Luka-P

Nice. Shame about the colour though. What is done to the autobox to enable it to handle such power?

Keep your search for a straight and true one. Unless you have the time and money to repair such a car I'd stay clear. It probably will be more of a benefit financially to get a good one at the start, they're not exactly bank busters at present!

Hi Guys, Can anyone see any problems with regards to powdercoating pulleys ie alternator, waterpump etc? I know the crank cant be done because of the damper or am I wrong? Ive found a cheap as chips powdercoater so I was going to send a load of stuff over at once! Regards, Luke

Thanks, you both have PM.

Chris, you really do set the benchmark in terms of engine building. I can now thoroughly respect the patience you have and your devotion to precision. I have to thank you and Simon also for really setting a fine example! In a way I don't really see it as a lot of lost time and wasted work now...

Hi, Looking for the upper water outlet pipe preferably with the two sensors. I broke the small sensor when trying to remove it. Regards, Luke

Right. Due to my general ongoing paranoia with everything in life I had to make a choice of what to do with the whole bearing issue. I knew what was right and I did what needed to be done. I stripped the whole motor back to basics over Friday night (It was a late one and I know I am sad for playing with engines on a Friday night!). Saturday was spent cleaning all the parts and measuring/inspecting etc. Later on in the evening I was able to check the oil clearance in dry bearing housings as instructed. I still believed a smear of assembly oil on the block bearings and applying the Plastigauge to a dry bearing in the main cap with a dry crankshaft would have not thrown the result out too much but I was adamant to get things right. I took my time and referred to the results I had previously collected and I was, in fact, proven wrong. The readings came out more accurate than before and also more consistent. I spent today putting the remaining parts of the block back together. I do feel as though I’m going to have a good night’s sleep tonight! In all honesty it killed me to take everything apart again, I’m sure you can understand. I had some late nights last week and it ended up being for nothing. It just goes to show, I could have saved a lot of work for myself by checking thrice before acting. I’m here to do things properly and not cut corners and if doing it all twice is the only way I’ll learn then so be it. I’m sure I’ll start improving at some point, just the question of when? Luke.

Priceless...

I can never seem to get up stairs quick enough

Is it around the Sheffield area too Rob?

Must be hovering around £7k? Wonderful motor, looks comfy as!

Tt?

Very kind of you Chris.

Cheers mate. The crank, pistons and rods all came from a donor block which was had 60,000 miles but was cracked. The machine shop said the internals were superb and it really was a shame to have to scrap such a good block due to the crack.

Are you running Iridium plugs? Id check the FCD also as a matter of course.

Did you ensure they are a drop in fitment for the rail?

I had thought that myself Simon. I originally checked the clearance dry and then contemplated on whether the crank would, theoretically, be sat low and therefore not concentric to the bearings. Not much in it to be honest but all checked out ok.

Its your bananas Im after.

Your pointless post count has to top have topped out by now!?

Specs of the car? Have you got a FCD? Are you BPU?

Sorry for the rubbish quality of the pictures, the Mrs took the camera so I had to use my phone. Update on page 3...

Ok a nice update for you all. Apologies for the lack of photographs. I tend to get stuck in and don’t really have the time to keep taking photos. I have however taken some progress shots. Yesterday and today I did the work on the bottom end. It's nearly complete just a few odd things to clean and put on. Previously I had installed the pistons along with new rings into the newly honed bores. Each compression ring was placed into the bore and the gap was measured using a feeler gauge. After some tinkering they were all within tolerance. Fresh engine oil was applied to each piston after the rings had been put on. The rings were then compressed and pushed into the bores. So yesterday I began by putting the new main bearings, courtesy of Paul, into the block along with the thrust washers. I then applied some assembly red to them all and placed the crank shaft into the block. The shells were then located into the main caps. I placed a strip of Plastigauge onto the main journals of the crankshaft and then put the main caps into their positions. They were then tightened to torque in the sequence shown in the manual. The caps were then removed and, using the scale that comes with Plastigauge, the oil clearance was measured on each journal. They were all within tolerance. The same process was repeated with the big end bearings and they were also excellent. A great find with that crankshaft! Assembly red was then placed onto all sliding surfaces and onto bolt threads and under the heads. Everything was then bolted down to torque. I was now ready to install the rear crank seal. I put Hylomar blue on the housing and tapped the seal until it was flush. So MP grease on the inner edge and then installed onto the block. The front seal was installed in the same way into the oil pump and the oil pump was installed. I then went on to do the second sump. Silicone RTV was applied to the sump grooves and then placed onto the block. The bolts were then torqued down. The baffle plate, pick-up pipe and level sensor were then installed. Finally I put the bottom sump onto the engine. Other bits and pieces were installed including the oil filter bracket and oil cooler, coolant pipes, drive plate, Cambelt drive and crank pulley bolt. The engine is starting to take shape now and may be back sooner than I expected. The head has gone to the machine shop to be skimmed and tidied up. Luke.

Classic! It's a mini adventure once again courtesy of Niz. Good show old boy!

That could all have been incorporated into one post, the first.