Page 2: Engine ConversionEngineAfter running through a large list of possible engine conversions for the wagon I finally decided on a twincam Opel motor. This engine is used extensively over in the UK and is known as the C20XE (which is often shortened to XE or redtop)
The head was designed and manufactured by cosworth and the engine often achieves output in excess of 250hp in NA form.
Unfortunately the motor is difficult to come by in New Zealand, as it was only produced from around 1989 to 1995. Further to this it was only available in Opel Calibras and Vectra GSi's so you can expect to pay upwards of $1800 for one, in unknown condition.
I weighed up my options again and decided to go for the later model engine, which was released in 1996 and was an updated version of the XE. This motor is called an X20XEV or ecotec and was found in almost all 4 cylinder Vectras from 1996 onwards (Vectra B). There are different capacities up to 2.2L, but I opted for the 2.0L version.
A 1996 Vectra B was bought late last year but I found the sump of the motor didn't measure up well for the Chevette. I decided to change it with the earlier model sump but upon doing this I found a massive oil pump that runs from the crank sitting down inside the sump. I looked into moving this but was directed away from that avenue so I onsold the car for a slight profit and continued looking into the conversion.
The earlier Vectra A came equipt with an 8 valve single cam motor with a rear sump setup that appeared to fit over the chevette crossmember so I looked into the possibly of putting a twincam head onto a singlecam block. It all seemed feasable so I bought an X20XEV and a C20NE from a Vectra A.
GearboxNext came the hassle of the gearbox because I am changing the engine from a front wheel drive layout into a rear wheel drive one. A couple of options were looked at but I found that VN comodores once came out with a 4 cylinder engine. As luck would have it, it was the same C20NE pile of arse that was available in the Vectra A so I guessed the gearbox would bolt on.
WorkshopNow that all the parts were aquired it was time to stick it all together. Everything was sent down to Kelvin at Car Tune to wait untill he had enough time to put it all together. This took a little while longer than I had hoped, so I'm on a very tight schedule for trackday.
Engine Construction/CombinationI went down to Car Tune last week after work and Kelvin and I got to work. Its so great to work in a workshop and have ALL the tools you could possibly need on hand.
We started at 7pm and by 10pm we had both engines stripped down. We were going slowly and placing everything in appropriately coloured boxes (
red = singlecam,
green = twincam) in groups of what would be required and what
probably wouldn't. Apparantly the trick is to keep EVERYTHING, especially the parts that you think you won't need because those are the bits that you will need just after you through them away!
We went through checking the differences between the two engines. Hopefully all aspects were looked at from pulleys to pistons, dipstick to water galleries, etc etc.
By midnight we had the engine dummied together and all was looking pretty good. The pulleys all bolted onto the singlecam block from the twincam one and we hadn't run into any major obsticles.
FitmentThe car went in on friday and we got to work first thing saturday morning, after a 3am finish from drinking and putting springs back in a chevette sedan the night before. :lol:
First the filthy little 1256 was pulled out, then the engine bay was degreased and water blasted. What a great job that is.
1256
1256 out
Engine bay cleaned a little. It could be better, but I'm not really a show quality type of person.
Vauxhall with missing engine.
^ Note gigantisaur gearbox! Its not often that a gearbox is dwarfed by a drinkbottle but chevettes have surprised me with alot of things that you don't see often.. for good and for bad..
:oops: :lol:
After several months it was finally time to do what I have been waiting for... dummy fit the engine! I was quite nervous, as all the research was done by me, so if it doesn't work theres only one person to blame :oops:
We dropped the engine in and sat it on the crossmember. So far so good. Some big engine positioning lifts were used to get it sitting about where it should (which is on quite a steep angle to the passengers side) and the gearbox was then bolted up.
It looks so good in there and all the mounting points lined up perfectly. We just had to chop off the Chevettes existing gearbox crossmember mounts then squeeze the big box up in there.. mmmm :wink: It all sits good in the tunnel but we will be a tiny bit of massaging with a hammer just to make sure it can move around in there a little.
One issue was found regarding the steering rack. The engine literally sits on it and needs to come down a little more. I was hoping a Gemini rack was going to be lower and give me the clearance I required, but it is actually even less suitable.
Currently we are investigating options and my favourite one is lowering the steering rack, as I don't think we will be able to get the clearance required from chopping up the sump.
The fabrication engineer is going to be talking to a more race orientated engineer this week to discuss the implications of lowering the rack and potentially changing the steering geometery. Hopefully that is doable.
So thats pretty much where we are at with the progress at the moment. Its all gone pretty fast considering we have only spent less than 2 days on it but I can see there is still a long way to go.
