Fitted the replacement front diff mount today.

Like everyone else probably, I reconned I could do it without removing the rear mount bolts... and like everyone else, realised I couldn't :D

Working on 20 year old Kiwi cars is a dream, all the bolts came out and went back in as easy as the day it was built, no WD40 or anything, just socket on bolts in perfect condition and push. The only problem with working on the Kiwi car, was that the fuel tank cradle was also similarly in perfect condition, so hadn't rusted away to give more room to maneuver :D

All up fitted in just over the time it took my coffee to cool to drinkable temp and new WOF for another 6 months, result.
 
GrumpyGel said:
That looks a right state!

Must have run terribly. Sounds like its damaged the valve, hope there's not to much more damaged like turbo etc.
Click to expand...
The piston is scrap, so there's another coming. The head I think is salvageable, but it needs 4 valve and a good clean up.
The turbo I'm hoping is ok, but obviously there will have been tiny pieces of aluminium passing through it to the exhaust, which could have clipped the exhaust turbine blades, but hopefully being of a much harder material, should be ok. The turbo is going to need to come off, as the aluminium pieces will now be on the front of the cat, so will need removing, probably by using my workshop vacuum cleaner, in conjunction with my endoscopic camera.
 
LR/RR theft is through the roof these days from what I gather on Facebook groups and a couple were nicked from my area so I upgraded the tracker on my Landy with one of these: https://www.rewiresecurity.co.uk/s7-insurance-thatcham-approved-car-tracker.
I checked all the brands in the UK and decided to go with my old tracker company. I didn't know they had Thatcham trackers, probably just added to my surprise. Really good price and recommended service as always.
 
Received this in the post, so almost everything I need to repair the engine.
20200806_185802.jpg
 
Just thinking, are you going to either transfer the old shells to the "new" rod, or put new shells in the new rod? Just thinking that if there is a difference in mileage/wear to the "new" puston/conrod/shells relative to the current crank...?
 
Jayridium said:
Just thinking, are you going to either transfer the old shells to the "new" rod, or put new shells in the new rod? Just thinking that if there is a difference in mileage/wear to the "new" puston/conrod/shells relative to the current crank...?
Click to expand...

I'm going to measure the thickness of the shells, so I can guage the wear. The shells are selected to fit the crank pin within the rod, so I'll have to measure the clearance and use whatever combination of shells gives an acceptable running clearance.
 
Jayridium said:
That sounds sensible, I'm glad you've got a plan in place for covering the shells/clearances.
Click to expand...

I'm no stranger to engine rebuilds, although I would normally have all new shells and all machined parts for assembly.

One area I'm struggling, is to find the actual bearing running clearance specification. I've searched the manual, and simply can't see what the correct running clearance should be. :confused:
I'm guessing it's 3 or 4 thou, but can't find a reference to it at all.:(

So what I'm going to do is measure the thickness of the upper shell on both rods, using the original if it's thicker than the replacement, providing its undamaged. I'm going to use the lower shell on the new rod, as these aren't sized, and it will be less worn than the old one. This way I'll end up with a running clearance of a newer engine, but still be within the specification tolerance. :)
 
If it's the PSA/Ford engine, then you may have more luck looking in the dark recesses of Ford/Citroen/Peugot forums and manuals for those clearances.
Today, I dumped two bottles of Comma Diesel Magic into an almost empty tank, drove it a few miles, dumped 60 litres of diesel in there and went for a drive across the country and back. I can't say that I've noticed it make any difference, but I did get a much higher fuel economy than usual. This is possibly because I haven't done as many miles cruising lately as I used to, and more city driving. Also a new air filter a couple of days ago, now I just need to motivate myself to change the cabin filter, fuel filter and the oil and its associated filter. Oh, and I still have a CV boot and two window regulators to fit. Manana... ;)
 
paul99 said:
If it's the PSA/Ford engine, then you may have more luck looking in the dark recesses of Ford/Citroen/Peugot forums and manuals for those clearances.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the data is available, it's just finding it. I've decided to check the current bearing clearance with a Plastiguage, so I'll have a datum point. I can then use whatever combination of shells I have to get the running clearance to just under that datum. It's not difficult to do, just a not as easy as it would be if the engine was in the stand.

The worst part is getting to the big end shells, as there's a balancer shaft assembly bolted to the bottom of the block, which needs locking in the correct place, then removing, just so I can access the rod caps.
 
Today I drained the oil, checked the turbo and CAT for damage then concentrated on making the head serviceable, which I think I've achieved.
20200809_181623.jpg


Ok it's got some dinks and damage, but the seats cleaned up OK, and I test lapped a valve, which was successful.
 
Fitted my sump guard.
Put the road wheels back on and took it for a run.
A bit skippy on the steering and squealy on corners, probably due to the positive camber since the 50mm lift kit was fitted.
Ordered camber bolts:oops:
 
Fixed a dodgy solenoid on the passenger door. It wouldn't unlock on key fob. But did from the from inside. Ordered a replacement from flee bay. What turned up was older than mine. And once fitted, had a different fault. Not worth sending back though. So after some digging around came across this https://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-Mini-Cooper-Electric-Door-Lock-Actuator-L/

The first BMW MINI uses the same part. And there are a few sites that detail how to repair these things. It looks like the common way of failing is when the solenoid gets full of gunk. So after stripping the mechanism down, then the solenoid, and cleaning out with contact cleaner, then rebuilding it works perfect again.

I shouldn't have really bothered with trying to do it the 'easy' way and buying someone else's old toot off flee bay. But it did have 'a' use, in that it gave me a mechanism to compare against when putting all the bits back together, as on the first attempt, it didn't work. But taking a photo would have been cheaper. Next time...
 
bukko said:
Fitted my sump guard.
Put the road wheels back on and took it for a run.
A bit skippy on the steering and squealy on corners, probably due to the positive camber since the 50mm lift kit was fitted.
Ordered camber bolts:oops:
Click to expand...
The 50mm kit looks great but is a bit hard on the front drive shafts. Keep an eye on the CV boots as they may not last long.
 
Alibro said:
The 50mm kit looks great but is a bit hard on the front drive shafts. Keep an eye on the CV boots as they may not last long.
Click to expand...
Is there anything I can do to reduce the strain? (Apart from removing the lift kit)
 
bukko said:
Is there anything I can do to reduce the strain? (Apart from removing the lift kit)
Click to expand...

Lower the engine in the bay, which isn't easy or practical, but it will make the CV joints articulate less. Alternatively swap the 50mm kit for the 40mm one, which isn't so hard on the CV joints.
 
If the drive shafts are old the boots probably won't last long but if you catch them before any harm is done to the bearings then new boots should fix it for a good while. If you end up replacing the drive shafts you MUST use OEM as anything aftermarket will vibrate your teeth out.
Don't ask how know. :oops:
 
Fitted a catch can that vented to atmosphere via a filter, caused it to smoke like anything. Wrote that off as a terrible idea and plugged the old breather system back in. I was trying to stop the build up of oil and gunk in the manifold system and this engine breaths quite a bit more than normal. My assumption is that the ECU is counting on the volume of air from the breather and taking it out was messing with the map. Noticed that the PCV valve is stuck open, but that's probably better than being stuck closed.
Either way, I've learnt that I probably shouldn't assume I can improve on the engine design with 20 quid of parts from Ebay.

Not driving it again until I have bled the brakes. That was a scary test drive. Seems they have gotten allot worse while it's been stood up for a month.
 
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