Topic: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam (Read 12248 times)

Bad Kid · « **Reply #40 on:** September 23, 2009, 19:01:25 PM »

Update:

Here's the gear selector cage painted matt black. Looks great fitted. I'd recommend it to anyone stripping out a Calibra.

I also finished with the hole cutter in the rear of the car, making holes for the fuel lines and wiring. It's all nice and neat, with proper grommets to hold them all in place. I filed out the holes to the right size and used grommets from the floor of the Calibra (can always get more from breakers yard or Vaux)

It just needs some more paint to finish it off, and maybe some glue for the grommets. I've also got some fixings to separate the fuel lines properly and secure them down. It'll look spot-on when done.

Moving on to the 4x4, this is where I've been focusing today

First off is a new 4x4 ECU from VTS, to match my car loom (thanks Bri!)

Next I pulled the propshaft from down the side of my garage, it was rusted up and totally gash.

The bolts were seized solid for the mounts, so I had to use some heat on them

Which made the bush catch fire, lol.

Anyway they soon came loose, amazing how easy they are when warm. Heat is so much better than WD for these things

The prop was then wire brushed up to remove all loose rust and flaking paint and then painted using the usual hammerite smooth black. I love the stuff

I also dug out the prop brackets I had powdercoated a while back. Nobody will ever see them, except me and the MOT tester.

All put together and looking sexual!

I'm now leaving it all to harden for a day or two before fitting.

The rear shafts are in the diff and bolted to the rear hubs. I cleaned out the ABS rings from all the crap in there, just for the sake of having accurate ABS. The CV's and gaiters are all perfect.

The rear suspension is now all on and fitted too, looking nice and spanky all painted up.

I'm also mid-way through sealing the garage floor. It's dusty as hell and really needed doing

Next jobs:
- Fill rear diff oil through breather, with level plug removed
- Fit prop to TXB, diff and floor
- Fit 4x4 ECU (2 min job)
- Get A-frame and move the car to VTS for 4x4 setup and testing
- MOT (lol, due about 6 month ago now!)
- Clear non-textured headlight lenses
- Perspex windows

I've found a local place I can give the car a shakedown prior to MOT and road use. I'll post some videos of this

Bad Kid · « **Reply #41 on:** September 23, 2009, 19:01:37 PM »

Please keep this thread clean for updates from me! All questions, comments and ideas are welcome on the spam/chat thread here Smiley
http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=25663.new#new

Bad Kid · « **Reply #42 on:** November 22, 2009, 15:58:52 PM »

Ok here is a little more mincing

I now have a bonnet extension painted

And fitted

I also got the petrol tank straps powdercoated white

They look great fitted, as the old ones were rusting as they all do. I also got a cambelt cover done as well, with a new seal

Sadly though, I got ripped off on MIG by somebody selling a duff Optima battery. He said it was just left to go flat, but these are sealed batteries and it wouldn't charge, even with a specialist Optima dealer, so it was obviously damaged (according to the specialist) and he lied.

I'm pretty pissed about that tbh. It wouldn't even charge on my vectra with the engine running.

The only other thing worth noting is I'm trying to adapt Fiat Coupe turbo brembo 4-pots to run on Vauxhalls, over 321mm Astra VXR discs. I've bought some Mintex fast road pads for these as well.

I had it running again as well the other day

Bad Kid · « **Reply #43 on:** January 24, 2010, 15:44:57 PM »

Update time:

Following the nightmare I had with rear brakes (all the different disc/caliper/trailing arm sizes) I decided to keep it simple and basically go with what I had. Rear brakes do nothing anyway, lol.

Here's an example of two of the calipers I could have used

35mm piston (Vectra V6)

38mm piston (Saab 9-3 turbo)

In the end I'm keeping my standard calipers, for now, and going with 270mm grooved and drilled discs.

I may upgrade the calipers in time. They are all fitted and finished now

So on to the front...

First, off came the 288mms standard setup (well, off a late Cally T)

The Astra VXR discs / Brembo caliper combo wasn't going to work in the end, so I've plumped for another "simple" fix. Probably the best compromise between cost, performance and pedal feel:

308mm grooved/drilled fronts (Astra Coupe Turbo / Vec GSi discs)

And next to the standard discs....

These discs mount straight onto a late (288mm) hub. A 284mm hub will need grinding or machining down a few mm

With the discs fitted, the carrier had to be sorted next. LMF supplied me these conversion brackets. They are expensive... BUT they are so well made, and fit perfectly and give a nice easy solution.

This then lets you use the larger Vectra B 2.6 GSi calipers to clear the larger discs...

They just need another coat of hammerite, from where they rolled over onto some newspaper before drying fully, doh!

The brake lines are identical, they swap straight over. It's actually a ridiculously easy swap on late hubs. Took me 20 mins, lol.

My new track rod ends arrived, for MOT time. I want it all spot on when it goes in for the MOT.

Thats pretty much entirely new brakes, suspension and steering from top to bottom, in terms of parts that wear and expire.

Here's the VTS locked transfer box. I've checked out the serial number with VTS and it checks out. It's done about 1,000 miles since it was converted, which is very little.

Brian @ VTS sorted me out with a recondition propshaft end for £75, which is cheap IMO

And some of their high viscosity TXB oil

Next few days will be me starting the TXB swap and trying to push this thing onwards!

stoods · « **Reply #44 on:** February 28, 2010, 10:52:52 AM »

nice car mate

Bad Kid · « **Reply #45 on:** March 06, 2010, 19:03:33 PM »

I've had an offer of a photoshoot with Total Vauxhall in 5 weeks time

So, time to pull my finger out. It's already running, I just need 4x4 which should be quite straightforward with the VTS box.

Right, my inlet manifold is off for a couple of reasons

1) To make removing/refitting the txb easier
2) To allow me to fit the tx-autosport stainless steel water pipe
3) To allow me to fit a custom hose with the temperature probe in

Here it is

This hose is properly crimped by Pirtek so no leaks. That should be my coolant circuit finished and hopefully bombproof

I'm also keeping the 16" turbo rims off the courtenay calibra I broke, probably to put some silly slick tyres on at some point for the strip (small wheels = faster accleration). Ideas for colour? Probably gloss black? Might try hammerite smooth, lol.

My braided hoses also turned up, to finish my brake work (they'll be fitted and bled when it goes for MOT)

Big thanks to Candyapple off MIG for hooking me up with some quality DTM hand embroidered emblems. They took her a week of evenings to measure, design, embroider and fit to my seats. They are totally one-off! I'm in love.

She's done me another emblem for the dashboard somewhere, with a yellow backing with chunky black stitches.

More coming soon... I need to get this thing moving!

I need suggestions for wheel colour, and feedback on the seats! All questions, comments and ideas are welcome on the spam/chat thread here...
http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=25663.new#new

Bad Kid · « **Reply #46 on:** March 12, 2010, 16:28:29 PM »

lol you bad kids

Just a quickie, here's my finished PAS system, modified now to run without the 4x4 accumulator (VTS locked box). They consist of brand new braided line from the pump to the rack (high pressure) and a brand new rubber one for the low pressure return. It's all new. It has to be flexible (std system is hard pipes) to bypass all the extra pipework round the turbo.

The locked box is on and fitted

Took a lot of swearing to find the hidden recessed bolts

That meant the subframe had to come off, so I took the chance to be a complete tart. Enjoy...

Every last bit was shot blasted to bare metal and powdercoated:

I got a gearbox mount done too

And here are some new GM bolts from Autovaux to throw it all back together with. I'm gonna torque-wrench everything up to make sure it's all safe and spot on!

Anyway enough pretty stuff, the 4x4 and PAS are now SORTED. It'll be being used in anger very soon I hope.

Here's a few oil filters for my running in

More very soon x x x

All questions, comments and ideas are welcome on the spam/chat thread here...
http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=25663.new#new

Bad Kid · « **Reply #47 on:** May 21, 2010, 10:15:39 AM »

Morning all

Jesus christ...

One Dewis Motorsport aluminium inlet manifold with a V6 throttle body. I imagine the standard enlarged inlet I have on at the minute will be holding the engine back at higher RPM so this should help. This new one won't be going on until the car has been dyno'd. It's going on the shelf for now. This should potentially make a good difference at big power levels.

I've also got a lightened bottom pulley to go on at some point too

And a Nesso racing adjustable fuel pressure regulator with Z20LET injectors (for now) to be followed by some VXR ones when it gets mapped

Finally I've fitted a bigger Walbro in-tank pump, as I wasn't happy with the external walbro im running. I dont like exposed wiring on the outside of the car.

Body wise I've just been tidying a few bits up. I have some new ABS Reiger skirts (thanks TimNiceButDim!) to go on that will be more solid than the fibreglass ones I have at the minute. They are being painted up as we speak along with some standard wing mirrors (gonna ditch the M3's!)

Here is another effort I've made.... basically where I removed the standard rub strips it left the metal pegs they mounted on. I angle-grinded these off and painted over them but you could still see patches of where they were before. So... rub strips are back and vinyl wrapped

Just prior to fitting them I gave the car a quick jetwash...

It's not finished yet so please be kind! It's not been properly washed or polished in ages.

Next up I've bought some proper Compomotive centre caps in ally and painted them to match the wheels

These are now waiting on stickers. I've ordered BBS ones. Just to be weird.

Finally I got all my HIDs working at last (on both Calibras) and fired them up

As if all this wasn't enough pissing about, I've put a deposit on a genuine Opel Calibra digi-dash as well (collecting in next few days off Sparkymark)

Thanks for reading.

All questions, comments and ideas are welcome on the spam/chat thread here...
http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=25663.new#new

Bad Kid · « **Reply #48 on:** May 21, 2010, 21:43:24 PM »

Here you can see I've finished with the oil cooler sandwich plate to run my gauges. It needed a short oil filter to clear the wishbone.

Thats the oil cooler/gauges/sandwich plate finished (I need pics of my new oil cooler! doh!)

I also took the standard gear linkage and tightened it up a bit using nylon bushes...

Then added a steel link bar and steel linkage pin (to replace std plastic ones!)

This is the gear linkage finished and nice and tight

Bad Kid · « **Reply #49 on:** June 03, 2010, 20:34:20 PM »

The centre cap stickers are here and fitted

Those wheels are filthy

Gonna take em off and wash/wax asap

I took one off to check out the inner arches with a view to removing the plastics and painting or undersealing them in a month or so. Thankfully everything is still nice and solid the same as when I bought it (3 years ago!).

I'll probably just scrub them and wax seal them to be honest

Next up it was an early rise for a trip to the MOT centre

Doesn't look that different from other Vauxhalls really lol

See my new oil cooler (more in a minute!)

The main goal of the day was to get me some brakes. With the fact I'd swapped calipers and lost a lot of fluid we set about fitting the braided hoses first. The fronts went on fine (forgot pics!)

The rears went on in the end

Sadly the rear brake pipes were leaking slightly, so we couldn't get the brakes bled up and finished ready for MOT. I need new rear brake lines from the centre of the car to the new braided sections :wacko:

We did however use the ramp to good effect and get a spanky new handbrake cable fitted.

Along with the propshaft, so the 4x4 is now working and finished (locked box so no electrics or hydraulics!). I only got this dark pic but you can just about see the prop is on!

Back at base I've been adding a few bits to the engine bay. The oil cooler off Ash's DTM went on...

It sits nicely in the airflow of the upper grille. I'd perhaps like to add a thermostat at some point so Im not cooling oil until it's actually warm.

The nesso racing fuel rail and regulator are also on now and ready to go. I'll use the pressure gauge in the car to check it's making good pressure under load.

Finishing off the fuel system is this Sytec billet alloy fuel filter.

Thats removable and washable so no more crawling under the car to pull off a rusty filter full of fuel

There you can also see the catch tank im using. On the plus side it's shiny and cool, and also welded onto the standard bracket on the bulkhead where the accumulator normally goes. I'm quite happy with it except the hoses are cack and need swapping to Samco or SFS

Here's the bracket, I'll get it powdercoated black or red next time I put a batch through

And here's my manifold and throttle body back from being cleaned and polished, it took 6 hours by hand from start to finish

All in all im glad the 4x4 and fuel system are now done. The engine will run when the cambelt is tensioned and I at least have a handbrake and know whats needed for full brakes.

Next up:
- New rear brake lines to meet braided hoses
- Brakes bled
- Tracking/MOT (eventually!)
- New skirts and mirrors
- Refit fuel tank with new pump
- Cambelt tensioner mystery to be solved
- Digi dash
- Fit inlet when dyno'd

Comments/ideas welcome on the chat thread (http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=25663.0), thanks for reading

Bad Kid · « **Reply #50 on:** September 04, 2010, 18:05:18 PM »

Well I dont have much to report really.

The brake flexis are all now braided steel and the rear lines have been changed for new along with new unions. I went to bleed them the other day

Here are the new skirts fitted (ABS plastic genuine Reiger - thanks Tim) Here you can see the problem - ground clearance

The solution is a low-entry jack. This makes life so easy!

All wheels off ready for bleeding brakes. How the f*ck did they get so dirty?

Here's the Gunsons power bleeding kit I've been using. To be fair it's a fantastic thing to have. It runs off tyre pressure and forces fluid through the system and makes bleeding so easy

2 of the 4 bleed nipples sheared off, so I did the best I could by bleeding at the caliper union. To be honest it just made me hate the thing even more, and with new projects on the drive it really is the b*stard in the corner.

I'm also back on standard mirrors

Much much nicer fit and look than aftermarket ones.

That's my progress for 3 months. Mirrors, skirts and working brakes.

Comments/ideas welcome on the chat thread (http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=25663.0), thanks for reading

Bad Kid · « **Reply #51 on:** February 11, 2011, 21:00:03 PM »

Just a quick update I've managed to pull out most of the rear quarter dent done by the previous owner

It's a product called the Ding King

The idea is you use a mains powered hot glue gun...

To glue the centre leg to the dent itself...

You then wind the wing nut in, pulling the centre leg (and the dent) outwards until the glue breaks. Repeat this a few times and the dent really does pop out. It never felt like the paint was going to come off and it's meant to be safe in that respect.

I've not got it perfect but it is much better

I'll be trying this on my Corsa turbo tomorrow as well.

Unfortunately I now have 2 other major projects on the go so this is taking a back seat for this year so updates will probably be few and far between.

Ben

Bad Kid · « **Reply #52 on:** April 17, 2011, 19:32:11 PM »

Update time!

I got the Calibra up in the air a week or so ago and gave it a check over underneath, ticked off a few more little jobs.

TXB oil got filled. It's a "special blend" from VTS. f*ck knows whats in it. Looks just like mobilube to me. You have to fill the txb through the breather and a funnel. Remove a 13mm bolt from the rear bracket and that acts as a level, so it will overflow when correct level is reached

Another thing holding me back was brake bleeding, after 2 of the 4 calipers had snapped their bleed nipples. I've replaced all of them now and should have a brake pedal

Rear one was last to be done

It will be off to JADE motorsport soon to get the jobs done I dont have motivation for, then on for an MOT soon. More on this next week or so I hope

It's basically "done" bar silly little jobs that frustrate the sh*t outta me!

All comments welcome here...
http://www.clubcalibra.com/calibra-projects-and-builds/calibra-turbo-touring-car-project-questions-comments-spam-chat-thread/new/#new

Bad Kid · « **Reply #53 on:** April 17, 2011, 19:40:16 PM »

How it stands now

Bad Kid · « **Reply #54 on:** April 17, 2011, 19:53:33 PM »

Ok today was photoshoot time for 4 of the many, many loves in my life

"The secretary"

"The wife"

"The mistress"

And one very special love of mine.

For those of you who've been living under a rock for the past 3 years, meet Boxxy. She's rocked the internet from top to bottom, made news headlines around the world and gotten a cult following. Her original videos had millions of hits until it was pulled. It's been re-hosted here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ASbyfaSR0

In short she's an attractive, jailbait, emo, ADHD riddled girl. Love her or hate her I guess, she is our queen.

The remixes were epic, this being my favourite!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqmYRz0yidM

She's since become something of a celebrity, an idol and a loathed attention-seeker, depending on your perspective.

So anyway, I've planned some photoshoots. I thought I'd do the first at home, then when it's MOT'd I'll get some new girls and new locations.

I'm now taking requests for Boxxy in the spam thread...
http://www.clubcalibra.com/calibra-projects-and-builds/calibra-turbo-touring-car-project-questions-comments-spam-chat-thread/

Author Topic: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam (Read 12248 times)

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

stoods

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Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam

Bad Kid

Re: Calibra turbo touring car project- Start to present, regular updates, no spam