I have found a H reg 2lt 16v calibra in a scrap yard local he will do engine and need parts for £300 so will try to knock him down.

What extras do i need from the car?

need:
engine complete, exhaust system (mainfold mainly) if you want to cut it about to make a rwd one (will save money, though maybe not best performance!)
keep flywheel and clutch though will need different clutch plates if you plan using a ford gearbox (1" x23 splines) engine mounts if you get them may be useful for templates to make your own or be adapted in some way.
make sure you have the crank sensor (down side of block under no1 exhaust) belt, pulleys obviously.
plugs + leads, battery if its new
starter, alternator (unless plan fitting a small one)
distributor, coil, coil amplifier unit (usually on the coil bracket, very small item)
ignore the distributor and coil if its a distributorless system!!

maybe:
injection system only if you plan on using it (if carbs its chuck way really, try knocking him down saying which bits you don't need!)
main thing i don't know about is ecu, it might be dependant on injection + sensors etc. get it if its included.

not needed:
Gearbox not needed (get money off as these are worth maybe £50)
loads of hoses and wiring crap: you'll need to sort out your own cooling system and oil system (need a shallower sump) and wiring stu16v knows more about this bit than me! though the mbe wasted spark kit from yukspeed is quite well priced, as is there bellhousing and clutch parts.

for the right price it may be worth getting everything and then selling the bits on a calibra/nova/astra forum. if you want i can give you some web addresses.

if you look on my engine donor page of my site, basically the stuff in the picture was all i got with my engine. (the crank was a spare, not out of the engine!)

check to see if its the early engine with forged pistons (see my engine section for how to identify) if its not use this to your advantage. check for engine number and try to find out milage. I doubt he'll be up for it, but if you can whip off the head to see what state the bores are in (check for a lip at the top of the bores, this is where you can feel how worn the bores are.

any other prob's/questions, I'll do my best to help!

Ned.

I assume if there is wear i can get it re bored? Is there anything that i should eb looking for that cannot be sorted on an XE?

yeah, rebore was in one of my previous posts under this section i think. generally it was about £185+vat for rebore and new (AE cast) pistons. I'm going the expensive route and boring out to max with large forged high compression pistons!

other things to check for, err holes in block!!, see if it's a coscast head (if it is don't tell him!) ask about porousity problems in head, ask if its been oil/water mix welded (GM heads only) high milage 150,000+ engines can go porous ie get a crack in an oilway and mix water/oil. not sure on cost to fix but can't really check for it as far as I know. if under 100k nothing to worry about it. coscast heads don't suffer from this due to superior manufaturing.

any signs of leaks anywhere, leaky hoses etc, may not have helped the engine when it was running.

generally speaking the lower the milage the less work it should require!! will look a lot better once its had a clean, will probably look a right state at the scrappy!!

Ned.

when are you going to see it? you're welcome to my mobile no if you wanna call at the time?

Ned.

to clarify, stndard bore is 86mm, oversize pistons are available in loads of sizes, from 86.05mm upto 88mm. see sbd's (www.sbdev.co.uk) for sizes available. the omega forged ones are £90 each though, be warned! (cast ones cheaper and will be fine for a standard tune engine)

Ned.

[Edited on 3/7/03 by ned]

Seeing it Saturday lunch time as its in bournemouth and i cant get away from work till then, he said he would hold it till then so will have to see.

Just really want piece of mind as i'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to engines that if i miss something when i buy it, its not a waist of money and buy adding a bit extra i should be able to get almost anything fixed even if though it could be expensive?

sounds like we need 3 video mobiles!!


worst case scenario you can strip and sell the block and/or head if necessary. a head will fetch £150 alone. block will probably be worth similar to a racer who'll rebuild it anyway! go for it!

Ned.

Cool as long as there are thing that can be done with it.

Many thanks for your pearls of wisdom!

there will always be something that can be done with it, just depends on how much you have to spend!

you can bore and then resleeve the block if needed, a friend who races does this as they aren't allowed overbore engines (race regulations!) though costs £300+. the only unsortable problem would be a damaged oilway, but this can't easily be checked (only way i've seen is strip the block completely - ie just to casting, no crank or pistons etc) then bung up oilways and put an airline through it and listen for whistles! where air could escape through a broken oilway. such a slim chance it isn't worth worrying about it.

remember this is a locost forum (I forget the locost bit sometimes!) I'll put some pictures of my new polished, ported head up on monday (once i've collected it!)

You're welcome,

Ned.

[Edited on 3/7/03 by ned]

Just trying to get a runner at first then over time i am willing to get it re bored and rebuild maybe also performance kits form QED or kent or anything else i can do.

But bit by bit as finance allows! Have to get my indy kit first!

Used to have a calibra 4x4 turbo until it got nicked of my drive way so do like this engine as i had one it that. Oh and the turbo! My 204 bhp six speed baby. All i could think when i saw it had gone was " Hope they arnt ragging it!"

Never sore it again!

don't know if anyones used a turbo vauxhall on a locost/indy. not much point when you can easily tune a n/a engine to the same bhp. unless you got a nice hybrid turbo etc then start getting into ford cosworth YB / hicost teritory!

(hicost is a forum member if you didn't know with a 2ltr yb engine, 400+bhp!)

Ned.

ps let me know when you're going to MK, I may come along if is a good time!

Should be sending off cheque soon so will do.

if you just want a runner and the donor engine doesn't smoke, leave it as is, otherwise you'll need strech bolts for head and gaskets etc etc. if it runs, then use as is to get a runner then when you have the money do a full rebuild with uprated parts! thats my advice! i would have my kit by now if i hadn't spent so much on my engine already (see costs on my website!) I haven't even started reassembling yet, still need a rebore (£90)and to order my pistons (£430set)

Ned.

Ouch!

The only thing I will add to Neds sound advise is to purchase a set of ARP conrod bolts. You will have to change/modify the sump anyway so you will have easy access, and makes the engine pretty much unbreakable.

HTH Stu.