another mk4 astra project C20XE

[gilly-06]

right o heres the latest project had it about a month now not really done anything as got it with a wrecked engine

its standard apart from rear tinted windows

its a 2004 sxi model and usually comes with a 1.6 16v z16xep engine

came with coupe leathers ( also got rid of the playboy seatbelt cover things lol)

also came with a full sound system including upgraded front and back speakers

heres the pics







the sound system

vibe cbrs12 twin evos

vibe deep black box bass 5

and full vibe black air 5 component set


so thats what i got it with i swapped it for a tubby rep spectral blue cavy dippy

so now just to add my little mods

something ive done with all my cars is angel eyes its a personal touch

i bought them off a member on AOC for £33 in need of repair

so recivied them threw the post one of the lenses kind of melted should i say and the other unit was cracked.so ditched the lenses for the one off the astra and cut one of the units and plastic welded it back to gether and heres the finished result

also had 2 sets of hids sitting about i got cheap













a few pics of the lights fitted and its new home untill i get the engine sorted

[gilly-06]

with the lights fitted







also got a badgless grill to put on still sitting in the box lol

[gilly-06]

right with the engine bay empty it was time to turn to what do i put in it

options were

1. 1.7td isuzu engine that sitting under the blue cover in a cav £0

2. the same engine that was in it 1.6 16v £400

3.2.0 16v redtop complete car £300 and with the option of paying it up off a mate


so this is the result

so arrived at my mates on saturday morning house with the car sitting in his garden awaiting to be stripped
before













xe in my cav boot lol







and thanks to my mate camy brought the engine crane over on the Sunday at 3pm thanks mate

had the engine in by around 6pm with it all mated up to the gearbox then it was getting dark









yesterday i went back to my mates to get a few more parts off the cav (mainly spares for ours lol )

so got a 4-2-1 full stainless steel exhaust and fuel pump (not sure if the one in the Astra will be ok for the job )

f16 gearbox

accelerator cable

plugs off the loom for the ones that plug in beside the ecu

and a load of other parts

today i set about the wiring just matched colour for colour on the black and green plug with loom sitting in front of the fuse box (empty bay pic ) and joined them up to there quite a few wires left

only thing i couldn't figure out was the fuel pump wire in the car loom ( found the relay in the fuse box so pulled the fuse out and stuck the wire into the blue and red thick wire in there)

i decided to use the Astra starter and alternator wiring loom as it was basically plug and play


and hey presto first turn of the key and the engine started first time to my surprise with out afm connected or down-pipe or any coolant connected but was only run for a breif 2/3 seconds

decided to put the ecu in the car over night as i dont like it sitting out in damp weather will i can seal it up and find a suitable place to put it

also got the down pipe connected and cav rad in place and pipes joined but not tightened up yet

here how i left it before i closed the bonnet

[gilly-06]

the main part thats needed now is the engine mount not sure what folk have used but thinking a corsa redtop conversion mount would be the best thing to use

whats everyone els used ??

thanks for taking the time to read

gilly-06

[badboysracing69]

Thats going to be good at the traffic lights! Bye Bye

[Astra Dan]

The Astras pump will be fine for the XE. Well done on the starting and charging loom. Many people, even long term members, don't realise the extra work they make for themselves by cutting that loom apart. As you say, it just swaps from one engine to the other. The temp gauge won't work without the 1.6's sensor and ECU to drive the clocks I think.
There is just room to squeeze the XE ecu behind the clocks, after you've cut the hole in the bulkhead for it.

[gilly-06]

Thats going to be good at the traffic lights! Bye Bye

im not much of a racer lol i know a decent amount about the redtops plus less hassle than the newer engines lol

The Astras pump will be fine for the XE. Well done on the starting and charging loom. Many people, even long term members, don't realise the extra work they make for themselves by cutting that loom apart. As you say, it just swaps from one engine to the other. The temp gauge won't work without the 1.6's sensor and ECU to drive the clocks I think.
There is just room to squeeze the XE ecu behind the clocks, after you've cut the hole in the bulkhead for it.

yeah i thought there might have been problems with the starter thinking it wouldnt turn over because the engine ecu wasnt inplace but it turned over ok

and thanks for the advice about the astra pump thats another thing i dont need to worry about lol and good idea about the ecu keeps it out of the damp didnt really want to mount it outside

[gilly-06]

todays progress



got the rad all plumbed in and the astra fan connected and cable tied to the rad



all the coolant plumbed in



airbox all set up again



fuel pipes joined and secured



exhaust mated up (still blowing a little but have to add a cat so will be coming off to get the cat pipe sorted)



accelerator cable inplace



changed the alloys for the ones on my cdx



and added the debaged grill from egay



still to do



get accelerator pedal + fit



relocate ecu



add battery tray



buy /make engine mount



do a proper job on the wiring after ive relocated the ecu as the wires will have to go to the plugs beside the ecu



and thats about it



heres the pics

[cheekyalex]

have you got the engine mount sorted mate? I bought an astra mk4 with a c20xe engine already converted and it looks like they have used a corsa conversion mount welded to the chassi leg. i can send you a picture if you want?

[gilly-06]

pictures would be brilliant mate im making up a temp mount for now using a 2.0 8v engine mount and making my own rubber mount using stickaflex untill i can get some cash together to buy one


cheers and much appreciated


also started moving the ecu to inside the car today want it to look like its standard going round the strut mount area and thew the bulk head that way just the hole to cut to inside the car

[dannyboi16v]

i used the cam side mount from an x20xev astra, you have to drill and re-tap the 3 holes on the side of the block behind the inner cam cover, but as you now have the engine in the car allready your going to have a job with that..

on a previous conversion i used the corsa mount setup and welded to the chasis leg but i made this myself

have a read through my diary it may interest you

Astra G c20xe Project (very picture heavy)

[gilly-06]

funny enough iwas just having a look at your thread brilliant build

[gilly-06]

well thats the ecu placed in the car went the same route as the cavy went and in threw the bulkhead found all the wiring inside the car beside the fuse box only thing i had to do was find the fuel wire at the old bulk head plug and cut it and extend it to the drivers side and joined it there

im keeping the switched live + oil level(front of sump) in the bay as they connect to a sep plug so im happy keeping it in there saves anymore hassle trying to re route them threw the bulk head

got some interior bits done between the last few weeks

got blue led conversion on the mfd and headlight switch and clocks

also done the heater controls but due to them having a orange tint to the facia i had to go with that but i like it

then i got some white festoon led bulbs for the interior lights as i dont like the blue you cant see a thing with them

got a few other b sit sorted my sterio in and ran some more audio cable for the front and rear speaker amps

and my external base boost usb wire and aux cable in the centre cubby hole part

heres a pic of the centre consol

[astravanchris]

hi buddy

how did you get your heater control so bright? what did you use to do it?
looks good

Nice project . bet you cant wait till your engines all complete

[gilly-06]

i used 19 leds lol was prity fiddley to do but worth it its not as bright at the pic itsnot so in your face lol

yeah everythings virtually finished

few tings i need to do and get is

finish the engine mount

get an accellerator pedal

and fit an external temp guage and

and it should be ready for the road

oh also still cant seem to get the power steering working for some reason

[astravanchris]

hi buddy. have you any pics or how to,s on how you did your led conversions. its someting i want to do. but i dont know how to get the control knobs lit up.

or if you could explain what you did please

my email is chrisgs23@yahoo.co.uk

would be a huge help

chris

[gilly-06]

well long and coming update sorry guys

got married in march 26th then in may decided to move to newcastle so the project halted there

finally about 2 months ago i got it transported up (shiply) for £120 which aint bad

so the work commenced down here trying to get it sorted

first thing i dont was lower it on 60mm rear and 40mm (cav fronts because of the engine thought it would be better)

put all new brakes on and started on the exhaust

i bought av6 vectra estate backbox off a friend (that was too big )

so then decided to cut the rear wheel well out and do a centre exit


because the temp guage wasnt working i decided to go the route of the digi dash then everything works basically ive wired the speedo up to the abs and it only seems to be 2mph out using them speed signs at the side of the road



some pics









its mot'd and tax'd now im glad i kept it

i have a cat back turbo exhaust to put on it and im going to put the exhaust back to the left hand side not too keen on it in the middle

[GaryVaux]

The wiring/ecu etc of newer cars confuses me, well done figuring it all out.

New wheels look much better

[gilly-06]

i have plenty of Patience for wiring lol.decided not to keep the astra ecu couldnt be fussed with all hassle of 2 ecu's looks much neater under the bonnet and i decided to use the cav rad and made my own wiring up for the fan

only problem i stumbled upon was the electric steering pump trying to get it working its working just now but i have to rewire it to the blue/ white alternator wire

[crombievts]

i wired my ps to the alt and it was perfect

[redtopnutta]

read this as i really wanted too know about the engine mount as i was going to use a corsa mount but going to try drilling the holes out on the block as its already a x20xev astra! result

[gilly-06]

i used the corsa mount set up didnt wanna chance going threw the block + if i need to do a head gasket change or anything its easier

[gilly-06]

i wired my ps to the alt and it was perfect

yeah thats my plan mate but i couldnt get it to work at all then found the wire in the ecu harness

[redtopnutta]

Could you get me a pic of your mount setup mate?

[gilly-06]

just using the corsa b mount set up mate


sorted a few annoying bits on the astra like the electric steering

i have a zlet middle section and back box to put on as i'd rather have a more or less standard system just need the flange the otherside of the cat and weld that on to the redtop downpipe


also thinking on fitting a f28 box aswell i know i need to use a f23 rear gearbox mount and custom front mount (was thinking of using corsa/nova mount kit )

and i also need to use an f18 hydraulic cylinder and pipe for the clutch


ive heard the cali/cav equal length shafts are the best to use do these fit the astra hubs ok ??


i need to change engines anyways as some one said low oil pressure so hopefully the mrs will let me transfer the cav lump in to it and then rebuild the one out the astra