So, I may have acquired another project..... engine woes - TBC

[groovylee]

40 minutes ago, Ian_Fearn said:

There was a guy that owned one where I used to work. A really nice black one with Zetec badges. No idea if it was actually a Zetec but he seemed to be daily driving it. I never met him but often thought he’d fit in here!

i think i know the guy. fully rebuilt it and it was indeed a zetec.  it looked awesome

[groovylee]

Well I found the problem......

Oops. All fixed now ready for tomorrow's trial. Much happier now

[Parky]

Never really looked at these in much detail before but they’re quite funky little things aren’t they?  Basically a RWD Suzuki SJ413 lookalike made of fibreglass?

[groovylee]

1 hour ago, Parky said:

Never really looked at these in much detail before but they’re quite funky little things aren’t they?  Basically a RWD Suzuki SJ413 lookalike made of fibreglass?

Yep, with a wickedly heavy chassis, and disturbingly expensive mk1/2 escort running gear.....

[groovylee]

sad news....  the last trial we competed in was the Cotswold clouds, sunday just gone.

completed all the hills, but the last one did for the engine. sounds a lot like bottom end, possibly spun a shell or two

will be whipping the engine out at the weekend, and will report back. to be honest, i rebuilt this engine 7 years ago, and it has had a lot of abuse in that time, so im not too sad. could do without it though!

more info to follow at the weekend.

Lee

[groovylee]

Well, big end is fine....

Unfortunately, the exhaust valve seat insert has gone MIA, last seen going to pieces in cylinder #1 😱

Lots to do, but still salvageable.

[Crackers]

Ouch.

[grogee]

Horse's arses. Chodspeed with repairs. Is the bore alright?

[groovylee]

31 minutes ago, grogee said:

Horse's arses. Chodspeed with repairs. Is the bore alright?

cheers.

surprisingly, the bore looks fine

Lee

[groovylee]

small update. head stripped down and dropped off at the awesome T&L engineering in Elstow.

the prognosis is good - redoing the exhaust valve seats, valve guides, new valves, new springs, new collets (they broke up on removal!), light skim and lapping everything in and we'll be good to go.

bottom end is getting new main bearing shells, new 1300 pistons, and then build everything back up.  im reckoning on about £800 all in (fingers crossed).

more to follow when the work starts in earnest.

[groovylee]

Still not had the head back, but i did manage to get hold of a spare head tat had recently been rebuilt, in canve island, which isn't too far from where im working at the moment.

so last weekend, with my folks away, i camped out in their garage and set to work.

after a lot of swearing, putting the crank in the block the wrong way around and wondering why the main bearing caps didnt sit quite right (thankfully i hadnt tightened them down!) and general graft, the bottom end was built back up.

ive opted for 1300cc pistons to raise the compression ratio a touch, but the rest of it is remaining standard.

at close of play on sunday, we were at this point:

 

just need to do the tappets, put the dissy in, and refit the flywheel, and we should be good to put it back in the car, hopefully this weekend!

more updates at the weekend.

Lee