Project: Gold Snowplough Turbo

[Nova_Tek]

UPDATE


Got the gearbox gaskets and seal come through yesterday.


Slightly jumping the gun as there is a chance the gearbox will be further damaged. Although I did contact the seller and asked him to confirm the condition of the box when he sold it to me. He did state that he personally used it and drove it to make sure it was ok.


If it turns out that the rest is ok then the new gaskets and seals will come in handy.


Weather forecast looks a bit dodgy in the coming week so hopefully it holds out for a couple days so I can get it checked.

[Nova_Tek]

UPDATE

What a contrast from last weeks weather. This week has been utter crap therefore I've been limited to what I can do inside in small spaces

Thought I'd paint match the gearbox sump bolts to the rest of the colour scheme in the bay and decided to paint the in gold.

Here they were after a wire brushing and clean



and after a few coats of Gold Hammerite and left to dry for a day



I'm on the look out for a small FMIC. Been checking on the bay and have found a couple new ones. Money has been tight this month so I need to hold back and limit what I buy for the Nova.

I was also wondering what to do with the cams. I've got XE inlet and exhaust cams sitting there and the condition of those are better than the standard LET ones that were in the engine. Now do I just fit the inlet, rebuild it up and run the engine in with that? Keep the standard ones and run it in using them or fit both the inlet and exhaust?

Won't be able to get a RR done to set them up properly until the engine is run in so just in a slight 'what to do' mode.

Also went Halfords and got a 30mm socket to remove the CVs.

Roll on sunshine so I can get sh*t done!

[brucer]

getting there tek, with the cams, if you dont mind changing them afterwards id stay with standard. but even on standard marks the xe inlet cam gives a bit of a gain so all you would have to do then is adjust them on the dyno once run in.

i have heard that changing the exhaust cam is only really beneficial for higher powered LET's. i may be wrong though.

[Nova_Tek]

There was a discussion some time ago but I can't remember. Couldn't remember how much benefit the exhasut cam made. I may just stick with the inlet as it's in much better condition and it'll be ok to run with standard marks until the engine is run in.

[Nova_Tek]

UPDATE

Got well frustrated with the weather today. Cloudy - drizzle - sunshine - thunder & rain - sunny - rain... Eventually it seemed that it was going to stay dry as there were no clouds nearby. Whipped out the gearbox just managing to get it under the garage door for some shelter. Removed the gear selector housing and removed the bolts from the gear cluster plate and took out the gears. Had a good look, as best I could to see if there was anything that didn't look right.

Found nothing bad: no metal bits, no swarf, no damaged gears, no chipped teeth, everything seemed great. Tried to see if there was any play in the gears in order to get an idea of bearing wear. All seems good

My assumption is that something went wrong, they cracked the box open and replaced what was needed and left the diff assuming they thought it'd be fine with its two teeth slightly chipped. Gaskets I removed looked pretty new too so all signs indicate what I have been guessing. With the all clear I'll get the diff changed by my mate.

Went in to get the gaskets so I could replace the ones on the end, as I come out it started p*ssing down and a bit of thunder too . Although I was under cover I was still getting rained on. Had to quickly get the box put back together, albeit without gaskets, in my haste I forgot to take pics Waiting for some sunshine so I can clean and paint the box and refit the gaskets.

Haven't been able to work out how the driveshaft o-ring seals are removed to change them. I've ordered a tap and die set so I can tap a thread into the diff cover plate for a drain hole. Wanna stick el-cheapo diff oil in first, do a few miles and drain it out in order to stick some quality stuff in.

Working over the weekend so I guess this'll be something for next week. Just hope the weather improves.

[Andy]

Driveshaft oil seals come out like all other oil seals-brute force and ignorance
Then use a 30mm (iirc) socket as a drift to tap it (new un) home.

[maddogdaz666]

I'm sure I've got a total Vauxhall magazine with the Benefits of the xe cam, from what I can remember the exhaust cam made no change, but the inlet cam retarded or advanced half a tooth ( i cant remember which) made +30 bhp. I'll have a look and get back to you. They're all stacked in my downstairs toilet so I'll go spend 20 mins on the bog and find it

[Nova_Tek]

ok

I started having a dig at them with a screw driver and thought 'this can't be right' I've got 30mm socket so pushing them in should be easy. Getting them out will be fun.

[Andy]

Yeah its only the inlet cam what gets used and needs setting up with a vernier pulley

[Nova_Tek]

I'm sure I've got a total Vauxhall magazine with the Benefits of the xe cam, from what I can remember the exhaust cam made no change, but the inlet cam retarded or advanced half a tooth ( i cant remember which) made +30 bhp. I'll have a look and get back to you. They're all stacked in my downstairs toilet so I'll go spend 20 mins on the bog and find it

I know that retarded 7deg/half tooth is where you get best gains but I can't for the life of me remember what they said about the exhaust cam. I know someone on MIG is running both but it's on aftermarket management.

I'm sure I got that article on pdf somewhere... meh I'll find it.