1603cc engine build

Thanks folks!

As you know, this has been a real labour of love, and being able to share this experience with everyone here and get regular support and advice has been priceless.

fiatfactory said:
there all fixed for ya!

good work!

SteveC
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Thanks Steve, that's much better. And thank you for your enormous contributions to this build and for your encouragement. Very much appreciated.

kmead said:
Huge congrats. Who counts the days? Who counts the money? :)

Way to go. I hope the tuning takes a little less time.
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Me too Karl, I'm itching to get it back on the road now.

Yves said:
Rob good find ... I think ou got it
Cheers
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Merci mon ami!!!

ianlawson said:
"Finally. It's only taken 1,210 days..."
Yup, sounds healthy, Rob! Now you can open up all those invoices and compare how your bank balance looks, mate!! :eek: :(

cheers, Ian - NZ
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Hell no Lawsa! I KNOW this cost more than a standard build, I don't need to know how much more mate! I hope it will equate to bigger smiles. :D:D:D:D:D

dcioccarelli said:
Mate,

that is pretty damn impressive! After all the modifications that you made to that engine (I particularly liked the conical valve springs), to have it start without any issue is a testament to all the planning that you put in. How does the valve train sound?

Looking forward to seeing some more (and eventually some dyno results)!

Cheers,
Dom.
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Thanks Dominic. I will admit it was a relief. And if it hadn't started, you know the video would have stayed hidden. Until I can tune in a nice sustainable idle, I won't really know how the valve train sounds. Although listening to the video, it may be quiet. In theory it should be pretty quiet since nearly every component was been lightened.

And speaking of lightening, with all the rotating masses now lighter and balanced, even though there is some amount of tuning still to come, a small stab on the throttle pedal results in an almost instantaneous rev rise to the 6,000 range. Took me by surprise. I can't wait to get it out on the road...

motoTrooper said:
Big congrats Rob, it must feel really rewarding to have it running. Enjoy the heck out of this car!
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Oh believe me, I will!!!

Cheers all,

Rob
 
Just discovered the start up! Big congratulations as this IS a labor of love, passion and dedication to the goal of making a dream into reality.
Project very well done.

Bernice
 
Thanks Bernice and Odie!

Unfortunately life has gotten in the way the last few days but hopefully I can get back to it soon.

Cheers,

Rob
 
I'll see what I can do. And I promise it won't be crappy hand held iPhone footage next time.

I drove the X the 84 mile round trip (and 6,000 feet of overall elevation change) to work yesterday. According to my air/fuel meter all the jets need to be fattened just a tad. It purred like a kitten on the freeways, and pulled like a train on the side roads. The only disappointing thing? Despite all my efforts, the gearbox still leaks!!! :mad:

Cheers,

Rob
 
Congrats Rob, what a huge achievement! Few things are more satisfying than building an engine and running it hard.

Speaking of which, I notice in both your video's you don't push it much past 5k. Just taking it easy on the break-in or what? I want to hear that thing sing to 7k at least!

Pete
 
Pete Whitstone said:
Congrats Rob, what a huge achievement! Few things are more satisfying than building an engine and running it hard.

Speaking of which, I notice in both your video's you don't push it much past 5k. Just taking it easy on the break-in or what? I want to hear that thing sing to 7k at least!

Pete
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Thanks Pete.

I'll give it a bit more welly once the head has been retorqued.
 
rjplenter said:
I'll give it a bit more welly once the head has been retorqued.
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A translation for our American Xwebbers ... ' Put the boot into it soon...'

n.b. Welly = Wellington boot...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_boot.

Transmission leaks... all it takes is a slight ding in the mating face of the half cases and they don't seal up... I always run a sharpening stone around the mating faces to smooth off all the highs and lows, and loctite 515 helps too.

SteveC
 
fiatfactory said:
I always run a sharpening stone around the mating faces to smooth off all the highs and lows, and loctite 515 helps too.

SteveC
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I sanded the case sections flat on a large surface plate. There were a surprising number of dips and some warping. There is still a tiny drip from the tailstock section. Your locktite 515 suggestion is likely where I will go for that one.

Paul
 
I carefully dressed the surfaces, then placed (not bolted) the two case halves together with a bright light inside and checked for light leaks. It looked good.

A new gasket and Permatex RTV sealant was used, and then the two halves bolted together with studs and nuts.

I sealed the plugs in the bellhousing, replaced the oil ring on the reverse idler shaft then made a cap to go over the end anyway. Shift rod and input shaft seals were replaced and the axle boots are almost new. The reverse switch was taken out and rewired and then put back in with sealer.

There's quite a puddle of Redline under the car, so I gotta figure out what's happening so I can concentrate on fine tuning the engine.

Cheers,

Rob
 
I've now put a couple of hundred miles on the new engine, retorqued the head and got the carb jetting sorted out. I might tweak the ignition timing a little.

It pulls like a train to 7,000rpm (haven't gone beyond that yet), sounds great, perhaps a slightly deeper note than before. It's very well behaved in traffic and coolant temp is good.

BUT.

The gearbox is leaking more than ever. I'm at a loss. Got home from work today to the smell of Redline and found it smeared all over the back of the car!

I'm on the verge of pulling it out and replacing all the seals and gaskets again. How did Einstein define insanity.......??? :confused:

What am I forgetting? What I'm I doing wrong?
 
This time use Loctite 515 gasket sealer, good for or 2 thou sealing, dries under pressure so excess just wipes up...downside is if you ever want to take it apart for a third time it will be VERY difficult to separate the cases.

Great new on the engine front...when's the dyno day?

SteveC
 
I used this

rtv.jpg


Was that my mistake?

No plans for a dyno day yet.

Cheers,

Rob
 
I don't like silicone on gaskets exposed to oil (and especially oil that can become fuel impregnated like with a sump gasket) ... it has very low adhesion to oily surfaces, and when you're assembling a transmission you tend to get oil on mating faces of the casing. The same with most cleaning solvents....so unless you wiped all the mating faces off with something like Isopropyl, the residues of most cleaning solvents also act as a release agent for silicone...

Loctite 515 ... best stuff ever for a leak free motor and trans, as long as you never need to take it apart again.

SteveC
 
Most transaxle casings have a very narrow tolerance, since excessive thickness would affect end float/bearing play, so the sealant should be something that compresses to a miniscule film. Subaru sells the sealant they use, which is identical to the Volvo sealant (not sold since no internal parts are available). I use it when I install Posi diffs in my Volvo transaxles. Just did this in my C30 this past month - NEVER had a leak.

Subaru # 004403007 250g. Not cheap (unless they now sell smaller tubes)

36DF1054-0540-409B-A552-A7655BE4C3D0_zps8ahzlvui.jpg


3465FA02-C8F6-4995-92A0-74F38B714E93_zpstixoew5o.jpg
 
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