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Scatmancraig
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« on: January 20, 2008, 07:08:37 PM » |
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Well, the time has come to start preparing for RAF Marham track day this coming April. This time i had a choice: a) take my Monza S again (currently away having chassis & boot floor welded) b) take my Carlton GSi 24v daily driver (& probably kill it!) c) find another car After a conversation with another ABS membe at a club meet last year, i was offered the remains of his 24v GSi after he had took off it what he needed. Having seen the car several times before i knew that this car had a very solid shell. After talking to this guy, he agreed to take off what he needed but keep the car road legal so i could collect it & drive it home. Then i would return all the parts that he needed back and replace with parts that i already had spare myself. There were a couple of other attractions to this car... Ported cylinder head Bilstein dampers & Eibach springs Very very solid shell Strut brace The only real downside was that this car is automatic, but i like a challange so the deal was done & today was collection day. The previous owner kindly agreed to drive the car up to the South Mimms meet, i was kindly driven there by another ABS member in his manual Senator 24v so i could collect the GSi & bring it home to Lincoln. Last time i saw this car it looked something like this...  It now looks something like this (personal plate has since been removed)....  Although it looks quite amusing as it is, it is actually a very solid car (despite having CD doors). No rot anywhere (even under the battery is rot free!!). When this car was a couple of years old, it was treated to a bit of porting by a company called BBR (Brodie Britain Racing??). This did include a re-mapped ECU which didn't come with the car, but i have my own Mk3 ABS ECU to put in it instead! Despite having a standard ECU at present, the car wasn't lacking at all, seems far quicked off the mark than my daily driver GSi! Autobox is also good, it has the Mk1 gearbox ECU so very little gearslip although torque converter lock doesnt seem to be working, not that it matters much for what i have planned! So, in preparation for marham i have a fair bit of work to do... Finish removing interior so it can be sold complete (anyone wanting a mint pre-facelift interior please give me a shout) Remove diff & replace with one of my own (or possibly a welded diff). Remove autobox & replace with manual. :lol: Service engine. Remove sunroof & plate over. Replace electric window motors for manual items. Remove anything else that isn't needed (but still keeping car road legal). Change front disks & pads for uprated items. Fit lightweight front seats. Do something about the mis-matched doors! Plenty to do then!!! :shock: I'm going to start with the most difficult job first, converting the transmission to manual. Apart from a few nuts & bolts, i have over the last few months collected all necessary parts required (i have the choice of 4 R28 gearboxes!!). What i now need to do is to decide which way to do it... A) put car as high as possible & remove gearbox from under the car. B) Lift engine & gearbox out from under bonnet & change gearbox. C) Drop engine & gearbox from underneath, lift shell over the top & then change gearbox! In the past i have done a couple of gearbox swaps, & every time i have done it all from underneath the car. But i have a nice shiny red engine crane in my shed (courtesy of Pete Croft) so it seems a shame not to use it! Anyone car to share their thoughts?? |
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« Last Edit: April 22, 2010, 09:54:16 PM by Scatmancraig »
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doz
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« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2008, 08:45:18 PM » |
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Wafting air biscuits up the noses of the bureaucrats since 1970
92 GSI 24v manual
92 LC
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Land-Barge
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« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2008, 10:53:11 PM » |
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Looks like a nice solid car  why did the previous owner decide to dismantle and sell it  |
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bstardchild
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« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2008, 08:50:56 AM » |
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Looks like a nice solid car why did the previous owner decide to dismantle and sell it Some dispute with DVLA over identity as I recall - was easier to give up than continue to fight the computer |
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Cheers
BC
"The Lotus Carlton is not tail happy – honestly - as long as you accept it has 377 bhp and 419 lb/ft of torque, is rear drive and has no driver aids, it's fine."
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ian
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« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2008, 05:05:20 PM » |
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is that AL "goldie"?
i swear he converted it to a manual?
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Pedro
I'M A FILTHY TORY!
Global Moderator
Wanted: Life
Posts: 6605
Location: York
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« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2008, 06:56:19 PM » |
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That looks awesome! Looks like a pre-'lift with post-'lift wings and indicators - could be wrong, though. Those Meega wheels look the dog's dangerlees and really suit the Carlton. Oh Mama!!!!!!  |
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Do you know what "Nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c*nt... me.
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2008, 07:38:02 PM » |
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Looks like a nice solid car why did the previous owner decide to dismantle and sell it Some dispute with DVLA over identity as I recall - was easier to give up than continue to fight the computer The DVLA dispute was actually sorted out, but that particular problem came about after he'd decided to donate the car to me! The previous owner now has a very tidy facelift GSi 24v which he has turned his attention to. It does have some history, the original GSi shell was rotten so it was re-shelled using a low mileage Diplomat as the donor car (hence the facelift indicators). It's been like this for 4 years now. It appears to have had some additional rust protection at some point before as the arches, sills & chassis rails are mint! the doors aren't brilliant, but neither are they that bad. I think the doors are off a facelift CD or Dipplomat, but the trims are coming off anyway, as is anything else that weighs anything & isn't needed!! This car was originally an auto. It has been converted to manual in the past (well done Ian), but the previous owner didn't like it as a manual so he converted it back to auto! I'm going to convert to manual again so i could possibly end up with the 1st Carlton to have had the conversion done twice!! |
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Land-Barge
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« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2008, 09:17:21 PM » |
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This car was originally an auto. It has been converted to manual in the past (well done Ian), but the previous owner didn't like it as a manual so he converted it back to auto! I'm going to convert to manual again so i could possibly end up with the 1st Carlton to have had the conversion done twice!!
 Convert to an auto?!?!!?, the guy must be nuts!  |
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ian
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« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2008, 10:53:11 PM » |
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or has taste and likes a smooth ride,
let me just go kiss my auto box 1 sec
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white hot GSi
Full Member
Posts: 185
If you have to ask... you can't afford it!
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« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2008, 05:52:59 PM » |
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Very nice mate. Weld the diff up & I have so -40 mm springs that would be good on a track. Is Ian having the old auto box?? If not is it any good?? Good luck mate.
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Who took the jam out of your doughnut? My carlton took the jam out of my doughnut!!!!!
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2008, 06:41:16 PM » |
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Very nice mate. Weld the diff up & I have so -40 mm springs that would be good on a track. Is Ian having the old auto box?? If not is it any good?? Good luck mate.
A spare non-LSD is being welded up as i speak! This car has already got uprated springs & dampers on it so i'm leaving the suspension well alone! I'm going to keep the autobox as a spare for my other GSi. Not that it'll be much good, it's been thrashed a lot & it's a bit leaky now!! |
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2008, 06:05:00 PM » |
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Had a few hours to spare this weekend so decided to get the track day GSi in the worksop & get some work done. Not a lot of room but it fits with just enough room to work around it...   Starting from the back of the car, the first main job was to remove the diff as this was promised by the previous owner to another ABS member. I have 2 spare LSD's of my own and a welded non-LSD on its way!! Got the exhaust & rear bumper off with no problem...  Diff came out next, again no worries there (i've got removing diffs down to a fine art now!!)...  You can just see the end of the downpipe in the above photo. The downpipe is quite unusual in this car as rather than fitting de-cat pipes, Alf has extended the downpipe so that where the cats bolted on now bolts directly to the centre boxes (you can just see the downpipe propped up on the right of the 1st photo)!! As i will be fitting a Scorpion system to this car, it might be worthwhile looking to see if the "Y" pieces on the downpipe & exhaust can be removed altogether as surely they must restrict flow a little?? Being a H-reg i don't need cats on this car so it might be worth a shot! So not there is a lot of empty space underneath the car where the diff & exhaust used to be...  Nex job was to start disconnecting all of the gearbox bits so that it can be removed. Got all the fluid drained, removed the speedo sensor & gearbox switch thingy, disconnected the gearlever, disconnected the cooler pipes, also got all of the flexi-plate to torque converter bolts removed. So basically all thats left is to remove the crossmember and remove all of the bellhousing bolts & the whole jolly lot can be removed!! Before i can remove the gearbox, i would like to know if the engine crossmember can be undone & the whole lot lowered without removing the lower arms? I remember when removing a gearbox in the past that the top 2 bellhousing bolts are a twat to get to. I have an engine crane, so i was going to lower the engine sufficiently so i can get to the top 2 bolts more easily. But if i have to remove all of the lower arms as well i will try & find another way! One thing i have notices whilst crawling under this car is how rot-free it is. I haven't found anything at all on the shell worth worrying about, it's certainly the best Carlton shell i have ever had my hands on!! |
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2008, 06:24:52 PM » |
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More progress this weekend... Spent most of yesterday getting the autobox out. Finally managed it, but not before i'de wrecked an engine mount & put a hole in the side of the power steering reservoir!! (don't ask!). Here's the autobox finally out & on the shed floor...  Fitting the manaual flywheel & clutch was fairly straigfhtforward, apart from initially not being able to work out which way round the clutch friction disc goes! Finally worked it out (i think). Clutch fitted...  Next job was swapping the pedal boxes. This involves removing the steering column. The job itself is fairly straightforward, but made much harder by having to be upsidedown when doing it! Luckily, the steering column in this car has been removed before so no tamper proof bolts to remove. Manual pedal box fitted...  Steering colum re-installed...  Needed to make up a new pipe for the master to slave cylinder. I forgot i hadn't got one!! This is in 3 sections, copper from master cylinder to bellhousing, then a short section of flexi-hose, then another section of copper pipe from flexi-hose to slave cylinder. The flexi part is actually an old brake flexi-hose which happens to have the right connectors at each end (it's off an early Monza!). Master cylinder...  Next stage was to get the gearbox ready for fitting. It had been cut out of the car it was fitted to & the cut bits were still attached! I also had to make the pipe from the slave cylinder to other end of the flexi-pipe. Gearbox ready for fitting...  I can't actually fit the gearbox yet, my one & only clutch release bearing is knackered! The clutch i'm fitting is 2nd-hand, but not very old. I have a worn out one to compare it with & there's plenty of life left in this one!! If anyone has a spare release bearing lying around i'd like to hear from them!! |
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ian
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« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2008, 08:48:46 PM » |
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ask andy @drive,there a few quid mate
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bstardchild
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« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2008, 07:39:59 PM » |
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ask andy @drive,there a few quid mate
£30 from memory - bought one last year Edited to add found the reciept!!! 90250663 £32.28 after discount!! |
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Cheers
BC
"The Lotus Carlton is not tail happy – honestly - as long as you accept it has 377 bhp and 419 lb/ft of torque, is rear drive and has no driver aids, it's fine."
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #16 on: February 04, 2008, 07:48:08 PM » |
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ask andy @drive,there a few quid mate
£30 from memory - bought one last year Edited to add found the reciept!!! 90250663 £32.28 after discount!! I've got one on the way now, plus another one offered locally to me. I've a funny feeling that it'll all have to come out again soon knowing my luck!! |
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Johnraka
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« Reply #17 on: February 04, 2008, 08:35:26 PM » |
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or has taste and likes a smooth ride,
let me just go kiss my auto box 1 sec
Gonna kiss mine too, she probably heard that comment... Love auto's, luverly stuff...  |
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Regards
JD
This week I have been mostly polishing my car...
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #18 on: February 09, 2008, 07:30:08 PM » |
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More progress today...
Finally got the gearbox mounted onto the engine!! Took for ever to get it lined up properly, but perservered & eventually got it on.
Got all the pipes connected up for the clutch, bled it through & pedal feels ok so am assuming i put it together properly. Gearlever now connected & bolted up to the transmission tunnel.
Was wondering what to do about the wiring side of things as i'm not much good at that. Luckily i had a spare manual loom in the shed so i thought it easier to just fit that instead. Amazed at how many extra connectors & wiring on the auto loom. I'm assuming that the only thing i will need to sort out now will be the reversing light switch? Isn't there a hidden connector under the dash somewhere for this purpose? I'm assuming that with a manual loom i wont need to snip any wires to tell the ECU i've got a manual box in the car?
Still need to fit the propshaft, diff & driveshafts, then get some sort of exhaust cobbled together. The one that came off the car has a hole in one of the centre boxes just where it joins the back box. I have one spare centre box, but it'll be sods law that it isn't the same side as the one with the hole in it! I also have my hollowed out mids & spare back box so may well chuck that on till i can get the Scorpion off my other GSi.
I'm hoping that i can get the car running tomorrow or a test drive. Once i'm happy with the conversion then i can concentrate on all of the easier stuff that needs doing. There isn't anything else that will render the car immobile for more than a few hours so it'll be a big relief if the gearbox works ok!
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2008, 06:58:19 PM » |
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Another busy day in the shed... Today i have completed the following: Finished fitting manual loom. Replaced broken power steering reservoir that i broke before! Assembled & fitted propshaft. Put inlet side of engine back together. Fitted exhaust downpipe. Fitted welded diff (thanks to Richard Horton for dropping it off!). Fitted nearside driveshaft. Assembled spare exhaust ready for fitting. This task seems never ending! Thankfully i have only to fit the offside driveshaft, bolt the diff damper up & fit an exhaust before i can take it for a test drive. I did start the engine today to make sure i'd fitted the loom correctly. It started ok which was a big relief. No unusual noises from the flywheel or clutch either so i hope i've done that part right. Am having to fit a temporary exhaust for now. This is so i can get the car out of the workshop and put the other GSi in so it can have the Scoprion removed. I have a spare system with hollowed out centre boxes, this will go on this car. Then i will replace the defective centre box from the original exhaust as luckily my single spare was the right side! Then this exhaust will go on the other GSi. Old exhaust...  This is the one that has Lotus style tailpipes. Personally i'm not a big fan, but as they are firmly welded on they will have to stay! Temporary exhaust...  This exhaust has been patched a lot in the past but sounds superb! The tailpipe trims are not original either, not that i'm bothered. This system will stay on the car till the Scorpion has been suitably de-restricted & modified eliminate the Y-sections. Downpipe...  This is the modified downpipe that came on the car. It has had the cat part removed & a single pipe welded in its place so that the bit that used to bolt to the cats now bolts direct to the centre boxes. The only downside is that there is no longer a bracket to bolt the exhaust to the bracket that sits on the back of the gearbox. Not sure if this will ever become a problem or not? Another thing that puzzles me is this hole in the side of the gearbox bellhousing...  It looks like someone has cut this hole as the edges are quite smooth & the hole iteslf seems quite neat. Why would someone want to do this? Would this hole cause me any future problems? Hoping to have a day off this week so i can get the car mobile again. Then can finish off the stripping & lightening process, as well as fitting uprated brakes. |
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #20 on: February 12, 2008, 07:52:24 PM » |
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Well today was sent to try me!
Jobs completed today....
Re-fitted offside driveshaft.
Re-fitted rear anti-roll bar.
Bolted rear diff mount back up to chassis.
Re-fitted bottom rear shocker mounts.
Fitted exhaust (my god this was a bastard of a job.
Replaced broken servo vaccuum pipe that i broke yesterday! :oops:
The exhaust was an utter twat to fit. It came off a Senator, so probably shouldn't be fitted to a Carlton. It's all bolted together, but the centre boxes are near enough touching the rear floorpan.
So the time had finally come to give the damn thing a test drive! I had the engine running yesterday, so thought it would be a case of turning the key and off i go. WRONG!!! Car started, but coughed, spluttered & died again!! Same result when i tried to re-start, then it just wouldn't run at all. Went to the garage for some more petrol, even though 2 gallons were still showing. Same result, car would turn over ok but barely firing. Swapped FPR, same result. Bridged connections to fuel pump, heard it running so no problem there. Pressed the valve on the fuel rail, no fuel!!! Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!!
So i went to the back of the car & disconnected the fuel feed pipe. Ran the pump again, still no fuel! By this time i was getting a bit cross, so phoned Tony Jackson for advice. Tony suggested that there might be a problem with the pump. So i took the pump out of the tank (after getting petrol in my eye!) & all became clear why the car wouldn't run. The pump pick-up filter was covered in petrol jelly!!! It has been stood around a fair bit som i'm not really surprised, just a bloody annoying time for it to happen!!
So i pinched the pump assembly out of another tank i had lying around, fitted it to the tank on the car & finally it started!!! Exhaust is blowing a bit at the joints but sounded really good. No unusual noises from gearbox or flywheel, looking good so far!!
Took the car out for a test drive. Gearbox works, clutch works, all good so far! Exhaust is touching the propshaft now and again. Welded diff slightly noisy, but by hell is it fun to drive with it fitted!! Drifting is so easy now!! Parking however is fun, back of the car feels like it is bouncing around a bit!
All in all i'm very happy, my main concern, the gearbox & clutch, is fine, the diff seems ok (still going to take a spare to Marham though). Car goes well, even with a non-functioning dual-ram.
Now i can concentrate on ripping the rest of the interior out & sorting the brakes!!
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #21 on: April 07, 2008, 09:13:21 PM » |
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It's been a while since i updated this thread so thought it high time i did!! To say i've had my ups & downs with this car is an understatement. On my last update i was having trouble with the fuel. that turned out to be jellyfied petrol. Then i had trouble with the fuel pump seizing. Well all of that is now sorted!! So i started to use the car everyday, to try & iron out any niggles i had. First problem was that the car suddenly started to lose power at high rpm, followed by a wheezing noise that got louder the more you revved the engine. This turned out to be a completely blocked back box....  End result is that the car now has its original exhaust back on!! Next worry was the welded diff. Whilst it was enourmous fun, trying to use the car everyday was getting a bit frustrating, expecially when trying to park it!! So i removed the welded diff & fitted an LSD of unknown quantity that came out of a fairly high mileage GSi. This turned out to be a fairly good idea as the LSD i have fitted works perfectly!! I've managed to fix the dual ram also. This turned out to be a small hole in the pipe between the inlet manifold and the dual ram sphere. I cut the bit with the hole out & rejoined the pipe! Easy peasy!! Next job was to fit new brakes & red stuff pads. This was a fairly straightforward job. Decided to go for EBC Redstuff pads all round. also managed to get hold of a set of Goodridge brake hoses. Rear discs & pads...  Rear hoses...  Took the car for a drive after i fitted these & it makes a hell of a difference. Pedal is really firm now & there's plenty of stopping power. Now i moved round to the engine to give it a bit of a service. I also wanted to fit a nice shiny overbored throttle body i had acquired from the ABS member who makes them. Old & new throttle body...  Also changed the oil for Valvoline Racing 20w50 mineral oil. The oil hadn't been changed for some time so it was well overdue. Repalced filter with a genuine VX one, as well as the spark plugs and seals. About 4 days after i did the above, disaster struck. Tried to start the car one morning & there was a quite a prounounced knocking noise from the top end of the engine. The engine also refused to run for more than a few seconds. So i ended up towing the car back to my workshop to investigate. I took the cam cover off expecting to see a snapped chain. Chains looked ok & all timing marks lined up perfectly. So i started to check the spark plugs, got as far as number 2 & i found this...  Oh dear!! Removed the inlet manifold & one of the inlet valves was bent open. So something had either got into the combustion chamber, or the bottom end had let go somehow. Either way the engine was buggered!! Had plenty of time to spare on this particular day, also had Pedro's engine crane in my shed so started to remove the engine!! Started with the knackered engine...  Out she comes...  Bit more...  Nearly there...  & she's out!!  Time to start looking for another engine. Luckily, an ABS member had a spare engine available. 130k with chains & head gasket done at 100k. Mine for £100! Only downside was that the engine was in Kent & i'm in Lincolnshire. So i hired a small van & off i went. As i was running short of cash, i decided to sell my 16" Irmscher cross-spoke wheels. Luckily enough, the buyer also lived in Kent so i took them on the way to pick up the engine! Van loaded up ready...  Engine ready for collection...  Engine in van...  Engine coming out of van into my workshop...  For the last couple of days i have been swapping over the ancilliaries from the old engine on to the new one. Was slightly thwarted by the serpentine belt tensioner, ended up breaking two of them before i figured out how they worked!! Flywheel, clutch & gearbox are now fitted to the new engine, as well as alternator, starter power steering pump, inlet manifold etc etc. So now i have this ready to fit...  Tommorrow i shall be fitting the engine, with a little help from Hazzy who has agreed to pop over & lend a hand. I had a bit of time to kill this afternoon, so i decided to pop the head off the old engine to see if i could work out what had gone wrong. Once i had the head off it was pretty obvious really...  Some sort of foreign body had worked its way into the combustion chamber & basically wreaked havoc. Damage wasn't limited to the piston top, the head is wrecked too...  I also noticed that the head gasket was on its last legs, the back end of it snapped off when i tried to lift it off the block! that might have explained the oil pouring down the side of the bock then!! So all in all it was just as well that the engine went bang when it did, otherwise i might have had a disaster on the track! Now all i have to do is refit the engine & get it running in time for Sunday - Simple!!! |
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Scatmancraig
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« Reply #23 on: April 17, 2008, 07:26:33 PM » |
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dude that head is smashed to s£@t, i dont even think getting it skimmed might solve the problem . That's the least of my worries. After picking up my engine, fitting it, getting it running etc, it lasted all of 5 laps of the track before the bottom end started knocking!! So now i need another engine!! No rush this time though as the car runs out of MOT at the end of the month. I have a few plans up my sleeve, so Carlton is safely tucked up in my shed. MOT wont be a problem as body is so solid it's untrue!! |
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YasmineLee
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« Reply #24 on: April 17, 2008, 08:10:04 PM » |
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I have a spare engine. head was rebuilt and skimmed. ran nice apart from oil in the collant.
found out during my engine swap that i had a cable tie sandwiched between the head and the block. opps
so should just new a new head gasket fitted.
232k on clock. but was removed from a car with vauxhall history
any good?
any good.
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1993 Vauxhall Carlton 3.0 24v Diamond Estate ( The Monster)
1993 Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 GLi Estate (The tame one)
2003 Vauxhall Vivaro 1.9 Di LWB Van (The Virgin)
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