Well, i called the machine shop this morning to be told that they would have a look around and to call them back on monday, so there goes my plans to crack on with the engine assembly so i decided to plod on with some work on the chassis. Sanding & smoothing the bay was on todays menu. First with a wire brush on a mini angle grinder then will attack it by hand with ascending grades of wet & dry. Not one of my favorite tasks, but neverthless it has to be done. Made a fair start after doing a few measurements on my newly skimmed head and also measuring the sizes of the double valve springs as i still need seats and retainers so am going to see if summit racing have any of the correct size for the coscast head before i fork out shed loads for c20let specific items.
Thanks Adam,
Cant say what injectors i'm going to use yet as i'll have determine some figures nearer the time to calculate the fuel requirements, and guage the injector size accordingly.
Management wise is a difficult one. Im currently researching into this as it such a broad subject i'd like to get some more 'in depth' knowledge of it before choosing which system i opt for. So far, for this particular build the Omex 6 or 7 hundred seem interesting but aftermarket systems dont come cheap and should i decide to move on to a higher build spec in the future, lets say a 800bhp rb26det with extra bells and whisles, I dont want to be stuck with a system thats mediocre in comparison. So it might be worth bitting the bullet for something like an L8 'pro' that i could take with me. Id like to learn more about the various functions and working parameters of some of the systems out there and understand how they differ from those of the factory motronic to gain some perspective
ahhh so another project after this one is in the pipeline then
just a few q's from seeing ur pics...Let crank or a XE crank? Have u thought of using a Xe crank being lighter? Same turbo im wanting to get next where did u get ur's good price? Management...im thinking of Go-tech, have u looked into this type?
__________________ I love MIG...MIG loves meeee...like one big gooOy F A M I L E E E
ahhh so another project after this one is in the pipeline then
just a few q's from seeing ur pics...Let crank or a XE crank? Have u thought of using a Xe crank being lighter? Same turbo im wanting to get next where did u get ur's good price? Management...im thinking of Go-tech, have u looked into this type?
Interesting, now you mention it i do remember this difference being pointed out once before but I hadn't given it a second thought. I actually have an xe crank lying around for a spare, would need a grind and polish. How much weight we talking and at what cost to the overall strength, the latter being my main concern. could be wrong but i suspect the 'let' item weighs more due to being 'beefed up' by designers to handle the increased workload of the turbo engine. Still i'm sure longetivety was their main concern and as thats not one of the major concerns of my build it may have been worth switching. But as everything is now balanced and ready for assembly it would be silly to backstep at this point unless significant gains could be made.
Turbo from 034 MOTORSPORT for $1250 + $112 p+p which still worked out at least a couple of hundred quid cheaper than they can be had over here
There's a company called v-sport about 2 miles down the road from where i live. They recommended the Go-tech system and seem quite competent with Omex aswell. I would like a system to come with nitrous cpntroller and water injection too, should i decide to use them (which i probably will) i dont want any components having to run from different hardware/software than the main ecu itself.
UPDATE:
Got a little bit more done on the chassis and have to remove the last piece of sound-proffing that i had forgotten was even there.
Good news from the machine shop as they have located the missing main caps and ARP stud kit, so will be able to start assembling the engine at last.
Also spent a short while welding a bracket for the rear garage door as the latch was in easy reach if someone was to put the window through.
Gt3071r for £678 in total. i changed a couple of grand into dollars around the time the exchange rate was over two dollars to the pound and put it onto a card to spend over the net whenever i pleased. It seemed to good of an opportunity not to!
I'd seen one for $1150 but heard rumours they were taking almost 2 months to arrive so i shelled out the extra few quid as the company i dealt with had some good reviews. It arrived in just over a week.
I couldn't find any for much less than a grand over here. That was over 6 months ago, but even now the average uk price seems to be about £950 +postage
Small Update cleared office where the engine is to assembled and made a start by means of a thurough clean and drying of the block. Most of my time was taken up painting the floor, well, more like waiting for it to dry!
Another delay last weekend. Disaster struck whilst putting up some shelving i drilled straight through a wire for the wall socket. Not only that but i drilled through all 3 wires inside the wire itself (how unlucky). So after ripping half the wall out to carry out the repair i decided to put the shelving on hold for now and make do so i could crack on!
Nova conversion into temporary storage cabin
Checking everything is back from machine shop mand all work has been done as i requested and to the correct spec and tolerences:
I'll try to do as much of the final assembly as possible in a step by step process so it will hopefully be useful to others who are considering rebuilds.
Bottom end assembly:
Crank placed in block and journals given a liberal squeeze of assembly lube for main caps.
ARP studs given a coat of loctite before being turned hand-tight (as specified) into place.
Mains caps shold be tapped into place with a mallet and not by tightening bolts/nuts to force them down. I torqued the fastners to 50% of their specified torque then give each cap a couple of knocks with a hammer (not to hard). This can help relieve any tension. Then to 75%, and finally to 100% of the final torque, starting from the centre thrust bearing and working outwards. After full torque the crank should be able to be rotated with ease.
A good coat of ARP's moly grease given to the threads and washers for final torque down.
Void in end cap filled with silicone jointing compound.
All sharp edges removed from the valve cut-outs and dish perimeter to reduce hot spots.
Setting out in order to install rods into pistons using gudeon pins and ring clips supplied and then bearing shells into rods:
Personal choice of mine is to use a dry moly spray and give all moving sufaces a coating prior to assembly. Not really nessesary on the bottom end parts but IMO is vital to the cylinder head components especially as i'm not certain on the amount of time the engine will be standing dormant for while work is carried out on the car itself.
This way if the engine is standing still for any length of time it ensures that parts needing lubrication from start-up, especially those under high pressure and loads such as the contact areas of tappits, aren't left without lubrication and at least have a film of lube that will resist high temps and friction long enough for the oil pressure and flow to build up inside the engine. Molybdenum disulfate in form of a lubricant has ideal properties in this case.
Rings onto pistons ensuring correct gap distances around 360 degrees (poor pics)
And pistons installed into the block making sure bolts are correctly torqued to ARP spec using correct lube. After each piston is installed the crank should be rotated one full turn, and should be progressively more difficult to turn as each piston is connected but shouldn't take more than about 30NM to turn with all for pistons installed.
the proper amound of sealer to be used compared to some ive seen where it oozes out the sides subsequently blocking oilways and the like (not good for turbos!)
Thats it for now!
P.S Before anyone points out that the core plugs should have been installed before now, i know. I tagged on a while after they had been installed that i'd forgotten to use any sealer so had to be taken back out again (easier said than done, i find these are a right bitch to remove!). I have since ordered some more and are in the post.
Quick update. Been fairly slow the past couple of weeks but ive managed to get a little bit done here and there. Its not exactly the best time of year for spare cash to throw in but nevertheless as the projectr is just getting under way theres a whole host of odd tasks and work to be getting on with that doesnt require large sums of money to be spent in order to get on with them.
Last minute changes to inlet and exhaust ports.
Minimum material removal to keep original shape of ex. ports (unfinished pics)
Finishing inlet ports
Cylinder head assembly;
Valve spring seat in place followed by valve stem oil seal (use the std. oil seal from Nissan Micra or BMW M3 for double valve springs as Vaux ones dont fit).
I personally remove the spring before fitting the seal and put it back on once installed which is really simple and as the springs are easilly dislodged or snapped when applying pressure to install the seal its best keep them to one side till they're in.
dropping in double springs,
Folowed by the retainer on top.
Clamped up then added a dab of grease on the end of a screwdriver to hold the half collet that gets installed at the top of the valve to hold it in place. The grease holds it in place (or should do) until you release the spring pressure by removing the clamp.
You can see here the two half collets making a ring at the top of the valve stem. When the sping is released its held in place as the collets cant get past the retainer once installed as they have a slight angle on them. High performance retainers usually have a steeper angle (8-10 degrees) to increase holding pressure on the collets.
Gearbox then got cleaned;
Primed;
And painted;
Ive got some more pics to upload so will get them up tomorrow.
Valve spring seat in place followed by valve stem oil seal (use the std. oil seal from Nissan Micra or BMW M3 for double valve springs as Vaux ones dont fit).
Again been doing a few odd bits mainly prep'ing the shell for seam welding and the newly purchased rollcage.
removing all that sticky crap left over from the sound-proofing can be a real twat scrubbing off with thinners. I've found it best to get rid of any any heavy deposits first by going over it with a wire brush on an angle grinder. This kind of smears all the crap into a thin layer that can then easily be removed by dousing it with thinners followed by literally a single wipe with a cloth. This saves scrubbing to remove the heavy stuff and your fingers from aching like fcuk.
Marking out for seam welds
New head studs completes the collection of ARP accessories.
Having my photo unwittingly taken with the new 'in house' Santa
Roll cage is the last buy planned for a while until we have Christmas out the way. At least for now i can get on with welding; painting; and work on the chassis.
Trial assembly before i take it to the lock-up.(i know i just had to)
Awesome build so far mate! One thing, don't take the car to V Sport for mapping, the guys an idiot and will wreck it!! It's actually changed names to P. D. Tuning now because he got such a bad reputation as V Sport!! Be warned!!!
__________________ Check out -www.justopelvauxhall.com Carb'd, XE'd Nova - 187bhp.
Small update been slogging away with the prep work for a few hours the past couple of days. Vauxhall could have saved millions if they hadn't used so much f***ing glue on the interior roofing decor. Never mind, if nothing else its helped take my mind off a few problems im having in my personal life.
Small update, will get some more pics up shortly. Not the best news to start it off. I've found a f**k off big crack near one of the cam bearings on the head, it can be welded up hopefully but cant believe i missed it when i checked the head over. Even worse though, somehow ive managed to get a small scratch right across the cylinder head face where the gasket seals the chamber on #3. Chances are it may need another skim but i'm really really hoping it doesn't as i'm already fairly high on compression at 8.3:1 and the engine almost built. we'll have to see what the machinist reckons as i dont want to take any chances with the HG seal either.
Apart from that I'm making some progress on the chassis prep while I wait for some odds and ends such as split collets and oem fasteners to finish the engine.
I havn't much experience when it comes to welding so some of the welds are bit iffy, but, we all know what practice makes......
Also, welding underneath the car upside down is a pig especially for an amatuer......so much so that... I decided to make it easier for myself
welding is a nightmare fo me when it comes to getting the welder setup right for the metal, conditions etc. But like anything, the more you do it the better you become.
__________________ chrisastleymotorsport.com - Vauxhall Parts Specialist & Projects Forum
where did u get ur's good price? Management...im thinking of Go-tech, have u looked into this type?
