Turkish's Astra G 2.0 Turbo "Sleeper"

[Turkish91]

Bear with me... This will be a long post! So this is the story of my daily driver of the last 5 years nearly; a lovely Jade Green 2002 Astra 1.6 8v. The car belonged to my Mum beforehand, and my Stepdad's Father before that, so it's been in the family since about 2004. I was given it by my Mum for Christmas 2012 as she was going to scrap it!!!

A long long time ago...



She's always been a bit rough around the edges, with just about every panel having some sort of dent or scratch! But it was cheap motoring, ran really well and seemed to drive pretty nicely too. My Mum mainly used the car to take our family Labradors out for a walk, so as you can imagine the inside was covered in mud, slobber and HAIR. Lots of it!! The first time I took my friends in it was a trip up to Sheffield for a night out... When we got there we spent a good 20 minutes patting eachother down to get rid of all the hair stuck to our clothes lol! So this is where the name Dogbus came from.

Flash forward to January 2016 (almost to the day as it happens) and my Mum phones me at about 10pm absolutely distraught as my Grandmother is dying in hospital in Inverness. We jumped into Dogbus, left home near Warwick and drove through the night as fast as I possibly could to try and get there in time to say goodbye to her. We made it from Warwick to Inverness in six and a half hours, with some pretty heavy snow all the way from Perth onwards and the car never missed a beat, rocksteady the whole way. Not to sound like the Clarkson Porsche 928 story but we made it there and had half an hour with her before she passed away. As daft as it sounds, from that day onwards something changed with my attitude towards the car fand I decided she really did have some soul and character.

Moving onto September 16, and I began looking at Dogbus to see what would be needed for it's next MOT in January. All four tyres were close to their limit, both front top mounts were shot, the backbox was missing, an engine mount was close to failure, a front wheel bearing was heavily worn and it needed a new CV joint amongst other things. I'd been toying with the idea of doing an engine swap on her (the original bulletproof 1.6 8v was touching 130k now) so I decided to bite the bullet and bought myself this...



Loads of new chassis bits, just had a clutch, timing belt and tyres - perfect!! So I got it bought, got it home and found it was a real peach of a car... But nevertheless Dogbus was to live on. Just like the story of Snape and Voldemort, the Coupe very quickly looked like this:



Then this:



And so the swap into Dogbus was ready to go. Me and a couple of friends did the whole swap in the space of 3 days up at his unit. It ended up being a bit more involved than we first thought - the entire dash loom needed swapping which is an arse of a job! We also slung the 5 stud hubs, 308mm front brakes and entire disc rear beam onto the car. Fuel tank and lines, gear linkage and shifter box, clocks, the lot... The only bits that are really original to Dogbus now are the shell and all it's panels, heater matrix, interior carpet, doorcards, headlining and the rear lights!

During the swap:




Thankfully she started first turn of the key after a bit a few seconds of getting fuel up the lines! I ran the Coupe wheels initially, then quickly sourced some 16" Saab steelies for the added Sleeper effect!





I had to get a custom exhaust system made as funnily enough a 2.5" system with a downturned tip doesn't exist off the shelf!



And that's where we're upto today! Next step is to get the car correctly mapped to suit all the new bits and ensure it's running 100% as safely as it can be. I'll try to keep this updated with the shenanigans of Dogbus, and some videos once it's mapped (it should be around 250hp which'll be a good laugh!).

Sorry for the long post, hope you all enjoy reading

[Turkish91]

em177 said:

Fantastic. I'd ditch the Irmscher grill and facelift headlights. Needs any traces of anything interesting removed.

The grill has already gone... The bonnet cable snapped the other day so it got obliterated during the rescue mission!

[Turkish91]

All in hand folks... I did the swap at the end of November, went straight off to Sweden with work for 3 weeks, back for 2 over Christmas and then been in Spain since the New Year. It's insured correctly, just waiting to sort out the DVLA side when I get back to the UK

[Turkish91]

Jimmy Recard said:

OP, if you do want a set of wheel trims, I've got some I'm not using that came with the Saab steelies I've got on my Astra H. Not sure if it's any good to you but if you want them, you can have them for nothing. Not genuine Vauxhall - some aftermarket generic ones that are branded as Vauxhall

Cheers for the offer, but I'm not planning on fitting any and if I did change my mind, it would definitely be for OEM ones to achieve maximum sleeper effect!


UPDATES...

Standard grill back on. The Irmscher one got obliterated in my attempts to open the bonnet after the cable snapped!




Finally fitted my boost gauge properly... Keeping an eye on things!




And whilst I was away with work for 3 weeks, a good friend (who did the engine swap with me) fitted a set of Bilstein OEM dampers to the Dogbus. It has literally transformed the car, so surefooted now and handles beautifully!

[Turkish91]

Okay some updates...

I've been having a running issue with the car - it would just cut all power at 5000rpm in every gear, with no EML or fault codes. I tried first off buying a few cheap sensors/components that could well be the cause, but it was to no avail. Thankfully a friend has a Z20LET converted van, so I tried swapping a few known good parts (MAF, MAP, coil pack etc) off his, again to no avail.

I then decided to visit a local dyno, mainly because they had the facility to check AFR figures - my reasoning being that the issue was that troublesome to diagnose that I didn't know if the car was even safe to keep driving with the fault. Here she is on the dyno...



She made a dizzying 117hp and 170lb/ft of torque!! However the AFR's were slightly lean from idle to 3k then mega rich from there to it's weird 5k rev limit. Hmm... More head scratching needed!

By pure chance, I noticed on Facebook that the company records all the runs during the day and then makes a "compilation" video for their page... As you can imagine my car got torn a new one in the comments! But when watching the video I noticed that the silicone crossover pipe was suddenly sucking flat at 5k, starving the turbo of air almost completely, in turn then starving the inlet (you could see the crossover turbo pipe go, then a second later the main pipe from the intercooler to the throttle body!). Went outside, pulled the pipe off and ran the car down the road with the turbo straight to atmosphere: no filter or MAF... Bingo! Revs right round to 6500 and goes like a rocket! Big winner... So a hardpipe crossover kit got ordered -



Now I'm looking to get hold of a VXR turbo, VXR MAF, VXR Injectors and also a 2.5" hardpipe kit to replace the intercooler to inlet hose. Once I have fitted all those bits, I'll be taking it down to a well regarded firm in Stevenage with the aim of getting close to 300hp... Which should make it very lively!

[Turkish91]

Bit less sleeper now... But the summer wheel/tyre assembly is back on. I left the winters on for too long and have absolutely shredded them now that the weather is warmer! So I may purchase some Nankang NS2R semi-slicks if I can find them in the correct size for the steel wheels

I think this old girl will also be making an appearance at the Nürburgring this year; I'm swaying towards taking this over my Evo VI!

[Turkish91]

Straff99 said:

Fantastic thread! Is that Tesco at Clowne...?

Cheers! No it's the one near me in Southam.


Updates...

Mirrors are now finally black and not the garish blue they were before!




And these badboys arrived last week...



Nankang NS2-R semi slicks which I absolutely swear by. So the steelies will be back on very soon!

I've had a little change of direction with the car - I've decided my Evo is too nice to be used on track and the Astra is a little impractical for a daily driver... So the logical step of course is to strip out the Astra, take her up to 300hp and fit a diff and then get a third car to use instead as a daily! The other half is not impressed

[Turkish91]

The two rockets together!



EDIT - I hope Photobucket goes back on their daft third party image hosting policy else this thread will have almost no pictures!

Edited by Turkish91 on Sunday 2nd July 12:17

[Turkish91]

So it's been a while since I updated this... The Dogbus has been running the VXR lump now for nearly a year and about 8k miles and has been an absolute hoot! I've done a few bits, one of the biggest improvements being a 2.5" stainless inlet pipe which seems to have reduced lag dramatically and possibly given it a bit more oomph on the bum dyno.



However it has also potentially done this...



Making her run pretty lean by the looks of it! So the plan is to do a few more bits over the winter and get her mapped properly in the Spring time, potentially then tickling close to 300hp! Watch this space...

[Turkish91]

So the Dogbus has been off the road for a few months now whilst I’ve gathered up a few bits and bobs. I’ve sourced another turbo which will be sent off and rebuilt including a VXR core. I’ve also found an intercooler kit which should work, although I may need to fettle a few bits as it’s meant for a Mk5 VXR not a Mk4 GSI so for one it doesn’t have fitment for a map sensor which I’ll need to create. Bonus is though it does have 2.5” pipework throughout so should do well once mapped. So I just need to acquire some new injectors, a new MAF sensor & housing and an uprated fuel pump... fit it all and get it mapped and hopefully be knocking on the door of 300hp... and hopefully no knocking from the bottom end!

In the meantime, I’ve begun the interior strip out, fitted a replacement front wing as the original was beginning to rust and also fitted some extra chavvy LED sidelight bulbs

[Turkish91]

Long overdue update!

Some of you may have seen some updates in the SLEEPERS! thread but it occurred to me I haven’t put any in here for ages.

Since I last posted I’ve had a lot of changes in my life and the Dogbus did sit on the back burner for quite a while. But during the first lockdown I spent a fair bit of time and money sorting it all out. Long story short the engine loom threw a wobbler and spiked the ECU & burnt out some wiring in the coolant circuits (the latter being a bloody nightmare to diagnose!).

The cars now all good… well, was good for 7/8 weeks after finally getting it mapped for all the new mods and then the clutch started slipping But I knew this was going to happen with the additional torque so it’s not the end of the world. I always said when the clutch went I’d add an LSD but I’m not going to for the time being. So on October 6th (when I’m back from a work trip to Italy) I’ll be doing a load of work with my friend at his unit… To go on is -

TTV lightened flywheel
C20LET Calibra Turbo Clutch kit
New rear main crankshaft seal
New upper & lower sump gaskets
Eibach springs (should raise it by 10mm or so, additional sleeper points!!)
Powerflex front engine mount/support
Re-bleed of the brakes

Next plans after this for 2022 are a different exhaust as this one is just too loud, I want something quieter and better quality. Some more road-biased tyres rather than the Nankang semi-slicks and probably new discs & pads all round. I also need a new windscreen as this one is quite heavily cracked!

Here is a couple of more recent photos showing the engine bay now looking a bit more jazzy. And also… a video! Just a short pull my girlfriend filmed - this was the first time she’d been in the car since having it mapped so as you can hear at the end I think she was quite surprised!











https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=giIOBVYVPWA

Edited by Turkish91 on Wednesday 22 September 12:35

Edited by Turkish91 on Wednesday 22 September 12:37

[Turkish91]

scottos said:

This is excellent the only thing for me is that you seem to keep it nice and clean, if that could ever be a bad thing! It almost looks like it should be dirty all the time

Don't let the camera deceive you... I think I've washed it once since it was mapped in April

[Turkish91]

Now sporting Eibach springs instead of GMax which has raised it up (a lot more than I was expecting tbh) and made it 1000x nicer to drive! Tempted to leave the hubcaps off but I think it’s more subtle with them on.

Also fitted a TTV flywheel, new Calibra Turbo clutch, rear main crankshaft seal and sump gaskets however I think somethings gone a wonk with the upper sump gasket as its leaking engine oil quite a bit unfortunately. Praying it’s not the rear main!!

The flywheel has made a huge difference, it feels so much more yampy now

Edited by Turkish91 on Friday 8th October 14:34

[Turkish91]

What’s better than having one 300hp FWD motor?

Two of course

[Turkish91]

The clutch went on my Volvo on Wednesday so I’ve been flitting between the Astra & my Supercharged EP3 the last few days. Hard to say which is quicker as they’re both so different but nevertheless, this thing still makes me giggle every time I take it out. I thought about washing it the other day but decided against it

[Turkish91]

Bad day yesterday… clobbered outside my mates house whilst I was making a mess in his garden with a digger. Thankfully a note was left so all good. Almost adds to the sleeper status, maybe I should leave it

[Turkish91]

Thanks for the replies all.





Not much going on with Dogbus at the minute. Unfortunately the oil leak has reared it’s head again… last time I drove it maybe 3 weeks ago I noticed once home it was absolutely howling out so going to have to revisit that again. I’m anticipating the upper sump is warped - you can get new ones easy enough but I think they’re about £220 from memory. MOT ran out on Thursday, will probably SORN it now for the winter and bring it back out in March/April.

Jobs for the winter then are…

- Sort the oil leak

- New hard brake lines throughout. A few are looking a bit crispy so may as well change the lot. I may also fit a manual bias valve as in the wet the rear locks up way before the fronts.

- Get the steelies acid dipped and repainted/powdercoated. No one will see them behind the hubcaps but they’re properly rusty now so just fancy tidying that up.

- New tyres… The Nankangs are good in the dry but they’re terrifying in the wet, something I never struggled with on my EP3 or Evo 6. They’re also over 5yrs old now and with lack of use they’ve gone quite hard and have some flat spots, it’s quite noticeable when driving it for the first time in a while.



I’ll be dropping the profile from 55 to 50 to try and gain some corner stability and reduce the occasional rub that happens on the rears during hard compression. I really rate the Uniroyal Rain Experts I have on my V70 but I’m concerned Dogbus will likely chew through them too quickly… but then again at £82 a tyre it’s not really the end of the world I guess.

Probably won’t happen until mid next year but it desperately wants a quieter exhaust system. The older I get the more it annoys me On boost it’s unbearable, even more so with the rear stripped out. The mrs absolutely fking hates going in it because of how ridiculous it sounds

[Turkish91]

Demelitia said:

Cool as ever.

Pilot sport 4’s are still available at around £70 in that size, with a 94 sidewall load that might help offset some of the softness you mentioned.

If you struggle with those, efficientgrip performance 2’s are £83 a corner for the same spec and seem to be walking away with a lot of tests, especially regarding the wet performance.
I imagine they’d be better than the rainsports which I’ve always found to be ok at best in the wet in exchange for a few downsides, like the poor wear characteristics you mentioned.

Cheers, PS4s are also on the list, but a quick look on Camskill when I posted my last reply didn’t show PS4s in the size I need (205/50/16)… well certainly not in stock but I did only quickly look so probably wrong! But if they can be had elsewhere cheaper than Rain Experts then I’ll definitely look into that!

[Turkish91]

micloi said:

Regarding the exhaust you should see and hear the valved backbox I installed on my Forester. Night and day from the one I had before and still made the same power.

Nice idea but I’d rather it just be quieter all the time really. If I actually manage to get it on a track one day it’s one less thing to worry about too, same reason my GSXR has a baffle welded in permanently it just gives peace of mind you won’t set off any noise meters

[Turkish91]

ajprice said:

Not sure about the noise but to keep it looking subtle you could do the exhaust with a fake standard looking peashooter tailpipe sticking out the back attached to the real pipe behind the bumper, like the Corsa in the sleeper thread, 'vauxhaulin' on Instagram.

I like that, it fits perfectly with how the standard Corsa probably was. The standard back box on mine was a down-turned tip mostly hidden away behind the bumper, so want to try and stick with that as it looks as close to the original… I also thoroughly enjoy it when it kicks up loads of dust off the road when on hard throttle