Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Are you changing the primary load signal to the ecu to tps, or building a vacuum tree and tank?
Looks very neat, a much better solution than the old and unreliable M3 actuator which are very popular
Going to try a branched feed and suck it and see. If we need a tank we will add that in later. That bit is in the hands of the mechanic.
 

MasterOfReality

After forever
Does anybody know of a place in Brisbane that can paint strip wheels? Like dip in a drum of paint stripper type of thing?

Have a set of wheels that need taking back to bare due to atrocious previous paint jobs. Wheel resto place I'm using usually outsources the real bad cases but the guys they use no longer do it. They are hesitant to do sandblasting themselves because it will be a huge job, chemical paint stripping much easier.

I'm considering picking them up and having a go myself in the back yard!
 

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Going to try a branched feed and suck it and see. If we need a tank we will add that in later. That bit is in the hands of the mechanic.
Stock cams? If you can't tune via tps for low throttle openings you may find merging the vacuum signals into a single chamber provides a smoother signal to the sensor instead of the traditional vacuum tee arrangement. Can be a bit lumpy for some sensors.
If you move to an aftermarket ecu there are some good gains to be made by having two load sources (two tables) for both fuel and ignition. You'll probably find on the dyno it won't take WOT at low revs and you can tune throttle blade position vs load vs rpm then just mash the pedal and get all the powerz.
I can show you how to do this on M800 and M150, nfi on other stuff.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Stock cams? If you can't tune via tps for low throttle openings you may find merging the vacuum signals into a single chamber provides a smoother signal to the sensor instead of the traditional vacuum tee arrangement. Can be a bit lumpy for some sensors.
If you move to an aftermarket ecu there are some good gains to be made by having two load sources (two tables) for both fuel and ignition. You'll probably find on the dyno it won't take WOT at low revs and you can tune throttle blade position vs load vs rpm then just mash the pedal and get all the powerz.
I can show you how to do this on M800 and M150, nfi on other stuff.
Still keeping $ down, so stock cams. The spare cams we have are over the top for the street sprints and makes it harder for learners to have a go. Better off keeping it simple. I think teeing the lines will be fine I reckon. Suck it and see.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
We have a spare newly rebuilt Duratec with large valves and fairly wild cams, forged rods and pistons etc. Spec'd for 270+bhp. It is overkill for the XR4 and deserves to go somewhere better. Probably into a clubman. Possibly somewhere else as we have a spare empty XR4 shell that could possibly go rwd. There is also a 2.3 and a 2.5 lurking. These itbs will be the test for those engines. Assuming the actuator works as normal and we can get the ecu happy then it is an easy job for the all singing all dancing Duratec to go elsewhere.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Many years ago I helped a mates dad race a mk1 in the historic category for a few years.

Bathurst, 1998 when the Bathurst 1000 naming rights fiasco happened and the 2L touring cars raced, v8’s race was called the “1998 FAI 1000”. Was so few people at the race, we had full access to the pits during the race, just not allowed onto the wall. You cannot appreciate how steep the cutting is till you’ve walked it. JFC. Going up, your ankles cannot rotate enough for you to put heels down, you have to walk up on your toes.

Anyway, this mk1 RA2000 had a glorious BDG that had a redline of 13,000. Managed to overtake a couple of midpack GTHO’s down conrod.

At 13,000, rebuilds are every 4-5 hours!. At 9,000 it’s 60 plus hours. I’ve never seen grown men with such big smiles, except the Chevy Nova guys who ran out of brakes by the end of lap 2.

The subsequent owner of the mk1 failed to check oil levels between races and destroyed it at Sandown coming out of turn 4 at full noise on his 5th day of ownership. Least he took ownership of his mistake and admitted he fucked up while asking who had built the engine so he could go hand them a big pile of cash, like wrong side of 40 grand.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Many years ago I helped a mates dad race a mk1 in the historic category for a few years.

Bathurst, 1998 when the Bathurst 1000 naming rights fiasco happened and the 2L touring cars raced, v8’s race was called the “1998 FAI 1000”. Was so few people at the race, we had full access to the pits during the race, just not allowed onto the wall. You cannot appreciate how steep the cutting is till you’ve walked it. JFC. Going up, your ankles cannot rotate enough for you to put heels down, you have to walk up on your toes.

Anyway, this mk1 RA2000 had a glorious BDG that had a redline of 13,000. Managed to overtake a couple of midpack GTHO’s down conrod.

At 13,000, rebuilds are every 4-5 hours!. At 9,000 it’s 60 plus hours. I’ve never seen grown men with such big smiles, except the Chevy Nova guys who ran out of brakes by the end of lap 2.

The subsequent owner of the mk1 failed to check oil levels between races and destroyed it at Sandown coming out of turn 4 at full noise on his 5th day of ownership. Least he took ownership of his mistake and admitted he fucked up while asking who had built the engine so he could go hand them a big pile of cash, like wrong side of 40 grand.
That humble Kent bottom end spawned some impressive engines. The BDA was named that because it was "belt drive, A type". That and the YB which used the Pinto block really changed racing.

 

k3n!f

leaking out the other end
Quick update on the RR Sport. One of the reasons why it was so cheap is a previous owner had left it parked in the sun while they went on a 7 month holiday and the leather dashboard was a shrunken/cracked/curled mess. I was told it would be very expensive to replace (many grands) and the previous owner had decided not to fix it as pulling out the dashboard requires most of the interior to be taken out.

I found an English company selling replacement leather which was supposed to be installed with the dashboard out. I decided to have a crack at it myself and gave it a go just sticking it down with the dashboard still together and was pretty happy with the result :)

IMG_7533.jpg

IMG_7526.jpg
 

Chriso_29er

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Quick update on the RR Sport. One of the reasons why it was so cheap is a previous owner had left it parked in the sun while they went on a 7 month holiday and the leather dashboard was a shrunken/cracked/curled mess. I was told it would be very expensive to replace (many grands) and the previous owner had decided not to fix it as pulling out the dashboard requires most of the interior to be taken out.

I found an English company selling replacement leather which was supposed to be installed with the dashboard out. I decided to have a crack at it myself and gave it a go just sticking it down with the dashboard still together and was pretty happy with the result :)

View attachment 393353
View attachment 393354
Did you have any before pics?
 

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
IMG_20221011_125317052~2.jpg
It's only taken me six months but after dismantling the fuel system in April to replace the worn out injectors on our Massey Ferguson 65...today was the day I finally got the damn thing started.

Along the way, both front tyres got replaced. Then I found the valve cover was leaking because a tightarse in the distant past decided that you could say $6 by using the old gasket and lots of RTV instead.

Then I decided to see if I could find another timing cover as the original one had holes in it due to a thrust washer falling off it...into the timing gear. Found another one. Realised that fitting it also required splitting the front axle assembly off the engine. And some pretty special o-rings. More parts!

While the front axle assembly was off, it became apparent it had significant wear issues. The centre pivot bushes were long gone and the cast pivots themselves weren't round anymore. New bushes and some welding and bring later... sufficient improvement. The axle spindle assemblies were also rooted - thrust bearings and bushes all destroyed...as were the spindles themselves. More new parts.

Finally got the whole lot back together...and it ran really poorly for a couple of minutes. Filled the shed with brown smoke and then utterly snuffed it. Couldn't get the injection pump to pump properly either on or off the tractor. In the end, I paid the price to rebuild it with a brand new pump head ($1,900...).

Got it back. Put it on. Bleed it out. Wouldn't go. Had a tantrum. Eventually calmed down enough to realise that it can't pump with air in the injector lines...bled them too. And it starts, revs quite well, much better than before. Lots of white smoke though (as one can see in the image)...there's still air in it. Went back over the lines with a gorillas approach to fasteners and now it doesn't smoke at idle. Give it some throttle and the smoke returns so it's sucking air in somewhere (I suspect the filter assemblies). However, it runs and runs with real potential...I can still fix it!!!
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Quick update on the RR Sport. One of the reasons why it was so cheap is a previous owner had left it parked in the sun while they went on a 7 month holiday and the leather dashboard was a shrunken/cracked/curled mess. I was told it would be very expensive to replace (many grands) and the previous owner had decided not to fix it as pulling out the dashboard requires most of the interior to be taken out.

I found an English company selling replacement leather which was supposed to be installed with the dashboard out. I decided to have a crack at it myself and gave it a go just sticking it down with the dashboard still together and was pretty happy with the result :)

View attachment 393353
View attachment 393354
Is the base cracked or was it only the leather covering? If the base is cracked surely it will affect the new covering? Good job by the way.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
View attachment 393356It's only taken me six months but after dismantling the fuel system in April to replace the worn out injectors on our Massey Ferguson 65...today was the day I finally got the damn thing started.

Along the way, both front tyres got replaced. Then I found the valve cover was leaking because a tightarse in the distant past decided that you could say $6 by using the old gasket and lots of RTV instead.

Then I decided to see if I could find another timing cover as the original one had holes in it due to a thrust washer falling off it...into the timing gear. Found another one. Realised that fitting it also required splitting the front axle assembly off the engine. And some pretty special o-rings. More parts!

While the front axle assembly was off, it became apparent it had significant wear issues. The centre pivot bushes were long gone and the cast pivots themselves weren't round anymore. New bushes and some welding and bring later... sufficient improvement. The axle spindle assemblies were also rooted - thrust bearings and bushes all destroyed...as were the spindles themselves. More new parts.

Finally got the whole lot back together...and it ran really poorly for a couple of minutes. Filled the shed with brown smoke and then utterly snuffed it. Couldn't get the injection pump to pump properly either on or off the tractor. In the end, I paid the price to rebuild it with a brand new pump head ($1,900...).

Got it back. Put it on. Bleed it out. Wouldn't go. Had a tantrum. Eventually calmed down enough to realise that it can't pump with air in the injector lines...bled them too. And it starts, revs quite well, much better than before. Lots of white smoke though (as one can see in the image)...there's still air in it. Went back over the lines with a gorillas approach to fasteners and now it doesn't smoke at idle. Give it some throttle and the smoke returns so it's sucking air in somewhere (I suspect the filter assemblies). However, it runs and runs with real potential...I can still fix it!!!
Check the seal on the filter bowl carefully, these crack and/or go hard and it will suck air. If not that then the lift pump diaphragm.
 

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
Check the seal on the filter bowl carefully, these crack and/or go hard and it will suck air. If not that then the lift pump diaphragm.
All the o-rings in the filter assemblies are new but the big one in the primary filter housing (bowl to body) is my lead suspect. Mainly because it didn't seem to be the right size..

The lift pump diaphragm itself is fine because if it wasn't then the crankcase would fill with diesel! But yeah the seal between it and the pump housing doesn't appear to be leaking...and yet.
 

k3n!f

leaking out the other end
Did you have any before pics?
This is what I started with. The leather on the left side of the picture shows how the leather had cracked, warped and shrunk. The previous owner took to the remainder with a stanley knife and cut it back to plastic so they could velcro a cloth dashboard cover on. I did end up getting the end cap around the air con vents from wrecker as restretching leather over that looks like a ball ache.

thumbnail_IMG_6987.jpg
 
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