federalman Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Got the rear bash bar welded up and painted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Wings prepped for some primer and finally finished the boot. Doesn’t look pretty but it’s as smooth as my limited bodywork skill can get it. Ordered a Davies, Craig fan controller. I was going to run the rad fans from the stock relay but it seems to be integrated with the A/C wiring and I’m aiming to rip as much wiring out when I relocate the fuse box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Last of the intercooler pipes fabricated. Other than marking the gearbox wiring locations for the fuse box relocation the engine can now come out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Decided to go for a rear wing low mounted. Made up some end plates for it, just need to clean them up and paint them satin black Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Claymore Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Looking good, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 On 9/9/2020 at 10:57 AM, Claymore said: Looking good, Cheers, it’s been a long time in the making but finally getting it done Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 With the arches gone completely there’s no where for the fuse box to live so I’ve relocated it to the glove box. Dash came out to do the job properly. Air bag wiring, abs loom and air con was completely stripped from the car. The headlights and gearbox loom was pulled back through and rejoined and now completely misses the front drivers wheel. I’ve still got to order some battery cable to wire back in the alternator and starter motor and extend 3 wires as well as wire in a horn and the rear fog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Well it’s been a while since I updated this thread so here goes, got a few bits to add but I’ve mainly been prepping for the engine to come out. So here it is: engine out Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Started stripping the ancillaries and inlet manifold off the engine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Bolted the turbo and manifold back on to make up the water and oil return lines Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 With the help of the other half I got the head off, pistons and crank out. The bores are in great condition and will just need a good hone. Considering the life this engine led only 2 main bearings on the middle journals were damaged, they have damaged the crank though by the look of it a polish will bring this back Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Although the turbo and valvetrain will flow enough for the target horsepower I decided to smooth out the casting marks in the ports as the head was off anyway. I opened out the exhaust ports but the inlets were already as big as the gasket so this saved some time. Starting with the exhausts I’ve ported them, removed the casting residue and buffed them to 300 grit. I have polished them but haven’t cleaned the head yet to see how they’ve come out. With the inlets I removed the excess casting and smoothed them out buffing to 240 grit to aid fuel atomisation Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Had a slightly different project to help with: machine a new water pump part in brass as the original steel had rotted and face an impeller for a TR7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Claymore Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 3 hours ago, federalman said: Bolted the turbo and manifold back on to make up the water and oil return lines Now that's a turbo! Should spool well with the smaller back housing. What size is it HX?? Great fabrication /machining as always. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 54 minutes ago, Claymore said: Now that's a turbo! Should spool well with the smaller back housing. What size is it HX?? Great fabrication /machining as always. It’s a super HX35. Bit of a weird turbo as it has a water cooled core and an 8cm turbine. Thanks for the kind words, I do try Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Decided to reinforce the clutch fork and ordered a reinforced clutch pivot and stage 4 white bunny clutch kit from competition clutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 Made up some solid aluminium engine mounts from some 2” 6082 bar with m10x1.25 threaded bar. Probably cost me around £15 compared to the £80 or so elsewhere. Just need to order some new nuts and then anodise them Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Progress has slowed as the weather has been pretty shite. Got the head, block and crank back from Cambridge Rebores having had the head skimmed, head and block chemically cleaned and the crank polished. Thankfully the marks from the old bearings breaking up have been removed with just a polish so that’s a bonus. Fitted the front and rear main seals and the front gearbox seal. Still waiting for my clutch and upgraded pivot to turn up from France. I have also anodised the engine mounts, i was hoping to dye them purple but I anodised them a bit hard so they didn’t take in the dye but at least they won’t corrode. Started to finish off the wiring in the engine bay, the majority is now done and I repaired a couple of bits on the engine loom. Everything has been wrapped in flexible cover and then taped up so it looks as factory and neat as possible. I’ve still got a bit of wiring to inside the car and then the interior can go in. I’ve still got a lot of mechanical work to get down, mainly on the rear end Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 Been working away at cleaning everything that needs to go back in the engine. I’ve also painted the oil pan and water pump pulley, though I’m still debating machining an under drive pulley for that. Got myself a strobe kit for the engine bay as well, quite a way off needing that yet but as the dash is out wiring is an absolute doddle currently. Cleaned up the inlet manifold as well as years of the original breather system has coated it in a sticky oily film and replaced all the gaskets Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Done a bit more work on it over the past few days. The boot had gone a bit rusty where the car cover has held water so I got a coat of primer on it. A few runs in it but it’s good enough for now until I repaint it. Thankfully the original spoiler holes and third brake light can’t be seen. Got the passenger side skirt on today, need to get the drivers one on next hopefully tomorrow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BurtEP82 Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 Really enjoy reading the updates to this build. A lot of major work happening and being done right. Clearly a capable man with a capable wife. Looking forward to your end result, keep the updates coming 👍🏻 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sam44 Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 im just having a sit down read now with a brew. fantastic stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 11, 2021 Author Share Posted September 11, 2021 On 4/8/2021 at 11:46 PM, BurtEP82 said: Really enjoy reading the updates to this build. A lot of major work happening and being done right. Clearly a capable man with a capable wife. Looking forward to your end result, keep the updates coming 👍🏻 Thanks, I’m actually an electrician by trade, everything machining wise I learnt from my old man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 11, 2021 Author Share Posted September 11, 2021 Well it’s certainly been a minute! Got a few bits and pieces done over the past few months though with a lack of time and bad weather when I’ve actually been off it’s been quite slow. I decided I wasn’t too happy with the spoiler end plates, I got some pink Perspex from work and made some new ones. Art isn’t my strong point but the cherry blossom didn’t come out too bad. I got a Nismo lightweight flywheel, cleaned that up last week and it looks far better than in the photo. I’ve had to repair the spoiler itself as it got damaged under the cover with how windy it has been. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
federalman Posted September 11, 2021 Author Share Posted September 11, 2021 Got all the valves lapped in so the head is now ready to build up. I repolished the exhaust ports as I weren’t completely happy with them. I decided to go with a solid gearbox mount, as I don’t have a mill I made a 2 piece mount that bolts together. The countersunk bolts that hold the parts together also make up the studs to hold the mount to the chassis. I machined 2 bolts from some hex bar as this holds in the gearbox slots better than a standard bolt. Next up was an under seat fire extinguisher bracket. Quite a simple design in aluminium with 2 bends. Over the past couple of weeks I started making up the repair panels and patches so I can cut out the rust. I’ve not welded to rusty car metal so I was quite happy with the final result of the first plate. I have a fair bit to rebuild on the right hand side of the rear arch and I’m hoping to get that welded in next weekend. Finally I got a Competition Clutch stage 4 6 paddle clutch. I’ve been running one of these in the starlet for a while and it’s been great, I hope it stands up to the abuse it will end up getting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.