Printable View
Copied and pasted from thread on JOV, edited along the way.
This all started at the end of summer because I knew the 1300 block wasn't going to last much longer, so thanks to novalicious, I got hold of a complete SRI engine and gearbox, and started to clean it up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/HPIM1876.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/HPIM1877.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/HPIM1878.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/HPIM1879.jpg
Shortly after this, on the way to a jov meet at the end of august, the nova decided to overheat a couple of times, resulting in a knackered head and water spurting out of the plug holes, so off the road it came (luckily I was in the process of getting the astra back on the road), and the real work began.
Fri Sep 08, 2006
Right finally we have some progress!!!
Todays work is all thanks to a mis-understanding at work ths morning resulting in me having the day off, so I got home and at 10:00 started taking the nova apart, lights, grille and bumper were the first things to come off, then I drained all the fluids, including the gearbox oil. the engine oil came out grey, plenty of water in it, and the gearbox oil was brown with a slightly red tint to it, I reckon it had the wrong stuff in, as nearly all EP90 I've ever seen has been green and stinks, this stuff didn't smell at all.
Time to take the head off, found the result of the overheating episode two weeks ago,
the gasket had gone between a water jacket and No.1 cylinder,and then between 1 and 2, then btween 2 and 3 by melting the steel ring;
This is what greeted me when I removed the head, this was after I'd drained all fluids from the lowest points available (back of water pump in the coolants case),
Fri Sep 08, 2006
Got a bit carried away after lunch, (veggy spring roll and chicken nuggets for those wondering lol), just took more and more bits off the engine untill all that was left was the drive shafts. soon got them out, as I've found that you can do it by only undoing the two bolts holding the shock to the hub, so then I was left with the block and the box so I thought stuff it, lets just get it out! rear mount bolts out, R/H mount bolts out, box mount bolts out, a bit of swearing and the assembly was sat on the floor (I just let it fall to the ground :lol: ) Jacked her up as far as I could and what do you know, just enough room to drag it out by the cambelt!
15:00 now, and the drive looks like this,
and the engine bay like this,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1903.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1902.jpg
here's the rad looking sorry for it's self, it is fooooooooooked
Not bad for 5 hours work, including lunch and fag breaks.
Fri Sep 08, 2006
Time for the rust inspection, starting with the headlight bowls,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1915.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1914.jpg
Both gone although not badly, but as I need a new slam panel a full upper panel will be going on.
lower front panel and crossmember,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1909.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1908.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1911.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1910.jpg
the lower panel is still in it's origional paint from what I cans see, and is in fantastic condition, a little bit of surface rust on the bottom of the crossmember and around the O/S tie-bar mount, but otherwise it's perfect (not even a single stone chip :D :D :D ).
Fri Sep 08, 2006
Front panel to chassis legs, just a bit of surface rust, with a possible hole along the top of the N/S leg just behind the headlight as seen in first pic,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1907.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1906.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1905.jpg
T.C.A. pick-up points, again only some surface rust,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1912.jpg
And the last pic from today is of the front of the firewall in front of the battery after peeling back the sound deadening,
I was expecting to see a hole here as the battery tray did look quite bad, but on closer inspection (even dragged the felt out of the way behind the dash to have a look) again it's only surface rust.
So I'm quite pleased really, I have to replace the whole upper front panel instead of just the slam panel, but I've been saved some work by not having to replace the battery tray, and all the visible rust can just be ground/sanded off and treeted with some new stuff I've been meaning to try for a few years now, Graham's just used some of it on his project and the results are looking good. To be honest the rough bits in the pics that are still red are where I covered it with seam sealer last year, so there isn't really that much surface rust anyway, but I'm going to put a plating kit on so any areas that have thinned out we be back up to strength, and I'll be finishing the stitch welding of the engine bay, so once it's all done I shouldn't have to do any panelwork at all in here for the rest of the cars life.
The list of worn out parts has started, and currently reads;
O/S engine mount - centre coming away from the rubber
Clutch cable - rubber where it goes into the bulkhead split
Radiator - slightly blocked and starting to fall apart due to age
Rad fan switch - not working
Injuries - NONE http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...on_biggrin.gif http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...on_biggrin.gif
Cups of tea - just 1, after I'd finished http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...on_biggrin.gif
Sun Sep 10, 2006
Thanks guys, been looking at the bits I need to swap between engines today, and things are going wrong. I can't use the 1.3 pulleys, belt and covers unless I change the oil pump over, so I'll have to use the SRI parts instead, and the SRI cam and carrier have some nasty scores on the bearing surfaces, so I'll have to use the 1.3 cam carrier that the piper cam's already fitted to. This means I won't be able to use the SRI breather between the block and cam carrier, so I'm going to go for a blanking plate on the block, and plumb in a catch tank to the SRI rocker cover which handily has a breather elbow on it, resulting in a group A spec breather system.
I've also been pricing things up as much as I can, and in order to save a bit of money (huge backlog of debt), I'm going to be putting the spare 1.3 head on with the weber, and leaving the SE head and bike carbs until I have paid a few things off. It won't give as much power as I planned, but it should still be good enough to have some fun with, especially with the stitch-welded and plated front end and at long last a close-ratio 'box.
*SAT 16th Sept* *BIG Update*
Started today by collecting the new front upper panel and a sheet of steel,
Then I set to with the wire wheel on the battery tray, thought I'd get away with it, but this is what greeted me after removing all of last years sealer and paint,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1917.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1918.jpg
Remember the cracked sealer on the n/s chassis leg? This is what was underneath it,
Another hole, bottom of the o/s 'A' post,
And the last hole found on the front end, o/s chassis leg behind the wheel,
SAT 16th Sept
So, after taking those pics, decided to take the rest of the front panel off and do some trimming to the inner wings behind the headlights,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1921.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1922.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1926.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1927.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1928.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1931.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1932.jpg
SAT 16th Sept
Got the welder out, freshly loaded up with 5 kilos of wire and a bottle of co2, and got to work on the battery tray and n/s chassis leg,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1938.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1939.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1940.jpg
Also decided to finish stich welding the turrets and engine/gearbox mountings, also did the tops of the tie-bar mounts,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1934.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1944.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1945.jpg
Notice how knackered the right hand engine mount is, must try to find a new one.
Time to get the new upper front panel on, should have taken more pics of this, might get some more tomorrow,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1943.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1946.jpg
I've also forgotten to take pics of the rebuilding of the inner wings into the back of the headlight surrounds, again I'll get pics sorted tomorrow.
I've still got to sort out the bottom of the 'A' post and the o/s chassis leg, and do some stitching around the bottom of the tie-bar mounts and tca pick-up points, also the chassis legs just behind the tca's need plating, I knew about these last year, but I just filled them up with seam sealer and they've passed 2 mot's since, but I want to plate them up now. Once these bits are done the engine bay will be ready to be prepped and painted, I've decided against putting a plating kit on as she's to far gone to be doing serious track work with (plus I can't really afford it after taking a good look at the budget), she'll manage a couple of years doing maybe 2-3 a year, then it'll be time for something else.
**MORE PICS** Sun Sep 24, 2006
Right, to start with here's how things looked after last weekend's session,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1949.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1950.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1951.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1952.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1953.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1954.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1955.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1956.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1957.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1959.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
Only hole left to do after running out of gas was the 'a' pillar bottom, soon got that sorted yesterday, built it back up with 7 different pieces to get the shape right, then I went and covered the whole drivers side inner arch with tetroseal, It's all looking nice and black now. Didn't get any pics of this as the batteries were on charge, and the wings back on now anyway.
Started off today sat in the garage with the head, cam carrier and inlet manifold. Re-Ground the valves, cleaned up the head and carrier, then painted them,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1984.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
Decided to grind out the centre of the inlet manfold to open it up for better flow with the 32/34. Camera hasn't stored the pic so I'll edit in a bit.
It was now just after lunch, so with the weather looking good I popped of to halfords for some paint, and four cans of flame red later we now have this,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1972.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1973.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1974.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1975.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1976.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1978.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1979.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1980.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1981.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
and finally
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1982.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
compared to,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1931.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
Quite a difference I think you'll agree. by the way the bay is the correct color, it's showing up as orange in the pics because of some quirk in the camera, it was on a much higher resolution than needed and couldn't handle the sunlight.
Sun Oct 01, 2006
The finish isn't great, but it'll do for a couple of years until she's scrapped. just worked out that I've only spent 50 hours on it so far over five weeks, so I think I'm doing quite well on the time front, got to save up for all the new bits now http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...s/icon_sad.gif
been down the scrappers today and got a full set of belt covers, just need the engine mount and top-end gasket set and she'll be running again lol http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...on_biggrin.gif
Well just sorted out some pics of this weeks work, well kinda, I got home on tuesday and decided to throw the gearbox back in,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1988.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1989.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
and here's a couple of pics of the modified inlet manifold, this is the second one I did last weekend, I got carried away with the first one and ground through into the water jacket!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1991.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM1992.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
I've ground out the centre divider as the adapter plate for the 32/34 doesn't have one so all the mixture leaving the carb suddenly had a lump of alloy to get around, hopefully this should improove the flow a bit and maybe give a donkey or twos worth of power!
Also spent a few hours in the garage with the wirng loom from the SRI that came with the new engine, some of it's in the bin now as I decided to cut it down into more managable sections so that I have a stock of correctly colored wires for any repairs I have to make to the loom already in the car. The engine section of the loom is still fairly intact though should I ever decide to put the SRI injection system back on the engine.
Sat Oct 07, 2006
Time for some more pics! Engine mount came this morning so after waiting for Dave (davedv6) to drop Josh off we set to with a bit of rope and some exhaust tube I have lying around and got the block lifted in and bolted up. I've also managed to paint the mounts. Appologies for the orangeness of some of the pics, can't work out what setting the camera needs in bright light.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2034.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2035.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2036.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2037.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2038.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2039.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2040.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2042.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2043.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2044.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
Sat Oct 07, 2006
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2045.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
Not much left to go on now, managed to get the head and cam carrier lacquered, and thought I'd post a pic of my efforts to make the downpipe a better design, this was done shortly after pv'06 due to the pipes cracking.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2046.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2047.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
Two bends, a bit of 2" split open and couple of triangles of my old door, much better flowing than what was there and it gave a slightly deeper and more throaty sound.
Wed Nov 01, 2006
*little update*
Engine is now back together, need to get some new bolts for the downpipe and weld the hole in the o/s/r inner arch before I can put some petrol in and it'll be ready to fire up, will sort out some more pics when I can get them in daylight!
Sat Nov 04, 2006
I was, unfortunately work has been a bit sketchy lately so I've had to cut back on the spending. But there is not a lot left to do provided the engine will run, just need to paint the new doors and tidy up some blemishes on the rear arches. Still won't be back on the road until march though, need to save it from the worst of the road salt.
And thats pretty much where I'm up to now, need to change the starter back to the 1300 version as the one that came with the new engine refuses to work, but it's been way to cold for me lately.
Oh and here's the thread from the first time around, Part one
IT'S ALIVE
At long last I finally changed the starter this morning and got her turning over. Nipped out for some petrol, had to take the fuel pump off and operate it by hand to get the fuel to the carb. First five turns of the starter later ans she was running for the first time since August. I was so happy I took a few more pics and a little video of it runing,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2048.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2049.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2050.jpgThumbnail, click to enlarge.
5.2 meg .avi file,
IT RUNS!
Nice one mikey, good to hear its running.
Nice reading.
Hope she runs sweet on the road.
Good progress considering budget etc
Put all the front-end back together on monday, as I want it back on the road for february, hopefully ready for a jov rolling road meet.
Now for some pics of todays progress. A nice shiny new rod-end turned up in the post this morning, so off I popped to B&Q for a couple of M.8 bolts and some steel tube to use as a spacer. The pics explain the job, so here they are,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2055.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2056.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2057.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2058.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2059.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2060.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2061.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2062.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2063.jpg
Got it fitted up, didn't have to set it in the way described in the haynes because I've done it that many times now that I somehow get it right first time!
Got the old girl fired up and checked for all gears, perfect first time again! The joint has removed about 50% of the play I had, on closer inspection about 80% of whats left is in the pivot pin bushes, so I'm on the hunt for replacements for them now, but it definately feels a lot better than it did.
Total cost of this so far is about ?8, thats including a meter of the spacer tube, I only used about 15mm of it!
Cool linkage.
you could manufacture & sell them on ebay. Put that metre of tubing to use!
Just had an idea, maybe I can get some of the tube to sit inside the main pivot tube, then use an M.8 bolt through it to get rid of the rest of the free-play. Think I'll have a look at that tomorrow.
A nice read... look forward to it being finished.
Enjoyed reading that Mike, and I agree with Craig, you could make a killing making linkage kits. Id have one!!
Doing that one joint took about two hours, lol. Would have been quicker with a proper hacksaw, rather than just a blade, and I should have put a thread in the first part so that the rod-end screws in rather than just weld it.
A set of four rod-ends costs about ?20. Then you need a couple of bolts, some plain nuts and some lock-nuts. The tubing I used was just to make it a bit neater than using a couple of nuts as spacers.
The real problem point as most people will know is the central pivot bushes, I have come up with the idea of getting some nylon bar, and machining it to replicate the origionals, but I don't have a lathe and don'tknow how to use one anyway! But if anyone else does, and has some spare time, they might be able to earn a bit of money!
car looks execelent mate, good job youve done with the front slam pannle etc. what inlet are you useing on the sri head?
Errr, none? Using 1300 head and inlet, The 1.4 mpi head is waiting until next year, or when the gasket goes, whichever is sooner, lol.
Nice work Mike, liking the linkage.
Could do with something like that for mine, mines slack as fook. Lol
Had today off work, and seeing as it was so nice outside, I thought I'd finally tackle the little hole I found last year in the O/S/R inner arch just near the filler pipe. It turned out to be 6 inches long, half an inch high just where the inner arch is spot welded to the chassis leg. Whilst I was cleaning the last two years worth of crap off, found another similar hole near the rear corner http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...s/icon_cry.gif . Surprisingly, the chassis leg itself is good and sound http://www.justopelvauxhall.com/foru...on_biggrin.gif , so I got on with plating the holes up.
what I found after cleaning up,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2064.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2067.jpg
after some plate and weld,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2069.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2072.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2073.jpg
Primed, sealed and under-sealed,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2074.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2075.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/HPIM2076.jpg
Nice bit of welding there, can't even tell now its been sealed :)
yeah I'm well pleased with this new welder, same model as the one I was using before but so much more user-friendly, need a lighter shade for my mask though because I can only just see the weld through the one supplied.
Looking good mikey.. get you and your welder over to mine lol new pannel shall be on order soon...
Nice work there Mikey. Car is looking sweet and the rose jointed gear linkage is awsome. I might have a go at that my self, the play in mine is awful.
Hopefuly I'll have my engine bay looking as tidy as yours by the time I'm done with my project :thumb:
yet to do this ^, but the side to side movement is definately better than it was.Quote:
The real problem point as most people will know is the central pivot bushes, I have come up with the idea of getting some nylon bar, and machining it to replicate the origionals, but I don't have a lathe and don'tknow how to use one anyway! But if anyone else does, and has some spare time, they might be able to earn a bit of money!
Aye, that welding looks pretty good mate, nicely sealed over etc. Hope you are waxoyling the inner of the chassis leg?
Might do, lol, maybe do it at the end of summer.
looking well
WHY, this thread is over 2 1/2 years old the car was scrapped ages ago
lmao its a shame it was scraped it looked good