K-Series Engine Build

[@ndy]

Great work mate.

 

Should all be done for the end of the month then

Engine will probably be done by the end of the month if not sooner, However I have some other jobs to do while the car is off the road, Planning to put back on the road in March

 

Good work Andy,

 

My engine is out at the moment waiting for new parts ! It looks like you are using the standard con rods, have you had the pins press fitted to the little ends or machined to make them fully floating ?

Hi Russ,

 

Yes, standard rods but had them balanced and the pins pressed in by Jason at Hellier Performance, He has a purpose built oven with a set temperature and timer along with a special jig... All the original VHPD's were built in the workshop he is based in at Janspeed.

 

Whats the plan with your engine ?

 

Andy.

[russelld]

 

Hi Russ,

 

Yes, standard rods but had them balanced and the pins pressed in by Jason at Hellier Performance, He has a purpose built oven with a set temperature and timer along with a special jig... All the original VHPD's were built in the workshop he is based in at Janspeed.

 

Whats the plan with your engine ?

 

Andy.

 

 

Andy I'm doing similar to you :

 

Head port

32.5mm inlet valves

1444 cams, springs, caps etc

Vernier pulleys

Throttle bodies re furbished

New 4-2-1 manifold

Emerald ECU

1900 bottom end rebuild

 

Currently waiting for cams and valves to arrive, also having a nightmare sourcing main bearing shells. Its all getting a little more expensive than I first thought !!

[Martin R]

Russ, that will make some nice numbers    

[AlanS1]

Russ, the costs very easily creep up.

 

Are you have any addition head work done to accommodate the larger inlet valves? I went for larger exhaust valves, but kept the inlets the same. 

It will be a beast once all done. 

 

Andy, yours will also be great when done as well.

 

There are going to be some really fast cars out this year  

[@ndy]

Great to see so many people sticking with and upgrading the K series.... look forward to see the cars on track 

[AlanS1]

I will be on track in a few weeks at Rockingham  

 

If i get time i may even get in a go at the sprint series at Curborough next Thursday.

[@ndy]

I will be on track in a few weeks at Rockingham

 

If i get time i may even get in a go at the sprint series at Curborough next Thursday.

 

Good stuff Alan..... 

[Nathan]

I also cross posted in Seloc after spotting this, but it's the first time I've been made aware of an issue with Goetze liners.

 

The k-series Goetze liners have been coming from the same plant for at least the last 9 years. Goetze were the OE supplier to Rover for liners (and pistons and rings under the AE Nural brand) and I've never seen a quality claim on any of these parts that's not been related to damage sustained before fitting.

 

Given the large variations in skill and knowledge of rebuilders, and the deviation from OE engine spec/performance, issues can happen, irrespective of the source of the components, but it's impossible to investigate if the failure isn't reported and the parts returned. All Goetze liners are covered by a comprehensive warranty for failure caused by manufacturing defect. Not sure if this can be said for alternatives in the market.

[@ndy]

Not had much time over the last few weeks but finally getting close to completing the rebuild....

 

1st job was to fit the piston rings, The oil control rings are pretty easy but the compression rings are a little tougher, I can see why you would use a special tool as by the time your on the 4th set your fingers get a little sore !

 

 

 

 

I do have a piston ring compression tool but found it was easier by hand and quicker, here they are all fitted with the MLS gasket and shim fitted -

 

 

 

 

After torquing up the big ends the oil ladder and pick-up pipe were fitted -

 

 

 

 

Before fitting the sump I had to fit the DVA sump baffle... There are some horror stories out there about these but all problems were after people had welded the baffle together or to the sump which I kind of understand when you put it together on the bench, however once it's dropped in it's nice and snug -

 

 

 

Here it is fitted with flange sealer ready to go together -

 

 

 

Once the sump was fitted I checked the lower faces of the block were aligned before finally torquing up the sump bolts, if they are not flush you are going to have problems with the crank seal -

 

 

 

I used a crank seal supplied by DVA, these are the preferred choice as they are slightly oversized to compensate for any tolerance issues with the block, Prior to fitting I used some RTV sealant as detailed in the service manual -

 

 

 

 

I also choose to bolt the seal in place with 4 M4x10 button head bolts, this again is another DVA recommendation to eliminate any chance of the seal popping out due to excess sump pressure when used on track, This was a little scary drilling in to the block, screw this up and it would have had to all come apart again !

 

 

 

 

Next was to fit the lightened flywheel, Only 3.6kg and fully balanced -

 

 

 

 

Now on to the front end, New oil and water pump fitted..... Again RTV sealant is used on the O' ring seal for the water pump -

 

 

 

 

Next was to bolt up the head and then fit the timing (cam) belt, prior to doing the I made sure the engine was set to 90 degree BTDC to prevent any chance of valve to piston interference -

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this mornings job was to set the cam timing.... Thanks again to Martin for use of his cam timing kit.

 

Piper suggest 88 thou for the inlet and 78 thou for the exhaust, However DVA recommends 120 thou for IN and 110 thou for EXH so this is what I went with, I will check again after the engine has been started as the followers may pump up a little ?

 

 

 

So next on the list is drop the cam cover on and then it's time to lift my engine out and start refreshing the engine bay

 

Watch this space

Andy.

 

 

 

 

 

[jody391]

Looking good Andy!

[Alex B]

Making progress now Andy!

Not long till it's done?

[AlanS1]

Great progress. 

[@ndy]

Cheers guys.....

 

Planning on being back on the road/track in March/April as I have some other jobs on the car while it's in bits

[jonnyfox]

Following with great interest Andy, I'll be on the engine once the chassis and front are finished.

[Martin R]

Following with great interest Andy, I'll be on the engine once the chassis and front are finished.

 

1444 cams Jon, you know it makes sense