humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by humbucker »

Apologies for the lack of recent project updates, but rest assured that work has been continuing 'behind the scenes'. Proof, if proof were needed, can be found in the new issue of Performance Vauxhall magazine (which comes loaded with the latest goings-on from the #irmscherMV6 camp). Raid the newsstands in WHSmith, Tesco etc., or grab your copy by downloading/subscribing here: http://is.gd/lLkpR5 ;)

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by humbucker »

With plans to fit a more powerful engine further down the line, I was keen to source a hefty set of anchors for the MV6. My first instinct was to look at off-the-shelf solutions. Discussions with various companies at home and abroad revealed a number of bolt-on options that I could take advantage of, but I couldn’t help but get the sense that I was being offered ‘show brakes’ in place of some serious stopping power.

Anyone interested in motorsport will know that professional racing teams tend to equip their cars with Brembo, AP Racing or Alcon brake kits. If the output of these manufacturers is good enough for contesting championship title races, then I’m pretty sure that it will be fine for my trusty ol’ Vauxhall! Needless to say, I began to draw up a list of OEM brake kits as supplied by ‘the big three’ to European premium car makers.

BMW E38 four-piston Brembos and Lotus Carlton AP Racing calipers quickly appeared at the top of my hit list, but a chat with Seweryn Sidor (a fellow Irmscher-kitted Griffin owner and proprietor of Cambridgeshire-based Vauxhall specialist, SOS Automotive) opened my eyes to the giant six-piston Brembo stoppers fitted to Porsche Cayenne Turbos. Furthermore, Sew reckoned that he could supply me with suitable caliper brackets made out of aerospace grade billet aluminium. Top banana!

An eBay search produced a reasonably priced – if badly painted – pair of Cayenne Turbo six-pots, and I made contact with EBC Brakes when sourcing pads and rotors. The British firm is a world leader when it comes to the supply and manufacture of precision discs and performance pads, and the EBC team couldn’t have been more helpful when it came to selecting parts that would suit my custom brake kit.

EBC Ultimax Audi A8 Quattro 360mm slotted discs and Cayenne Turbo Yellowstuff pads landed on my doorstep a short while later. As expected, the MV6’s hubs needed to be modified in order to accept the discs (another trip to Sew’s was in order!), but I’m pleased to report that everything bolted into place without issue during a subsequent first fitting session. Well, almost without issue...

The Porker runs 350mm discs, and its six-pot Brembos have a tolerance that will allow for 356mm discs under 18-inch rims. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was pushing my luck with 360mm rotors! I’m determined to get the parts to work alongside one another without complaint, though. A trip back to the machine shop will follow this update. I’m confident in my assumption that success will be the order of the day, and I’ll start overhauling the rear brakes as soon as I’ve got the fronts behaving and painted in a fetching shade of yellow. Watch this space!

THANKS

EBC Brakes
01604 583344
http://www.ebcbrakes.com

SOS Automotive
01480 700655
http://www.sos-automotive.com

Yup, they should stop it:

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Custom caliper brackets:

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Koyo front wheel bearing assemblies. These were modified in order to allow for the use of Audi-fitment EBC discs:

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Talking of which...

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Test fit with new pad fitting hardware:

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I'm really pleased with the outcome of this part of the project. Well, apart from the whole 'disc too big for the caliper' bit! Further modification will follow, and the front and rear calipers will be stripped back and powdercoated yellow before being rebuilt with all new seals etc.

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by Lowrider Dave »

Oof! Sexy stopping power! They'll look top notch and give you excellent braking once set up right. Love those calliper brackets.
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by humbucker »

lowrider dave wrote:Oof! Sexy stopping power! They'll look top notch and give you excellent braking once set up right. Love those calliper brackets.
Cheers Dave! There shouldn't be any problem with stopping power with the Brembos in place. The rears have been beefed-up too, along with tidy VXR suspension parts etc. Oh, and a refridgerator in the back! More to follow...
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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The latest Irmscher MV6 project update has hit newsstands. Hoorah! I've been busy beavering away with VXR suspension bits, upgraded rear brakes and an in-car refrigerator (of course), but I did get the MV6's fuel injectors reconditioned before attempting to keep my coke cool. Ahem.

Read all about my fuel-related fun by picking up a copy of the latest edition of Performance Vauxhall magazine. You can raid the newsstands in WHSmith, Tesco etc., or download/subscribe at the following link: http://is.gd/Ns0PRD ;)

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by humbucker »

Courtenay Sport protective seat covers. Each one adds at least 20bhp to the host vehicle. That's 5bhp more than if they had 'Regal' printed on them.

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Buying car parts through necessity rather than choice can be a frustrating exercise, but almost every failed, tired or broken automotive component presents an opportunity to upgrade with a vastly improved replacement item (that’s what I’ve been telling myself, anyway!). A prime example of this train of thought comes in the form of my MV6’s nifty new windscreen.

I noticed a hairline crack stemming from a delaminating nearside bottom corner of the car’s factory glass while I was tidying its neighbouring engine bay. Spreading at an alarming rate, the damage was soon making its way up and across the body of the windscreen. As I had no choice but to source a suitable replacement, I softened the blow by getting hold of new glass complete with fittings for a variable speed windscreen wiper rain sensor kit. A kindly Vectra C donated its rain sensor, interior mirror, wiring and plastic housing to the cause, and I’m looking forward to seeing this novelty feature in action as soon as the car is up and running.

Talking of which, I’ve been sourcing plenty of new parts for the MV6’s Y32SE engine; both cylinder heads have been stripped, cleaned and rebuilt with new valve stem seals, and I enlisted the assistance of the guys at Injectortune when it came to refreshing the 3.2-litre lump’s Bosch fuel injectors.

Over time, dust particles and other contaminants can cause injectors to run below their full potential, and spray patterns can be vastly affected by loose matter floating around a car’s fuel system. Injectortune stripped, ultrasonically cleaned and rebuilt each of my injectors (complete with new filters and o-rings) before shipping them back to me with a ‘before and after’ report highlighting the improved static flow of each unit. Better still, a forward leak detected on injector number two has now been completely eradicated thanks to this excellent cleaning process, and I already know that smoother engine operation and quicker response is a given thanks to the exact same work carried out on the injectors of my V6-equipped Mk3 Cavalier CDX a few years ago. Nice!

Meanwhile, parts continue to pile up as I tinker: a new GM header tank, oil cooler kit, throttle body gaskets, oil filter screw plug, coolant temperature sensor, triple layer steel head gaskets and various performance filters and fluids are ready to roll, as are the car’s Falken-wrapped refurbished 18-inch staggered Irmscher Sport Stars. I’ve also been amassing a collection of interior upgrades (including a Signum Elite in-car refrigerator, a factory-option double DIN head unit with integrated satellite navigation and a full-colour information dash display) and I’m determined to fit a variety of trick Monaro VXR suspension parts to the car. I suppose I’d better crack on, eh?!

THANKS

Injectortune
http://www.injectortune.co.uk

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Old filters and o-rings were returned with the refurbished injectors:

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Yuk:

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Old and new valve stem seals. Can you tell which is which?! :p

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Job done:

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Heads during the cleaning process:

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Fitting the stem seals:

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A small socket was used to push them into place:

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Refurbished fuel injector spray nozzle(s):

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Triple layer metal head gasket(s):

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New genuine sealants:

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New oil cooler kit:

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And fitted:

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New water pump and seal:

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Cleaned coolant bridge bolts and new seals (right):

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Courtenay Sport cool running thermostat in brand new genuine GM 'stat housing:

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New genuine coolant pipe and sealing rings:

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New head bolts:

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Heads on:

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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I've been asked what the benefit of a multi-layer metal head gasket is over a composite part.

Multi-layer steel head gaskets usually consist of two to five sheets of sandwiched spring or carbon steel. They are claimed to offer higher sealing potential than composite gaskets (which is why they are present on the majority of modern engines). For improved sealing of gasses and liquids, beads around the combustion chambers and oil/coolant passages increase the local sealing pressure (macro sealing), while full-surface or partial elastomer coatings provide additional sealing tightness (micro sealing).

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by Lowrider Dave »

Cracking work Dan, coming together really well. Looking forwards to more reports (between writing articles!).
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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lowrider dave wrote:Cracking work Dan, coming together really well. Looking forwards to more reports (between writing articles!).
Cheers Dave! You won't have to wait long...
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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With one of my donor engines becoming the MV6's new powerplant, I decided to start stripping the car's original Y32SE. It kindly donated its 'G' cams and enough perfectly functioning hydraulic lifters to ensure that I had exactly 24 fully operational parts laid out in front of me. Lucky, huh?!

Let’s get stripping!

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OOF cambelt video proved useful as a point of reference:

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Ugh! That is one horrid milky mess!

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Never mind. We all know what we’re here for!

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Both ‘G’ cams removed and cleaned:

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These are the lifters that were taken out of the car’s new engine. As you can see, I have put the working examples in the tub on the left. Clearly, there were more bad than good:

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This is what I was left with after raiding the car’s original engine – 24 good and 24 ‘sticky’ lifters. A close call! At one point, it looked as though I was gonna have to raid another of my spare Y32SEs!

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Squeezing the old oil and milky mank out of each of the good lifters. This took an absolute age:

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With each lifter finally free of any obvious/readily removable contaminants, the parts were left to soak in petrol in an effort to break down any remaining deposits. I’ll prime each lifter with fresh oil before installation. Pics to follow.

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Hmmm, oily bits and engine stripping - all good fun. Nice progress Dan.
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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A sneak peek of what's been happening at The Wheel Genie. Yup, you're looking at my staggered Irmscher Sport Stars getting a lick of BMW E39 M5 Chrome Shadow paint following a comprehensive restoration procedure. More to follow :)

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by Greig Sri »

Wheels look very good. :cool

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Ooof! Nice rims 'Dan the Bling'.
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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lowrider dave wrote:Ooof! Nice rims 'Dan the Bling'.
I've been called worse! :lol:
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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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The latest Irmscher MV6 project update is sitting on newsstands. You know what to do! :)

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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As you can probably tell from one of my previous posts, I didn't realise that the engine's hydraulic lifters could be dismantled! Anyway, after squeezing all of the cak out of them, I ended up pulling them apart and giving them a wipe clean for good measure. If only I'd known that was possible before I started getting busy with them! Doh!

I decided to remove the car's rear brake calipers so that they can be stripped and powdercoated to match the six-pot Brembos at the front. The pipe nuts were having none of it and registered their disapproval by snapping my brake spanner. Sheesh. I ended up cutting the brake pipes to get the calipers off! I'll make some replacement pipes when the calipers are ready to go back on.

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What a mess!

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I added a new genuine fuel filter while I was digging around at the back of the car. And why not, eh?!

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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I've got loads of genuine GM screw-on oil filters in my arsenal of service parts due to the fact that I've owned a succession of Cavalier Turbos. It made sense to ditch the MV6's permacanister and convert the filter type to that of the Cavaliers.

Canister removed:

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Spin-on connector and permanent threadlock:

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Fitted:

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I also installed a TX Autosport magnetic sump plug. Tried and tested on my Cavaliers:

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Cam caps were left to soak before being cleaned.

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Cam cap bolts were given the same treatment:

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Hulk juice:

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New exhaust manifold studs:

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G cams, cam seals, cam caps, cleaned alternator, exhaust studs, new water pump, new 'stat and new coolant transfer pipe in place:

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by humbucker »

More breakage!

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Gawd bless the lifetime guarantee that Halfords applies to its tools!

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A very mucky rear timing cover. It cleaned up a treat with a bit of elbow grease.

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New genuine GM timing kit. Let the fun and games begin... :?

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Success, but only after what seemed like a zillion attempts at getting each and every timing mark lined up correctly. Thanks must go to Serek for providing me with reassurance when I contacted him for a sanity check!

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The car's previous owner bought brand new cam covers direct from Vauxhall shortly before he sold up in favour of a new Insignia. Time to give 'em a clean before fitting all new gaskets.

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The original cam cover bolts were a beyond their best. I bought replacements in the form of nifty caphead bolts and matching washers.

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Hey presto!

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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Airbox opened up, cleaned and equipped with a new K&N panel filter.

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

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A set of new spark plugs gifted to me by OOF member, Tomoco:

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The coil pack rubber sleeves (or whatever you want to call them) were a bit grubby. Degreaser at the ready!

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Nicely done:

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New zinc-plated bolts and washers for the coil packs:

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The donor engine's exhaust manifold heat shields were really filthy. I scrubbed them with a sponge and degreaser before testing some Autobrite Direct 'Metalworx' polish to see if the parts could be restored in any way. There isn't much that can be done about the pitting in the metal, but the heat shields are now a lot brighter than they were before I started playing with them. They would probably look even better if I'd had more time to spare. Meh!

I also fitted all new exhaust manifold nuts and cleaned the heat shield bolts before installation:

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Coil packs and shiny bits in place:

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Re: humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

Post by humbucker »

Guinness 'Death Star' chocolates. An essential 'tool' when it comes to tinkering with V6 engines! WIN!

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