Darren

[Shepherduke]

Sorry, I couldn't find a proper "slot" for this question.  Just wondered if anyone has had any contact/news of Darren.  I have sent him a couple of PM's, and have also noticed a lack of input from him on the forum.  It may be that he is on holiday.  Just hope all is well with him.

[Bernd]

Daren may not be saying much latley, but he is signing on. His last visit to the forum was Monday, July 12.

So I have to say he's still alive, as to why he's not posting is anybody's guess.

Regards,
Bernd

[Darren]

Oops, I see I have a message.... or two !!

Sorry chaps I'm still alive and kicking but not been around much as my current project is a car re-build which is prob more appropriate on the relevant forum?

I will be back on the machines later this year, hopefully but till then I'll be a little quiet as I'm pushing for time elsewhere

You are welcomre to view my latest project here, if you are into cars that is....
http://www.astra-mk2.com/forum/showthread.php?28791-Introduction-....-Got-my-Baby-back-!!&highlight=

[Bernd]

Thanks for clearing that up Darren. I was begining to wonder too. I've gotten that way a couple of times too on another forum. Get going one project that is of no interest on the other.

Good luck on the car re-build. A couple of pics when you get done are inorder, right? 

Bernd

[Darren]

Hi Bernd, I did think hard about putting the thread on here, but it's not really the correct subject matter and double posting on two forums is a lot of work!!

Also the support on the other forum really does come in handy from people with similar interests and I've managed to pick up some hard to find parts for the project such as two very much needed doors.

John H,
"NOW I'M RUNNING OUT OF ROOM" 

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Darren

Now i am late for work as i had to have a look at your  car build     ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, lookin great    nice job ,,,,,,  Fords are better 


Rob

[Stilldrillin]

Hi Darren!

Good to see things are ok with you.

Those sort of projects scare me....... I had Fords, during the struggling, penniless days......  

And, a 28yr old MGB GT during the start of the better days!  

No "fun car" now...... My Toyota is no trouble whatsoever......  

David D

[Darren]

I hear Toyotas need a long runway? 

[Stilldrillin]

I hear Toyotas need a long runway? 

Not mine!

[John Rudd]

Hi Darren

 Fords are better 

Rob

Here,here....I just got rid of my 6 month old Vx Insignia Sports Tourer for a brand new Ford Mondeo Estate...much better even if it cost me £7k....to change

Good luck with the Astra, Darren you'll need it 

[Darren]

Sorry chaps but Ford is one make I detest, they never made anything worth having except for the GT40 of course ...

Mondeo? Get a proper car mate  

I have to be honest, new cars are just too damned complicated, and very expensive to fix. Half the time even the dealers can't fix them without just swapping parts till they run properly again. Very expensive way to go about things IMHO.

Older cars such as the Astra are so simple to fix, the electronics on this only fire the injectors, nothing else and don't go wrong. Sparking is mechanical, no electronics, no CAT, in fact not a lot else electrically engine wise.

And it's good on fuel, even compared to new cars. 45-50 on a run, 35-40 locally and that's in its tuned state. This design is 25yrs old, so what's happened to a quarter century of advancement?

Nope, stuff new cars I say, you can fix the old ones at home yourself and parts are bloomin cheap too on the whole... and that chaps is why I've taken a time travel trip!!  

Besides 175hp is fun to drive, but hopefully I'll be doing some more tuning in time .....  

[AdeV]

Sorry chaps but Ford is one make I detest, they never made anything worth having except for the GT40 of course ...

Tsk. Mk1 & Mk2 Granada? Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Capri? Mk1,2,3 Cortina? Mk1,2 Escort? All proper cars...

Of course, they went a bit front wheel drive after that. And I will grant you, the earlier models (pre-Focus) were abysmal at reliability & longevity... But then, so were pretty much all contemporary British cars: Name me any mid-80s or older Brit car which isn't a complete rust bucket?

IMHO, Ford lost their way from the Sierra onwards. OTOH, I'd not say no to some of the more recent Mondeos, as a daily hack. Although I prefer my Lexus I must admit...

I have to be honest, new cars are just too damned complicated, and very expensive to fix. Half the time even the dealers can't fix them without just swapping parts till they run properly again. Very expensive way to go about things IMHO.

Older cars such as the Astra are so simple to fix, the electronics on this only fire the injectors, nothing else and don't go wrong. Sparking is mechanical, no electronics, no CAT, in fact not a lot else electrically engine wise.

And it's good on fuel, even compared to new cars. 45-50 on a run, 35-40 locally and that's in its tuned state. This design is 25yrs old, so what's happened to a quarter century of advancement?

Nope, stuff new cars I say, you can fix the old ones at home yourself and parts are bloomin cheap too on the whole... and that chaps is why I've taken a time travel trip!!  

Besides 175hp is fun to drive, but hopefully I'll be doing some more tuning in time .....  

I too am a fan of the older car, but only up to a point. I'd quite like to drop the Lexus engine & drivetrain into something classic, though - best of both worlds, modern Japanese reliability with classic British looks. And I reckon the Lexus V8 could sound quite fruity with a decent set of straight-through pipes...


PS: I wouldn't have an Astra, utter carbage!  (only kidding)

[Darren]

Ha, sparks will fly ....  I was of course pullin on ya all ...

I must admit I did quite like my Capri and two Cortinas though the Capri was a bit tail happy in the wet and all liked the juice a bit. The latter point would make them hard to run today. Good solid cars that were nice to drive I'll grant you.

But for fun round my way it has to be a sporty front wheel drive .... V8, almost bought one instead of the Astra housed in a Chimera. What put me off was the fact that the owner was scared of it in the corners on the test drive. Sure, he powered it down the straights alright. Impressive too it was. We got back and I asked him to lift the boot carpet. Sure enough it had been patched up ...

So that's why he was scared of corners, and it was a sunny day

Horses for coarses, each car has it's strong point ..... but a Mondeo 

[Divided he ad]

Sorry chaps but Ford is one make I detest, they never made anything worth having except for the GT40 of course ...

No need for that chief..... My cossie is doing ok at the mo' pushes 280bhp and all through the rear wheels 

Only one bit of welding on the rear chasis leg (done a few months ago) and the rest of the body is mint.... 21 years old too 
A few minor engine issues, but mechanical being my game they don't take long to solve, it's just the cash for bits that causes the problems 



Got to admit many of the cars out there from all years are utter carp. But there are a few fun ones....

FWIW, I loved driving my standard red GTE back in 2003/4    till I broke it and couldn't afford the bits on my carpy salary     Still, got £500 for it though, only paid £350, non-runner - £60 ECU     
Oddly enough I could have fixed it with the cash I made from the sale


Ade, Lexus Soarer (also in the Supra) 2.5 twin turbo.... Now that's a fun engine (IMHO). I used to fix one years ago.... Much fun on road test     





Darren, I'll take a better look at your thread on the re-build at a more sociable hour 



This is all somewhat          But entertaining all the same     




Ralph.

[Darren]

Hi Ralph,  

You Fordies, get wound up so easily.  
  
A friend of mine has a 540bhp rwd Cossie. True work of art under the hood and the cleanest classic you'd find. No rust, no patches and original paint that looks like it was done yesterday.
Apparently they didn't all rot within their first week on the road.

I'd be surprised if you don't know of him if that's your poison .... does John Coles ring any bells Ralph?

TBH, powerful cars are cheap and plentiful these days, it's what you do with them after that costs. I almost bought a Scooby, but then every spotty kid and his girlfriend seems to have one so I opted for something that's getting a little harder to find instead. Besides, I'd already done the engine work the last time I owned it as it was to go in a Lotus 7 but those plans had to be abandoned unfortunately. So re-build the Astra and tune her some more   Maybe carbs or even throttle bodies with a full mappable ecu. Dunno yet, depends on money really like most things.

Could just slap a LET engine in, but that's cheating even if it would be cheap. Besides, I'm not keen on turbos.

Like I said before, I'm just fed up with new cars so I'm going back to what I know I can fix myself. For me it's not about power as no car is quick in my book doesn't matter what it is. Cars have another attraction to me, fun, fun, fun, and carrying the shopping home when it's raining ....

[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    ) 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. 

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.  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.

[NickG]

Yeah the carbs might cut it down a bit. It'd probably sound a bit nicer with webbers too though 

Yeah it probably was at the time, the Astra was pretty damn quick though, was it 156bhp standard? 

I bought most of the panels from a bloke that does them up all the time, full floor, inner and outer sills, still need some arches and it needs either some patch up work on the chassis legs or the whole new leg. I bought a mig years ago with the intention of doing the welding myself, one of my best mates is a welder by trade so he could help out / teach me, i tried a couple of practice runs and you're right you can seem to pick it up fairly quickly. I'd need some sort of proper gas bottle and regulator though as the 1 that came with it was just cr@p and ran out really quickly too. I suppose a few things are putting me off, even though I have a double garage now so I have the space -  making all the racket of grinding and cutting stuff out, welding on the bench I had no problem with but under the car or in awkward positions with bits splattering on me may be a different kettle of fish and I'd need to know what to do to support things / the order in which to do things when cutting bits out such as the sills.

The welder I got was this http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/135te-turbo-mig-welder/path/diy-mig-welders so I think it should be ok with the panel work and hopefully the structural stuff in the right hands.

Excellent stuff anyway, you look a dab hand with the painting too, I will keep watching.

This is what's so tempting about asking the guy I bought the panels off, as he has done many such projects before, lots of escorts and other fords so knows them like the back of his hand, he also paints, he works in a body shop and does all this extra work for people at home.

I would like to do it myself but just not sure I have what it takes really!

[Darren]

Yes carbs will prob do that, I was thinking a set of bike carbs not webbers as they should be better/more precise. Deff help with the fuel. At the mo I'm thinking of using R1 carbs.
Injection bodies would be better but would mean a new fully mappable ECU which kinda gets expensive. Carbs of course dispense with all the electronics in the ECU. More power with TB's though, carbs about 180bhp, injection about 220bhp. And all without a turbo in sight. My main reason for not wanting to go down the turbo route is that they rob bottom end power and that's not helpful for normal road driving. But with a turbo 400-800bhp is possible. Most peeps stick to under 400 as that is what the lump can stand reliably without crank changes and the like.

All at the wheels which of course Vauxhall quoted their 156bhp at the wheels and not the crank like most other manufacturers. Since the dynos have cropped up all over the place this has proven to be an under estimate as many of the earlier GTE 16V made more with the Coscast heads sometimes giving 170bhp with just an exhaust manifold change, again at the wheels. So prob around 185 or so at the crank.

That welder should be up to the task ..... just get on with it 

[NickG]

Yeah throttle bodies are nice but expensive!

You're right, 156bhp at the wheels is good for a 2.0 na even now.

Cheers, I was getting lots of  from my mates at pub last night to get on with it. One of them has just bought a 40 year old beetle though so he's about to find out how hard it is to get the time to do it, as he has wife and daughter now too! From what I've seen the beetle looks a bit of a rot box too!The other 1 has all the time in the world as he's got a young, understanding? girlfriend and only sees his son on saturdays, so he's got plenty of toys and plenty of time to use / fix them!

I'll get there 1 day!

[Darren]

A little update for those following.

Ralph, almost bought a stand alone fully mapable ECU on Ebay tonight, but bottled out at the last min thinking I'd be better getting back together first.

Can't decide if to go carb or throttle bodies (cheap/not cheap!!)

http://tiny.cc/dcfea

[Brass_Machine]

A little update for those following.

Ralph, almost bought a stand alone fully mapable ECU on Ebay tonight, but bottled out at the last min thinking I'd be better getting back together first.

Can't decide if to go carb or throttle bodies (cheap/not cheap!!)

http://tiny.cc/dcfea

If you are gonna do it, do it right. Go with the TBs and get a Megasquirt setup. Getting ready to do a microsquirt on a bike for a mate. The tuning, mileage and driveabilty are worth it in the long run. Well, just my opinion ofc.

Eric