humbucker's 2004 Irmscher MV6 #irmscherMV6

[btcctroy]

Expensive cool tool.
I bet I could make one of those for cheap

[iangsi]

Cool tool!

Don't you mean HOT

[humbucker]

Expensive cool tool. I bet I could make one of those for cheap

Yeah, I think an ex-demo one is about £550 inc the VAT. Full RRP is around £800 iirc. My mate has one in his workshop (viewtopic.php?f=54&t=9532) and is bringing it over at the weekend. We'll no doubt be using it on more than one occasion as we remove the engines and gearboxes of both MV6s on Saturday evening.

[Envoy CDX]

Sounds like fun!

[humbucker]

More detail to follow, but for the benefit of those who haven’t seen it already (and for those who want to know ‘what’s in the box' ), the latest full ‪#‎irmscherMV6‬ project update has hit newsstands and can be found on page 88 of the current issue of Total Vauxhall. As ever, the magazine features some cracking cars and is available to buy from all the usual retailers. iFolk can get the digital version by clicking here: http://www.totalvauxhall.co.uk/newsstand. You can even have the mag delivered direct to your door at no extra cost by clicking here: http://is.gd/0N0iii. You know what, you might as well subscribe! Click here: http://is.gd/sLShvy Thanuverymush x

[Envoy CDX]

Been having fun have you Dan?

[humbucker]

Been having fun have you Dan?

Something like that...!

[humbucker]

Progress has been a little slower than expected this month following the busted kneecap that I suffered as a direct result of kneeling on gravel while installing the Recaro leathers that starred in my last project update. Ouch. A quick once over by my GP confirmed the damage, at which point I was instructed to give the pulverised patella a few weeks of rest. The fact that my other knee was also diagnosed as being in a poor state added insult to injury (literally!) and forced me to re-evaluate my immediate Irmscher shaped plan of action.

Down but not out, I decided to spend time sorting the MV6’s questionable cosmetic state. A thick layer of muck had formed on the bodywork, and time spent beneath a tree at the back of the Vauxhall dealer that sold me the car had encouraged sap and yucky green stuff to cake the outer panels. I’m not too fussed about a show quality shine at this stage, but it’s fair to say that a thorough exterior cleaning session was long overdue.

A chat with the car care detailing experts at Autobrite Direct would result in the tools for the job in the form of the firm’s heavy duty snow foam lance and a range of top quality decontaminants. The lance itself is one of the company’s best sellers and is claimed to be the safest pre-wash foaming tool on the market. It was a direct fit to my existing pressure washer, and I soon covered #irmscherMV6 in a thick Magifoam mousse in attempt to break down the stubborn grime before following up with a relentless assault of Citrus Wash degreaser, Purple Velvet high-gloss shampoo, Just The Tonic tar remover and heavy grade detailing clay.

The Autobrite products made light work of removing the filth, and the revealed paintwork wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of the car’s damaged Irmscher front bumper. It’s a rare (and expensive) item, and I was about to pick up the phone to my local bodyshop to get a quote for repair when a suitable replacement appeared on eBay. I couldn’t believe my luck, especially as the duplicate bumper featured nearly new Cibie fog lamps, mint mesh grilles and had been painted in the required shade of solid black! Needless to say, it’s now decorating the front end of the MV6 – an aspect of the car ruined by that massive V-grille. Take a guess at what I’ll be buying in the coming weeks...

THANKS
Autobrite Direct
01782 623819
Autobrite Direct - Home

Tooled up. Note the green crap stuck to the car's bodywork:



Autobrite Direct heavy duty snowfoam lance and Magifoam mousse in action:



This made me laugh!



Just the tonic? Just the ticket!





The new Irmscher front airdam/bumper, fogs and grilles:



Bolted up where it belongs:



#irmscherMV6 looking nice and tidy. Well, it was clean for about 24 hours (at which point Farmer Giles decided to let rip in the surrounding corn fields with his combine harvester. Ah well, at least I managed to take these photos beforehand )!

[Envoy CDX]

Nicely done, are those products easy to work with (they look expensive to be fair).

[humbucker]

Nicely done, are those products easy to work with (they look expensive to be fair).

Yeah, not too bad at all tbh. I had a bit of difficulty getting the snowfoam lance to pump out the desired water/foam ratio (which resulted in a heavy concentration of foam landing on the car!), but everything was OK once I'd worked out how to adjust the nozzle. I have yet to use the wheel cleaning solution, but the clay did its job well. I've been used to Meguiar's clay up until this point. More detail to follow.

[humbucker]

Wahey! The latest full #irmscherMV6 project update has hit newsstands and can be found on page 88 of the new issue of Total Vauxhall. As ever, the magazine features some awe-inspiring cars and is available to buy from all the usual retailers. iFolk can get the digital version by clicking here: http://www.totalvauxhall.co.uk/newsstand. You can even have the mag delivered direct to your door at no extra cost by clicking here: http://is.gd/Kr1hbX. You know what, you might as well subscribe! Click here: http://is.gd/sLShvy

[Envoy CDX]

Funky stuff.

[humbucker]

The MV6’s poorly Y32SE and its accompanying AR35 transmission have finally been extracted from the car thanks to a day of frantic spanner-wielding from within the confines of my garage. My good friend, Seweryn Sidor (a fellow Omega nut and the proprietor of Cambridgeshire Vauxhall service and repair specialists, SOS Automotive), popped over to assist with the proceedings, and we took the opportunity to relieve the donor MV6 of its X30XE engine and R28 manual gearbox at the same time.

This is where things get a bit complicated; I now have four V6 engines sitting on the garage floor, all of which are in various states of repair. There’s the Irmscher car’s faulty lump, a remanufactured 3.2 that I planned to use as its new powerplant (but have since decided isn’t up to the job), the donor car’s 3.0-litre engine and yet another Y32SE that regular readers will recall seeing pictured weighing down the back of my Saab estate. That’s 12.6-litres of GM grunt awaiting some action!

To cut a long story short, the latter 3.2 will be inspected, refreshed and rebuilt before joining the five-speed manual gearbox from the donor vehicle. Both will be bolted into my ever-patient Irmscher MV6.

With Sew on hand to help, the engine and ‘box of each car was removed as a single unit. I’d already pulled the bumpers, bonnets, wiring and radiators in a bid to speed the process along, and we were able to withdraw the guts of both Griffins in a little under three hours. There were, of course, a number of stubborn bolts to contend with along the way, but that’s pretty good going in my book.

It helped that the Irmscher-kitted motor’s previous owner had spent thousands of pounds on a brand new exhaust system and genuine GM catalytic convertors a short while before I grabbed its keys. This made removal of the pipework a straightforward affair and demonstrates how well looked after the ol’ bus has been over the years. In fact, until now, the car has returned to the very same Vauxhall dealer that originally sold it whenever there was a service or repair to be undertaken.

I collected the car from the same dealership (it was chopped in as part-ex against a new Insignia) which meant that I could get a comprehensive service history printout detailing every nut, bolt, fluid, and repair that it has been subjected to since new. I was amazed to see that it had even been wheeled to Vauxhall for the supply and fit of brake light bulbs! I’m not sure that was £85 well spent, but I’m not complaining about the new suspension, brakes, timing and cooling components that were thrown at it in the run up to my name appearing on the logbook.

Not that any of those parts are staying; every aspect of the Dark Destroyer is in the process of being overhauled and upgraded. I guess that I’d better crack on with this engine then, eh?!

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

And so it begins...







No engine? No problem!



Time for the donor MV6 to undergo open heart surgery:





Sew steadies the donor MV6's 3.0-litre engine and manual gearbox. It's not as big as it looks, honest!





Both MV6 engines and gearboxes plonked onto the garage floor (front: 3.2 auto, back: 3.0 manual). Note how much shorter the manual gearbox is:



Oh, and this was a tool that proved itself to be useful on the job ("two out of two mechanics recommend Mini-Ductor II" ):


Link

[Lowrider Dave]

If I had an engine out I'd go all picky about cleaning and detailing everything!

Looks like an excellent job, three hours is pretty good going, it helps the bolts were compliant!
What tonnage is that hoist?

[Envoy CDX]

Great work Dan

[humbucker]

If I had an engine out I'd go all picky about cleaning and detailing everything!

Looks like an excellent job, three hours is pretty good going, it helps the bolts were compliant!
What tonnage is that hoist?

Hi Dave,

Yeah, I hear you re the cleaning etc. I was tempted to strip the subframe and lower arms off and send them to the powdercoaters before installing the new engine. A clean up is a given, and I have oodles of new chassis components sitting here ready to fit (I can't wait!), but it's just going to add even more of a delay to getting the car on the road. Then again, I guess if you're gonna do a job then you might as well do it right first time... although the engine will be coming out again and replaced in the not too distant future. Hmmn. It's a matter of time tbh, work is mental atm (which is why it's taken me an age to get this far!).

Great work Dan

Cheers! I'm making progress with it... slowly!

[Envoy CDX]

Take your time, best to get it right first time rather than rush and have to revisit it later!

[humbucker]

These are my spare Y32SE engines (not be confused with the Y32SE and X30XE lumps in my earlier photos). One of them appears to have been bought/supplied direct from Vauxhall as a remanufactured exchange unit at some point in its life. I knew that there was something different about it due to the fact that its block-stamped identity has been replaced by an unusual GM plaque featuring an 'out of sequence' engine number. Interesting.



'603200' is the Y32SE's exchange unit part number:



Anyway, this arrived. Who fancies another game of 'what's in the box'?!

[TurboDan]

Front grill for bonnet.

[Lowrider Dave]

Yep, going with grille too.

[Envoy CDX]

grille or skirt of some kind.
You're collecting parts thats for sure

[humbucker]

Close, but no cigar. There's a clue in the following picture... (and no, it's not Frontera suspension!)

The latest full #irmscherMV6 project update has hit newsstands and can be found on page 85 of the new issue of Total Vauxhall. Click here to find out what else in the magazine, and where to buy/download/subscribe etc: http://is.gd/PqepwH

[humbucker]

What tonnage is that hoist?

Sorry, Dave. I thought I'd responded to this question. It's a 2-tonne lift with an 8-tonne hydraulic ram.

[joe cavalier sri]

Close, but no cigar. There's a clue in the following picture... (and no, it's not Frontera suspension!)

The latest full #irmscherMV6 project update has hit newsstands and can be found on page 85 of the new issue of Total Vauxhall. Click here to find out what else in the magazine, and where to buy/download/subscribe etc: http://is.gd/PqepwH

front lower mesh grille ?

[Lowrider Dave]

What tonnage is that hoist?

Sorry, Dave. I thought I'd responded to this question. It's a 2-tonne lift with an 8-tonne hydraulic ram.

Thanks Dan.