Hi all,

My mate Dave has an Astra GTE on a F plate. (1988)

It's been in his garage for a good 5 years with a fubared engine.

It's the one with the digital speedo.

He's after selling it now to clear some room and make a few quid.

What he's asked me to ask you lot is whether or not it's viable to replace the

engine. (2.0 16v Red top? ) Or sell the car as a non runner.

Are these engines readily available or are they hens teeth?

This car is apparently a classic car now so he tells me and good ones

change hands for around the 4k mark?? Would it be worth his while

to find and fit an engine and sell it or just try and sell it as it is?

Or break it for spares. Any idea what he should be asking for money wise??

Personally I reckon he'd be best off ebaying the spares but he asked me to

try and find out more.

It's in oem condition by the way, no mods that I can remember but it's

been a long time since I have seen it TBH. It used to fly though until

the engine went pop.

Thanks in advance.

Garry

Any Vauxhall enthusiasts here please give me some feedback as I know

very little about Vauxhalls having never owned one myself.

red tops cost anywhere from £150-350 normally and aren't to bad to get hold of, just depend how good the engine is, quite alot of them need rebuilding half the time, so it all depends how much he wants for it

red tops cost anywhere from £150-350 normally and aren't to bad to get hold of, just depend how good the engine is, quite alot of them need rebuilding half the time, so it all depends how much he wants for it

Thanks mate, I've got no idea myself.

Off topic, I see you're quite near to me and I'm after arranging a Bristol meet.

Fancy it?

yea id be up for that, a meet sounds good to me

Edited 20 February, 201115 yr by Willcox

yea id be up for that, a meet sounds good to me

Nice one, Trying to think of a venue. I'm new in town

and unfamiliar with the area. Keep your eye on the South West meets forum.

I'll get something together soon.

Any more on the Astra??

Anyone...

where abouts are you from?

they seem to be going for around £2500 max for a oem gte and around £600 max for a non runner

where abouts are you from?

they seem to be going for around £2500 max for a oem gte and around £600 max for a non runner

I am in Bristol now, but the car and my mate are in Romford, Essex. (My old manor...)

Astra GTE's are pretty rare so if it's in pretty good condition an enthusiast would probably buy it and restore it to showroom standard.

Redtop (C20XE) engines are pretty common and came in the astra gte, calibra and cavalier gsi and full engines inc loom and gearbox can be had for around £300-£400 most of which will have had a rebuild at some point.

Depending on exactly how the engine went pop (which isn't often heard of as there pretty much bullet proof) it could easily be rebuilt as there a piece of **** to work on.

Very early GTE engines had a coscast head which is a better cast and won't go porus like alot of them have although it's an easy fix if they do go porus.

There was 3 engine codes for the redtop, very early ones are 20XE (156bhp iirc) which are't very common next was the C20XE which is basically exactly the same and the most common (150bhp) and last was the C20XEJ which was an ecotec type version I think and didn't have as much bhp as the other two (140/145bhp iirc) and isn't all that common either.

All 3 engines look exactly the same so to see which is which you'd have to see what code is stamped on the block.

The engine code will beon the V5 also

Put a for sale thread along with a load of pics on the vauxhall sites, www.pngclub.com, www.migweb.co.uk, astra owners etc etc

Astra GTE's are pretty rare so if it's in pretty good condition an enthusiast would probably buy it and restore it to showroom standard.

Redtop (C20XE) engines are pretty common and came in the astra gte, calibra and cavalier gsi and full engines inc loom and gearbox can be had for around £300-£400 most of which will have had a rebuild at some point.

Depending on exactly how the engine went pop (which isn't often heard of as there pretty much bullet proof) it could easily be rebuilt as there a piece of **** to work on.

Very early GTE engines had a coscast head which is a better cast and won't go porus like alot of them have although it's an easy fix if they do go porus.

There was 3 engine codes for the redtop, very early ones are 20XE (156bhp iirc) which are't very common next was the C20XE which is basically exactly the same and the most common (150bhp) and last was the C20XEJ which was an ecotec type version I think and didn't have as much bhp as the other two (140/145bhp iirc) and isn't all that common either.

All 3 engines look exactly the same so to see which is which you'd have to see what code is stamped on the block.

The engine code will beon the V5 also

Put a for sale thread along with a load of pics on the vauxhall sites, www.pngclub.com, www.migweb.co.uk, astra owners etc etc

That's brilliant R1chard

I've linked this thread to my mate so I'd imagine

he'll be making his mind up.

Keep it coming folks.

That's brilliant R1chard

I've linked this thread to my mate so I'd imagine

he'll be making his mind up.

Keep it coming folks.

No worrys, me and my brother have literally grown up with these engines lol

I've just noticed that it's a 1988 (F reg) so it will most likely have a coscast head and may well be a 20XE.

There is a coscast stamp on the underside of the head by the exhaust manifold iirc, if you were to look underneath the car around the exhaust manifold area there should be a coscast stamp.

Try and find out what exactly happened with the engine as it could easily be fixed and also some pics would be great of the car

Edited 21 February, 201115 yr by R1chard

Is it definitely the 16v model?

If you take the 20XE engine out it then what you are left with will be worth substantially less. The major reason for buying a GTE 16v is the engine.

If you don't want to fix it yourself then I would sell it complete as a non runner. IMO it would only be worth taking the engine out it if the engine was in great condition and the rest of the car had rusted away.

If it's a 16v GTE then it will be 20XE on an F plate but I think there were a lot more 8v ones about around that age. C20XE are the ones that had cats fitted,lamda sensor,think they all had IGN packs instead of dizzys,etc and the later they are the more chance of it not being coscast. The very late redtops that actually had black tops before they changed to the proper ecotec engine are very rare, only seen them in 94/95cav sri's and a few calibras but most were ecotecs. Iam pretty sure they're Baically same engine but the cambelt tensioner/rollers were the ecotec cheap plastic rollers and crap tensioner. C20XE come up regular on ebay but do get snapped up as loads have been fitted in Nova's, corsa's and they're a favourite in kit cars. As previously mentioned they're pretty bullit proof, most have noisy lifters, quite a lot had the porous head problem that could be repaired though. They do make a mess when the belts snap though so if thats happened usually nearly all 16 valves and quite often some guides, pistons usually clean up to be useable though. All depends whats happend to it but probably repairable, bodywork would be my mine worry with a mk2 GTE! Very cool car though if its clean and they wheel spin for england

There is a f reg one for sale in autotrader for £500. it says its a runner with attention req to the rear arches,i think 4k is a bit far out for a valuation,a mint original low mileage one may get close to that if a entusiast really wants it but not a average one,end of the day its a old astra with a engine that people put in rally cars etc.I had one of these years ago & it was a quick car but so easy to pinch.My 1991 cavalier sri which i modified was much more fun(& quicker too!!)

it was a quick car but so easy to pinch.

Having had my Astra (89) broken into several times I can vouch for that. The lock was held in with a horseshoe shaped clip. A quick knock with a brick and you could push the lock into the door then open it with your finger.

Unless it's mint and I mean mint then there is no chance of getting 4k, if it's just been sat in a garage and is really grubby then people will only want it for the engine so for a full car you'd be looking at about £500-£700