Ian N Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) This one's been on the back burner for nearly 20 years.. and now I've got a place with a garage, I can unveil this project Originally I had a GTE coupe but this proved a bit too rotten for my skills and life got in the way (aka university / finding a stable job) so that one got sold so it was out of Mr Virco's driveway and saved. This coupe was one Mr Virco saved from a local scrapyard but never got the paperwork sorted out, until i asked about it and after some discussion, a deal was struck. Power plant wise, originally was going to be a 2.0 8v SEH family 2 engine with twin Weber 45s some internal goodies and a Blinistine head, but that engine was then swapped for a 16V Z20LEH engine pulled from Ian's Astra SRI which he'd bounced off a kerbstone. This was to be paired with a RX8 gearbox which I'd purchased back in 2015? Least that was the plan, but it required space to work on it. Something which Mr Virco had a bit of a problem with in the workshop despite myself and others had discussed he needed to sort out, even offering to help him with it. Alas as we all remember, Mr Virco passed away in 2020 following health complications from years of medical issues and the lockup was returned to it's original owner. A lot of the contents were lost unfortunately, but the cars and some items were saved, including this car and my wheels. However the negine and gearbox were lost, and the 8 valve engine i'd originally built came back in very poor condition, so this was parted out for some funds. The car was moved to a specialist storage place and has been there since for the past 2.5 years while i was working away to resolve my housing situation. As of October last year, this has now finally been sorted and after some investment, I've got the garage somewhat prepped and ready, just lacking a good work bench and welder. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. [img]https://i.imgur.com/r8Yi1aU.jpg[/img]Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Currently I've got a specification setup, though some parts still need purchasing Engine - 5.3 LS V8 - L33 from a Tahoe Pistons / Rods - Summit racing forged items Cam - Summit racing stage 2? (TBC once i find the recipt) Trunion bushing upgrade ARP rod bots ARP headbolts Sump - tbc Transmission / final drive PMC adaptor kit / flywheel with BMW clutch Bmw GZ6 - 6 speed box from E60 535 E30 325 rear beam and arms - E30 / E36 hybrid diff assembly Suspension - Stock front end , planned idea of using rear MB coil overs and self designed pushrod setup New control arms for increased camber / caster adjustment Power steering depending on which rack i find works , likely BMW sourced. Brakes Front brakes TBC - Possibly thieved from a Renault Clio RS200 / 190 (Brembo 4 pots) Front discs - Custom designed floating disc setup Rear brakes - E30 setup with stock handbrake - likely brass sliders and braided lines all round Race style pedal box to adjust brake balance. Wheels are Race Dynamic 1.2s in 15 x 7 flavour from my E30. One will need referbishing though. Shell to be stripped / repaired then fitted with a full FIA specification cage with additional bars for harnesses and x bar Will end up with the exlusive 3 piece rear wing, deeper front spolier and splitter to reduce front end lift (known issue in Mantas is to have the steering go light) AC to be hopefully added in for some comfort Electronic package likely to be a Haltech R3? depending on my budget. This isn't going to be a quick build, it's something that'll take some time to sort out, but I want to build this as a tribute to Ian given his passion and take the sum total of my 25 years of engineering training and experience to hopefully build something worthy. Any help or such would be more than welcome in getting this built. Edited January 24 by Ian N 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Good project, woukd have been really good to go with the alloy block LS1 in the Manta for sure. But they are great power plants and good for 500bhp 🫣 Still not found one for my Monza yet, keep missing the Monaro with the LS3 breaking posts🤦♂️, but no rush I guess. That’s an interesting gearbox setup though, looking forward to seeing how you get on with that. Any reason over the Tremec box? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 (edited) In regards to the block, it's the L33 5.3 @Jessopia74 which came in some Tahoes and other SUVs. This engine setup had the alloy block and the LS6 heads, so was good for about 320bhp in stock form. From what I understand which has been put into the engine already is likely to push that into the 400-450bhp range.. should be rather spicy. As for the gearbox, PMC are a company out in Poland whom have been doing this kit to adapt the BMW gatrag box to the LS platform, as Tremec gearboxes tend to be very pricy as you probably know. The adaptor kit is very comprensive, and came in just under £1k given import charges and such these days such is the situation with our European neighbors. Given the gearbox was £600 and spares are reasonably avaliable at lower cost and it's a strong box this works out a bit more budget friendly compared to a Tremec 6060. It also means you can use the BMW slave cylinder which is external to the bell housing which makes it a far easier service item as concentric items can be a problem, plus clutches are stock off shelf BMW items. That and I've owned a good few BMW's so know what parts i can get hold of easily Edited January 24 by Ian N 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 2 hours ago, Ian N said: In regards to the block, it's the L33 5.3 @Jessopia74 which came in some Tahoes and other SUVs. This engine setup had the alloy block and the LS6 heads, so was good for about 320bhp in stock form. From what I understand which has been put into the engine already is likely to push that into the 400-450bhp range.. should be rather spicy. As for the gearbox, PMC are a company out in Poland whom have been doing this kit to adapt the BMW gatrag box to the LS platform, as Tremec gearboxes tend to be very pricy as you probably know. The adaptor kit is very comprensive, and came in just under £1k given import charges and such these days such is the situation with our European neighbors. Given the gearbox was £600 and spares are reasonably avaliable at lower cost and it's a strong box this works out a bit more budget friendly compared to a Tremec 6060. It also means you can use the BMW slave cylinder which is external to the bell housing which makes it a far easier service item as concentric items can be a problem, plus clutches are stock off shelf BMW items. That and I've owned a good few BMW's so know what parts i can get hold of easily Ah yeah Vortex, good stuff then. Loads of easy bolt of stuff. Still looking for someone to ship me a drop out complete from US. But eBay sellers reluctant as it seems they have to stand warranty returns through eBay, so still looking for sone trustworthy dude. Failing that guess it’s a short break to the US to arrange something lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Great project. Running gear. Last of the 1.8 coupes, very rare nowadays. Any plans narrow or kitted. Good luck with project, all looks promising with a plan in place 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Planning to go Exclusive, arch wise.. we'll see what's what, it may get a slight flaring to account for the rear track. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Great, keep them posts flowing and the work rockin 👍 Nice arches Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 1 hour ago, ®evo03 said: Great, keep them posts flowing and the work rockin 👍 Nice arches Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Was these the i2800 ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 (edited) More progress.. already? Well having managed to aquire a decent blowtorch, things started coming apart a lot faster than before 😅 So far I've now been able to get both rear arms about 90% stripped down, Just need to extract the wheel bearings but I need a press to push out the drive flange out of the races., Hopefully I can call in a favour at a friend's workshop to use his to pop them out next week. Pictures below Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. I've still got the subframe bushes to remove from the beam, but now having got a blowtorch, that's tomorrow's challenge. Edited January 27 by Ian N 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 (edited) Well, more progress abound, though has been a bit delayed and a few things going on with work and such. I had planned to pop over to a friend's workshop a few weekends ago, but someone at work brought in the spicy cough (or Covid) and I was one of 2 people who got it. Cue a week of sofa surfing and feeling like absolute garbage last weekend :yuck: Added to this , work's been wanting to have me go out to the US on some critical project work, this was planned for 2 weeks, but now down to a week, so no progress for the next few weeks to be fair as I fly out next weekend. However.. this presents a optitunity i didn't have before, and I shall be returning with some parts needed to build the engine Still, this week's work involved getting the rear beam stripped down finally, I'd gotten so far with the tools i had obtained but the bearings and subframe bushes would not budge without a press. So off to my friend's workshop i went with parts and some tools in hand. I didn't get many pictures of the work given we were having to put the parts into the press at some entertaining angles. I saw around 4-5 tons on the gauge ushing the hubs out, one of which sent some sparks around when it popped free :eek: taking the inner race with it.The other side came out clean without the races again, something I've never honestly seen before happen when pressing stuff out of rusty car parts before. The subframe bushes took 6 tons to press out, but with the press and the tooling i'd brung along, it all came out in about 2 hours of work, and now means I can investigate a few local media blasters to have these blasted and etch primed. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. And final post to bring things up to date, given next week I'm out in the US, I took the chance to precure some parts. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. More progress will occur once I'm back from the US Edited February 16 by Ian N 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Barrett Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I like this, keep the updates coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 And I am home as of yesterday. Be it feeling pretty messed up from the 6 hour time shift and the 18 hours of travelling. Still, managed to get these home nicely and got a technical manual on the way to allow me to do a proper job of putting the engine back together Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Should have some more progress around easter as I'm taking a week off to repair my porch and will have some time to put together the engine now i have the parts. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 Update time and my wallet's a little light. Dropped off the E30 components, specifically the rear beam and arms to a local media blasters. Northants Blasting services did a decent job of dipping, blasting then priming the parts so i can see what's what. Plan is once i get a welder, I'll be able to re-enforce these then take them back for final finishing. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Gonna have to wait though on a few things as the house needs a few things, namely the porch and drive need some work (aka new drive..) before i can get stuck into this a bit further. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 There were a few mantas done in the past with this setup, wonder can I find them, think one was a hatch drifter with a V6, other was a coupe with 5cyl Volvo T5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 15 hours ago, ®evo03 said: There were a few mantas done in the past with this setup, wonder can I find them, think one was a hatch drifter with a V6, other was a coupe with 5cyl Volvo T5. I was tipped off about this from a friend on a Discord channel, he sent me this https://www.tuningcars.org/2022/11/23/opel-manta-b-evo-3liter-24v/ Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Looking at the alignment of things, it's not too difficult to put in the E30 rear end. the spring locations on the chassis could be re-worked using E30 seats to allow for a stock style E30 rear end, negating the need of needing to strengthen the turrets for coilovers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 I like this, seen a couple done now. (sorry doom, but it’s worth pointing out onto private forum section) I would have modded the subframe so that it can use the OEM pickup points on the shell. If the current modded car points system is ever properly implemented, then any modded shell with documented proof it was done prior to the changes date, might have issues. I think this rear mod is cracking idea, it certainly will give huge improvements 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 36 minutes ago, Jessopia74 said: I like this, seen a couple done now. (sorry doom, but it’s worth pointing out onto private forum section) I would have modded the subframe so that it can use the OEM pickup points on the shell. If the current modded car points system is ever properly implemented, then any modded shell with documented proof it was done prior to the changes date, might have issues. I think this rear mod is cracking idea, it certainly will give huge improvements 👍 Interesting to know that, I'll be keeping a log and if i have to do some FEA to prove out the work, I'm quite qualified to do so these days having worked for Aston Martin, Caterham Cars, Dunlop Motorsport and currently working for Cummins / Accelera plus the qualifcations and such... (PIcture of me at work in 2012 at Le Mans.. in the black / yellow race suit) Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. The E30 rear end allows for more adjustment just by adding ecentric bolts to the trailing arm which gives some toe / camber adjusment, and the differental has a number of ratios and OEM / aftermarket LSD options, including my prefered option of a Gripper Plate type with a larger backing plate with extra cooling fins. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Yup Ian, I have zero doubt in many of the mods done that the work is at least as good as OEM. Have a read of https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles I suspect that this will come in a few years to come as the ‘classic’ rule is tightened to get older cars off the road. But the e30 axle I guess could be modded in the future if such draconian system is implemented. Funnily enough the e30 setup is pretty close to what was on the Carlton mk3, but far more choice with bmw parts. Im sure that Le Mans experience is something very special indeed 😎👍 Extremely cool mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted October 20 Author Share Posted October 20 Bit of an update, I forgot to do so.. This year I had to head to the US for work, so it was rude not to take the chance to obtain some parts. New oil pump, galley way plugs, timing chain set and head bolts were obtained, a few months later I got some lifters from Brian Tooly racing and the trays. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Today I got those trays in. However I've been measuring up the push rod lengths, though the heads aren't fully bolted down as yet as i need to get new head gaskets given i don't know the quality of of the ones I was given if they're been used or not. I'm getting slightly different push rod length measurements depending on intake or exhaust. Intake length = 186mm +2.5mm preload = 188.5 or 7.42in Exhaust length = 187 + 2.5mm preload = 189.5mm or 7.46in Now the question is, do i split the difference and get ones at 7.44in or near enough that or do i get different lengths? Pictures of the work, the lifters were marinading in 10w40 for a week to ensure they're fully bled Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 20 Share Posted October 20 for pushrods. What tool you use to measure? its important to also think of the pre-loading on the followers ofc. STD is 7.4 as you know no doubt, and you not torqued your head down yet, so you need to consider the gasket uncompressed thickness. I went with Michigan 7.400" 5/16" as checked on SS2 and Trucknorris cam base circles was the same. However I have milled my 799heads 20thou, does not make any difference as still in the 'range' For gasket, have gone Felpro 26190, but have a couple of sets of MLS too. We pretty close to same stage Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted October 20 Author Share Posted October 20 Would have been an adjustable push rod i brought specifically to do this job and a tape measure.. not the best i know but my verniers only go to 150mm , I might look into getting another set so i can check them properly once I've got the preload requirement from the lifter vendors. I'll probably redo it once I have some new HG's , I've got some but they're looking a bit worse for wear from being stored for a long time. Head bolts I've got ARP ones to go 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 20 Share Posted October 20 9 minutes ago, Ian N said: Would have been an adjustable push rod i brought specifically to do this job and a tape measure.. not the best i know but my verniers only go to 150mm , I might look into getting another set so i can check them properly once I've got the preload requirement from the lifter vendors. I'll probably redo it once I have some new HG's , I've got some but they're looking a bit worse for wear from being stored for a long time. Head bolts I've got ARP ones to go I think you will definitely find that 7.4 will be correct, but ofc if you need to buy them anyway then getting them right length is ideal. What flagged the question about measurement was that the base circles on your cam will be the same for Inlet/Exh and you had 2 different measurements (ignoring any valve seat wear ofc), valve installed height should be 1.8" Also you should be able to lookup the lifter pre-load, but they don't look like LS7 type that requires about 1.9mm, maximum will be closer to 3.5mm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted October 20 Author Share Posted October 20 (edited) They're Johnson 2110 lifters , these i was recommended as LS7 lifters don't fair well at high RPMS and apparently GM uses these as the replacement ones. When I've measured, I've ensured that the lifters were pushed down against the base circles of the cam so I was sure i wasn't getting an odd measurement. Waiting on the vendor to give some feed back and suggestions. Also need to look at getting some good gaskets but finding some in the UK seems to be a bit tricky. Edited October 20 by Ian N 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 20 Share Posted October 20 (edited) 2 hours ago, Ian N said: They're Johnson 2110 lifters , these i was recommended as LS7 lifters don't fair well at high RPMS and apparently GM uses these as the replacement ones. When I've measured, I've ensured that the lifters were pushed down against the base circles of the cam so I was sure i wasn't getting an odd measurement. Waiting on the vendor to give some feed back and suggestions. Also need to look at getting some good gaskets but finding some in the UK seems to be a bit tricky. Rockauto, they apply vat etc now at the checkout so no more stupid dispersal fee. Or Amazon.com, if you add to your basket it will sometimes ask if you want to buy it uk. However it’s always more in your favour if you got Revolute card etc that you can get better exchange rates on the $ and saves a few pounds .or do what you done already with a trip to USA. I did the same thing including a pair of 799 heads in a suitcase lol. Johnson are well regarded, just bloody expensive . Edited October 20 by Jessopia74 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian N Posted November 10 Author Share Posted November 10 (edited) Just a small update, given i wasn't happy with the supplied head gaskets and they'd been on the engine long enough to have some corrosion on I wasn't happy with them. So an order placed to BTR again and 2 days later these showed up. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Edited November 10 by Ian N 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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