Astra GSi Turbo

In this page you'll find pictures and information about my Mk3 Astra Gsi Turbo. This car was already converted to a C20LET Engine when I brought it. I trusted the conversion as it was completed by a Mig Performance Vauxhall's member, that I've know for a while. The main things that I wanted to do to the car had already been done, this includes the F28 gearbox conversion, larger brakes, nice wheels, and of course the C20LET engine, and loom.

The bodywork was in quite a good state, the only problem being the 'Vauxhall' rear arches, as in my last one the rust was just starting to bubble, the same is seen here, but that will be fixed properly, with replacement panels in the very near future.

The first thing for me to do was install my blue printed engine from the Calibra, that I rebuilt after blowing it up, the spec of this can be seen on the Calibra page.

As the engine and gearbox conversion had already been done, a simple engine swap was pretty easy, just a case of undoing everything on the Calibra, and everything on the Astra, then swapping them over and plumbing them in.

In all this took my father and I 4-5 weekends, it would have been shorter but we had to juggle work, other car problems, and engine lifts, etc.

The Astra is now running as my daily driver, and should be good for a reliable 280-300Bhp, the main problem I can see is the front wheel drive limitation, as it has that much Bhp through the front wheels. The thing I love about this car it its look, standard!. The only visible items that have changed are the wheels, and the front number plate has been cut out to accommodate the intercooler, other than that it looks pretty standard, I'm not one for fancy body kits, but a tidy standard looking car appeals to me.

Once the engines had been swapped over, and the shake down test completed I had a bit of breathing space. As the show season was coming up on me fast I decided I needed some engine dressing, as I'd sold all my chrome bits with the other Astra I needed to start from scratch. I managed to find a metal plating specialist  who has been in the business for around 40 years, and plates everything from earings to aircraft parts. I approached him with a Cam Cover, Cam Belt Cover, Heat Shield, and Breather/Dipstick funnel, to chrome. After a few weeks all was ready to be picked up, this chrome was really good, the finish was spot on, and you could instantly tell he knew his stuff, he also restores cars himself, opting for the Corvette Thunderbirds, I've seen 2 of his restorations, and they are very well done, and show winners.

Its has had one successful show season, and done a few 1/4 miles, and also been on track a few times. The 1/4 time was done at shakespeare raceway in 2005, and managed a 13.7@102mph, which I was very impressed with! Soon after that we had a rolling road day, so I was hoping for a good reading! I knew the turbo was starting to get tired, it was the only part of the engine that hadn't been upgraded, and had around 100k on it too! I was quite happy with the output of 256.2bhp and 262lb/ft torque. The problem with the turbo was pretty apparent, to boost would hit 19psi, then drop to 13psi, then raise to 15psi. This showed the problem, the wastegate was knackered, so the saving began!

I attended Trax2005 with a smoking turbo, and decided to leave it on show rather than go round the track, due to making a Knight-Rider style smoke screen in the queue on the way in!.

Towards the end of 2005 I decided I really should spend some money, so after lots of thinking I decided on going to Turbo Technics, and brought an S144 K16 Hybrid. Now this turbo apparently is good for just over 300bhp, and after finding out exactly what was different about it I realized I really should have brought a re-con K16, or a proper dutch hybrid, or a completely different turbo and manifold, for the money! I'm happy with the outcome though, just the price thats scary!

Once that was fitted it was time to see just how bad the body was......

Basically it didn't look too bad, the arches were solid, but the rear of the arches, especially behind the rear bumper were completely rotten! This was caused by the stupid Vauxhall designed drains for the sunroof, etc. They clog up, and over-spill, leaving water sitting in the rear 1/4 panel, which then rots, nice!. I decided to do it properly as always, and get new panels, cut and welded in! Note to anyone reading this, and having it done, do not gloss over it, it'll be back in a few months!, also make sure your bodyshop cuts the old rusty panels right back!. If they put the new panels straight over the rusty ones, the rust will come back just as fast!

At the same time I decided to have a full blow-over, bar the roof, I know how hard it is to match colours, and i really didn't want to risk it looking un-even. Waiting for the bodyshop i sourced some new alloys, which really work for the car, and make it look a lot more evil!

On its first show outing to Shakespeare2006 it was received very well, and managed to get a 13.6@106mph, i'd beaten by previous time, but only by.1 second!, I think this was due to traction, I still don't have an LSD!

Soon after this the car was shown at PV2006, and an offer was made to me for the car, after weighing up the pro's and con's I decided to accept it.

It was a very hard decision, but if I wanted to get more out of the car I'd have to spend a fair bit more on an LSD, equal driveshafts, and general setup, and probably rip all the interior out to save weight.

Nobbie's Astra Gsi 16v Turbo
 


Engine
Fully Lightened and Balanced Engine, Including Pistons, Rods, Crank and Flywheel, both Statically and Dynamically.
ARP Rod Bolts
Uprated Head Bolts
Uprated Ends and Mains
Front Mounted Intercooler
Uprated Intercooler Piping
Bailey Dump Valve
Std Dump Valve
K&N Induction Kit
Non-Collapsible Induction Hose
ITP 220 In-Tank Fuel Pump
FSE BlackTop Fuel Pressure Regulator, 3.5 Bar
EDS Phase 2 Software
S144 Turbo Technics Hybrid Turbo
Silicon Hoses
One-Off Jamie FFFFFF Exhaust!
Chrome Rocker Cover
Chrome Cam Belt Cover
Chrome Heat Shield
Extended Heat Shield
Chrome Dip-Stick holder

Transmission
Getrag F28 6-Speed Gearbox Converted to 2WD
Sachs Uprated Clutch, (360BHP)
Fully Lightened and Balanced Flywheel, both Statically and Dynamically.


Suspension
Full APEX Fixed Rate Suspension Kit, Consisting on Uprated Shocks and Springs, Giving 60mm Drop All Round.
Front And Rear Strut Braces.


Brakes
Front Brakes: 284mm Grooved Disks with Vectra V6 Calipers, with EBC Greenstuff Pads
Rear Brakes: Standard Discs with EBC Greenstuff Pads


Wheels & Tyres
17" Team Dynamic Pro Race in Black
Front tyres: Yokohama A539
Rear tyres: Falken


Styling
Full Astra Gsi Kit,De-Locked And Colour Coded Door Handles, Clear Side Repeaters, Front Bumper Modified for FMIC, emphasis on Standard Looking Car.

Full Respray in December, and new arches.

Interior
Dash mounted AutoMeter Boost Gauge - 20PSI
AutoGauge Oil Temp and Oil Pressure Gauges
Blue Dash Lights, Heater Controls, and Computer LED's
Blue LED Electric Window Switches

Security
YES


Performance
1/4 - Shakespeare Raceway - 02/05/05 - 13.77@102.96
1/4 - Shakespeare Raceway - 01/05/06 - 13.6@106 - With hybrid turbo and proper fuel pressure.

TBC's
0-60 6 Sec
280BHP

ICE
Empeg 20Gb MP3 head unit currently storing 2101 tunes encoded to at least 128Bit sound.
Jensen 180W 4-Way Amp Running Standard Speakers Upfront
Kenwood 500W Amp
Kenwood 12" Sub
6x9's in Stealth Parcelshelf