V6 Calibra de-mothballing, engine swap pics now added

[John F]

It's time for my Calibra to get some love & attention.

 

 

 

 

Its hiatus was caused by a borked radiator (and the resultant OMGHGF from having to be used as daily transport at the time), but unobtainium V6 radiators are now made out of obtainium again, woohoo! 

 

I'm also treating it to an X30XE engine out of an Omega, which should give it a nice bhp / torque boost over the standard 2.5 litre unit. The block is essentially the same as the C25XE / X25XE but I'll fit the ancillaries from the currently-fitted engine since it's a transverse fitment.

 

I've already got the new radiator... a new cam belt kit, thermostat, inlet manifold gaskets, sump gasket, oil filter & fluids are on order. I've checked that the 3.0 engine rotates freely - it does, which is a relief since it's been sat under a tarp in my shared unit for more years than I care to remember.

 

The plan is to blitz the engine swap job next weekend

 

 

[0ldCh0d]

I have not seen a Calibra for ages. That looks nice. very nice cars in their day, i would have a 2.0 turbo if i could have one now, but they are like hens teeth now..

[omegod]

I had a white one too, I love a nice Calibra please put some pics of your progress

 

I'm breaking a V6 Omega if you com across any bit's you need, just put some snazzy alloys in the for sale section. it has the vectra V6 cam covers 

[John F]

I have not seen a Calibra for ages. That looks nice. very nice cars in their day, i would have a 2.0 turbo if i could have one now, but they are like hens teeth now..

 

Yep, you don't see many Calibras on the road nowadays. I saw one in Innsbruck back in February, but it must have been years since I saw one in the UK that didn't belong to me or one of my Calibra-licking mates.

 

Sadly, a lot of the C20LET Calibras & Cavaliers ended up being bummed for their engines to put in Corsas & Astras

 

I've got an f28 6-speed gearbox from a Calibra Turbo, and do intend to fit it at some stage, but there's quite a bit of work involved in running it with the V6 engine so that'll have to wait for now.

 

 

I had a white one too, I love a nice Calibra please put some pics of your progress

 

I'm breaking a V6 Omega if you com across any bit's you need, just put some snazzy alloys in the for sale section. it has the vectra V6 cam covers 

 

Yep, I'll take loads of pics of the engine swap. I don't think I need any more Omega bits, but a mate of mine is planning to do a 4x4 conversion of one of his V6 Calibras (also via the f28 gearbox) so he might be interested in your back axle if it'll work with the conversion. I'll ask him for you.

[John F]

OK... all engine service parts have now arrived.

 

The engine swap is due to commence tomorrow morning, the spannering team is descending upon sunny Yorkshire from all corners of the globe (or more accurately: a mate's coming up from Wales to give me & another local mate a hand) and we're steeling ourselves for consumption of what is likely to be an unwise amount of alcohol this evening.

 

This afternoon's mission is try starting the engine & see whether the brakes are seized on or not. My booster leisure battery is fully charged, the Calibra battery is on charge (and amazingly seems to be taking charge after sitting flat for a couple of years). A considerable number of large spiders have been evicted from the engine bay.

 

 

Figure 1: Metaphorical equivalent of strong coffee being pumped into a sleepy Calibra

[overrun]

Class! Nice to see one without some gopping and smashed to shit FG bodykit! These have aged well.
I look forward to your progress, sir.

[paulscavalier]

Me too

[John F]

Yeah, Calibras look good without nasty bodykits. Especially early pre-V grille ones. Rest assured that mine will be kept cosmetically standard (apart from the Vectra SRi 16" wheels).

[mk2_craig]

There's a yellow SE example down the road from me, must get a photo!

[Rusty_Rocket]

Good luck with the job! As said, the pre-facelift ones look brilliant. I had a few when they were commonplace, including two early Calibra Turbos. All long gone now 

[John F]

Cheers, folks!

 

Although the fuck-ups have already started.

 

What seems wrong with this engine?

 

 

 

No, it's not that the weight distribution is all wrong for a pallet truck application, it's that it doesn't have a clutch. And why doesn't it have a clutch? Because I pulled it out of an auto car, that's why.

 

OH NOES.

 

So the flywheel needs to be swapped over. And nowhere in Britain has any flywheel (stretch) bolts in stock. Bâtons de fucque.

 

So I'll have to re-use the old bolts with threadlock for now, and change them when I fit the 6-speed gearbox later in the year. I'd rather not use old bolts in a flywheel though.

[John F]

Better news is that the Calibra starts (albeit with a Red Arrows trail of steam out of the exhaust) & the brakes aren't seized

[3VOM]

So the flywheel needs to be swapped over. And nowhere in Britain has any flywheel (stretch) bolts in stock. Bâtons de fucque.

 

So I'll have to re-use the old bolts with threadlock for now, and change them when I fit the 6-speed gearbox later in the year. I'd rather not use old bolts in a flywheel though.

Won't an engineering supplies type place have something that matches the bolt specifications?

[John F]

Won't an engineering supplies type place have something that matches the bolt specifications?

 

Possibly, if I could find the specifications.

 

But I'm up to my eyeballs in work atm and only have this weekend free to do the job

[Rusty_Rocket]

Original bolts with some thread lock will be fine.... (imo)

[mat_the_cat]

And why doesn't it have a clutch? Because I pulled it out of an auto car, that's why.

 

More likely to have had an easy life though, looking on the bright side!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Pre-facelift Callies are proper stunners. Most seemed to be red as well. Yours is extra pretty in white - looking forward to your upgrades

[tooSavvy]

Pre-facelift Callies are proper stunners. Most seemed to be red as well. Yours is extra pretty in white - looking forward to your HANDGRENADES

EFA

 

TS

[John F]

Well... technically we did get the job finished over the weekend, if 6.30 this morning still counts as 'weekend'. Low points included losing an hour to the clocks change, my alarm not going off this morning (er... Sunday morning) after a long night at the pub & then having to deal with additional ball-aches such as a terminally corroded brake line from the ABS unit to the osf calliper. High points included the car starting first turn of the key when we'd got it all together with no leaks & no warning lights on the dash

 

I now know that converting an Omega engine to Calibra configuration involves a LOT of work, and there were a few other unpleasant surprises along the way - more about this when I've had some sleep.

[KruJoe]

starting first turn of the key when we'd got it all together with no leaks & no warning lights on the dash

 

Bloody hell that's impressive!

I you sure you weren't hallucinating by that point?

[John F]

Hehe, yep, the sleep deprivation did get a bit trippy towards the end

[Bear]

Me: Spends a year miserably grumbling about a Twingo D7F with a blown gasket. Manages to mostly remove inlet manifold.

 

You: Swaps a longitudinal V6 into a transverse car over a weekend including going to the pub.

 

You win, sir. You win.

[John F]

RichardK, on 27 Mar 2017 - 12:41 PM, said:RichardK, on 27 Mar 2017 - 12:41 PM, said:RichardK, on 27 Mar 2017 - 12:41 PM, said:

Me: Spends a year miserably grumbling about a Twingo D7F with a blown gasket. Manages to mostly remove inlet manifold.

 

You: Swaps a longitudinal V6 into a transverse car over a weekend including going to the pub.

 

You win, sir. You win.

 

In fairness, I had plenty of assistance from mates (many thanks are owed to Saul, Josh & James for their help) - both in the workshop and on Friday & Saturday night in the pub until 2.30 am

 

(And if anyone's interested, there's a four-page spread about Saul's collection of chod in the March edition of Practical Performance Car - three V6 Calibras, an X1-9, a BMW 330d estate workhorse and a Westfield SEight 4.0 V8).

[John F]

 

 

 

 

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[overrun]

Well done John F and M8's! I bet it was great to drive it home.

 

 

Nice workshop, too!

[rainagain]

Great job! My dad used to own a calibra in that lovely green metallic colour they came in. I always loved the frameless doors on it

[The Moog]

That is brilliant. That is all

[John F]

overrun, on 29 Mar 2017 - 02:33 AM, said:

Well done John F and M8's! I bet it was great to drive it home.

 

Nice workshop, too!

 

Yep, it was very satisfying to drive it home.

 

Although it'll have to go back in for at least one more session of fettling before it's ready for the test - it needs a bit of welding around the front jacking points and the inside of the o/s/f wheel arch, the callipers & (full) exhaust and at least one ARB drop-link need to be replaced too. But the car's a keeper so it'll be worth it

 

The workshop makes all the difference for jobs like this. We've done a Calibra V6 engine swap on a driveway before, it's just about achievable but access from underneath is very poor. And bad weather can terminally stop play, not good if you're working against the clock.

[John F]

.

[vaughant]

I recently swapped out a like for like 2.2 Vauxhall engine and although there was only a year difference between the two cars (one Astra one zafira) 50% of the engine loom plugs were totally different!!! I ended up swapping the whole loom out as it made more sense, that would have been a nightmare in the car.

It started first time as well to be fair,but next time I'd do the swap a bit more like you did, just the engine and leave the box/shafts/subframe in place.