Is it possible to swap a K24 into an Astra J?

Is it possible to swap a K24 into an Astra J?

Author
Discussion

loonaflex

Original Poster:

4 posts

Wednesday
quotequote all
Hello fellow PistonHeads members, im new to the forum so if my thread is off topic or it has something wrong with it feel free to warn me or delete it! Okay back to the topic. So, you heard me right I want to swap a K24 into an Astra J. Youre probably asking "why, just buy a civic". I'm living im Turkey, performance/sports cars here are either too expensive or the cool ones don't exist. Importing? You buy the car and pay 3x maybe 5x the price. I want something unique. All the civic's here are riced out and theyre maintenance is just terrible.And good ones are overly priced. An STI costs 1.2m ₺ (approximately 30K$) and it's been driven 150K km min. Evos? dont even get me started . But Astra's are generally maintained well, theyre cheap and have lower mileage. And I think theyre chasis have a lot of potential. But I wanted to ask to you guys what do you think?

njw1

2,442 posts

125 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Anything's possible if you have enough money/skill/time to throw at it. Why not just buy an Astra VXR?

loonaflex

Original Poster:

4 posts

Wednesday
quotequote all
njw1 said:
Anything's possible if you have enough money/skill/time to throw at it. Why not just buy an Astra VXR?
Unfortunately I wouldn't give 25k $ for a 200k km(maybe more??) VXR

Bagzie88

220 posts

80 months

Wednesday
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loonaflex said:
njw1 said:
Anything's possible if you have enough money/skill/time to throw at it. Why not just buy an Astra VXR?
Unfortunately I wouldn't give 25k $ for a 200k km(maybe more??) VXR
So you think swapping a K24 into an astra is going to somehow be cheaper or more reliable?

Truckosaurus

12,620 posts

298 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
I suspect the best option would be to swap in a Vauxhall/Opel turbo engine into a base model Astra. A mildly tuned 1.6 turbo (available in the Astra in many markets, even if not the Turkish one) would be more powerful than a K24.

Evil.soup

3,867 posts

219 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
I would agree with the above, it will be a cheaper and easier option to source a vauxhall turbo engine and fit it rather than try to shoe horn a Civic engine in there. So many unknowns when trying to blend 2 brands together, mounting points, gearbox, wiring etc...

Baldchap

9,133 posts

106 months

Wednesday
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Even a different engine available in the same model can be very difficult...

Engine swap would be my last resort TBH.

blue_haddock

4,422 posts

81 months

Wednesday
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njw1 said:
Anything's possible if you have enough money/skill/time to throw at it.
Exactly what I was going to say.

And as they are having to ask about it I doubt they have the skills themselves so I hope they've got deep pockets because it ain't gonna be cheap.

And they will still be driving a pumped up astra!

AmyRichardson

1,717 posts

56 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Wouldn't a 1.6 turbo Astra of this generation, especially with a modicum of tinkering, be a quicker, cheaper and more readily maintained device than a frankenstein Opelonda?

Granted, a bit boring, but if it's your only car I'd take a dose of boring if it meant getting where I was going and not breaking the bank in the process.

stevieturbo

17,749 posts

261 months

Yesterday (09:32)
quotequote all
loonaflex said:
Hello fellow PistonHeads members, im new to the forum so if my thread is off topic or it has something wrong with it feel free to warn me or delete it! Okay back to the topic. So, you heard me right I want to swap a K24 into an Astra J. Youre probably asking "why, just buy a civic". I'm living im Turkey, performance/sports cars here are either too expensive or the cool ones don't exist. Importing? You buy the car and pay 3x maybe 5x the price. I want something unique. All the civic's here are riced out and theyre maintenance is just terrible.And good ones are overly priced. An STI costs 1.2m ? (approximately 30K$) and it's been driven 150K km min. Evos? dont even get me started . But Astra's are generally maintained well, theyre cheap and have lower mileage. And I think theyre chasis have a lot of potential. But I wanted to ask to you guys what do you think?
Given people K swap everything these days, I don't see why it would be a problem. It's easy for people in different countries to say "just do this, just do that", they don't realise there are different dynamics in different countries that make their "just do this" suggestions more expensive or difficult.

That said, what engine is currently in your astra ? A simple turbo build can often be a good option.

Or there are a lot of other GM Ecotec platform engines that might be an easier swap ? Saab 2000-2010 era, or as some say Z20LET, although I'd say the Saab options would be better, whether the 2.3 B235 types or the B207 all alloy versions from the 9-3 turbo etc
I think even earlier B204/234 also swap and use same bellhousing pattern

loonaflex

Original Poster:

4 posts

Yesterday (09:42)
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
Given people K swap everything these days, I don't see why it would be a problem. It's easy for people in different countries to say "just do this, just do that", they don't realise there are different dynamics in different countries that make their "just do this" suggestions more expensive or difficult.

That said, what engine is currently in your astra ? A simple turbo build can often be a good option.

Or there are a lot of other GM Ecotec platform engines that might be an easier swap ? Saab 2000-2010 era, or as some say Z20LET, although I'd say the Saab options would be better, whether the 2.3 B235 types or the B207 all alloy versions from the 9-3 turbo etc
I think even earlier B204/234 also swap and use same bellhousing pattern
Im planning to buy a 1.3CDTI, since theyre the best bang for buck out here. I can easily find one with low mileage and good maintenance. I thought about the Z20LET, Z20LEH and the A20NFT but since I started my journey with the dream of a K20/24 I would like to go that way. I didn't think about Saab's engine I'll check em' and see if theres any good deal.

E-bmw

11,001 posts

166 months

Yesterday (10:28)
quotequote all
loonaflex said:
stevieturbo said:
Given people K swap everything these days, I don't see why it would be a problem. It's easy for people in different countries to say "just do this, just do that", they don't realise there are different dynamics in different countries that make their "just do this" suggestions more expensive or difficult.

That said, what engine is currently in your astra ? A simple turbo build can often be a good option.

Or there are a lot of other GM Ecotec platform engines that might be an easier swap ? Saab 2000-2010 era, or as some say Z20LET, although I'd say the Saab options would be better, whether the 2.3 B235 types or the B207 all alloy versions from the 9-3 turbo etc
I think even earlier B204/234 also swap and use same bellhousing pattern
Im planning to buy a 1.3CDTI, since theyre the best bang for buck out here. I can easily find one with low mileage and good maintenance. I thought about the Z20LET, Z20LEH and the A20NFT but since I started my journey with the dream of a K20/24 I would like to go that way. I didn't think about Saab's engine I'll check em' and see if theres any good deal.
If you are going to go ahead, don't forget that you will also likely have to re-engineer brakes, suspension, wiring looms, fuel system, ECUs amongst other things.

stevieturbo

17,749 posts

261 months

Yesterday (14:46)
quotequote all
Driveshafts can often be annoying for swaps, although full DIY will just cut and weld a pair together.

All the rest should be pretty straightforward adapting too.

Wiring can be a nightmare, but depends how fussy and how much integration with other stuff is needed