24v Engine Rebuild Progress

[Matt]

WTF  a reinz gasket???

In you complete headset - I'm sure you have a gasket - if it's a good one it will have Victor Reinz printed diagonally accross it - if it's got anything else on it it'll give problems

I have just fitted the genuine VX item, didn't notice if it said that on it tho....... is that a problem?

[bstardchild]

WTF  a reinz gasket???

In you complete headset - I'm sure you have a gasket - if it's a good one it will have Victor Reinz printed diagonally accross it - if it's got anything else on it it'll give problems

I have just fitted the genuine VX item, didn't notice if it said that on it tho....... is that a problem?

It did Matt - trust me on this - Genuine Gasket is Reinz

[discojay]

.............waiting for a big sigh of relief from matt.....   

luv this site, learn summat new everyday!!!!!

[Matt]

yep, big sigh there.....

didn't want to have to strip the engine again after putting it all together!


So this time next week it should be plugged and ready to play, as long as:

- I can get the studs that hold the cam cover to the head from Ian
- I can get a new ring seal for the oil level indicator
- I can get a new rear crankshaft oil seal (£35 from VX, £16 from a local factors... guess which one I ordered?)
- The powdercoating went as planned and I get it all back with no problems
- The breather plate for the cam cover which has just been cleaned will go back on the cam cover after drilling the rivits out... (not sure how to put that back in....)
- All the other parts that I have waiting to go on are the right parts for the job...


I also plan to get silicon hoses where possible. I had a brainwave driving back home tonight after work - Get some welding rods bend them into shape and cut them to the length required, then mark up on each rod what the diameter of the hose is..... then take a trip down to demon tweeks and give them a wad of cash.......

[Pedro]

- The breather plate for the cam cover which has just been cleaned will go back on the cam cover after drilling the rivits out... (not sure how to put that back in....)

All I did was carefully drill and self tap it back on. Used No6 x1/2 inch screws and threadlock and a spring washer - just in case!

Only did three, couldn't really see the point of going OTT with it.........

If I didn't get all giddy, I could have taken it to work and tacked it back with a TIG welder, I suppose......

[Matt]

Just "doing a marshy"

'Had a few bits powdercoated'

Sent these away last week:



and got these back:



Cosmetic parts in "Steel 48" powdercoat, very similar to the body colour:



Exhaust manifolds only gritblasted, gonna paint them in sperex soon.



Cam cover breather plate drilled off and chemical cleaned:



And most of the parts fitted - only offering things up here, until I get the exhaust manifolds painted and I await the cam cover studs and washers, and also the inlet manifold is still at IM's.



This one without the flash to give a better idea of the colour of the cam cover:




Gimme a week and it'll be plugged!

PS, Pete - that's exactly what I did. The old man suggested I used araldite on the threads to lock the screws into place so there was no chance of them ever coming loose and falling into the engine.

[Matt]

Plus, I'm gonna polish up the lettering on the cam cover, and the 4 valves on the chain inspection cover.

I'm probably gonna be using the polished spark cover too, but got one sone in the same colour just to see what it would look like.

Also gonna be using my polished DR cover too.

[Murph]

That looks fookin awesome mate.
Well done to you!

[carlton_mad]

lookin damn fine there matey

[Pedro]

Nice one Matt!

 

[Matt]

Here's a big update for y'all!

So the engine is fully built now - I pinched the cam cover studs from the old engine and I used a spare inlet manifold too, so I could have a complete engine.




I tapped the gas nozzels myself in the end, I was actually on the way to get that done when the car broke down and it went off the road for a few days.

There wasn't much meat left after the injector manifold was bored out to match the ports on the head, so I had to use a bit of PTFE and not much force at all otherwise it would've stripped the freshly tapped holes and make the ported injector rail useless!




So, that needs to come out then....




So we took it out! The old man in the background was obviously used to taking engines out, being an old VX dismantler.... but he's not used to taking engines out of cars that WEREN'T gonna be scrapped in the end..... So no Stihl saw to chop the front end of the car off to make the job easier!



Definately out now.....




Yep, definately out...




Took the clutch off and look what I found:




So the new engine got the lightened flywheel and a new clutch.

Incedentally, those of you who were interested in the lightening of the flywheel, I weighed them both. A standard one weighs 16.5Kgs, and my lightened one weighs 15.5Kgs - so that's 1kg of spinning mass that doesn't exist anymore! should make a bit of a difference I hope!




So............
That needs to go in there then!




Was thinking about leaving it in this position and building the bonnet round it, to make it look like a huuuuuuge V8 with a mahooooosive supercharger, but something about the prop not being attached put me off the idea.




So it's in, just need to attach some stuff to it now




Voila!




We turned the engine over without the coil lead attached to see if we got oil pressure, and after a short while, sure enough, we got 3 bars of pressure on the dash just on turning the engine on the starter!

Then we plugged the coil lead in and it fired up first time, with no engine fault lights - What are the chances of that!?!?

The only things that are wrong with it now:

- The exhaust downpipe is blowing, been told that it needs to be re-seated, but I will investigate it tomorrow!
- The clutch master cylinder is still knackered, so I can't drive it anywhere yet, but hopefully that will be sorted out by tomorrow too!


Now I'm really tired, I must go to bed.............

[Pedro]

How odd!

There's a guy on ABS doing exactly the same as you Matt!

Bet you're getting all giddy now!

[colonelk]

excellent news! Now starts the fun of running in LOL

[Matt]

Well actually no...

It's just failed the MOT. Great.

[Murph]

On what??

[Matt]

- All of the brake pipes need replacing
- N/S/F lower ball joint
- N/S/R rubber subframe bush (donut)


So I'm taking it off the road for a couple of weeks to get it all done properly then it will be back on the road for the rolling road sesh

[carlton_mad]

donuts are not mot !!!!! mine are buggered still passed the only way that you can tell is to jack the car up in the wrong place ie the beam itself and if that is the case then he probably buggered it too (my boss did this to mine)

[bstardchild]

donuts are not mot !!!!! mine are buggered still passed the only way that you can tell is to jack the car up in the wrong place ie the beam itself and if that is the case then he probably buggered it too (my boss did this to mine)

They are if the rubber has completely come free from teh bush and the trailing arm is sitting on the support plate

[Matt]

^ What he said....

That's what's happened anyway... there's about an inch worth of play.

[Pedro]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm donuts!

(Someone had to say it!)

**(COUGH)Howabout some nice poly ones?(COUGH)**

 

[Diplo-Matt]

Looks superb. Good to see cars being kept on the road in this way. Have a spare 24v engine in garage aswell as brakes diff and gearbox. Starting to think about dropping it into my Diplomat! Lot of work though but tempting! Reminds me i must do my subframe mounts!

[Matt]

I'm in on the group buy on that one Pete...

I will be building up a complete rear subframe like Ian has just done on his monza, but not by powdercoating, I'll be using the cheaper option - hammered black Hammerite

- LSD to replace the non-slipper after the original LSD blew up
- Replace the brake calipers
- replace the brake lines including goodridge hoses
- replace all the suspension bushes
- replace the bearings

(disks and handbrake shoes have already been done)

I've got a bit of work to do then...

But for now, I'll just replace the bush and brake lines, then get the car passed an MOT, then I'll be building up the subframe.

[Matt]

Thought I'd update y'all - I've not been on here for a LONG time!

Main reason is - I simply don't have time to frequent on more than one forum so TC had to go - ABS is my home.

But for the benefit of the people who have not seen me or have not been on the ABS forum, here's the latest update.


The engine is in and has now covered 30,000 miles. It now has an oil leak from the front somewhere but that will be sorted soon. I've had no major problems with the engine and it has been very reliable.

It has been to RAF marham once, Donnington park once, one RR day and Santa Pod.

I blew up the gearbox at Donnington park
Santa Pod gave me a 15.4 and a broken engine bracket
RAF Marham was a blast!
RR day gave me 215BHP (but I reckon it's opened up since then and I'm sure it's pushing more now)

The engine has now got new silicone hoses, a Mocal oil cooler, a boxed off cold air induction system and an oil catch tank.

Here's a few pics:

Silicone hoses:


New oil cooler and Pacet fan:




One broken engine mount:






Oil catch tank:


Koni suspension and Yokohame track tyres

[Matt]

By the way:

The rear end was rebuilt and all new poly bushes went in. The LSD I had came with almost no oil in it, so I refilled it with what turned out to be the wrong stuff and I killed it's LSD function. Bugger.

The MOT was due up at the end of last month and it was never going to pass with the amount of body rot on it. I took it up to the place who did my round rear arches and also pedro's car and they called me back saying it was worse than we thought - You need the back axle off, the engine out and the interior out and we'll get the welding done, about a grand's worth. Then there's the paintwork too, which ain't cheap, plus the doors are shagged.

I then bought Daz Lovell's old GSI (autoboring box) so I am driving round in that for the time being.

My GSI is off the road and as soon as Marham is over then I will be stripping it down and sending it back up to York to be completed. Once the engine is out I will be able to easily replace a few things on it that need doing, like the thrust bearing, the oil leak and a general clean up and jet wash. I can also fit the new working LSD I have when the rear axle is off too, plus some newly refurbished trailing arms too!

I've already decatted my auto GSI and fitted an ABS ECU, plus I've ripped out the back seats for weight saving!

[chrismec]

"TC had to go"

OUCH!!!!

No seriously, I see where your coming from
Great bit of work done there matey
Hope itall pans out ok for you