Beef's scratch built ditchmeister

[B33fy]

Picked up the tyres this evening, got a few funny looks wheeling them out of Argos lol

[B33fy]

7 hour round trip this morning to pick up the car, all tucked up in the garage awaiting a transplant. Picking up the V8 next weekend then its time to get on with it. Doesn't look brilliant at the moment though has potential, took me ages to get a good angle below lol

Edited 23 January, 2016 by B33fy

[mdk1]

Very nice Mike.

[B33fy]

Very nice Mike.

 

The photo flatters it Mike, it was built on very little budget and it shows, though credit to the owner for finishing it and getting it on the road. The list of remedial work is long but hopefully doable in a short space of time..

 

Must Do's

V8 engine /gearbox transplant, which involves new wiring, fuel system, cooling system, exhaust and induction and prop shaft

New dash/dials/switches/wheel

Total rewire

New seats (JK Composites)

New wheels/tyres

New lighting/grill/indicators

Carbon cycle wings

 

Desirable's

Upgrade braking

Soft bits Tonneau, boot cover and storm cover

Slipper

Repaint

 

New roo bars added today

 

Edited 25 January, 2016 by B33fy

[B33fy]

Grabbed a few bits in advance of the engine collection on Saturday... Got this bad boy below along with the matching ECU. Its a twin plenum fitted to very few Rover Vitesse's for homologation purposes for the then touring car series. More of a twin throttle body than twin plenum, rare as rocking horse poo and good for a few more horses..

 

 

 

[B33fy]

Some progress, an empty engine bay..

 

[B33fy]

Had one of these fitted in case I need a jump start.. got a nice shiny blue light on it.

 

[Lady Elanore]

I love these threads with pictures I'm posting in it so I get updates in my 'Content' page Well done on the MA too

Edited 29 January, 2016 by Lady Elanore

[skomaz]

Had one of these fitted in case I need a jump start.. got a nice shiny blue light on it.

 

What's that then... Some sort of hard wired 12v power pack??

[B33fy]

It's a shame it couldn't be used as a trickle charger / jump pack, it would be more useful. It's an EV charging point for the Merc if ever it turns up.. was hoping there would be a domestic socket where the black plug holder is, but that's coming on Monday, so at least I'll be able to plug the hedge trimmer in to it for now.. 32 amps of mains might kill the kit car. lol

[B33fy]

Picked the engine up this morning and got it back to the workshop in one piece. Argos Hill got the better of me and we had a bit of a moment with a load shift issue, the situation was quickly reappraised.. can't topple any further and the side of the van wasn't bulging out so fook it, carry on.

 

A bit of jiggery pockery with the engine crane, along with jacking the back of the van up, got the engine in its entirety out. The general concensus from the snodhurst crew was "fire it up".. well it would be rude not to.. funny how big engine noises attract an audience and make you beam from ear to ear.. 

 

Couple of images below with some of the parts surplus to requirement stripped off and Jay not being able to help himself and having a fiddle..

 

 

[Lady Elanore]

Wot no video? :(

[skomaz]

cool - immensely cool!

[Mikek3111]

Was you on the M11 yesterday trailering the orange one near Stansted? Was sitting behind one that looked very similar and instantly thought of yours

[B33fy]

No not me Mike, though I expect mine will see a trailer more times than I care for... Got some custom rotors and bells, all machined to suite the Sierra hubs. Cost wise, no more than blank bells so a bit of a result. I'll grab a couple of images at the weekend.. The guy in the shop suggested the car may be a touch over braked, then asked me what size disc's I wanted. What's the biggest you got?.. Ended up with 310mm discs and a set of 6 pot calipers.., proper job.

[B33fy]

Lost the oil cap probably during the moment up Agos Hill collecting the engine.. anyhow got me a bit of bling to make up for it, to go with the highly anticipated rocker covers..

 

[B33fy]

Had a closer look at the engine today, compression tested all cylinders which are between 160/170psi except no 8, probably due to bore wash because it hasn't been firing, tell tale by the plug colour. Dodgy spark plug or HT issue. Oil pressure 40psi on the crank which is good for one of these engines. The heads were pretty well gummed up, decided to tug the heads and get them cleaned up and the valves reseated. Bottom end looks good with the cross hatching still evident on the bores. Camshaft and followers look spot on. I've got to change the sump so might pop no 8 piston out to check the rings.

All looking promising.

Edited 7 February, 2016 by B33fy

[boylers11]

Sounding promising so far! Make sure you get plenty of pictures up during the build. Will you be taking this on track? I find this type of 'DIY' project thread much more interesting than the 'splash the cash and pay people to do everything for you' type ones. There are always decent universal kit car bits for sale on Locostbuilders.co.uk and they're a decent bunch on there too.

[Tech1e]

Liking the build(s). All this kit car talk is like a day at work lol

[B33fy]

Nice bit of carbon going on there attached to some nice roller bodies. chassis a bit low tech though??

 

Haven't taken many images, not a great deal to see, got this one this morning, you can see where the end cylinder hasn't been firing and has been washed by the fuel.

 

 

Popped the piston out, oil rings a bit gunged up, big ends a bit worn, checked a main shell, they need doing, so its down to a bare block and a complete rebuild.. hey ho.. better now than stuck on the hard shoulder some where.. The water pump is also no longer a water pump, just an empty casing ready for a Davies Craig setup to go on.

[Tech1e]

Chassis low tech? Well yeah it ain't changed much since the 60's. At least for these ones we ditched the leaf springs and rear drums.

[B33fy]

Block all cleaned up and ready to build back up, looking good all within tolerances so pleased about that. Heads all done bar the shouting.. Broke a piston removing it last night, noticed it today, totally down to me. Had a regroup in the juicer with a full English. (7/10 ) new pistons arriving tomorrow, fingers crossed, along with gudgeons, rings, standard size shells etc, so the engine can hopefully go back together.

 

[B33fy]

Engine slowly going back together now. left camera in the workshop so no images, sorry. Nice to see Taylor who popped by today. Made a change from **** the garage owner who had been down the juicer for a long lunch then came back and gave me a tongue lashing for being late today.. Revenge will be sweet,.. we are doing France soon in the cars and he can't understand French, so he might end up with a few dodgy items on his dinner plate.

 

On the plus side he did give me £250 for the old gearbox as we left this evening lol..

[Taylor93]

Great seeing it Mike I am very impressed by this bit of kit and I am sure It will be a hoot once its done

 

I would have liked to stay longer but I didnt want to take the **** as it was an impromptu visit anyway. But Friday I do finish at 1pm and it doesnt take long to throw a set of overalls on and come by..... Im sure you can tell im a bit enthusiastic to help out!

 

All the best Mike hope the rest goes well!

[B33fy]

Engine pretty much as yesterday, despite a few hours work today. Long story short, need to grab another set of ARP cap bolts first thing to replace the broken set put in today, which was put in to replace the original roofing bolts which broke first thing this morning.

 

Obligatory image below.