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Im bored so I thought i'd let you in on what to expect at Billing this coming July.
Last year@billing:
3.0 24v Straight 6 engine, painted bay and front end but not much else
Since then some radial changes have happened.
I set about painting the rest of the car, but unfortunately I didn't have enough paint for the task and replacement paint was an issue.
So I used a few other colours:
In addition I fitted a Carlton GSi front bumper to the Senator front end, the combo works well and beefs up the front.
The 16's were replaced with Insignia 17s on custom hub adapters, this allowed the fitment of some large brakes:
I went to USC this year, total chav fest but I did get my window tinting done cheap. My friends all wanted a lift from the camping area to the stand so with 10 people on board it looked like this:
This uber low look make me moist so I had to make it happen!
So I built some more coilovers for the front using the prototypes as a base but welding the carrier bracket 1 1/2 inches higher up the body to optimise the suspension travel when it's decked.
Higher poundage springs and Billy B6 dampeners make up the front end now, the handling is superb!!
I can now run the car this low in 'touring car' mode, at Castle combe it will be this low!
The 3.0 head was rebuilt to sort out the totally knackered factory stem seals, unfortunately I made the mistake of using cheap replacements. They lasted a week and then leaked worse than the old ones!!!
This put me on a big downer, nothing on these engines is cheap so rebuilding it again seemed a waste of money.
I toyed with the idea of supercharging the engine but the cost was silly.
In fact it was cheaper to replace the engine with something... modern.
I want to keep this car for as long as I can, Carltons are rare - even harder to find without rot on them like this one. I love this car because:
It weighs the same as an Astra-H (even with the 3.0 boat anchor of an engine in it)
It can transport stupid amounts of stuff in the back
Its comfortable - like driving an armchair
It's RWD and low, handles very well and can easily be set up to drift
It's cheap to insure (at the end of the day it's not desirable and classed as a grandad car)
Things I didn't like were:
Not very good economy thanks to the 3.0
Smoked like a 1950's factory thanks to the stem seals
So the choice is obvious, different engine!
Engine out:
The new engine ready for installation:
Battery tray relocated:
ABS unit moved forward and lines extended:
Engine in:
Biggest hurdle - the wiring. 60 odd wires!!!
New slam panel in:
Front end bolting in with FMIC:
I took her to Longlife exhaust in Bicester to have the alloy boost pipes made:
Before:
After:
Cooked up a turbo brace from two bearings I had laying about:
Up to date pictures:
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thats got one hell of a crumple zone in the front now 
Originally Posted by CB GTE 
