hi everyone,
okey, its been established now that the XE can be used in a RWD format; but, cut one head off the snake, a dozen more sprout... so i've got more questions... firstly, what cars did the XE originate from??
secondly, what RWD vauxhalls exist??
thirdly, if the XE has no problem becoming longditunal (sp?) i assume that goes for all the other vauxhall engines?? ie. early astra/nova ect (1.4-2.0 8v???)
anyone on here ever used a vauxhall as a donor?
oh, FINALLY, i read somewhere that the chassis must be modified hieghtwise in order to accomodate a sierra engine, does the same hold true for a vauxhall??
(dont mind my vauxhall fixation, my last ford went through a 4.1l 6cyl (250x-flow) and 2 4.9l v8's(302 clevo) within a 12 month period, so i've got a slight grudge with ford mechanicals...)

For RWD Vauxhalls, go for 1.8 Manta or 1.8 Carlton, both are useable, careful not to get GT/E as starter is on the wrong side.
Engine is a good choice but may need same chassis mods as Pinto as they're OHC.

Marcus

Hey

In terms of engine codes, and which cars they're from, this might be useful:

www.knighta.f9.co.uk/info/engine_codes/engines_codes.htm

RWD Vauxhalls include Carltons, Omegas, Senators, and you can get engines ranging from 1.8 to about 3.0.

I think the Vaux blocks are quite tall, although as far as I'm aware, they're marginally shorter than the Pinto block. The sumps are a funny shape to get round a cross member on some RWD cars (shallow on one end, deeper on the other), but you can get shortened sumps, so that could shave an inch or two of your height.

Hope this helps, Ben

if this helps
i have a 20xe 16v from a mk2 astra gte 16v and a 1.8 carlton box.
using the astra alloy sump the bottom comes to the same level as the bell housing and is about 2" shorter than a pinto.
the engine is about 20kgs lighter and the gearbox is alot mor compact and about half the weight of the type 9 box.
there are two types of vauxhall engine, the ohc and the cih. for all 1-1.8l + fwd 2l engines you must use a box off another ohc engine where as the 2-3l rwd engines are totaly different

If it's any help there's an abandoned 2.0 RWD Carlton near me (Guildford).
Is that the one with LSD?

I could send you directions...

The engine you are looking for was fitted in Astra GTE's from about 89 to 93. Cavalier GSi's from about 90 to 93 and the 16v Calibra's of the same period. They were a popular fitment in Caterhams until recent times and as they are slimmer than a Locost you should be able to fit one OK.

They are superbly tunable and absolutely thousands are in use in most types of motorsport. Dump the crap injection system and fit 45's and get an instant 180 bhp.

Use Carlton 1.8 or 2.0 sump and pick up pipe or better still late Manta 1.8 GTE alloy sump. If on a budget the Carlton box will go straight on. Watch clutches - the Cavalier also has a bigger flywheel.

Two problems - you must change the rod bolts to ones of the type supplied by ARP and also watch for porous cylinder heads - look for oil in the water header tank - very expensive to fix. My experience is that it seems to be Calibras that suffer the most. The early Astra head was produced by Cosworth (Coscast) and these are OK.

Finally the later Ecotec engine seems to be less popular but the bottom end is more similar to the early 8v lumps and easier to adapt. - The "redtop" 16v motors have unique oil pump, crankshaft and flywheels.