Saab B204e to Calibra SE5 - & So It Begins.....!

[DanSE4]

Cheers, should work then!

[Miscbrah]

Sounds like what we'll need and should save us from the orange relay business (posted for future googlers.)



Also gotta say thanks again to Dan, Wayne and Kyle who came up Sunday and worked like beasts on the car. Very very grateful guys.

[rips]

I'll be driving it like it's a milk float anyway.

Interesting project, but that comment makes me wonder why?

[Miscbrah]

I'm certainly bowing to your electronics knowledge on that front! A few folks have done it this way. Interestingly enough, so did Vauxhall (some Corsa and Meriva also iirc) but I can well imagine it was a 'make do' moment rather than their finest design hour.

I'll be driving it like it's a milk float anyway.

Interesting project, but that comment makes me wonder why?

It's genetics I think, can't help it. Got into the habit of driving very conservatively early on. Doesn't mean I won't appreciate the beautiful machine I'll have at the end that a LOT of love and good will has built from MANY people. It's been a hugely useful project for me as I've learned things. Like, handy things, and got some mechanic-ing confidence and experience where I had precious little before.

I should imagine it'll get the cobwebs blown out on occasion though, but at least initially I'll go very easy on the F18. Short term replacements will be the front brakes for a v6 setup. After that, exhaust section or cat back making up, along with F20 I should think. After after that, APC wiring in to bring me to 185bhp.

[Rangie1]

(Miscbrah here, posting from Andy's PC.)

For ref, the following is the correct aux belt diagram with no centre idler:



Rest of the confusing diagram salad can be found HERE.

*mumble mutter bought the wrong pulley grumble.*

[DanSE4]

Not 100% sure where things got to this weekend as I only popped up briefly today to get the power cables for the ECU etc connected up, needed a battery in the car so I could find a permanent live & an ignition switched one.



I spliced directly into the leads at the back of the ignition barrel so the brown one is a perm live & the red one is ignition switched.

The engine bay certainly looked more complete today & the subframe is in, I'll let Andy & James fill in here as I'll be back to it next Saturday where hopefully an engine start is on the cards (unless that happened after I left today & Andy ain't answering his phone at the mo so I can't find out)!

[Miscbrah]

Just a quickie, having meant to reply Sunday.

Not started yet and still a few problems with the long driveshaft. Maybe. Or maybe we didn't try wiggling it in enough (let's dearly and earnestly hope for the latter.)

Also the bonnet won't close as the rocker cover and oil filler cap sit too high. Bum. Will explore this with homemade engine mount bits and if I need a hole and a bonnet scoop then I need them.

I think we'll all need a well-earned break after this weekend, and return to it in the new year.

[Miscbrah]

In a perverse way I would go with a bulge or a scoop and look forward to it! Ask Wayne how me lil beady eyes lit up when he proposed that solution! I'd legit need it too, so conscience would be clear. Scoop would seem less work and no bonnet respray but I can dig a bit of a bulge nudge nudge wink wink ooer etc.

Have a question to field though. Playing devil's advocate, if the offside driveshaft just won't fit into the hub at all and we can't hybridise something out of the bits of the shafts we have then I'll need options. I remember Bad Kid mentioned ages ago that a mk3 Cavalier driveshaft needs no mount on the block and so that'd seem like a tidy plug and play alternative. Does that bear considering? Will it (likely) survive in terms of taking the torque of the engine? It'll be in an F18 box temporarily, then an F20.

[DanSE4]

I don't think a proper attempt to get the driveshaft through the hub has been made yet so I wouldn't worry about that one just yet.

I've heard nothing about bonnet clearance issues with the engine itself as yet from anyone who's done this conversion before & if anything, something didn't look quite right with the pipe from the airbox when I last saw it. That looks to be sitting very high so that needs checking out.

If it is that & there's no immediate way around it, a cone filter can be used for the time being.

[Miscbrah]

OH oh oh Dan! I did some research and was lucky enough to get answers from the one man I KNOW has done a Calibra before. He said 100% that Saab driveshaft will fit the hub, and his Calibra had gone with the 'euro look' on the bonnet (it's raised a bit at the back, have instructions for adjusting the catches.) So, armed with all that we're two problems down and it's all coming up Miscbrah this evening!

And yeah that pipe is a bit 'in the way' too. Will elaborate a bit more Sunday, out of battery now but had to post that bit.

[Miscbrah]

Hmmm, that's something I'd not even thought of. Let's hope not!

[DanSE4]

There isn't with Calibra's (V6 driveshafts fitted my 4 stud hubs fine) so I'm pretty sure it should be the same with the Saab shaft.

[Chavtastic]

All the same I believe.

Only difference in GM shaft splines I'm aware of is between "big block" and "small block" engines and gearboxes

Broadly speaking 1.0 -> 1.6 are small block

1.8s can be either big or small

2.0 and above are big block

[Chavtastic]

Saab driveshaft castle nuts are different though and not interchangeable with Calibra ones.

They are £2 new on eBay though

[DanSE4]

Saab driveshaft castle nuts are different though and not interchangeable with Calibra ones.

Yeah, we discovered that one. The Saab ones are around somewhere but if we can't locate them then James can grab a set as they're cheap.