1990 tungsten/first rebuild

[tubbyG]

I havent bothered with the 5 since my engine failed but today I started to strip down the bay - getting ready for the engine removal this weekend.



going by what you guys have said, the low oil pressure could have at the very least spun a bearing.

So I bought a completley standard bottom end from djinuk - my plan was to rob the crank from that and rebuild my lump.



When I was removing the bottom intercooler pipes I noticed some strange shrapnel in a pool of oil under the oil filter



then I seen this


****! looks like a conrod tried to escape
I tried to remove the sump to get a better look but It has took a severe beating and 2 of the bolts are impossible to remove due to dents!

so my plan now is to completley strip this engine to see whats salvagable, then to rebuild the other good block I have in time for summer

[Andyturbo!]

Nice hole you have there buddy lol keep the faith mate, and breath new life into her for summer

[djinuk]

good job you got that spare block geeze ,

[tubbyG]

Djinuk - too right haha. I didnt expect that though. Will get a much better look at it once I get the lump out.... Let the fun begin

[tubbyG]

Nice hole you have there buddy lol keep the faith mate, and breath new life into her for summer

Cheers dude, looks Like I have plenty to keep me occupied at the wkends

[5 turbo]

Proper job

Good luck fella, get pics of the stripdown

[tubbyG]

got the engine out today...... and it doesnt look good

I shall let the pics to the talking...

[tubbyG]

[LiamR]

oh dear!!!

Stick with it mate. It will be worth it I am sure.

[5 turbo]

Awesome

Went out in style that one

Be worth all the agg when its done fella

[Woznaldo]

It would be interesting to see the whole conrod as it would appear that the big end bolts just gave up? Everyone likes a bit of engine carnage.

[tubbyG]

Cheers guys, yeah, you can't beat a bit of mechanical carnage!!
I will be dismantling the block completely tomorrow to try and figure out what went on and to see whats salvagable so will get some detailed pics of the rods/crank.

I am gutted tho, as I wasn't even giving it death when it let go
Fortunately I bought another block so I will be rebuilding that over the next few weeks.

[Brigsy]

Proper job

[tubbyG]

stripped down the block this afternoon.....

used the fag packet for a scale as I didnt have a ruler to hand


a few chunks out of the crank





destroyed piston




liner

[LiamR]

That is proper carnage mate!!

But chin up and good luck with the rebuild

[5 turbo]

Fooooookin Hell fella

Brings back fond memories for me...Done this Recently





TF it was only On me .16 nitro engine


Check that crank propper

So whats plan? Standard build or proof it up a bit?

[tubbyG]

nice bit of minature carnage there

It will just be a standard build mate, but with the 285 cam,vernier out of this engine (if their ok that is)

think this crank will be joining the block.......in the bin!

[rs250nut]

Nicely fubared motor, now what have you learned from this? dont drive like a fairy give it the full beans everywhere!!!!!!!!

[tubbyG]

Nicely fubared motor, now what have you learned from this? dont drive like a fairy give it the full beans everywhere!!!!!!!!

I shall be abusing the rev limited from now on for sure - can't do much worse that this !

[Woznaldo]

Did the nuts just work their way off, as the bolts seem to be in good nick (apart from the bend in one)?

[SCHWARTZ]

Does look like the bolts worked loose, maybe not torqued up correctly.

[GTphil]

Thats what i was thinking, i didn't bother with new nuts on my last re-build looking at this i wish i had

I was tightening the conrod cap up once when one of the studs snapped, was like chocolate, i took it as blessing in disguise.

[tubbyG]

Did the nuts just work their way off, as the bolts seem to be in good nick (apart from the bend in one)?

possibly.....

I had replaced the piston rings and main bearings the month before.... re-used the nuts and bolts though, cant rember what I tightend them to though

[Sparkie]

main caps 65Nm.... big ends 45Nm.
check your torque wrench is ok though. mine recently went well out of calibration - so much so i actually snapped the main cap bolt clean off trying to get to 65Nm....

[tubbyG]

took some time today to sort out my replacement block. removed pistons & liners before bolting on my head so I could clean it and give it a lick of paint

After a few hours elbow grease I am pretty pleased with how it looks now.

[Andyturbo!]

Looking great buddy! Nice and fresh

[LiamR]

That has cleaned up well mate looks good.

I am glad I put a few hours into mine cleaning it. Am hoping that once its back up and running, I wont get caked in dirt every time I touch it ....well thats the plan anyway!!lol..

[djinuk]

halfords vht red paint if i ever saw it.. get some vht lacquer mate aswell.. that paint scratches off (try it) , looks like your getting there though buddy

[tubbyG]

Yeah boy, you knows it

I was really tempted to paint it white, but went for this as it was nice and cheap.
Cheers for the heads up, I will get it laquored as well.

Shouldn't be long now, got bearings and gasket today so just need to drop pistons to engineers to get new rings fitted and liners honed

[tubbyG]

Just waiting to get the pistons back from getting new rings fitted/liners honed then I can get started on building the engine up.

so today I got all my hoses and pipework cleaned up along with fitting new wishbones, ball joints and a polybush kit....and by the looks of it, was long overdue

[tubbyG]

I have struggled for time so progress has been non existant the last few weeks! Untill now

I have at long last picked up my pistons & liners so I can get started on building up the lump this weekend

I have degreased and washed down the bay ready for a bit of paint and also fitted a new speedo cable.

cleaned up and painted some brackets


Decided I didnt really like the red VHT paint on the block (you were right djinuk - is was piss poor and flaked off) so I have repainted it.

[tubbyG]

Had a whole weekend off for the first time in ages so got stuck into building up the new engine.

didnt get any pics of the bottom end assembly as I was concentrating so much on getting it right.............. sorry for the crap pics

STD pistonspistons in


timing the cam ( also dialed in a few degrees of advance )


cluth & flywheel on


head on with freshly painted brackets/covers


and how it looks now


I am hoping get the engine in and running next weekend, in the meantime I need to prep and paint the bay, and sort out some of the wiring

[modfather]

Had a whole weekend off for the first time in ages so got stuck into building up the new engine.




and how it looks now

looks good but i think you put the wheels in the wrong place

[tubbyG]

looks good but i think you put the wheels in the wrong place

haha, never noticed that earlier!

it totally looks like the old c1j is mounted on my bike .... future project maybe?

[modfather]

haha, never noticed that earlier!

it totally looks like the old c1j is mounted on my bike .... future project maybe?

i got a spare block if you want to make a start

[tubbyG]

well after another busy weekend the new engine is in the 5

I had de-rusted and painted the bay along with the front end before dropping it in- although paintwork is scratched to buggery in places where I was struggling to get the block to mate with the box!

got all power and oil connections back on, with decent oil pressure building to 50psi on turnover. but have a flat battery now so will have to wait a bit while it charges so I can hopefully get her running again - I cant wait

[GTphil]

Always a good feeling when it goes back toghether.......untill the next time you break it!!

I have always wondered what it must be like trying to put the block back in with the gearbox in situe, was it a case of you could have avoided scraching the paint work or did you kind of have no choice?

just asking as the last few times my engines been out I have managed to pull the whole lot out and back in again without so much a a light scrach on the paint work.

[James5]

Always a good feeling when it goes back toghether.......untill the next time you break it!!

I have always wondered what it must be like trying to put the block back in with the gearbox in situe, was it a case of you could have avoided scraching the paint work or did you kind of have no choice?

just asking as the last few times my engines been out I have managed to pull the whole lot out and back in again without so much a a light scrach on the paint work.

It's easy doing it with gearbox still in the car, just remove the crank lower pulley and 19mm nut and you should have enough clearance to get it in and out without scrapping anything

Well done Graeme top work fingers crossed for you matey

[tubbyG]

tbh IF there is a next time I need to take it out I think I will take out the box aswell..

The time I spent arsing about trying to line things up I could have dropped it in with little hassle......

I could definetley have prevented some of the scratches.... I left the blanking bolt in the turbo elbow, and I had the gearbox/engine stedy still mounted which obstructed me a bit ( it was dark and late so didnt see or notice it) ....... schoolboy errors! but learning all the time so will know for next time

here is the finished bay



I had it running for 5 mins to check for leaks!..... it sounded awesome I have ditched the raceland mani and have gone back to standard, so that coupled with the sidey and a bit of advance on the cam...... its like an angy little scooby!!

[GTphil]

Top work, we live and learn, I once was pulling on an engine from above on a mates five for probably 10mins thinking wtf is it stuck on, only to find we hadn't taken the gearbox selector rod off

We totaly bent the selecting mechanism on the gearbox not to mention the selector rod

It takes one or two goes then you have it down to a fine art.

[LiamR]

Good work mate - well done

Phil , as for the selector rod, snap mate!!lol. Didnt do it this time though

[tubbyG]

So far I have had a brilliant and bad day in the 5 today!

went out this morning, filled it up and went to rack up the miles on the new engine. Went on a 60mile round trip. Engine ran flawlessly all the way there and back... untill I got a mile from home

crawling through the lunchtime traffic I notice smoke coming from behind my guages and before I can switch it off.... I get a BANG out the sidey, engine dies and electrics are non existent! I push it to the side of the road and up the kerb.

Looking under the bonnet there is smoke/sparks coming off the neg terminal on the battery so I quickly disconnect it. I was desparatley looking for a short somewhere but I couldn't see anything

So Mr RAC came to the rescue.....and its the starter motor that is shagged. with it disconnected from the battery all electrics returned, so we bump started it and he followed me home - Relieved that was the cause is an understatement!

So thinking I may avoid second hand starters from now on

[tubbyG]

ok, I got a used but vgc starter off a mate and fitted it on sat.

I had a look at https://www.rtoc.org/files/Technical%...0HARNESSES.JPG

and seen that I was missing an earth from gearbox to chassis so I put that back on.

I have been using the 5 daily since Saturday but today I have the same symptoms as before. The starter power cable causes sparks when connected to battery. I needed to disconnect the starter power lead to regain electrics and needed another bump start to get me home

I am going to remove the starter shortly to see if it is goosed or not and have a look at the wiring again.

has anyone ever experienced this?

[tubbyG]

found the problem

I removed the starter and all associated wiring..... turns out that the main power lead was fouling on part of the downpipe (only bit at the bottom with no heat wrap) and had melted through.

fixed the wire with tons of electrical tape and re-routed it to avoid the downpipe - and she runs again

[tubbyG]

well the new engine has been runnung well, and has at long last done the 500 mile run in
I completed a scheduled oil and filter change today ...... and I also have a new addition



a nice T28 with .49 rear to replace the T2/25. I have been waiting for the rain to stop so I can set the boost up properly - the last week has been awful here

so I have dropped in a 0.9 a/c and with previous second stage mods I am fueling good for 22psi..although I want more now

the t28 has completley changed the characteristics of the 5.... going from a pretty nippy/responsive wee car on 18psi on T2/25, to a complete rev hungry lag monster

pulls gently untill just over 4k then Boom 22psi , seems only a split second untill it bounce's of limiter and I need to shift!

so I have had to raise the rev limiter from 6k to 7k but I may need to raise it further as it keeps wanting more revs....

[Nad-5GTT]

Well done fella, bet it feels good having al that boost. You got any more plans for her

[tubbyG]

Well done fella, bet it feels good having al that boost. You got any more plans for her

cheers nad, no more plans for it at the moment, need to keep all my monies now for holidays/festivals now .... How is your blue one doing?

After summer I will be thinking about seats/doorcards and maybe a sound system as the sidey is all I got for sound/entertainment

[tubbyG]

been out enjoying the freakishly dry weather up here

[Coops]

looking good mate! stuck in work myself with the Renault turbo in bits on the drive, so no sun and no boost

[Nad-5GTT]

cheers nad, no more plans for it at the moment, need to keep all my monies now for holidays/festivals now .... How is your blue one doing?

After summer I will be thinking about seats/doorcards and maybe a sound system as the sidey is all I got for sound/entertainment

Shes sat unloved in me shed and has been since september, ive been busy doing a loft conversion which has basically turned into me doing the whole house bar the kitchen and bathrooms, building inspecters can be very annoying couple that with another baby and lots of work and ive had no time for her, hopefully in the summer ill tinker with her got to get a new turbo though, more expense take it easy bud