One other note, had a look at the engine histogram on the DTA earlier to see how long the old engine had spent under various conditions.

Pretty reliable considering it's a 20+ year old engine that was never intended to see boost, yet it spent so long at such high revs. This only indicates the abuse it's had since going to standalone management, before then it had probably similar if not more abuse but without any boost
20190907_154141 by Steve Count, on Flickr

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

No I didn't, I've been concentrating on getting the car ready for the ring and don't own a leak down tester yet. I could pull the head off and have a look but the engine is currently sat in the dining room so it's neater to leave as one built up unit for now

I measured the camber on my not perfectly level drive and it showed 2.8 degrees of negative camber.
How have you achieved your camber?
My wheels are spaced out slightly further than a standard setup as it is as I had to move the wheel out to get the clearance for the brakes. If I remember I'll measure how thick the spacer and the bell are when I'm out stripping it down in a bit.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

I measured the spacer earlier, it's 10mm. I'm pretty sure i machined the bell to 8mm thick so the wheel is basically 18mm from the flange face when bolted up.

I think you asked a while ago about how i'd done the arb, i finally got a clearer picture which hopefully shows how mine is done. It's far from perfect but does the job.
20190826_183942 by Steve Count, on Flickr


I took my KW's off yesterday, the damper with the snapped spring seems to be kaput. Literally no damping in effect if you compress it then pull the shaft as if it was going into droop. Played with it again tonight and it seems to be doing it both ways now.
I decided it was unrealistic to send them off and hope to get them fixed and returned before the trip to Germany, luckily my mate Rob offered for me to borrow his Gaz Golds for a couple of weeks as he wont be using his track car until i'm back.
Few hours later my car now has his dampers fitted
20190909_181047 by Steve Count, on Flickr

They're running 350lb springs so pretty much the same as my KW's were.
Dropped down to see what sort of ride height it's at i don't think it's a million miles from what the KW's were, i may raise it a little bit tomorrow though to help move the tyre away from the bumper/wing.
Once the ride height is somewhere close i can adjust and set the anti roll bar droplink, then double check the tracking hasnt changed then that's the suspension done.
20190909_183536 by Steve Count, on Flickr

I had a look and these Gaz's are running 8" springs, the spring cups sit above the top of the tyre so there's no chance the tyre could ever touch them. My KW's were the same. I think the Bridgecraft top mounts help in regards to this as they keep the spherical bearing high in the turret so naturally the spring cups need to be higher up on the damper.

Now i need to decide what i'm going to do with the KW's, they've done me proud over the years, i had a quick look around and one place wants ~£100-125 each damper to service & re-valve. So i reckon by the time i've sent them off, got them sorted and bought a pair of new springs i'm going to be a minimum of £300 in. Part of me is now tempted to just put that money towards something a bit more capable. I think i'll get in touch with B.A.D and see how much i'd be looking at for a pair of their 3-ways.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

Ooo bit of puff

________________________________________

Ph2 Black GTI 6!

EX black 6 owner
But now a Black caged rallye owner

Hunting for Go faster bits!


SEARCH

click here

I took the head off the blown engine the other day. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

20191113_184507 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20191113_184518 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20191113_184935 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20191113_185037 by Steve Count, on Flickr

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

That's not good. What are you pinning it down to?

New engine time...

________________________________________

I'm Si btw

Night Blue VW Golf GTD
Bianca LBSC Rallye - Track/Road Slag Project Thread
Sparkling Silver Mini Cooper D - Super Dooper - (The other half's wheels)

You could see the moment it went in the video. Thrashing it mate

________________________________________

Ph2 Black GTI 6!

EX black 6 owner
But now a Black caged rallye owner

Hunting for Go faster bits!


SEARCH

click here

Had a busy christmas messing about with the car.

I got the engine out which let go at the Nordschleife and took it apart to assess the damage.

20191224_122800 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20191224_124439 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20191224_140653 by Steve Count, on Flickr


I don't think i took any more pictures of the block but i suspect it's a complete write off, the scoring was excessive and i'm not sure that even boring it out to 87mm would clean it all up.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

Whilst all the bottom end stripping was going off i was also sorting out a new cylinder head to use. The one which was on the Cadwell engine was the victim of an extensive skim a couple of years ago so that was out of the question. This left me with the head which was on the engine which let go in Germany.
With the head off i measured it and it was 137mm so it has never had a skim in the past. Nice.

I used a straight edge over the head and it looked pretty true. Upon removing the valves it was apparent that the exhaust valves and their seats had seen better days.

20191129_142423 by Steve Count, on Flickr

At this point i decided it was time to take the head down to the local machine shop and get a light skim along with having 16 new valve guides, the valves and seats re-cut and a clean.
A few weeks later it was ready for collection.

20191213_170352 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Re-assembling a head is pretty straight forward just time consuming. First off i thoroughly cleaned the head with clean water then copious amounts of brake cleaner and blasting it with the air line. Once i was happy it had no swarf or crap still hidden away I put the spring seats back down over the valve guides

20200102_175620 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next up was new valve stem oil seals. A while ago i bought a tool to make this job easier. It's not necessary but makes the job a bit quicker and easier. In the past i've used a deep socket the right size to tap them home over the valve guides.

20200102_172020 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200102_172059 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200102_181308 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next up was to refit the valves, both valve springs and the retainer caps, then compress these using a valve spring compressor.

20200103_190739 by Steve Count, on Flickr

The final stage is to fit both halves of the retainers. These are fiddly to say the least but having read tips on here and previous builds i've found the easiest way to do these is to dab some grease on them, then use a magnetised screwdriver to reach down and put them in place on the valve stem. Once you are happy they are in the right place push them a bit harder to the valve stem and the grease should 'stick' them in place. Repeat for the other half. Once both are in place the spring compressor can be undone and that valve is complete.

20200103_190727 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_191142 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_193830 by Steve Count, on Flickr

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

Great read as always

That poor piston though lol

I dragged a spare bottom end out of the shed and set to work stripping it down.

20191215_130848 by Steve Count, on Flickr

After a couple of hours attacking it with wire wheels

20191230_123410 by Steve Count, on Flickr

After a couple of coats of red oxide primer

20191230_132041 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Three coats of halfords red engine enamel

20191231_144240 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Mounted the gearbox up and marked where paint needed removing to ensure the bellhousing sat flush with the block then took the paint away with a wire wheel where needed

20200102_121704 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Bought myself a honing tool for christmas and set about honing the bores, used loads of wd40 to keep things lubricated.

20200102_124403 by Steve Count, on Flickr

The only picture i seem to have got of the bores, this was after a few passes just to see how fast i needed the speed and how quick i needed to go up and down in the bores to get a decent cross-hatch. I removed the oil spray bars so the hone could go to the bottom of each bore. I masked as much as i could of the main journals and the oil spray bar oil feed holes to stop any crap getting into the oil galleries.
20200102_130220 by Steve Count, on Flickr

After honing I cleaned everything down thoroughly with hot water and washing up liquid, then blasted everything with the hose pipe. Next was blasting it with the air line, then going over everything again with copious amounts of brake cleaner. I kept wiping the bores with fresh blue rag soaked in brake cleaner until they were coming out with no evidence of any honing debris. Next a quick spray over with wd40 to stop any rust forming.
The oil galleries were blasted with a few cans of brake cleaner to make sure there was nothing bad in them. Likewise the crank had all the oil ways blasted until the brake cleaner was coming out clear.

Next i refitted the oil spray bars

20200102_164627 by Steve Count, on Flickr

I bought 4 new sets of Mahle piston rings. The documents didn't specify anything for what the ring gap should be so I emailed them. They just said the rings come pre-gapped and didn't acknowledge any need for bigger gaps with the engine being boosted.

I numbered the piston ring packs 1-4, and kept each set of rings in the relevant pack and assigned them to each cylinder. I inserted each ring into its corresponding bore and used a piston to push the ring down the bore nice and square then used feeler gauges to measure the ring gaps. I did this for the top and middle rings and noted the gaps.

20200102_171448 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200102_165906 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200102_165615 by Steve Count, on Flickr

After i'd done them all they all seemed to be pretty much the same so i went ahead and fitted them to the pistons.

Next up i made sure all the main journals were clean and fitted the new main shells to the block and dropped in the crank.
I know it's not a perfect way of measuring anything but it's good as an indication of clearance so i went ahead and got the plastigauge out and measured all the main journal clearances. Torqued the caps down to the recommended specs.

20200103_133535 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_133551 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_134942 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_135009 by Steve Count, on Flickr

The plastigauge readings were all pretty similar and from memory they are within spec of what the clearance should be so I cleaned all the plastigauge off, removed the crank and went ahead with coating the bearings with graphogen assembly compound. I then refitted all the main caps and torqued them all back down to spec, not forgetting to fit the thrust bearings.
Now that i could rotate the crank I checked the end float. When putting #1 main cap in i fitted new hockey stick seals and added a thin bead of sealant just incase the rubber didnt create a perfect seal.

20200103_141046 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_141144 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_142239 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_135912 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_140754 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200103_140757 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Thats 0.14mm of end float, which is between the tolerances i found of 0.07 - 0.27mm online.

Next job was to fit the pistons and rods. Firstly i went over each bore again with brake cleaner on blue roll then I coated all the bores and piston ring compressor with fresh engine oil to help keep everything lubricated, and gave the skirts of the pistons a wipe over with engine oil too.

20200104_122553 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Once again I used plastigauge to get an idea of clearance for each big end, torquing the caps down as they should be.

20200104_112705 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_120536 by Steve Count, on Flickr

They were all pretty much the same and once again they were within tolerance from memory.
The journals don't look too pretty in the pictures but i ran a fingernail over each one and couldnt feel anything. I also had a micrometer on all the big end journals and all measured mid-tolerance.
After plastigauging i cleaned all the plastigauge off, coated the moving faces with graphogen then torqued the caps down.
The crank could be rotated by hand at this point which is reassuring that nothing is binding. I probably should have mentioned earlier but each time i torqued down a main cap i'd try and give the crank a turn to make sure it wasnt binding, likewise with each big end.

Next up i fitted the windage tray

20200104_130755 by Steve Count, on Flickr

The oil pump sprocket that was used previously on the engine was the old design where the sprocket relies purely on the pulley bolt being tight enough to clamp it and stop it spinning. I then raided one of my other engines for the newer design sprocket where the sprocket and spacer part are one piece which then means the woodruff key positively drives it ensuring it is locked to the crank regardless of how tight the crank pulley bolt is.

20200104_132035 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_132155 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Oil pump and chain fitted. Don't forget the 'L' shim. Loctite used on all the bolts.

20200104_133433 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_133741 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Reinserted the dipstick tube and bolted it in place on the oil pump

20200104_133758 by Steve Count, on Flickr

I'd bought the Payen gasket kit for the rebuild, and also bought new crank seals. New seal fitted to the engine end plate after cleaning it and applying a bead of sealant to the mating surface.

20200102_171830 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_135810 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next up i fitted the cambelt pulley and billet crank pulley and spun the crank so the pulley hole lined up with the locking point on the engine making sure the pistons were all mid-stoke. I'd also fitted the water pump along with a new gasket and both the tensioner pulley and idler pulley for the cambelt. Also the two dowels to locate the head in the correct position. Also cleaned out the sump and fitted it with a bead of sealant around the mating faces. Not shown in these pictures but done at this stage was locking the crank in place using an 8mm drill blank.

20200104_150609 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_160314 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Placed the new head gasket in place, ensuring the dowels held it in place.

20200104_160444 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Carefully put the head back on being careful to line up the dowels and not scrape/damage the mating face.

20200104_160734 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next up I fitted new head bolts and torqued them down in the correct sequence to the torque rating in each stage. The final stage is 160*, which is quite hard work doing it on your own when the engine stand is on wheels and wants to spin
I managed it in the end by standing on the stand base.

20200104_160858 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next up was to apply graphogen to the hydraulic lifters, ensuring each one went in the bore it came out of originally. I do this by using seperate food bags for each one and putting that bag inside another food bag with a piece of card labelled to identify where it should live. i.e. 'In1', 'In2', 'Ex1', 'Ex2' etc I put the various other bits of the valvetrain in bags like this too.

20200104_174104 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next up I made sure the exhaust cam was clean. I fitted the pulley to the end and did the bolt up finger tight. I applied sealant to the mating face where the cam carrier meets the head, applied graphogen to the lobes and all the journals, then laid the camshaft in the journals so that the locking hole was slightly anti-clockwise to the locking hole on the head.

20200104_180801 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Next i then tighten down the cam carrier capscrews, the final sequence spiraling out from the centre much like doing the head bolts.
With the carrier clamped down i then insert the new seal, using a bit of tube to ensure it's located flush and square.

20200104_181640 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_181653 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_181736 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Don't forget the oil spray bar

20200104_182526 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Do exactly the same for the inlet cam side

20200104_190453 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Pulleys back off to fit the cambelt cover

20200104_191444 by Steve Count, on Flickr

Pulleys back on, now you want to use an 18mm spanner on the camshaft pulley bolts to carefully rotate the camshaft clockwise whilst you use a 6mm drill blank to lock the camshaft in place with the relevant hole in the head. Once each cam has been locked in place carefully crack off the bolts so the pulley can rotate on the camshafts, rotate them as far clockwise as possible by hand, then place the cambelt round the bottom pulley, round the idler pulley, over the inlet cam pulley, round the exhaust cam pulley, round the tensioner pulley then water pump and back round the crank pulley. The crank pulley should be locked in place with an 8mm drill blank.
A better description of this process can be found in the FAQ guide on this forum along with more pictures along the way.
Once the belt is in place use the tensioner to set the belt tension and nip it in place. Tighten the cam pulley bolts and remove all three locking pins. Rotate the crankshaft clockwise carefully multiple times then try fitting the drill blanks back into all 3 locking holes. If they line up then great, if not then you've gone wrong somewhere. If everything is as it should be torque everything to the correct torque and make sure you applied loctite to the bolts so they wont rattle loose in the future.

20200104_193951 by Steve Count, on Flickr

20200104_201350 by Steve Count, on Flickr

This is as far as i've got so far, i'm still waiting for new flywheel bolts and the m20x1.5 oil filter tube to come in at the local dealers.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

did you go for a bigger ring gap being with boost? i was advised by sandy to do this on my new engine.

________________________________________

1990 205 gti6 supercharged

Lol throttle bodies, road, easy life I think not.

________________________________________

Ph2 Black GTI 6!

EX black 6 owner
But now a Black caged rallye owner

Hunting for Go faster bits!


SEARCH

click here