calibra turbo conversion

[catrick]

i was just wondering if anybody has done this conversion before the only prob that i can see is getting a box to suit

is there any body that does a modified box

[k]

Wouldn't go anywhere near Calibra turbos, very weak engine in 220bhp form, have expensive memories.

[Jon_Bmw]

I thought they wern't to bad... The 4wd drivetrain is completely shocking though. Accumaltor/transfer box/prop problems were all common.

I have thought about this engine in something else rear wheel drive. I think you could probably use a senator or omega gearbox as they used the x20xev which was basically the same engine as the c20let. Definatly worth looking into.

[k]

We had a low milage mint Calibra Turbo, and it put a rod through the side of the block. Lots of dialogue with Vauxhall as it had FSH etc, and went to see the stripped engine. Looked just like like a standard 2.0 lump on the inside. 3k to get it fixed, them picking up 1800. Once you start talking to the used car people ( who wouldn't have one on there forecourt as lost to much on warranty claims etc.)and sounding out the technocrats you begin to realise what a moneypit you have bought. Couldn't wait to sell it on. Don't know what the latest Vaukhall lumps are like but beware.

[catrick]

there is always the new vxr engines

just an idea just the gearbox i wuldnt be too sure on

might be un reliable but i still thinking of doing it as only a second car and has got to be fun

[Jon_Bmw]

Catrick i have just given you an idea for the gearbox, get researching on the net to see if it is possible.

[Emm3]

what about the 2.0 redtop in a e30 has that been done?

[curryp]

saw a clarkson vid years ago and that had a blue e30 with a vauxhall lump in it-think it was the redtop but if your wanting 170bhp (that would be a mint valver!!) why not have a lovely sounding 6 potter like a 325

[OBs]

Ford T5(?) Gearbox would fit... Im guessing that would be out of a Saffy? Well I know of a car that uses one

I dont know how much modification you would need to do... So dont quote me!

OBs

[MJG]

saw a clarkson vid years ago and that had a blue e30 with a vauxhall lump in it-think it was the redtop but if your wanting 170bhp (that would be a mint valver!!) why not have a lovely sounding 6 potter like a 325

Saw that program too Cool transplant. My friend has an xe in his kadett at the moment, think just using a manta gearbox or similar old school opel box.

[catrick]

not sure at the mo weighing up the options always e36 m3 transplant

[mac325i]

There is a vid on the tube -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG7oUvgTI7A.
Seems bloody quick!

a vauxhall engine in a bmw is just blasphomey, as is anything with Mr Ford's name on, allthough at least cosworth has a pedigree lol

[MJG]

I don't see it as blasphemy in a crummy e30. If it was some mint rare e30 m3, or e28 m5, then I could see it as blasphemy to ruin a classic but there's millions of e30s and if it works out cheaper/better than using a BMW engine then fair does.

Personally I don't think the cost/effort is worth having a seemingly unreliable vauxhall 4 pot in there when you could turbo a BMW engine and probably get more power a lot easier.

You could just put an N/A c20xe in, they are only about £300 for the lump, and with bike carbs and good manifold etc it should see you with close to 200bhp and revvy/responsive! That has benefits as for the money you are gaining some power, and losing a lot of weight and what weight there is is further back in the back.

[kam-325i]

you can get a good M50B25 for £300

[catrick]

sorry peeps you are baffling me with with the engine numbersm5ob25

[Andy335Touring]

sorry peeps you are baffling me with with the engine numbersm5ob25

http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/enumber.html

[fuzzy]

a vauxhall engine in a bmw is just blasphomey, as is anything with Mr Ford's name on, allthough at least cosworth has a pedigree lol

you started badly but redeamed yourself at the end why cant you use the box that comes with the engine then a custom prop? whatever you end up using has to be easy and cheap for later power upgrades to make it a sensible option and worthwhile.

[stonesie]

sorry peeps you are baffling me with with the engine numbersm5ob25

For the lazy who dont want to click the link

M50 B25 is the code for the 2.5 liter 24 valve engine fitted to the E36, in its early versoin with a iron block, the later alloy block versions were coded M52

The most important number for you is probably 192..... thats the factory bhp figure for that engine, of course it will have more torque than the vauxhall lump too (181 Lb:Ft)

(another thing to remember about the XE is that they are very prone to porus heads)

Think thats about right

[catrick]

cheers for the info very helpful

was just wondering how much would you expect to pay for a good e36m3 engine

[MJG]

£1500-2000 seems to be the going rate on ebay. Can be had cheaper but only if you know your stuff and can spot a bargain.

[fuzzy]

when pricing an engine conversion, double the original figure quoted to give you a more realistic amount

[m-dtech]

m50 lump looks like this

[maxfield]

saw a clarkson vid years ago and that had a blue e30 with a vauxhall lump in it-think it was the redtop but if your wanting 170bhp (that would be a mint valver!!) why not have a lovely sounding 6 potter like a 325

Saw that program too Cool transplant. My friend has an xe in his kadett at the moment, think just using a manta gearbox or similar old school opel box.

It was an E21

The car is veryyyyyy council.

Watching it now i have it on video

[Grim_Reaper]

vauxhall engines are good IMO, so long as they are standard the c20let engines from the cav turbos and cally turbos are also good, but they do lack power...worst thing about vauxhall is their transmission the 4x4 (according to many people) is basically shit as the transfer box is basically made from melted butter, and the torque kills them...theres no point having a FWD turbo cav/cally as it will just keep spinning and spinning, and its the wrong wheel drive anyway lol...finding a good 20xe or a c20XE (redtop as you like to call it) is hard to find as most people who dont know much about cars will have ragged the sh*t out of them, x20xe and x20xev are the newer varients from the vauxhall range which have less power and are meant to be more economical

[curryp]

It was an E21

The car is veryyyyyy council.

Watching it now i have it on video

could of swore it was a e30 nevermind.yeah she was council.sure he mentions summit bout it having a drainpipe on the front of it for a splitter or something good old clarkson

[kadettc]

vauxhall engines are good IMO, so long as they are standard the c20let engines from the cav turbos and cally turbos are also good, but they do lack power...worst thing about vauxhall is their transmission the 4x4 (according to many people) is basically shit as the transfer box is basically made from melted butter, and the torque kills them...theres no point having a FWD turbo cav/cally as it will just keep spinning and spinning, and its the wrong wheel drive anyway lol...finding a good 20xe or a c20XE (redtop as you like to call it) is hard to find as most people who dont know much about cars will have ragged the sh*t out of them, x20xe and x20xev are the newer varients from the vauxhall range which have less power and are meant to be more economical

Lack power? 204bhp from a 2litre 16v turbo in road trim in the early 90's was perfectly powerful enough. Cosworth engines of the same period were exactly the same.

If you want facts about Vauxhall engines log onto www.migweb.co.uk and ask away. Plenty of standard lumps running chip sets up to 280 plus bhp on there, with little or no trauma.

[maxfield]

It was an E21

The car is veryyyyyy council.

Watching it now i have it on video

could of swore it was a e30 nevermind.yeah she was council.sure he mentions summit bout it having a drainpipe on the front of it for a splitter or something good old clarkson

Is definatly an E21, drainpipe eybrows

Proper council chariot.

[Grim_Reaper]

vauxhall engines are good IMO, so long as they are standard the c20let engines from the cav turbos and cally turbos are also good, but they do lack power...worst thing about vauxhall is their transmission the 4x4 (according to many people) is basically shit as the transfer box is basically made from melted butter, and the torque kills them...theres no point having a FWD turbo cav/cally as it will just keep spinning and spinning, and its the wrong wheel drive anyway lol...finding a good 20xe or a c20XE (redtop as you like to call it) is hard to find as most people who dont know much about cars will have ragged the sh*t out of them, x20xe and x20xev are the newer varients from the vauxhall range which have less power and are meant to be more economical

Lack power? 204bhp from a 2litre 16v turbo in road trim in the early 90's was perfectly powerful enough. Cosworth engines of the same period were exactly the same.

If you want facts about Vauxhall engines log onto www.migweb.co.uk and ask away. Plenty of standard lumps running chip sets up to 280 plus bhp on there, with little or no trauma.

i am on migweb ;) ive been there since 2005 lmao...what i was trying to say is that a mint lump is usually pretty expensive or ragged...nothing wrong with vauxes TBH

[pete1979]

well i think its wrong to put a xe or let in a bmw as for 280bhp with a chip ? crap 230 max u want more buy bigger injectors know this first hand and ya kkk turbo wont last need a gt28rs job and in standard for 200bhp no problem ask it for more it will spend more tme off the road then it will on go for a 325 but if u must the the gearbox you want is a 2.0 carlton or if you can find one a manta 1.8 or 2.0 all the same messed on with xe and let motors but when you need a car to get you to work and not worry if it it will i got rid and got another bmw

[Eddiejt2]

well i think its wrong to put a xe or let in a bmw as for 280bhp with a chip ? crap 230 max u want more buy bigger injectors know this first hand and ya kkk turbo wont last need a gt28rs job and in standard for 200bhp no problem ask it for more it will spend more tme off the road then it will on go for a 325 but if u must the the gearbox you want is a 2.0 carlton or if you can find one a manta 1.8 or 2.0 all the same messed on with xe and let motors but when you need a car to get you to work and not worry if it it will i got rid and got another bmw

And again with punctuation?

From what I can decipher, what you have written is wrong anyway. Anyone who is slightly genned up on engines will know both the 20XE and 20LET are fantastic engines. Also you are wrong about the gearboxes. For a rearwheel drive gearbox to fit an XE or LET you need the 1.8 gearbox only from a Carlton or Manta. The 2.0 will not fit.


I don't know where all this talk of the LET being unreliable has come from.

As has been said by a few, get yourself over to MIGweb.co.uk if you have any questiins.

[keri-WMS]

Redtops etc are common swaps into MK1/2 Escort rallycars, buy a Classic Ford and all the bits / kits for the conversion to RWD are for sale there. Burton/RallyDesign/Ralloy/SBD etc should be able to help as well.

I don't normally get dragged into anything "engine", but if I was looking for an engine swap from scratch I would take a serious look at Toyota! One E30 guy here is already playing with the Lexus/Toyota 4.0 32v V8 AFAIK, but there's still inline-4 fun to be had. Two options:

1) - 4AGE 20v 1.6 - 140-160bhp (versions) in std trim on OEM ITB's and 9,000rpm! 180bhp is possible with an aftermarket ECU on a std engine.

2) - B.E.A.M.S. (designed by Yamaha) 2.0 16v from the Lexus Altezza RS200, lower revs but still 210bhp out of the box and supposedly 230bhp on aftmarket ECU.

8psi of boost (possible on most standard engines if the timing is retarded etc with various black boxes - not my thing so don't ask) on a 230bhp BEAMS running a screw supercharger would give you approx:

230bhp/14.5psi(1 bar of atmos) = 15.862bhp per psi absolute.
15.862bhp/psi x (14.5psi-atmos + 8psi-boost) = 357bhp
357bhp minus maybe 30bhp to drive the supercharger = 327bhp with no lag!

[pete1979]

eddie i think your wrong. got a lotus7 rep runnin a red top 2.0 carlton will fit as the 1.8 and 2.0 are the same block. i dont need to go on mig web before i had bm's i had 1 or 2 mk2 cavs my mates still run xe's and let's ya dont get big power for nowt. as ya need to spend money to get past 250bhp real bhp not iv put a chip in and iv got 300bhp shit. iv spent enough time workin on them and on the rollers with them cheers

[E30cosworth]

I own a cosworth engine in a E30 and a C20let engine in a NOVA and i'm biting my tongue not to say anything about the utter dribble you lot are writing about how crap either engine is.

Those with very little knowledge need to step away from using the keyboard on this post!

I have vast knowledge on both engines and know exactly the + & - are of both

I will say that the Vauxhall KKK turbo unit is tat though but you can get 300bhp+ outta them

[sbd16v]

wow what some dribble in this post i cannot coment on the bmw engines as i dont know much about them all i do know is there very well made strong units with a good power output with good reliablity.

BUT really the ppl that have comented on how pants the c20let REALLY need to pull there head out of there arse's, its a wonderfull engine with good power output for a standard engine and is VERY easy to mod to around the 300 bhp mark as this can all be done with a standard turbo new intercooler exhaust and a chip.

the engine will take more power in standard form i have known around 400 hp in this country to be going throw one my own c20let was previously running around 300 bhp plus 125bhp of nitrous which resulted in a 12.6@121 mph 1/4 mile @york totb 4.

now i will agree that the cosworth engine in standard form is better built for 300 bhp plus with steel rods as standard but its all a trade off those in the know will know how CRAP the cosworth oil pump drive is and you only have to look at the 2 engines in n/a form where the xe totaly out performs the yb at all levels of tune.

but really why do ppl feel the need to coment on how fagile a c20let engine is without ANY experiance on pushing the boundrys with one

[pete1979]

like i said i run a xe in a 7rep not bad engines but when u start to push for power they brake c20let 300bhp from a chip? not at 3 bar of fuel injectors aint big enough 230bhp runnin 100% i put 440cc in mine then needed a thicker head gasket then a stud convertion insted of head bolts then after tryin to run a kkk at 20psi i got a gt28rs turbo and a 3" front pipe and a front mount intercooler and a xe exh cam for more lift . not bad engines but to get power out u got to put money in thats all im sayin and to get back to what the guy asked is it worth putting a xe or let in a e30? in my eyes no for the time and money to do that makin mounts and a prop gear linkage loom and buy the motor and box u could put a m50b25 in all bolts up and fits and has 200bhp .