|
|
|
|
|
Not quite to plan, but nearly..... Sorted another cam belt kit, but had to go pay for it and then it would be at the factors at 12, only problem is the factors are 12 miles away. So went over for 12.30, bits no in, waited for half hour max still not there, gave up set off home and they rang when I was over halfway home to say it was in... so that was a few hours lost to messing about. But I have a kit with the same tensioner  In between messing about this morning we stripped the wiring from the low blow, removed the pipes and hoses then disconnected the exhaust. Tried to remove the starter wiring, but there is a heat shield which you can’t get to  And you can’t even remove the starter because it’s hard up against the turbo oil drain line! The Isuzu was so much better to work on  The annoyance is added to by the coating of oil on everything, I knew it was there... guess I should have jet washed it before we started    As you can see, we did get it out this afternoon  ended up lifting it up and removing the starter wiring at eye level. This afternoon we also had some assistance from Ella’s boyfriend, Rhys, he’s into cars so was up for getting dirty (luckily, as he did  ) which meant the three of us cracked on, but also meant I didn’t take many photos Dropped the gearbox, removed the struts and swapped the springs and dampers into the big block legs. Also fitted the adjustable top mounts  Got the F18 box in, driveshafts etc and it’s rolling again The radiators are different between the lowblow and Isuzu, so swapped them, removed the extra oil cooler that was fitted at some point.. and we’ve started swapping out some of the hoses.   And moved it out of the way so as not to upset Matt  So not quite where I wanted to be, but nearly. The estate has an indent in the chassis leg bit to line up the engine mount, the van doesn’t, so I’ve modified the mount this evening to fit to the flat face   Hopefully I can borrow the welder at the farm, if not will have to tow it home, weld it and tow it back... But hopefully engine will be in tomorrow, and mostly plumbed/wired |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Day 4 started with welder envy The van got towed to the workshop with the telehandler, we welded it up and we got towed back. To do the welding we borrowed the farms kemppi, and it was lovely, shame it needs a 32A supply! I know the mount is properly on   Painted that and whilst it was drying we sorted the cambelt  Had a clean up of the sump as the paint was peeling and fair bit of surface rust. Gave the engine a wipe over, it looks pretty tidy! There is a bit of oil on the back which looks like it’s just accumulated from changing the oil filter Things were going well so it’s only right we struggled a bit getting the engine and box to line up   It’s amazing how well walking away and having a break for a few minutes sometimes works, we came back to it a few minutes later and it almost fell together  Water and induction plumbing is done, we filled it up with water and antifreeze.... may be a bit confident, but it’s forecast to drop down to -1 overnight Started looking at the wiring, the Isuzu has the glowplug controls in the drivers A post, the low blow is a box behind the battery, it looks like the looks sort of plug and play together with a little bit of work, so fingers crossed not as intimidating as it looked at first    And we got to write a list (white scrap cars just keep giving ).... forgot to write engine oil on there, must remember that!!!  |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear John. We all love a dear John. As a seasoned mk3 astra lover please don't let that estate die in vain.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear John. We all love a dear John. As a seasoned mk3 astra lover please don't let that estate die in vain. I have someone coming to collect the shell when I’m finished with it, he’s got an estate in worse condition, so not sure which way he’ll go with it but it will live to tell another tale one way or another |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Done!!! This morning we sussed the wiring. I think there are 4 variations of wiring, pre ‘94 with either a 28 or 30 fuse fuse box. Which aren’t relevant. The estate wiring is common for ‘94 to ‘96 The van has ‘97 on wiring The van has 3 fuse boxes in the engine bay, the estate 2. The engine loom attaches to the green plug and goes to the glow plug controls (one of the fuse boxes in the engine bay in both cases) and all the engine connections. The Isuzu then has another loom that lives in the drivers a post area (it was on a bracket, but fits perfectly behind an existing bracket)the loom fits through an existing empty grommet hole and runs round the engine.... simple! The only confusion came from modifications made to the van loom for additional equipment (I assume from when it was a railway van) and a bodged repair to the alternator (caused by a rotted out connection on the alternator itself) also found a broken wire to a sensor and fixed that So other than the fact it decided to snow this morning it was an easy change over. After that, we worked through our list and just before lunch tried to start it up. And nothing happened... checked through and found the engine earth cable was loose, all three of us thought someone else tightened it Tightened that, and it tried a bit until sucking some diesel and sat and ran (bit noisily as we hadn’t tightened the exhaust So this afternoon, in the sunshine, we finished the last few bits Had a few issues setting the gear-lever up, mostly because the old van box had a pin and the new box was just a weird grommet that we thought was a pin, when we worked out it wasn’t, removed it and used a 4.5mm drill bit it was easy Drove it round the yard a bit, drove it home and changed the wonky front wheel bearing, ordered on Saturday when we noticed it and turned up this afternoon (on this occasion Amazon were handy) But having now driven a couple of miles, first impressions are how much quieter and smoother the Isuzu is. Not sure what a good low blow is like and it’s obvious mine had issues, but it surprised me how different it was! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
excellent ,well done john.
|
| |
|
|
jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921 
Club RR Member Number: 40
|
|
|
|
|
Result ! Working van with more go and no more trips to hospital ?!
So am I right recalling you having a big power version of this engine in the shed as well or am I just loosing more of the plot?
Don’t forget to send off your V5 with new engine number on it just in case.
James
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Result ! Working van with more go and no more trips to hospital ?! No, there was a slight flesh wound with those horrible bent metal fasteners under the dash... but other than some disagreement as to whether it needed steristrips (they keep falling off, so my opinion is No ) but no need to travel for treatment  No you’re correct, the start of this was getting hold of a tuned Isuzu, but it wouldn’t fit in the van either without changing all the running gear.  It’s still a 1700, but with head work, bigger turbo, modified pump etc I’d want to go through it before I fitted it (because I’m nosey rather than any thought of it not being built right) and it will need some fettling anyway (will need a new 2.5” rear section for the exhaust for one So I plan to go through it as a winter project, and fit next summer I think* No, need to speak to insurance and post V5 off, thanks *I prefer a holistic approach to planning, so all this is fairly fluid, but since Tom will be in year 11 and GSCEs will be happening from September, we will take a year off of horsing about with the Fug I think. As an incentive I’ve suggested that if he tries hard I will invest scrap money into his first ‘normal’ car. So I’m currently thinking that we’ll get a small car next June (after exams) to mess about with until he starts driving. But on that basis I could use it whilst sorting the tuned Isuzu and avoiding the jeopardy of needing it running the next day |
| |
|
|
75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,052
Club RR Member Number: 181
|
|
|
|
|
Great news (less the injuries!). Cracking progress indeed, love it when a plan goes reasonably smoothly! You must be built like Andre the giant to move an engine crane on that surface on your own though? I struggled on rough tarmac with mine (although with vw 1.9pd engines slung on it)!
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great news (less the injuries!). Cracking progress indeed, love it when a plan goes reasonably smoothly! You must be built like Andre the giant to move an engine crane on that surface on your own though? I struggled on rough tarmac with mine (although with vw 1.9pd engines slung on it)! Not quite that big.... the whole covid thing has not really helped my power to weight ratio either it was quite unnerving trying to move it when the engine was high up! Driven about 65 miles today, it had a good clear out when I got on a bit of dual carriageway, having only bumbled around until then. Got to first job and checked it over. Topped up the coolant as it must have bled through a bit more. It was rattling on a back road and found a loose anti roll bar link, so sorted that Other than that it’s lovely, can feel the turbo come on boost, I’m not trying to suggest it’s fast... but after trundling in the low blow for over a year any increase is noticeable  Filled it up with fuel so will see what the economy is like. Next is to replace/unseize the track rod ends and then get the alignment done. then swap the GSi brakes |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sure they're not GTE brakes?  Good work! Thats a pretty solid gouge, btw. I hope you sterilised it with something strong like whiskey. And then used something antibacterial on the wound, I guess. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sure they're not GTE brakes? No! but seeing as there is nothing to say otherwise I’m sticking to my story Haha I’m not very good at that sort of thing.... there was an old first aid kit in the boot of the estate so I used that for a plaster, the extra penicillin must have helped! |
| |
|
|
jmsheahan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 689
Club RR Member Number: 121
|
|
|
|
Great read, keep the updates coming |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don't do this while I am eating my breakfast!!  |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you told me yesterday I will be reading 28 pages of Astravan thread I would have been confused to say the least. Yet here I am and loving every bit of it. Just looked through classifieds for "Hundefänger" how we call it in Germany |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 11, 2021 17:34:43 GMT
|
Small update, not very interesting I’m afraid, more a record for me Engine swap was completed on Monday, few snags on Tuesday. Driven just over 350 miles so far, Couple of little issues, it’s sucking in a bit of air when parked. It’s worst in the morning, but has to crank a bit if left for a good while, but starts straight up if left for a short while. There’s a bit of white smoke with it to confirm the air theory. We only touched 3 joints on the diesel lines, removed the feed and return to the pump and replaced the hose from the filter with the shorter one from the estate. Checked the jubilee clips in the week and ordered a pack of copper washers  They are a bit scored up, and I think they were too big (they were the only ones we had that were the right sort of size when we did it) as the lip looks to have compressed a a bit funny. so swapped them for some slightly smaller ones and we see what it’s like tomorrow. Also, the oil light started taking about 3 seconds to go off when started. The internet suggested this is fairly common, and due to muck getting into the oil pressure switch. So ordered a replacement and that also hasn’t happened again today.  Fingers crossed that’s also an easy fix too. Insurance didn’t charge when I notified them of the engine change, but I’m sure DVLA will reject the v5 that’s been sent in because I’m not a garage, but fingers crossed |
| |
|
|
jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921
Club RR Member Number: 40
|
|
Apr 11, 2021 21:57:11 GMT
|
|
Sent in the V5 for the LR when we swapped the engine last year and just came straight back with new number. Hopefully do the same for you even though I assume the CC has changed ?
Old engine number on LR was wrong anyway as it was the head casting number !
With LR’s on historic reg’s you don’t want to have to explain the lack of chassis number (it’s under that plate honest) and different engine number...
James
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 11, 2021 22:10:48 GMT
|
Sent in the V5 for the LR when we swapped the engine last year and just came straight back with new number. Hopefully do the same for you even though I assume the CC has changed ? Old engine number on LR was wrong anyway as it was the head casting number ! With LR’s on historic reg’s you don’t want to have to explain the lack of chassis number (it’s under that plate honest) and different engine number... James The low blow is 1700, the Isuzu is 1686. I’ve filled the box in for change of capacity, but wouldn’t be worried if it wasn’t changed. It’s the same tax band, so fingers crossed they just change it and send it back then! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2021 19:35:47 GMT
|
When I collected the tuned Isuzu, we unbolted it from his engine stand, bolted it to mine and pushed the stand from his unit to my lockup. But, as he no longer has a Astra, he tried to offload any other bits he had, which actually turned out to be some wheels. So I was offered seven Ronal Irmscher 16s for cheap. Why seven? Well the story is that the guy he bought them off trashed a wheel, but liked them so much he bought another set. So I have 4 with tyres, 195/45r16 which are the same as I have on the steels. And 3 bare rims.  They look pretty good I think    But I thought they’d look good if I could match them to the gold in the signwriting So I bought some Montana graffiti paint in matt gold  And then sprayed one of the bare rims, and was happy with that   So I finally got round to ghetto spraying a couple with tyres on.... And as girls on social media would say... ‘feeling cute might delete later’    Probably need to paint all four the same colour though Other than that it’s mostly all good, still need to sort the air leak but it’s only an issue first thing in the morning. Oil light issue is still there, so will drop the sump and have a check in there.... but have read that people have had the same issue on start-up and carried on for 100k miles, so will give it an oil and filter change at the same time. First fill up managed 49mpg, and considering I kept putting my foot down is very respectable I saw that the white estate was being parted out again after it had gone, so maybe not saved after all, but looks like it’s still saving some others. It’s hard to vet someone who is collecting scrap for free  And obligatory Sakura shot  |
| |
|
|
Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,337
Club RR Member Number: 160
|
|
Apr 20, 2021 21:41:33 GMT
|
|
Isuzu oil lights do tend to be lazy to go out. Guy I work with has a later 1.7 Isuzu low-blow in a Combo C and he changed the oil every week when he first got it for months (free oil from work), the oil doesn't get black at all in it now and even that still has a lazy light. Even really late Astras using it get lazy lights so if you don't find anything amiss with the strainer and oil and filter change (it's worth checking for sure, case of better safe than sorry) then don't fret it too much.
Looking smart anyway, wheels look neat matched to the signwriting!
|
| |
Last Edit: Apr 20, 2021 21:42:16 GMT by Rich
|
|
|
|
And you can’t even remove the starter because it’s hard up against the turbo oil drain line! The Isuzu was so much better to work on 
The annoyance is added to by the coating of oil on everything, I knew it was there... guess I should have jet washed it before we started
ended up lifting it up and removing the starter wiring at eye level.
) which meant the three of us cracked on, but also meant I didn’t take many photos
