gearbox choice

[w_wall_2001]

can i use either a f13 or f15 with a c20ne 8v and if so will the gearbox be able to cope with the power?? cheers people

[Jonlem]

yes you can, you would need to have your flywheel machined so it accepts a small block clutch ie: nova gte clutch then you will be able to use standard nova shafts and cv's and you would only need a drop mount for the engine or weld the original mount a inch or so lower.

9/10 people will tell you its a waste of time but a: the cost of a 2l conversion kit is far more expensive than the ?100+ flywheel u would need. b: If so many people on NL have got 1.6's with over 150bhp I would expect they are using standard F13 and F15's which means that the small boxes will take a lot of power although people dont like to admit that.

A friend of mine has a 2l 8v nova and that is using a F13 C/R with a nova GTE clutch, it has done plenty of miles so far with no problem and I expect when she puts her XE in she will use the same flywheel/gearbox method.

I can have the flywheels done but if you speak to your local machinist and explain what your after he should be able to do the work for similar money without the problem of posting heavy flywheels.

The pink nova can be seen along with mine etc.. @ www.turbo-nutters.co.uk under events and video clips

If you have any problems then just send me a PM and I'll see if I can help you

[w_wall_2001]

can i not use the flywheel from the nova gte??

[Jonlem]

no, i believe the cranks are different, i would like to know if there is a flywheel that will fit that is from another vauxhall but I think that would be a bit of luck if there is. If your serious about doing a 2litre conversion then this is by far the cheapest option and as long as your not bothered about doing 145 then the F13 130mph box is ideal and will make most standard xe novas look stupid.

[w_wall_2001]

im not bothered about top end speed, knowing my luck ill get caught trying to gat it off the clock!!!its off the mark that counts!!!

[Snowface]

130mph on a c/r? must be getting on for 7000 rpm to get those speeds.

[w_wall_2001]

i think the f13 tops out at 115, thats what the corsa sri got that the box is from!!!

[benji]

any more info about using a f13 on a xe? i have a gte on the drive :D

does the f 13 casing fit over the 16v flywheels? and what need's altering to fit the gte clutch?

cheers

ben.

[Jonlem]

regarding speed I'm only on about dash speed not gps speed, i think the f13 is capable of more than 115 though although you would be revving it hard.

The F13 fit son a xe but you need to machine the edge of the flywheel fit the larger style nova gte clutch cover on and have it drilled and threaded onto the xe flywheel so it can be used. The only problem I know of was that the one on the pink nova had a clutch release problem which was rectified by putting washers between the clutch cover and the flywheel, this could obviously be rectified by the machining being done different but it just wasn't thought about when my mates one was done.

[Gunzi]

Am I right in thinking the c20ne is the 115 bhp engine? Seems like a bit of a waste putting that in a nova when u can get that outta a 1.6 + have the handling, the 20seh has 130bhp, still a 2.0 8v.

[Jonlem]

I would use the 130bhp engine if I was going to do it, and TBH you can pick an sri lump up for ?100 and you definately wont tune your 1.6 for that sort of money, combine that with the modified flywheel and a cheap drop mount and you have a very very cheap 2l nova that accelerates like you wouldn't believe

[Snowface]

though i'd prefer a 1.6 8v running around 100-110bhp to a heavy 2.0 8v running only 115bhp anyday.

i know the 2.0 has a load more torque but the handling is bad compared to a small block.

to get it handling anywhere near a small block would cost several hundred quid alone before doing any engine mods.

[w_wall_2001]

its a seh (130) version, im going to use a smaller flywheel with the f13 box and a quick shift

[Aragorn]

C16XE flywheel is apparently the same size as the c20ne/x20xev flywheel but has smaller clutch face so should go streight on an F15 (or F13 i guess) with a C16XE clutch

if u use a GTE flywheel (which should bolt on fine) the starter wont touch it and u'd need to fart around with the starter mounting points to make it fit which would be an arse to do

[w_wall_2001]

would a x14xe flywheel or a corsa sri flywheel fit??

[Aragorn]

ye x14xe is the same as the x/c16xe one

[Jonlem]

I still think you should run the 2l flywheel machined down, cos then you can still have an easy out clutch, which makes thhings even easier for doing work, The f15 does not have the plate on the bottom where as the F13 does, also aren't the x14xe and x16xe flywheels of the pot design ?

[w_wall_2001]

im not that bothered about easy out clutches, what do u mean pot style??

[Jonlem]

The early engines had "flat style" flywheels and the later ones had the POT design, the flat ones the clutch sat on top of the flywheel adn the pot style it sat inside which is why you cant withdraw the clutch out of the bottom. I haven't really deescribed it oo well but I can post a pic up if u like

[Aragorn]

it doesnt really matter if its pot style?

if it fits, works and is cheap then it meets his requirements and he's happy with it whats the problem?

do u have a pic of pot vs flat flywheel as ive never seen the difference

ta

[benji]

will a c16xe flywheel fit the 2.0 16v with no mod's? and meet the starter? and will the f13 fit over the c16xe flywheel and clutch?

[Aragorn]

the 20xe has 8 botl flywheel

x20xev and the 8v engines has 6 bolt flywheel

the c/x16/14xe flywheel will only fit the 6 bolt units but it WILL line up with everything else

spose u could run a 8v block with 20xe pistons and rods or a 20xe block with 8v crank either would work, hell of a lot of work for a simple gearbox swap tho...

[benji]

the xev is the ecotec right? so a ecotec with a 16xe flywheel will fit a f13 box?

hmm, the amount of 2.0 16v cav's i've shunned because it's a ecotec.

p.s. 10 pts to ben for use of the word shunned :D

[Aragorn]

yer but the fact its an ecotec means its 12bhp down on the XE

bit pointless just to get it to fit a std gearbox

if u baught a fucked xe to rebuild that would be ideal as u could stick a 20seh crank in it :)

again i still cant see the point of using the F13, your adding a weak point to the system for no reason, and having to drop your engine out again in 4 or 5 months cos uve shredded the box isnt a good thing

F20s arent dear the only expensive bit is the shafts, and if u can find gte ones your fine

[Jonlem]

just machine the flywheel !!!! its so damn easy and no you wont be breaking everything, I've already had this debate on mig with people and the people that have done it said it has worked fine for them too.

I'm not saying the f13 will take 230bhp but its worth giving it a go and it would handle 175bhp just about which is more than most people are outting through there nova !

[benji]

have you got any pic's of theflywhel before and after being moddded?

[Aragorn]

you'd need to drill and tap all the clutch mounting holes and make sure everything is 100% cock on

i still cant understand why you'd want to goto all the effort of machining the flywheel etc to accept a smaller clutch just so u can fit a gearbox thats designed to handle 130nm of torque with an engine thats producing 200nm of torque as std and then introducing possible problems with the 1600 smallblock clutch struggling to take the torque of the larger engine

when for similar money u can simply get some mk2 cav inner cv's and stick them on the ends of a nova gte shaft and run the original F20box thats designed for the engine and designed for 200nm

[benji]

f13cr box with 4.18 fd running a 2.0 16v would be ace

[Aragorn]

well u can get F16CR boxes which are CR394 iirc

and to be honest with 150+bhp u seriously arent gonna notice the difference between a 394 and 418 final drive with the exception that it tops out earlier in each gear and your sitting at stupid revs when driving along normally

[w_wall_2001]

so can i use a c20seh block with a x14xe flywheel with a c/r f13 and will all match up and work??