My 3.0ltr V6 Project

Show off your Projects here, the link for the garage is at the top of the page for showcasing your car

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Sun May 20, 2012 11:01 pm

Well, I think I really should update this project thread!

I got there in the end! After numerous problems with nosy neighbors and work commitments getting in the way I actually completed this conversion in October 2011.

Theres a lack of Pictures because I was in work alot and forgot the camera to be honest, you're so busy working on the thing I don't know how some people remember to take pictures :)

The only major issue I ran into was the Auto to Manual Conversion, heres some quotes from the thread I put up so you can see how I got on:

Raydelta wrote:Hey guys,

The 3.0litre is in today and the engines plummed in with the F28 and we have put in a Clutch pedal and brake pedal from a Manual V6 Cally.

My Brother removed the old engine along with the Auto wiring and cut the wiring coming from the Auto Gearstick.

When we tried to turn it over earlier it made no noises, and acted just like a Automatic Car would act if you had it in drive and tried to start it... the Sport mode Icon was flashing on the dashboard too....

Have we missed something? Is there a Automatic box ECU plummed in somewhere? We are using the Engine ECU that was on the 2.5 Auto instead of changing the keys etc... as I thought these were the same as the manual ecu?

Any ideas? I bet its something obvious...


Raydelta wrote:Well the cars now starting like a manual!

The last time I worked on the car on Sunday, it had the 3.0ltr running off the original Auto 2.5 ECU, with the auto wiring cut out of the engine bay, shifter wires cut out and it had a Manual Engine loom.

When we tried to start it, the starter motor didnt fire at all, just like having a Automatic in gear and trying to start it.

So when I got there today, I changed over the ECU's to the Manual ECU to match the Manual Engine loom. I then removed the glovebox and ripped the Autobox ECU out of its hiding place on the bulkhead above the passenger footwell. As we had already cut the wiring in the engine bay for the auto box the wiring came straight out with the exception of a little 6 pin plug which you need to undo behind the passenger kickpanel.

So After getting that out, I changed over the Immobilizer reciever and the Key chip to match the ECU and gave it a go at starting! The first thing that got me was that the ECU was now flashing in 1 second intervals and when cranked the starter would kick once and then die off just like it did before!

At this point I was pretty stuck as I was so confident that once I had removed the Autobox ECU and changed the Engine ECU to a manual one that it would all fire up! I knew I didnt have to fiddle with the Inhibiter wires (which I'd butchered) as the car is using a Manual cars Alternator/starter loom, Manual ECU and manual engine loom.

So after afew google searches, I was prompted to check for a bad earth for the 12v to the engine... So off I go, looking around the car. Jumps underneath and theres a huge earth strap off the main engine loom dangling in mid air! lol. My brother forgot to attach it to the block!!!

And with that attached she started like a manual!

Tomorrow we just have to fill it with fluids, fit the heater pipes, fit my Magnex Stainless catback system and fit the rear suspension and brakes

And she'l be done!

Thank you to Mark, David and everyone else that helped me get this sorted :D


Heres some pictures of it throughout the time we were working on it.

Davids old car gutted :cry:
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Nice new brakes and painted legs 8)
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X30XE with the F28 Attached ready to go in...
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Since then I've just driven it, serviced it and made some small changes.

Its now a X30XE with an F28, spaced 23mm to the passenger side, superchipped (superchips.co.uk...got it cheap) and a SS Magnex catback oval tipped system.

Ended up painting the Calipers Silver and kept the brakes red, fitted the SE9 alloys to the car too, I think they looked great!

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Also got bored one day and painted the Inlet red! its not staying though, when I get a chance I'll polish the spare inlet I have in the garage.

Heres a before and after:

Before:
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After:
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Was really pleased at this point :dance:

Onto more recently...

Most recently, two weekends ago I went up to Northampton to Triggers house and bought a Black leather interior to replace the Cream interior, Mind you on the day I chose, typically its p*****g down. So I pull up outside Triggers after a 2 and a half hour drive, Lock the car, pop the boot and put my coat in the boot and slam it shut. I then remembered my keys are in my coat pocket! Various ways to gain entry are tried, eventually a hammer through the near side rear window does the trick. Then the neighbour comes out and starts moaning about the glass on his drive. He asked why the car wasn't moved up the road before the window was smashed. We tried to explain it was because the f*****g KEYS WERE LOCKED IN THE CAR :lol:

The modified calibra:
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Trigger was kind enough to lend me one of his windows from the Ecowreck (it was ready for the scrap :lol:) so I made it home with that! once I got home I replaced it with a better condition one from my stockpile in the garage.

Really pleased with my choice to change it to black leather interior, for £30 it was a complete bargain! I think it looks miles better! I've also trimmed some dashboard bits in Carbon fiber and fitted Blue LED's into the Dashboard to complete the look. :wink:

The interior Before:
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And after:
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For a long while I had a issue with the EML light being constantly on! Paperclip test showed Code 46 iirc, Secondary Air Injection code, because the Auto Calibra didnt have the relay in place. So I went on ebay at the end of April and bought myself an Early PN code ECU that came with two Superchips from Superchips.co.uk.

That solved the EML and I think, its made the car smoother and gave it slightly more pull through the low/mid range. Not bad seems I only needed the ECU 8-)

I've also had an issue with the coolant pipes being over pressurerised but that was solved with a Sniffer test and a new coolant cap! :D

So really, I've not made any major changes other than cosmetic ones and maintenance since fitting the 3.0ltr and F28.

Tyres were close to the bars on the BBS so i've put them away for a while and changed them to my winter wheels until I get down to refurbing these beauty's in Anthracite:

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I'll leave this with the most recent pictures I have...

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Nice clean inner wings :wink:
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It's getting Clayed, Polished, Glazed and Sealed next Wednesday so I'll post up some real pictures then, and I'll now keep this updated with changes as I go along!

Before september I'm having the Cambelt and waterpump changed and I'm gonna have afew more mods lined up so I'll take plenty of pictures :clap:
Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Mon May 21, 2012 12:24 am

Really regret not having the time to update this over the past few months as the reply i've given is crap compared to what it could have been if it was all fresh in my mind at the end of each day, but i'll be sure to update this properly in future
Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Mon May 21, 2012 10:23 am

lol!! :lol: :lol:

Now I've been in the position I realise how hard it is to get the camera out! I'd either forget to take it with me on the day or forget to take pictures, or have it with me and my hands be too dirty to use it! :violin:

Going to be millitant about it now though :lol:
Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by EddeyDancer » Mon May 21, 2012 4:55 pm

The Black Leather looks heaps better than the Cream Leather, which is usually the case!!! :clap:
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Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by EddeyDancer » Mon May 21, 2012 4:56 pm

The Cream Leather, looks crap!!! :clap:
Last edited by EddeyDancer on Sun Aug 12, 2012 12:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Ghost - V6 Opel
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Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Fri May 25, 2012 7:36 pm

Also had the urge to get the dremel out for five mins on Wednesday morning and turned this:

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to this:

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Its not perfect, just a metal brush and then a polishing pad with some T-cut Metal polish.

Every little helps :)

Also picked this up Last night, won it on Ebay for £20 and it was collection only, turned out to be a 35 mile round trip.

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... Shadow came out to show his appreciation.

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Before I put that front pipe on, i'm Thinking of heat wrapping it to help with the heat build up under the bonnet?
Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Fri May 25, 2012 7:40 pm

And lastly I had my MOT Today...

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Which it failed...

The reasons were:

Offside Side repeator not working (Should have checked before I went :oops: )
Offside Headlamp aim too high
Offside Headlamp insecure (Two are related, one of the mounts are broken)
Nearside Headlamp aim too far to the left
Nearside brake hose twisted (found during steering lock to lock check)
Offside Front brake hose twisted (")

Easy fixes really, need a bulb, Headlight and I need to take the front calipers off and twist them, then bolt back on.

Brakes were 204 and 208 on the brake inbalance check and the emissions were as follows:

Limits Actual
CO: <= 0.200% 0.122%
HC: <= 200 ppm 8 ppm
Lambda: 0.970-1.030 1.030

At first it failed Emissions as it was running too rich aparently, so it went on a full 3 minute test and passed... could this be down to the "Superchip" from Superchips.co.uk that came with my ECU?

Haven't noticed any drop in fuel economy to be honest.

One thing that really scared me earlier is the oil pressure reading after the full 3 minute fast idle test... This was on idle and the coolant stayed around 96-98 and it was bloody hot outside....

But look at the picture! *idle reading

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The pressure warning light didnt come on and it would shoot up according to the revs... so as soon as I raise the revs to 1,000 rpm for example it would just reach over 1 bar... I know these aren't that accurate but what should I do?

Its running 10/40 semi synthetic GM Oil and has had a recent change and regular changes previously, my last two were 3,000 miles apart... This has happened afew times after long drives since the weathers got hotter! If i stop at lights or at T Junctions it can drop that low or slightly higher if I'm on a long run on a hot day

It shot up according to revs so anything over idle would be higher but I'm worried it could be the oil pressure release valve... where is this located on the V6? I checked the connection on the sender and it was very tight, I re tightened it 3 weeks ago.

Should I raise the Idle speed? It idles at 1100 on choke when cold and 500-600 rpm when warm on the speedo, has done since I bought the engine from Scotland... whats the correct idle speed for the V6?

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Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Fri May 25, 2012 8:00 pm

Water pump hasn't worked since I got the car I reckon. It's not worked since I put the engine in, Not heard it work once.

Everything seems OK, i've watched everything closely and checked all the fuses after.

Everything looked alright? :think:

Anyone got a wiring diagram for the Water pump, aircon fan and alt fan?

Also, what do you think of that pressure reading? Is the idle too low at 500-600? My step fathers 2.5 GSI idled at 810 he said...
Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:34 pm

Well progress has been slow since the End of May and I've moved house which has been the reason I've not been putting up pictures as I go along, Couldnt bloody find the camera! I've got pictures from other cameras but can't find my lead, think I best pop out and get a new one lol. I've been really busy in the gym and preparing for studying Electrical Engineering in September, really needed to get my head in the books so thats taken up some time.

The MOT went through the week after I last posted about it. The brake calipers were the main reason it failed but guess what? I spent a good hour taking my time getting the car up and inspecting the calipers and the bloody hoses weren't even twisted? At this point if the MOT tester was anywhere near me I could have used it face as a brake pad lol. I took it back for the retest and mentioned it to him, he said "Ohh, Sorry! My fault that, they looked twisted" but they weren't were they? you twist the caliper one way it gets worse, you twist it the other it gets worse again, Its a little bend at the moment and if I twisted it either way and reattached it looked like a pigs tail. :roll:

So anyway, I had the headlights adjusted, replaced the indicator bulb, wasted an hour and a half of my life on the brakes and took it back for the retest. So basically all It failed on was a bulb and headlight adjustment! Result!!

:D :D :D :D :D

About the oil pressure, I checked the connection and I also changed the dials to ones from another Calibra and they read different, they read better which has cured my paranoir abit! Some sources state you need 10 psi per 1k revs. So the pressure I'm seeing at the moment seems Fine and the car sounds Fine too. The light didnt come on, on the MOT ramp so fingers crossed no damage was done.

I'm planning on moving the dials further up the dashboard, i've also fitted a Vectra Steering wheel and that is the dogs danglies to drive with I tell you!! 8) I did it without the Vectra Squib, you only need that if you want the steering controls to work, take note folks!

I also did aibt of welding recently! First timer, went pretty well after some reading up about it and practice. I mig welded the strut into the calibra that lets you attach the Torque bar to the V6, so thats now in with a polyurethane bushed (DIY) torque rod, the engines still got a broken rear mount but this has totally stopped all engine movement and its so much nicer to drive! I've got a reinforced rear engine mount to go on just not got round to it yet! Not got round to fitting that brand new frontpipe either but I'm eyeing up some tubulars.. (fingers crossed) They would go great with my Reworked Inlet manifold that I had done at Tata steel in Newport by my brothers mate. They have smoothed most of the inside chambers and inlet tracts, not mirror smooth but better, they also removed the casting lines. I wanted them to enlarge and gasket match but I ran out of time and needed it back to fit to the car as the red one is sold. With me being a student soon I won't be using the car much so I can always take it off one week and rework it again.

I've polished that up anyway, pitting removed and spent afew hours on it, what a pain in the ***! its now on the car, looks much better! :)

I've also removed my "bodge" mentioned in previous posts, luckily it did no harm to the Alternator Fan/Water pump circuit... I bought a brand new Resister off Ebay and fitted it in place of the Aircon cooling fan. The result of this is the fan now comes on at 96 Degrees and cools to 93/94 degrees :D and in really hot weather the Alternator fan will kick in, with the slow speed fan and the electric Water pump is buzzing away next to the radiator. It now works as it should if it came from the factory without aircon..

If your planning on doing this yourself..

My "bodge" needs to be replaced by the white resistors fitted to non aircon vauxhalls.

Resistor from Vauxhall is P/N 90510211

Screw the resistor into the Fan frame near the Manifold (its a Thermal resistor) or you can put it behind the front grill bolted to metal... either way the idea is to keep it cool. Vauxhall bolt it to the fan frame or aparently theres holes provided infront of the battery tray on some other models. The resistor plugs into a 2 pin connector by the battery with thick brown/white and brown/yellow wires. (this would be the Aircon plug if your doing what I did)

You will also by default have a rad switch from a Aircon Car, you will need a 2 stage switch from a non aircon car otherwise you're fan won't kick in on slow speed.

A source online states "Sourcing 2 stage temperature switches: Don't get one off an Air Con car, although they look the same (have 3 pins) they are not 2 stage switches"

So you need a 2 stage switch from a Non aircon car. I assume on the V6 with Aircon the Aircon fan makes up for this.

"These have 3 terminals From:

astra3/cav3 diesel or ecotec's
vectra ecotec"

You could get a calibra 2 stage switch from a non aircon car too, such as Ecotecs etc.

Hope that helps someone if your looking to remove your aircon on the V6...

I'll get pictures up tomorrow or Friday for definate!

For now, Things on the list to do are...

Oil change tomorrow (3rd in 10 months)
Fill and prime/paint the area I've welded.
Fit Front pipe or Tubulars if I get them soon...
Mod the dash to move the Dials.
Refurb my 16" Turbo Fanblades and get them fitted with new tyres
Cambelt/Water pump change by GeffD in August!
4x G Cams 8)
Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by Raydelta » Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:43 pm

Pics from today's fitting of the Torque Rod Mount

Welded, Filled, sanded, Primed, painted and laquired.

All done at home (at a friends). Well chuffed

Filled and primed after welding.

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First Coat of Ceramic Blue (Holts Dupli-colour Spray tin)

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Second Coat

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Third

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Lacquer

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Drying the lacquer, camera shy by the looks of it lol.

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Spraying the Torque Mounts.

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And all back together after leaving it to dry out for abit with the engine running and heat gun etc, as much as possible before I drove it back home.

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Also recently fitted my DIY polished Manifold. It used to be so ugly, now its not so bad! Took too many hours with a Dremel hand tool tho!

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Raydelta
 

Re: My 3.0ltr V6 Project

by saunders » Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:46 pm

lookin good
saunders
 

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