Alex's red Mk1 Fabia vRS BMN/BLT 16v hybrid - GTBvklr

[hutchysrs50]

Just reread it to confirm and think I've got my wires crossed, but here's the link, very boring read mind

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/385933-oil-light-on/#entry4522611

[alex_e3]

So this happened today...

 

 

 

The piston has indeed cracked and also has a big chip out of the middle of it...

 

 

 

 

 

Rest of the pistons are fine...

 

 

 

 

 

So, I have decided that I'm 100% going for a hybrid BLT/BKD engine. Block will be bored out and new BKD pistons fitted, along with forged rods, ARP bolts and new bearings. Then the head fitted and got up and running, along with a VKLR conversion with larger billet compressor wheel   I won't be able to start for at least another month, as funds are tight at the minute after having to buy another car and pay for insurance. Can't bloody wait to get started though

Edited 4 November, 2017 by alex_e3

[hutchysrs50]

Ouch, same cylinder as the other one or different cylinders failed?

Edited 18 February, 2016 by hutchysrs50

[alex_e3]

Exactly the same. Same mods virtually, very similar mileage since the conversion, both went in the same fashion (with oil everywhere!), same piston, same crack...

 

Not good!

[Southy]

Jealous of your engine stand Alex

Edited 18 February, 2016 by Southy

[alex_e3]

Jealous of your engine stand Alex

 

Seriously pal, you work in an engine builders place - why do you not have one of these?! Or many?!!

[Southy]

For some reason my whole comment didn't post. I said I'm Jealous of your engine stand Alex I could do with one of those myself, you can't stand the PD lump up on its sump like you can a Mini engine haha

We have 2 af these at work and the rest are built on benches. The 2 we have have had several engines sat on them for a while haha

Edited 18 February, 2016 by Southy

[fergy]

Would fitting a full bkd engine not be easier than boring block out for new pistons or are engine mounts different

[devonutopia]

Would fitting a full bkd engine not be easier than boring block out for new pistons or are engine mounts different

 

I thought this but after spending out on my head and the hardpipe kits that go to the intake manifold on the back of the engine, I didn't want to mess around with a whole new engine.  I'll be boring out a spare block, using my forged rods, and fitting the BHW pistons.  Pistons should literally be the only actual new part I need to achieve the conversion, if you ignore things like all the stretch bolts - The massive amount of hours won't be nice either.

[alex_e3]

Would fitting a full bkd engine not be easier than boring block out for new pistons or are engine mounts different

 

I could fit a full BKD lump. The problem being that getting the EDC16 ECU to work with the rest of the car would be a big problem. On the other hand, I could use the ECU15 ECU from my car. The problem with that being that the crank sensor is completely different to the ASZ/BLT block.

 

Hence the solution is to use my bottom end (with standard crank sensor), then reposition the cam sensor pickup ring on the back of the camshaft pulley. This way, the engine is picking up the same engine position readings as before. Then it's just a case of getting John to take the BKD injector maps across and hopefully all will be well!

[alex_e3]

Stripped the engine down this afternoon.

 

Crank pulley was a pain in the backside, so managed to find some steel hanging about and made this...

 

 

Used it to counter-hold the crankshaft...

 

 

Still took two of us and a tremendous amount of force to remove the crank pulley bolt! Then the crank pulley was a pain to even remove, despite the Haynes manual giving it the old 'then slide off the crankshaft pulley bolt' !!

 

 

After a while, this was the picture...

 

 

 

 

Main and big end bearings were pretty good. Some slight wear on some and a couple of nicks on one of the mains, but not bad condition for 135k miles...

 

 

 

 

 

Crankshaft was in very good condition...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still planning on getting it polished before it's refitted with new bearings however.

 

 

Ok, so onto the offending article. Piston was far more damaged than I first realised...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a result, the bore is also damaged. This doesn't both me though, as it's getting bored out anyway!...

 

 

 

Other bores look spot on...

 

 

 

 

 

On having a closer look at the piston, it seems to have failed first above the gudgeon pin hole. The hole in it then caused the crack to propagate either way. I actually picked up the piece of the piston that was missing - it was in the sump! So I imagine the head is fine (although I will get it checked out to make sure).

 

I'm tempted to take the block into work and perform some NDT on it with dye penetrant and UV light just to make sure that it's ok before going further with it. Plus out of interest I may inspect the other pistons too, to see if there were any cracks starting to form that can't be seen with the naked eye.

Edited 4 November, 2017 by alex_e3

[hutchysrs50]

Are these block suitable to bore out to the next size up then?

Will the next weakest point then be the cylinder wall or is there still plenty of room to play with?

Also what head gasket would you use?

[alex_e3]

The 2 litre block is in essence a bored out version of the 1.9 block.

The BKD block even has '1.9/2.0' stamped on the block!

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

[alex_e3]

Hence it's more than fine! The one and only reason I'm not using the full BKD engine is because of the crank sensor location.

Head gasket will be a normal BKD one. I'll measure my piston protrusion and pick the suitably holed gasket.

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

[MidWalesVRS]

I know it's not an ideal situation this, but makes for a really interesting read and will be good to see the progress..

Interesting to see the PD lump in pieces as well!

[chris-H]

"Hence it's more than fine! The one and only reason I'm not using the full BKD engine is because of the crank sensor location.

Head gasket will be a normal BKD one. I'll measure my piston protrusion and pick the suitably holed gasket"

Awesome thread, dedication and experimentation like this is what got men on the moon....!!!

Keep plugging away pal, fascinating stuff.

Edited 21 February, 2016 by chris-H

[devonutopia]

Hence it's more than fine! The one and only reason I'm not using the full BKD engine is because of the crank sensor location.

Head gasket will be a normal BKD one. I'll measure my piston protrusion and pick the suitably holed gasket.

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

I am kind of glad you are doing this before I am forced down this route.  I suspect I'll be referring back to this thread a lot.  My slight change of plan is I am now going to be using an ASZ lump out of a 100k mile Ibiza rather than the low miles BLT lump I got for this potential reason.  I sold that yesterday.  I figured staying ASZ would assist in the compatability stakes,  Hope the crank etc in it is as good as yours when it's opened up.

[alex_e3]

So... things have been quiet on this lately. The car has just been sat there doing nowt! One of the reasons is money, as had to spend a bit of money getting a car sorted quickly. Plus I've slowly been on the lookout for a second hand BKD engine to start work on the hybrid engine.

 

Today, this happened...

 

 

 

Hired a van from Enterprise for the bargain price of £31 for the day! Then had a hell of a day today travelling down to Bournemouth and back - over 540 miles done today. Absolutely knackered! Engine is now in my unit ready to be stripped down...

 

 

 

Regarding the engine itself, I've been very lucky! I was ideally looking for a BKD engine complete with everything. The first 2 revisions of the BKD heads however are prone to cracking. So I was looking for the 3rd revision which is apparently the best one to have by far. Other than that, the BMN PPD170 engine has pretty much the same head, but it's meant to be the best of the lot. Plus the exhaust cam is more aggressive as standard. So... this is a BMN PPD170 engine, complete with turbo and injectors for me to sell on to re-coup some cost! The guy who was selling it mistakenly believed that it was a BKD lump. So I've got an absolute bargain! As BMN engines are ludicrously expensive usually - just for a bare block too, never mind with turbo, manifold and injectors

 

So, now work can begin on mocking up the hybrid engine setup. I'll be putting the crank back in my bottom end for now, and fitting the BMN 16v head. Timing it all up and checking it over. Then I'll need to measure accordingly and reset the cam sensor pickup plate so that the ECU picks up TDC the same as it did before. After this, it'll be ripped apart again and the head will be getting sent off to NPS to get ported. I should also be getting a couple of new high lift cams back to compliment the head too. Then the bottom end machining and rebuild can begin.

 

Glad to start moving forward with this again slowly

Edited 4 November, 2017 by alex_e3

[Lofty]

Ground breaking - in the UK!

 

Looking forward to how this turns out, I admire your courage and drive to get it back better than ever mate :clap:

[MidWalesVRS]

Great stuff Alex - look forward to updates.

What sort of power would you be expecting from it?

[MidWalesVRS]

Great stuff Alex - look forward to updates.

What sort of power would you be expecting from it?

[alex_e3]

Great stuff Alex - look forward to updates.

What sort of power would you be expecting from it?

 

I'm not sure what it's realistically going to make. I know there are 8v engines out there supposedly pushing 350bhp with head work, cam and a big turbo.

 

The 16v head flows as well standard as a modded 8v one does apparently. I've got some really good flow data through from Marcus at NPS for the 16v head. So team that with a pair of his spec cams and surely 350bhp should be possible with a big enough turbo.

 

Main thing is that I don't want it un-drivable due to massive turbo lag. Hence my decision to send my 2260 off for a VKLR conversion. This should allow me to keep fairly good spool, but be able to fit a larger compressor wheel to hopefully deliver the volume of air that I'll need. I have a feeling that closer to 3bar is going to be needed to achieve a figure close to that though. 

[alex_e3]

Today I managed to spend a couple of hours down the unit. Started stripping the BMN engine down.

 

Ended up with this...

 

 

 

 

Big pile of parts. Some of which will be used on the new build, such as tandem pump, inlet manifold etc...

 

 

 

Here is the problem child of the build - the cam sensor location...

 

 

As can be seen in the picture, the cam sensor it attached pretty much directly underneath one of the cams. On the 8v cylinder head, the sensor is at a different angle. See the old pic below...

 

 

Hence I will be measuring up the difference in positions between the 2, then removing the backing pickup plate, rotating it by the amount the sensors differ in location, then re-weld it on. Accuracy is important here, so this will no doubt be the most fiddly part of the build. Once that's done, the ECU should pick up the same TDC from both cam and crank sensor, as it did previous. Hence just the BKD injector maps need taking across to my ECU then. In theory it sounds easy, in reality I'm sure it will be tricky to get spot on.

 

 

Also note in the photo that there is an extra roller for the timing belt. This attaches to the auxiliary bracket, which is different from my BLT engine. So I have to use this on my engine. I'm pretty hopeful that my alternator and air con pump are the same bolt pattern and dimensions. So they should bolt straight on hopefully.

 

 

I also took the chance to check my cylinder head code. Mine is 03G 103 308 C. The C being the important part. The A and B cylinder heads on the BKD were prone to cracking. Only the C heads were known to be far superior. The later BKD's and the BMN's came with the 'C' head only.

 

 

 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get back on it for a couple of hours. I need to remove the injector nozzles so it frees off the compression slightly. Then I will align it up at TDC and move the pulleys all the way to one side. Then measure carefully the position of the cam sensor. After this, I need to do the same with my BLT cylinder head.

Edited 4 November, 2017 by alex_e3

[alex_e3]

Couple more hours spent on the engine today.

 

Carried on stripping it down. Found a brand new clutch and flywheel on the engine I bought, which is a bonus!

 

 

For those wondering why I'm using my standard bottom end, here's the reason why...

 

 

The crank sensor takes a different pickup than my block, even though it is in essence the same casting. I've been told that the signal is a different type too. So in order for me to use my standard EDC15 ECU, I need to keep my bottom end with the standard crank sensor.

 

 

Started having a bit of a play with the cam sensor aspect of things. First up I timed the engine at TDC and locked in place...

 

 

 

For those in the know, the bottom pulley has different timing mark on it than my engine. Hence a different locking tool is used. Therefore I may have to use the bottom pulley off this engine. I need to take it off and inspect the keyways on them both.

 

 

I then got my old cylinder head and inserted the locking tool...

 

 

You can see by comparing the pictures that they both sit in the same position when locked. You can also see from the following pictures the differences in the cam sensor pickup plate between the engines. The notches are what you should be looking at in the pics, as that's what the sensor reads off magnetically...

 

 

 

 

So, a good couple of hours to help me get a better understanding of what it is I need to do. Some measurements and some simple intersection of circles and arc length maths geometry should enable me to calculate the difference in angles between the two sensors. Then take my backing pickup plate across rotated at the correct angle to match the new sensor location.

 

Until next weekend now!...

Edited 4 November, 2017 by alex_e3

[hutchysrs50]

Just to clear this up for me...

Your using a 1.9 8v (standard?) bottom end with the 2.0 16v top end?

Are you doing similar to Stu and boring it out to 2.0 and using the BKD pistons etc?