Category: Cars

Well i havnt had a chance to really touch this with the bathroom being done and all. But durign that time ive been scoping out rear brake upgrades, and this is what has come out trumps:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/33259-2/D721887C-CACC-4620-A4F4-A87ED2AEA756.JPG[/img]

R32 rear calipers, 269x18mm discs.

Thats it bolted up on a mockup plate.
Need to finish off the CAD for the caliper adaptor, and then it can head off to the laser cutters for production. Nice quick and simple brake upgrade

So here we go with the autopsy. New record for getting the engine ready to come out (and pulling the head off) 1h10m.

Anyway, onto the damage.
Cyl 4, Inlet cam:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32839-1/IMG_0887.jpg[/img]

Cyl 1&2, Inlet cam:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32841-1/IMG_0889.jpg[/img]

Cyl 4 exhaust cam:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32843-1/IMG_0890.jpg[/IMG]

Nice aluminum shavings from cam gears and munged timing belt:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32847-1/IMG_0893.jpg[/IMG]

Empty bolt hole in the block/oil pump.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32859-1/IMG_0914.jpg[/IMG]

Battered and beaten bolt:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32851-1/IMG_0896.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32857-1/IMG_0911.jpg[/IMG]

Exhaust cam gear:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32853-1/IMG_0897.jpg[/IMG]
This took the brunt of the bolt flying around, the intake cam gear was pretty much unscathed:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32855-1/IMG_0905.jpg[/img]

Bearing caps:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32861-1/IMG_0916.jpg[/img]

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32863-1/IMG_0917.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32865-1/IMG_0919.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32867-1/IMG_0920.jpg[/IMG]

Tiny bit of scoring, but thats probably from lack of oiling and spinning eccentrically post shutdown.

Intake cam:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32869-1/IMG_0923.jpg[/img]

Exhaust cam:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32871-1/IMG_0924.jpg[/img]

Now here is the bloody surprising bit.

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32873-1/IMG_0925.jpg[/img]

Number 2 piston, these are really the only marks on the pistons at all. Cyl 3 has some of the same sort of kiss marks. Nothing major at all.

All of the cylinders in the head look like this:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32875-1/IMG_0930.jpg[/img]

Links here if you want to see:

[url]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32877-1/IMG_0931.jpg[/url]

[url]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32879-1/IMG_0932.jpg[/url]

[url]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32881-1/IMG_0933.jpg[/url]

[url]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32883-1/IMG_0934.jpg[/url]

No significant scoring or marks at all.

Will still pull the engine and give it a once over, but i think i got out of it quite lightly.

As for the rest of the stuff, brake package works a treat. Pulls up brilliantly. Still some tweaking to do with F/R bias, but thats all easily done with the bias bar.
The engine was strong too, felt like it was putting down all of the power it had well, and the lap before it all went pear shaped i did a 1:23.4 without me really trying too hard. I was pretty astounded.

Oh yeah, this is the one photo i forgot to post last night:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32890-5/1000001174.JPG[/IMG]

Ow.

It didnt. I swear this bloody car is cursed:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32838-2/1000001162.JPG[/IMG]

Oil pump bolt backed out, got caught in the timing belt, threw out the timing and made the pistons interference fit to the valves, which then snapped the cams.

ARRRGHHHH

To say im annoyed and pissed off at the moment is an understatement.

Been tidying up some bits on the race car, as well as adding some bling:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32822-2/1000001151.JPG[/IMG]
Some old some new, all found a good home.

Blingy clear cam gear cover arrived:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32818-2/1000001152.JPG[/IMG]
Bought because all of my old cam gear covers were cracked, and its kind of nice to be able to see how the belt looks at a glance.
Less chance of dropping something in there and not noticing too.

New window net:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32810-2/1000001147.JPG[/IMG]
Hoping it will improve visibility over the standard tape one. The tape one gives massive blind spots, and with it i couldnt see about half of the wing mirror. Hoping this helps. If not it looks a damn sight better, and doesnt crumple up when you are trying to put it up.

Gratuitous engine bay shot too:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32814-2/1000001153.JPG[/IMG]

Only little things to go before Friday.

Not much to report for the weekend. Was out crewing for a mate at a kart meet on Saturday.

Put the interior back in today, and had an hour or so free so i machined up this:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32749-2/1000001115.JPG[/img]

Still waiting on the brake fittings so i can finish that off. Hopefully that will all be done tomorrow night.

Big update now. Car is all back together, and headed off to be tuned yesterday. Done the main power tune, and im pretty happy with how its going sofar. Getting some fine tuning today as well.

Engine looks like this with all the ancillaries bolted on:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32769-2/1000001133.JPG[/IMG]

Ill probably see if i can put some heat shielding on the exhaust as well, gets quite toasty atm.

Last weekend i went out and crewed for a mate when he was karting, and noticed the exhaust mounts which they use on the karts. Figured i can put this to good use, and rigged it up on the car to hold the exhaust up:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32776-2/1000001131.JPG[/IMG]

Going to have to shift it a bit though, because it scrapes on the trailer and knocks off the springs. Dirt cheap though, $15 for the bracket and springs.

I finished setting up the front brakes, and so they look like this:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32777-2/1000001132.JPG[/IMG]

Also got braided lines made up all around, thats the red blingy bit which you can see in the background.

Had to setup the pedal box again, and properly, so i machined up some spacers to seat the clevises in the right spot on the bar:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32793-2/1000001123.JPG[/IMG]

Need to put some zipties on the cable sheath though, it moves around a bit.

The custom straight clutch pedal was rebent to be a bit more comfortable too:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32789-2/1000001125.JPG[/IMG]
No more pesky clutch pedal running around the other side of the steering column.

Now one of the problems with bleeding dual master setups is theoretically you need to bleed both front and rear at the same time, as commonly the bias bar binds up on the clevis when you relieve pressure on only one of the circuits. This means that you cant push the piston all the way down and commonly get air stuck in there. So the way to fix that is bleeding both front and rear at the same time. But i didnt have two mates to come around at 1am to help with that, so i built a vacuum bleeder:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32801-2/1000001137.JPG[/IMG]

Worked a treat, got pressure up enough in the lines to get it on the dyno yesterday, which was exactly what i wanted. Undoubtably there is still air all through the lines, but ill flush that out soon with a couple of mates.

I only have a tiny list of things to do before the next round, which is in a weeks time. This time next week i should be out testing on the Friday practice at Mallala.

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32739-2/1000001095.JPG[/IMG]
Engine back in, thats all good.

On the downside the stupid brake master cylinders are 3/8-24 AN concave flare, as opposed to a standard brake inverted flare. Arrrghh. Need to find adaptors for that.

Finished screwing the engine together in the couple of hours i had over the weekend:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32735-2/1000001091.JPG[/IMG]

That includes making the new alternator bracket, which puts the alternator in roughly the same spot as the RWD alternators, but with the right backspacing for a FWD alternator. Or realistically i could run different alternators as i can space it back and forwards as needed.
Oh and despite being made out of decent thickness plate it still comes in lighter than the stock part.

Also finished off the brake caliper bracketry:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32731-2/1000001081.JPG[/IMG]
Mmmm 300mm brakes.

Oh and replaced all the fuel filters because of this:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32733-2/1000001080.JPG[/IMG]

That was the pre-lift pump filter from the tank. Its completely warped and soft, which i think is from the E85. This is despite several people saying that they were able to run them just fine for months on E85. I call BS.

Using the same AE92 high pressure filter, but using an AU Falcon pre-lift pump filter as its roughly the right size and all metal. Hopefully its not too much of an obstruction.

10 days until tuning now. Need to get the engine back in, and the brakes and gauges setup. Too easy.

Little bit of progress, apart from being crook.

Pulled apart the rear end looking for a brake line leak. Turns out that one of the lines had a pinhole leak. Found that im definitely using my rear brakes too:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32699-2/1000001072.JPG[/IMG]

Sending off the diff to get reset too, may as well while its out.

Built up all of the exhaust, but had to send it off for welding because my stupid TIG isnt holding an AC arc on stainless. Will have to experiment more later.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32691-2/1000001071.JPG[/IMG]

Mounted up the brake reservoir:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32695-2/1000001073.JPG[/IMG]

Oh and started machining out the recess for the brake caliper mounts on the lathe:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32705-2/1000001075.JPG[/IMG]

Still hoping to get a mill soon so i can finish them off. I tried using a mates mill, but its really setup for cylinder heads and blocks, so its a ton bigger than i need and the milling bit is way bigger than the biggest radius i have.

Need to install the wideband, and finish putting in the wiring for the gauges. Should be pretty much ready to put the engine back in on the weekend.

Spent a little bit of time screwing the engine back together today:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32687-2/1000001069.JPG[/IMG]

Gone back to a RWD outlet system, albeit one with most of the sensor bungs replaced with other sizes. The rear and upper water outlets are still off getting bungs welded into them. Plus i got back my cam covers the other day with the -6 bungs welded into them.

Plus building the exhaust, putting the one piece rear brake line back in, and bending bundy tube for the brakes.

Little update. Got my nopics to help with putting the brake masters in. The old righty tighty lefty loosey thing. So the masters are now mounted up:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32679-2/1000001065.JPG[/IMG]

Just need to get some bundy hose and make up the brake lines for them.

Also mocked up the brake reservoir there, i dont have a drill which is small enough to get in there. Considering getting one of the angle drill adaptors, but even then not sure if it will be small enough.

This is what it looks like from above:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32683-2/1000001064.JPG[/img]

Last option is to drill from the otherside through the strut tower, but even then it would be very tight with the drill.

Also picked up the caliper adaptors from the laser cutters this morning:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/32671-2/1000001067.JPG[/IMG]

Need to get 4mm milled off the mounting face, and then i can drill and tap them for the calipers.

New brake lines next week for the entire car too.