Beef's scratch built ditchmeister

[B33fy]

A bit more progress today..

 

 

[B33fy]

Checked the preload on the lifters last night, won't go too techie, essentially the preload is too high because of the aftermarket cam, which means there may be valve / piston clearance issues if the hydraulic lifters pump up too much. Orderd a set of adjustable pushrods to sort the problem out, should arrive tomorrow so then it's full steam ahead getting the engine in the car over the weekend.

[B33fy]

Drilled out the pushrods holes in the heads whilst in situ today. Good old Henry, duct tape and a wing and a prayer stopped the swarf from going into the engine.. Adjustable rods fitted and adjusted. Old engine out tomorrow and new one one hopefully.

Edited 27 August, 2016 by B33fy

[B33fy]

Old engine out and new one is in the hole.. Connect it all up tomorrow. A few bits need modding as there are some detail differences on the later engine, hoping to have it running by next week end.

[B33fy]

New mount for crank sensor done, pulley needs cleaning up and a bit of paint

New coil pack mount made and fitted

Overall view of new engine in situ, looks much the same as the last one, though hopefully will run better.

[B33fy]

Got it running today, engine overall sounds sharper with a bit of a bark to the exhaust than the 3.5. Still got oil pressure issues which point to the mocal take off plate and remote housing. Time to bin them and fit the original arrangement and see what happens. Some more charging issues despite a brand new alternator fitted today (third one) Must be other issues. Lambdas have gone awol again, possibly due to a blown fuse caused by a booster pack spiking. Have another go tomorrow and try and iron out some, if not all, of these issues.

[skomaz]

Deepy impressed that it's all back up and running again so quick!

 

Has to be said though you seem to be having your fair share of issues!!!

[B33fy]

Deepy impressed that it's all back up and running again so quick!

 

Has to be said though you seem to be having your fair share of issues!!!

Thanks Skomaz, your interest and support along with others, sorta keeps me going, wanting to get to a decent ending lol.. Yep, very testing tbh. Gonna give it a bash tomorrow if no joy, park it up for a while. I've missed most if the summer now sadly. The engine definitely shows more promise than the old one, strange how similar engines sound different, the old one had a more muffled sound to it, whereas this one has a slight crackle/ sharpness to it, probably the after market cam. Fingers crossed the issues are easy to sort.

[B33fy]

Oil pressure finally sorted 30psi tick over, 60psi when revving with a hot engine. a couple of other issues to sort, charging and lambda. Took it for a spin, goes reasonably well for an old engine smooth than the last one, no vibrations at 60+ so I can see where I'm going.., a few pops and crackles and that V8 noise, makes it almost worthwhile lol

Edited 4 September, 2016 by B33fy

[skomaz]

Sounds like a bit of a result there!

[B33fy]

Going to fully charge the battery and run it up to my mates garage Saturday, to have a closer look at the lambdas with some diagnostics.

I've also had one of the three alternators repaired, I dumped the chrome one, it broke and I couldn't live with myself if it went back on the car lol.

Basically the diodes are blowing on the alternators, so whilst the car is at the garage I'm going to make a couple of alterations to the wiring, earth strap from alternator to chassis, double up the charging cable and alter the ignition light circuit so it's totally independent to everything else. The dash has to come out to sort, so there's a couple of other niggles I'll sort at the same time.

If I get it sorted Saturday, hopefully be out hooning on Sunday.

[BossFox]

Good to catch up on this Mike, you certainly got the new engine sorted quickly.

[B33fy]

Good to catch up on this Mike, you certainly got the new engine sorted quickly.

 

Thanks Richard, the old rover V8 is a pretty simple animal, spent more time waiting for parts and cleaning it rather than putting it together, less moving parts than a Tonka toy and big tolerances for error, just the elusive oil pressure which seems to plague them every now and again

 

Car booked into Bailey Performance in Telford for mapping at the end of October, They love the old V8 and are megasquirt experts so should be able to get the thing singing to the tune of over 200 horses. Next upgrade will be a 3.14 LSD be give a longer 1st gear better cruising and the ability to leave 11's where ever i go lol

[B33fy]

Popped along to Tangmere today for the annual gathering of the SKCC Car almost made it without issues except the fan belt and excessive fuel consumption over 30 cars so quite the sight with meet points and plenty of blatting along the route

Obligatory couple of arty images below..

[B33fy]

Fitted a thicker fan belt which is holding up ok. The car isn't doing much more than 10mpg unfortunately the lambdas have both blown again so don't know hat the fuel ratio is doing. Expecting a couple in the post today. Last time I'll get innovate as there seems to be an issue with them failing. On my 6th sensor at £80 each. To be fair the alternator failures don't help (4) the voltage drops too low fir the sensors to be heated properly and burn the soot off.

Alternator appears to be sorted so fingers crossed, once the new lambdas are fitted I can tweak the map to sort out the fueling. Organising a small run on Sunday, up over the north downs then to the coast for some breakie, if all goes well

Edited 22 September, 2016 by B33fy

[B33fy]

Had a bit of a lay in as James and I were in Birmingham yesterday for a national Karate competition, long day and back late'ish. No medals unfortunately though James held his own against a few England Squad Members. (I’d have run a mile, if I could run )

Anyhow an impulse decision and a bit of a tour of the Kent Coast, starting at the 1066 café for a quick coffee. Bikers out in force, big queue, chatting to a couple of guys, one drives a Beauford wedding car.. Mostly office types living the dream for the morning, like we do.. ,, until they have to go home and cut the grass, do the dishes and get ready for Monday’s grind.

Then to Hastings, on to Rye and Dungeness. Onto the Lydd ring and the twisty bits… got my own back on a Mercedes Convertible Driver who was out to impress what looked liked his mother, in the passenger seat., (each to their own). A quick stop for a bit of fish and a few scallops.. Fish pie tonight.. a couple of images below.

Came back via the Military Road and Appledore.. those bends don’t half sneak up on you.. then to Tenterden and along the High Street to make a bit of noise and ogle at the morris dancers.. (as I said, each to their own )and look for a fuel stop. Could have done it one but didn't want to prove the kit car guys wrong.. Then to Sissinghurst where I bumped into my nephew coming the other way, so stopped for a quick café au lait and gave him a quick frightener in the car.

Home sweet home and on to the fish pie and recovering from the fooking tinnitus, bloody exhaust

[AshVrs]

That car is one hell of an awesome looking bit of kit that's for sure!

[skomaz]

nice - hows the fuel consumption now then?  Still dire?

[B33fy]

nice - hows the fuel consumption now then?  Still dire?

Actually Sko.. surprisingly, It's not too bad, seems to have settled down a bit. Just worked out my route since refuelling Friday and its around 18-19mpg. It could be tweaked to get a little more, but the Lambda's have gone awol again. The acceleration table is set too high and overfueling when I boot it. Its also fuelling at 100% on the overrun (pops and bangs ) if I tune the Acceleration table a bit better and activate the fuel cut on the overrun I should get over 20'ish mpg which I'd be happy with. Its worth it just for the noise, just got to get some ear plugs for long stints lol

[Wardy]

Sounds like a great day out and some nice photos too  :clap: 

[Dark_Hero]

Oh nice, sounds like a great day out. What karate does James do?

[B33fy]

Oh nice, sounds like a great day out. What karate does James do?

Thought you might have heard me coming yesterday Charlie, Hammered round the Lydd Ring and frightened a few weekenders in their statics

Not sure what the Karate's called, here's a link to his Club, Kent Karate.

Image below of James in Red (aka) trying to hit a Second Dan black belt..

[Dark_Hero]

I was in ashford yesterday otherwise I probably would have heard you

That looks pretty good, shame he didn't walk away with a prize, but great he took part in a competition. I joined a club a couple of years ago that my brother and nephew went to.

[B33fy]

Unfortunately for James there are very few youth members 18-21 so he gets lumped in with the adults now in competitions, along with full contact (with control) allowed do it's hard going, though he holds his own.

[B33fy]

Spent most part of the day stripping and checking the top end of the engine for potential danger/wear due to the oil pressure issues when I first ran the engine up. All looks good cam and lifters not showing any problems. Readjusted the preload and changed the running in oil for some 20/50 old school oil.

Good for some serious abuse now, so heading out tomorrow morning for a lone blat towards Brighton. Hopefully roads will be better than today's when they were pretty greasy, had a few sideways moments with very little effort.

Hopefully should be some photo opportunities along the way.

Edited 8 October, 2016 by B33fy