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[Kevin Wood]

I'll book some more weekday meetings at MoD then

Sounds like a plan.

So is it getting the original power plant back or something more interesting..........

I think it'll be put back together pretty much as it was for now. I have an appointment with some very nice roads in Scotland in September which I don't want to miss.

However, I might take to task upgrading it during the winter. Beats driving it on ice again.

Even a v6 with a flat delivery curve would go well.  And a compact 54degree one would probably fit easily.

Yep. Toured with one with an X30XE fitted last year. Very tidy and plenty of room. I must dig out the photos I took of it.

As Kevin Wood's is the wide chassis, guessing a proper v8 would fit, though I can see traction being a challenge

Basically yes. New bonnet with a bulge required. I think the V8 had a top mounted pedal box whereas mine's bottom mounted but I think that was done to fit the Zetec in reasonably far back so V8 would probably work with my configuration. think there was a little more bracing round the diff on the V8 chassis. Other than that, it's the same.

V8 westies are quite traction-limited, in all gears, to the point where you need to be very careful and can't ever let red mist take over, which is a shame, IHMO. Some swear by them, I'm not sure it's the way to go. They feel notably more lardy with the advantage that you don't need to change gear any more. :-/

They are fitting the Z16LER engine to more recent models. Looks a tidy little lump for that much grunt. I wonder how much tuning they will take?

It already has quite a quick natasp 4 pot in it so to be worth hacking it about it needs to be a radical change, either to forced induction, more cylinders, much reduced weight or several of the above, IMHO.

.. but back on the road would be a vast improvement over the status quo.

Kevin

[Darth Loo-knee]

I too look forward to seeing your pictures Kevin

I still cant get over how light the car was (when the engine was in ) I have a nice 3.0 here waiting for a similar project

[Kevin Wood]

I too look forward to seeing your pictures Kevin

I still cant get over how light the car was (when the engine was in )

Should have seen me unload it from the trailer single-handedly with no front wheels yesterday. Thought I was going to be flattened when the back wheels set off down the rams but no. Pulled it off the trailer, pushed it up the drive and into the garage. As 2woody commented, just a large wheelbarrow.

I have a nice 3.0 here waiting for a similar project

Go for it. Get a cheap 2nd hand one with a cr@ppy old Ford crossflow or similar and give it a bit of a transformation.

Kevin

[CaptainZok]

I too look forward to seeing your pictures Kevin

I still cant get over how light the car was (when the engine was in )

Should have seen me unload it from the trailer single-handedly with no front wheels yesterday. Thought I was going to be flattened when the back wheels set off down the rams but no. Pulled it off the trailer, pushed it up the drive and into the garage. As 2woody commented, just a large wheelbarrow.

I have a nice 3.0 here waiting for a similar project

Go for it. Get a cheap 2nd hand one with a cr@ppy old Ford crossflow or similar and give it a bit of a transformation.

Kevin

That would obviously require tins of paint of the shade known in the trade as dog's c**k pink.

[Kevin Wood]

That would obviously require tins of paint of the shade known in the trade as dog's c**k pink.

.. unless he could find a suitably faded example originally finished in "post orifice red".

Kevin

[Kevin Wood]

Thanks to Chrisgixer for helping yesterday , and apologies for running out of pop rivets before the job was done.

Will try to get some more pictures up soon.

Repair sections of chassis blown over with a couple of coats from a rattle can.
Most of the ali. panels now back on. 2 Floor panels pending a delivery of 4mm pop rivets to finish the job
Pedals and master cylinder fitted.
Engine bay brake lines and wiring loom routed and secured.
Steering column and rack fitted.
Front suspension and brakes assembled.
Front mudguard brackets sprayed ready to fit.

Kevin

[feeutfo]

Your welcome Kev, some urgency now perhaps? Although, I think he's grown up enough to do his own by now though.

[Mr Skrunts]

So is it getting the original power plant back or something more interesting..........

What is the original power plant that came out?

[Kevin Wood]

So is it getting the original power plant back or something more interesting..........

What is the original power plant that came out?

It's a 2 Litre F**d Zetec with a ported head & fast road cams on Jenvey throttle bodies. Some pictures of it to follow as I've been changing the cam belt and timing up the cams last night.

Kevin

[Kevin Wood]

[movedhere] Omega Gallery [move by] Kevin Wood after another admin pointed out that it is, after all, an Omega gallery. 

I will try to keep this updated with progress as the rebuild continues, and try to take pictures wherever possible, although it's not always easy to remember when pressing on with the work.

Kevin

[omegadan67]

I'll book some more weekday meetings at MoD then

Sounds like a plan.

So is it getting the original power plant back or something more interesting..........

I think it'll be put back together pretty much as it was for now. I have an appointment with some very nice roads in Scotland in September which I don't want to miss.

However, I might take to task upgrading it during the winter. Beats driving it on ice again.

Even a v6 with a flat delivery curve would go well.  And a compact 54degree one would probably fit easily.

Yep. Toured with one with an X30XE fitted last year. Very tidy and plenty of room. I must dig out the photos I took of it.

As Kevin Wood's is the wide chassis, guessing a proper v8 would fit, though I can see traction being a challenge

Basically yes. New bonnet with a bulge required. I think the V8 had a top mounted pedal box whereas mine's bottom mounted but I think that was done to fit the Zetec in reasonably far back so V8 would probably work with my configuration. think there was a little more bracing round the diff on the V8 chassis. Other than that, it's the same.

V8 westies are quite traction-limited, in all gears, to the point where you need to be very careful and can't ever let red mist take over, which is a shame, IHMO. Some swear by them, I'm not sure it's the way to go. They feel notably more lardy with the advantage that you don't need to change gear any more. :-/

They are fitting the Z16LER engine to more recent models. Looks a tidy little lump for that much grunt. I wonder how much tuning they will take?

It already has quite a quick natasp 4 pot in it so to be worth hacking it about it needs to be a radical change, either to forced induction, more cylinders, much reduced weight or several of the above, IMHO.

.. but back on the road would be a vast improvement over the status quo.

Kevin

C20let or Z20let lumps are quite light and are force fed air fairly easy to tune too i might add

[Kevin Wood]

Here's the chassis after being wheeled back into the garage and set up at a comfortable working height.



My long-suffering workmate comes in handy again.



Forward of the bulkhead the chassis is bare - and nice and new. 8-) Side panels have been loosened and floor panels removed to allow them to fit the chassis into the jigs.



After Chris and I worked on it on Sunday. Side panels back on. Steering rack and front suspension loosely mounted.



Master cylinder, wiring loom and brake lines in. What? Were you expecting to see a brake servo?



Steering column and pedals in (viewed from below).

[Kevin Wood]

The engine was due a cam belt change before it so inconsiderately punted me off the road and up a grass bank, so makes sense to do it while it's out. Cam cover off, and it's looking nice and clean for 48k in this car and 84k in a previous life.



(Avert your eyes now) Crankshaft locking tool.



Now, the cams on this engine are modified, which means they are ground from OEM cams or OEM blank castings. The alignment grooves cast into the cams are rendered inaccurate when they are reground with a different profile and, in any case, the clearances are much tighter due to the more aggressive profile, so accurate cam timing is vital. To that end, we must time the cams the hard way.

Firstly, we mount a protractor on the crank to measure the crank angle.



Then we use a DTI on number 1 piston to find the true top dead centre of the engine.



.. and align the protractor with a datum at TDC.



Then we use the DTI on the cam follower of one of no.1's valves to measure where (in this case) the valve is fully open, and read the angle from the protractor.

I tend to find the reading at maximum valve lift and then turn the engine clockwise through the cycle, taking a reading a few 100ths of a millimetre before and after the lift has peaked. Then calculate the mid point between the two angles and this should give an accurate indication of the cam timing. In this case we're looking for the intake valve to be fully open 110 degrees after TDC and the exhaust valve 114 degrees before TDC.





The cam pulleys have a vernier adjustment (scale just visible in the lower left) to allow small adjustments to easily be made.



It's a bit of a faff, but essential to get the best out of the cams.

Kevin

[Dishevelled Den]

Great photographs complimenting a very interesting thread. 8-) 8-)

[feeutfo]

Interesting stuff Kev.