Post by: Dano2k0 on March 19, 2008, 08:38:00 AM
All in all i got a great deal on the car, shame it took the majority of my cash, i need more money for more mods
As you can see in the pics, the fogs on the front are full of condensation, i need to dry them out, this apparently happened in the floods we had in the UK last year, so simple enough to sort those out, just need to find abit of time to do them, maybe this weekend.
Other than that, shes a solid car.
Ive already began the modding process by starting out with some FK coil overs, i don't know how much exactlly shes been dropped, but they can do 70mm all round, ive not done on the bank end yet, i just set it up like that as i had a somewhat heavy load to move, so will be dropping the back end alot more soon.
I can get abit lower on the front end, but then it starts scrapping pretty bad on full lock, so ive left it at this hight, still shes slammed, and if your not careful on speed humps, you'd rip the bottom off the car lol.
Anyway heres some pics:
And a few pics for people especially like grim_d to show shes slammed (please excuse the center cap not been on in the pic)
Well thats all ive got for now, more pics will follow as and when i get more stuff etc.
Ive got some stuff on order, a new bigger better spoiler as this one is cracking on where it goes from the up-rights along the spoiler flats if you get what i mean. Gona have to order some paint and get the spray gun out for it though, probably will do this in the near future.
Also ive got some angel headlights on order for it, hopefully they won't take too long.
Future plans are also to get some 18" alloys i know are available, the over-all wheel diamiter with tyre shouldn't be much different to what i have now, as the side wall is much thinner, so i'll get alot more wheel with less side wall, they are also abit wider too.
And hopefully i'm gona strip the engine down within the next few months, do a basic rebuild and check up, and i'm considering some performance cams and chipping the ecu to raise the limiter to 7k, i'd use some ARP bolts on the conrods though just to be safe. This is all only a temp matter though, as in a year or something time, i'm after fitting a Z20LET or simillar (2.0 turbo) and doing some major tuning on that in time to come.
Cheers for looking
Post by: grim_d on March 19, 2008, 08:53:00 AM
do you get any scrubbing at the height its at the now? prob have to be carefull no to hit any bumps when turning, though the offset on those allows is pretty deep so i guess youl be ok.
looks good on its arse
looks solid and in good nick, only thing i would say is looks like it needs a good polish? but that might just be the lighting.
nice one and hopefully ill have a new car to show off in the next few months
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 19, 2008, 09:04:00 AM
By scrubbing do you mean as in the arches with the tyre catching? if so none at the moment, the back end needs winding down a good bit more yet, i can get it a good bit lower on the back end yet i reckon. I had it lower on the front end, but on full lock it was catching then, so had to raise it a few mm to clear better.
The front spliter can catch though if your not too carefull, and i'd guess you could probably rip it off if you got reckless
Yeah i too love the red, i think once its polished up, in summer it'll look smart. I'm considering a carbon fibre bonnet too, i reckon against the red paint work it'd look quite tidy. I agree on the silver aswell, too many of them about and not really my choice of colour. My dad has an Astra GSI in that Arden Blue i think it is, thats a smart looking car when clean and polished up, and is considerably faster than my SRI lol, i'm after a Z20LET either later this year / next year, should be a reasonably simple enough conversion.
All in all shes a solid car in very good condiition, its on a 2001 plate aswell, but as you said, it needs a very good polish up, i reckon it'll take a while, in the pics the lighting is abit bad as it makes the roof look really faded, but its not, its not as shiney as the rest of the car but it doesn't look bad, i'm hoping to hell this weekend brings good weather ive been wanting to wax it since i got it.
Yeah mate, when you get your new car let us know, i'd love to see some pics of it mate.
Cheers
Post by: grim_d on March 19, 2008, 09:14:00 AM
defo agree on a carbon bonnet, would look the nuts, shame ya aint up here in scotland, were having sum lovely weather at the moment, good for washing the car, even though i dont do that
put a sr20det in it
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 19, 2008, 09:26:00 AM
Tell you what mate if it wasn't for the fact it'd get alot more complicated and time taking to fit a different engine in the car from another make, i'd deffinatly consider a skyline engine or something, you seem em go through on eBay, but it would take alot of time and custom fabrication.
I can however get a kit to fit a C20LET in for a few hundred quid, they are solid machines to start with, and there are a ton of parts out there for these engines, but i wouldn't know if its best to go with this, or up-rate a Z20LET, the only reason i'm really considering a Z20 is because it should be all reasonably simple to fit.
I wish i were in Scotland if the weather is that good, its been bloody crap here for ages, at the moment it keeps getting bright, but there are so many dark clouds it could rain any time so i'm not even gona risk it. I'm hoping at the weekend the weather will be good, then my fiancee can give me a hand too lol.
Maybe i'll give essex racing a ring in abit and ask em about their carbon bonnets, they are charging £350 for them, which don't seem mega bad considering its supposed to be all carbon, but i'm abit curious as to the structure of them etc so i wana talk to them first before ordering one.
Hopefully i'll have my black angel headlights soon, and i intend to order a different grill in the near future, those plus a carbon bonnet i think would look real tidy from the front end.
Oh also, i'm considering a different exhaust, oval DTM i think it would quite suit the back end.
Cheers mate
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 19, 2008, 11:11:00 AM
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 20, 2008, 10:49:00 AM
Anyway, as the angels have turned up ive snapped a couple of pics for those interested in having a look, personally i think they look smart and will look great on the car.
Heres the pics:
Please note, you can still see the plastic protective film on them, i'll probably leave it on till ive got them fitted!
Cheers
Post by: grim_d on March 20, 2008, 11:39:00 AM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Mar 19 2008, 05:47 PM) 
Damn got some crappy news about that carbon bonnet i phoned essex racing and they have recently discontinued it and are removing it from their site soon. They were the cheapest aswell, so don't know what i'm gona do now, just have to keep looking around i guess.
i dont know what there is in the way of astra Owners club but you should see what you can find and see if there are any group buys on for bonnets. For instance there was a guy on one of the pulsar OC's doing pulsar bonnets with the cheesegrater and the 2 small vents for £425!! bargain.
i found this http://forum.astraow...read.php?t=3339 which you have probably seen, looks like group buy prices, maybe join up and send him a pm see what he can do. Was a few years ago though. Even if you can find someone who does custom carbon and the can make a copy of your bonnet, that way you can even chooe thickness etc.
edit : £449 here http://www.carbon-de...?...d=80&pid=16
angel eyes look good mate should look ace on the motor.
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 23, 2008, 06:23:00 AM
Thanks for the link to that bulk type buy thread too, i might message the guy on there and see if he has anything to offer.
I'm still gutted about essex racing, they was only wanting £350 for a complete carbon bonnet, i was going to ask them some questions as to the build and quality before i orded though as it seemed an extremely good price for what you were getting, but sadly they no longer sell them..
Anyway, i managed to get the front end of the car stripped down so i could swap the headlights, i think its real stupid you have to remove the front bumper to actually swap them, but it all went well and was quite an easy job.
Heres the car with the front end stripped down ready for the front headlights to be swapped:
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2054resized.jpg)
And heres the finished piece, the side lights and dip lights are on in this pic, without the dip being on it has two angel rings, which i think look great.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2059resized1.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2061resized.jpg)
I'll try and snap a few more pics with just the side lights on etc so you can all get a good idea as to what it looks like.
All in all i'm very happy with them, i think it makes a real difference to how the car looks.
I also took the oppertunity to buy some of those ultra bright bulbs with the blue tint to them, i got 80watt bulbs for high beam, and 55watt bulbs for dip, and they are a serious ammount brighter than the standard bulbs.
Oh also, i repaired the air con radiator when i had it in pieces, i realised the bottom right portion was falling apart, luckily it hadn't leaked so the air con still works.
Cheers everyone (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
This post has been edited by Dano2k0: Mar 23 2008, 01:26 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 11, 2008, 05:17:00 AM
Just a quick summary of what ive done:
Swapped out the center console and rest of the black trim down the center of the dash to the genuine Irmscher gun metal grey one that came out of a coupe turbo, also ive fitted some nice chrome Irmscher heater rings too, it makes a huge difference to the over-all look.
Ive also fitted my pipercross induction kit and blue silicon pipe, it looks good and makes a real difference to the sound, and does seem more responsive!
Oh ive also swapped the electric mirror switch as mine was broken, i didn't photo this though.
Also, ive spent alot of time running wires virtually everywhere in the car! removing trim, laying wires and re-fitting the trim is never much fun in my opinion though. Due to the ammount of wire my Avic requires to be just about everywhere, ive spent alot of time doing this and making sure its a good job, sadly i didn't really think there was much point taking pics of the wiring, but now i kind of wish i had. Ive still got some more wires to run down one side of the car for the power wire and remote signal for the amp.
Anyway, i'll just get on with posting the pics.
Oh also note, the original black trim was broke either side of the radio, but i didn't care cause i never had any intention of keeping the original black one.
- Also note i almost took it all apart without taking any pics, i'd already started then remembered!
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2116.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2117.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2146.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2139.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2143.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2130.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2135.jpg)
Thats all for now people, however i will be doing more soon enough.
Ive also got the leather sporty type steering wheel from a GSI turbo, but i need to fit that yet, also i should hopefully soon have the rest of the bits so i can finish off fitting my Pioneer Avic-X1. Ive also got the CD Changer etc for this in the boot, however i need to figgure out exactlly how i'm going to mount it as its currently loose on the floor!
Cheers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Post by: hamwbone on April 13, 2008, 09:18:00 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 14, 2008, 04:49:00 AM
Oh and just to put it straight, its on the right side of the car to begin with, get it right hand side is right? lol
Post by: lostboyz on April 14, 2008, 10:07:00 AM
most of the world is left why do you have to be different? (for once its not the US)
Post by: yaazz on April 18, 2008, 10:37:00 AM
Post by: jimbobjim on April 18, 2008, 03:01:00 PM
We brits drive on the correct side
I couldn't imagine changing gear with my right hand.
Post by: twistedsymphony on April 18, 2008, 11:41:00 PM
the US has a severe shortage of sporty hatch-backs.
I love what you've done to the center console and the projector headlighs... projectors are always an awesome addition to any car IMO.
I'm a bit confused as to why you spent the money on coilovers when you could have spent much less on simply new springs for the same lowered effect? And if you're going to go coils you'd be best served to take it to a pro to have it at least weight balanced and at most setup for whatever kind of driving you intend to do.
I think a cheap mod that would work wonders for the look would be to get some longer & stronger lug nuts and wheel spacers to give it a wider stance... while you're in there you could probably pull the brakes and spray them with some oven paint to sharpen up the look a bit. That is unless you've got the coin for new wheels and brakes
Also I'd replace the grill with something badgeless and less flashy
Post by: hamwbone on April 19, 2008, 06:36:00 AM
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 20, 2008, 06:01:00 AM
QUOTE(lostboyz @ Apr 14 2008, 05:43 PM)
that arguement dosent work because the converse would also have to be true, and left hand != wrong side
most of the world is left why do you have to be different? (for once its not the US)
Lol now thats confusing, all i know is right hand drive = correct
QUOTE(yaazz @ Apr 18 2008, 06:13 PM)
That is a sweet car. I love the Console and headlights
Thanks for the feedback, appreciate the comments, and i must be going the right direction as others are liking it
Hopefully you'll check back every now and again as i slowly make more progress.QUOTE(jimbobjim @ Apr 18 2008, 10:37 PM)
Lovin the centre console mate, looks about one million times better.
We brits drive on the correct side
I couldn't imagine changing gear with my right hand.Cheers mate, yeah the centre console looks great compaired to the original black one, which due to the cracks i had to swap anyway, things like that annoy me and make me loose sleep untill i sort them out lol.
Oh and i too couldn't imagine changing gear with my right hand either, i guess due to the fact we are used to it the other way round it would take some serious adjusting to.
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 20, 2008, 06:14:00 AM
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 19 2008, 07:17 AM)
I don't know much about those cars since they don't make Vauxhalls here state side though it looks to be about equivalent to a Focus, which isn't bad at all.
the US has a severe shortage of sporty hatch-backs.
I love what you've done to the center console and the projector headlighs... projectors are always an awesome addition to any car IMO.
I'm a bit confused as to why you spent the money on coilovers when you could have spent much less on simply new springs for the same lowered effect? And if you're going to go coils you'd be best served to take it to a pro to have it at least weight balanced and at most setup for whatever kind of driving you intend to do.
I think a cheap mod that would work wonders for the look would be to get some longer & stronger lug nuts and wheel spacers to give it a wider stance... while you're in there you could probably pull the brakes and spray them with some oven paint to sharpen up the look a bit. That is unless you've got the coin for new wheels and brakes
Also I'd replace the grill with something badgeless and less flashy
Yeah i guess if you don't have many sporty hatch backs, i guess in some respects you could compaire it to the Focus for a rough comparison of a sporty hatch. Though in my opinion the Astra is much better in many respects (model dependant of course)
Thanks for the feedback on the centre console and headlights mate, glad you like them
I couldn't agree more either, the 'Angel Eye' projector headlights make a huge impact to the look of any car, and i'd go for them any day of the week.As for the coilovers, i got these because springs on standard shocks just don't do it for me, i agree its a much cheaper option and you could lower the car pretty much to the same degree, but the handling performance in my opinion is no where near a coilover setup. Ive been in a few cars that have just had new springs fitted, and while it does deffinatly improove the handling of the car, there is no comparison between just springs and a complete adjustable coilover setup in my opinion.
In the future i may take it somewhere and have the coils adjusted, though in all honesty at this moment in time i'm very happy with them, the handling is amazing vs the majority of cars on the roads here in the UK, considering its a front wheel drive car i think the handling is well and truly stunning considering the road conditions were currently facing. Ideally i'd need the coils setting up if they can be improoved much for what we call 'fast road use' and potential track day use, as in the future i'd love to take her on the track when i get the Z20LET in with a few other mods.
I'm hoping to swap the grill out in the future too mate, i'm not all too keen on the standard grill, so will hopefully be swapping it for an OPC one in the future, infact i'll try and post an internet pic here soon so you can see which one i'm considering, i thought with a carbon bonnet it would suit very well.
As for the brakes and wheels, i should be getting some second hand wheels from someone in the near future, they are hardly amazing, but i think will look nice on the car, and will last me till i decide which ones i'd like as a more permanent choice. The brakes i'm getting some of those light weight racing 4pot willwood calipers for the front with some big disks and bells to suit, for the back i'm going to leave those standard for the time being, and will hopefully decide what to do with those in the future.
Cheers for coming into comment aswell though, i appreciate your input
QUOTE(hamwbone @ Apr 19 2008, 02:12 PM)
if you value youre life get REAL wheel spacers with that bolt to the axle, dont get the cheapos! hehe
Lol yeah cheap wheel spacers = a big no no in my opinion, my intentions with the car are always to never cheap out on anything, so anything i'm going to do i'll hopefully do right with the best choice.
Post by: grim_d on April 20, 2008, 08:20:00 AM
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 19 2008, 07:17 AM)
I'm a bit confused as to why you spent the money on coilovers when you could have spent much less on simply new springs for the same lowered effect?
just to add, with the roads and sheer amount of speedbumps here now, for long term use, lowered springs on standard shocks just wrecks the shocks.
So ya might aswell get the extra handling for the extra cash than having to replace your shocks down the line.
Post by: bucko on April 20, 2008, 10:27:00 AM
Post by: lostboyz on April 20, 2008, 12:41:00 PM
and as for the US not having many sport hatches, Im waiting on this one that my dad showed me they are producing in the near future (he works for ford)
^ford verve concept
Lookin really good, the center console made a huge difference in the look. Keep up the good work
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 20, 2008, 04:11:00 PM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 20 2008, 03:56 PM)
just to add, with the roads and sheer amount of speedbumps here now, for long term use, lowered springs on standard shocks just wrecks the shocks.
So ya might aswell get the extra handling for the extra cash than having to replace your shocks down the line.
Yeah mate, the speed bumps around now days are unreal, its pretty crazy just how many there is now days. Ive had a few friends run standard shocks and different springs and i agree, they don't really last amazingly well.
However the coils have great reputation for the durability, and the handling improovement is enough for me, even if they only last as long as standard shocks with different springs lol.
QUOTE(bucko @ Apr 20 2008, 06:03 PM)
Looking good really like the headlights. Twisted are they called Opel in the USA? In Europe Vauxhall's are called Opel's and in the UK it's Vauxhall, never understood why, I think it's so they can tell weather you imported them or not.
Thanks for the feedback mate, glad you like the headlights, i too think they make a nice difference to the appearence of the car in general
QUOTE(lostboyz @ Apr 20 2008, 08:17 PM)
no opel or vauxhall in the US
and as for the US not having many sport hatches, Im waiting on this one that my dad showed me they are producing in the near future (he works for ford)
^ford verve concept
Lookin really good, the center console made a huge difference in the look. Keep up the good work
Considering its going to be a new car, i think thats a reasonable looking new hatch i think what my mind is set on more than anything when i look at it is that nice looking big front mount grill, to be fair i don't like the majority of new cars due to the look and shape of them, i think they are horrible, going back a few years to the likes of my Astra i think cars looked great in general then. I could have bought a good bit newer car if i wanted, but ive always had a heart for the MK4 Astra, so finding a good example for this age isn't always too easy, however i was lucky with this one and am very happy with it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh and for those interested ie Twisted and others, the grill i was thinking of getting was this:
http://www.lmfvauxha...p...pe=P&id=551
Its about £80 + delivery, pretty expensive just for a grill, but i think this would look cracking on a carbon bonnet. Input on this is welcome and appreciated.
Post by: twistedsymphony on April 21, 2008, 10:39:00 AM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 20 2008, 06:47 PM)
Oh and for those interested ie Twisted and others, the grill i was thinking of getting was this:
http://www.lmfvauxha...p...pe=P&id=551
Its about £80 + delivery, pretty expensive just for a grill, but i think this would look cracking on a carbon bonnet. Input on this is welcome and appreciated.
that will look "ace" or as we say in the north east USA "wicked awesome"
as for the carbon-fiber hood IMO they look best with at least a gloss coat, natural CF looks rather trashy IMO.
Glad to hear your putting proper wheels and brakes on in the near future...
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 21, 2008, 12:42:00 PM
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 21 2008, 06:15 PM)
that will look "ace" or as we say in the north east USA "wicked awesome"
as for the carbon-fiber hood IMO they look best with at least a gloss coat, natural CF looks rather trashy IMO.
Glad to hear your putting proper wheels and brakes on in the near future...
Thanks for the input mate, glad you like my idea of using that grill, i thought it was different to what you usually see modified grill wise, and should make a nice difference to the front of the car.
Yeah i was hoping to get a 'glossed' type carbon bonnet so it has a nice shiny finish, its just a pain finding some one who still produces these where you can fit a normal fitment grill in the front, ive found a company that will make me one without a grill at all, but when i upgrade to the Z20LET i'm going to need all the airflow i can get through that grill so cutting air-flow is a no go for me sadly.
Hopefully i'll be putting the new brakes on in the near future, maybe a month or so and they'll be on, i'll see how things go, ive got the calipers on their way, but i need to get some 5 stood bells that will suit my car.
Cheers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ok time for a little update, ive finally finished installing the head unit, all the wiring you have to do on this thing is crazy, its taken me a while to remove alot of trim, fit wires, re-fit the trim etc so all in all its taken a good while start to finish, wish i'd have taken some pics along the way... Oh well.
Ive also got the 6CD changer mounted in the boot, there was already a little space for putting stuff in, so i decided mounting the changer there would be reasonable. Although it still sticks out a little, its a good fit as ive bolted it in place and made a surround of my own, at least this keeps it from rolling around in the boot and getting hammered etc. Please also note, the little door wasn't on the picture, and the boot and changer need a good clean now!
Also, ive been running some more wiring, snapped a picture of some of it while ive still got the glove box out, its the power wire for the amplified which runs right down into the boot, as you can see its a good gauge wire, hopefully it'll help keep the voltage up better than some thinner stuff. Maybe i'll add a cap in the near future too. I'm having a small-ish removeable box in the boot with 2x subs, as sometimes i need to use my boot, so sadly at the moment i can't have a build i can't remove at least some of!
Anyway, heres the pics:
All in all, i'm very happy with how everything has gone, everything is currently wired and working, ie GPS, DVD, Radio, and the CD changer. Just need to finish wiring for the amp now!
Cheers everyone
Post by: grim_d on April 23, 2008, 10:52:00 AM
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 23, 2008, 05:12:00 PM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 23 2008, 06:28 PM)
nice grill, only problem is it's an opel badge on it, and youve got a vauxhall, one of those things that grind on me, but if your ok with it then it's all good
Tell me i'm confused but Vauxhall and Opel = same company? ie you can buy an astra in the UK with Vauxhall badges, or else where you can buy the Astra with Opel badges, they are both the same, other than in the UK, northen ireland etc we get them with Vauxhall badges instead, as Opel is vauxhall, it makes it 'different' to see a vauxhall car with opel badges on over here, so its of course abit different.
But yeah i think its fine, as in my opinion its the same brand, so it matches the car fine
I love the look of the grill, i think thats the one i'm going to go for, hopefully i won't be dissapointed if i order that one.
Cheers
Post by: twistedsymphony on April 23, 2008, 08:28:00 PM
I'm looking at that picture with the power wire and thinking "wow he has a lot of space under the steering wheel" duh...I've got to say I love your center console so much I'm tempted to do something similar in my 240sx (aka 200sx in your neck of the woods) I'm thinking of buying a 2nd set of center console trim pieces smoothing them out and painting them a glossy silver
I've also been looking at similar DVD/GPS units as well, I'm leaning towards a double-din Kenwood unit. I was originally going to go Alpine because you can eject the GPS bit and make it a stand alone unit for use in another car... but that was until every review I read said that their unit was just over priced garbage.
that pioneer unit you've got doesn't look like anything I've seen here state side, but it does look slick
Man I've got to get working on my car, at least I got around to pulling some panels to judge fitment of the new speakers I'm ordering
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 24, 2008, 09:45:00 AM
Ive also got some 6x9 Vibe speakers that i'm going to mount in the rear 'parcel shelf' i was originally considering cutting the wiring half way down the car for the rear speakers and running it from there to the rear shelf, though ive figgured if i'm going to the trouble i might aswell just run new cables from the head unit up to the back with some up-rated wiring, i'll obviously benefit more with some thicker wire, so this is what i intend to do.
I'm going to have to pull the panels on the front doors and measure up to see what speakers i can fit there too, considering what i currently have there are the originalls, they actually sound pretty good and are capable of producing reasonable bass for standard speakers, they obviously can't take the power though when you start turning it up loud, so i'm going to look into replacing those shortly too
I'd say go for it Twisted mate, i think a silver console would look great in your car, be sure to take some pics and post them up if and when you do it. In my opinion a nice neat silver console would make a huge impact on any car that has originally got a black centre such as mine had.
Maybe i'm wrong, but i thought the pioneer unit i had, was out in the US etc? its the Avic-X1 there is also the X1R and the X1BT, its a cracking unit, personally the best one ive ever got to play around with by far. Its got some great features on it, the sound setup is nice and simple to use, but yet very effective. Also the GPS seems pretty good so far too, so all in all i'm really pleased with it
In my car ive got 2x single DIN slots, so double DIN was out of the question without some serious modding, the other din slot has got my CD holder fitted at the moment. There are some great double DIN units though, i think Pioneer also have some pretty high spec double DIN units, might be worth while looking to see what they offer round your end.
Thanks for the feedback aswell mate, glad to hear you like what ive done so far
and be sure to post us all some pics when you get round to doing some work, it'll be nice to see how you get on, oh and nice choice of car aswell by the way -------------------------------------------
EDIT:
Forgot to mention ive got my new brakes today, well they are second hand, but new to me.
They are a nice pair of wilwood 4 pot calipers, need a good rub down and re-paint, but all in all seem great. I'll post some pics sometime soon.
I need to order a pair of 5 stood bells to suit yet, going to cost yet another small fortune!
Post by: grim_d on April 24, 2008, 10:19:00 AM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 24 2008, 12:48 AM)
Tell me i'm confused but Vauxhall and Opel = same company? ie you can buy an astra in the UK with Vauxhall badges, or else where you can buy the Astra with Opel badges, they are both the same, other than in the UK, northen ireland etc we get them with Vauxhall badges instead, as Opel is vauxhall, it makes it 'different' to see a vauxhall car with opel badges on over here, so its of course abit different.
But yeah i think its fine, as in my opinion its the same brand, so it matches the car fine
I love the look of the grill, i think thats the one i'm going to go for, hopefully i won't be dissapointed if i order that one.
Cheers
well they are all owned by GM and ya wouldnt put saab badges on it would ya?
just me being picky, i have a unique taste with cars and i don't like seeing cars badged up as something they are not.
hey at least it's not chav as fook with a big TURBO badge on the back of a N/A car
its a nice grill though, cant ya get a de-badged one or are you not into de-badging?
Post by: twistedsymphony on April 24, 2008, 10:40:00 AM
I looked at the Pioneer stuff but all of their Double Din units used Disc based GPS, which I hate. the Kenwood uses built in Garmin GPS with all of the maps stored on the hardware
I also got a sweet deal on a brand new one ($600 us Shipped)... so you'll see some work from me yet.I still need to sell my other car though so I can start working in my garage again
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 24, 2008, 01:19:00 PM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 24 2008, 05:55 PM)
well they are all owned by GM and ya wouldnt put saab badges on it would ya?
just me being picky, i have a unique taste with cars and i don't like seeing cars badged up as something they are not.
hey at least it's not chav as fook with a big TURBO badge on the back of a N/A car
its a nice grill though, cant ya get a de-badged one or are you not into de-badging?
no i deffinatly wouldn't put saab badges on it, but the thing is both Opel and Vauxhall are basically the same company, both of them make the exactlly same car, just one says Opel, the other for the UK and northen ireland says Vauxhall, else where in the world, identically the same car just with Opel badges.If saab made Astras exactlly the same, i'd expect some people to ride round with saab badges on them, though the thoughts of it do seem quite horrible indeed.
Lol yeah i'm not into the chavvy stuff, when i do drop the Z20LET in i was considering keeping the badges on it to say its only a 1.8
should deffinatly be good for a laugh when people pull up along side and think its something its not, bring on the SRi-T!!Yeah mate i'm into de-badging deffinatly, ive looked at alot of grills and i think this is the best looking one out of all ive seen (and the most expensive for that matter, not that this comes into it) i just thought the opel badge is nice, and rare to see in the UK, and i love the honey comb mesh and the styling to it. Its got a kind of standard look, but when you look properly its far different, i thought it would give a nice look to the front end
I'm going to give it abit more thought before i order one, i'm really not sure which direction to go with it to be honest, though i do love the look of that grill.
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 24 2008, 06:16 PM)
After pulling some panels and taking some measurements last night I ordered up some speakers and a Kenwood GPS/DVD unit
I looked at the Pioneer stuff but all of their Double Din units used Disc based GPS, which I hate. the Kenwood uses built in Garmin GPS with all of the maps stored on the hardware
I also got a sweet deal on a brand new one ($600 us Shipped)... so you'll see some work from me yet.I still need to sell my other car though so I can start working in my garage again
Sounds good mate, looking forward to seeing some pictutres of your stuff
Kenwood is a good brand, so hopefully it'll be a nice bit of kit youve got coming, sounds like it should be nice.
In all honesty, my unit uses disk based GPS, but so far i'm very happy with it, i don't know how you go about updating the hardware stored maps on your unit, but on mine you can just buy the latest disk, let it update and away you go.
Obviously if you didn't have the CD-changer on my unit, i can see it being a real problem, and at this point i'd hate disk based GPS, for the simple reason it'd go into its 'basic GPS mode' if you were to remove the CD and insert a different disk!
I'm guessing your unit probably won't have the need for a hide away unit either? that would be a big bonus to start with, the wiring in my car is unreal at the moment, if you remove the side panels, theres so much wiring that didn't use to be there, routing wires under seats from front to the back of the car isn't the best fun ive had, neither is drilling holes and fitting rubber gromits in the bulk head either to be honest
What car do you have in the garage TS? i remember that Subaru you used to have, i always thought that looked like a great car!
Post by: grim_d on April 24, 2008, 04:23:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 24 2008, 08:55 PM)
Lol yeah i'm not into the chavvy stuff, when i do drop the Z20LET in i was considering keeping the badges on it to say its only a 1.8
should deffinatly be good for a laugh when people pull up along side and think its something its not, bring on the SRi-T!!that's what i'm talking about, i love sleepers
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 24 2008, 08:55 PM)
What car do you have in the garage TS? i remember that Subaru you used to have, i always thought that looked like a great car!
yeah you still got that 2nd sx TS, i thought you were giving that to me?
Post by: twistedsymphony on April 24, 2008, 05:28:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 24 2008, 03:55 PM)
What car do you have in the garage TS? i remember that Subaru you used to have, i always thought that looked like a great car!
I sold the WRX, I ran out of performance mods to do (short of an STi drive train swap), I always hated the bug-eye 4 door look, and I wanted something sleeker and RWD... hence the 240sx
and now I have two 240SXs
it's a long story and if you're actually interested you can read about it here: http://forums.xbox-s...o...95996&st=76
I've also got pictures of all my cars, past and present here: http://solid-orange.com/cars
except my very first car, though I know I have a couple physical photos somewhere that I'll have to hunt down and scan in.
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 25, 2008, 10:38:00 AM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 24 2008, 11:59 PM)
that's what i'm talking about, i love sleepers
yeah you still got that 2nd sx TS, i thought you were giving that to me?
Yeah mate, sleepers for the way, its always good fun for someone to think your car is alot less powerfull than it is, theres deffinatly some good time to be had in the hopefully not too far away future
Oh and mate, hes giving me that car remember? we agreed if i bought him a pint i could have it, i just need to get around to signing the log book
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 25 2008, 01:04 AM)
I sold the WRX, I ran out of performance mods to do (short of an STi drive train swap), I always hated the bug-eye 4 door look, and I wanted something sleeker and RWD... hence the 240sx
and now I have two 240SXs
it's a long story and if you're actually interested you can read about it here: http://forums.xbox-s...o...95996&st=76
I've also got pictures of all my cars, past and present here: http://solid-orange.com/cars
except my very first car, though I know I have a couple physical photos somewhere that I'll have to hunt down and scan in.
I always thought the WRX looked quite smart mate, though i do agree the bug eye type aren't my favourite, it was still a nice car none the less, oh and mine is a 5 door car, quite rare really to find a 5 door SRi, i know the normal 'sports hatch' doesn't have 5 doors, but mine is one of a few and i quite like it, excellent for those in the back, saves me getting in and out
I remember having read quite abit now about your hunt for the 240SX, i'll havw to catch up on the last couple of pages or something, but deffinatly looking forward to seeing what you have in store for your car
Also its nice to see youve kept some pics of all your cars, not so many people do that, and its always nice to look back.
QUOTE(dpbmt @ Apr 25 2008, 01:39 AM)
Love the merc mate, proper gangster. Shame you never put an AMG kit on it, they look wicked wit that on.
Have you replied to the wrong topic? if not please step back to page 1 and take another look
Post by: grim_d on April 25, 2008, 10:46:00 AM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 25 2008, 06:14 PM)
Oh and mate, hes giving me that car remember? we agreed if i bought him a pint i could have it, i just need to get around to signing the log book
well that's not fair, you just got a new car and i'm stuck with an old beaten up sunny...
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 25 2008, 06:14 PM)
Have you replied to the wrong topic? if not please step back to page 1 and take another look
i do beleive he's referring to TS's 300e.
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 25, 2008, 11:37:00 AM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 25 2008, 06:22 PM)
well that's not fair, you just got a new car and i'm stuck with an old beaten up sunny...
i do beleive he's referring to TS's 300e.
Lol, all for the price of a pint! When i get it from him, you can have that reliant robin i told you about if you want? We can drop a 2.5 V6 in the back and make it RWD, the ultimate sleeper haha.
Ah that explains alot now ive had a look and seen the 300e, it really confused me when he said that before, i thought he'd been posting in the wrong thread or was seeing things lol.
Post by: grim_d on April 25, 2008, 12:05:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 25 2008, 07:13 PM)
Lol, all for the price of a pint! When i get it from him, you can have that reliant robin i told you about if you want? We can drop a 2.5 V6 in the back and make it RWD, the ultimate sleeper haha.
how bouts we drop a hayabusa turbo in the back of it
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 25, 2008, 04:20:00 PM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 25 2008, 07:41 PM)
how bouts we drop a hayabusa turbo in the back of it
Deal lol, wheelies for the way down santa pod!!
Honestly, if i'd got the money to spare, i'd love to do a seriously quick 'plastic pig' it would be amazing to make one for straight lines, can you imagine doing some crappy mods to make it stand out, so many people would go for the run with it, it would be amazing to blow everyone off, i can imagine the first few in your area, they wouldn't know what the hell had just happened.
Now doubt, handling would be totally crap, but how quick would straight line dragging be haha, damn i wish i could spare the cash and build something stupid.
Post by: grim_d on April 25, 2008, 05:50:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 25 2008, 11:56 PM)
Deal lol, wheelies for the way down santa pod!!
Honestly, if i'd got the money to spare, i'd love to do a seriously quick 'plastic pig' it would be amazing to make one for straight lines, can you imagine doing some crappy mods to make it stand out, so many people would go for the run with it, it would be amazing to blow everyone off, i can imagine the first few in your area, they wouldn't know what the hell had just happened.
Now doubt, handling would be totally crap, but how quick would straight line dragging be haha, damn i wish i could spare the cash and build something stupid.
take a look at this lol
the proper pictures start on page 5.
http://www.nissangti...o...=14848&PN=1
Post by: twistedsymphony on April 25, 2008, 08:43:00 PM
while it looks cool and the idea of RWD in a squirrelly little car is cool... it's really not cool because you're basically sitting in the engine bay. That bastard starts leaking and you've got hot fluids on you, not to mention you have to listen to it and it's like running a heater 24/7
... no thanks
Post by: grim_d on April 26, 2008, 08:40:00 AM
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 26 2008, 04:19 AM)
I've seen a few cool rear engine in the hatch conversions here in the states before, both were VW Golfs (not sure if they call them that in europe)
while it looks cool and the idea of RWD in a squirrelly little car is cool... it's really not cool because you're basically sitting in the engine bay. That bastard starts leaking and you've got hot fluids on you, not to mention you have to listen to it and it's like running a heater 24/7
... no thanks
it would be easy enough to put in a firewall to eliminate the problems but i reckon 99% of people who do these conversions (here anyway) use them for track only, i would imagine getting them through their SVA test would be a nightmare.
ya get some crazy hatchbacks here like twin engined ones and minis with massive engines in them so much so you have to move the dash back and sit on the back seats
Post by: Dano2k0 on April 29, 2008, 09:58:00 AM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 26 2008, 01:26 AM)
Lol thats unreal, i bet thats going to be extreme once its finished. Got to surely be used on track, now that would be funny, some of the fast expensive cars on track getting blown off by this, they'd not know whats happened.
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Apr 26 2008, 04:19 AM)
I've seen a few cool rear engine in the hatch conversions here in the states before, both were VW Golfs (not sure if they call them that in europe)
while it looks cool and the idea of RWD in a squirrelly little car is cool... it's really not cool because you're basically sitting in the engine bay. That bastard starts leaking and you've got hot fluids on you, not to mention you have to listen to it and it's like running a heater 24/7
... no thanks
Yeah we have VW Golfs over here too, theres quite alot of them knocking around actually, some of them are alright too.
What could be worse is like a flying piston or bits or rod or something firing straight at you, lol now thats a scary thought if youve got it reving pretty high, doing high speeds under load.
As Grim has said below though, quite alot of people do tend to put a firewall in the back and sometimes some plexi aswell, so it'll keep alot of the noise down, and of course give you much more protection than you just sitting in there with the engine.
Some of the cars we have over here are amazing with their engine conversions, like the saxo with 2.0 honda vtec engine in the back running huge BHP, i'd love to have a drive of one of those
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 26 2008, 04:16 PM)
it would be easy enough to put in a firewall to eliminate the problems but i reckon 99% of people who do these conversions (here anyway) use them for track only, i would imagine getting them through their SVA test would be a nightmare.
ya get some crazy hatchbacks here like twin engined ones and minis with massive engines in them so much so you have to move the dash back and sit on the back seats
Yeah i agree, a huge ammount of people that have done such conversions have only really done them for track use, i know some of them are road legal though, so i bet there are some fun times to be had in some of those cars.
Ive seen a few minis with big engines in too, one ive seen done a few times is the honda vtec 1.6 in the mini tuned up they can run alot of power for such a small, light car. Wouldn't you just love to take one of those for a drive though?
I'd love a really fast track day car, maybe in the future i'll eventually get myself something really fast for track use
Post by: grim_d on April 29, 2008, 11:17:00 AM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 29 2008, 05:34 PM)
Lol thats unreal, i bet thats going to be extreme once its finished. Got to surely be used on track, now that would be funny, some of the fast expensive cars on track getting blown off by this, they'd not know whats happened.
normal tuned pulsar would obliterate alot of the fast and expensive cars around these days so that thing will be crackers, love those little rockets
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Apr 29 2008, 05:34 PM)
Ive seen a few minis with big engines in too, one ive seen done a few times is the honda vtec 1.6 in the mini tuned up they can run alot of power for such a small, light car. Wouldn't you just love to take one of those for a drive though?
theres a mini local to me with a 1.8 vtec lump in it, things fuckin mental, spits flames and eats most other cars.
would be a handful in the wet though
Post by: Dano2k0 on May 14, 2008, 05:54:00 PM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Apr 29 2008, 06:53 PM)
normal tuned pulsar would obliterate alot of the fast and expensive cars around these days so that thing will be crackers, love those little rockets
theres a mini local to me with a 1.8 vtec lump in it, things fuckin mental, spits flames and eats most other cars.
would be a handful in the wet though
Haha yeah, the pulsar is a pretty mean machine, i hope you get one, i'm sure you'll have a load of fun with it.
Not supprised the mini is spitting flames, i bet it has no cat on it, and not much of an exhaust lol, and any tunning mods i bet the flames are pretty big.
Can't comment on the handling in the wet though, i wouldn't really know what to expect from such a machine, i bet with some beefy tyres on it might not be all that bad.
When my brothers Corsa is finished being built up, that should be mental, its almost 2.1, on throttle boddies, got a full forged bottom end including forged crank, hes hoping for approx 250BHP when finished and when tuned on the rolling road.
In such a small light car, with a slip diff it should be like a rocket, i can't see him coming against anything much any time soon thats going to be faster.
All i know is, its going to put the speed of my astra to shame.
-----------------------------------------------------------
On the plus point however, i decided to snap a few pics for you guys,
Ive got my 6x9s wired up in the parcel shelf, i disconned the rear door speakers and ran complete new wiring from front to back with some uprated wiring to get the best possible from the head unit and 6x9s and the sound difference and volume is great, i just need to upgrade the front door speakers now and i'll be more happy!
Ive also swapped the exhaust, original plan was oval as this one is, but a DTM upswept style, however as this is a temp measure, this one looked good so i bought it and fitted it, personally i'm loving it at the moment, can't go wrong with some good stainless steel system!
Also, ive bought and fitted the OPC grill i had shown you all before, i know Grim, your not too keen on the opel side of things, but i couldn't resist
All in all, i'm very happy all round, the car is looking great i think so everything is on track so far.
Oh and the sub box in the boot is wired along with the amp and working fine, i need to tidy it up abit aswell, along with the 6x9s really, then i'll take some pics for you all to see, though you may catch a slight bit of the sub box in the pic with the 6x9s.
Moving on heres the pics:
New exhaust, please also note i need to cut a little bit out of the under side of the bumper to make it fit abit better, i'll do this when i replace the exhaust bolts as the ones i'm using at the moment aren't much use!
Oh and its a 6x4 inch tail pipe by the way
Next up the 6x9s in the parcel shelf, please excuse the mess, i'll give it a good clean when ive finished off mounting them in 100%
Lastly, heres the new grill fitted, personally i love it, really transforms the look of the front end.
Thats all for now everyone, i'll try and take some more pics as i go along and finish up a few more bits.
Cheers
Post by: grim_d on May 15, 2008, 03:11:00 AM
Post by: rms2001 on May 15, 2008, 03:32:00 AM
Post by: twistedsymphony on May 15, 2008, 07:44:00 AM
I've been playing catch-up with my 240... hopefully once I get my truck crap settled I can start gearing up for the engine swap.
so what's next for you?
Post by: Dano2k0 on May 19, 2008, 10:45:00 AM
QUOTE(grim_d @ May 15 2008, 10:47 AM)
grill looks great man, but now you got to de-badge the boot
Haha yeah i do, i think i'll eventually remove the vauxhall badge, not sure if theres a small hole behind it or not though. In the event there is it'll have to wait for abit as ive got more important things to do before that.
Thanks for the feedback on the grill though, glad you like it. I'm very pleased with it at the moment.
QUOTE(rms2001 @ May 15 2008, 11:08 AM)
Interesting car. I saw loads of them around the UK and Europe. Good to see GM is doing well overseas. Would be an interesting car to have here in America if they would release it with a diesel. I can imagine the mileage now, probably give a Jetta a good run for its money.
GM is doing extremelly well over here, in England there is a ton of Astras, you see them everywhere lol. In general Vauxhall does well here.
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ May 15 2008, 03:20 PM)
Looks nice man...
I've been playing catch-up with my 240... hopefully once I get my truck crap settled I can start gearing up for the engine swap.
so what's next for you?
Cheers mate, glad you like it. Yeah ive been reading your truck issues. Hope you get that sorted out soon mate.
I think the engine swap should go quite well for you, if youve got an engine crane etc all should be good
I'll be joining you too in the near future when i come to fit the Z20LET, theres not much point in tuning the engine ive got in much at the moment, i figgured i might aswell wait for the bigger better turbo engine and tune that, i'll get much better value for money in general.Whats next? i don't know lol. Ive got a GSI spoiler on the way, infact it'll probably be here tomorrow, then ive got to go and get some paint mixed to spray the spoiler with and get the time to paint it up. I got a good buy on the spoiler though, and it'll be much better than just any cheap fiberglass replacements. I just want to make sure its right when its done so i spent the bit extra.
Ive also got some wheels in the pipe line that i'll be getting second hand. I'll need to give them abit of a refurb though as Grim did, though i'll be doing mine in a dark metalic grey. With the big wilwood calipers in red behind them on a red car i think it should look spot on.
Also ive still got to finish the refurb job on the Wilwood calipers, they were second hand and in crappy condition when i bought them, hence the price i paid, but i got a good buy. Theres nothing wrong with them as such other than they looked crappy. Someone decided it was a good idea to paint them gold, and all the paint is chipped and rubbish so ive been sorting one of them out and been spraying it with red temp paint. Infact i'll do a little update below with some pics and details for everyone to see.
-------------------------------------------------------------
As i was just saying to TS above, ive been working on one of the Wilwood 4pot calipers, they are the superlite calipers and weigh very little!
When i originally got these, i got them second hand and some fool decided it was a good idea to paint them (doing a crappy job aswell) in gold, they have been kicked around abit and alot of the gold had chipped off etc.
So what ive been doing is refurbing them, ive been giving them a really good sand down, clean and spraying up in a red heat proof paint. I'm not 100% sure on the exact tone of colour though, but i think if i paint the text back in, using some black paint then they'll be looking good.
When i do get my wheels sorted and paint them in the dark metalic grey, these should look amazing behind the wheels!
Anyway heres some pics, you can see the one ive been working on thats now red. Ive photographed the other so you can get an idea as to what they originally looked like.
Oh and heres a shot of one of the bells and rotar, other than the sheer size of these things, they don't look too impressive so i'm really considering getting some new rotars aswell, i was hoping for some drilled ones or something as i think they'd look stunning with the rest of the setup.
You can see from the picture these things are big.
I'll hopefully be doing some more work on these shortly, and i'm hoping soon i'll have the wheels sorted and these sorted aswell so i can get them straight on the car.
Cheers everyone
Post by: bucko on May 21, 2008, 01:29:00 PM
Post by: grim_d on May 22, 2008, 03:36:00 PM
(IMG:http://www.hormiga.org/fondosescritorio/wallpapers/Vehiculos-Motor/Opel-Astra/Opel-Astra-Xtreme-Concept-6.jpg)
failing that, you shud try get a gsi kit, saw one earlier, cool looking.
(IMG:http://www.celtictuning.co.uk/images/customercars/Vauxhall%20Astra%20GSi%20Turbo.jpg)
This post has been edited by grim_d: May 22 2008, 10:38 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on May 22, 2008, 04:08:00 PM
QUOTE(bucko @ May 21 2008, 09:05 PM)
nice work, you must have a lot of experience in this you look like your doing a good job on well everything. I really like the sat nav display you did.
Thanks mate, ive got a decent ammount of experience with car modding, and general work so i do my best when it comes to the stuff on my car. When you get your car you should buy some nice parts too
to be honest the majority of what ive done so far is straight forward and easy. I enjoy making my car what i consider better looking, increasing performance in almost any respect, and of course getting the customised look to how i like it.QUOTE(grim_d @ May 22 2008, 11:12 PM)
i dare you.
failing that, you shud try get a gsi kit, saw one earlier, cool looking.
Oh man, the first pic the touring car type is crazy, as much as i'd love a nice wide arch, i think its a little crazy for road use. Other than that, theres no way with how low mine is it would take that kit lol. It would scrape the road where ever you go and rip bits off it ive no doubt.
Also, raising the car is a big no no unless its urgent
I love how low she is at the moment, and i'm going lower on the back end soon too, being as ive got adjustable coilovers, i can go abit more on the back end yet so i'm gona slam it on the back, might aswell go with the rest of whats left.Oh, and for the GSI, my dad has a GSI at the moment, fantastic car, and thats the engine i'm after, Z20LET, 2.0 turbo, should be a reasonably easy conversion from first looks so later this year / next year i should be dropping that engine in. Theres not alot of point in tuning the 1.8 in my opinion, a 2.0 block is a good starting point, and a config for a turbo on such a block i think is an ideal place to get good power, and of course tuning is going to see good gains unlike when running N/A.
I do agree with you though, the GSI is an amazing looking car in real life, i do want a GSI bumper or a SRI turbo bumper, though i'd prefer the GSI one, the rear one isn't all that special, and has an exhaust cut out for a single tail pipe so no oval one could easily fit, so i'd stick with the bumper ive got already i think.
Also ive got a GSI genuine spoiler already
work has been started, hoping to get some paint within the next few days and get the gun out and spray it up to match my car, i'll shoot some pics at some point soon and post them up for you to see mate. For a standard spoiler, i think the GSI one is great, not too big, and deffinatly not too small.
Post by: lostboyz on May 22, 2008, 04:25:00 PM
Post by: bucko on May 22, 2008, 05:28:00 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on May 27, 2008, 10:17:00 AM
QUOTE(lostboyz @ May 23 2008, 12:01 AM)
just saw a Saturn astra on the road today and thought it looked familiar. Good looking car
A Saturn Astra? Never heard of such a thing, i wouldn't have thought it would be the same type of Astra as mine though? especially as its made by Vauxhall (or Opel) Unless i'm missing something obvious i didn't think you have anything like this over there?
QUOTE(bucko @ May 23 2008, 01:04 AM)
A CD player and a CB radio is about as far as i will go on modding, have no experience but my mate has a CB radio so were gonna have some fun with that (no license needed now for CB). I'm hoping to get my first car before the year is out, providing petrol doesn't go toooo high.
Oh man you can't stop there. I never knew you didn't need a licence anymore for the CB, used to have good fun on those going back a good few years. You know you want to start an extensive list of modifications
once youve done a few mods you won't be able to stop, it becomes a passion to improove virtually everything.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On a side note as a minor update, ive been hunting around for some wilwood rotors and pads for my new brakes, which i'm still in the process of sorting out (pics to come soon)
I finally found someone who deals alot with wilwood and can get me more or less anything i want if i have the part numbers (rally designs is the company)
Anyway, i ideally wanted some drilled rotors, but it looks like that idea is out of the window unless i do some work on the caliper mounts aswell, but i think i'll throw that idea out of the window for now as thats alot of hassle. Ive managed to find some high spec rotors however that have grooves cut into them, and ive been told are most deffinatly ideal for fast road use, they are part of the GT series.
Wilwood brakes are a pain unless youve got a good setup already on your car because there are so many differences and limitations, i need a few specific things to fit my rotors to the bells ive got at the moment.
Anyway, basically i got a price for the rotors and a new set of pads for fast road use (you have to specifically order a left and a right rotor aswell for air flow reasons)
My total price excluding shipping totalled up just short of £300, while thats alot of money i don't know if i should just buy them and fit them, or use the ones i currently have for now and wear them down a little (got alot of life left on them) and swap them in the future, but i ideally wanted the brakes and wheels done pretty much together.
I'm going to have a think about what to do for the best now, i need quite alot of cash shortly soon aswell as i'm going on holiday and the car is going with me so i want to finish up a few odds and ends and have enough cash to take for a good holiday aswell.
Besides that, all is currently good, and ive bought my paint for doing my new set of wheels when i get them, hopefully i'll have them in a couple of weeks now, and i can get to work on them.
Anyway, enough rambling on, just thought i'd keep those of you interested up to date.
Cheers.
Post by: slimgrip on June 09, 2008, 11:10:00 AM
Been thinkin of getting an angel eye kit for me beamer.
Post by: lostboyz on June 10, 2008, 04:14:00 PM
08 saturn astra
saturn is just another gm company, and all american car companies like to bring cars here that do well in europe and asia (see focus, gto, etc.)
Post by: grim_d on July 13, 2008, 12:48:00 PM
end result looks great.
http://www.custompc....blogs/davemark/
Post by: Dano2k0 on August 18, 2008, 08:53:00 AM
Grim mate, not a bad looking mod that guy has done, ive seen a few people do some simillar stuff, very interesting, though i think he could have done a little bit better on some areas but all in all its deffinatly a nice mod, would be excellent for use with some ECU's if youve got the right software.
----------------------------------------------------
Time for a long needed update, ok well a few weeks back i got completely fed up of the power from the 1.8, don't get me wrong its not a slow car by any means, but the power i'm wanting this doesn't even come close to cutting it.
As ive said a few times in this thread, ive been wanting to drop a Z20LET in place of the current engine (2.0 turbo engine)
Ive been looking for one of these engines ever since i got the car, as this has always been my intention, they only made these GSI turbo spec engines till 2004, so thats as new as i can buy second hand really.
After much research i finally found a guy that lived 200miles from me who had exactlly what i wanted, the engine came from a write off nearly 2 years ago and had been sat in storage since as he didn't end up using it, best bet is its come from a garage with a receipt for guaranteed mileage.
Basically ive got the engine, gearbox, turbo, ecu, wiring loom, drive shafts, hubs, brakes, steering rack etc etc basically everything from the front end of the car for complete conversion, minus a few things such as radiators, intercooler etc.
The engine has genuinely only covered 7,000 miles from new, so the engine has barely ran in at the moment.
Its still sat in the back of my garage, but i'm piecing together everything else i need and will hopefully start making progress with fitting the engine in the next 1-2 months.
Heres a couple of pics i snapped, also note you can see my new wheels stacked up there in the pics, though i need new tyres on them, and still need to paint them, so they are still not on the car as of yet!
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2679.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2676.jpg)
Ive got alot of confidence in this lot, in the future i'll be doing many mods including bigger turbo, inlet cam, etc etc.
Oh and heres one for Grim that said the car needed a good polish, it did indeed and now it looks a different car again, sadly it rained on it before i got to take any pics, but you can see how good the paint looks now, its very shiney and reflective, personally i think its one of the best reds ive seen on a car! Sadly the rain doesn't do it any justice and really does take away from the look when dry.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2681.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT2687.jpg)
Took those pictures down at my fiancees house by the way for those that will release its not on my drive.
Enjoy the pictures and we should be seeing good progress in the near future.
PS, thinking of getting a full Milltek catback exhaust system for when i drop this in, front de-cat pipe and a sports cat in place of the second one. Also trying to source the parts for a front mount intercooler setup along with some other odds and ends should make a solid setup (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
This post has been edited by Dano2k0: Aug 18 2008, 04:01 PM
Post by: bucko on August 18, 2008, 10:51:00 AM
Post by: Dano2k0 on August 21, 2008, 02:04:00 PM
I'm very happy with how the paint work ended up, needs abit more work in a few areas but all in all shes back to good looking flame red.
You can't wait to here the 2.0 turbo? i sure as hell can't wait to hear it with a full milltek system
Better yet, i really can't wait to see what power this thing has to offer, with a few tunning mods i should be seeing a good power gain on the standard 200bhp, in the future with the VXR turbo, VXR injectors etc and a good remap with a front mount intercooler i should be saying power well on the way towards 300bhp, gona go for the performance inlet cam too.
After this stage, it'll be time for some forged pistsons and rods or else somethings gona give!
I'll be happy with somewhere in the region of 300 though, should be a very fast car.
When i get it in, i'll try and snap some vids, maybe they can go on youtube and be posted here or something.
Cheers
Post by: grim_d on August 23, 2008, 01:58:00 PM
Looking forward to seeing that lump in, should be a bit of a monster. what you SHOULD do is forge the fooker before you even put it in, quaife/ppg high ratio gearset and a 3071, but thats the dream lol.
p.s if anybody ever asks you to help them with their saxo/106 suspension, just say NO and run a million miles in the opposite direction.
This post has been edited by grim_d: Aug 23 2008, 09:05 PM
Post by: missda-sik on August 24, 2008, 05:27:00 PM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Aug 23 2008, 09:34 PM) 
told you mate, she scrubbed up well, looks 1000 times better, paint acctually looks red in the photos. Infact she loks brand spanking man.
Looking forward to seeing that lump in, should be a bit of a monster. what you SHOULD do is forge the fooker before you even put it in, quaife/ppg high ratio gearset and a 3071, but thats the dream lol.
p.s if anybody ever asks you to help them with their saxo/106 suspension, just say NO and run a million miles in the opposite direction.
Alryt mate Ive been lookin at this thread for a while now so i decided to make an account. Your astra looks mint! Loven the colour too (Y)
Im guessin by the time you've finished with this one 1 we'll all be whatchin it on TV lmao!! Good choice in the lights yeah i love them angel eye's too nothen better (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I was never too keep in the grill but ohh well ;P Yeah I would get the carbon fiber bonnet with the cut grill slot because wit got a sick littlescoop xD
Cant wait to see some pic's of thoes big clampers dressin in with thoes wheels!!
Would you ever consider putting a simple kit on this?? I guess you would have to re-ajust your dampers lmao!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) You'de be scraping the ground till you took off in that monster!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Keep us updated :: And lots more pikkkkyyyz!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
John
PS. Im luvven that bertone centeral collum.,, If your ever upgreading check this out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASTRA-G-CENTRE-CONSO...id=p3286.c0.m14 <-- took ages to find that!! Dont loose the link (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grr.gif)
Post by: Infamous Ob on August 24, 2008, 06:56:00 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on August 26, 2008, 09:19:00 AM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Aug 23 2008, 09:34 PM)
told you mate, she scrubbed up well, looks 1000 times better, paint acctually looks red in the photos. Infact she loks brand spanking man.
Looking forward to seeing that lump in, should be a bit of a monster. what you SHOULD do is forge the fooker before you even put it in, quaife/ppg high ratio gearset and a 3071, but thats the dream lol.
p.s if anybody ever asks you to help them with their saxo/106 suspension, just say NO and run a million miles in the opposite direction.
Yes mate, she came out well, took a few days though to be honest to get it that good, i personally think it needs a little extra work in a couple of areas to compliment the rest of the car, though i'm very happy with it at the moment.
Yeah i'd love to get some forge internals from the start, but surely it'll be nice to abuse the almost new 7,000 miles engine in general before upgrading, plus it would seriously dent my wallet
In the future though, it'd be easy enough to drop sump and head off, take out the crank, rods and pistons, and then drop some new rods and pistons in while the block stays in the car, saves messing around craning it out again. You never know, might go for an uprated crank too
On the other hand, ive got alot of money to spend on mods for it as it is, i'm pretty certain i can run close to 300bhp on standard internals without it blowing up within the next few thousand miles.
Whats up with saxo or 106 suspension? lol, guessing youve ran into some problems with them recently? to be honest i'm not a lover of either car, but got to admit the 106 GTI is a pretty fast car, though my brothers car rips them to hell.
QUOTE(missda-sik @ Aug 25 2008, 01:03 AM)
Alryt mate Ive been lookin at this thread for a while now so i decided to make an account. Your astra looks mint! Loven the colour too (Y)
Im guessin by the time you've finished with this one 1 we'll all be whatchin it on TV lmao!! Good choice in the lights yeah i love them angel eye's too nothen better
I was never too keep in the grill but ohh well ;P Yeah I would get the carbon fiber bonnet with the cut grill slot because wit got a sick littlescoop xD Cant wait to see some pic's of thoes big clampers dressin in with thoes wheels!!
Would you ever consider putting a simple kit on this?? I guess you would have to re-ajust your dampers lmao!!
You'de be scraping the ground till you took off in that monster!! Keep us updated :: And lots more pikkkkyyyz!! John
PS. Im luvven that bertone centeral collum.,, If your ever upgreading check this out
http://cgi.ebay.co.u...id=p3286.c0.m14 <-- took ages to find that!! Dont loose the link 
Alright mate, nice to see youve joined up to have a chat, yeah got to agree with you, i too love the colour and the angels, go together real well in my opinion, shame your not too keen on the grill, though i do personally love it, makes a hell of a difference to the appearence of the car and gives it more of an agressive look.
Its quite supprising, finding a decent seller of carbon bonnets to fit my car is very difficult, though i think i may have found someone who can get one for me, ideally i want an OEM type with the standard grill slot so i can fit my grill. I can imagine how it would look with a OEM type carbon bonnet against the red, should look stunning.
The brakes won't be going on for a little while sadly, instead for the time being i'll be upgrading to the 308mm disks and calipers i got with the engine lot that i bought, i will however be going to the 4pots in the future, i have to fabricate some brackets for mounting them properly and need to figgure out what bells i'm going to use. I started modifying the others to suit my car but realised it would mean pushing the wheel out more than i would allow it to, as such the tyre would have scraped to hell in the front arches so i'm not going down that road, i need to give it some carefull thought and get them on in the future, for the time being however the 308s should make a good difference, might even paint the calipers up so they'll look nicer behind the wheels.
I assume you mean a simple bodykit? nah to be honest i think if i were to swap much i'd go for the GSI front bumper, i love those, but i also really do like my SRi bumper, oh i'd also consider a genuine SRi turbo bumper aswell. I had considered putting some GSI or simillar side skirts on to colour code it, but to be honest i like the black against red stuff, when its cleaned properly, it looks great. I used to be into really modified cars with alot done body work wise, i still like some of them, but i'd prefer a motorsport look rather than a 'show car' type look. Also as you pointed out, a major issue would be the ride height, it would mean raising the beast which is something i really wouldn't do unless forced to, i love the handling and the height shes currently at, i would hate to even consider having to raise it at all for any reason, so that alone i guess says a big no no to most body mods as they'd get torn to bits
Ive seen those center consoles you pointed out, and i do admit i deffinatly do like some of them, but if i were ever to consider going to something like that, i'd deffinatly build my own rather than buy one, i'd probably fit some gauges in there too. But at least for the time being, i'm more than happy with the center console ive got at the moment, looks spot on in the car.
QUOTE(Infamous Ob @ Aug 25 2008, 02:32 AM)
Wow. This Vaux really came together. Are those Wilwoods Standard or Aftermarket on those cars? If they Standard, America need to step it up. lol Anyway, I like the overall look of the car. You did the exhaust yourself. how hard was it to do? I been thinking about removing my muffler on my car and running a Straight Pipe for a better sound aong with a few more Horses.
Hello mate, yeah shes slowly coming together, got a long long way to go though before i'll be happy with it. I'll be much happier when i get the new wheels on, GSI spoiler painted and on, and of course get that turbo lump in, can't wait to feel the power, along with a few mods, should be running some decent power.
The brakes youve seen in the pictures are aftermarket sadly, would be nice to get some 4pots standard though
as above i was explaining they'll be going on in the future due to some complications which i'll be sorting out as and when i get time really, ive got far more important things to sort out first, so for the time being i'll be putting the 308mm GSI brakes on the front, who knows i might even get some better disks, we'll see.Yeah i did the exhaust, pretty much any exhaust is a piece of cake in my opinion, if youve got a basic range of tools you'll have no problem swapping the exhaust, sometimes the originals can become stuck together depending on the type of fitting, but they usually aren't a big deal. If you can buy an aftermarket pipe for your car, should be dead easy to swap it over. Just watch out for how much of the exhaust you swap, and what type you swap to, or else you might find its abit too loud
Soon enough when i fit the turbo engine, i'll be swapping the exhaust completely on my car for a full tunned system for some good gains, i think i'll porbably be going with the milltek system so should be good.
Post by: grim_d on August 27, 2008, 10:10:00 AM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Aug 26 2008, 04:55 PM)
Whats up with saxo or 106 suspension? lol, guessing youve ran into some problems with them recently? to be honest i'm not a lover of either car, but got to admit the 106 GTI is a pretty fast car, though my brothers car rips them to hell.
mate has a vtr, got me round to help him replace all his suspesnion and do torsion bar, cars a 52 plate and EVERYTHING is seized solid. access to the bits you need is always blocked, and they use torx bolts on outside parts, which of course corrode and then chew up instantly when you try to remove them.
fun.
Post by: Dano2k0 on September 08, 2008, 11:11:00 AM
QUOTE(grim_d @ Aug 27 2008, 05:46 PM)
mate has a vtr, got me round to help him replace all his suspesnion and do torsion bar, cars a 52 plate and EVERYTHING is seized solid. access to the bits you need is always blocked, and they use torx bolts on outside parts, which of course corrode and then chew up instantly when you try to remove them.
fun.
lol sounds like fun mate.
Ive had a few cars that have had all sorts seized up, some stuff takes some real time and effort to sort out i know.
Tell him to get a real car anyway lol, not too keen on the VTR's myself plus they seem mega slow, he would be best of with a VTS if hes gona stick with the Saxo
Sounds abit crappy anyway for a 52 plate to be so much of a problem, i'm pleased mine isn't anything like that to work on
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Just as a slight update, been ordering some parts, fingers crossed i'm going to start the conversion in the next couple of weeks if all my stuff turns up.
Still need to get my exhaust orded, i'm pretty sure i'm going to go for the full milltek system with sports cat, front de-cat pipe, and non-res system, fingers crossed it won't be too loud. Still should be a good exhaust, a true tunned system can't be bad especially for the cost of around £800
Got a different intake on order too i'm going to stick with a cone filter and see how i get on, i was also missing a MAF sensor so ive got one of those coming too, along with some nice hose clips etc.
Oh and ive also got a front mount intercooler and some pipe work on the way to make a kit to suit my car
Really looking forward to getting started on this, all in all its costing a small fortune lol. If i get chance when some stuff turns up i might put a few pics up for you all to see what i'm up to.
Cheers
Post by: grim_d on September 08, 2008, 11:50:00 AM
looking forward to seeing you start on the conversion, going to keep the FMIC stealth and hidden?
This post has been edited by grim_d: Dec 18 2009, 08:15 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on October 01, 2008, 07:26:00 AM
Haha your mate sounds like a laugh, whos he been blowing off with a VTR? lol i agree, saxos in general are crap, not my taste of cars what so ever, though if i was made to have one, VTS it would be, but as you said before, even thats crap.
Has he actually got the torsion bar done yet?
it must like crazy if its slammed on the front and standard height on the back.The conversion has been a little delayed, still trying to get this FMIC sorted out, hopefully will be starting the conversion in the next few weeks, pic will follow as and when i start.
Ive also got a good few bits now ive bought in, so will take some pics of those and post them up as and when i get chance, bits include stainless manifold heat shield, samco water hose kit, alot of fancy hose clamps, MAF sensor and ive also got a 3" stainless inlet pipe straight onto the turbo for my pipercross filter, this gets rid of the crossover on the inlet etc so should be much more free-flowing.
Also still looking at getting a carbon bonnet, fingers crossed i might have one sorted in a few weeks time, just got to await some confirmation.
Oh and with regards to the FMIC, i don't think i'll be keeping it hidden, i love the look of the FMIC's so will probably have it so it can be seen, don't know how i'm going to cope with the SRi bumper though, a GSI bumper would have made the job much easier, so fingers crossed it'll turn out alright.
Cheers
Post by: Dano2k0 on October 20, 2008, 08:58:00 AM
Basically other than whats in these pictures, ive got my front mount intercooler and all pipe work, map sensor, first lambda sensor, bailey dump valve, metal boost pipe with samco joiners, brand new radiator to suit, battery jacket, alloy fan casting with fan, multi function display and some other odds and ends ive probably forgot to mention.
As you can see in the pictures below, ive basically got the samco water hose kit, air flow sensor, stainless air intake pipe with blue silicon joiners, alot of hose clips of various sizes, cool running stat and exhaust heat shield etc, the heatshield however still has its protective film on in the pictures.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3246resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3245resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3244resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3243resized.jpg)
When i'm next back up home, i'll snap some more pics of some of my other bits for you all.
I was hoping the engine would have been in a good while ago now, but unfortunately ive not got round to it and sourcing everything i need has been a pain at the best of times.
Fingers crossed, the main things i now require are only, second lambda sensor and complete exhaust front to back with sports cat. Once ive got these more or less sorted, i should be starting the conversion very soon so we should be seeing alot of progress very shortly.
Cheers. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
This post has been edited by Dano2k0: Oct 20 2008, 03:59 PM
Post by: bucko on October 21, 2008, 12:04:00 PM
Post by: grim_d on October 21, 2008, 12:06:00 PM
bet you are dying for some boost lol.im thinking very seriously about going mental and doing a 10 hr round trip at the weekend to buy a sunny gti
Post by: Dano2k0 on November 27, 2008, 10:45:00 AM
QUOTE(bucko @ Oct 21 2008, 06:40 PM)
Sweet they look good build quality and blue is my favourite colour
Yeah mate, samco hoses are the way forward in my opinion, great build quality compaired to the OE hoses.
QUOTE(grim_d @ Oct 21 2008, 06:42 PM)
cant beat an engine bay crammed full of samco hoses
bet you are dying for some boost lol.im thinking very seriously about going mental and doing a 10 hr round trip at the weekend to buy a sunny gti
Yeah Samco'd engine bay is mint, doubt i'll have an engine bay full of samco so to speak, but should be looking pretty smart none the less as almost all hoses will be in blue including the ones for the front mount intercooler.
Sorry i didn't get back to you in here mate, didn't realise how long it had actually been..
I'm guessing you didn't buy the Sunny? as i see no thread of it in here.
For a car of this age, if i were buying one i'd deffinatly do a 10 hour round trip if i thought i was getting a good car from it.
You still looking to get a GTI then if you haven't got one already?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
On another note, its time for a long required update!
Firstly, i'll be honest, i still haven't got my engine fitted! One way or another i find out there are more parts needed, or some not suitable that i have to buy. Tracking down every last piece i can think of that is required to do the conversion has been a nightmare!
Finally i'm almost there, just waiting on my new ABS unit to arrive and i should have virtually everything other than minor odds and ends that shouldn't be a big deal for now.
.........................
With that out of the way, i have done quite some work recently which has taken a while in total.
New mods which ive actually sorted out and fitted are as followed:
New wheels and tyres (the wheels ive had in the garage more or less since i got the car
)Carbon bonnet
New interior half leather / half alcantra
First on the list was sorting out the wheels and tyres, the new tyres ive bought were hardly cheap, 35 series profile made a nice hole in my wallet..
Anyway, Toyo Proxes T1R's all round.
Wheels needed a good refurb, sanded them down, tried them on the car with the old tyres on first for fitment with her being so low, primed them, only to find out there was going to be a reaction so another sand down, re-prime, paint and laquer.
I'll let the photos do the talking of the process (didn't take many, was too damn busy lol)
Obviously in the above pics, the centers weren't in, neither were the dust caps on.
Pics of wheels on the car:
My new bonnet fitted:
I always did say i never intended getting a carbon bonnet with vent, this one came up second hand and the price was a reasonable ammount less than a new one, so i took the chance and bought it.
Over all i'm happy with it, looks good on the car in my opinion, and i came to the conclusion the vent may be good for when the turbo lump goes in, the more heat i can get rid of from that exhaust manifold, the better!
Lastly my new interior, half leather / half alcantra, got this at a reasonable price, needed a damn good clean though. Do please note, the alcantra is nice and clean, it may look funny in the pictures, but its because some of it is brushed one way, and the other is brushed other ways. If you rub your hand over it, it looks different again lol.
Over all i'm happy with how everythings turned out, i had to get the wheels sorted really before i start the conversion, i'm not too sure anything much bigger than my current brakes would fit under the 16s i had on, so these 18's should be up to the job for some bigger brakes.
I'm begining to feel doubtfull i'll start the conversion before christmas now, but if i get abit of time, i'll take her off the road over christmas and begin the work. If not, it'll deffinatly be early next year, ive got just about everything i need to begin now.
Any comments welcome.
Cheers
Post by: Dano2k0 on December 06, 2008, 01:21:00 PM
I know they aren't great pictures, quality is pretty crap, its dark and cold outside aswell so it didn't help..
I'll post some better pictures also when i take some.
In the mean time enjoy.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3832resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3835resized.jpg)
Cheers.
Post by: lostboyz on December 07, 2008, 05:49:00 PM
Post by: grim_d on December 07, 2008, 06:32:00 PM
need those big brakes on peeking out, the red calipers will look sweet
glad you got a carbon bonnet they look the nuts, vent or not.
are you going to paint the side skirts and splitter? would look very clean with only the bump strip black.
yah gti was sold when i phoned
constantly on the lookout for a fairly clean example for about a grand that i can take on as a mini project and make immaculate. My new work has a warehouse that i will be able to use for working on any car i get so dropping a standard sr20det in could be an option also.
Post by: twistedsymphony on December 08, 2008, 11:45:00 AM
getting one of those motors in the USA you'd think you were smuggling narcotics or firearms or something..
same goes for the RBs and even the CAs
you guys could make a killing exporting 200sx stuff to the US...
Post by: jimbobjim on December 08, 2008, 02:34:00 PM
I love the everything else though mate, especially the seats.
Post by: Dano2k0 on December 08, 2008, 03:55:00 PM
QUOTE(lostboyz @ Dec 8 2008, 01:25 AM)
thats a beaut really nice work
Thanks mate, glad your liking it so far, keep a look out for some more updates in the near future
QUOTE(grim_d @ Dec 8 2008, 02:08 AM)
those are some nice wheels mate, excellent colour, i see we use the same tack rags
need those big brakes on peeking out, the red calipers will look sweet
glad you got a carbon bonnet they look the nuts, vent or not.
are you going to paint the side skirts and splitter? would look very clean with only the bump strip black.
yah gti was sold when i phoned
constantly on the lookout for a fairly clean example for about a grand that i can take on as a mini project and make immaculate. My new work has a warehouse that i will be able to use for working on any car i get so dropping a standard sr20det in could be an option also.Cheers mate, yeah i love the look of the wheels on the car, colour really suits the car. Where you get your tag rags, fancy using same ones
I get my paint and other kit from a local paint shop, cracking guys that work there, they sort all sorts for me.Over-all i'm well pleased with the carbon bonnet, gave the car a whole different look, i wasn't too sure for a long time on the vent, but its kind of working for me now, should deffinatly help with the extra heat that it'll soon be recieving.
Ive got to get some better brakes on, with these 18s on they look seriously small
Hopefully in the somewhat near future i'll be fitting the 4pots, got some more complications to work out though, but once they are on should be cracking. In the mean time, when i get the engine conversion on the way i'll be upgrading to 308mm disks, ive got the carriers etc for the conversion, would have been nice to get some drilled disks on to make it abit smarter, but we'll see I'll get the calipers paint up a nice red aswell when i get those new ones on.Gutted for you on the GTI mate, will be great when you get cracking with a good project, be sure to drop me a message when you get sorted, it'll be nice to see what your up to. Yeah also get yourself a SR20DET could be quite a machine with a few tuning mods
Nice one mate, and cheers for the good feedback, nice to know you think its going the right direction.
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Dec 8 2008, 07:21 PM)
damn you and your easily obtainable SR20DETs
getting one of those motors in the USA you'd think you were smuggling narcotics or firearms or something..
same goes for the RBs and even the CAs
you guys could make a killing exporting 200sx stuff to the US...
lol if i thought the exchange rates were worth it and it seemed profitable, i'd deffinatly consider it. In the current economy, i guess unless parts are really worth serious money over there it wouldn't be worth it in the long run.
But in the event you need any 200sx parts, might be worth letting me and Grim know, we might be able to help you
QUOTE(jimbobjim @ Dec 8 2008, 10:10 PM)
Perhaps it's just the pics, but the wheels look a bit small and don't seem to fill the arches properly... both width and circumference. I don't know much about modding cars, so what do I know?
I love the everything else though mate, especially the seats.
Hello mate, long time no see again
Must just be the pics mate
the wheels are 18" they deffinatly aint small, the wheels are too wide for the tyres, the tyres are stretched onto the rims, i can't get anything any wider on though or else it would scrape seriously bad at all times, especially at this ride height lol.I think half of what might give you that impression may be the very thin side wall.. 35 stetched serious tyres.
The overall diameter of the tyre is exactlly the same as the original wheels if you get me.. like from floor to the top of the tyre is exactlly the same height as the original, it had to be to keep the speedo within reason lol or else it would end up giving the wrong speed.
It needs lowering more on the back end, might take it down abit more in the near future.
Looking back at the picture, i guess with it being so dark, the wheels tyres and arches being black, it gives a false sense of how big the wheel / tyres really are.
Looking back at the original wheels, you'll probably get the idea..
Cheers for the comments on everything though mate, yeah i too love the interior, most deffinatly much nicer than the original, a good bit more comfy too.
Cheers
Post by: Dano2k0 on February 10, 2009, 01:47:00 PM
Been a while since i posted anything much here..
Ive been away for a few days only a couple of days ago, i did a few mods on the car since i last posted too... So i took a few pics while i was away, just picked a few out of the ones ive took and thought i'd post them here aswell.
As you may notice, the rear lights are professionally tinted ones, they are nice and shiney, also the splitter is a new one and has brake ducts fitted aswell to the openings. Also, may be very difficult to see, but you can just about make out the gauge pod on my A pillar, i'll snap some pics of this some time.
Anyway heres the pics:
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3966resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3969resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3971resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3975resized.jpg)
And heres my favourite pic i took at the time of taking the above.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3977resizedfave.jpg)
As always, boys will be boys, and a good time was had on the snow / ice.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT3979resized.jpg)
Heres a pic i snapped while she was parked at the place i was staying on the right.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4111resized.jpg)
Lastly, completely not related other than the fact i took this pic while i was on holiday the 'snow woman' it was just in the middle of nowhere really, but when i saw it i had to pull over and take a photo. We found it pretty funny at the time lol so thought i'd post it up.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4068resized.jpg)
Hope you enjoy the latest photos, some serious work should start soon, i need to get myself into gear once the weather is a little better.
Cheers.
Post by: grim_d on February 10, 2009, 02:59:00 PM
was out in a car park near me the other night, lack of power steering made it difficult
good laugh though and motor looking good as always.
Post by: Dano2k0 on February 11, 2009, 04:47:00 AM
Yeah snow has been alot of fun when you can get off road in it for a while. Must be abit of a bummer having no power steering in such weather, you could have so much more fun with the hand break ripped up in those car parks.
My car without power steering on is like trying to turn a tank, if you let the hand break off and try and just roll and steer it, i can't believe just how much effort you have to put into turning it, on the other hand smaller cars without power steering don't seem quite as bad, why mine is so heavy beats me.
Post by: Dano2k0 on February 25, 2009, 03:04:00 PM
Well sort of anyway
Ive finally got around to sorting the garage out a little, got my engine out and have been doing abit of work on it.
Firstly i stripped the auxillery belt off, removed the timing belt covers, ready for swapping the timing belt.
I also then went onto swapping most of the hoses on the engine to my new samco ones.
Fitted the new cool running thermo stat, along with the nice shiney exhaust heat shield.
As you can see, abit of rust and general dirt has found its way around the engine, having said that it hasn't ran for about 4 years now
Ive had it less than a year so thats not nearly all my fault..Although i haven't taken pics, ive now replaced the timing belt, just need to rebuild the covers and bottom pulley.
I also need to put the crank shaft sensor back in, borrowed it on another job.
Anyway heres the pictures of how it was and how it stands roughly now.
Since these pics i have put jubilee clips on the breather pipe i originally stuck on as a temp measure when i borrowed the original. Also as above, ive replaced the timing belt, just hnaven't taken pics yet,
I'm gona give it a blow off tomorrow with the compressor to get the rubbish off and build back up what ive took off.
Oh and as a teaser for whats coming, heres the current pics of my boot full of stuff.
Please excuse the ammount of dirt on the back end of the car, its desperate for a wash lol!
Fingers crossed this weekend we'll be seeing big progress, i'm hoping to drop the original lump out and get on with fitting the new one!
Got alot of work ahead but i'll try and take pics as and when i remember and get a minute or two to do so.
Enjoy everyone.
Post by: Dano2k0 on February 26, 2009, 11:03:00 AM
Also some great news for me today, my full Milltek sport exhaust turned up today, looks great. I took a couple of quick pics, hopefully it'll go on my car without a problem. I went all out and got the complete thing, sports cat, front decat etc hopefully worth the money it cost (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)
Pics time:
New timing belt on:
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4461resized.jpg)
And the Milltek system.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4455resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4459resized.jpg)
Cheers. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
This post has been edited by Dano2k0: Feb 26 2009, 07:05 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on February 26, 2009, 03:00:00 PM
Shes in now for a little while, it seems sad as the engine has been so good to me. Ive known the car since brand new, its never ever been a problem or had any real work done, only general oil changes etc. Shes clocked some miles aswell for a 2001 car, still the engine runs perfect, no smoke knocks or rattles it seems ashame
The best is yet to come though, i can't wait to get the new engine in place!
Well as for the update, here she is.
No doubt its gona be there for a little while, its going to be a fairly big over haul, the list of jobs at the moment is somewhat endless, and the end seems out of sight, but i know if we get stuck in this weekend it should be slowly coming together.
Post by: twistedsymphony on February 26, 2009, 04:48:00 PM
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 01, 2009, 04:26:00 PM
---------------------------------------
Ok well everything has gone pretty much to plan, just wish i'd have spent abit more time on it, but doing some heavy drinking session Friday night really didn't help any lol.
Well Friday i started stripping her down and ive been going over the weekend so the pics will be below with a little info.
Firstly got a few bits stripped off just getting started.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4474resized.jpg)
I then went onto removing the exhaust, draining the oil and gearbox oil.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4484resized.jpg)
Removed the bonnet along with alot of other stuff, disconnected most things by this stage.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4489resized.jpg)
Shafts, hubs, brakes etc all removed.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4493resized.jpg)
Got the crane round the old engine ready for removal.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4496resized.jpg)
Then the old lump came out.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4507resized.jpg)
Just a pic to show state with no engine, new wiring loom hanging in the bay, old loom still in place at this point.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4513resized.jpg)
A pic of the old engine and gearbox removed and sat awaiting being stripped.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4515resized.jpg)
Stripped down a little more after removing the engine, removed the old engine bay wiring loom and fitted the new one. Those of you observant enough will notice the differences.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4516resized.jpg)
In car gear selector and cable shift in place ready.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4520resized.jpg)
New engine on the crane ready for dropping in.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4526resized.jpg)
Engine now bolted in on its mounts, alot of bits have been reconnected at this point. Been slowly putting bits back together.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4530resized.jpg)
Well thats it pics wise for today, i have got abit further than the last pic, just not taken any latest pics.
I'm very happy overall so far considering the time we have put in, it should all slowly fall into place now. I'll be doing abit on it each day through the week in the time i have to spare, so hopefully i'll be able to get it running later this week.
Oh and for those wondering about the engine crane, its a home made one from probably about 30 years ago that my dad made lol, does the job perfect every time, its done alot of engine transplants now and still going strong, its named Fraser
Enjoy the pics everyone.
Post by: GAZBEROTTEN on March 01, 2009, 06:24:00 PM
Post by: twistedsymphony on March 02, 2009, 07:09:00 AM
damn that's a ghetto ass engine crane though... and I thought mine was bad
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 03, 2009, 03:23:00 PM
---------------------------------------------------
Ok time for abit of an update.
Firstly, yesterday was a good day, got quite abit done in various areas. got the drive shafts in and got the hubs somewhat on and in place, but did more work on those today.
Today all in all was also success but sadly i didn't get to spend too much time on her, also its alot colder outside and the rain is just being a pain, its rained all day so i just couldn't be bothered staying outside in the cold tonight.
Anyway i'll post pics with a little info again as i have been doing.
Rad pack in pieces, but its now back together and finished minus the possible missing sensors for the ZLET rad, i bought the rad brand new so didn't know about these untill today.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4531resized.jpg)
I cut and made the rest of the pieces to create the air intake. It needs abit of work and possibly a bracket making to keep the air filter up a little to release abit of straign on the setup.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4538resized.jpg)
As abit of a trial, ive stuck the down pipe off the turbo on as a temp measure, will be getting the exhaust on sometime soon.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4540resized.jpg)
I bought a brand new set of 308mm drilled and grooved brake disks aswell while i was on the job, thought it would be worth while. I think they will be looking great behind my 18s.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4543resized.jpg)
Just a quick snap now of the overall 'bay as it stands for today.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4544resized.jpg)
Hopefully i'll get abit of time on it again tomorrow.
Got a couple of issues to resolve such as the ABS having a different sized fitment on one of the brake pipes to the original which is abit of a pain! All in all shes coming along nicely now though.
Thanks everyone.
Post by: bucko on March 03, 2009, 05:32:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Mar 3 2009, 10:59 PM)
Haha yeah its abit of an odd ball for an engine crane and something that was knocked together 30 years or more ago.. Still does the job great and tells many tales of engine transplants from the past. Still going strong though, it comes to bits and everything aswell for storing it, pretty damn good for a home made one.
---------------------------------------------------
Ok time for abit of an update.
Firstly, yesterday was a good day, got quite abit done in various areas. got the drive shafts in and got the hubs somewhat on and in place, but did more work on those today.
Today all in all was also success but sadly i didn't get to spend too much time on her, also its alot colder outside and the rain is just being a pain, its rained all day so i just couldn't be bothered staying outside in the cold tonight.
Anyway i'll post pics with a little info again as i have been doing.
Rad pack in pieces, but its now back together and finished minus the possible missing sensors for the ZLET rad, i bought the rad brand new so didn't know about these untill today.
I cut and made the rest of the pieces to create the air intake. It needs abit of work and possibly a bracket making to keep the air filter up a little to release abit of straign on the setup.
As abit of a trial, ive stuck the down pipe off the turbo on as a temp measure, will be getting the exhaust on sometime soon.
I bought a brand new set of 308mm drilled and grooved brake disks aswell while i was on the job, thought it would be worth while. I think they will be looking great behind my 18s.
Just a quick snap now of the overall 'bay as it stands for today.
Hopefully i'll get abit of time on it again tomorrow.
Got a couple of issues to resolve such as the ABS having a different sized fitment on one of the brake pipes to the original which is abit of a pain! All in all shes coming along nicely now though.
Thanks everyone.
Looks good so far, please make us a video so we can get some audio goodness when you've finish it, youtube would be fine, thanks
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 05, 2009, 06:50:00 AM
---------------------------------------------------
Update:
Ok well last night i didn't get the chance to post any new pics up, though work yesterday seemed to be steady and actually getting somewhere!
I got the auxillery belt back on aswell, was off ontop of the engine for a while. Also got the exhaust on up to the point of the end of the middle section, will finish it off when i can get the back end off the floor. Rad pack is in and connected up, air intake is finally bolted down onto the turbo etc.
Got alot of other odds and ends finished and tidied up through out yesterday aswell, but still plenty to be getting on with!
Anyway pics again with a little info.
Ok first up was getting the intake bolted onto the turbo properly, so got this bit sorted.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4555resized.jpg)
Next i got some of the exhaust done, up to the point of the end of the middle section for now, got the lambda sensors in too.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4558resized.jpg)
A quick pic under the car showing the exhaust as far as ive got so far.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4575resized.jpg)
Radpack fitted and connected, just got the grounds left to connect.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4569resized.jpg)
Lastly one in the 'bay showing how shes looking, still plenty of bits to be getting on with.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4563resized.jpg)
Cheers.
Post by: twistedsymphony on March 05, 2009, 07:33:00 AM
what's the weather like there... hopefully I can still hang on to that as an excuse.
Post by: bucko on March 05, 2009, 10:40:00 AM
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Mar 5 2009, 03:09 PM)
you're totally killing me here..... racing through this swap like a mad man...
what's the weather like there... hopefully I can still hang on to that as an excuse.
It was snowing earlier
Dano2k0 no rush I just want to hear it when it's done
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 05, 2009, 12:09:00 PM
QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Mar 5 2009, 03:09 PM)
you're totally killing me here..... racing through this swap like a mad man...
what's the weather like there... hopefully I can still hang on to that as an excuse.
Haha some say i am a mad man
Yeah the weather is crap over here mate, snowing earlier, had loads of rain, its freezing outside, last night i was outside and there was frost on the other cars on the drive
Ive got to say, i can't wait till its done but i really wish the weather was better. I'd be enjoying it and plodding on somewhat faster if it was nice and warm outside. Just about my luck for it to become freezing and snowing again
QUOTE(bucko @ Mar 5 2009, 06:16 PM)
It was snowing earlier
Dano2k0 no rush I just want to hear it when it's done You'll deffinatly get to hear it mate, if it wasn't for the fact your no where near me, i'd have taken you for a run when shes done.
Post by: twistedsymphony on March 05, 2009, 03:36:00 PM
) I'm definitely going to be working on the 240 tonight... Saturday is supposed to be even warmer so hopefully I can get some good work done then.
Post by: lostboyz on March 05, 2009, 06:57:00 PM
makes no sense whatsoever
EDIT: 80 F today, amazing!
This post has been edited by lostboyz: Mar 6 2009, 08:32 PM
Post by: twistedsymphony on March 06, 2009, 04:00:00 PM
I did manage to get into the garage last night though
Post by: Dano2k0 on March 10, 2009, 10:39:00 AM
Ok time for a big update as ive missed a few.
Firstly to confirm, the car is now running and on the road again, shes got a few issues but nothing too major as of now. Ive done approx 100miles since i got her back on the road, had a bad missfire but a new set of plugs appears to have fixed that just fine.
Sadly i didn't get time to take as many pictures as i had hoped towards the end as i was working flat out to get her on the road for Sunday evening, so photos began to lack a little.
Anyway as always, photos and abit of info.
Firstly, it became very apparent the intercooler was going to be a major pain to fit, so the rad pack was moved back as far as it would go to make more room.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4590resized.jpg)
Quick pic to show just how far back the rads have gone, not much room to spare at all.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4597resized.jpg)
Completed fitting the new ABS unit and the wiring in that area.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4598resized.jpg)
Bought some brackets and modified them to mount the intercooler, i rivited these to the crash bar on the front then bolted the intercooler to these.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4602resized.jpg)
Intercooler awaiting fitment.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4603resized.jpg)
Intercooler mounted to the crash bar, had to also remove the fan, make some brackets for the fan, remove the guard and re-do some wiring to get it to fit, and its an only just fitment as it is.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4607resized.jpg)
Heres a pic showing how little room there is, the intercooler is fitted at an angle, it only just fits, infact the fan doesn't have 1mm of space between the intercooler.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4612resized.jpg)
Another pic as the intercooler was on and she was coming together.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4614resized.jpg)
Turbo side pipe work completed to the intercooler.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4617resized.jpg)
Other side of pipe work completed from the intercooler.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4615resized.jpg)
This is how she stayed that night, bonnet was just sat on to keep it out of the way and secure.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4623resized.jpg)
Skipping some pictures because i didn't take any, the next day the transponder was fitted, chip fitted in the key, fuel pump was swapped for the GSI one (a horrible job, at the time could have sworn i had seriously shortend my life ) We fitted the new fuel lines aswell which also wasn't the best job ive ever done. I completed the exhaust, and had to chop the bumper some to get it to fit around the intercooler.
Abit later that day, i fired her up for the first time, started straight away after just a few seconds of having the key turned. I did make a quick vid clip but don't have it to hand.
Basically after this just assembled the rest that needed sorting out and got her on the road.
Heres the pictures now shes back together anyway:
First of all i'll show the new exhaust then i'll just get on with the rest.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4637resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4625resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4626resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4628resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4633resized.jpg)
In this pic you can also get a sight of the new brakes fitted, look much better behind those wheels than the old ones did.
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4642resized.jpg)
(IMG:http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i159/Dano2k000/PICT4648resized.jpg)
There is still plenty that needs doing, shes going strong at the moment though and has loads of power to play with.
When the weather is abit better the bumper needs coming off, tidying up and some modifications making.
Over-all i'm very happy with the conversion its gone brilliant. Just a few minor issues to work out then all should be good.
I will try and get some videos up for you lot sometime soon, i'm very impressed with the overall combination of the exhaust, air filter and dump valve!
Feel free to leave comments.
Cheers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Post by: lostboyz on March 10, 2009, 12:13:00 PM
Post by: Vauxfan on March 12, 2009, 12:05:00 AM
The Zlet was a good choice thou
Post by: grim_d on March 12, 2009, 06:31:00 AM
brakes looks much better than those old bottle caps.
Post by: twistedsymphony on March 12, 2009, 07:32:00 AM
Post by: juLZ007 on May 11, 2009, 07:19:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Mar 10 2009, 04:31 PM)
There is still plenty that needs doing, shes going strong at the moment though and has loads of power to play with.
When the weather is abit better the bumper needs coming off, tidying up and some modifications making.
Over-all i'm very happy with the conversion its gone brilliant. Just a few minor issues to work out then all should be good.
I will try and get some videos up for you lot sometime soon, i'm very impressed with the overall combination of the exhaust, air filter and dump valve!
Feel free to leave comments.
Cheers
hey dano, its a while since the last post here.. just wanted to hear your updates.. any vids?
today i purchased a 1999 2.0 SRi (in silver) as a first car (my practical test is in 1month).. for £2k.. i must be mad but im sure ill pass my test
anyway, it has the full body irmischer kit, lacking the grill, which im probably going to buy for it (the 'irmischer' tagged one i think might be nicer than the 'i' one..)
i was wondering what kind of mods i could start with and how much theyd cost.
eg. the front angel lights and back tinted lights.. xenon high brightness bulbs (you have these right?)
is there a way to get more bhp/torque, while achieving the same/better fuel economy?
where is the best place to buy spares? brakers yards? online spares sites?
ive got so many questions but i shall limit myself to these!
thanks for an interesting thread and i hope to hear your reply!!
Post by: Dano2k0 on May 14, 2009, 06:35:00 AM
QUOTE(juLZ007 @ May 12 2009, 01:11 AM)
hey dano, its a while since the last post here.. just wanted to hear your updates.. any vids?
today i purchased a 1999 2.0 SRi (in silver) as a first car (my practical test is in 1month).. for £2k.. i must be mad but im sure ill pass my test
anyway, it has the full body irmischer kit, lacking the grill, which im probably going to buy for it (the 'irmischer' tagged one i think might be nicer than the 'i' one..)
i was wondering what kind of mods i could start with and how much theyd cost.
eg. the front angel lights and back tinted lights.. xenon high brightness bulbs (you have these right?)
is there a way to get more bhp/torque, while achieving the same/better fuel economy?
where is the best place to buy spares? brakers yards? online spares sites?
ive got so many questions but i shall limit myself to these!
thanks for an interesting thread and i hope to hear your reply!!
Hello mate,
Sorry about the delay in replying, hopefully your still around!
Videos, still haven't done any yet lol (Sorry Bucko, know you wanted some) I will however make the effort to get some videos for you all soon, ive just been very busy and the lack of time hasn't let me get out and attempt to take any videos, give me a couple of weeks and hopefully i'll have something to show
Mod wise, ive done a few odds and ends, not documented most of it though, i swapped the rear lights again and sold those ones off, i bought the real Irmscher smoked lights, i personally think they are the best lights on the market. I have also got some proper samco hose and a small filter for the breather off the back of the rocker cover, though it could still do with an oil catch tank, which i'll invent in soon.
Ive also bought a Pro drive front bumper which come on the SRi-Turbo as standard, it needs abit of work and painting up though, also got a pro drive rear skirt aswell.
Ontop of that, i'm looking into getting a set of Morette headlights, though they are now discontinued and VERY hard to get a set of, but ive got a possible deal coming through in the near future, so i'm very happy about that.
On top of the above, ive also got a pretty much complete headlight washer jet system which i need to fit, i quite fancied it for some reason, i actually think the GSI washer jets in the front bumper look pretty cool. Also aquired a new set of door handles which i'll colour code and fit when i get abit of time aswell.
Your car sounds like it could be pretty nice, any pics? The Irmscher kitted Astras usually look pretty nice. I don't know how old you are, but for a first car, insurance could be very expensive for you.
I take it your engine is the X20XEV, all in all not a bad engine, there are MANY mods you could do, some will keep your fuel economy simillar, while others if your not too carefull could end up taking your MPG down some.. Mainly, it all depends on your style of driving, if you become one with a heavy right foot, you'll soon find you use some fuel compaired to if you drive steady most of the time.
Spares etc, breakers yards often have some stuff in, all depends what your after, eBay people break cars on there and theres usually alot of spares on there so often worth having a look around, sometimes some nice items show up on there. I also hang around on another forum, which is a great community. They have parts for sale etc on there and overall is a great board for the Astra owners.
Angel eye headlights, you can pick them up from eBay brand new for roughly £130 - £150 ish, some other online websites do sell them aswell. Xenon headlights, we tend to refer to them as HID's, i do indeed have them fitted. I wouldn't recommend getting any Angel eye headlights without them, its dangerous you can hardly see where your going lol. With the HIDs fitted, the light output is deffinatly better than the standard headlights. Again, you can pick up a good set of these for approx £50 on eBay, just try and make sure you get 55watt ones and NOT the 35watt versions. I'd also recommend not going above 6k in terms of the light output, the more K you go, the more blue they are. I run 6k in mine and they are perfect. You'll get a better idea of what i'm talking about if you have a quick look on eBay at the kits.
Anyway thats a somewhat huge reply lol, so i'll leave it there with you.
Feel free to PM me and i can point you in the right direction for certain things, hopefully you'll still check back here.
Cheers.
Post by: Dano2k0 on June 03, 2009, 09:13:00 AM
Been a while since i posted any updates, basically ive got yet again some different rear lights (irmscher smoked ones this time) ive also got colour coded bump strips fitted, and yet again ive swapped the headlights lol. I went for Morette headlights this time, they are pretty rare as they were damn expensive brand new so not many ever bought them, with Morette having gone bust none can be had so they are very hard to track down!
Oh and sorry Bucko, i promise one day soon i'll get you the video of the engine running, i just seem to keep forgetting!
Anyway heres the pics.
Colour coded bump strips.
And again, but this time you can see one of the new rear lights too, didn't think of taking a pic of the pair lol.
Lastly the new Morette headlights, very happy with these i think they suit the look alot better than the angel eyes did.
Feel free to post comments.
Cheers
Post by: bucko on June 04, 2009, 03:53:00 PM
QUOTE(Dano2k0 @ Jun 3 2009, 04:13 PM)
Ok guys,
Been a while since i posted any updates, basically ive got yet again some different rear lights (irmscher smoked ones this time) ive also got colour coded bump strips fitted, and yet again ive swapped the headlights lol. I went for Morette headlights this time, they are pretty rare as they were damn expensive brand new so not many ever bought them, with Morette having gone bust none can be had so they are very hard to track down!
Oh and sorry Bucko, i promise one day soon i'll get you the video of the engine running, i just seem to keep forgetting!
Anyway heres the pics.
Colour coded bump strips.
And again, but this time you can see one of the new rear lights too, didn't think of taking a pic of the pair lol.
Lastly the new Morette headlights, very happy with these i think they suit the look alot better than the angel eyes did.
Feel free to post comments.
Cheers
Dude chill about it, I just want the video to do justice to your awesome pics
did you see this?Ouch, http://www.youtube.c...player_embedded check your oil if you don't use your car in 6 months
Post by: grim_d on June 06, 2009, 08:17:00 AM
The morettes look great and even better they are real ones. much much more classy than angel eyes i think.
Post by: Dano2k0 on August 11, 2009, 07:30:00 AM
lol bet the guy that owned the Ferrari was gutted. I'd be thinking the insurance company will be less happy about it having to shell out so much money to the owner.
Yeah i'm well pleased with the Morettes Grim, they suit the car much better and things have made it go from strength to strength looks wise as i now have new wheels which tie the morettes in even more so.
Bucko, yeah no worries mate i WILL get you the video sometime soon, i just always seem to forget and just keep doing stuff and taking pics, i'll get a vid sometime soon though, may see if i can get one this weekend actually!
Anyway guys time for abit of an update.
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Well some time has gone by since i last managed to get on here and post abit of an update.
Not huge ammounts to show really, but i'll let you all in to what ive been up to anyway, ive been quite busy buying various parts for the car and just in general doing bits that needed sorting out, plus ive been on holiday aswell so lack of time more so other than general cleaning etc.
First of all, colour coded door handles and a good clean, made a huge difference to the sides of the car, just awaiting on colour coded side skirts now.
Next up was a prodrive rear splitter, no fiberglass on this, its the genuine pro drive GRP type part, very rare was originally on the SRi-Turbos.
Had to remove this from another bumper where someone had bodged it on, then re-paint it in the colour of my car and heres the result, looks 100x better in my opinion.
Also ive now got a new set of wheels, i was getting abit fed up of the 18s, the side walls were too thin for our country, i was fed up of the pot holes, so i down sized to some 17s. Also another issue i had with my old wheels was cleaning them, they were a nightmare to keep clean due to the lack of space between spokes etc.
Anyway i decided on the wheels i wanted, which have much bigger spokes, painted in black aswell
I think they suit the car alot better than the old wheels, think general feedback pretty much everyone agrees. I kind of miss the 18s but i love how it looks more with the new wheels on.
(Please excuse the fact its dirty in these pics, also wet through as it had rained)
Overall i'm very happy with the most recent modifications, looking much more like i wanted.
Future plans now are theres various little bits i'd like to sort out, i have also aquired a Pro drive front bumper, which needs alot of prepping, painting and fitting, i also got some GSI sideskirts, and rear arch spats which need painting and fitting also, plus a GSI spoiler which needs the same work aswell. Once these are done and on, i'll be far more satisfied with the look of the car. No doubt i'll come up with more to do on it, but its getting time to begin concentrating more on power
I have got quite big plans for the power of the car, in the near future i'd like to be pushing in the region of 350bhp, and in the future from this point on ideally i'd like to be going above this, but for now 350 is a realistic target and will be plenty for now. Just going to be a case of deciding for sure what parts to buy and slowly buying them all in, going to ideally need forged pistons / rods, arp bolts, piston rings, possibly some new bearings while i'm there, tubular manifold and i think turbo wise i'll go for something like the GT28RS. Also going to go for an uprated inlet cam at least, possibly do both.
When i get chance after which point the head is going to have some work done aswell, but this is going to be a good bit down the line now.
Anyway, enjoy everyone and thanks for reading.
EDIT: Just for the crack of it, hard to believe this is what it was like just abit after i got her, in these pics only mods was lowered and exhaust
Just thought i'd post those for anyone who cares, hard to remember when it looked like this lol.
Post by: grim_d on December 18, 2009, 12:18:00 PM
ill be looking for one similar in size shortly.