Project freeze my insignia 4x4 off 2018

evocarlos

fuel tank cover got painted so not to rust like the last one

star silver

all the rear subframe parts came back from the powdercoaters

car is now stood under cover till ive the time to get the whole floor pan done

the work on the 2nd 4x4 has been keeping me busy 🙂 build thread for that one coming soon

cledson

Amazing job on this one my friend!
It´s getting a lot better than on the beginning!

evocarlos

after pinching the 20" wheels for the other 4x4 i found a 2nd set of vx line 20" going cheap and only 3mile up the road
went and fetched the most of them were curbed and tyres were all odd

after getting the tyres pulled off i found one buckled and cracked

just one crack did the same procedure as the the other set thats been on the other car for a while now and done quite a few mile and the crack has not returned.
drill the end

cut the crack open to get all the gunk out so its all nice and clean for welding

new tyres came falken azenis fk510 245/35/20

on with the welding found the reason for it cracking bit of crap in the alloy it wouldn't weld had to drill it thru a then fill it up

thats better

flapy pad to make it all tidy

inside tidied up

sent them off for powdercoating and what a job they did like brand new again

had to order one more centre cap as the wheels only came with 3

vocky

a good choice of wheels, they really suit the car

evocarlos

bit of an update with this one
bought a shot blaster and went to work

the dog looked it over 1st lol

blaster making it easy work

some overspray from painting a minidigger took ages to get it off

grit every where

all the loose stuff gone and rest removed

had chosen to go with a raptor body colour smooth finish on the under side so used the raptor anti corrosion epoxy primer this also save a few steps of using etch primer and adhesion promoter as it does both in one step

full under side covered

the raptor mixed at 3:1 with 10% paint and 20% thinners to fire it thru a spray gun

nice finish out the gun

metallic particles came thru as well as the colour

g3 clay bar mitt removing loads more over spray from the mini digger

tryed to fit the fuel tank but the have supplyed me with 2wd straps so its on hold till i get the right ones

new heat shields and plastic retainers fitted

jet washed the chassis rails out wth drain cleaning attachment to wash out the grit once its dry i will wax oil the inside of the rails

evocarlos

so the tank straps
heres the difference between 2wd and 4x4

after a few days with an order from the factory the new ones turned up

back in feb i bought a used a20nft head for porting couldn't complain purchased for £90 so bit of a bonus with a stock head used coming in at around £450 :S but there were issues lol
dirty

listed as perfect working order but what about them 2 bent valves YO lol

bit of a clean up

almost like new

one day i will get round to fitting larger valves double springs and some cams 🙂

evocarlos

so i have finally got round to doing some work on this insignia
new tank straps painted in epoxy and black gloss 2k paint

after borrowing the cam sprockets for another car the new ones went on and the lid put back on

exterior still needs cleaning

interior has held up well for being stood for the past 18 months

wiped the dust off the tank cover and installed the tank back on the car

not an easy task when you have gained a few pounds and trying not to scratch the new paint lol

fuel filler pipe was rusty
it was needle scaled then treated with rust remover acid

having never used the rust remover before i was a bit dubious

within minutes it had pulled the rust off

leaving a nice clean grey metal to paint to

2 coats of epoxy primer to seal it up

next up was the prop shaft
it was sanded with a 320grit on the 6" da

painted over with rust remover

cleaned and dried off then coated with the same epoxy primer

2k black gloss on both the prop and fuel filler pipe

at least with the painted finish in the future if need be it can be sanded and painted to bring it to a new finish again

better than new well until i get the new boot for the end

even the rubber coupler and stainless clips were cleaned

few jobs to do im waiting on new rear hubs and disc back plates to come
ive got to replace 2 studs on the wheel well to hold the heat shields then start to clean up the haldex unit and fit the bushes to the subframe

evocarlos

Been and stocked up on stainless bolts thought it would be silly to put the old rusty ones back in now

Refitted the covers to the filler pipe and fitted it back to the car weathers bad so not much else getting done today

evocarlos

With the tank now fitted I washed the fuel lines thru with new fuel in the tank glad I did there was some rubbish in the pipe work

It also had its 1st run upto temperature in 19months after priming the oil and a few cranks it sprung into life again its surprising how quiet it was with no center section and silencers fitted
Did have a vid but it's to large to upload to the forum so some screen shots 🙂

evocarlos

some more done
rear crash bar cleaned and painted

new front wheel arch trim i pinched the orignal for the other 4x4

prop wrapped up till its needed

acid dipped the nuts for the crash bar

and now to put some paint on the subframe where the powder coaters missed

then on to fitting the new bushings quite technical on getting them in the right place

a mate lent me a tool for pulling them in its going to be something i purchase in the future great tool

anti roll bar fitted and the bushes for the haldex

wiped all the overspary off the brake pipes with thinners refitted all the clips and the new level sensor with stainless bolts

wiring clip fitted and hand brake cable wiped over and clipped in place

cleaned behind the lights and refitted them crash bar back on and gave the boot lid a polish and wax

next job paint and fit the bushes to the upper arms

had to skip fitting the subframe the lower arms need to be fitted 1st as the bolts wont go in with it on the car

more soon 🙂

evocarlos

few more steps of progress and new parts arriving
the car was covered in overspray so ive been at it agian with the clay mitt and got more off

in this image you can see the left side has the over spray and the right is clean

wheels are ready to go on

rust remover on the wish bones

covering the missed spot with epoxy primer

2k gloss black

new bolts 6 for the rear hubs and 4 of the off set bolts for the upper arms

into the box of many new parts they go

new gm wheel bearings and back plates

the rear bushing in the hub bracket are unavailable to buy individually so had 2 brand new brackets supplyed from germany new bushes included

the bolts,hubs,brackets and back plates combined

new discs and stainless bolts

the rear calipers (bit of a mess) heres why you never use hamerite it looks shat lol

stripped all parts from the calipers during clean up

the rubbers were washed in boiling water with fairy liquid. After soaking for 30mins the paint that was on them all came off and the dirt came off in the 2nd 3rd wash

bit cleaner

clean and dry and ready to go again

new discs and pads for the front 337mm discs and pads to suit the police spec twin pot calipers

conventlly i had a 2nd set of police spec calipers ready to go on this car

in need of a clean up

lower wishbone bushes are made in 2 halfs ive bought some heavy duty clamps to make them round for installation

right heres what about 3 hours of cleaning does to calipers

special type of flappy pad just for alloy made a nice job of the finish

removed the casting marks from the top edges so when there on the car its more smooth

ear plugs and energy drink can bottoms

epoxy primer

left to dry hope to get them in silver soon

evocarlos

some more work done over the last few days and some real progress on the whole

rear caliper brackets shot blasted
after and before

masked up ready for paint

calipers went to star silver and clear 2k lacquer

cleaned up the sliders and applied cold galvanising paint

all clean and ready for the rebuild

some time later

called up HEL performance as i was unable to find a line kit to suit the setup i have or will have
had to custom order the pipes the pipes listed for the insignia vxr were 370mm long the vxr use the same setup as the 2.0t 4x4 im sure ithe 2.0t 4x4 came 1st lol but when measuring the rear pipes on both cars they were 430mm long
the fronts listed for the ""sri"" were 515mm with m10x1.5 banjo so the front were off the shelf parts altho i will be using the twin pot police/bi turbo spec front calipers that still use the 515mm front pipes

the kit came after a days wait they were kind enough to supply me with 8 bolts just in case 4 of each m10x1 and m10x1.5 and as a bonus new pipe retaining clips in stainless i had almost bought new gm ones
ordered at the same time stainless bleed nipples

on with fitting the new bushes to the upper and lower arms there a split type so had to make a tool to get them round for pushing in
dads idea with me adding a few shells to make it the right size

this one was a bastard but its in

all ready to go back on the subframe

subframe pieced back together so it can be refitted to the car the lower and front upper arms need to be installed 1st as you cant get the bolts in after its fitted anti roll bar kept the lower arms up
not sure if i can get the haldex in after but we shall see

back on the car loosely

new hub bracket,hub,disc shield ,spring,disc fitted

caliper back on and there's no doubting the new hel pipe is the same as the original

next up the haldex unit lets see if we cant get it looking a bit fresher than the rusty CV's

KevinH

Stunning work as usual Carl. (y) (better than when it left the factory)

evocarlos

new solvent degreaser for the wash tank

new belt sander to help with the cleaning of rusty bits

cleaning of the haldex unit

into the wash tank

primer

aluminium paint

and a coat of laquer

and then on to cleaning up the drive shafts

after getting all the rust of and down to clean bear metal the outer cv was painted with epoxy primer

knocked the cv off and stripped to clean out the grease

all parts in the wash tank

painted with alu look paint and laquer

washed out the inner cv ready but had to buy the grese special its not moly due to being tripod

cv rebuilding

acid

same alu paint and lacquer

gloss black on the shaft

much improved

other shaft prepped

painted some of the bits on the haldex black so its not just all the same colour underneath the car

mounts and the hydraulic pump in gloss black and the prop shaft hub

polished the controller cover then gave it a coat of laquer

hydraulic lines for the Elsd clutch painted to stop any more corrosion

black as the final colour

haldex unit bolted back in

nice and clean looking now

caliper handbrake levers shot blasted and painted black

next up the shocks sanded and acid wash

evocarlos

big update and work covered over the holiday period 🙂
pictures in order to continue on from the last post

shocker covers cleaned up

2k paint on the shock body

had to order the grease for the inner CV joints

hand brake levers back on the calipers

fixed the broken wheel speed sensor

coming together now

other side to

after cleaning the outer cv on the drivers side i found the cage cracked must of missed getting it off with the hammer

warming up the waxoil

all the cavities done that i could get to

bungs back in and bracket for the arch liner riveted back on

looking something like

new GKN cv from germany :S

lick of paint

rebuilt and ready to go back on

diff oil changed

and finally wheels on and back on the ground

needs a good clean

went at the overspray on the roof and drivers side with the clay mitt

stock on stainless bits and bobs E clips for the hand brake cables and nuts with inbuilt washers for the caliper levers

the 2 side by side

front boot was split on the prop shaft and a replacement was £64

fixed it for the time being with a £6 rubber cv boot

evocarlos

The Exhaust..
after looking for a stainless solution of an exhaust system i had chosen to make my own with the bought ones available coming in at £600-900 and looked like they were put together blindfolded

the parts...
2x 10"x12" center exit side entry back boxs
2m of 2.5" tube
1m of 3" tube
2m of 3" tube
45* and 90* 2.5" mandrel bends 2 of each

nad something ive never done before PIE cuts

mocking up the step in the pipe

hanger made from 1/2 stainless bar

the angle and shape of the back boxs look to be a pain

making the Y connection

size of the entrance had to be adjusted to suit the 3" main pipe to the 2.5" bends

thats the hard bit over with lol

purging the pipes with argon while welding made the backs of the welds nice and clean

test fit

had to weld on a new stud for the heat shields bit of a patch repair on the raptor

new heat shields and plastic clips fitted

hangers made and bent for the rear boxs

measured up and tacked in place

looks like there may even be enough pipe for the front pipe altho i will have to buy a sports cat and get a flange made

welded the 2m length to the rear section and test fitted again

mocking up and test fitting the connection to the rer boxs

other side the same

nice and tidy looking 🙂

so far the above parts have cost me £255 this pic is of a reputable firms £900 version for a vxr....
yeah i'll stick with mine 🙂

corsaZ22se

Good work Carl.
the vxr one looks worse than the 3" one i had made by a "reputable" company. It fell apart quick and no warranty 🙁

evocarlos

corsaZ22se said:
Good work Carl.
the vxr one looks worse than the 3" one i had made by a "reputable" company. It fell apart quick and no warranty 🙁

well its taken me a few days to get it all sorted but its made the way i wanted it to be and not just bung and fit for £900 i would want something like i have made but gold plated 🙂

went and got some bits for the tig welder wanted to try the conversion tip with the larger shroud was hoping to get a pyrex cup but they didnt stock them the dronco metal polishing pads are great

the back end of the pipes after the axle i wanted polished so when its seen from the rear it looks good

purging with argon works great

back boxs went on

2 of the rubbers for the boxs have separated from the metal but there a right silly price for the 2 rubbers in the frame
found a pic of the astra j vxr rear rubber on cs webpage and the part number on the rubber matches the insignias so ive ordered one powerflex replacement to see if it fits

v band installed at the front

the hanger bars needs some fine adjustment with a lump hammer after welding

well it fits just need to decide on tail pipes

evocarlos

so where was i lol
new powerflex rubbers for the exhaust

cut some 2.5" for the tail pipes

borrowed the tips from the police car

washed all the tar off with thinners and then buffed the tips

rear section complete

had to make and adapter to connect the new to old