deanmcreynolds26
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Registered: 15th Sep 03
Location: E46 //M3
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Just wana know if anyone has converted an XE to Turbo
Im gona give it a go, dont wana fork out for a LET and then have to rebuild it or not know condition as its already out a car etc..
so plan is
Buy a cheap XE
Sell the loom/ECU/Manifold and whatever i dont need...
Bottom end rebuild.
new oil pump, oil spray nozzles, oil feed and return for turbo
Forged low comp pistons, arp bolts etc (non leaky sump :lol etc etc
XE inlet cam
New lifters, valve, stem seals etc, port polish the head
enlarge tophat, steel boost hose, 2WD cossie FPR
Roose motorsport hoses..
Not sure what to do for management...
Quite fancy a stand alone management, but not researched any of that yet, maybe phase 3.5 
some sort of bigger turbo (not sure what though) will have a look
Its still gona cost me, will just be cheaper initially.. the parts i dont need i could put back on ebay 
Gona search the net for a decent XE and build it up over the next year or so!!
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Fro
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Registered: 20th Jun 06
Location: Rainham, Essex Drives: A3 2.0TDi Sport
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Yeah it has been done, Lee mitchell has done a couple of these i believe.
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deanmcreynolds26
Member
Registered: 15th Sep 03
Location: E46 //M3
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my mate has used an XE block when he was running too much boost and melted the engine.. 
same block just need to tap the oil return.. cant remember what to do for the oil feed, but im sure it will all come to light when i get a look at one..
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Iain M
Member
Registered: 18th Aug 05
Location: Wigan - Drives 272bhp corsa ZLET
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Have you bought the Nova that Lee Mitchel is working on??
this one
[Edited on 11-09-2007 by Iain M]
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Fro
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Registered: 20th Jun 06
Location: Rainham, Essex Drives: A3 2.0TDi Sport
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Thats still there as far as i know arches looked really good when i saw it, colour lets it down though.
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Iain M
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Registered: 18th Aug 05
Location: Wigan - Drives 272bhp corsa ZLET
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I am getting the 2 posts mixed up Dean wants to do it and Lees post says the lad bought what he thought was a let when it was actually an XE and a turbo added to it.
I'll go away now.
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P1CK4D
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Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Around Essex Somewhere
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Lee M is selling his Phase 3.5 so speak to him regarding that.  And no, the Nova owner belongs to someone who lives around the corner to lee, not a member on here. Dont worry Fro, the colour is changing ;P
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Iain M
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Registered: 18th Aug 05
Location: Wigan - Drives 272bhp corsa ZLET
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Cheers for clearing that up
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Jambo
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Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
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mine was an xe turbo, i.e an let lol
Just buy a let? Surely cheaper
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deanmcreynolds26
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Registered: 15th Sep 03
Location: E46 //M3
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quote:
Originally posted by Jambo
mine was an xe turbo, i.e an let lol
Just buy a let? Surely cheaper
if i bought a LET would be too tempted to just stick it in
this way i can rebuild it to my spec and know whats going on inside the engine.. reliabilty is what im looking for here
Dunno about cheaper! id prob want to rebuild the LET at some point anyway.. just better to do it before it goes into the car! gives me time to sort everything else out
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Fro
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Registered: 20th Jun 06
Location: Rainham, Essex Drives: A3 2.0TDi Sport
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by P1CK4D
Lee M is selling his Phase 3.5 so speak to him regarding that. And no, the Nova owner belongs to someone who lives around the corner to lee, not a member on here. Dont worry Fro, the colour is changing ;P
Yeah i know, and thank god
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Scotty C
Member
Registered: 6th Nov 05
Location: Kidderminster Drives: 1.6 16v Sport
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Muppetsport
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TheCam
Member
Registered: 16th Mar 07
Location: Kirkcaldy
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Monster
Muppetsport
is muppets an XE turbo? I thought it was a LET. 
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willhouse
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Registered: 11th Jul 06
Location: Sheffield
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there is an XE turbo nova in the last TV.
a guy on MK3OC also did exactly what you were on about- making an XE in to a LET, and it worked out a few hundred quid cheaper to make a new freshly built XE/LET than to buy a high millage used LET
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deanmcreynolds26
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Registered: 15th Sep 03
Location: E46 //M3
User status: Offline
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yeah read that willhouse, thats what made me consider it..
ill copy the post over and see what ppl think!!
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deanmcreynolds26
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Registered: 15th Sep 03
Location: E46 //M3
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Copied from another site, this is where i decided to go for this!!!
[QUOTE=Dave GSiT;245019]I had this conversation with a few people at PV and I can't even recall the number of times this has come up on the forums so, here is what should end up being a guide for those of you building a high powered Vauxhall...
There are two arguments here....
1. It is cheaper to buy an LET and fit it.
2. A turbo'd XE will never be as reliable as an LET.
Well I can answer number 2 straight away.... If you take the turbo off any turbocharged car, what have you got? A naturally aspirated engine. The physical engines them selves are absolutley no different so with the appropriate changes, a Turbo XE will be fine.
Now, to answer number 1....
Typical scenario is Mr X has a Mk3 GSi with a factory fitted XE. 120,000 miles and a little bit tappy, and now he wants turbo power.
The quickest way is easily to buy an LET and fit the whole thing. Cost around £1200, plus an intercooler, some hoses, induction kit and a chip... its £2k allowing for some odd nuts and bolts.
What this doesnt take into account is when he fires it up for the first time, is the turbo any good? Are the tappets any good? Has it genuinly done the milage the seller claims? Are the pistons any good or has it detonated before fitting? Are the piston rings any good? Are the water and oil pump any good? What about the cambelt? The idler? The Tensioner?
We could go on forever with ??????? by going down this route.
A ha! But we can do all this before the engine goes in. Yes you can. Oil pump, cam belt kit, water pump, turbo recon and a few more bits puts us at £3k. But still with a lot of ????'s remaining. We can try a compression test to get an idea about the rings so thats one down, but checking the bores for wear and pistons for det? Thats taking the head off.
No problem, lets rebuild it. New pistons, gaskets, labour, dozens of other parts later and we are at £4k. At this point, we are satisfied that the engine is good and strong enough to be reliable, and the chip has got us to about 280hp @ around 18-20psi of boost..... But the engine is internally standard...
Now it gets interesting...
Mr X already has an XE in his GSi and to rebuild this into an LET, he is going to need to split the engine open. No problem, if he was doing it properly as per the example above, then he would be splitting his LET open anyway only this way round he has saved him self £1200 from the initial purchase price of the LET. Yes he is still going to need to source some LET parts.... but not as many as you would think....
So with the XE in pieces in front of him, Mr X buys all the rebuild parts as above (lifters, pumps, belts etc) and sets him back a £1k. Now he needs a turbo. A 2nd hand one after a recon will be £500, plus a little more for the tapping of the oil return into the block but this is pennies in comparison.
Of course he is missing the all important boost hoses... but a silicon set can be had for £200 and an Intercooler for £300 (same as example above) so now we are at £2k and running out of things we need. We do need pistons however. Mahle LET pistons can be bought brand new for £400 but hell, high quality forged items are only £500.
Next step is management. Most people will want in excess of £250 for an LET ECU + loom + Air flow meter and thats if you can find one (pretty rare) let along a loom in good condition! But as we have plenty of budget left to spend in comparison to above, lets go to programmable management.
Contrary to popular belief, it is indeed possible to plug a programmable ECU into the OE Vauxhall loom. Its all a Bosche system anyway and is pretty universal. Add £600 for the ECU (yes it can be that cheap for a high quality one).
By now we are just a smidgen over £3k and we have everything we need.... except we have £1k left to spend. If we go back a step or two, we can spend that on steel rods, arp studs, MLS head gasket, some more silicon hoses for the water system and not just the boost system and of course some vernier pulleys to adjust those XE cams to optimum settings.
Now we have both projects completed, lets see how they compare....
Starting with the purchased LET:
Internally standard
Chipped ECU
Some silicon boost hoses.
Inter cooler
Starting with the purchased XE:
Steel con rods and low comp forged pistons
ARP studded block
MLS head gasket
Vernier pulleys
High lift cams (XE cams are more agressive then LET ones)
Programmable ECU
Silicon boost and water hoses
Intercooler
Suddenly turbo'ing an XE makes a lot more sense!
My point here has not been one that it is cheaper to turbo an XE, rather that you get more for your money. Saving the initial purchase price of an LET means when we are spending money on repacement parts to remove the ???'s, we can buy upgrade parts and not just replacement parts.[/QUOTE]
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Daimo B
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Registered: 20th Mar 00
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XE' turbo is a great engine.
Unlike the LET, you go straight for the better manifold, turbo.
Chances are with a LET you have to buy the uprated internals anyway, so go straight ahead and buy a cheaper XE, and buy the better parts.
Im sure all the BIG big power turbos are actaully XE's converted. Im "fairly" sure the one in South Africa (Mk2 astra) is an XE, and im fairly sure the Mk4 astra in brazil was an XE too.
Its something I looked at, and would have gone for turbo'ing an XE. I think you need to drill a few oil ways in the block, but a proper machinest can do it.
If your planning on properly tuning the 2.0 16v as a turbo, IMO, its the better basis to start with. A damn site cheaper to buy, and u've got to buy all the performance parts for the LET anyway, save £1k, get the XE.
IMO.
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deanmcreynolds26
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Registered: 15th Sep 03
Location: E46 //M3
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Well said
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EarlofBarnet
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Registered: 26th Mar 04
Location: West Cumbria
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My mate went to do it last year but gave up due to lack of funds. I still have a Courtenay manifold in my shed which he was going to use for the turbo if you want it.
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DaNnY_LaD
Member
Registered: 30th Nov 05
Location: Walkden,Manchester
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dean i have thought of this as i got a xe really cheap
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Steve
Premium Member
Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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that kids talking crap if you take the turbo of a turbo engine your left with a low compression n/a engine 
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Nic Barnes
Member
Registered: 5th Apr 04
Location: nowhere near ginger people
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mine is turbo'd xe
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chapcorsa
Member
Registered: 13th Nov 05
Location: Greater Manchester
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total vauxhall this month, nova homebrew xe turbo usin cossie bits!!
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Daimo B
Member
Registered: 20th Mar 00
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quote:
Originally posted by Steve
that kids talking crap if you take the turbo of a turbo engine your left with a low compression n/a engine
How did the LET come about steve? Was it a newly designed engine, or a modified NA engine?
I think the above (your) comment is stating the bleeding obvious
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Steve
Premium Member
Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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the let engine runs lower compression than a normal XE
it probably has different pistons
[Edited on 11-09-2007 by Steve]
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