Hi guys,

Some of you may know of the K series project in a 130GL I have been attempting for the last 8 months, well it's in and it starts and runs!!

I am just looking for some tips on effectively bleeding the cooling system as I have never done it before on an Estelle and by all accounts it's not the easiest!

Any tips as always are greatfully recieved.

Cheers, Dave

open the bleed tap at the front while filling and have the heater on hot.

i fitted a tyre valve in my expansion tank so it could be pressurised off a foot pump and force the air out the bleed when the engine is hot and the stat open

hi im thinking of the same sort of thing 4 my estelle got this thread from hawkeracing on the international skoda forum!! have u mounted the k series engine 2 your skoda trans axel or have u mounted the mgf sub frame 2 the skoda any help u can give would b the dogs ********?? also ive tried 2 join this forum but i have struggled 2 get this done but when i do r your question/answers in rwd skodas MANY THANKS!! **RODASKODA**

hi im thinking of the same sort of thing 4 my estelle got this thread from hawkeracing on the international skoda forum!! have u mounted the k series engine 2 your skoda trans axel or have u mounted the mgf sub frame 2 the skoda any help u can give would b the dogs ********?? also ive tried 2 join this forum but i have struggled 2 get this done but when i do r your question/answers in rwd skodas MANY THANKS!! **RODASKODA**

Hey Rodaskoda,

First off welcome, and go for it, it's a challenge but hell it's fun to try!

I have mounted the engine to the original skoda trans axle welding my own engine mounts to it to get the position of the engine and the driveshaft angles correct. I warn you now it's a bloody close fit, I have about 2mm of space between the pulley and cross bar, however if this becomes a problem in the future I can machine down the K series pulley as it has space for 2 belts and I only require 1 for the alternator. I have fitted a 1.6 K but a 1.8vvc should not be too much of a struggle, some things you will have to think about are 1) Mateing the gearbox to the engine - I achieved this by first making a template in 1 mm steel then getting an engineering shop produce it in 8mm (£150) 2) machining the end of the crank to accept a bearing which fits the outputshaft of the gearbox - I think the bearing I used was a 6202-2rs (google for dimensions) 3) Modifying the bulkhead, the Rover throttle body and a water outlet on the engine are about 10mm from the bulkhead when trial fitted - I cut out and welded in place a box to accomodate a U bend between the trottle boby and the inlet manifold so the airfilter can be mounted facing toward the rear of the car 4)Wiring and ECU If you wish to use the original Rover ECU then you need a matching ECU, immobiliser, alarm and key fob or use an aftermarket ECU like an Emerald - I used the original ECU but got around the need for the Alarm etc. by having the immobiliser removed from the ECU by ECUclinic (£140) 5) Source a fuel pump, obviously the Estelle is mechanical and you need an out of tank high pressure external one - A lot of cars betwen 88-94 had this type of pump Cavalier,Nova,Golf etc I got one from a Merc C180 from a scrapyard (£20) 6) Exhaust - I used the original header with a flexible exhaust pipe straight to the backbox (£50) very short but not horrifically noisey by any means! 7) Alternator belt routing - I had to get a bearing machined into an additional Rover idler pulley which I mounted on one of the engine mount to block bolts.

These were the hardest bits for me to accomplish, as far as I am aware this is the first K engined Estelle, certainly the first I have found documented in any way on the internet. It is still a bit rough around the edges, wiring needs tidying, I need to sort the throttle cable as I am struggling to get full throttle on the K throttle body from the Estelle pedal and of course get the system bled properly!!!

I am in Bath if you have any other questions feel free to ask I will be as much help as I can, I will also attempt to post some pics soon showing some of the mods.

Dave

Oh one last thing, I am an MG owner and have found the MGBBS "K series & Twin cam midget & B's" section an invaluable source of info with very intelligent and helpful members, check it's archives for any problems you are suffering as they have been putting K's int classics for years now!

hi thanks 4 the info i will b lookin at this in depth now. just as a thought i think i might try all the running gear of the mgf and c if this can b fitted as im thinking that the skoda trans axel might not take the 150 bhp + wot bhp have u got??

also with your conversion wot car did your engine come out of as thay do the k series engine in front wheel drive cars aswell but this means your option or engine / box and mid mount wots your thoughts (was your engine an mgf rear mounted engine its just i need 2 b sure as i want a whole car as will give everything i need inc ecu & loom gearbox and running if needed. but these whole cars r still quite dear unless i get 1 with headgasket needs doing( i ant going down that road) its got 2 b a runner b 4 i strip it **RODASKODA** IF U WISH U CAN SEND PHOTO'S 2 [email protected] ( i would b very very gratefull 4 your help)

hi thanks 4 the info i will b lookin at this in depth now. just as a thought i think i might try all the running gear of the mgf and c if this can b fitted as im thinking that the skoda trans axel might not take the 150 bhp + wot bhp have u got??

also with your conversion wot car did your engine come out of as thay do the k series engine in front wheel drive cars aswell but this means your option or engine / box and mid mount wots your thoughts (was your engine an mgf rear mounted engine its just i need 2 b sure as i want a whole car as will give everything i need inc ecu & loom gearbox and running if needed. but these whole cars r still quite dear unless i get 1 with headgasket needs doing( i ant going down that road) its got 2 b a runner b 4 i strip it **RODASKODA** IF U WISH U CAN SEND PHOTO'S 2 [email protected] ( i would b very very gratefull 4 your help)

Hey, glad to help,

A 1.6 K produces around 110bhp standard with cat without cat which is what I am obviously running should be more like 120bhp so about 140-150 bhp per tonne in an Estelle. My engine came from a FWD 1997 416, I havent really looked at an MGF in too much detail but if the gearbox is any larger you will need to do major mods to the tunnel as it's a pretty tight fit, also gear linkage will have to be thought about along with ensuring geometry between gearstick, driveshafts and engine mounts will all fit. Just about anything is possible but it will take quite a lot more investigation and calculations to get it all right. I will get some pics across to you in a day or two!

Dave

help fireye im having a crisis all this machineing bearings wireing has me wanting 2 sell the estelle and do another track car!! did use the loom from the 416 and was it hard 2 sort out wot u needed 2 run the engine and im asuming u left the orignal wireing loom in place 4 all the lights etc!! also with pics of the mounts would really give me a good idea of wot i need 2 do 2 mount the engine!! the 1 thing thats really bothering me big time is the machineing of something in the trans axel 2 mate the engine as i only have 1 trans axel so i cant get it wrong!! also bearing im overwellmed by all this it seems 2 b a hell of a lot of work but also there sounds like alot of margins 4 me 2 f*** this up. i dont want 2 sell it but would u b able 2 run me through 1 job at a time as this would b the nuts if i can get it right and so much fun on the track!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wots the biggest engine thay do with k series thats the same as yours with out going down the mgf route (in a cheap car) as these r £600 upwards and thay all have head gaskets gone more money b4 i start

HELP HELP??????????????????????????????

hawkracing your right i just needed 2 b told **ALL SKODA PART R NOT 4 SALE MOVE ALONG THERES NOTHIN 2 C HERE**

help fireye im having a crisis all this machineing bearings wireing has me wanting 2 sell the estelle and do another track car!! did use the loom from the 416 and was it hard 2 sort out wot u needed 2 run the engine and im asuming u left the orignal wireing loom in place 4 all the lights etc!! also with pics of the mounts would really give me a good idea of wot i need 2 do 2 mount the engine!! the 1 thing thats really bothering me big time is the machineing of something in the trans axel 2 mate the engine as i only have 1 trans axel so i cant get it wrong!! also bearing im overwellmed by all this it seems 2 b a hell of a lot of work but also there sounds like alot of margins 4 me 2 f*** this up. i dont want 2 sell it but would u b able 2 run me through 1 job at a time as this would b the nuts if i can get it right and so much fun on the track!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wots the biggest engine thay do with k series thats the same as yours with out going down the mgf route (in a cheap car) as these r £600 upwards and thay all have head gaskets gone more money b4 i start

HELP HELP??????????????????????????????

First off don't panic, no engine conversion is easy unless you do a like for like swap, I used the engine loom from the rover, keeping the both parts of the connector plug (which mates the engine and main rover loom) pluss about 18 inches of the main loom to the connnector. Then connected the required skoda wires to the end of these wires, this way you can still separate the engine loom from the body of the car with a single connector. There are very few wires you really need to get the car started, and the gauges working, you need a switched live from the ignition barrel, the coolant temp wire from the gauges, the charge warning light which is the blueish wire which connects to the alternator, the oil pressure switch wire from the guages and the Tacho wire from the guages. Then finally you need a permanent live from the +ve on the battery to the starter motor and the alternator. Everything else is contained within the rover or skoda looms.

As for the machining, the only mod to the transaxle is to cut out room from the bellhousing for the starter to sit, this can be done without worry of messing things up as you don't modify anything that moves, worst that happens if you give up is you have a hole in the bellhousing but it canstill be mounted back up to the original engine and work just fine. The part you need to machine for the bearing is the end of the crank, this is done by removing the flywheel and removing enough material from the end of the crank so that when you reattach the flywheel the bearing can sit flush with flywheel face.

As for engines, the 1.6 and 1.8 are pretty much exactly the same apart from the head, the 1.8vvc is a bit different and a bit more complex wiring wise as the vvc need a few more inputs but saying that when people do k series conversions they often go for the vvc so there is a lot of info out there on that engine.

I will email some pics now for you

Hey all

People have been asking, so here's a link to an album with a few pics of the K series installation,

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=284550&id=535734198&l=6cc627b4e4

Hope these are helpful to those who are interested