Nearly time to turn the key for the first time....
Discussion
Backstory:
December last year, bit bored, looking at kit cars and so forth, decided on an impulse e-bay bid on a 2000 2.2 SRi Vectra in Silver. I love that style of cars so much and it was listed as having a cracked head repaired a few years ago, allegedly 'confirmed by a mechanic' that it had gone again.
Anyway, got it down to myself, had to get it towed which cost a bit but i had bought it and wasnt going back on an ebay bid.
As predicted, the car was firing more steam out the exhaust than a turkish bath. Bit of front end damage but nothing major, front bumper loose but secure with a bungee. Reasonable inside too.
Now:
So here i am, with a car in my garage that needs working on, i've never done anything more than changing filters and plugs in the past... what had i gotten myself into?
Anyway, plodded through it, got the head off, pressure tested and skimmed with no problems. Obviously the 'confirmed cracked head' was a load of bulls
t as i expected. I got the impression whoever worked on the car last was a bit of a cowboy (but hey, who am i to talk?)
Got a new headgasket on, had a bit of help from a family member who knows nothing about cars (lol) but still, we got through it. Got a bit of help from the web and a haynes so it wasnt all bad. Putting the head back on caused the chain to drop into the bottom of the engine so that was a total nightmare (although it worked out ok, as i found a piece of screwdriver in the bottom of the engine which we had lost when it snapped
)
Put the chain on, put the cover back on, everything all going back together, tried to crank the car by hand.... *clunk clunk clunk* as the chain slips about 10 teeth.
All had to come off again, found the problem to be the tensioner, got it all chained up today, had a lot of messing around with the cams, they came off and on about 4 times but seems all ok when cranked by hand. Had a close call when one of the camshaft bearing cap screws sheared off and snapped in the head. Had to drill it out but gladly caused no damage. Also got a socket stuck against the body of the car for 4 hours, forced against it by the engine mount, to the point i couldnt move it. Eventually had to jack the engine up which was pretty difficult on my own. That'll teach me for trying to take a short cut. It also explains the fresh dent in the bonnet where a hammer got launched across the garage....
Spent the rest of the evening putting all the bits and pieces back on... Several times i had a wire with a connector that had nothing to plug into....
Anyway, all seems back together now, with the exception of one coolant pipe i cant figure out how to get into the head, but i think it just needs some force. Suprisingly, i only have one nut left which i have no idea where it goes or where it came from.
Popped the battery on and..... powerrrrrrrrrr!!
good start i guess, all the system checks seemed ok apart from low coolant.
All it needs is some coolant, figure out how to get that tiny pipe on then time to fire it up for the first time in 4 months.
Im pretty excited about firing it up but scared at the same time. 
I expect the coolant burning problem was actually a problem with an inlet manifold gasket, but wont be certain until i start it up.
I just hope i dont get showered with valves, cams and springs when i fire it up tomorrow
December last year, bit bored, looking at kit cars and so forth, decided on an impulse e-bay bid on a 2000 2.2 SRi Vectra in Silver. I love that style of cars so much and it was listed as having a cracked head repaired a few years ago, allegedly 'confirmed by a mechanic' that it had gone again.
Anyway, got it down to myself, had to get it towed which cost a bit but i had bought it and wasnt going back on an ebay bid.
As predicted, the car was firing more steam out the exhaust than a turkish bath. Bit of front end damage but nothing major, front bumper loose but secure with a bungee. Reasonable inside too.
Now:
So here i am, with a car in my garage that needs working on, i've never done anything more than changing filters and plugs in the past... what had i gotten myself into?
Anyway, plodded through it, got the head off, pressure tested and skimmed with no problems. Obviously the 'confirmed cracked head' was a load of bulls
t as i expected. I got the impression whoever worked on the car last was a bit of a cowboy (but hey, who am i to talk?)Got a new headgasket on, had a bit of help from a family member who knows nothing about cars (lol) but still, we got through it. Got a bit of help from the web and a haynes so it wasnt all bad. Putting the head back on caused the chain to drop into the bottom of the engine so that was a total nightmare (although it worked out ok, as i found a piece of screwdriver in the bottom of the engine which we had lost when it snapped
)Put the chain on, put the cover back on, everything all going back together, tried to crank the car by hand.... *clunk clunk clunk* as the chain slips about 10 teeth.
All had to come off again, found the problem to be the tensioner, got it all chained up today, had a lot of messing around with the cams, they came off and on about 4 times but seems all ok when cranked by hand. Had a close call when one of the camshaft bearing cap screws sheared off and snapped in the head. Had to drill it out but gladly caused no damage. Also got a socket stuck against the body of the car for 4 hours, forced against it by the engine mount, to the point i couldnt move it. Eventually had to jack the engine up which was pretty difficult on my own. That'll teach me for trying to take a short cut. It also explains the fresh dent in the bonnet where a hammer got launched across the garage....
Spent the rest of the evening putting all the bits and pieces back on... Several times i had a wire with a connector that had nothing to plug into....
Anyway, all seems back together now, with the exception of one coolant pipe i cant figure out how to get into the head, but i think it just needs some force. Suprisingly, i only have one nut left which i have no idea where it goes or where it came from.
Popped the battery on and..... powerrrrrrrrrr!!
good start i guess, all the system checks seemed ok apart from low coolant.All it needs is some coolant, figure out how to get that tiny pipe on then time to fire it up for the first time in 4 months.
Im pretty excited about firing it up but scared at the same time. I expect the coolant burning problem was actually a problem with an inlet manifold gasket, but wont be certain until i start it up.I just hope i dont get showered with valves, cams and springs when i fire it up tomorrow
pinchmeimdreamin said:
iva cosworth said:
Above long story summarised
Bloke fixes [maybe] crap old Vectra
Alternative summary:Bloke fixes [maybe] crap old Vectra
PH'er takes his first steps at learning how to maintain and rebuild cars
)Intention is to get something old and simple(and cheap!) that I can pull to bits and learn how to put back together. Never even changed a spark plug before so should be interesting
Good luck and fingers crossed
Its a good job i didnt post a video....
Because nothing exciting happened.
She lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Turned the key and it cranked pretty well but killed the battery. Took the battery off my normal car (which turned out brilliant, as it reset the engine light that was on!) and the car fired up perfectly.
Cue a load of foul smelling smoke from the exhuast manifold gasket, which i was worried about, however after about 10 minutes of running, this receeded. Temperature didnt creep much above 90 which i was happy with but the car used a fair bit of coolant.
It's spitting some white/grey smoke out of the back which i cant tell whether this is because its cold or whether the original problem still remains (although it doesnt seem as bad as when i first rolled it into the garage). The car has probably moved about 20ft in 8 months so maybe needs a good hammering? (Could be hard seeing as it's uninsured and not taxed).
It used a load of coolant, but part of this was due to the overflow pipe, at some point the connection for this has been snapped clear from the head so need to bodge a repair to get it secure and bodge a slightly damaged rad pipe which may be leaking a little too.
Delighted that it starts and runs and didnt explode, a bit upset that maybe the original problem, still exists somewhere...
Because nothing exciting happened.
She lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Turned the key and it cranked pretty well but killed the battery. Took the battery off my normal car (which turned out brilliant, as it reset the engine light that was on!) and the car fired up perfectly.
Cue a load of foul smelling smoke from the exhuast manifold gasket, which i was worried about, however after about 10 minutes of running, this receeded. Temperature didnt creep much above 90 which i was happy with but the car used a fair bit of coolant.
It's spitting some white/grey smoke out of the back which i cant tell whether this is because its cold or whether the original problem still remains (although it doesnt seem as bad as when i first rolled it into the garage). The car has probably moved about 20ft in 8 months so maybe needs a good hammering? (Could be hard seeing as it's uninsured and not taxed).
It used a load of coolant, but part of this was due to the overflow pipe, at some point the connection for this has been snapped clear from the head so need to bodge a repair to get it secure and bodge a slightly damaged rad pipe which may be leaking a little too.
Delighted that it starts and runs and didnt explode, a bit upset that maybe the original problem, still exists somewhere...
doogz said:
I'm sorry in advance, and i hope it's ok, but i will laugh, lots, if you've spent all that time, put all that work in, and all the threads on here, and you've not fixed it.
Like i say, i hope it's fine, and the level in the radiator/tank has just dropped as it's bled itself.
Big meanie Like i say, i hope it's fine, and the level in the radiator/tank has just dropped as it's bled itself.
My gut feeling is that it is using it itself, as i drained a lot more out than i initially put in. And when it was initially broken it wasnt using as much now. Im going to let it settle tonight and have a nosey tomorrow.
Worst case scenario, at least i can now drive it to the scrapper rather than towing it
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