Back when I was learning to drive I was wondering what car to drive. I was really after a BX (too expensive) or a 205 (all the affordable ones had been boy racered to death), but then I saw a Hyundai Stellar for sale. In some ways this ticked quite a few boxes - it was big, and we all know bigger is better. It was also relatively cheap to insure for its size, had lots of toys (headlight washers, electric windows all round, rear reading lights (useful as a teenager for 'mood' lighting)) and for some reason a 12 year old example was rather cheap! So I bought it.
It served me well for 5 years and 100k miles, but I always felt that performance was lacking. As a joke I suggested putting a V8 in it, and a mate said it would never fit! So, a bet was made...
Work so far is as follows:
Apart from a small issue with the steering column (solved with an intricate exhaust manifold) and the radiator/water pump clashing it slotted in rather nicely. I've converted the original pedal box to hydraulic operation, and used a Mazda 323 brake servo/master cylinder/reservoir as that was a better fit, and also had a fluid feed for the clutch. Rear axle is from a Cortina 2.3, which is regarded as unbreakable (fitted almost straight on as the running rear is very similar). Front brakes are Princess 4 pot calipers, spaced out for Capri 2.8 discs. The shell has been strengthened, especially around the rear axle mounting points. All bushes have been replaced, either with genuine Hyundai ones (if they lasted 185k miles, they'll do) or poly bushes for the rear axle. Dampers and all ball joints, track rod ends are also new, as are brake lines, cylinders, pads, shoes and discs.
The windscreen had to be custom made, after Autoglass dropped the last replacement in existance on their way to fit it. As they had taken the old one out for me so I could weld around the screen, I insisted they should pay the not inconsiderable bill...
The gearbox is a reconditioned R380 unit, built for me as a favour in return for help I gave a customer in a previous job. I needed the short gear change linkage, only found on V8 Sherpa vans and very rare. Bizarrely I found one on a rotting farm vehicle, and shocked the farmer with my offer of £20 for it (on eBay they were fetching £70+)
Still to do are replacing the sills and making up some gearbox mounts, which is hopefully what I'll be posting in this thread at some point! I took some (crap) photos today so show what I've done so far.
![Image](http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x150/mat_fenwick/Stellar/Photo0101.jpg)
![Image](http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x150/mat_fenwick/Stellar/Photo0100.jpg)
Fairly tight between the rad and the water pump - had to shorten the water pump to allow it to fit. Plus to change the rad involves taking the pump off...
![Image](http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x150/mat_fenwick/Stellar/Photo0104.jpg)
Rad was from an Audi 200 Turbo, which was the biggest that would fit between the chassis rails.
Again, a bit of a squeeze around the brake servo - the original was too big but this one slotted in just nicely. A bigger problem was converting the clutch to hydraulic operation, as there was next to no space under the dash to fit a master cylinder. I ended up welding and extension onto the top of the clutch pedal, and having the cylinder facing towards me rather that towards the bulkhead.
![Image](http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x150/mat_fenwick/Stellar/Photo0103.jpg)
Bit of a dark photo of the front suspension. All springs and dampers are new, and were uprated ones for a Cortina (an advantage of it being Cortina based!)
![Image](http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x150/mat_fenwick/Stellar/Photo0102.jpg)
Rear axle - there was a bit of a saga when I collected it, but that will have to wait for another day...
![Image](http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x150/mat_fenwick/Stellar/Photo0106.jpg)