracking £50
Boost gauge, oil pressure gauge £50
Exhaust £300+
Suspension £300+
Strut Brace £50
Clean, painting and powdercoating, which you would do as you have something a bit more special under the bonnet than an XE (no offence to anyone) £100
That at best is over £4.2k.

Plus then you have to buy a very very good shell, which an XE doesnt necessarily need, which has got to be another £500.

There is £5,000 and thats assuming its on Vauxhall alloys with budget tyres with V6 Brakes. Put a phase chip on it, up the fuel pressure, 4 pots on top, and a re-paint, plus interior you are talking easily, easily over £5k.

As has been said, do it once, do it right.

If you want to monk a LET in for a couple of grand, it won't last.

If you have a decent spec'd XE already and want to upgrade to a LET, then yeh, it's not as much, but to build a well specced LET Nova its not cheap IMO.

[chrissawyer21]

ty

whats the break downs of an XE?

[Paul]

Find a good Nova, and I agree on others price for a XE, budget £1000 and be happy with change.

[chrissawyer21]

wow thats probably the cheapest way to get to 60 in under 8 seconds

[Nobby]

Shell - £100 £500
Engine box £200 - £350
Brakes £50
Mounts £50
Shafts £100
GSI Tank £30 -£80?
Fuel Pump £30 -£50
Single v pully? £10 - £30
Cam Belt kit £70
Water pump £30

also

Plugs £5 - £20
Oil filter £3
Fuel Filter £5
Oil - £10 - £40?

You also need to chop weld the exhaust up and sort the alternator clearance and wether your going to seem weld the engine bay

[Andy]

Imo most Nova's these days need a full resto to take those sort of engines,as said,if its worth doing,do it well.There is little point fitting one of the above engines to a shell thats on its last legs (literally lol)
But before you even strike a bat,get a few insurance quotes together to see if you can afford the premium.

[chrissawyer21]

got a quote of £1700 for an XE but by the sounds of things i should wait until i have a full-time job so that the job can be completed effectively without risking my own life!

and by the time i have a full-time job the only option i would choose would be a c20let engine.

[Pistol Pete]

got a quote of £1700 for an XE but by the sounds of things i should wait until i have a full-time job so that the job can be completed effectively without risking my own life!

and by the time i have a full-time job the only option i would choose would be a c20let engine.

:confused: Why? Nowt wrong with XE Novas. Get used to driving an XE then by all means upgrade to a LET. Jump in at the deep end and you will be hedge mounted before too long!!

[chrissawyer21]

:confused: Why? Nowt wrong with XE Novas. Get used to driving an XE then by all means upgrade to a LET. Jump in at the deep end and you will be hedge mounted before too long!!

didnt mean that mate. i meant if i do the job myself, spending a bit more i can ensure that the car is safe!