Thoday
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Registered: 12th Jan 03
Location: Drove kitted corsa b now standard corcs c exclusiv
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anyone had any problems after the conversion.. has everyone upgraded brakes and suspension too?
thinking of doin this but am unsure at the moment
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corsa_godfather
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Registered: 6th May 03
Location: Greenock,Scotland
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u would have 2 upgrade brakes defo.my mate got a 1.6 conversion and had lots of problems and he got uprated pistons fitted and he aint had no more problems
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Thoday
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Registered: 12th Jan 03
Location: Drove kitted corsa b now standard corcs c exclusiv
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i was thinkin of upgrading to a 1.6 if i cant get insured on a 2,0
have been runnin a 1.0 to keep insurance low, now the kits on etc time for the power.
thats wot i fort, defo the brakes but didnt nno wot else
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Thoday
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Registered: 12th Jan 03
Location: Drove kitted corsa b now standard corcs c exclusiv
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anyone
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PaulW
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Registered: 26th Jan 03
Location: Atherton, Greater Manchester
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only bodywork im going to be doing is the bare minimum, bonnet vent for breathing, widen the intake bit on the front bumper for more cooling, i just want raw power!!
got 286mm discs on front, going to be fitting rear discs later on in the year, car is lowered 60mm atm, but will need uprated spring for the front cos of the extra weight of the new engine, maybe even uprated shocks too, but will look into it!
gettin a strut will help tighten up the handling of the corsa, front & rear if you can afford both, or you could get a roll cage welded in aswell, apart from lookin good & savin ya life if ya roll the car good & proper, they also help stop the chassis flexing as much too!
here is a pic of my 286mm discs
the brakes when i was running my old 1.4 definately were up to the job, stopped me in no time at all, except the master cylinder had a bit of trouble & felt a little spongy at first, but once the system wwas fully bled & set up proper (rear too), felt just like normal, but made a hell of a difference!!
If you go rear disc conversion also, aswell as upgrading the front discs, it might be worth also upgrading the master cylinder from a higher spec car, but I'm unsure how to do this or if it would be possible, but it wont stop me trying to fit one out of a calibra turbo!!
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miles
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Registered: 25th Mar 02
Location: plymouth Drives: Astra Sport
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Rear disks hardly improve braking performance.
You will want to fit some anti roll bars off a higher spec corsa.
You could just put the engine in with standard suspension and brakes, but they obviously wont be all that good. I imagin if you go to the trouble of fitting a 2.0 then you will want to get the best out of it. There is no text book requirements of what needs to be done to brakes and suspension.
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PaulW
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Registered: 26th Jan 03
Location: Atherton, Greater Manchester
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the extra weight of the engine would cripple the standard suspension, as its not designed for such a heavy weight, and the standard brakes would just be no use, would be like trying to stop concorde with a hankerchief!
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PaulW
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Registered: 26th Jan 03
Location: Atherton, Greater Manchester
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and if set up correctly, the rear discs will help braking, as the drums will fade much quicker, and also, for big BHP (250bph+), there essential, thats why I'm getting them on mine!
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miles
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Registered: 25th Mar 02
Location: plymouth Drives: Astra Sport
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Essential my arse. There are no set guide lines for what bhp requires what brakes, it depends on how it will be used, and what you want from it, and can afford. A 100bhp track car will have much more of a need for decent brakes as it spends all its life on the limit, flat out, whereas a 250bhp road car will rarely be driven that hard.
Rear brakes do less than 20% of the braking, so dont make much odds really.
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miles
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Registered: 25th Mar 02
Location: plymouth Drives: Astra Sport
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Oh, and the extra weight of a 2.0 is less than that of one passenger....
Knowing what your brakes can do is the key......
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PaulW
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Registered: 26th Jan 03
Location: Atherton, Greater Manchester
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So your saying then that the brakes of say, a 1ltr 12v, would be able to cope with stopping a C20LET or a C20XE? which between them can produce from 150bhp to well over 300bhp, while still being relativly safe in all conditions, ie, emergency situations if you need to brake very hard on a motorway, not forgetting the extra weight of these engines is also a factor to be considered?? And also, dont forget, these engine go a hell of alot quicker, and the reason the size of the brakes, including rear discs, is used on faster cars is because there designed to withstand these high speeds also.
Just like why the suspension is best being uprated also so your not changing dampers & springs every 3 weeks due to them just collapsing under the strain?
Braking efficency is a major factor when uprating any engine, especially for conversions. Alot of manufacturers & people on here woul recomend the brakes being upgraded if fitting a 2ltr, and yes where as there are no set guidlines for what bhp requires what brakes, id rather be in the knowledge knowing my brakes will be up to the task if i need to stop quickly, or know that they will be able to cope with a good pounding, than rather just last 5 minuites before they just fade away & die.
I'm not going to get into an argument, as these are mainly recommendations, the 2ltr engines weigh a considerable amount more than the lower capacity engines, and thats another reason for uprating suspension, as they DO have set limits on how much pressure & force they can withstand, and thats why you pay extra for dampers & springs for a 1.6 sport than for a 1ltr12v, as they are a stronger & more durable. Uprated kits, such as spax, are a set price, as the kit is capabled of withstanding the pressures of all the various models of corsa, but even then there not fully designed to handle the weight of a 2ltr and the springs on the front will compress much more than there designed, and thats another reason why your recommended to upgrade your suspension too. There are other factors which are considered also, but Im not going to go into those.
If you want to just go for the engine then by all means just drop it in, dont touch your brakes & suspension, but if you want to be safe & have the knowledge you are, then upgrading the brakes and suspension is well advised!!
[Edited on 12-07-2003 by PaulW]
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miles
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Registered: 25th Mar 02
Location: plymouth Drives: Astra Sport
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The power you have has no factor on braking. Its the speed and weight. Braking a say 70 on a motorway in a 1.0 with 4 people in the car will be worse than braking at 70 on the same motorway with same brakes on your own with a 380bhp LET...
As I said, if you want to fit these engines then you will want to use them so you will fit bigger brakes anyway.
BTW, I fitted 16v astra style brakes when I had a standard 1.2i, I now have v6 fronts, drilled disks, rear disks and braided lines along with a bigger servo....
I know you would be a fool not to uprate your brakes, and they are even worth upgrading on a standard engine, but if people dont want to stop well with there standard engine, then why will they with an engine conversion. The only differenece is that high speeds will be reached more often.
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