Project Custard - Gearbox issues

[Anonymous]

Will need to get hold of
Engine hangers and chains
Hoist (pos rent or borrow)
Engine stand (maybe buy from ebay)

I do have a block and tackle set - approx 1 tonne lift capacity and I think I may still have my the beam hanger for it as well. You are more than welcome to use it for as long as you like.

Rob.

[E]

Oh no!   Im really sorry to hear about this. Keep your chin up mate, im sure you will have him up and running better than ever in next to no time

[markiii]

you might just squeeze it past teh grey crossmember but if so it will be very tight

easier to drop teh cross member, hubs and suspension as one unit, then teh engine

[custardavenger]

you might just squeeze it past the grey crossmember but if so it will be very tight

easier to drop the cross member, hubs and suspension as one unit, then the engine

Is that because of the intake manifold or just the sixe of the block? Was thinking I may be able to lift it forward enough to remove that?

[markiii]

block gets deeper as it goes upso you'll have to angle it to stand a chance of getting it past which is easier said than done

general consensus from thsoe on SC that have done a few is it's much quicker to drop teh crossmember

so I did it that way

[custardavenger]

Fair enough. Will have a look into what that entails. I guess I'll have to remove a fair amount of suspension anyway to remove the drive shafts. Hust wanted to keep the wheels on for a bit so I can roll it back out the garage. Ta Mark

[markiii]

just a thought because I never did this in teh end, but I was toying with a couple of boards with castors specced so they sit just under teh chassis rails

should allow you to wheel it about with no wheels or engine

[aaronjb]

Mechanics creeper and a big lump o' 2x4 would probably work.

Or our ghetto shopping trolley  s;) s;)

[custardavenger]

Probably wouldn't work for me mark as I would need to get it up a slope and also its tarmac so i'd need very big castors for it not to dig in. That said if I can do one for the front as well it will mean I could get all my brakes off and apart and maybe push it to the other side of the garage. Will concider it but it may not be worth it for my aplication.

I was gonna make a frame to sit under the engine so that it can be lowered onto the floor. Will maybe help anyone doing a removal without a pit.

If anyone wants something made like this while I'm on it please let me know.

[custardavenger]

Ok have bought the engine hangers. they were cheap so guessingthe arn't naything special. Again does anyone know the weight of the engine. It's so I can price hiosts.

[Anonymous]

OUCH -- I just saw this topic after searching for "Copilot" (I will be updating it soon) and noticed the "Oops Blown engine".    s:o s:o     I skimmed through and saw that Aaron (who is very good with Copilot) gave good advise.  Yes, you had the timing changes backwards.   One small point... Copilot will change both the IGN and IGL maps when auto tuning the timing in response to knock.   Only one of them seems to be used, though.  It retards both by the same amount.   Copilot will only retard timing... never advance it... so it is safe to use.  There are other safeguards in place, like the Min IGN and Min IGL maps (it will only retard as far as you say it can).

[custardavenger]

OUCH -- I just saw this topic after searching for "Copilot" (I will be updating it soon) and noticed the "Oops Blown engine".    s:o s:o     I skimmed through and saw that Aaron (who is very good with Copilot) gave good advise.  Yes, you had the timing changes backwards.   One small point... Copilot will change both the IGN and IGL maps when auto tuning the timing in response to knock.   Only one of them seems to be used, though.  It retards both by the same amount.   Copilot will only retard timing... never advance it... so it is safe to use.  There are other safeguards in place, like the Min IGN and Min IGL maps (it will only retard as far as you say it can).

Cheers Beanie. Still haven't got copilot working yet as I cannot get the LC1 to talk to the laptop. As I have said before I reaslise its good software but it's just too dam complicated for me at the moment and I know where I am with FC-edit. And yes I was getting it the wrong way round. that was not the cause of my engine popping.  ta for the advise anyway

[custardavenger]

Ok so time for an update me thinks.

My car is now safely tucked up in my Mum's garage awiating me getting the garage sorted out to be able to remove the engine with no hassles. I'm hoping to have it out the weekend 17th October, but before I do I want to get my inspection pit sorted out, fix a beam to lift the engine and but an engine stand and car cover. I'm guessing I may keep the car off the road for the winter as I want to get alot of stuff done and I think now is the best oportunity. So as well as getting the engine done I will hopefully

Remove and paint all the rusty brackets
Fit charge cooler rad
Make parts and work out charge cooler
Move battery (smaller one?)
Make rear crash bar
Make diffuser
Full brakes (paint calipers, fit brake lines, disks etc)
Replace lamps for LED types
Paint front grill, rocker cover etc
Play with throttle body pipework and breather systems
Wrap manifold
Make front brace (tom's copy)
Make midship brace (corky's copy but in steel)
Mend all the things that don't work.

So not much to do. lol. Best pull my finger out.

[custardavenger]

Right so after a lot of preparation of the garage I spent the weekend taking the engine out. I was amazed how well it went. First good thing was that the glue on my spoiler has given up so it can apart from the bumper. I gonna do some asking about and maybe get the bumpers sprayed.

After taking the gearbox off (I've had way to much practise at this) I disonnected the electrical loom and lowered the complete engine out the bottome of the car ( Suspension member in place!).

Engine stripped in a couple of hours. As the engine isn't as old as the car it was all in good nick. Damage was as expected, melted piston. The bore has alot of aluminium bdeposiye on it so will have to get that off before I know whether it's damaged but it looks/feels fine. There maybe an issue with the con rod as it's tight on the gudgeon pin and it's either covered in aluminium deposit or had it's coating burned off. Also I'll need to replace the big end shells as my mate had an accident with a screwdriver.

I haven't had the valves out yet but the head looks great so I'm not too worried about that.

Now I just have to decide what to replace or upgrade.

Pics to follow.

[custardavenger]

Ok got pic host sorted now so here's some of the engine coming out.

[loadswine]

Nice pics Rob and it looked as though it went smoothly. Please watch that joist though mate, if that's all that's carrying the load. I've seen a beam fail loaded like that, so if you here any timber cracking, get out of the way.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  
Good garage that, by the looks of things as well, wish I had one.

[E]

Wow I want that pit.
Good luck with the rebuild mate.

[custardavenger]

Cheers guys. I do love that garage but it been a really stress sorting the pit out. Have just changed the steel work around the edge.

As for the beam Nige. It's fine as I'll only be using it for lifting small engines and the pit jack. Will never carry more than 500KG and also if you notice in one of the pics I put a prop in to support the beam.

Will post some pics of the damage later and a few oldones of the most recent intake design that I didn't get round to posting before.

[northernalex]

Nice setup in your garage there.. loving all the space and the pit.. !! wish I had a garage like that !  s:) s:)

[aaronjb]

Genius.. Mark, why didn't we do it like that eh?

[markiii]

I was just wondering the same  :-) :-) :-)

[custardavenger]

(blushes) Genius may be going a bit far. I'm just lazy and don't like to struggle.

As ever I offer the use of the pit, tools and my services to anyone in the club who needs it.

[loadswine]

Genius.. Mark, why didn't we do it like that eh?

That's one for next time. I think Rob's pit is a little wider.
Rob, presumably you got the driveshaft out from the gearbox on the nearside okay, which made removing the box easier and hence the engine. Nice!

[northernalex]

(blushes) Genius may be going a bit far. I'm just lazy and don't like to struggle.

As ever I offer the use of the pit, tools and my services to anyone in the club who needs it.

Very generous offer... where's Enid and his stars ?  s:) s:)

[custardavenger]

Yeah I disconnected the nearside suspension and removed the drive shaft that side. Then suspended the engine removed gearbox and A/C pump, then it was just the one mount and the electrics to disconnect. Oh and the fuel line but I am gonna order the tool for this so then I won't need to disconnect the rail from the engine. It took about 4 hrs to strip exhaust, SC, driveshaft electrics and get to the point of lifting the gearbox off. Then had to wait for my mate to come over and we had the engine out and stripped in about 3-4 hours. Not bad going but then I've had the gearbox of a few times now, plus this time all bolts were bagged and labeled. Only thing I didn't like is that I'm used to removing the head in situ and undoing the head bolts in a controlled manner on the engine stand isn't easy. If I was doing it alot I would bolt the stand to the floor.