Johnny's Carlton rides

[Johnny A]

Thought I had better start putting up my work on my two carltons.

I now have a 2.0 8v CDX manual Carlton Estate in burgundy. Thing hardly has any rust on it anywhere which I am chuffed about and also amazed it was for sale on TC for so long without being snapped up!!

The other is my GSi 3000 12v shell, Lotus kit (most of it is genuine), respray in BMW Sparkling graphite and I am fitting a Z20LET engine with a large turbo.

The Estate:
I bought this as a daily driver/workhorse, as you all know a Carlton estate is perfect for the job. Only plans are lowering, some different wheels and a few interior tweaks.


The car as I bought it, needs a new coolant bottle (anyone??), new rear donuts and a good clean!!

The donuts are on order and I gave the car a good clean, I had some rear Astra-G hatchback Irmscher springs (25mm) and thought a nice 60mm drop would result from putting them on the estate... I was wrong:


Its about 90-100mm down which looks totally awesome!! BUT its not the springs that are suspending the car but the bump stops!!

As you can see the springs are almost fully compressed and the bump stops are the only thing compressing them further!!

It was safe to say that I couldn't use the Astra springs, but I did have a pair of Carlton GSi 3000 12v springs off the other project so I popped them on and:


Not bad eh! Its about a 40mm drop which figures as the GSi springs are 40mm shorter uncompressed.

[Jimmy]

sweet, that back end sits nice, gonna do the front? just looks a lil like your got something very heavy in the boot.. 

[Johnny A]

Got custom coilovers for the front, but they need the top cups machining slightly to fit correctly.

[Jimmy]

cool cool, show us how it looks when sorted tho dude

its funny, i remember seeing this motor ages ago, and i was bloody tempted myself, lurrve estates, but just could afford it,, nice buy tho geez 

[Johnny A]

Its lovely to drive apart from both rear donuts are shot big time which makes the back end shake at speed and it feels 'loose' when going over bumps

[Jimmy]

sounds like you got it covered tho geez

[Johnny A]

Yeah won't be an issue, they are easy enough to change.

Also I pressure washed the whole back end whilst the springs were being changed, not rot at all (under all the dry mud lol)

[carlton_mad]

i have a bottle jon

[Johnny A]

Ohhh! we must do some talkings, will send pm

[stealthstylz]

LOL I tried Astra springs on mine with the same effects. You can see they won't work just by the different thickness of the steel.

Matt

[Johnny A]

My new prototype flywheel arrived today, 8kgs, one-peice and shiny!! Now added to the pile of other shiny bits for the Carlton saloon.

Also won a RWD omega sump for £2 on ebay lol I am now waiting to see if the seller will honour the deal or run for the hills. PLACE YOUR BETS NOW!!

[Johnny A]

Well the seller didn't honour the deal, so gave him the finest negative I could lol

Anyways my rear subframe bushes arrived yesterday so I cracked on and did one side this evening:

Bit knackered I think lol

Shiny carlton prototype flywheel:

[Johnny A]

Paid a visit to my new unit today, carlton loaded with gear and a shelving unit on the roof!

Just arrived


Backed in



The unit has a main area and three working bays, one has been turned into a storage area:

[Johnny A]

Well this afternoon I decided to start work on the Carlton saloon's new engine:

The 200SX manifold gets its head flange lopped off:



Z20LET flange offered up:


Flange bolted up to head, manifold spot welded on and turbo looslely bolted on:


I separated the compressor housing then the core, I added a 10 degree clocking angle to core (in addition to the 7 degree negative angle the engine will have already) and clamped everything back down. Then I added the Tial 38mm external wastegate and the oil feed line (a keen eye will notice the in-line oil restrictor):



Thanks to Rich Brunt I had a custom top hat already made up just for the job:

[Pedro]

Nice, neat and tidy matey - keep calm and carry on!

[Johnny A]

Organised chaos

[Pedro]

Organised chaos

Wouldn't expect owt else!

[Johnny A]

Using my new estate I will be towing the saloon to the new unit on saturday!!

[Land-Barge]

Nice unit, what's the rent like?  Wish I could get something that size round here but it's all business rates and expensive.

Oh and hurry up and get the grinder out on those front springs

[chrismec]

Wow neat bit of work there matey, keep it up

[Johnny A]

Well after work tonight I jacked the front of the car up and took a grinder to the springs (yes, on the car because I really cba to strip everything down)

Anyways I took a chance and lopped 1.5 coils out, it turned out to be the perfect drop (around 2 inches and no arch gap).

No pics yet though, too dark.

[Johnny A]

Carlton saloon loaded and ready to roll!


Also notice that the Estate is fully lowered!

[Johnny A]

Today:
Exhaust manifold fully welded up and intakes ported (Tungsten carbide shanks rule)
Exhaust manifold fitted with new studs and nuts and 3-layer gasket
Tial wastegate fitted with new gasket
Turbo fitted with new cometic gasket
RWD engine mount plates and polywhatsit mounts fitted
Turbo oil return pipe cut and re-welded to clear O/S/F engine mount plate

Tomorrow I take a grinder to the subframe and the sump to make them clear each other. Not pretty or ideal but no bugger has a 2.0 Omega sump for sale!

[Whippit]

I'll stick a wanted on OOF for you

[Johnny A]

cheers whippet