Lee's Garage

[spanishfly]

good stuff mate.

[stealth106]

Great news on the parts, looking forward to the progress it might even tempt me to get mine finished!

[lee303]

well, it will probably slow up a bit when the pistons etc arrive, need to get it off for balancing then get it built up, then need to sort a couple of things on the gearbox, re position the hopefully repaired pump, re plumb to suit, gonna check/re shim the solids too, and i have a busy month anyways, but don't let that stop you doing yours lmao

[lee303]

headgasket has landed at martins, just need to have a quick measure of some shims tomorrow so he can send me some that are in the right ball park, ordered a clutch too so should have all the components here next week

[spanishfly]

great news mate! 4 paddle?

[lee303]

ya, got a three in error last time, helix say it only affects the life of it though, rather than the torque handling capability

[Benn]

Oooo cracking on.

[Brian_S]

Made a big hole:



...and then started to seal it up...



All to let the engine go in and come out easier. Without modding the chassis I'd have to take the coil pack off every time the engine comes out or goes in. Might as well do this mod now that the engine's out.

[sbd16vastra]

ya, got a three in error last time, helix say it only affects the life of it though, rather than the torque handling capability

Are you going from a 3 to a 4 paddle ? Ime the more paddles you have the less bitey it is

[spanishfly]

Yeah going for 4 paddle over the 3 he had.

[lee303]

but i originally ran a 4 then swapped to a three in error, noticed no difference tbh...

right so with martin about to send the bits over, thought i best check if the crank i have is any good!
so out with the plastigauge today


can only do the mains as i don't have the new rods yet, but they all came out very even at just about 0.040 mm, which is fine, so thats good, the journals do need a slight polish though i would think
end float is spot on too at 0.15

so that looks good for that crank, brian meanwhile was finishing his new, easy engine fit gearbox tunnel in the manta, looks ace!!

and will make things a lot easier when sticking it back in, which will probably happen tomorrow
while he welded and painted that, i took a look at his trusty astra, needed the alternator bushes doing, but on closer inspection, i gave it a cambelt and a quick service too!!!
reasons why?


lol, is much better now!!! and he finished the tunnel just in time

willay popped up too which was nice, even if he has gone a bit boyband with his hair lmao hai mate....

[spanishfly]

Nice mate. Good to see it was a good lump

[lee303]

yeah, will hold my breath till i get the rods on it and have it measured for ovality, but it bodes well

[MikeITB]

Good progress as always. I wish I knew half of what you do about engines, the crank would have had to be banana shaped for me to notice if it was bent, lol

[lee303]

well, plastigauge only tells you so much, namely the static running clearance, i don't have a micrometer big enough to measure the journals for ovality, but it at least tells you if the crank has worn excessively, i'll borrow one at some point for a final check, and i'll get the guy who balances it to check it for trueness, but it looks good so far..

[Brian_S]

That was a good day up the garage. Had a good few cups of tea and actually did stuff too. Willay, I missed you leaving mate! Sorry. Too busy loving the manta! lmao

Right, I think I've done most of the mods and prep I wanted to do before the engine and gearbox goes back in the car.

Finished off the big hole:



The mounts for the subframe got abused and I ended up stripping the threads on the captive screws which position the subframe onto the chassis legs. So, I had to replace the bolts with new ones. The standard manta bushes here are rubber, but I made up some custom solid mount versions as otherwise the whole suspension (and geometry) moves around all over the place.



I made a fitting up for the oil pressure sensor and repositioned it, as well as adding fittings to the clutch hydraulics so that I don't have to cut the hydraulics every time I want to remove the engine + gearbox and so that the bleed for the clutch is much easier to get at!!



...and th, th, th, th, that's all folks.

Anyway, got to shoot. House party apparently!

[lee303]

nice work! should be in the bay tomorrow then, see you at breakfastlmao

[Benn]

Awesome work, like the cut out in the bulk head.

[Benn]

Awesome work, like the cut out in the bulk head.

[lee303]

so, todays action!
first thing was to get the engine back on the frame, easy enough, if a little fiddly, bri has also raised the engine about 15mm and i modded the cut out in said frame to give the sump plumbing more room, worked a treat!



we almost made a frame for a seat and left it at that, but we're getting good at moving it around on the subframe, even have a prop specific dolly wheel now lmao

then, some jiggery, followed by some pokery occurred, and its in!


loads more room now with the tunnel mod, can even get the coilpack on and off without dropping the engine lmao

so, manta 2.0 is born...

left brian bolting stuff on so i could watch some touring cars hit each other, he should fire her up tuesday with any luck...

[ianofbhills]

Good stuff. Any ideas when its likely to go for mapping then?

[spanishfly]

nice mate.

[lee303]

erm, asap i suppose, we're gonna do some shaking down ourselves before it goes there, so we know its ready this time! be nice to finally see it drive up and down the lane soon though!!

[MikeITB]

Manta's looking awesome. You not tempted to spray the bay red while the engine's out one of these many times? I don't dislike it white but it'll be a slag to keep clean....

[Fast-as-u-can]

Looking good cant wait to see the finished article.