Project Korean Cortina - MOT day

[mat_the_cat]

I picked up the flywheel this afternoon, and it's noticeably lighter than before

 

 

I didn't weigh it prior to lightening, but it's around 11kg now. Basically the area removed was all at one thickness beforehand, at the same level as the area immediately around the crank pulley.

 

 

They said they don't like to take any more off a standard cast iron flywheel which is fine by me, I don't want to go silly with it. Interestingly they noticed that the clutch face has already been skimmed by 1.2mm at some point in its history. That face is in good condition, so no need for another skim.

 

And to top it off, this was a belated birthday present for me from Mrs_the_cat! Not sure I'll get much chance to work on it this weekend as out most of tomorrow and off to Crufts Sunday, but thinking of taking a day off from work to make some progress next week.

[mat_the_cat]

Much to my better half's approval, the engine is now out of the house! Not an easy job, as the stand wheels were too wide to fit through the door. OK once the door was removed though.

 

I was going to drag it up to the workshop, but it's around 100 metres away and uphill, on a soft surface so I quickly gave up on that idea. Instead I made use of the hydropneumatic suspension on the BX

 

Drop it into low and push the stand into position...

 

...then raise the suspension so I can undo the stand bolts.

 

Then ready to lift out with the crane.

 

Part of me wants to just get it in, but I can't close the doors with the crane over the engine bay so would be best to wait until I can have a decent go of it. Plus it's raining, which makes everything slippery.

[mat_the_cat]

Remember this? The single alternator connection that I don't think was up to the current outputted from the alternator.

 

 

As there are two duplicate teminals in the alternator connector, I doubled up on the wiring.

 

 

 

Finally terminating it in the main junction box (which I fitted when I relocated the battery to the boot).

 

 

On to the more exciting jobs this evening though! I've got the day off tomorrow so spent a bit of time getting the engine into position. 5 hours in fact, just to mate it with the gearbox and sit it on the mounts.

 

Going in:

 

 

Studs screwed into the block to help guide it onto the gearbox input shaft:

 

 

Finally in place!

 

 

I've stuck the battery on charge overnight, so will prime the oil system, fit the inlet manifold and try to start it tomorrow. I'm filled with a strange mixture of anticipation and trepidation at the moment, just hoping that everything will be OK

[Guest Hooli]

Video of the first start please.

[mat_the_cat]

If you insist! No manifolds or cooling system, so only brief.

 

[Richard]

.

[Guest Hooli]

Sounds good that, nice one.

[mat_the_cat]

I like the thumping heartbeat before you turned the key.

 

I'm surprised you couldn't hear my actual heart over the fuel pump; I was a bag of nerves!

 

It's all back together now and I've broken the cam in - here's the second run. You can hear the tappets before they pump up, then it goes nicely quiet:

 

 

I need to adjust the engine mounts a little, as it seems to be catching on the shell as I can feel a bit of vibration; otherwise the brief test run was a success. Plenty of go although I only used about half throttle.

[beko1987]

I've never read this before, what a bloody amazing read! Can't wait to see it at sf17!

[mat_the_cat]

Couple more photos from yesterday - I started off by fitting the valley gasket properly. I was going to fit the later composite gasket, but the place selling the bits suggested there was no real benefit, and I had to agree I've never suffered a problem with them. And afterwards I read this:

 

http://rangeroverworld.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/rover-v8-critical-engine-failure-from.html

 

Certainly not a widespread problem, but an interesting failure mode nonetheless.

 

So first I needed a very thin bead of sealant round the waterways only:

 

 

Then fitted the gasket and inlet manifold. I'd carefully kept all the bolts marked up for the right holes as no two bolts seemed the same length! Then I discovered that there are only two different lengths, so replaced my assortment with a set in stainless steel.

 

Once the manifold was in then it became a huge temptation to fire it up, so then I had to prime the oil system. I've got a tool made from an old screwdriver shaft, which fits the slot on my pre-'76 style pump drive. Initial worries about lack of pressure were soon put down to not screwing on the remote filter head enough, and dumping a pint or so over the floor...

 

But I then got pressure, so popped both rocker covers off to check for flow at the top end:

 

 

You can see that it's pushed the assembly grease out of the way slightly; arguably I didn't need to use any but it felt wrong to assemble them dry!

 

After the very first start up, I was more motivated to get everything else on. Most things are fairly tight for space, but the worst is probably the water pump. There is only mm of space to get the bolts in, so they have to be loosely threaded into the pump first, then the whole thing (with gasket) offered up to the engine in one go:

 

 

Lots more fiddly jobs ticked off, and a short test drive to follow although I'm itching for more. Need to jiggle the engine position a bit first, and check the ignition timing now I can let the engine idle. Continuous downpours until next week, so no great rush!

[mat_the_cat]

A brief break in the weather this evening (before the snow forecast later this week!) so I took it out for a longer drive. It is SO good to be back in it

 

 

No problems with it, although the idle seems a tiny bit lumpy - almost as if it's missing a little. Smooths out off-idle; surely it can't just be the cam can it? As it's hardly a wild profile!

 

I wedged my phone in the cupholder on the dashboard whilst I was waiting at some roadworks. Unfortunately it didn't stay there very well!

 

[Guest Hooli]

Remind me, carbs or injection?

 

Just wondering if the carbs need balancing? Even if you've done it, it wouldn't surprise me if it's settled & needs doing again.

[xtriple]

Even slightly lumpy 'bumpy sticks' can cause lumpy idle, not to be sniffed at, imagine it's a big block running nitrous and a 'hoofer' ready for another 6 second run!   It sounds lovely, best Rover V8 I've heard in a long time.

[mat_the_cat]

It's carbs, twin Strombergs. They're balanced OK but a good shout. I've adjusted the timing a bit - first I retarded it (too much) then advanced it again and it's smoother. I'm guessing it was too far advanced initially, although I didn't get any pinking I didn't give it full throttle or load so wouldn't have provoked it.

 

Set the maximum advance when revved to about 36 degrees; this makes the advance at idle around 14 which is higher than book but I should hopefully be able to get away with it. If not I'll just retard until it's OK. Plus I need to get the carb needles profiled to suit the cam etc.

 

Can't wait to drive it again, it feels like being pulled along by a giant elastic band!

[mat_the_cat]

I dropped it off last weekend at ACR, to do the final setting up of the carbs. I picked it up this evening and all I can say is WHAT A TRANSFORMATION! They've adjusted the mixture and reprofiled the needles at the top end to suit the cam and air filters, and made some adjustments to the timing. Turned out that my distributor was for a low compression engine and hence the advance curve not ideal previously. It feels well worth having someone who knows the engine have a look over it, and the price seemed pretty reasonable too.

 

Slight bad news is that the engine boiled over on them while it was idling in the workshop, but I think that is down to a weak pressure cap rather than anything more serious. I'd already noted that the thermostat seemed to be sticking open, as it tended to run cool since the rebuild. And on the way back it boiled again despite not reaching even normal on the gauge. I manage to cross reference the Mercedes part number on the cap to find one which should fit (as I can't remember which car I raided the header tank from!)

 

I popped into Tescos on the way back and found a rather tight space between two badly parked cars - the worst of which was still there when I returned, with the owner loading shopping into the boot. I bit my tongue and avoided commenting on the quality of her parking; partly because I noticed my rear tyre was completely flat! There was next to no space to work in, but I made a start jacking it up (predictably for Wales it was raining) and thanked my lucky stars I'd checked over the spare so I knew that was good.

 

I happened to look up as the owner of the car next to me was getting in, to my complete shock finding that she'd just opened the door of her car right into mine!!! Despite me being no more than two feet away! So as she was rocking the car getting in, the door was moving up and down against mine I did give a bit of a telling off, which is most unlike me but I just couldn't believe the sheer lack of consideration for other people's possessions. Not a word out of her, no attempt to pull the door away so I had to to put my fingers between mine and hers. I'm really surprised there is no damage - possible the wet weather helped but I really do despair sometimes.

 

Anyway, I changed the wheel and managed to find somewhere who could fix the puncture there and then. It was a small business run by a Polish man of little English, but he did manage to say "That not sound like 1.6" as I started up to leave...

 

I got back home earlier this afternoon and the running in period is now officially over, as I've changed the oil & filter. I was after an oil with a high ZDDP content, as I'd been doing research and it seems this is required for older engines with flat tappet cams, but reduced in modern oils to meet emissions standards. Comma XT2000 fitted the bill, and also met the VW standard 505 00 required for the van - so made sense to buy in bulk!

 

Hopefully over the weekend I'll get chance to properly open it up...

[mat_the_cat]

Replacing the pressure cap has sorted the boiling over, but a new thermostat hasn't changed the fact it's running on the cool side. I wonder if the engine is simply running at a lower temperature now everything is A1 internally! I'll probably check the temperature another way (I think my FIL has an infra-red thermometer) just so I know, but I don't think there is a problem.

[RayMK]

Although your Stellar is a very different beast from mine, mine has always run cool despite changes of thermostat.  I suspect the Hyundai temperature gauge and/or sender.  Even in heavy traffic on a hot summer's day (I vaguely recall those), the gauge does not reach half way.  In the winter I put a marine ply shield in front of the radiator to encourage warm-up and, more importantly, a better output from the heater.  My radiator is from a Ford Capri but the thermal behaviour was identical with the standard rad before it was wrecked by a largish stone.  My previous Stellar was also a cool runner from new.   Perhaps the bluff fronted aerodynamics force too much air through the rad and engine bay.

 

Pleased to hear that you've solved the boiling problem and that the carbs etc are now tuned to perfection.

 

As for car owners and their disregard for other people's cars when parked alongside, I agree with your comment and the mild disbelief that people can be so blatantly inconsiderate.  When I was younger and parallel parked in a McDonalds waiting bay in my newish car, a large woman in a two door car parked too close to mine then tried to get out (lord knows why - it was a waiting bay).  Her door clouted my car quite hard.  I brought this, and my displeasure, to her attention and she scowled and grunted whilst continuing to cause paint damage to my car. I was so furious that as soon as she  extricated herself from her car, I  deliberately opened my door hard on to her car and grunted, hoping it was the language she understood.  She barely batted an eyelid. Bloody morons!

[mat_the_cat]

Call me naive, but until this point I had genuinely thought that any damage I picked up in a car park must have been done by someone accidentally opening their door too wide - and either not noticing, or not bothering to leave their details. I'd never even considered the possibility that there might be some people out their who didn't care about their, or other people's cars.

 

Regarding the temperature, I *think* I recall it sitting at the 1/3 position with the original engine, but it is lower than that now and considerably lower than the 1/2 way point it sat at before the rebuild. Not a major issue though if the actual temperature is OK - the important thing is any deviation from 'normal'.

[mat_the_cat]

Before the engine fun and games, I had planned to sort out the ICE over the winter - mainly the subwoofer which had seen better days!

 

 

Back in 1997 when I was young and (more) foolish, this cost me over a week's wages just for the speaker unit (the cabinet I made myself from MDF) so I was loath to throw it away and buy a new one. Although I'm sure I could get something very cheap and cheerful from eBay.

 

Probably not 'Made in England' though:

 

 

I'm trying to find a source of the foam surround at the moment; there is quite a choice over in the US but I can't find the correct size over here yet. SF17 being the target...

[3VOM]

Search or ask on TalkAudio (or TalkStuff I think it's become, hang on....) https://www.talkstuff.net/ipb/index.php/forum/15-automotive-stuff/

There used to be people on there who could re-cone speakers. You may be on there for some time though once you start looking.

[mat_the_cat]

Cheers for that, but I've found the right size from a supplier in Holland. I ordered it then realised I'd forgotten the adhesive so emailed them to ask if I could send an extra payment, and have them add it to the order. To my happy surprise they said they would include the glue for free!

 

http://www.speakerrepairshop.nl/index.php?action=article&aid=2654&group_id=20000040&lang=en#.WRd9NG8rLiw

 

I hadn't realised until I started investigating just how repairable speakers actually are! The rest of the speaker is in good condition, just the foam surround which has rotted - which to be fair the supplier warned me of a relatively short lifetime when I bought it.

[mat_the_cat]

This arrived last week, so I set to repairing the old speaker. First job was to slice off the remains of the old surround with a fresh razor blade:

 

 

Which I managed with only the one slip:

 

 

Then glue the new one in place and clamp to prevent any movement:

 

 

Job done!

 

 

And it sounds just as good as I remembered it...so far tested on the Pixies and Steeleye Span.

[Guest Hooli]

You don't need a stereo, you've got a V8!

[mat_the_cat]

True, but I do like my music as well! Especially at speed, when you can't really hear the engine over the wind and road noise.

 

I actually made an improvement in that area today, when I tackled the slow and floppy electric windows I took the opportunity to fit some sound insulation.

 

'New' motors and runners, taken from the banger racer Stellar in London 18 months ago. (No comments about my work rate please!)

 

 

Door card removed, with the old mechanism still in place.

 

 

Then removed, and with the sound deadening pad stuck on the door skin.

 

 

Not tried it out yet, but it made a noticeable difference in the van. Windows are a huge improvement, as previously I had to help the driver's window up! It's still not perfect as there are a couple of slow spots, but it is improving with use.

 

Next task it to sort the 'underheating' problem I have. Pretty sure it's a gauge/sender issue as now the needle is barely moving at all (even when the fans kick in), but the oil temperature is still the same. I've borrowed an infra-red thermometer so will check for sure.

[mat_the_cat]

Seeing as the Stellar is now my daily driver, as I've sold the Kangoo and the BX has sprung a leak, it's even more important that I sort out the temperature issue.

 

I've got an original Hyundai workshop manual, so I could check out what the sender resistance should be at various temperatures.

 

 

To prove or disprove the gauge as being at fault I rigged up a few resistors between the sender wire and earth, to simulate 120 degrees C.

 

 

Gauge looks OK!

 

 

So I ordered a sensor, and after the drive home from work this evening checked the actual temperature of the engine.

 

 

At this temperature the resistance of the sender was around 4.5 kohms, well below the 'cold' resistance figure. Fortunately when I got home, the sender had already arrived - wonder how long this has sat on some dusty shelf?!

 

 

Luckily the Hyundai sensor (M16 x 1.5 thread) is within 0.1mm of both thread pitch and diameter of the 5/8"-18 UNF threaded hole in the V8 manifold, so it screwed right in 

 

 

And looks to be a success!

 

 

Shitefest here we come! Hopefully at least - 2014 I was delayed due to the fitting of the exhaust, 2015 the doors weren't painted in time so I had to come in the van, and 2016 I had fuel starvation problems so couldn't enjoy it fully because I was worried about the drive home.

[oldcars]

Super work on this, lovely looking car. Since i did the headgasket on the Reliant and changed the stat mine shows as cool to, might look at getting a new sensor.

[Six-cylinder]

97.8º C seems high where was this recorded?

[twosmoke300]

Most car leccy fans cut in at 105 ish so 98 is about right

[mat_the_cat]

It was on one of the hoses behind the water pump - that being the closest thing to an 'ideal' black body infra-red radiation source. I did try it on the head but got between 1-200°C depending on the surface finish! And I didn't know what emissivity to set it to to compensate for the surface.

Exhaust manifolds were 300-odd, which seems plausible.

[mat_the_cat]

460 miles later, and Shitefest has been and gone 7.5 hours behind the wheel to get there, but worth it! After replacing the sender I've noticed that any time sitting in traffic, or slow movement sees the gauge go up to 3/4 scale. This is despite the fans cutting in, and it's not something it did before the engine rebuild even in hotter weather. So either I am genuinely running hotter, or the new sender is more sensitive to temperature changes.

 

Oil temperature gauge is pretty similar to before, and that's never budged over half way even when working hard. So I'm not too concerned at the moment. But what was a concern is sorting out a cold air feed for the carbs - I'd always noticed it performed better in cooler weather, but Saturday was the first real hot day since the rebuild, and it felt pretty flat TBH. I'd put it down to carrying passengers, but it was little better on the way back so I was getting worried something more was amiss.

 

However, as I got back to Wales it (predictably!) got cloudy, as well as the temperature dropping in the evening. The difference was more that I'd have believed possible, so it must really suffer from the air filters sitting above the exhaust manifolds. Problem is, the radiator takes up all the space between the chassis rails and headlights, so any air entering the engine bay has already been warmed by the rad, and there's no space to run ducting up top.

 

However, I had a play around today and managed to route some spare ducting down past the anti-roll bar and into the air stream below the front bumper.

 

 

The lower end should pick up air through the hole (crudely) cut in the plastic for the towing eye.

 

 

I'm assuming it was cut that poorly at the factory, as I haven't enlarged the hole but it was handy to draw air through without looking visually different. I may neaten up the routing later if it makes a difference, but I had a BX to re-pipe today so we'll have to see...