Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Members Cars => Topic started by: Willa on Thursday,May 14, 2015, 05:05:31 AM
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Red is the 54 and Yellow is the 65
Cheers Willa
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:Welcome: (again)
They look great!
You should be able to set them up to race pretty easily.
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Nice side by side. When I started looking at Europas I could not see the difference.
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The 65 is left hand drive and an import, the history of which is unknown. It is clean and original, right down to having the original stickers in the engine bay, I will post a few more pictures soon.
Cheers
Willa
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:Welcome:
Nice pair of cars you've got there! I look forward to seeing and reading more about them!
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Here are some pictures of the red 54. It is a one owner possibly the earliest in Australia fully documented history with period race log book and lots of parts. The paperwork comes with an article published in a Lotus Drivers Club magazine of 1989 from the UK and an interesting letter from the factory.
Given the history, it is this car that I am planning on preparing to a race spec. In the article, it suggests that the is greater than 10.5:1 as it has had a shave and has been mildly ported and generates about 85hp at the wheels.
A lower wishbone on the passenger side is damaged and the bushes are worn, any recommendations as to where I can find quality bushes for racing and a lower wishbone set would be welcomed , I plan on replacing all the bushes as time permits.
Cheers,
Willa
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I assume you want to bush the arms you have now. In that case, you'd want polyurethane bushes. There might be a supplier down under but I know that Richard at Banks in the UK has them (http://www.parts.banks-europa.co.uk/). I would expect Dave Bean in California to have them too (http://www.davebean.com).
You may also want to get adjustable suspension arms. Those two should have them also.
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:Welcome:
Welcome Willa, nice looking Europa's
all the best
Stuart
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Hi Blasterdad,
Thank you again for the welcome. As with everyone who is a Europa owner the journey of discovery begins.
After I purchased the good condition 54, albeit with amazing documented history I wanted to take it for a run through the Adelaide hills where I live. I could not get it to run properly so decided to take it to a webber expert to dyno tune it and rebuild the distributor. After much fiddling and drilling an additional progression hole we had it running quite well at low revs. On the high speed run (only 4000 rpm) we blew a head gasket...... Not impressed!!
I remove the head for a simple gasket replacement and discover that two of the combustion chambers are damaged one particularly so. What to do? Put one of the heads from the spare engines on and scrap it or rebuild it and keep all the engines and parts complete.
I decided to rebuild the head, so off the the machine shop it went, bead blasted, pressure tested, ports cleaned, new valve guides, new valves and valve seats, filled the damaged combustion chambers and polised the face. The head should be back together tomorrow, only have to modify if required the intake and exhaust manifolds as they were not fitting perfectly.
I am making progress and will post a few pictures of the head work once finished.
I am really looking forward to that run through the hills.
Attached is a letter from Lotus
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It's good to hear you are taking it all in stride! These are old cars, & things of this nature are to be expected, but our love for them will always keep them, (and us) going.
I think you made the right choice in fixing your head & keeping all your engines complete, why dig into your rainy day savings when it's only sprinkling. ;)
Keep the faith,
bdad. :welder:
P.S. Cool letter!
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As promised, here are a few pictures of the cylinder head after repair and clean up.
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And the rest of the bits to make it all go together. I think I have my weekend planned what about you?
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The plan is to run the car like this for a while as I want to enter the festival of Motorsport in Adelaide, look it up as it is a great event. After this I will look to find a cylinder head from an 821-30 and work that to provide as much power as it can in preparation for hill and track work. Any help or suggestions are welcome particularly with respect to the porting.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Looks like it's going to run BETTER than brand new! Sweet!!!
:trophy: :coolpic:
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I hope so!
Stage 2 of the development will be to make up a full race engine, I have heard that it is possible to get 145hp from the wedge engines, if anyone knows how and or what spec these are I would be very interested to know. I have just found an 821 and a fuego cylinder head at a local spares yard both have full length separate ports which will be a better place to start for a powerful engine. Does anyone know if the fuego go will fit and or if there will be any problems.
Have a look at the photos and comment.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Not sure that that's an 821 head, looks very similar, but the inlet port shapes are very different to both my 821 heads. Could be an earlier renault V85 head ( http://img7.leboncoin.fr/images/191/1918ba4c8195a2c452e8517cbb313290c1c089ac.jpg )?
I don't think the fuego head will fit without any modifications. If they also had the fuego turbo block and crank, it might be a good chance to pick one up. The blocks have extra reinforcement ribs and the cranks are supposed to be better.
Serge
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Hi Serge,
Thank you for your comments, I have just noticed that the water pump fitting is on the opposite end to the 821 and although it has Fuego written on it in pen, it may not be. Were there non cross flow heads for the fuego? Even if I can not use it, the port design is much better than that on the head I have just cleaned up.
Your project is an inspiration and I can't wait to see the car on the track one day.
I'll keep posting as the car develops, also do you know how to get the best out of the 821 head? If so please share any pointers.
Cheers
Willa
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You can install bigger valves in the 821 head, they are 35-31 in stead of 37.5-31 in a 697-04 head. Another thing to consider is using carbs with a single choke per cylinder, to maximise the flow and to separate the strokes.
On the actual port work I have no experience, but there will some people who do.
Serge
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here is my 821 head ported.
38/33 valves
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Hi Valero,
Thank you for posting the pictures of your 821 head. I have 38/31 valves in my head and and am hoping for 90+ hp at the wheels. I am about to purchase another 821 head found at the local car yard and want to develop the best port shape I can with a view to achieving 120-140hp. I have read claims of 145hp from an s2 wedge head in the USA and wanted to know how and or if this was possible?
Here is a picture of that car and the engine bay.
Once my engine/car is back together I will post some pictures.
Cheers
Willa.
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I will keep you updated during this time as I am planning to make a bench test next month.
my layout is now as follow:
Lightened crankshaft (-1.5 kilos)
Lightened rods (by saenz) and pistons (-120 grams each)
Aluminium flywheel by fidanza (-3.5 kilos)
Pistons CPS italy CR 11.5/1
cam 43-73-67-37 lift 108
electronic ignition by 123
exhaust manifold by RD lotus
Intake manifold 4 barrels by me.
two weber 40 DCNF
intake valve 38
exhaust valve 33
head totally ported and straightened.
bronze guide
I am hoping in 125/130CV. We will see.
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Hi Valero
Thank you for the detail on your engine which I am sure will be great.
I have just purchased an 821 head and am cleaning it up to ready it for working on. In that process, I am thinking about intake manifold/s and wanted to know what people thought was the best design for both a single carb and a twin carb. If there was something already out there or if something needed to be made.
As the ports are full length and separate, how do we maximise their efficiency through the manifold?
Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated
Cheers,
Willa.
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The most optimal would be a manifold with a single runner per cylinder (so two double barrel carburetors). Valerio and myself have one of his manifolds with two DCNF 40 webers. But Valerio only made a few sets, and all have sold. You should be able to make something for double DCOE 40 quite easily.
The best option for a single carburetor would be a manifold for a single DCOE. There are some manifolds available from time to time on ebay or on here.
Another option, and one that works better than you would think is the standard manifold, ported, with a 32/36 weber DGV (modified from progressive to synchronic for all out power) or a DGV 38/38 synchronic.
Kind regards,
Serge
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Hi all,
A quick update.
I put the cylinder head back on adjusted the tappets, getting excited to fire it up with the new head on, put the plugs in and ... Cylinder 1 plug thread is gone!! Not happy.
Does anyone have any experience of installing a helicoil or insert and how reliable are they? Can they be inserted with the head on, I only ask as the the manifold nuts are very tricky to do up as there is hardly any room, perhaps some sort of special tool can be made up.
Also where can I find an original style passenger side lower a arm set for the 54, the rear one is bent. Whilst it is being replaced I will do the front and rear bushes, who supplies the best bushes fit for racing.
Thanks for your help,
Cheers
Willa.
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In order to put the helicoil in, you have to drill a bigger hole, and then tap a thread in the bigger hole, and then screw the helicoil into the newly tapped thread.
This must be a complete no-no with the head on, as all the swarf will get in the cylinder and completely mess the engine up.
My advice, head off, take to engineering shop, and see if they can sort it out, but this head may be stuffed.
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It can be done with the head in place though there are some risks. Helicoil and Timeserts (better) spark plug thread repair kits use taps that cut the larger thread without the need for drilling. If you coat the tap in grease, and work slowly, you are usually OK.
Try Banks Engineering for used early a-arms.
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Hi all,
A quick update.
I put the cylinder head back on adjusted the tappets, getting excited to fire it up with the new head on, put the plugs in and ... Cylinder 1 plug thread is gone!! Not happy.
Does anyone have any experience of installing a helicoil or insert and how reliable are they? Can they be inserted with the head on, I only ask as the the manifold nuts are very tricky to do up as there is hardly any room, perhaps some sort of special tool can be made up.
Also where can I find an original style passenger side lower a arm set for the 54, the rear one is bent. Whilst it is being replaced I will do the front and rear bushes, who supplies the best bushes fit for racing.
Thanks for your help,
Cheers
Willa.
I use Time-Sert with great success on a regular basis. Can be done with removing the head. Striped plugs holes are very common. Don't mess with a helicoil. The Time-Sert is a permanent repair and superior to helicoils.
http://www.timesert.com/ (http://www.timesert.com/)
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I am developing a race head to put onto the car as I was frustrated with the spark plug thread on the last one. The head is from an 821 which I have raised the intake ports by about 10mm to better the short side radius for better flow, all the valves are back cut and the manifold modified and port matched. I have to make a new exhaust manifold flange and a friend and I made e prototype from MDF today, I think it look quite good so will get it laser cut next week as well as new gaskets to suit.
Here are some pics, the rocker cover just needs a lotus logo to finish it off.
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Pics of recent work,
Cheers,
Willa
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Looks great! What was the base for the manifolds? I suspect you converted some off the shelf units to fit the renault head?
Serge
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Hi Serge
The manifolds are from a Holden 6 cylinder which have been heavily modified. The Holden has massive inlet ports, way too big for high velocity so have been filled up with metal then smoothed out to match the port shape on the head. This was probably the most time consuming process of modifying the head, that and raising the inlet ports should provide the most benefits of course time will tell. As soon as I have the exhaust flange and gasket made I will let you know how it all works.
Cheers
Willa.
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The head has been flow tested to develop 127.5 hp so we think 125 is the running target at this point. This however is with small valves, inlet at 35mm and exhaust at 30mm. My engine builder thinks we could get 150hp from the head however we would ned to increase the bore size which according to our rules for historic racing we can by 1.5mm over standard, this is to allow the bigger valves required for the extra flow some breathing room.
Regarding the red car, I took it for a run up our drive to see how the reconditioned slightly modified original head performed. It runs well although I still have a small flat spot during the transition to the main fuel circuit on the 45 Dcoe which I will iron out. This was my first with some power in the car, it pulled badly to the left. Have a look at the pictures to see why.... Now replaced, however I am looking for a set of lower a arms for the 54, if you have any or know of some please advise.
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Banks had 'em when I was looking. I see they also make tubular ones now for the 46/54 cars as well.
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Just posing a quick update on the Europa.
AVO's fitted along with bushes which transforms the car, it is fun!! and quick through the corners. The new head/engine is still not fitted which is frustrating and the car needs the extra power to get between the corners more quickly. The biggest problem we are facing is that the bore in the 1470cc engine is so small that fitting bigger valves is difficult because of valve shrouding. Once sorted it should move quite well.
more posts to follow as changes occur.
Cheers,
Willa
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Very nice S2 and beautiful Elite! Are they both yours?
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Yes both part of the family.
The Elite has been unused for far too long so I am just beginning to give it some attention with a view to showing it at a Vintage meet in November. It may be part of the display cars at meet, the car has a very good racing history here in Australia and was mostly raced with a Coventry Climax 1500 which had been replaced with the original 1220 race engine prior to it coming into our family. The car was purchased by my father in the mid sixties, he sold it and eventually we found it and got it back. It is a remarkable design and delight to drive, very different from the Europa.
I hope to have the Europa ready for the meet / road rally in November and whilst it handles superbly it's not quick enough, hence the effort going into the engine trying to sort it out. Because I want to vintage race it I am locked into the rules so need to maintain the wedge head which I am sure we can make very effective with perseverance. It is indicating the ability to produce 135hp so far via the flow testing and porting. I have just ordered a set of headers from RD and may fabricate a custom inlet manifold if the one I have (see previous pictures) does not do the job properly.
Either way the Europa will end up an exciting car with a lot more power than the original, and the Elite something to cherish and use as and when the time is right. If you are ever in Australia let me know and come and have a look.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Hi,
Just a quick update on how the car is progressing and the event I have just completed.
The Adelaide Motorsport Festival was 3 days of road rally in different classes. Given I do not have a roll cage cage fitted yet I entered the 'spirit tour' which still meant that we could go flat out on most roads, where it was straight we were forced to slow in via our trip computers. The car was ... Interesting, we dyne do the new. Engine the two days before the event using the most gasket I had made, fitter an oil cooler and remote oil filter, replaced the fuel tank and all fuel and oil lines and passed scrutineering. At the end of the first day, I broke the engine!! Actually I bent a pushrod see the pic. I think this occurred due to the rocker assembly moving slightly and more growth on the parts when properly hot. I missed a few stages, fixed the issue and returned for the start of the following day. I had electrical problems as well as a faulty radiator cap and poor cooling. Despite the issues we ran well and even came 20The outright on one of the tight stages against much more powerful cars than our Europa.
Please see a few pics,
Cheers
Willa.
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Congratulations on your 20th but it sounds like you could have done a lot better without the bad luck. Thanks goodness your "broken engine" was only a bent push rod! You might want to make sure there is no valve, head or piston damage. Hopefully, you'll have all that sorted for next time.
You forgot to post your pictures!!!
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I'd also check the cam/follower too as it could have caused a failure of the coating on the cam/follower, so the cam lobe will wear, depending on what caused the failure.
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[...] Because I want to vintage race it I am locked into the rules so need to maintain the wedge head [...]
G'day Willa,
What class are you considering? . . Class Sb?
I haven't looked at the Historic rules for a long time but could you not use the 1565cc capacity as delivered in the Type 65 in the USA?
Cheers,
Gavin
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Thank you for your comments,
In total there were 200 cars in the rally so I think the Europa acquitted itself very well. I will be replacing the wireing with a new loom as well as a new electric water pump and fan. I will post some pictures of the car asap.
Is it possible to post a video in the forum as I do not have a YouTube acc yet.
Regarding historic's I will be in group sb which allows for 1.5mm extra bore on either engine. Given that, I have also been working on another engine based on the 1565 for additional Powerade torque. Like the current engine I will lighten and balance everything as well as increase the bore. I will post pics as it Progresses.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Here are a few pictures of the bent pushrods and the car at scrutineering
Cheers
Willa
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That's quite a bend! Are you sure there is no collateral damage? A leak down test might be in order.
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Hi BDA
My thoughts exactly, when it happened I put a compressor on the cylinder and it showed excellent compression as well as trying to move the car forward in 4th gear. From that I concluded that it was not damaged, inserted another pushrods allowed the car to come to temperature and re set the clearances. So far the car has run well, this is with driving it hard with two people during a rally and on a track. My rev limiter was at 7000 which I was hitting regularly and I think the rocker assembly has moved because the springs are not strong enough to hold it together at high revs particularly on the limiter. I moved the limiter to 7500 and did not hit it for the rest of the rally and I will be making solid spacers to prevent this occurring again, so far so good.
I need now to keep the car cooler and sort the electrics.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Just a quick update, I have had a new radiator made and have an electric water pump to fit, both will help to keep the engine cool. I would have liked to enter an event at the end on the month at a new track called the bend. It is the second longest track at 7.7km long, is brand new and will host international events in the future, seriously looking forward to running around it.
On the weekend I ran the car at Collingrove hillclimb, the car ran well, didn't break and I had a good day. On Friday I received a call advising that I had in fact broken the course record for the class.... So am feeling a little proud that that we achieved that. I plan on some additional developments to the engine over the next few months, may fit a quaife lsd and will fit a lighter flywheel. Has anyone had any experience with lsd's and their benefits on a Europa?
Please see a few pics.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Picture of the flywheel due to be fitted and the car at turn 1 Collingrove
Cheers,
Willa.
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Congratulations on your lap record, Willa!!! :trophy: Great pictures, too!
I don't know anything about using an LSD in a Europa, but Quaife units are well respected. It might help but I don't have any experience with them. Back in the day, I drove an MG Midget in club racing. I used either a rear end with an LSD or that had been locked by welding. Other than the ratio, I'm not sure I could tell the difference.
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Quaife uses a Torsen LSD which means it will not prevent wheel spin if, for example, the inside rear wheel is lifted right off the road
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HI JB and BDA,
Thank you for your reply's and kind words about the event, I will give it a push again at next months event and hope to be able to go a bit quicker again!!
Regarding the quaife, they describe it as a ATB which I think means auto torque biasing. I was finding that I was spinning an inside rear wheel in the tight uphill corners and thought that the LSD would make a difference there. It may also be that the chassis flexes or I have to play with the suspension settings.
I am looking forward to testing it once it is in and will report the difference.
Cheers,
Willa.
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I have a Quaife in my 395 5 spd. I mainly installed it as the 395 comes stock with a two spider diff and I was increasing the power over stock. My suspension is stock except for adjustable shocks and a twin link system. I have had it at the track and have not had a problem with wheel spin.
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HI JB,
After the next round of engine improvements I am aiming at 145hp at the fly or 115 ish at the wheels, knowing that my diff is only a 2 spider I agree that a stronger Quaife diff is a good option and the LSD an added benefit. I spoke to Richard some time ago and he advised to simply shim the diff to tighten it up. The car has been great however it is time to upgrade. I hope I will see a little better transition of the power to the road during the tight corners.
With the engine I am planning on better pistons and cam than those currently installed, for both power and reliability. As I build the new engine I will add a few pictures. At present I am waiting on the cam people to make a recommendation based on the flow figures of the cylinder head and other data they requested. Will advise as it comes together.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Well done on taking the record on the hill :trophy:
I have a 'mystery LSD' in my S2, the previous owner inserted something but I don't have the invoiced details to know exactly what it is.
Actually thought it had an open diff until I started looking at why I was having trouble with 'push' on tighter corners.
Whatever is in there is reasonable tight, there is no traction issues from launch or corner exit on power, just had to adjust style on the slower bends.
That clutch is interesting, but I wonder about going that way and lightening the flywheel if you are primarily running the Europa as a road car.
Mine is using a Fuego Turbo clutch and it is has been really good for road and club level track work, no shudder and enough slip to play with rather than being on/off only.
Looking at it last week while the engine is out and it looks really good considering it has been through probably several hundred launches for hillclimbs and sprints, plus some hundreds of laps on trackdays. I have been consistently quicker away from the line than the benchmark 160HP Alpine A110s I often compete against.
With the flywheel weight, do you really need the reduced mass for a bit of acceleration at the expense of reduced tractability?
Pondering, pondering.... :BEER3:
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I am competing again at the end of the month and will take better note of my split times compared to the competition. The data should give me more insight into how I compare to others off the start line. I do think though, that a lighter flywheel will be beneficial and given the car is light I do not expect to see problems on the road. I am a little concerned that the on-off clutch will be a challenge, particularly in traffic....
When you run hill-climbs, what tire pressures are you running?
Cheers,
Willa.
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When you run hill-climbs, what tire pressures are you running?
Oops.... didn't pick up this question several months ago.
Depends on the weather and how the day goes.
Running Toyo R888 in 185/60-13.
For short hillclimbs I generally start at about 17PSI Front, 23PSI Rear cold and then check warm to keep around that level after each successive run.
Have found on track days I'm still using the center of the tyre more than I would like to, so have started dropping further cold.
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Hi Stephen,
Thank you for your feedback, it is similar to what I run, although I am playing around to see what changes occur when I increase the pressure difference between the from the and back, so far I am happy with about 7 psi. I have found that on a hot day I try to place the car so that the sun is above the car otherwise the pressures change very quickly from the heat!!
I have almost completed a mechanical rebuild and need to do so by the end of the month as the AFM Adelaide Festival of Motorsport commences with a 4 day rally which I am looking forward to running in. I will post a photo of some of work.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Here are a few pics of the recent work,
Cheers,
Willa
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Nicely done, Willa! How did you attach your radiator hoses to the transfer tubes? Hose clamp or did you figure out a way to put a fitting on the tube?
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Hi BDA
We welded on a -16 proflow fitting at the engine end and -20 fitting at the radiator. The tubes are stainless so won’t need to be removed for a long time, hopefully!! in most normal cars the hot water flows into the top of the radiator so this is how we have plumbed it, hence the crossover pipes. The system is much better than the original so should keep the engine cool although some proper testing will show up any issues.
Also,
We have done a lot of work on the engine both in the block and head with particular attention to the oil flow which on the original is quite restrictive. The rods are 8mm longer and from a Renault Clio Cup with some mods to fit properly and the pistons are custom giving an 11.1:1 compression ratio and a dynamic compression at 8.5:1 this will allow the engine to be run on 98 octane pump fuel without detonation. We will run the engine in on the dyno next week so should have power figures soon’ish.
Here is another picture of the rocker assembly, modified with bronze spacers.
Cheers
Willa.
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I was thinking that it would make it hard to take out your transfer tubes if you needed to, but you're right, it would be a rare circumstance that would require that and you could cut the fittings off and weld them back on. Pretty cool!
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Silver-solder if stainless, strong enough and easy to reuse.
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Here are a few pics of the recent work,
Nice work Willa.
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Hi JB
Already welded, however I will remember for next time, hopefully quite a few years hence.
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Stephen,
You are welcome to have a look next time you come to Adelaide.
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Stephen,
You are welcome to have a look next time you come to Adelaide.
I'll be in touch before I'm next across :)
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So I damaged my engine in my last event! Not Happy!
The event was a 3 day rally called AFM, on the third day I had a McLaren gaining on me as I was nursing the car due to overheating issues however I decided to up the pace to keep the Big Mac at bay. I managed to keep him behind me however after I crossed the finish line I thought I had blown the engine, there was a loud bang and lots of smoke. Louis my co-driver jumped out with the fire extinguisher, we waited a moment, no flames??
We had blown the welsh plug in the head, it was now lodged in the firewall. This was because I had modified the cooling system the previous day to fix an air ingress that was causing large fluctuations in the engine temp, not by best idea.
Following the rally blow up, I have had the car under repair for several months to fix the cooling, the drivability and the handling, this action has taken the last three months to complete.
I put a return line from the radiator to the coolant fill bottle as well as tapping a hole in the back of the head up by the firewall with a dash 6 back to the fill bottle. This system allows full flow to the radiator and if steam or pressure builds in the head it can vent to the fill bottle, this way the system will self evacuate any air and it seems to work. Further more we just dyno’d the engine and am happy with the results 136 hp the wheels on a single 45dcoe.
The engine is modified significantly, however I still have the Renault wedge head, block, crank etc. the cam is 305 degrees custom ground along with valves that are also custom made, extensive porting, modified chambers and modified oil pathways all add to the end result which I think are great, respect to Extreme Performance for all the work.
Attached are the dyno figures which we feel could be better with DCOE twins and lots of time tuning.
It feels great to drive with lots of power to accelerate and is easy to manage on the throttle, it’s time to fine tune the balance of the car so that it is reliable and quick, the new hill climb season is starting and I hope for some success this season.
Please see the dyno results attached
Cheers,
Willa
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Dyno results
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Dyno results
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Hi Willa,
Looks very impressive!
Do you know what modifications that they did to the oil pathaways?
Serge
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Hi Serge,
Happy to send you some details and further photos, best to pm me to discuss further.
Indicatively the oil return pathway is very bad so has been modified it is now much better. Also the oil from the oil cooler in to the block has also been modified to try to maintain an even oil pressure even under load, we did this because I heard that No1 bearing can fail order heavy race loads.
Feel free to contact me on my direct email.
Cheers,
Willa.
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I'd love to see all the gory details about oil pathways posted here, if that's possible. I'm planning a "warm wedge" build myself, when I get to it, so I'd like to learn about it and be able to refer back to it here in the future.
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Hi Gideon,
What we did was to change the flow of the oil from going into the center if the block to going into two points, one at either end of the block. Also the return oil from the cam well is terrible, I.e it is flooded and must flow forwards to the cam chain then flow back to the sump. I have drilled holes into the block under the cam to allow better drainage. The effect of this is much better flowing oil and consequently lower oil temps. I am not sure if I have pictures of the holes, if I do I will post them. The engine is out at the moment having broken a rocker at a track day!!
I have resolved to design a set of roller rockers that will be available in original ratio 1:1.5 and 1:1.65
I will be using the larger ratio to obtain the lift I am looking for.
If anyone is interested I will be able to make them in either size going forward. Please let me know if you are interested via a PM
Cheers,
Willa.
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PM sent. What valve springs are you using?
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Hi Gideon,
I am using beehive springs which are more stable at high res, I can run to 8k in short bursts if I need to. This is only where the gearing is wrong for a particular corner on a track or hill climb, when on the road for a rally the high revs are not needed.
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Hi Gideon,
So what I thought was going to take a month has taken 6.....
I sent the cam to NZ to Kelford cams to grind and nitride and had a local engineering shop make two sets of rockers at 1.7:1 ratio. All the bits go back together this week so I am holding my breath to see how it will perform. The goal was performance and reliability.....not sure this is possible but that was the aim.
Please see the pics of the rockers, which is anyone was interested I can have additional sets made.
After reassembly I will dyno the car and post the results.
Cheers,
Willa.
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Photos of the oil system to follow
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Sorry for the bad picture,
The oil goes in at no 1 and no 4 through the gallery and returns through the middle ( where the oil usually goes into the engine) The engine has great oil pressure and flow. Also I have additional modifications to assist with flow and pressure.
Cheers
Willa.
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Willa , Thanks for this thread. I have been following it for some time but staying focused on getting my original motor running. I’m getting plenty of ideas here for my other 821. You have a very clean layout that I love studying in your pics. Keep posting.
Dakazman
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So what I thought was going to take a month has taken 6.....
They look worth the wait Willa.
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Did you ever dyno test the last engine Willa ?
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Hi MRN,
We went to dyno, had issues so pulled the yeah off to check everything and discovered one of the exhaust valve seats had collapsed into the head. It did this because of the porting and softish material that the head is made of, unfortunately because of this the head is unusable..... so we are back to creating a new head then back to the dyno. The new head will have the chamber welded up to increase the compression to 11.5:1 or possibly 12:1 rather than shaving the head which is what we did on the old one. The pistons I have chosen are slightly dished which is counterintuitive for achieving compression and the reason the chambers need welding to get the desired result. We are about 4 weeks away from finishing and being able to dyno. I will share the results when available, hoping for a bit more than the previous set up with reliability.
Cheers
Willa
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Sorry to hear about that head, if you weld you may have to heat treat the new head after welding as it often softens the heads.
Will be interested to hear how you get on.
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Here is a picture of the cylinder head,
Just starting the chamber welding, then rough cut seats, guides, porting, flow testing ..... more porting? we are using 7mm stems on both the intake and exhaust valves. We will fill any holes and clean up the gasket face then assemble with light springs to test and mate the cam and lifters, fit the proper springs, check and dyno. Hoping for good results??
Cheers,
Willa.
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That looks like a nice job, Willa.
I'd love to see it when the chambers have been reshaped.
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has it distorted much from the welding ?