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Post by scottydugg on Mar 12, 2021 10:48:00 GMT
Still awaiting a verdict on the alu. rad. hopefully should find out today, so a rad will go back in this weekend, not sure which. Been spending a little bit of time after work each evening getting some more jobs done, it's the little things that seem to all add up. Set the PPF height, tried starting as it sat but was way out of spec. so raised the gearbox till the bolts lined up with old marks, lined up first time, should have done that first. Now that the passenger sill has been rust converted and cavity waxed, Re-fitted the grommet in the rear wheel arch, also started fitting the passenger door bar now that everything was ready.  IMG_20210311_191612 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Intention was to have the bolts through from the wheel arch, but they're too long and would have messed up the interior carpet. So put them the other way for now.  IMG_20210311_192436 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Plenty silicone behind the spreader plate, bit of an awkward position it sits, so you can't get it flush to the top, there's a return edge in the way. Plan is to paint round the edges with some waxoyl undercoat just to finish it off and copper grease the bolts, should probably do the same to the roll bar fittings whilst I'm in there.  PSX_20210312_095307 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Door bars absolutely solid though, interested to see not only how this'll hold up driving but also when jacking the car up, currently it'll lift one wheel first when jacking from a single side. I don't know how I've ended up down this road of chassis stiffening, but I always remember learning what scuttle shake was in my first mk2.5. now we've got: chassis rail stiffeners, wing braces, roll bar and door bars. I've got a Cobalt strut brace to fit at some stage also, the type that ties into the fire wall, but that's stored up at my parents place. Other things stored up there are another front bumper and drivers side wing, a local guy up that way wrote his car off so I've managed to get some body panels in the right colour. The front bumper has the badge smoothed over which is a look I've always loved so I'm glad I've managed to source it, my bumper the paints rubbed off in places to show the blue it used to be. Back to the door bars, I was pretty sure I'd need to cut up the carpet to get it to fit, but it looks as though we might just get away with it. The interior plastic will still need trimmed but that's not a massive issue as it's already been cut for the roll bar.  IMG_20210311_192442 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Anyway, hopefully get a rad fitted this weekend, get it started for the first time since November, hopefully nothing blows up/gearbox isn't installed wrong, wish me luck! |
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Post by suggs84 on Mar 12, 2021 15:06:42 GMT
Great progress again Scott, excitement/nerves must be building for the start up now  |
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Post by mrwallace on Mar 12, 2021 16:46:36 GMT
Almost all back together :thumbsup:
You'll need to get along to some sprints this year once you're ready!
Did you use the captive nuts on the door bar mounts at the front? That's how mine are fitted at the moment but I keep thinking about drilling them out and putting something a bit more sufficient in there rather than the tiny m6 bolts! But mine is also solid just held in with those.
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 15, 2021 9:41:24 GMT
Great progress again Scott, excitement/nerves must be building for the start up now Thanks Suggs, it's felt like a bit of a slog at times. Almost all back together :thumbsup: You'll need to get along to some sprints this year once you're ready! Did you use the captive nuts on the door bar mounts at the front? That's how mine are fitted at the moment but I keep thinking about drilling them out and putting something a bit more sufficient in there rather than the tiny m6 bolts! But mine is also solid just held in with those. Yeah will try get along to some, I think I'll be modded out of class potentially, you need a fire suit and helmet in date? Yeah just the captive nuts, I've used longer bolts though to get more threads in them. I was considering some loctite for peace of mind but I think they'll be fine. I think drilling them out might be overkill, they've held in that A-frame stiffener for 30 odd years just fine, also I don't think I'd get in about there with a drill I was considering getting some of those carbon wrap protectors for the door bars, but they seem to go for silly money. |
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 15, 2021 10:15:57 GMT
Spent some time again trying to get this thing back in one piece. Firstly got the standard rad re-fitted, the alu. rad hasn't been fixed yet, if it even can be fixed. Refilled with coolant, fitted my intake. Then saw a note saying "remember to torque the water-pump pulley bolts".....  IMG_20210314_122849 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Torque wrench seems to have a slight issue, so wasted some time winding out the snapped stub and luckily had a replacement bolt from when we stripped the original engine. Anyway, engine all back together:  IMG_20210313_110634 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Quickly checked the throttle cable, pulled the coil leads (spark plugs not installed), removed the fuel injector relay, unplugged the CAS, re-fitted the battery at which the pop up's popped down and I shat it. Then cranked it for 7-10 second pulses, until we had oil pressure. Re-fitted the everything and then tried to start it. Like last time I had to turn the key and also open the throttle, took two attempts before it finally caught, so 4 months since I stripped it down again the engine is back up and running. Ran up to temp, waited for the fan to cycle on and off a couple times (feels like an age), burped the system and topped up with coolant. Checked the timing and reset to 14 degrees. inspected for any leaks:  IMG_20210313_120359 by Scott Reid, on Flickr We have one, initially though it was coolant, but pretty sure it's oil, I'm pretty sure it's the sodding cam seals as well. At this stage, the brand new cam seals have been in and out at least 4 times. It could be residual oil but I'm not that lucky. So plan is to brake clean it then run the car a couple times and see what happens. In other news, it could be a similar story with the rear main crank seal, I found some oil on the bottom of the bell housing, if it is that'll be the second time we've replaced that seal and it still leaks. I'll monitor it and see how bad it is. Part of the reason I put in blue gearbox oil so I can tell the difference Whilst the car was running on the jack stands, I cycled through all gears and the wheels spin as they should so at least the box is in correctly. So what's next, I've got the drivers door bar to fit, drivers wing to remove, swap both doors and both bonnet hinges. then refit everything. Then it'll hopefully be ready for an MOT. Things are due to get busy at work as well so I'll have a less time to work on it, so if I can get it on the road in April that'll be an achievement. |
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Post by mrwallace on Mar 15, 2021 16:15:11 GMT
Yeah will try get along to some, I think I'll be modded out of class potentially, you need a fire suit and helmet in date? Yeah just the captive nuts, I've used longer bolts though to get more threads in them. I was considering some loctite for peace of mind but I think they'll be fine. I think drilling them out might be overkill, they've held in that A-frame stiffener for 30 odd years just fine, also I don't think I'd get in about there with a drill I was considering getting some of those carbon wrap protectors for the door bars, but they seem to go for silly money. Yup you need in date suit, helmet and gloves to compete. But there are trackdays quite often and the club organises them sometimes, you don't need anything other than helmet for that and just a trackday one would be ok. Would give you a taster of Forrestburn or Kames, or even Boyndie or Golspie if you wanted to go up North. Are you running an ME221 or similar, can't remember? Most of what I can see you've done is ok for class A9. Also I hate causing leaks by fitting new seals! I'm in the middle of timing belt/waterpump and changing cam seals too... hope I don't cause any leaks that weren't there before! |
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 15, 2021 16:32:05 GMT
Yeah will try get along to some, I think I'll be modded out of class potentially, you need a fire suit and helmet in date? Yeah just the captive nuts, I've used longer bolts though to get more threads in them. I was considering some loctite for peace of mind but I think they'll be fine. I think drilling them out might be overkill, they've held in that A-frame stiffener for 30 odd years just fine, also I don't think I'd get in about there with a drill I was considering getting some of those carbon wrap protectors for the door bars, but they seem to go for silly money. Yup you need in date suit, helmet and gloves to compete. But there are trackdays quite often and the club organises them sometimes, you don't need anything other than helmet for that and just a trackday one would be ok. Would give you a taster of Forrestburn or Kames, or even Boyndie or Golspie if you wanted to go up North. Are you running an ME221 or similar, can't remember? Most of what I can see you've done is ok for class A9. Also I hate causing leaks by fitting new seals! I'm in the middle of timing belt/waterpump and changing cam seals too... hope I don't cause any leaks that weren't there before! Yeah I'd be keen to try one of the track days, where's the best place to keep an eye on? Eunos Ecosse on Facebook? Are you going to change the front main crank seal? if you are I've got the Jass Performance tool if you need it. You'll probably find leaks in there already if your lucks anything like mine. I got a cheap cam seal tool as well, but I should have replaced the seals as well I think. No aftermarket ECU yet, but a Speeduino will be going in with a Supercharger this year hopefully. |
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Post by mrwallace on Mar 15, 2021 16:48:09 GMT
They're not nomall advertised as it's or club members but I can let you know if the club are arranging one. Forrestburn and Kames run normal trackdays too just the club normally get one booked for us all to get a bit of practice!
No not touching the crank seal on this engine, both are leak free so don't want to upset them! Cheers for the offer though. Didn't realise there was a tool for the cam seals?
You might still be eligible for A9 then and there is a modified class too if you do get the charger on.
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 16, 2021 9:47:11 GMT
They're not nomall advertised as it's or club members but I can let you know if the club are arranging one. Forrestburn and Kames run normal trackdays too just the club normally get one booked for us all to get a bit of practice! No not touching the crank seal on this engine, both are leak free so don't want to upset them! Cheers for the offer though. Didn't realise there was a tool for the cam seals? You might still be eligible for A9 then and there is a modified class too if you do get the charger on. Yeah if you can that'd be great thanks, even if I'm not competitive it'd be great to learn. Yeah that's understandable, mine was my major leak so had to, tried one without the tool and messed it up so just bought a seal/tool for piece of mind. Yeah cam tool is to just help push them in, probably not needed, but again piece of mind, I should have bought new seals though. Tools HERE. |
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 16, 2021 10:03:24 GMT
After some more struggling managed to get the drivers door bar fitted, mrwallace was right and the harness can go behind the bar itself, but it was a bit of a struggle to get it all to line up.  IMG_20210315_190941 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Getting the trim cut to fit round these is going to be a time consuming job. |
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Post by mrwallace on Mar 16, 2021 15:44:46 GMT
Like a glove!
Will let you know about the track days with Eunos Ecosse, they're not competitive days so good to just get a feel for the sprints and can get some passenger runs too, see what you'd be up against!
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 22, 2021 10:07:02 GMT
Spent the majority of Sunday out working on the car, trying to get some more of the bigger jobs ticked off the list. Ever since I've had the car, the doors have always let it down, they're all either a little beat up, car park dinged or rusting along the bottom edges. Picked up another set of doors from a car being split last year, so spent time swapping them over. Kept the hinges attached to the car and removed the doors from the hinges, bit of a fiddly way to do it but it meant both door lined up pretty much straight away, dodgy stickers will be removed.  IMG_20210321_131034 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20210321_132118 by Scott Reid, on Flickr They aren't perfect but they are a drastic improvement. Swapped everything over, just need to fit the speakers then the door cards then that's at least complete. Might even get the side stripes I've had for years fitted at this rate. Swapped over a bent bonnet hinge that has always meant the bonnet sat a little higher on one side, trimmed down the seatbelt tower trim to go round the door bars, either get another trim piece to get it perfect or some rubber edge liner. But that'll do for just now.  IMG_20210321_164503 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Also, a little back to front, but that's the first time the cars been on off jack stands and moved under it's own power since mid November.  IMG_20210321_173933 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Swept the garage out in celebration, the epoxy floors taken a hammering and isn't looking as good anymore, but anything's better than dusty concrete. Next job will be refit the interior, then it'll be back in the air to fit the wings and button up all the things I've left off (exhaust hanger, fuel filter cover). Not sure whether to change my cam seals before the MOT or risk it after. |
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Post by suggs84 on Mar 22, 2021 13:01:22 GMT
Awesome the doors alone have made a big difference never mind everything else, great stuff! |
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 29, 2021 10:17:43 GMT
Only a couple of ours on the the car this weekend, I was hoping for good weather so I could roll out the garage and work on both sides at the same time, weather had other ideas. Started by cutting the seatbelt tower trim on the passengers side to match that of the drivers, fitted some edge trim to both, cleaned out the drivers side and refitted the respective trim and seat.  IMG_20210328_194843 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20210328_194847 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Trim edging has actually improved it dramatically. Door bar is slightly touching on the plastic recliner trim, I can wrap more loom tape if it'll be an issue.  IMG_20210328_194858 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Moving back to the stock seats, they're definitely more comfortable, they won't hold me as well but it'll be nice to have headrest speakers again. Quick test and before where I would have braced my leg on the door, I can now do that with the door bar. Ingress and egress from the car may need to be re-learned but shouldn't be a drastic issue. I'll need to cut up the footwell trims, round the door bars but I think that shouldn't be too drastic a requirement, just try get enough behind the door seal. Next plan is to order st/st bolts for the mirrors (after drilling mine out) so I can refit all the door trim, order high tensile bolts for the exhaust so they are all the same (after damaging threads), buy and refit the fuel filter cover (after I butchered mine). Buy some more cam seals  MOT before the end of April is the plan, it's maybe not looking as crazy as I initially thought. Also spent some time trying to figure out the best plan for the supercharger build, originally I had thought about doing doing it in 2 stages: firstly stock pulley with no I/C, followed by I/C and reduction pulley. A bit more research and I've heard that a Land Rover alternator pulley can be modified to produce a 63mm reduction pulley, as well as a Focus TDCi intercooler being a good fit with a built in GM sized temp sensor boss. If I can find someone/somewhere to modify the pulley this might be the way to go. Anyway, hopefully more updates this week. |
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Post by scottydugg on Mar 30, 2021 9:02:10 GMT
Passenger trim and seat refitted, tad more annoying than the drivers, just need to wait for the wing mirror bolts before I can button everything up.  IMG_20210329_191916 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Found another leak, from the top rad hose to the thermostat housing, looks as though I've not pushed it on enough before clamping it. Easy fix at least. |
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le sigh