signumareasa z20net

[horaa]

As i started in the introducing topic here's a more detalied info about this wonderfull piece of smooth running engine from our bigger brother SAAB, may rest in peace
Bought it from an auction in netherlands, got screwed by a few hundred euros but you don't come across a facelift signum 2.0 turbo everyday
Specs: z20net engine, 2007, 120k miles, black
Dvd90 navi+bluetooth and 9 speakers, planning to install a aux-in
Leather seats, heated front seats
Front console support
Roof stowage, lots of them
Dimmed rear view mirror, heliomatic driver side mirror, foldable mirrors
Cruise control
Did i mention the z20net engine ? Yes i did but i want to brag about it again
Front and rear parking sensors
AF40 6 speed gearbox
Dual climate zone
4 electric windows
R18 rims
IDS+
Tinted glass all around but the ex owner had tinted them extra that i will have to remove unfortunately
Cooled glove box and a few bits here and there
PS: it has a rust proof automatic engine oil system

So far this is what i have done to the car
1. installed lpg
2. front and rear brakes
3. repaired the a/c compressor as it was leaking and apparently it's leaking again
4. rear engine mount, when the garage did the chaining job they overtighted the exhaust bolts so one of them broke when i had to remove the rear engine mounts, now i'll see if i can get a bolt and a nut replaced for free at the garage, if not that i will take take the cat away on my own and replace it with a threaded rod and nuts, this might be one reason why i don't trust mechanics in romania anymore, they never heard of torque wrenches so if i can do a job i will do it on my own
5. timing chain + balance shafts chain replace
6. driver door strap
7. changed the thermostat with one that opens at 82C
8. sealed the vacuum pump, will have to keep an eye on that one for future leaks
9. front and rear struts + springs all around because i had a broken spring front and rear, the front springs weren't the originals one since they are a bit bigger and beefier then the one i have purchased based on my vin plate, i assume the previous owner replaced them with the heavy duty ones
10. replaced the flexi as the old was shredded
11. replaced passenger side wheel bearing as it was screaming and it was bothering me even tho it had no play in it, the OEM one is made by FAG and i have replaced it with SKF
12. replaced spark plugs on a hurry with denso ones intead of NGK because couldn't find them on any garage shops when i was searching them and i had to leave the city for 4 days on a short trip with some opel club members
13. replaced all 4 coil packs because one of them was bad, replaced them with mobiletron as there is no other good manufacturer except OEM wich is 3 time more expensive
14. insignia windscreen nozzles
15. new wiperblades aero thingie bosch
16. rubber carpets front and rear

For the future, waterpump (maybe?), replace all of the rear axle bushings with brand new ones from lemforder and 2 from tedgum since i didn't feel like wasting 150 euros on a trailing arm when the bushing was like 10 euro, replacement kit for the rear calipers or maybe replace them entirely with brand new ones ATE, fix the rust issue on the hatch

Pics are in somewhat chronoligally order
WhatsApp Image 2022-04-06 at 5.10.32 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-06 at 5.24.23 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-06 at 6.46.23 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-10 at 5.43.05 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-13 at 3.47.42 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-14 at 8.12.43 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-19 at 6.36.11 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-16 at 2.26.31 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-16 at 5.09.22 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-19 at 5.45.15 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-16 at 5.09.05 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-27 at 1.32.13 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-04-19 at 6.07.55 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-01 at 5.59.58 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-02 at 11.20.43 AM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-02 at 11.20.43 AM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-10 at 10.39.15 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-10 at 10.39.15 PM (1).jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-21 at 11.57.38 AM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-21 at 4.13.56 PM.jpgWhatsApp Image 2022-05-21 at 3.56.12 PM.jpg

[horaa]

Saturday's job
IMG_0263.jpg IMG_0262.jpg

[horaa]

Found a few more pics, leaking a/c compressor - from what i see there is a missing bolt, door strap old vs new - at first i looked for a junkyard one and they were selling a used one for 10 euros cheaper then the GM OEM new one so i made the right decision and bought the new one, a ground cabe
IMG_0253.jpg IMG_0269.jpg IMG_0270.jpg IMG_0266.jpg IMG_0265.jpg

[horaa]

The A/C leaking was fixed because it's still under warranty. Apparently the gaskets were the culprit, they must have been either wrongly placed or damaged from the box. So far no more leaks.
Tomorrow: rear axle bushings and reseal the vacuum pump, again for the 4th time already in under a month. Maybe one day i will get it right and the leak will stop.

[horaa]

My mechanics managed to do all of the rear axle bushings and new arms, i only bought 2 sets of arms+anti rollbars arms, the boumerang ones and the smaller ones that are straight, the one that supports the spring had a bushing installed from tedgum since i didn't find any other manufacturer for that, lemforder doesn't sell them separately and a brand new arm is 200 euros, the bushing was like 5. In total i paid about 250 euros for the bushings+arms+new bolts and another 180 on garage fee wich really had a hard time on removing some of the bushings so it's a good garage price.
On a sidenote, the ex monkey mechanics tightened the vacuum pump so much that the first time i pulled the unit off it started to shear off some threads. You know the thread is dead when you hear the bolt squeling on it's way out on aluminiun thread... I don't understand why they didn't use a torque wrench, oh wait, i know, because they are always hurrying and are skipping some steps from TIS and those are the torqueing steps and hence they are monkey... it's a M8 thread for christ sake, 10 nm is enough since there is a rubber gasket. Luckly only the upper thread is knackered so when that goes for good it will be replaced with a bolt+washer+washer+nut since it's a open thread, the lower one was tightened less and the thread is good so far.
Bushing pics:
IMG_0312.jpg IMG_0313.jpg

[horaa]

I can't upload more pics for whatever reason saying that the space required issue.
Imgur link:
https://imgur.com/a/fXvSKdQ

[horaa]

A quick update, i drove 100 miles yesterday. Drove it like i stole it. The car is very stable but for sure the wrecked astra j is more stiff but in a bad way because if i were to drive the astra like i drove the signum my kidneys would have been perished, even with 215/60 16rims compared to a much smaller wall on the signum since it's riding 18 inchers. In the astra j the environment isn't so nice being more claustrophobic but for sure the watts system beats the vectra c independent suspension. Honestly i should have bought the 2.0 signum in 2020 instead of buying a astra j but i couldn't resist the low price of the astra j at that time in that trim line

[northpole]

A quick update, i drove 100 miles yesterday. Drove it like i stole it. The car is very stable but for sure the wrecked astra j is more stiff but in a bad way because if i were to drive the astra like i drove the signum my kidneys would have been perished, even with 215/60 16rims compared to a much smaller wall on the signum since it's riding 18 inchers. In the astra j the environment isn't so nice being more claustrophobic but for sure the watts system beats the vectra c independent suspension. Honestly i should have bought the 2.0 signum in 2020 instead of buying a astra j but i couldn't resist the low price of the astra j at that time in that trim line

you can't compare them simply because the Vectra is heavier than the Astra J and the wheelbase is bigger (both longer and wider)

[horaa]

The weight it’s about the same, astra j it’s a very heavy car and apparently the astra j has a wider track than the signum but a shorter wheelbase, so yea, that explains a lot of it’s sportyness

[horaa]

Update about the vacuum pump: it's not leaking anymore or at least for now that is.
I also received a tiny stone in the windshield passenger side when i was travelling at about 100 MPH. I won't fix it since it was already replaced in the past with a china one, if it weren't to be sandblasted and pilkington/saint gobain/oem i would have just fixed it. I will leave the windshield to rest in peace untill it will start cracking at wich point i will replace it entirely.
For the future: fix the idling issue wich noone can tell why it's doing it and everybody wants to just replace parts one by one (LOL so called mechanics), replace 2 tires, remove the seats and vacuum the whole interior, clean all of the plastic bits, remove the rust from the hatch, leather treatment for the seats.
gBAz9tY - Imgur.jpg IMG_0375.jpg