Hi all, been a while since I’ve been on here. Kind of lost interest with my car being off the road really, a few had been asking about the car so …

Now another 12 weeks delay because of piston manufacturer being useless!!

 

To cut a long story short when the engine first failed we stripped it down and discovered that the first machinist had put the valve pockets in the wrong place so had some valve/piston contact hi revs, pistons scrap 

Original pistons were made by wossner but they couldn’t do a new set any time soon and very expensive so went to one of the American companies, been a nightmare with almost 6 months of waiting and mess-ups! Fortunately Chris who is now building the engine is a great guy and over 30 years experience of high end motorsport engine builds, I suspect most would not have spotted these issues. Happened like this:

 

Us: Hi, can you make me a set pf pistons like the one I sent you but with correct pockets?

Them: Yes, no problem.

Us: Great, when.

Them: Oh, about 4 weeks.

Us: OK, brilliant.

 

At this point we cleaned up the block and heads, got replacement valves etc. then they called back.

 

Them: You know your pistons, well we can’t make rings in that size, can you go up to 98.5mm on the bore (0.5mm up).

Us: Well OK, but it’s a hassle as block has just been prepped but OK.

 

Now took nearly 3 MONTHS to get the pistons by which time I was getting very annoyed.

So now bottom end fully prepped, balanced and assembled for dummy build with oil control rings only on.

Dummy build done and valve clearances, cam movement allowance checked etc.

On removal for final build, the oil control rings didn’t ‘feel’ right. Turned out they were a 2.8mm ring pack and the groove was 3.0mm fortunately Chris spotted this, I wouldn’t have! So got back in touch.

 

Us: Explained situation.

Them: Ah, yes you’re right, we find matching rings for that bore size.

Us: Well OK, but we changed the bore size to suit the rings!

Them: Oh, right, erm let me talk to engineering.

 

Nearly a month of constant phone calls and we get

 

Them: Erm, we’re going to have to make a new set, will rush it through as this is all terribly embarrassing. Let me assure you I’ll personally make sure the next set are correct.

Us: OK, but bottom end all balanced, you need to make them to target weight as well.

Them: No problem, be with you in 2 weeks.

 

Another 2 MONTHS passes with lots of calls then finally new set arrive but unbelievably they’re wrong too!!!!

Us: Yes we received them but the groove is still wrong.

Them: No sir, it’s 2.8mm.

Us: Yes, but its 5mm deep for a 2.5mm ring, the ends can cross!

Them: Oh, b*****s, terribly sorry etc.

 

So still waiting for the new set!

 

On the plus side, I now have 24 very nice paperweights!

 

nice one john ,,, been a bit of a drama for you .. well least this is a step forward now

 

Mark

Brilliant news, well done mate :D

Well bottom end is assembled and apparently turns lovely by hand even with all 8 pistons in now :)

4 corner pistons fitted with fly springs for final test assembly and testing how much swing we have on the cams then just bolt it all together, hopefully a few weeks and it'll be back in the bay.

If only I was allowed to use one of these dyno's I'm working on to tune it!!

 

Pics here: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=FE954747E42657C0!331

All sounds good John and look forward to next installment. Will it be finished over the Winter months?

That's the plan, hopefully not too long. Just depends on when Leon can do the pipework. Had a lot of hassle with all the braided stuff as the bend radius on it is rubbish so going to do as much as possibe in hardline which we can bend at 1D on a 1" line instead of the 8" radius on the -16 braided! Should tidy things up a bit.

So we should look forward to the V8 rumble in the Spring John. Good luck on the Winter build and keep us updated.