Working on the "Other" engine....

My other project is progressing well, to wit, the rebuilding of a dirt cheap 2007 Focus engine I found in a local scrappy. This engine is going to be putting ot somewhere between 230-240bhp

Here's the spec:

13:1 Cosworth Pistons
250HP Cosworth Cams
Hi-port head gas-flowed
Farndon Con-rods
VP2C Main- and Big-end Bearings
Keyed crankshaft
ARP cylinder head studs
ARP main bearing cradle studs
Lightweight crankshaft pulley and trigger wheel
Raceline sump
Raceline cam cover
Raceline water-rail
Lightweight flywheel
AP Racing clutch
Omex 600 ECU
48mm Jenvey Throttle bodies Standard Birkin bell housing and concentric clutch
T9 Box with SPC gearset (tall 1st gear)


So far I have had the crank keyed and the crank sprocket has been spark eroded to fit.
The OMEX 600 harness has arrived
All the gearbox bits are here I must just assemble the gearbox when I get a free Saturday.
The head has been gas-flowed by Van Der Linde developments and the cams have been cut from fresh billets.
I had to design the trigger wheel myself on a CAD program to fit the Cosworth crank pulley and get it laser cut in Durban.

So far the block has been fitted with the crankshaft and its associated cradle and bearings, and the pistons have been fitted. All the main moving bits have been torqued up.

I just ordered the cylinder head gasket today so I can fit the cylinder head sometime next week.

I must still order the Raceline stuff. That is going to be a wallet bender!

Home Stretch

So now I have to buckle down and finish her off.

What are the outstanding jobs?

From back to front :-

Fit the roll bar and boot, but first I must check the fuel gauge sender, because it is reading way over full
Fit the centre console
Fit the carpets
Fit the interior side panels
Fit the seats
Bend the gear lever to a more user friendly angle
Fit the gear knob
Fit the gear lever shroud
Fit the ECU rev limiter light to the Carbon fibre Console, and fit that
Fit the scuttle
Make a hole for the GPS antenna cable in the scuttle
Connect the wiper mechanism
Connect the ECU harness
Connect up the windscreen washer tubing and tie the washer motor into the harness
Install the side indicators
Connect the radiator overflow hoses
Bleed the brakes and clutch
Wheel alignment (rough)
And finally fit the steering wheel

Now of those jobs I can scratch off the side panels, centre console and indicators, because I did that this last weekend.

The worst job I face is the bonnet, because the cut-out for the air filters does not match the position of the filters on the car. To avoid any cutting I am going to have to resort to sock filters and do away with the oval paper filters. Then I am going to fabricate an airscoop to cover the aperture.

Watch this space!








Fit

It is........ALIVE!!!!!

Yep, you read it right. She is going.

After 2 long years of anticipation she runs. Not only that she runs WELL.

Yesterday I nipped over to the sparkies and saw that the wiring was 99% done, and they said we could give her a try the next day.

Did not sleep a wink the whole night.

Anyway got up at 7am, grabbed a jerry can, some copper slip, moly assembly paste and headed out.

Having grabbed some 93 Octane, arrived at the sparkies and proceeded to check off the pre-start check list.

Water - needed topping up as the header tank was empty

Oil - plenty in the sump (too much, as it turned out)

Wiring - ECU connected to battery and ignition, all terminals solid, spark plugs seated correctly. Inertia switch set OK.

Petrol - 3/4 full

I removed the cam cover and proceeded to cover every bearing surface with copper slip and moly paste. This was to protect the cams for the first few seconds before the oil made it up to the head.

I refastened the cover and did one final lookover - Oops. She was in 1st gear.

The sparkie turned on the ignition and let it stay there for a minute to prime the pipes - you could hear the water and fuel pumps whirring.

Then he swung it, and it churned for about 20 seconds and he let go, tried again, and this time the engine half caught. Third time she started and away she went.

Oil pressure was in the green and responding to revs, alternator charging.

We ran her at varying revs for 5 minutes, we could see two things happening, there was a lot of smoke coming off the exhaust header wrap which I expected, and there was water leaking from the water rail header filler, which I didn't. My worst fear was the nifty weld we had put there to clear the exhaust header was leaking but not so, it was the gasket between the filler cap header and the rail.

water temp was coming up nicely.

Then disaster, one sparkie shouts Stop! Stop! Stop! we shut her down and oil is pouring onto the floor from the intake side of the engine. Pete the sparkie says he saw oil gushing out of the TOP of makeshift oil dipstick tube that I had fitted long ago. I am a bit worried how could that happen? The oil is very greyish and my worst fear is there water in the oil. We check - thank heavens it is clean oil.

I dash off home to get the proper Raceline tube and dipstick, Pete goes about replacing the water rail gasket.

We remove the make shift tube and oil pours out into a pan we placed there and it is immediately apparent I have overfilled the engine with oil, so we drain a litre and then fit the new Raceline dipstick and tube. Oil has gone up in the tube and at some point crank case pressure forced it up and out. Sorta like a burp.

Pete removes the cam cover and behold all the cams are glistening with engine oil so no worries there the head is good and lubed. No sign of scoring on any of the cam lobes.

We restart the engine and this time we get her up to speed quickly, the gear shift light lights up at 6800rpm and the rev limiter  cuts in at 7200rpm. The radiator fan comes in at 90 and drops off at 80. Everything is looking good.

I try the gears - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th they all work no clutch needed as she is up on stands. Could not find reverse, but I really did not try very hard

We shut her down as she is good and hot. What a great day!!

Some observations:

Idle is lumpy but stable.
She spins up with NO hesitation from idle. Response is instant.
She sounds good under revs, very healthy. NO unhealthy knocking noises.
No pinking or pre-detonation - 11:1 pistons and 93 Octane - Good!
There's a nice crackle on the overrun too, not too much.
The motor is remarkably vibration free.

A Newish HD Gearbox and Grille

The second hand gearbox arrived from Cape Town but it was missing some very vital bits. In fact it arrived not as a gearbox but literally as a box of bits:

The 5th gear locking plate, detent pin and spring, oil filler plug, and selector detent plug screw were all missing.

The input shaft was toast - no gear teeth!

No problem though as I have ordered a host of bits and pieces from Bearingkits.co.uk to replace bearings, gaskets and seals. also synchro rings, springs and HD inserts. Unfortunately the missing bits will have to be found.

One of the selector forks was also a bit dodgy so I ordered a new set of 1/2 and 3/4 selector forks from Autogear.co.uk.

I am also going to order a set of close ratio gears from SPC so I have a decent tall first gear. Basically it is a new I/P shaft and new laygear cluster, plus new 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th gears. All on an HD layshaft with a special bush on which the uprated laygear bearing rides. 

On the grille side my pal with a CNC machine cut me a very neat "7" out of 3mm ally plate.

The sparkies are actually doing something as well. Gerhard is trying for mid Feb but I don't think he is going to make that deadline.

Another good local find was a very good condition 2 litre Focus Duratec engine which I want to fettle up into a 250hp motor, funds permitting.

Sentenced to a Lifetime of Poverty.......!

Well Christmas has come and gone and I was completely blown away by a little present from my family. More specifically, my ever supportive wife Rita.

Yes, the cognoscenti amongst you will recognise this little gem as the Caterham Super 7 JPE (Jonathan Palmer Edition) which was powered by a 250HP Vauxhall motor and held the 0-60-0mph record for a good while.

Now I want to build a replica of that! The colour scheme is a love or hate affair - it's a bit....er....bright! No losing the cops with that colour!

For cosmetics I have gotten a talented work colleague to make me a grille logo to place on my rather plain Birkin grille. It is an exact copy of the Caterham logo and it will look stunning painted in Signal Red to match the paint job. With the template made it will be a simple matter to plasma cut one made of 3mm ally plate.

And then I spoke to Gearex in Cape Town they are lining up an old T9 HD gearbox for me to refurbish with a spiffy tall ratio gearset from BGH. I have my order of bits from Quaife, Burton, BGH and Bearing Kits all lined up waiting for annual bonus.

Raceline came to the party with the long awaited oil tube and dipstick, plus the cam sensor blanking plug.

I have had no word (or questions) from the Sparkies, I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. Either they know what they are doing or they have not started yet! I think I will rattle their cage towards the middle of January.

Leave at Last!

I'm on leave! 

OK time to buckle down and knock a lot of pesky items off my to-do list!

First off was to take off all the connectors that came with the loom and replace them with better ones.  

Let me explain. As an example the rear lights terminate in tags, which is all OK, however there is no connector block to connect to the Hella rear light cluster, so I had to remove that connector and replace it with a more common (and available) connector, and place the proper on the loom. And I had to do it for all the connector blocks on the car - front indicators, headlights etc. It was a bit fiddly having to do all that because I had to remove the rear wheels to get in there. Plus the wiring colours on the loom did not match the wiring colours on the cluster so I had to start using a multimeter to sort that out.

 



 The sparkies are going to be tasked with fixing under the dashboard, supplying a speedo pick up and checking that she doesn't go up in flames when I turn the key. Oh and the electric water pump, cooling fan, ECU etc etc  

Next I replaced two top wishbone bolts with the stainless steel equivalent. Looks very zoosh but I am wondering if it was the right thing to do.....

This morning I fitted the windscreen to the scuttle. I drilled the holes as per the instructions and found that you actually have to fit the brackets to the windscreen (loosely) and then fit the whole lot to the scuttle, as there is a fair bit of angular misalignment. I eased that a bit by using foam tape between the brackets and the windscreen (helps to seal it too) and between the bracket and the scuttle (protects that paint finish). Good thing the bracket is not too rigid and it does twist a fair bit. The scuttle has gone from being a flibbery-flobbery bit of painted ally to a very rigid bit of bodywork. The mirrors were added after I took this photo.

 

Later today I will give her a good wash down. She has gotten extremely dirty over the past 7 months. You can see that in the top photo.

 What's left?

Wiring - that is being done right now.

Rear luggage compartment.

Roll cage - niggly problem - the bobbins in the chassis do not line up, I am going to have to drill out the threads

Side interior panels
Carpets and centre console
Seats
Scuttle fitting
Bleed the brakes and the clutch
Grease up the cams with non-seize paste
START UP and run in the cams for 10 minutes at 2500rpm
Wheel alignment
Roadworthy and shakedown cruise
REGISTER
Check her power on a Dyno, (although I should have a fair idea by then)

My next move after this project is to build a new gearbox that can take 250hp – I do not think the one I have fitted can even hack whatever power this current engine can put out, and secondly a new engine capable of 250hp.

I am already on the lookout for a breaker engine and gearbox, and the go faster bits come from the UK (@17:1 ouch!!!!)

 

Fiddling about

Things look to be moving slowly right now but what with the summer heat it is getting to be really rare to find a suitable day on the weekend where the weather is good AND I don't have something else to do that does not involve either the kids, the wife or shooting.

But enough excuses.

Last Saturday I buckled down and cut out a cover plate for the rear end of the selector tunnel. Normally the T-9 box has a metal cap or dust cover that blocks the oval end of the gear selectors. My box had no such part, the previous owner electing to use copious amounts of silicon sealer instead.

I did not have any ally plate I could use so I improvised with an old breadboard made of polyethylene. It was pretty thin and easy to cut. Simple enough to do and I sealed the edges with RTV silicone.
 

 

 

Being very happy with that my next move was to sort out the EMS wiring routing. The Alphamax system seems to have way too long leads terminated by extremely rare and spendy looking connectors, so I took the coward's way out and looped up the excess lead, bound those with lots of cable ties and hid them under the heater box. Of course there will be no heater.

 

Other leads were fastened in place with cable clips and Rivnuts

 

Now I must sort out transport to the wiring specialists.

 

I Got your Number!

This weekend I tackled the number plate and the illumination thereof. I bought these really neat little LED lamps and painted them red. Then lined up everything and drilled the holes, set the rivnuts and....



Then it was time to get adventurous with a small file and sort out the Lambda sensor which could not be installed without cutting away some of the exhaust guard. Very stressful handiwork!

My next problem lies in routing the sensor cable - I dont want to route it along the body to the exhaust header port, that will need putting small holes in the body for P clips. The other alternative is routing it along the exhaust pipe - neat but liable to melt the cable! Or straight up the body to the scuttle - ugly!!!

I am thinking of cutting a neat hole in the body with a chassis punch and putting in a weatherproof grommet, leaving the outside run to 3-4 inches at most. I found that DEI make a neat flexible heat shield tube for just such eventualities and I may just give them a call.

Zorsts.....NEARLY there

Today I fitted the headers and the pre-assemble muffler. The headers took a bit of manipulation but luckily I had done this once before so I knew the procedure front and back. First fit the two outer headers, then the siamese centre pipes. I sourced another manifold gasket because Lord alone knows what happened to the last one. I also had to work around the throttle cables.

Next was the collector pipe which is a cute 4 into 1. I was clever enough to just  loosen the manifold bolts enough to give me some wobble room. With the aid of a large wooden mallet that went on with minimum fuss. You'll see some springs there I had to buy because the OEM items are keeping the manifold gasket company somewhere.

Nothing daunted I proceeded to fit the muffler and connector pipe, these were a perfect fit and matched the body mount to the millimeter!!! Unfortunately one of the M8X1.0 Metric fine nuts that goes with the rubber vibration mount has gone astray with the gasket etc etc.

I then loosely fitted the red exhaust guards, and discovered that the front guard is going to need a bit of modification because the Lambda sensor that fits into it fouls the guard.

I think this is going to be a little cracker of a car when she is done!!!

 

Zorsts.......It's a Wrap!!!

Back again after a long gap, I've been busy sorting out the last maor component install, namely the exhaust system. When I left them, they had been painted heat resistant black, and I had decided to wrap the headers in some space age lava rock weave. I spent a bit of time waiting for the stuff, it is called DEI titanium exhaust wrap, and the local agent is Michael Moolman. At any rate he came through with the merch. I bought 2 off 2" *50ft rolls and it was just enough to wrap the exhausts.

Here are the contact details, or you can visit www.designengineering.com

Trinity Performance & Thermal Control

South Africa - Gauteng

Phone: 27(0)72 7669613

Unit 9 Pomona Park, Pomona Road, Pomona Kempton Park

Johannesburg, GT1620

Phone:27(0)72 7669613

If you want the definition of "cool"in the dictionary you will find that photo next to it.

The advantage of this new stuff over other wraps is you don't have to wet it first, and it doesn't need any silicon spray. The two outer headers were easily done, but the centre siamese twinned headers needed some dexterity!

Having done that, I pre-assembled the muffler and connector pipe and called it a night. I had a little hassle arranging the muffler guard brackets and was totally foxed as to how they fit the pipes until I saw they had been stamped "F" "M"and "R" (Front, Middle and Rear) Once I had sussed that the rest was easy.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small, but Important Tasks

It has been bloody miserable the past couple of weeks so I have resorted to doing stuff like fitting indicators to the nosecone, deflector hinges to windscreen uprights etc etc. All stuff that can be done indoors.

The one thing that cannot be done indoors is laying out and fitting the Alphamax Engine Management System harness.

This was easier than I thought, and in a couple of hours I had connected up the injectors, RPM sensor, fuel pump etc etc. The instructions are very clear and the connector labelling is excellent.

Then went a bit overboard with the cable ties, methinks.

Scuttle Butt

The one thing I was not too happy about the spray job was the painters did not spray the firewall, I think they misinterpreted my instructions. Upshot was the wall where the washer bottle, radiator overflow bottle and the brake and clutch reservoirs was bright aluminium.

Off to the local Midas Auto hardware to pick up a tin of Signal Red Duco. I was figgering the colour would not be a total match for Ferrari Red, but I was surprised how close it was. A couple of coats and hey presto!

Original Ferrari Red on top, Signal Red on the wall - a slight difference - Signal Red is "Orangier". Here is the washer bottle bracket and zooty Stainless Steel capscrews nestling in their rivnuts - you can see the overflow bottle rivnut mounts to the right.

Huffing and puffing .... Not!!

So I head down to my favourite glue merchant but it being a public holiday in South Africa the shop is shut. So no chance to get in some thoroughly legal glue sniffing and incidental carpet fitting today. I did pick up a brand new pop rivet gun to replace my mangy old one, as well as 3 bottles of brake fluid.

So instead of doing carpets I decide to fit the stoneguards, which was pretty hectic because it involved me having to drill into my lovely red mudguards. Not a difficult job but be careful and have some extra pop rivets and washers on hand because sometimes you have to drill out one or two (OK five, if you insist on the amount). I forgot to put on the edge rubber both times!!

Having completed both sides the next move was to install the centre console. Again the rivnut tool was broken out and 4 rivnuts strategically placed - two on either side of the prop shaft tunnel. At this point I fitted the two safety belt stalks (loosely). They are not the type that has an electrical warning connection so the wires in the loom have been terminated and the seatbelt warning light will not feature on the console.

Having satisfied the mechanical urge to bolt stuff together I turned to the exhaust headers and muffler. I have elected to wrap the headers in DEI titanium lagging which is supposed to have some benefit power wise because it keeps the exhaust system running hotter. Now I failed thermodynamics as a subject at 'varsity (very badly, I might add) so I am unable to verify or disprove their claims to increased power output, reduced fuel consumption and general added longevity of the engine, but I will say their product looks really good looking on a car.

So I sprayed the headers and the muffler matte black with some heat resistant paint. I think the overall effect is going to be awesome - black headers wrapped in a gunmetal fiber set off with stainless steel hoseclamps and a red perforated exhaust shield.

I then called it quits for the day, and cleaned up all the pesky pop rivet wires, then my tools. It is starting to come together, I think. But there is a lot to do yet.

I am going to get a professional to do my wiring. When the car arrived all the wires had neat little tags on them saying what went where. After a year the tags are all faded!

 

Some real progress

Ok sometimes it is just as well to embrace the pain and go with the flow.

Today I fitted the headlights and man what a mission! The front struts came out first as I wasn't going to argue with the collective experience of other builders.

I am convinced that there is a special place in hell reservedfor whoever came up with the placing of the headlights. There must be a special tool for this - some sort of mutant box socket with a split in it and hex flats each end. Anyway the services of an extra length 19 socket and a pair of water pump pliers sufficed. Zero points for design, Mr Birkin.

I remembered to ground the earth wires from the rear light clusters, and while I was in an earthy mood, proceeded to do so for every earth wire I could find. Tested too!

The next item was the front fenders, and those went on with a minimum of fuss.

Tomorrow I paint the exhausts black and I fit the carpets.

Getting going again

Today was the first day in a long while I have actually had the chance to do something, so I did a bit of everything.

First bit of business was to replace the drilled out pop rivets on the bonnet catches which were removed by the painters. I've decided to use M4 riv nuts instead with stainless cap screws - much classier. These rivnut guns are very useful bits of kit.

Then I fitted the Webcon throttle bodies to the engine, and hooked up the fuel and return pipes, plus the breathers. The throttle cables were next. These cables will have to come off again when I fit the brake/clutch cylinder cover but for now it is fine. The throttle linkage seems to work pretty smoothly.

Last job for the day I fitted the rear mudguards, plus the rear light clusters. I must just remember to hook up the earth wire.

Here she is......

The dog has found some shade!

Paint Your Wagon.........

The deed is done. The car is painted. 15 large later I have a Ferrari Red Birkin. No pics as yet as the paint shop has not delivered it but I did have a sneak preview and she looks gorgeous. The builders are still busy renovating the house so the car for the meantime will stay at the paint shop. I will bring it back as soon as they are out of my hair and things get back to normal.

Also on the agenda is wrapping the exhaust headers with DEI Titanium fabric which will add a couple of ponies and keep both the engine and the engine bay cool. The stuff is a gunmetal grey so that fits in with the overall colour scheme.

Getting going again...

It has been a 5 month delay but over the weekend I prepped the car for spraypainting. I removed all the loose bits 'n' pieces lying in the car and taped up all the open holes on the engine.

Also realised why the 5 month break was necessary - it was hot!

Got her off the stands singlehanded (my G-d it is a low car) using the crane.

Yesterday my pal arrives with the trailer and we take the car to PPRust Panelbeaters.

Colour: Rosso Corsa. For the cognoscenti among us - Ferrari Red.

It will take about a month.

Now to sell my children for medical experiments.......!

Some Movement at Last!!!

The past 2 months I have been stalled looking for a reasonable quote on spray painting the car. It seems I have at last found someone prepared to do it for less than a kidney transplant.

The only hurdle is getting the car loaded and taken to Jo'burg. And they can only do it in January. So my start date has been put out to February.

Still no Progress........

Well y'all must be wondering what further stuff I have managed to do since I got back from Bots.
To be honest, nothing, what with shooting competitions, trips to the Cape, visiting the kids etc etc. every weekend has been chock-full of activity but nothing to do with car building.

The other factor is of course the spraypainting. I have got to the stage where if I put anything on the car I am going to have to remove it if I wanta decent job done. This last weekend of the 24/25th November a buddy has hooked me up with a quality painter who can do the job for less than R10K. My next best quote was R19K - a significant gap!!!!

So let's see how this pans out.....