Right, thought I'd start this. As some of you may know my cars a bit broken at present and I have a pile of parts ready to fit that gets bigger without it making its way to the car.

 

So lets start with what's up with the engine. Myself and gaz pulled the engine about two winters ago now, as one of the turbo's had failed. Compression was tested at this time with a very even 170psi across the board. Pulling it all apart we found a multitude of issues, egr hanging off causing an exhaust leak old sockets rolling about etc etc. We took that time to replace every damn crusty water and vac pipe and delete just about anything I considered a waste of space.

Water plenum bypass,

EGR,

AIV,

PRV,

Cruise control,

Aircon,

Think that's all. The turbos were rebuild by myself and for the first 50-100 miles things were bob on and I didn't give it too much stick. The first couple of pulls it detonated, new plugs, reduced the issue but it still did it a bit. Changed to a smaller gap and great the det was gone. The car was pulling very well at this point with virtually no lag and was dyno'd at 289hp bone stock, no extra boost no chip. Not bad for an old auto engine. Sadly it had started to smoke on over run, I assumed id cocked up one of the turbos during the rebuild. So I had been putting it off for months, well actually years now to pay out for brand new turbos. Anyways as the tax ran out I thought id do some more inspecting as the symptoms just didn't fit the pattern of failed turbos. The first thing I found was that lovely even compression was no more, cyl had a rather lame 115psi. Cue further inspection to work out exactly what block I had, manual/auto etc I assumed it was auto. That's when I found this...

That head casting reads R-10Y, wtf is that I thought. It's supposed to read 40P this was one of those penny drop moments. The piston crown sealed that moment of realisation and many dots connected.

That's right its an NA, 30p pistons are NA and 30p1 are TT defiantly no 1 on that code. Turns out r-10y is the later spec NA head aswell, so yeas 100% an NA block. Now this engine was fitted by a garage 4 years ago a few months into my ownership and we wont go into that too much but it wasn't a great experience and it transpires it was worse than I first thought. Anyway whilst they refused to reimburse me for that error, a good will gesture was sent out to me in the post of a few quid.

So a replacement engine is going to be sourced and fitted this winter. More of that and what's happening to the current late spec NA block.

 

So now more about that shelf of parts. I purchased last winter a full rear subframe assembly off Jaffa, the one off his time attack car. Loads of goodies already polybushed to death etc. So I stripped it down to bare metal and started painting it all with a few coats of lovely hammerite. This is how it stands at present;

So this winters aims are.

Remove front and rear bumpers, re underseal all of that and rip out and guff.

Delete HICAS system

Reloacte PS reservoir and fusebox

Switch over all suspension to new units from the shelf

Fit 354mm diameter brembos

Change engine out and preform various mods

It sounds like a lot, but hey winter is along time. Don't expect it to be coming through thick and fast. Im lazy haha

As above.

Maybe worth drilling out a spare nipple to use as a guide bush. (Must be a good fit and concentric mind)

This way you may be able to recut the sealing face?

That's the current plan. Simply to cut the orginal seat a mm or so deeper. It's not that bad just frustrating.

That's the current plan. Simply to cut the orginal seat a mm or so deeper. It's not that bad just frustrating.

 

If it helps you, I can machine a spare nipple on the lathe so that you can run a drill bit true to

the centre line of the threaded section.

Ive never ever known localised heat on a seized bleed nipple fail to free it Steve,and ive done a fair few..To try drill one out without witness damage to the caliper must be near impossible without clamping it to a drill bed and 1st using a centre drill before the drill starts. Never mind mate a simple job and you have done bloody well getting to here:thumbup1:

Cheers guys. Gaz is helping me out with his talents so we should be ok, always to the resuce haha. Hopefully it will all be sorted this time next week. I have to admit after inspection today I found a bit of swarf adding to the issue. Here's a photo of the issue.

Well gaz popped over today to cast his eye on my mishap, after some thinking, trying and coffee he decided to take the caliper off home with him. Fingers crossed. Cheers again gaz.

I also checked the system for boost leaks, two tiny ones that I sorted. Then the idle needed checking, I did notice the mot tester struggled a bit with the car and it stalled on him twice. Well removing the yellow idle plug resulted in the engine cutting out, that's why then. All sorted now with a lovely steady and strong idle.

Then it was on to the timing which is sitting at 25BTDC which I have to admit I've never changed the settings since the manual conversion. 15btdc is way over on the full expansion of the CAS so I can only assume the neutral switch is either faulty or I didn't connect it sufficiently. The way I wired it up was pin 44 to the neutral switch then to a bolt on the chassis in the tunnel. I assume the ground is poor or the switch faulty. Does anyone know what way the switch works? Should it be a closed cuircuitvat idle or in gear?

Well the callipers fixed and fitted, got the brakes bled and the car on the floor. Road test next. Hopefully that's it sorted. I also eyed up the alignment with the wheels on and it's sitting a lot better. Less camber required on the rear still though and about another 12-25mm to drop on the front. It's getting there. Still need to visit the neutral switch conundrum too. Bit busy this weekend though, it's a certain persons stag do....

Still need to visit the neutral switch conundrum too.

 

Just get rid of it altogether.

If I'm not using it what should the base timing be set to then? 25? As that's what it is now.

If I'm not using it what should the base timing be set to then? 25? As that's what it is now.

 

LOl! You have gone all technical on me!! I have no idea.:scared:

I just pay other people to map my car....... then I drive it:biggrin:

Lol. That is the way to do it Pete, sadly I think it's fun to tinker and then once I start remember it's not, only to forget that before the next round of fiddling begins.

I need to get my head around exactly what the switch does then test the situation. To make an appropriate modification be it with or without the neutral switch.

Lol. That is the way to do it Pete, sadly I think it's fun to tinker and then once I start remember it's not, only to forget that before the next round of fiddling begins.

I need to get my head around exactly what the switch does then test the situation. To make an appropriate modification be it with or without the neutral switch.

 

LOL!!!

You are just over complicating a simple situation.

No wonder you hardly ever drive the car.

You dont need a neutral position switch....

Ok I won't worry about it then. Makes life easier.

If you're getting your car mapped, the idle timing can be specified then. Until then, a manual TT chip/ECU will give you the correct 15deg in neutral at idle with a missing idle switch

If you're getting your car mapped, the idle timing can be specified then. Until then, a manual TT chip/ECU will give you the correct 15deg in neutral at idle with a missing idle switch

 

Cheers for that Noel. Your lead time is quite long ATM isn't it? Obviously I took every precaution to ensure I wasn't fitting a duff block but it needs road testing, I've only driven it about 2 miles due to the brake problem. There's no point booking it in until I'm happy it's ok. Once I've managed to test it though and am happy il be able to discuss booking it in with you.

Well something is definitely not right. I drove it round the block today to test the brakes and engagement is poor. The peddle does nothing for the first half of travel then engauges. It's worth trying to bleed again but I think there's a piece of the puzzle missing and am starting to lean towards a failed or failing master cylinder.if that's the case I'm just going to have to put it to one side now till July . :(

I'm glad that you got it on the road, a bit curious as to how it got through the MOT with the brake issues though. If it was a car that belonged to a non technical person the potential of brake failure would be a serious concern.

Hope you get it sorted.

The mot merely tests for the ability to stop with a given amount of force or something. It doesn't take repeat ability into consideration. Yeah your right though, scarey. It's a weird thing the mot. For starters its a 12 month certificate that becomes invalid the minute it's issued.

Right. Well I've missed the boat by a fair margin now. Sadly I can't afford both finically or time wise to do anymore till July. This time next week is the big day so everything is dominated by that now.

I've decided that I'm going to replace the master regardless, seems silly to go that far then retain a master cylinder that is a known weakness and is a quarter of a century old. I will also instal a master brace, if you haven't seem the amount of flex when braking it's genuinely quite excessive. Then get a miles in her and book her in with Noel.

You will get there in the end Stephen and it will be all worth while. Looking forward to your new progress

thread in July - "2015 summer works"!

 

:lol: I hope there's not enough left to do to become a whole new thread. It does have to be said "2014 winter works" was definitely more "2015 spring works" wish I hadn't been so lazy throughout the winter.

Just to update this, I currently have naff all oil pressure. I believed this to be the sender but it was confirmed by a mechanical gauge. It looks like I've managed to dent the sump, probably during the hoofing about stage. So before Sunday, I've gotta pull the pan and replace which means front subframe removal. I'd currently assume it won't be ready and il be in my daily driver...

Well that's kind of a relief! Replacing an oil pan and a sender is going to be less damage to your wallet to any strip down!

Depends if it's the right diagnosis...I'm just a hobbyist so by no means guaranteed to be right. I'm just thankful that I have enough knowledge and tools not to have to pay someone else to do this level of stuff. I'd still love and intend to have a professional rebuild of the engine. Still there's five days till Sunday, if I'm quick and things go well the car may still make it.

This is what my gauge was doing..