hi guys .
last few weeks have been interesting ..
so the engine was 90% done and only thing left was to tighten up the exhuast manifold bolts.. easy right ... wrong!
this happened :
previous owner striped one of the studs so it wouldn't bite ... so i figured easy fix .. went out and bought a tap and die set .. taped in a new thread , and it was ready .. from there i should of stop and went to bed . but me being a impatient prick .. i went looking for a stud that would fit .. after an hour of swearing i thought stuff it ...i'll just get a bigger bolt and force it in ... got my rattle gun out and started forcing it in .. after a couple of minutes it looked good . it was going in and need a little more ... that little more cracked it ... lesson: don't do what i did and take it to a pro
which i ended up doing ... which sort of work out ok for me .. i had 2 options really ,
1/ he could try and weld it and put in a sleeve and tap a new thread... but there was no guarantee
or
2/ change the head .
i opted for the new head ... simply due to not wanting to take the motor out if the stud failed on me once the car is running
funny enough it worked out ok , Sprinterman my engine builder said that the original head suffered from alot of heat more then normal and wouldn't of lasted very long anyways no more then say 6months or so and that whoever built the motor last got happy with the gasket glue. some of it had broken off and was blocking the water galleries ... that night i learnt alot about gasket glue and the damage it could do if it has been used incorrectly.... apparently it could cost you a new engine... =P
so x amount of money later and my pocket ever so lighter i got a brand new reco head .
gearbox also got done. and picked her up .. it was smooth sailing for this one .. only 2 bearings needed replacing the rest looked brand new. gearbox guy said that the LSD was in good nick .. yay!
this thing weighs a tonne ...
so i built a trolley from a small pallet i found and bought the wheels from bunning .. hopefully this will help with the installion this week ...
motor and gearbox reunited
i was looking forward to putting the motor back on the weekend and getting her started but after close inspection on one on the engine mount , it looked like it had seen better days .. im sure it would of been good for another maybe 12-months or so . But knowing how little space and poo poo job it is once the motor is in , i opted to leave the engine installation out until the engine mounts got sorted.
so did some gooling and had 3 choices
1/ buy 4 brand new mounts
2/ buy aftermarket urethane ones
3/ try and make my own one
i choose 3. simply because im on a budget, the engine mounts aren't totally goneski so with some help they should last me until i get funds to buy new ones. plus this car wont be a daily and will only really be driven once or twice a month mostly to the track and back. so with that in mind i got this today :
before anybody comments that urethane is soft. this stuff is rated at 80A.. engine mounts are normally rated at 70-75A .. i was going to go the 95A stuff but opted for the 80A , just because I'd like to keep my teeth.. hehehe and 4ages don't like super stiff engine mounts ..
and did this :
then this :
then mixed some urethane up
and then filled them up :
dry time is 48hrs with 100% cure at 7days .. so thats perfect for me .engine will go back in the car on saturday ..
oh last thing , got this the other week off sweetpete.. i didnt really want to spend anymore money modding it but it does .. grrrrr, so just another thing on the list :
so thats it from me atm . until next time
merry xmas guys. hope you guys have a happy and safe holiday