Mk2 Astra SXi Estate - Page 2

Shand · 10-10-2008, 11:01

Not alot of them left in that condition!!! used to have a 1.3 estate years ago, went well considering!!!

***Andy_L*** · 10-10-2008, 11:36

So what's the difference between the 18SE and 18NZ??

The SE picks up that bit quicker does it Dan? What box is on yours?

***Sharon SR*** · 10-10-2008, 14:10

18SE is 10:1 compression and multipoint injection, 115BHP. C18NZ is 9:1 compression, single point injection and has a cat, I think they're 89BHP.
This has got the F16(W), the CR wasn't available in the estate.

**Benn** · 10-10-2008, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigGreen

I love these engines too. I always wanted an early 18e in a Nova.
Looks mint under the bonnet.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm me too! and thb i still do. Dan has a maxpower some where we a nova at the pod day.. 2 had 1.8s and they beat the xes.. Weight i guess.

***Andy_L*** · 11-10-2008, 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharon SR

18SE is 10:1 compression and multipoint injection, 115BHP. C18NZ is 9:1 compression, single point injection and has a cat, I think they're 89BHP.
This has got the F16(W), the CR wasn't available in the estate.

Cheers for the gen Shaz

Ed · 04-11-2008, 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigGreen

I love these engines too. I always wanted an early 18e in a Nova.

My mate had exactly that on twin 40s (engine came from an early mk2 1.8 Astra GTE, so I'm guessing that a 18se?). He used to drive it very hard, and the thing was bulletproof and quite a weapon. He sold the car on when it started to tear the chassis apart, I kid you not!

Love your collection Dan. As said, you just need a Belmont.

***Astra Dan*** · 05-11-2008, 20:33

Thanks Ed.

Right Estate fans!

I've been spending MONEY!

For the first time ever, I have 4 matching brand name tyres!

Mmmm, P6000 tools. They seem ok. Not really thrown the estate around to see if they stick any better than other tyres, but I also want them to last. The steering wheel is dead straight and is totally judder and shake free, which is important, too.

Next up I wanted increase my spares stock, I used to hold precisely no spares for this particular engine. So, I spied an airflow/ECU on eBay and bid up to £15 and won it for £7, £6 postage. Also a guy on Astra-mk2.com who, in my opinion, is totally ruinung his LXi estate, took his 115BHP 18SE and fitted a 115BHP 20NE in for some reason. Anyway, a cheeky PM later secured the airflow meter/ECU, coil and fuel map module thingy. They all arrived with a knock on the door on Sunday morning, wierdly. So I had a mince after squaring the garage after Tintin's engine swap, hence the GTE was in the garden already.

Yeah get me; TWO flame red weapons:

My purchases:

The airflow meter from the guy on Mk2.com was a nice un-adjusted one, both my one and the eBay one look fine, but have had the tamper-proof screw cover removed, hinting a fail at a previous MOT and adjustment (read: bodge) was needed.

So I've fitted that one for a trial. Also I've only been getting 30.1MPG from it so far, and on removal of a plug found it slightly black, so maybe this'll help a bit. I also took the cap off for a look and found it to be, well, knackered. Scraping the furry buildup resulted in quite a lot of the conductors falling away. The end of the arm was very pitted, too. A quick cleanup had that looking nice, but new ones (not GM, the cap alone is £30 IIRC) will be sourced.

I fitted the 'new' coil to the GTE (as the 20XE and 1.8/2.0SE share the same type with the amplifier underneath) for a laugh and it worked fine.

Another mk2.com buy was a GTE glove box and cubby-hole above as the SXi is bascially a basic car with the options loaded on, the main interior is almost Merit-level:

Rattly, echoy, noisy plastic:

Mmmm, carput:

Getting the tubing for the far left vent was a right sod, till I discovered I could fit it to the back of the vent, and squash it down into the dash, where it literally pops into the heater box itself. Sorted. Makes the interior a lot quieter without the contents rattling about.

Other than that, I've been putting some miles on it. Covered almost a thousand since purchase, with not a beat missed. No oil or water topping up needed, AS IT SHOULD BE with a Griffin on your bonnet. The rear washer tube is blocked however, and the fronts barely work, so I'll get Benn's big hose (air line) on it to give it a blow out.
As said, I'm getting 30.1MPG which isn't too bad as my 97 mile round trip is on fast A roads with plenty of overtaking possible, so I'm a little heavier on the throttle. But the problem is just how good it is. You don't need lots of revs to get her moving, overtaking rarely involves dropping a cog, but torx don't come free I guess. The tank is tiny too. I estimate about 40 litres. So at the moment I'm filling almost every other day! But at £37 ish, it's not too painful. Plus I'm getting £21.30 per day of commuting, so it'll pay for itself soon enough. It'll need something like an oil change every two months too!
I've also noticed the headlights are superb, too. They're obviously aimed correctly as on the unlit roads full beam seems to go forever, and a couple of times tonight flipping them on allowed me to see roadside objects I totally couldn't see before. I've driven many cars over my 13 year driving career, so night driving, even with modern headlights, isn't new to me.

Next up I'm looking at replacement speakers in the dash, and an electric aerial to up the spec a little.

pitstoppete · 05-11-2008, 20:40

sweet stuff. i wanna a proper roar in it

**Benn** · 05-11-2008, 20:47

Ah spares in stock, always good. Love the glove box and bit.. flock is on order at the mo to.
Good work. (that mig sticker should be fitted too)

**CraigGreen** · 06-11-2008, 12:20

Nice update Dan.

Spares are always nice to have, AFM's etc. They look the same as the Nova GTE ones though the barcode sticker is Black.

Whats a fuel map/module thingy?

***Astra Dan*** · 06-11-2008, 18:56

I think even the Nova GTE injection system is more sophisticated, it has a ECU light and a diag plug yes? This has neither!

On the bulkhead there's a black box with a green sticker. It's like a timing module. Some 1.6 Mk2 Astras which are carbed still have this box to control the timing. Not 100% sure, but I thought I'd better have a spare!

**Benn** · 28-12-2008, 11:18

From the shoot we went on as its was a clear bright day and it had to be done.

Just for Steve W..

Desktop back ground...

Enjoy.

JoeyB · 28-12-2008, 11:46

Weapon!

V comfy in the back too! Except when Dan decides to test his new tyres with no forewarning lol

**Benn** · 28-12-2008, 12:41

You should of come too joey, close of got pics of the copue.

***Astra Dan*** · 28-12-2008, 12:46

Bit of an mechanical update, too.

I bought a complete GM exhaust a while ago and managed to get on John's ramp to change it over. The reason was a horrible vibrating noise I'd put down to a loose baffle or something. On the ramp, it was obvious the whole exhaust except the back box was original, there's no join between the front and middle sections:

So we set about removing it and painting the new system to get the most life out of it. With my long commutes it shoudl get dried out thoroughly everyday anyway. But a bit of primer and Tiffany silver won't hurt.

Fitted all up nicely and... the noise is actually louder! Not sure what's going on there, might be downpipe related. Can't be arsed to investigate right now.

Also finally got round to replacing the dizzy cao and arm. It has the same cap as an XE, so I ordered an XE arm too, which was wrong, it has a screw on arm, so it took a while to get the right bits ordered. Old cap is well worn and is actually older than the car!

All replaced with nice black cap, or course:

Also bought some NGK plugs for it too as the GM ones in there looked old. As you may remember, I was getting just over 30MPG and the plugs were a little sooty, so I changed the airflow meter for an un-altered one. On removal, the plugs looked like this:

In short, textbook. So the new ones should last forever. It's also been creeping up to 35MPG too, so hopefully it's running near to spot on.

Noodles · 28-12-2008, 14:16

have to say this car is bloody gorgeous

rare sight on the roads today aswell

Dom · 28-12-2008, 14:53

On my old SXI, there used to be a rattle when you revved it. It drove me nuts until I traced it to the first join from the manifold to the downpipe (I think), it had those spring mounted flanges which had worked free a little.

JoeyB · 28-12-2008, 16:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benn

You should of come too joey, close of got pics of the coupe.

Did the family thing yesterday...am gutted to have missed ANOTHER impromptu photo shoot though!

mr noisy · 28-12-2008, 21:23

Looking very nice and clean mate been looking for one of these for a while

as love my estates off topic i know but what camera you using in those pics as they look very good

**Benn** · 28-12-2008, 21:26

All mine are takenwith a Cannon 450D

***Astra Dan*** · 30-12-2008, 06:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom

On my old SXI, there used to be a rattle when you revved it. It drove me nuts until I traced it to the first join from the manifold to the downpipe (I think), it had those spring mounted flanges which had worked free a little.

Yeah, I hoped it would be that too. Alas, with the new exhaust went on a new gasket. I think it is blowing from either there or the next join up. It's getting the enthusiasm in this weather to get under the bugger. In a way it just encourages me to use heavy throttle less!

***Astra Dan*** · 30-12-2008, 06:41

Little things yesterday. Robbed an early Mk3 Cavavlier in the local scrappy of it's uprated battery negative lead. This still has a thick lead to the slam panel, but also a thicker one that, in the case of an 8V, bolts to the side of the head. Can't hurt to beef up the grounds!
Also replaced the bonnet stay clip, too.