| 3rd February 2005 |
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So the tall tale goes a bit like this. I got a bit paranoid about the brackets
holding the scavenge filters on, as they were looking a bit stressed when the bolts
through the sump wall had been tightened. So I decided to make some shims the same
thickness as the metal ring on the filters, so the brackets will be a bit straighter.
All was well with this plan until I tightened the final nut when refitting it all and
it stripped the thread on the stud holding the scavenge adapter on. So that meant it all had to come off yet again and be refitted with some new studs and I managed to get some low profile nylocs. Hurrah, now we are once again ready to fit the sump, and it only took another three evenings :-/ |
| At this point a small amount of apathy set in, so this evening I felt like looking at something different, and looked at removing the fuel pump with a view to possibly having to relocate it for clearance issues with the proposed undertray. Also for some crazy reason, Westfield fitted one of the solid fuel lines down the tunnel so that where it exits it points downwards. This is a definite clearance issue, and I'd rather not have a fuel pipe as the lowest point under the car. The problem I have here is that the steel pipe is as good as impossible to bend by hand, so I have no idea how I will resolve this. |
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| 5th February 2005 | ||
| First job of the day today was to go and collect my fuel and oil tanks from Steve, who has modified them for me. Once again, it looks like he's done a fine job. He has removed the end of the fuel tank, and added an extra ramp baffle at the end where the sump is. This should retain a bit of extra fuel at this end of the tank, and hopefully resolve the fuel surge/starvation problem I experienced. On the oil tank, he has welded a new tapped boss on for the oil temperature sender on the new gauge. | ||
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Back in the garage, it was finally time to fit the sump. Craig came round to lend a hand
as it is a bit of a balancing act trying to get everything on, and much easier with an
extra pair of hands. After a bit of fiddling it was done - pretty straight forward really,
I just hope it all works! I then set about fitting all the remaining bolts and pinching
them up. At this point, disaster struck! As I put threadlock and tightened the last bolt
it suddenly went very 'soft'. Fortuantely the whole bolt came back out again, but something
is wrong. I replaced it with another bolt that felt like it wanted to do much the same
thing. After later showing the bolt to Craig (he's a materials engineer), I think I might be best placed to replace them all, since this should not happen to a steel bolt into an alloy thread. So I'll have to work out what is wrong with the thread for this bolt which means the sump all has to come off again < sigh > I could just leave it and hope, but it would be an even bigger sigh if it leaked and all the oil has to come out again. |
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So after a lunch break, I spent some time cleaning out the oil tank with petrol to ensure that it was clear of swarf (Steve said there might be a tiny bit - he was right). Whilst I was on, I also cleaned up all the oil drip trays now that it's all done dripping. Had the sump not got to come off again, the next job would be to start re-assembling the oil system. Part of this is installing the capilliaries for the new oil gauge, but this can still be done by just dry fitting the oil tank in position. So that's the rest of the afternoons work, alternating between being under the car and under the dash to thread the pipes through the bulkhead. With them threaded forwards, I dry fit the oil pressure flexible and work out where the tee piece is going to live. This means I can then finalise the capilliaries and feed the slack back to be looped up behind the dash. Next trick is to work how the oil pressure switch works, so I can work out what wiring it needs, then I can fix the capilliaries in with the loom. |
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| 10th February 2005 |
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The saga continues. After much thought, I decided that it really was for the
best to remove the sump again, sort the damaged thread out, and replace all the
bolts holding it on. So that requires bits - replacement bolts and a thread repair
kit for the crankcase. Now ordered. In the meantime, I actually decided it was best to leave it alone and get my head back, as I seem to be making quite a deal out of doing this job, and am getting fed up of having to redo work. So I ignored the sump for a few days. Feeling like doing something, I decided to look at the wiring for the adjustable oil pressure switch. Really I should have known better. I spent one evening extending some wires and re-wrapping the loom all nicely. Then I decided there is a better position for the tee piece, so I spent another evening undoing all I'd done, and doing it again differently. I've also had to order a different adapter for the flexible to get it to do a right turn, oh and some longer flexible < sigh > this just isn't much fun at the moment. I did drop the sump to start to clean it up and have a proper look at the damaged thread - this confirmed its deadness, must eat less spinach or something. The plan is to either recoil repair the thread to accept a new M6 bolt, or possibly to tap it out to M8 - since both will require a 7mm or so drill up the existing thread, I'm a bit undecided. Either way, drilling the crankcase is a fun prospect, and I'll need to get the car much higher into the air (or take the engine out). I'll take some pictures when the bits turn up and/or I can be bothered... :-( |
| 12th February 2005 | |
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Fortunately some bits have turned up, unfortunately others haven't, so that means that
I won't be able to get the sump back on over the weekend - I'm still awaiting the
replacement bolts and thread repair kit. Still I can start on some of the prep work, so
I popped round to Craigs to loan his M6 tap (yes I really ought to buy my own), to clean
out the other threads in the crankcase which are a bit clagged up with a combination of
threadlock and instant gasket. I actually started by running the tap into the thread which is damaged, and by a stroke of luck I managed to get the thread restarted! Seems like I have lost the first few mm of the thread, but once I'd run the tap down it a few times, the remaining 10mm or so seems to be fine. This is great news, as all I'll need to do is use a slightly longer bolt in this hole and all should be well - no need for thread repairing (hmmm despite having already laid out for a repair kit). Some good news at last. The next hour or so (!) was spent carefully cleaning out the other 15 threads. |
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| As I said, I can't go any further with the sump job until I get more bits - although I did finish cleaning all the gasket off the sump pan and the baffle - but some bits did arrive for the oil pressure flexible. I decided that it would be a better fit if it did a 90 degree turn out of the engine, and then curve around the side of the gearbox. So with the adapter to do this, and bit of longer flexible, I was able to remake the pipe with the new fittings. I also finished off the wiring for this, and started to re-attach the loom and the capilliaries to the engine mounting frame. |
| 13th February 2005 | ||
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Another cold day in the garage, and I can now continue with working backwards from
oil pressure flexible towards the dashboard and the gauge. So for starters I final
fit the collection of adapters and the flexible. I used a little threadlock on the
first one which goes into the crankcase, as this is not a tapered thread and just
seems to tighten right down onto the face. Then I fit the flexible and it is all ready to be tie-wrapped to the lower engine mount cradle, but I'll save this job until after I have it all running so that I can check for leaks, and adjust the adjustable pressure switch to an appropriate level (just above hot idle oil pressure). |
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I continued to track the capilliaries back towards the dash. When I got to the large
collection of wires and connectors above the the engine output flange, I discovered
an old problem I've seen before. I'd actually forgotten all about this one. I found
a lot of the wires were well oiled, because it seems the cam position sensor is again
drawing oil down the inside of the wire. I saw this before back in
April 2003, and I had thought that I'd
got a replacement sensor, but re-reading the diary I can't see that I did. Anyway, this consumed quite a bit of time, stripping this all out, and cleaning up all the oiled wires and connectors. In a (probably vain) bid to try to stop it from happening again, I ran some solder into the ends of the wires at the connectors. Once this was done and all tied back up, I was cold enough to pack up for the day. |
| 14th February 2005 | |
| A brief blast in the garage this evening to continue working the capilliaries towards the gauge. For the adjustable pressure switch, I have reused the wiring which had become redundant by the change of oil temperature sensor. So there's a small amount of re-working of this wiring required behind the dash. I started doing this, but it got quite fiddly, so I decided to make life easier by removing the dash. This gives much better access to do a better job on the wiring, I just need to think about the best way to shuffle it around. |
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| 15th February 2005 |
| Hurrah the sump is back on the car again. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get the oil system all back connected and turn the engine over - fingers crossed that everything is sealed ok... |
| 22nd February 2005 |
| Haven't had time to work on the car, but did spend one cold evening this week in the garage trying to press on with getting it back together. Having fitted the sump last week, the next step was to refit the oil tank. I decided to make some new spacers to hold it a bit more neatly and squarely. This is pretty simple, but takes a little time, and soon enough the tank is firmly refitted. |
| 27th February 2005 | |
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Still haven't had much time to work on the car, as I had to work on the other
car yesterday to service and ready it for its MOT. Also it's been really cold
for the last few weeks, which means my hands stop working after about an hour
or so in the garage! I did get a couple of hours this afternoon to make some more progress. I bought some new jubilee clips so that I can refit the oil pipes to the sump pan, scavenge pump, and oil tank. I also changed the oil filter, and primed the oil cooler before refitting its pipework. Oh and I was delivered a replacement battery flylead for connecting to the conditioner. This one has a waterproof cover, which I hope will prevent the corrosion which has made the previous one not work so well. |
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| 28th February 2005 |
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Another cold evening in the garage, but I need to catch on progress with the
car. So I spent some time working out the best way and fitting the new battery
flylead - I'm not sure it might not be a bit fiddly, but I'll give it a try. I also spent some time buzzing out the wiring behind the dash to work out what is what, so that I can decide what bits I need to get ordered. Once the wiring is sorted, then I should be able to give the engine a try. |
| ©2002-2009 David Hackett |
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