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Darren

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rleete:
Holy smokes, Darren!  I spent a couple of hours reading through all 10 pages of that.  Wouldn't it have been easier to make a new car?  If I found something that rusted, I'd consider it a parts car at best.  You're a brave man for putting all that effort into it.

My Miata is about to go under the wrench again this weekend.  Needs some suspension tweaking, and I'm prepping it for the supercharger install with a new fuel pump, injectors and fuel rail. 

Darren:
TBH despite the work, which hasn't taken long anyway, I had two choices.

Buy this car back for the engine as I'd already spent loads on it and done little mileage since.
Or buy another Astra with a view to doing the engine again and still find rot when the carpets etc were lifted. Also I know my old car inside out and it helps that the last owner did zero mileage in it since he bought it from me eight years ago.

The engine has done 12k since the re-bore and crank work, so still hardly run in yet.

The engine work wasn't cheap, the pistons cost me £400 back then and are about £550 now, add the boring work, crank regrind, con rod work and uprated bolts, lightened flywheel, head polish and flow along with valve stuff, gasket set and all the time and effort and the I can safely say that I bought it back for a lot less than those costs alone.

There is other stuff to consider too, like suspension mods and the head on this one is rare. It's made by Cosworth and not GM. Not many about now and worth more than I paid for the car on its own.

I did think at the purchase time that if the chassis turned out to be scrap I would still be quids in on the engine alone. By the time I've finished it'll be solid at a good price all round .... well that's the plan anyways.

It's only a little welding after all  :) Oh, and I'm enjoying the re-build, great to get back into a bit of car stuff .... bike next... maybe...

NickG:
That sort of fuel economy is really impressive for an engine dating that far back. Having said that I've seen up to 42mpg on a run in my knackered well used Clio 172! Which people find difficult to believe too!

I still think engines have come a long way though, well some manufactures have continuously improved engines anyway, one i'm thinking of is BMW. They seem to improve them every couple of years or so, where as other manufacturers just seem to stick with the same thing for decades.

The 3.0 twin turbo diesel engine from BMW is a good example of what can be done http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=46882
they are doing the same with their petrol engines too http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=46874
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=46831
Good blends of economy and power there.
As a comparison with that last engine, i've got a 1989 Escort RS Turbo - 1.6 turbo (No doubt more ford bashing coming up  :poke:  :lol:) so 21 years old this year, I doubt that'd do any better than 35mpg and that's with 50bhp less than that new mini engine. From another 10 years or so prior to that another car I had was the 1500 MG Midget, something like 65bhp from the 1.5 but that'd probably be more like 30mpg max, so the mini is producing nearly 3 x the power with 50% better economy! So I think things have moved on a lot in the last 30-40 years, it's just getting harder and harder to find any big improvements in how you can more efficiently burn the fuel and transfer it into kinetic energy, which is why the manufacturers are resorting to scraping tiny dribs and drabs from everywhere such as aerodynamics, tyres, alternator not charging unless it needs to, regenerative braking etc. Suppose a real issue these days is the weight of the damn things.

I've got a similar project looming with my RS Turbo Darren, I thought I'd done all the hard work with the engine rebuild  - expensive like yours with forged pistons and the like, only to find the shell is pretty much rotten, that's where the project stalled nearly 6 years ago, I'm good with mechanical bits but not so with body work. I am coming to the conclusion that I need to just shell out for someone to do the welding and worry about cosmetics later when funds allow! It can either sit and rot further, be worth nothing and get no enjoyment or I spend another £1500 or whatever on it and it'd actually be back on the road and worth a couple of grand.

I'm off to read your car post now.  :thumbup:

Good luck with it.

Cheers

Nick

NickG:
Had a quick read through your Astra project Darren, great work there, wish I had the patience and skill to get mine done.  :thumbup: This and the fact my mate has just bought an old beetle is giving me some inspiration to stump up the cash and ask someone to do the welding for me though.

Nick

Darren:
Thanks Nick,

On the fuel, it might not stay that way as I may put carbs on it to release some more horses ..!! But even then it'll still be better than the TVR I nearly bought at 8mpg when you "drive" it ... That was about the only thing that put me off.  I suspect carb'd it'll still return 40mpg on a run and 30ish thrashing about.

The Escort turbo was the Astra's arch rival at the time I seem to remember? One point on welding, it's not that hard to mig steel. Ok you'll need a little practice but it doesn't take long to "get it". My son has welded about half this project, his first go with a mig. Sure we had to grind some of the welds back and start again, but after a couple of days at it I would be happy to let him do the whole car next time. It really is that easy.
Besides, you could buy a welder and do the job for less than paying someone to do it and you get to keep the welder, or sell it. Just don't rush out and buy the cheapest as the bottom end of the market is no much cop. Just ask if you decide to go that route.

There's not much to update on the project at the mo as I'm just prepping the bodywork with filling and sanding. It's a chore but gotta be done. I'm hoping to be spraying by next week .... fingers crossed.

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