building a track car

[dtm]

in the next few months ill be building a nova track car.

im pretty settled on a 1.4 16v engine because of potential high bhp for low capacity- what vauxhall cars have them?
also are the bottom ends of sr engines and 1.4 valvers the exact same?

any opinions welcome on other engines/ shell preparation etc.
Cheers

[peester]

i think its n-reg '96 onwards corsa sri's had the 1.4 16v engine.
then in 97 i think the 1.4 sport replaced it they has the x14xe engine too.
the bottom ends are similar if not the same. im not sure. one lad on here has just planned to put a 1.4 head onto his existing 1.4 sri block...so they must be. 160 bhp is the most i think you can wring out of the 1.4 16v (speak to sir CP o.b.e) and that does cost a lot to get there. the 1.6 16v has more potential and i think it can get more power for slightly cheaper if im not mistaken.

[Aragorn]

the block itself is almost identical afaik

the pistons are different afaik so u'd need 16v pistons

cp's is running on a 1.4 sri block too cos of some regulations for rallying or summat

[j1400]

The MKIII astra came with the 1.4 16V's aswell. The engines are good for 190BHP if you can throw that much money at them.
Shell wise, 6pt roll cage, front strut brace, high poundage spring and matched shocks, dump the Anti roll bars, get GSi/GTE tie bars as they are much thicker. Decent set of brakes, 16v calipers and 256mm discs are cheap and effective option.

[Dan]

dump the Anti roll bars

only remove the front antiroll bar, keep the rear

[Dicko]

to be honest unless the regulations state below a 1.6 then i would go for the 1.6 instead. they are more common and obviosuly have more power to start with and the same weight give or take a few pounds which you wouldnt notice!

[Ben]

1600 16v more scope for parts and engines, have seen a lot for sale just lately.

Also 200+BHP can be acheived with the same mods a 1400 16v would need doing to get 180BHP.

[CP]

Get a 1.6
Get it as light as poss.
Spend time/money on chassis/suspension set-up.
Fit the biggest brakes you can under 15/16's
Fit slicks
Fit a comp g/box......

....then mod the engine for extra power. As a first priority will need to sort out the oil breather situation cos the std setup will get you black flagged after a few laps.

[dtm]

tahnks for the replys :D

so the general point is go for a 1.6 instead of a 1.4 16v

but i hear there hard to get hands on and very expensive

or would a gsi 8v engine be the answer cause if i blow an engine i could have another one pretty cheaply

whats the most bhp i could squuueeeze out of a gsi 8v :?:

[Dicko]

cp why would you get black flagged?
iv just got a green cotton breather filter on mine, but i noticed you have a can/bottle to colect and drips aswell?

[Austin_Nova16]

They chuck loads of oil out the breather. There is a kit available to sort it, But its like ?200+ (maybe nearer ?300, I can't remember).


I would stitch weld the car up, and get the weight down to a minimum. Maybe fibreglass tailgate, and hollow the doors. All the rear seat mountings can also go. Decent seats are a must, so that you don't get flung everywhere, and mount them nice and solidly to some welded in eat bars. They'll then feel really stiff and secure (always a bit of give with the moveable subframes).

Oh, and get all of that sound deadening (tar stuff) and seam sealer out of there. Takes a long time, but I rekon its well worth it!

[CP]

cp why would you get black flagged?
iv just got a green cotton breather filter on mine, but i noticed you have a can/bottle to colect and drips aswell?

If you go out on track you'll see what i mean.

There is a significant difference between fast road driving and track driving. The accelerating/braking /cornering forces are much larger & for longer if you can drive any sense and the car will be on the rev limiter for about 75% of the time. Oil surge/spray of the crank combined with more crank case pressure will start to flood oil up into the breather without allowing it to return. After about 4 or 5 laps it will go critical and oil will reach the top and gush out everywhere. I found that I can lose about a mugfull in a 20 min session = lots of blue smoke = black flag.

I have sorted it now - virtually no oil loss all day at Cadwell :wink: