humbucker's 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier Turbo 4x4 (Turbo #2)

[humbucker]

Looks like some absolutely stunning work has gone into that.

Very impressive indeed.

Cheers James. I'm pleased with the outcome. The compressor housing, turbine housing and bearing housing are in an odd position on the turbo, and are most definitely not set for a Cavalier Turbo application (possibly not even suited to Sapphire or Escort RS Cosworths!). I've got to set (or 'clock') each part to the correct position before sending the turbocharger back to the guys at Turbo Dynamics so that they can make a custom actuator bracket for me. Without knowing what my final compressor housing, turbine housing and bearing housing positions would be - or what actuator I'd be using - they were unable to make the bracket.

[humbucker]

If you’ve taken time out to read my hybrid turbo build timeline (see previous posts), then you’ll know that my Cavalier is about to be given a custom-spec Garrett turbocharger thanks to the expertise of the guys down at Turbo Dynamics. That’s all well and good, but in order to install and get the best out of my car’s new bhp booster, I needed to buy a free-flowing exhaust manifold with a T3 flange.

I struck gold when I spotted an ad for an unused C20LET tubular manifold that had been handmade by the late Swedish manifold magician, Peter Granström. By using quality stainless steel and top-notch TIG welds, Peter gained a reputation for producing high-end manifolds that many modifiers consider to be works of art. Judging by the quality of the workmanship that has gone into the pipework that I bought, it’s easy to see why!













Capable of handling big power, the equal length manifold is kitted-out with an exhaust gas temperature bung and is thought to be one of the last manifolds that Peter made before his untimely death a few years ago. Originally advertised at a cost of a grand, it’s a serious bit of kit, and I can’t wait to fit it to the car.

In a not-entirely-unrelated change of subject, I’ve been impressed by the design and quality of Mishimoto parts over the years. Plenty of high-performance Japanese cars benefit greatly from the various intercoolers, radiators, hose kits and cooling accessories that the company makes, and in an exciting move, the Stateside firm has recently expanded its product catalogue to include brilliantly-manufactured airflow and cooling components for V8-powered Vauxhalls (hello to all you Monaro owners out there!). Furthermore, it produces a wide range of universal intercooler kits, many of which have been spotted on recent Performance Vauxhall feature cars.

The Cavalier Turbo’s standard intercooler is barely capable of serving a factory-spec C20LET, let alone a tuned engine! To accompany my car’s new turbocharger, its Peter G tubular exhaust manifold and its soon-to-be-bought boost pipework, I wanted a fairly compact front-mounted intercooler capable of packing a big punch. Mishimoto’s Race Edition J-Line ‘cooler is exactly what I was looking for. Able to handle 500bhp whilst retaining a slim profile, the expertly TIG-welded part features an aluminium construction with cast end tanks and high-density internal fins that increase overall cooling capacity by maximising the internal surface area of the intercooler. I ordered a J-Line covered in a stealth-like black finish, although silver and gold were also available as colour options at the point of checkout. Yes, gold. Suits you, sir.







THANKS

Mishimoto
01384 897476
http://www.mishimoto.co.uk

[Lowrider Dave]

That TIG welding is superb! Cooler looks nice in stealth black!

[humbucker]

That TIG welding is superb! Cooler looks nice in stealth black!

Glad you approve! Ordered a brand new pair of these today. Four-piston GTC VXR / Insignia VXR Brembo calipers. They should arrive tomorrow. Eek!

[Lowrider Dave]

By 'eck lad, that'll stop you and no mistake! What discs are you going for?

[humbucker]

By 'eck lad, that'll stop you and no mistake! What discs are you going for?

I'm going to do what I did with the MV6 brakes - mix, modify and match until I find something that fits! In the MV6's case, that ended up being Porsche Cayenne Turbo six-pot Brembos, Audi A8 Quattro discs, modified Koyo bearings and custom caliper carriers. I'll build a similar kit for the Cavalier, although I'm not sure what discs I'll end up with. They won't be GTC VXR discs, that's for sure... they're over £700 a pair!

[Lowrider Dave]

They won't be GTC VXR discs, that's for sure... they're over £700 a pair!

I won't be getting them for Archer then - lol!

I thought you might go down the mix'n'match route as per the Mega - it will be interesting to see what you manage to find that works together.

[humbucker]

Looks like some absolutely stunning work has gone into that.

Very impressive indeed.

A mate said to me today, "I thought you were getting a hybrid turbo, not a completely new turbo!" That just goes to show how thorough the guys at Turbo Dynamics are, a fact bolstered by the work they carried out when making a custom actuator bracket for me.

First off, I needed to 'clock' (rotate compressor, bearing and turbine housings) the turbo until it was perfectly configured for my Cavalier. The only real way to do this and end up with each housing in the right place is to mate the turbo to the exhaust manifold either on a workbench or on the engine itself. So, I guess I'll need some turbo to manifold bolts, eh?!

I contacted fast Ford specialist, Graham Goode Racing, and placed an order for turbo to manifold studs and nuts, turbo to downpipe studs and nuts, and a pair water feed banjo bolts with washers. Cosworth tax wasn't in short supply. Ouch.



New T3 turbocharger to manifold crush gasket:



I also managed to get hold of a genuine C20LET top end rebuild gasket kit. I'm probably gonna end up using a modified Z20LET head gasket, but the price I got the kit for was so cheap that it was worth having for every other OE gasket and seal in the packet. I was going to fit the exhaust manifold gasket when trial-fitting my PeterG pipework for the turbo clocking session, but things didn't quite go according to plan...

[Lowrider Dave]

Cosworth tax wasn't in short supply.

LOL - not surprised.

but things didn't quite go according to plan.

Tease.


(Why you not double quote - damn coding...)
Admin edit: Wrong closing quote used. Fixed!

[humbucker]

The first problem occurred when I noticed that the stud holes on the manifold were threaded. In other words, there was no way of slotting the manifold over studs that were screwed into the turbocharger’s manifold mating flange. Doh!



Ignore dirt on mating surface!



The next obstacle presented itself in the form of a warped turbocharger to exhaust manifold stud. A call to Graham Goode Racing resulted in a replacement landing on my doorstep a couple of days later. I wasn't looking to permanently fix the parts into place at this stage, but the duff stud was an annoyance nonetheless.

[humbucker]

The car's new turbocharger featured turbine, compressor and bearing housings that were in totally the wrong position for a Vauxhall application. I’m not even sure they were correct for their claimed Cossie fitment! Either way, I needed to ‘clock’ the housings to my preferred position before returning the unit to the guys at Turbo Dynamics so that they could equip it with a custom bracket for the Forge Motorsport actuator that I’d bought a while back.



James Middleton (one half of Cambridgeshire-based fabrication and track car preparation outfit, Relentless Performance (http://www.relentlessperformance.co.uk) came to the rescue. Not only did he drill the manifold free of threaded holes, but he kindly clocked the turbo for me on his workbench. Top man! You might know him as 'jonlem' from MIGweb.







Seeing the manifold and turbo joined together for the first time was very exciting, and I was soon able to fire the modified Garrett back down to Turbo Dynamics for the bracket to be made.

Unlike most actuator brackets (bolted metal plates), the part on my turbo is a thick CNC-machined aluminium plate that has been welded into place after being angled to suit the compressor housing that it is now attached to. Following installation, the actuator’s tensioner preload was set, and the part’s rod nut was marked with a blob of now-familiar Turbo Dynamics ‘tamper-proof’ blue coating.













The finished turbocharger looks great and should perform brilliantly alongside the PeterG pipework and the Mishimoto J-Line Race Edition intercooler that I recently bought. There’s just the small matter of building a fully forged C20LET engine to take care of first…

[Greig Sri]

Some amount of work gone in to that turbo. I'm sure it will put a huge smile on your face once one bolted on to your engine.

Greig

[humbucker]

Some amount of work gone in to that turbo. I'm sure it will put a huge smile on your face once one bolted on to your engine.

Greig

Yeah, here's hoping! A long way off yet, mind. As you've probably already gathered, I'm engaged in a process of stockpiling and building parts ready to throw at the car as soon as it is covered in a new coat of colour. More on that to follow (the VXR is taking up a lot of my time at the moment. What a car! I'll update its project thread as soon as I get a chance).

I enjoyed this year's VBOA National Rally at Billing Aquadrome last weekend. As you can see, nothing says "the editor of Performance Vauxhall magazine attending the year's biggest and best Vauxhall and Opel show" like a Saab 95 Aero HOT estate and a tent decorated with the Honda Type R logo!



There is method to the madness, promise! I needed to take a car big enough to bring home my Cavalier's new bonnet. Here it is (a recognisable part to many, I'm sure):

[humbucker]

Unique part and serial numbers applied to the turbo:

[humbucker]

I forgot to mention that the turbocharger's old/discarded components were packaged up and sent back to me by Turbo Dynamics.

[Lowrider Dave]

Impressive bit of engineering - well done on following this through, it'll certainly be something different when back together!

[humbucker]

[ Image ]

Impressive bit of engineering - well done on following this through, it'll certainly be something different when back together!

Thanks Dave. A long way to go yet, but as you can see, I'm being mega thorough with everything involved in this build.

In other news, I recently heard from Billy (forum username vauxhallsince1993), the lad who indirectly ended up buying Turbo #1. I say indirectly, because it was actually his boss, Daniel (forum username danc03), who bought the car after Billy encouraged him to do so. I do remember Daniel telling me that he thought Billy was more excited about the deal than he was, hehe!

Anyway, it seems that the car was treated to a dust cover and parked in a corner of Daniel's workshop. It remained there until a few weeks ago when Billy convinced Daniel to hand over the car's keys... and its logbook!



Nice to see the ol' girl has been keeping good company:

[Lowrider Dave]

Excellent, glad to the old girl getting used.

[humbucker]

Back with another one of those block rockin' beats...

[humbucker]

Cor! I was about to invest in a high-flow fuel pump for the car, but I've just been informed that I've won a Protec motorsport-spec EFI fuel pump and fitting kit in the Red Victor 3 5 Second Club raffle. This particular pump is designed for applications producing up to 700hp. Job's a good 'un!

[humbucker]

...and now I've won a full set of custom Lexan polycarbonate windows in the Red Victor 3 prize auction. Oosh!

[iangsi]

Better buy some lottery tickets.

[C20letlad]

As for the brakes I've just fitted them to my cav turbo not easy tho ! fully working insignia Vxr brakes

[humbucker]

Nice one, Kev. I take it you had custom brackets made? What discs did you use? They look like re-drilled Insignia/Astra discs? I was gonna try and source some single-piece parts and re-drill 'em to suit. Sod the £800 price tag on the two-piece OE parts!

[C20letlad]

Yeah not cheap discs ! And the £350 for pads ! I made the brackets myself, you have to alter the legs to get the correct clearance for the calipers and yes redrilled Vxr discs