cant beat new parts
your going to be busy fitting all the new parts
rocker cover looks good also matey
keep at it
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cant beat new parts
your going to be busy fitting all the new parts
rocker cover looks good also matey
keep at it
this is epic mr tek just read through the whole thread good read
Cheers man... new parts are always good.
I'm leaning towards getting someone to rebuild the engine with me there of course. Got a couple good pro mechanic mates. Time is of a premium at the moment and with the way things are going at this rate it wont be finished by Feb if I decide to do everything.
Thanks for reading through fella :thumb:Quote:
Originally Posted by farmertom
ohh fair enough mateQuote:
Originally Posted by Nova_Tek
im hoping for mine to be done around jan-feb so i can get it taxed mot'd and back out on the road :thumb:
Same here, it would be a great start and a motivation for me to have it ready for use in the new year, preferably Jan. Had enough of using Buses to get to work and we could really use the space that the parts have taken up too lol
I've done all of the hard, tedious and important refurb, painting/cleaning jobs so it's just a case of putting it back in. This I'd want done fairly swiftly but properly. Work is full on and I can't see it giving me much free time. The wife is bugging me to get it done asap too, which is another factor lol
you'll get there matey :thumb:Quote:
Originally Posted by Nova_Tek
i get my motivation at looking at other peoples project threads on here
and it just makes me wanna get my done and back on the road
i miss driving it tbh :(
I last drove the Nova back in 2008 so next year it'll be 4 years. The project started early 2010 so it'll hit 2 years in the next couple months. I'd really like to get it done before it hits the 2nd year. I have plenty of motivation but not the time. There was a time where I had plenty of time but no money lol
4 years? Christ.
looking good buddy
Cheers homes!
You seem surprised Benn.Quote:
Originally Posted by Benn
UPDATE
A day off for once... After having a well deserved sleep/lay in (makes a change from getting up at 7 pretty much everyday) I though I'd get cracking with something. Only real thing left to sort out was the pistons. They look like utter sh*t!
I made a start on piston one a few weeks back but never finished it off, so I thought today was a good time to do it.
To refresh your memory... this is how it came out the block
https://images2.imgbox.com/c6/80/jtyCqNPG_o.jpg
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6224/1002417t.jpg
After some hard graft and elbow grease, a soaking in Redex, brillo pad, wire brush on a Dremmel (about an hours worth of messing about) it came out like this
https://images2.imgbox.com/3f/92/LEjhIB5U_o.jpg
http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/696/1003034s.jpg
https://images2.imgbox.com/02/5f/jG3oW0Ig_o.jpg
1 down 3 to go :cry:
Then popped to Halfords to get some bits. Asked the person at the arts counter for some BCR8ES NGK plugs... didn't have any :( Managed to get the part numbers for the HT leads. One set was Halfords own HT leads and the other Bosch. Difference in price £14. Took them out of the box to compare. I spent absolute ages in seeing what the difference was and couldn't tell. They looked pretty much identical. In the end I opted for the Halfords stuff at £34.99. Got to the checkout and gave the trusty trade card and BAM £18.49 lol
https://images2.imgbox.com/75/49/0NPqp475_o.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9071/1003036.jpg
An absolute bargain compared to the £30 odd quid Vauxhall want for each lead. Will pop to my other local Halfords to see if I can buy then plugs.
Erm...
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/520/1003034y.jpg
The two top cut out looks damage.. the right hand one looks funked.
Yes I know but they were inspected by the engineering place that d'd the block and head and although they've had some contact with valves in the past, they're fine to use.
keep on going tek.
if i was you id clean the piston up a bit just to get rid of any edges.
Way ahead of you Bruce mate. I got out the dremmel and cleaned a slight lip around the outer part of the piston face and it's now smooth (done after this pic was taken). I'll be checking them all to see if there is anything that protudes from the piston face and take it off to be extra safe. Seeing as the guy at the engine place said they're fine to use then I've got not doubts.
Maybe just me dude but I wouldnt be using pistons with that damage
No way would i use that piston,no,no no.
Someone's bound to have a set of 3 lying about to buy cheap.
Well they were being used before. It's obviously had contact with valves but all the valves in the head were fine so they were changed with the pistons still being used. All 4 have similar marks on them.
Did you see it run or drive it??
The piston will be fine, by the looks of the photo it looks worse than it is..
It MAY run fine, personally I wouldnt take the risk
You'll be kicking yourself if its goes wrong after the rebuild, end up costing you loads extra as well
No but spoke with the chap who was selling it and it was a running engine until he took it off the road to sort his shell out but then gave up on the build. Apart from the marks on the pistons everything else was spotless, no head damage, valves fine the whole shebang. So it's quite clear that the engine was being used.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy
I said the exact same thing to my mate when we took the pistons out 'they're fu*ked!' He said he couldn't see any reason not to use them but the engineers would be able to confirm that (place I took it to are his mates/works with them all the time so he isn't gonna bull**** me).
You are right, they look worse in the photo but not as bad in the flesh. When the lad who's gonna rebuild it sees it I guess he'll deffo confirm if they'll be ok. He's rebuilt countless LET's and even my mates one recently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Balley
Still gonna clean em up though lol
UPDATE
Popped to another Halfords branch today and found the set of plugs I was after - NGK BCR8ES - Price £13.49.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8339/1003040.jpg
At the checkout handed over the trade card and BAM £4.95 lmao. They are currently gapped at 0.7mm so will need to be adjusted to 0.6mm.
https://images2.imgbox.com/04/24/55zevbrR_o.jpg
And to help me do that are these
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1586/1003037v.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/4790/1003039h.jpghttps://images2.imgbox.com/8c/0d/GmVO2pi3_o.jpg
https://images2.imgbox.com/36/46/t55iRpGc_o.jpg
Not bad for £2.50 inc. p&p
Cleaned up piston 4 as well.
Will soon be having a chat with my mate to organise when I can drop the engine off to get it built back up.
UPADTE
Nothing outstanding but I gont one of my xmas presents turn up today (better late than never lol )
Can you guess what it is yet?
https://images2.imgbox.com/c9/ef/rKp14NcH_o.jpg
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2219/1003042ba.jpg
Thanks to my bro I now have a pipercross foam filter to fit the LET. Happy with it as the colour scheme will go well with the bay and I've read good reviews. Should do well as long as I can isolate it away from the heat.
Also gapped my plugs last night and only have 1 piston left to clean... yay!
Off tomorrow to visit local motorfactors for some cluth parts :)
UPADTE
Got a few bits that I needed.
Firstly a metal plug cover which I got off W88rdy (cheers mate ) I've got a plastic one but haven't found anyone local that can plate plastic. So a metal one will do the trick.
https://images2.imgbox.com/b4/0d/yqHCVxbM_o.jpg
I'll be putting the plastic one will be up for sale
I then had a bit of a brainwave... to keep things simple I've decided to mount the pump and filter using smaller lightweight motorsport type brackets. I had a quick look on ebay and found a couple bits that were perfect. Ordered the fuel pump bracket yesterday at 3:30pm and it arrived today at 9am... lovely!
Black alu bracket with two rubber absorbers - one for smaller pumps and one for larger. Fits like a glove with the Bosch pump
https://images2.imgbox.com/b8/9e/HCepvxgV_o.jpg
Also had a chat with my mate who helped me strip the LET. He spoke with his mate who helped him strip and rebuild his LET in his Cally DTM. Gave me a very good mates rates labour price to put the LET back together. Will be dropping the LET off to him in the coming week or so to get it built up.
Still waiting for the fuel filter bracket which is a simplified version of the above, a mountable stainless steel bracket to arrive. Will probably also be buying a second turbo as my mate sold his DTM recently but had a spare turbo which he fully rebuilt, shaft, seals, turbines - you name it he changed it. He'll give it to me just to cover parts costs. Need to arrange a day to take all the metal bits to the platers too. Time to get them sorted too!
Got this in the post yesterday... a new bracket to hold the fuel filter.
https://images2.imgbox.com/73/49/gb7eicVy_o.jpg
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7181/1003046o.jpg
Was planning to arrange to take the engine down to my mates mate but a good friend/colleague at work had just lost his dad so I'm covering shifts at the mo. When things get back to normal I'll be taking the weekend/few days off to drop it down to him.
'tis all for now.
liking the fuel filter bracket and pump mount, you having the filter in the original place?
btw, what is it you do for a job? your always working! lol
Yeah having it in the same/original place but thought I'd simplfy the mount. Less parts easiler to remove etc.
I work for a well known mobile operator sales and tech. We have a team of 7 normally but currently due to numerous problems we have 3 people working at any one time. A few month back we had a team of 5 and only two of us were able to work at any one time. Hence, we doing mega overtime to cover shifts.
UPDATE
I'm currently getting final bits and pieces so these come through today.
Aluminium anodised clamp for the pump dampener
8 Mikalor clamps for the intercooler hoses/pipes
https://images2.imgbox.com/16/ab/TSNVOHrI_o.jpg
SBD Nylon relief valve kit
https://images2.imgbox.com/bf/e2/MwfVdFIU_o.jpg
Instructions say to use a washer on the valve side and depending on the pressure you get a washer on the bolt side. IIRC the standard valve has no washers. Anyone bothered to use it?
Some powder coat dissolver - £23 for 1 litre
https://images2.imgbox.com/b9/0e/6g2BpMSn_o.jpg
After finding something as suitable as possible to let the spark plug cover soak in the dissolver, I left it to soak for an hour before giving it a light going over with a medium stiff wire brush to get into the nooks and crannies.
Here's how it looked before
https://images2.imgbox.com/07/50/ADflcySZ_o.jpg
And after
https://images2.imgbox.com/a2/bb/Uoql6vsD_o.jpg
Proper good stuff this dissolver. It's totally reusable as long as you don't contaminate the solution with water or grease. Only problem was that the container I found which was suitable in size for the cover which wouldn't melt was a foil baking tray. I eventually managed to put a hole through it so the half litre of solution I poured out.
Gave it a rinse with cold water. Just need to go over a few small areas and the side sections as they didn't fully submerge in solution and have a bit of paint on them still. Miles faster than nitromors and a wire brush and less damaging too.
Also need to try source a new GM outer gear for the oil pump. After measuring the gear tolerances it looks like the outer gear is at it's limit of wear. I just think the SBD stuff is just way over priced.
As there was a delay in stripping the paint off the plug cover, I wasn't able to take down the bits that I wanted to get plated. I'll have to plan this for sometime next week.
Until then...
Yikes that looks good stuff, should be for the money..would nitromos do the same?
Nitromors would probably need to be applied, left for a while, re-applied and left again and possibly a third application to work under into layers. It would take much longer. I hardly used the little brush, a rinse in water was fine.
Very Surprised how thats stripped that off mate!
Strong stuff mate, after about 10 mins you can run your finger on it and it'll start removing it. Good stuff but it'll take the whole litre to get it off. Bit pricey but was worth it. Would be great for alloys for a refurb but you'd need gallons of the stuff. I'd say it's as good as sand blasting but 0 abrasive.
Ahhhhh, the guy who did my MO's (shot blasted them) had this Acid that ate off any left over bits, you brush it on leave for 30 secs then wipe off, east into the alloys much long then 30 secs! lol
This stuff don't eat metal but does paint and most plastics. I'd like to get a hold of that acid stuff that would be the ultimate paint stripper. Had enough using elbow grease to remove paint.
You could use it longer on steel, just not alloy!, check the Internet, you must be able to get hold of it mate.
Know what it's called?
No, i'll try find out though.