Getting my car back soon

[p_b82]

Sorry if the wrong palce...

but i am some-what happy to found out that my car has so far completed 100 test miles....

so after it (hopefully) passes its MOT this week or next i will be heading down to see Matt Reidy in yeovil, and i will be driving my car again :)

There is a build thread on xpf for those that are interested in what rally matt has been upto the past few months with it :) - in the engine section titled tuned L-series

I can't wait, esp as i have heard it is quite rapid now :)

[stamford]

I'm sure it will be well worth the wait and is in very good hands. It'll be like having a new car all over again.

[mattie007]

Nice one! Your car did look very good when I saw it at Matts place. The intercooler was pretty mean too!

[p_b82]

i only seen the one pic on xpf of the FMIC, and two that were e to my carpy phone so not the most detailed....

It is going to be like a new car again - i am almost as nervous and excited i was the day before i picked it up when i bought it...

I am however not looking forward to the turning circle, the visibility parking, and the street with cars up 2 sides (turning it into a single track road) - oh and a quite aggressive clutch action...

but on the move i am sure it will be worth the hassle....

hmm now how many miles can i put on it before i head to france in august..... pity Le mans is open for public use, will be driving right past it lol

I just really really hope and pray i dont bend it after all this time - i think Matt would come down and kill me after he has put all this effort into it... and put up with my stubborness wanting to keep my Ac.....

[Phate]

Because moving the cursor up to the address bar, painstakingly deleting whats there and typing in XPF can you give us a summary of whats been done? :)

[peterzs]

I'm glad it's all sorted, hope you can get to one of the meets so we can see it.:wave::wave:

[afcbadam]

the Rolling road day at janspeed will be the ideal place to show it off....and see what's shes made off!

what figures you after ??

[p_b82]

K quick summary for lazy people ;)

I have popped in a set of very aggresive injectors that require an upgraded turbo - I went for a hybrid version of the GT 1549 - it has been machined out and strengthed to shoe horn the parts from a TD5 unit. Can't get anything bigger unless get a larger turbo - that has additional lag issues and custom pipework etc...

I have had a gearbox uprated and a quiafe atb popped in - clutch uprated to a Helix cerametalilc sprung plate with a helix uprated cover - is quite aggressive but it can cope with the torque :)

Hydraulics have been whipped out as the OE stuff would have done a 180 impression and broke - with a part list from a guy on .org and rally matt's approach got a custom set made up using rover600 parts - Sheddist kit is not available for a diesel (but will be soon i read)

After this was fitted i took it down to see Matt Reidy, and the clutch slave cylinder mounting bracket sheared while it was on the Dyno... had only got as far as taking fuel out - back to rally Matt to get that sorted and car was with me again end of novemeber...

before i got it booked in with Matt Reidy, i blew the Head gasket - went between the fire ring on number 4 - typical place for the L-series and the prima perkins before it...

To stop this happening again - as it was casued by the turbo boost and fuel, we have got some ARP head studs fitted to it, Matt has treated the HG with some special copper sealant. He has also done some porting work on the head while it was off, and fitted a racing spec Huge FMIC to it, which we built thermocouples into it on either side to get inlet and outlet temps.

Being the perfectionist that Matt is he has spent a fair bit of time identifying the most effective pipework combination for the FMIC and lagged exposed metal bits to help with engine bay temps...

I have however just found out that the head can cope with the increased temps, but the coolant system does not seem to be able to - it just threw the coolant out the top of the expansion bottle when the pressures got too high :(

I have also got a thermocouple hooked into my blanked EGR system to read the exhaust gas temps - they are hitting 800C+ when on full boost, so still a bit hot...

As it is throwing its toys out the pram a bit, i think i need to get to down to see matt before any dyno runs are made, but we need to wait for a new centre section to arrive as mine just went.. typically...

From HG blowing to now has been about 7 months, hence why i am quite excited :)

Figures could be as much as 200bhp, but i will be happy with 180 (or less tbh). Torque is likely to be limited to around 270lbsft from 2000rpm to about 4000... but this is all dependant on Matt's Magic with his mapping :)

the setup i have got can probably take 310 plus - as we have seen another L-series return those figures, however i am not sure that that would be sustainable long term, even with the effort we have gone to....

It is the high compression ratio of this engine that is giving us the good figures\economy, but hampering our tuning. it is 19.5:1 - mine will be a touch higher as it has been skimmed

[stamford]

That is impressive reading, so what has been done with regards the coolant issue?

[p_b82]

Well, i only just found out that it is not up to it about an hour ago, is fine until sustianed full boost is asked of it.

We have set the boost quite low at 22PSI, the turbo recommended max level i 26, with engineering max at 28...

Matt (rally) is going to stick some millers additive into the coolant to see if it helps, the problems apepars to be the retained heat in the block\head itself, even after you take full throttle away, the temps still rise - well over 100C. (fans on mine kick in at 102 and 120 depending on speed).

the average water temps were 88C for normal crusiing and 92C when you slow down after a spirited run when it was unmolested. before the FMIC i was not able to get it over 98C, but the HG went so is hard to know what it would have done if that did not fail....

Matt believes that the issue now is the FMIC is causing much more efficient use of the fuel, and a combination of that and the current MAP on the ECU is just a bit too much for it.

So i think i am just going to get the mapping adjusted to keep it below this level, i will sacrifice bragging right figures, but it is better than having to keep a load of OAT in the boot ;)

Unless there are any other suggestions?

[stamford]

Can the water pump be uprated for one with a larger capacity? Maybe due to the excessive heat it now generates the pump cannot cope therefore not able to pump it around the block quick enough?

[p_b82]

certiainly worth a thought, i guess it depends on how much we have to take out on the mapping side.... if itis not too much then i am not too bothered, if we have to strangle it then will def consider it...

I have to admit tho, i am not hugely sure how much more money i want to throw at this project - it will be very close to becmming much more viable to have bought a 5cylinder or 6 cylinder diesel designed to take this sort of performance ;)

As in, if we fit an uprated waterpump, and dont tone things down, what else will break.

200bhp would be 100% more power than the original spec of the engine and 270lbsft would be 65% more peak torque - but held flat rather than dropping off...

I'll certainly run it matt to see if he has anythoughts, but i dont think it will be done anytime soon. I got a trip down to france planned in early augsut so need the car on the road - might just have to pootle around on 1/2 throttle to be on the safe side!

[p_b82]

Well as a follow on to my last post the car passed its MOT today. (only just)

Will be going to pick it up later on tonight and then hopefully oing to see Matt reidy on saturday to get the fuelling reduced down so it does not blow coolant everywhere.

Should be able to give some figures for all this effort soonish :D

To say i am happy and excited is an understatement

[peterzs]

What was the "only just" bit???

[p_b82]

it passed the emissions by being *0.05 under the limit (and nearly overheated while it was at it).

It also needed new rear disks and a carrier bolt seized yesterday which threw a spanner in the works....

and now it apepars the wastegate actuator has siezed...
right off to colelct it and i hope it will be sorted...

*EDIT: It was only .05 under the limit, on one run it was 3.58 (pass is 3.0) luckily they take an average.

On driving the car back tonight, it is really rather poorly.

Horrible vibration transmitted through the car <not sure of the problem> and there is zero turbo wine, and no boost generated. - well 4PSI but that is nothing.

I am gutted and quite deflated, but need to find out how to get it sorted.

[peterzs]

Sorry to hear the cars playing up, hope you get it sorted.

I was interested in the MOT bit as my one throws out a bit of black smoke when you boot it and I was worried that it might give a fail, still worry about that later.

My turbo inlet pipe came off the other day and it felt like you were trying to pull away in 4th, when it was in 2nd. The garage said that they refitted the pipe but it still wasn't right and they found a hole in it, so the pipe was replaced. Been OK since. :wave::wave:

[p_b82]

yeah that is how mine drives... atm it could be a number of things tho. am going down to see Matt reidy for a looky see tomorrow to see if we can do anything about it.

got another .org guy bringing me some original injectors and an old turbo to test the actuator.

You should think about getting some silicone parts to replace the OE pipes, they really do not last long standard. but it depends on how long you think you plan to keep the car, to find out whether the £40 ach time is worth it :)

(could have offered you my silicone set, but one of the pipes has been chopped to see if it would work with the FMIC)

Uness the car is heavily hazing the cars behind then i am sure you will pass fine. Mine was creating a smoke screen even before i lost boost, now it is just crazy bad!

[peterzs]

I have been told that the oil gets into the joints and the o/e ones let go after a time, if one goes again I will go the silicone route.

I hope its a simple fix, trouble is now all the electric gissmoes have to talk to each other, let alone the mechanical bits.:wave::wave:

[p_b82]

yeah the OE ones do not like the oil vapour from the breather and perish.

When you start to run higher boost they start to wear out.... there is a guy (on .org) that got a load of IC hoses comissioned to replaced the OE setup. Is through a company called roose motorsport.

I am not sure if he still has any as he got them at a discounted rate to what they are offered on the website at.

Car turbo is fine - panic over. but has a nasty vibration, back with Matt to fix it.