Forged Megane 225 engine for a clio 197

UPDATE:

I havent updated this in a while due to being very busy with the engine and getting ready for the conversion.

First on my list was to get the turbo finished and get the hot side machined for the larger HL turbine wheel. The was done the same as the compressor was machined. The radius was measured and was 7mm, a tool was then made up. The housing was fixed into a 4 jaw lathe chuck with the fixture Ive made. It was then "clocked" to ensure the centre of the hole was lined up with the centre of rotation of the lathe within 0.01mm. The hole was then opened up to 46.9mm allowing 1.2mm total clearance. The inducer hole was then machined to 52.4mm. Now using the radius tool I slowly cut the contour, much harder this time than on the compressor housing due to the turbine housing being made out of much harder cast iron. Once the desired contour was achieved it was blended with sand paper like before.

The turbo is now pretty much done, just need to weld the inlet pipe on, spray it black and assemble it.

I had a big parts order also this week, Ive ordered an 60mm core intercooler, quaife ATB LSD, forge boost pipes, scorpion 3 inch downpipe, milltek centre section, engine service parts, ARP head stud kit, helix stage 3 clutch and cover and a billet lightened flywheel. Ill also be ordering all the fuel system next week.

One thing that has been playing on my mind is the hassle of sending my block out for machining and getting all the clearances right then assebling it to correct spec. I could do it but I dont really have the time considering the car is coming off the road at the end of the month. Therefore Ive sent the block off for assembly at engine dynamics. The specs will be as following:

Kings racing bearings
ZRP h beam rods
wossner pistons
ARP cap bolts
New oil pump
New oil squirters
Blueprinted and balanced crank.

Should hopefully get it back in 2-3 weeks. Then I can assemble the whole engine


Finally Ive now installed all the bearings and seals into the gearbox casings, just need to gearbox internals to arrive back from shot peening and I can finish the gearbox.

Pictures as always:
























Thanks guys ​

 

UPDATE:

Right Turbo is now finished! On Monday I welded the outlet pipe back on the compressor housing and painted it in high temperature black paint. The turbo was then assembled, the Actuator was painted in the same gun metal colour the rocker cover is in. Really pleased with how it looks, it spins freely and should produce around 2 BAR boost t around 380hp with supporting mods.

Also Ive oredered the fuel system, Ive gone with a fuel labs swirl pot, bosch 044 pump and sytec regulator, with all teflon braided lines and torques compression fittings. They should have been here wednesday but Demon Tweeks are being a pain :/ Also had some DEI titanium heat wrap coming so I can wrap the downpipe to keep temps down a little.

Gearbox parts will be here next week, cant wait to get the box assembled!












Thanks as always

 

UPDATE:

Right the car is off the road! Insurance ran out on Saturday, had a great blast out for my last NA drive in the clio, it was then parked up and is looking very sorry for itself. Today I began stripping out the interior so I can access the fuel pump sender easily and do a nice fuel system boot install. Next problem is how I go about getting the sender out so I can plumb a return line in, do I cut the hole bigger but this is pretty dodgy as sparks and fuel don't normally mix this then leaves me with the option of having to bite the bullet and drop the tank out, a ball ache of a job without a ramp. Decisions, decisions....

Anyway this is all stuff that can be sorted later.

With all the exhaust system bought i.e downpipe and megane centre section I began wrapping the downpipe in DEI titanium heat wrap. If i do say so myself it didnt turn out too bad for a first go, the missus was on hand to do the zip ties up while I held the wrap tight hopefully this will keep temps down. Also shot blasted the exhaust manifold and sprayed in very high temp DEI paint.

I pick the engine block up Tuesday from Engine Dynamics, then Ill get the engine built and then Ill take the engine out of the clio and while thats out Ill polybush the front and sort out suspension and fix the knocking steering rack. Lots to do..

Pics as always:























Thanks as always.

 

Little update today.

Picked my block up from Engine Dynamics today, looks great and could hardly recognize it Its been machined to 83mm bore to suit wossner forged pistons coupled with ZRP rods. ARP stud kits used throughout with Kings racing bearings and new oil squirters. This week Ill start finishing the engine by bolting on the head and then finish all the auxiliaries.

Gearbox parts will finally be back from shot peening after a short delay next week, along with my Helix Paddle Clutch kit, At this rate the conversion should commence close to the Xmas period.

I'm pretty excited now



















Thanks again.

 

UPDATE:

This week I have spent time getting the engine pretty much assembled. I installed a 1.6mm MLS head gasket to compensate for the 0.3mm taken off the cylinder head. The ARP head studs were wound in hand tight into the block. The cylinder head was then given another clean and placed onto the engine block. ARP moly lube was then applied to the studs, washers and nuts, these were then torqued down to 105 ft ib in three equal steps of 35 ib ft. It was then left 30 mins before final torquing to 105 ft ib.

The water pump was installed and bolts tightened to 17Nm, then tip-ex applied to the bolt to show it has been torqued up. The thermostat housing was installed in the same manner but torqued to 12Nm according with the workshop manual. The uprated timing belt tensioners were installed and the fixed tensioner pulley was torqued to 50Nm.

This week I should finish the engine bar getting it timed up. The only thing holding the build back is the fact I'm still waiting on some Max tuff assembly lube, once this arrives I can install the camshafts and rocker cover.

The engine is looking rather tasty now



















Thanks

 

Thanks guys for all the kind words

 

UPDATE:

Hello guys

Been a busy week on the engine build. Ive first managed to install the cams and bolt down the rocker cover, I used Tuff Purple assembly lube on all the rockers, cam lobes and journals. A layer of rhodorseal was applied to the rocker cover mating surfaces and was bolted down to a torque of 12Nm in accordance with the user manual.

The cam seals were now installed. The surfaces were cleaned thouroughly and assembly lube applied to the inside of the seal. They were then pressed into the cylinder head recesses until they stopped. Both cams turn over easily and all the valves open.

Next up was to bolt on the breather cover but when tightening down the bolts they chipped the paint really badly so Ill have to repaint them with stronger paint I thank, strange as the rocker cover was fine.

The turbo and associated oil and coolant lines were now bolted on along with the down pipe just to check alignment of everything. With it at this stage I couldn't resist bolting on the inlet manifold and boost pipes just to see how it will look in the car, looks so good, definite improvement over the current engine bay.

Also turned my attention to the fuel sender access hole today, a few weeks back I bought a air nibbler but just never got the chance to cut the hole bigger. I put down a wet rag over the sender and had a fire extinguisher on stand by I cut the rough hole out with the nibbler, then followed up with a half round file to neaten up the edges. Tomorrow Ill neaten the edges with rubber edging trim. Then in the week Ill make up a new panel to cover the larger hole.

Also next week Ill hopefully finish the engine and start rebuilding the gearbox. Then its conversion time


































Thanks as always (:

 

Photos not working, so will update again tomorrow with pictures.

 

@gazserm Thanks mate much appreciated. Ive got some good bits for the engine coming up

 

UPDATE:

Hello guys

Been a busy week on the engine build. Ive first managed to install the cams and bolt down the rocker cover, I used Tuff Purple assembly lube on all the rockers, cam lobes and journals. A layer of rhodorseal was applied to the rocker cover mating surfaces and was bolted down to a torque of 12Nm in accordance with the user manual.

The cam seals were now installed. The surfaces were cleaned thouroughly and assembly lube applied to the inside of the seal. They were then pressed into the cylinder head recesses until they stopped. Both cams turn over easily and all the valves open.

Next up was to bolt on the breather cover but when tightening down the bolts they chipped the paint really badly so Ill have to repaint them with stronger paint I thank, strange as the rocker cover was fine.

The turbo and associated oil and coolant lines were now bolted on along with the down pipe just to check alignment of everything. With it at this stage I couldn't resist bolting on the inlet manifold and boost pipes just to see how it will look in the car, looks so good, definite improvement over the current engine bay.

Also turned my attention to the fuel sender access hole today, a few weeks back I bought a air nibbler but just never got the chance to cut the hole bigger. I put down a wet rag over the sender and had a fire extinguisher on stand by I cut the rough hole out with the nibbler, then followed up with a half round file to neaten up the edges. Tomorrow Ill neaten the edges with rubber edging trim. Then in the week Ill make up a new panel to cover the larger hole.

Also next week Ill hopefully finish the engine and start rebuilding the gearbox. Then its conversion time


































Thanks as always (:

 

UPDATE:

As promised Ive got another update as Ive been pretty busy this weekend on the engine. Today I sprayed the alternator mounting bracket and bolted and torqued that up, marked all the bolts with tipex to show that its torqued. The alternator was then bolted in with one bolt, the other will be installed when putting the aux belt on. The AC pump from my clio will be used as I still like my creature comforts

The oil cooler was pretty filthy and ive been putting it off to clean for a while. I cant shot blast like most things on this build because grit will most likely get lodged in the fins and plates within the cooler, this could cause engine problems on first start up. Therefore out came the wire brushes and degreaser. Once clean the cooler was etch primed, then sprayed gloss black followed by 3 coats of lacquer. Ill install it once its dried sometime this week.

Pretty much finished now, the box of bits and bolts is getting less and less

















Thanks

 

UPDATE:

As has been proven with these megane conversions that once you reach the 300hp mark the fuel pump starts to run out of puff and you risk running the engine too lean. Hence you have to run an upgraded in tank pump or what I'm doing and that's an inline HF pump with a pressure regulator on the return feed. Two big problems with the clio's 1: They dont have a return line as standard 2: The access hole for the fuel pump sender is stupidly small which makes access impossible.

I have already showed in previous sections that Ive made a custom rail for my return line and ive also made the access hole bigger. Today I set about removing the pump sender unit in order to be able plumb in a return fitting and also convert the push fit pump outlet to an6 fittings, so I'm to be able to fit braided fuel line. The push fit was firstly taken care off with a "Torques" adaptor fitting, you simply push it onto the existing outlet on the pump until it clicks (Some modification and trimming was required to the retaining clip in order to fit it). For the return line I just drilled and tapped a m12 x 1.5 hole into the top of the sender unit, then another Torques m10 to an6 adaptor fitting was screwed into the hole with a bit of silicon sealant. The sender unit was then installed again into the tank with a new seal. This will now make it easy to fit my complete fuel system once the engine is in.

I have also started to make up a stainless steel cover plate to replace the plastic one that used to cover the original fuel access hole. I have bent the cover to fit the contour of the body work and then radiused the bottom edges to match the contour of the old cover. Ill now radius the other edges and drill some grommeted holes in it for fuel lines and the pump wires.
















Thanks.

 

Thanks mate (: Not really, Im an electrical and mechanical engineer, this is the first car engine that ive rebuilt, done a few motorbike engines though.

 

UPDATE:

A big week this week in terms of my fully forged engine build.....IVE FINISHED IT Just needs timing up.

The breather cover that was chipped and ruined when the bolts were tightened was re-shotblasted and cleaned. It was then repainted in the metallic black paint thats colour coded to my clio. Bolted it down this time with no issues. Looks better than before IMO.

I also recieved some new turbo oil return seals/gaskets so these were installed.

In the week I bought some forge sensor brackets, I wasnt very impressed when they arrived. The dimensions were okay and they held in the sensors like they should but the surface finish was shoddy to say the least. For £25 I at least would expect them to be polished a bit. I took it into my own hands to go over them with my DA and an old pad with some autosol. I few passes later and they were mirror like, really happy with them now

So that was the engine done, just need to time it up next weekend and then fill it with oil.

I moved my attention again onto the replacement pump sender cover. Today I drilled 4 holes around the outside of the plate. The plate was then placed over the sender hole and I marked with a black pen to hole positions. These were drilled out to 6mm to take a m4 hank bush. This enables a thread to be inserted in sheet metal. A series of holes were then drilled with a step cutter for the fuel lines to go through to the swirl pot, grommets were installed in these holes. I may however slot out the two centre holes to fit the factory wire grommet, then re drill two other holes further up the plate for the fuel lines.

Next week I hope to finish the pump sender cover and rebuild my gearbox.

Anyway here are some photos, Ill get better ones soon of the engine with my DSLR.

























Thanks as always.

 

Thanks guys (:

 

Little bit of progress today, managed to finish the fuel pump sender cover. I did originally in my previous post say about slotting the middle two fuel line holes to fit the factory wire grommet. Did that today with a hacksaw and a file. Im very happy with it and the fuel lines sit better now. Ill have it painted when Ive finished my fuel system.




​

 

Whats wrong with them? Only company that does a 3 inch down-pipe without going custom.

 

I can see what you mean but there has always been quite good reviews on the downpipes. There is no real need to spend extra on that area of the build at the moment, I saved money there to afford things like a quaife atb diff and other bits, which are more worth while in my eyes.

 

Its fine mate, I didnt mean for it to come across that I was annoyed :lol: Its fine, I like suggestions to my project.

 

UPDATE:

Big week this week parts wise. Now the engine is done Im concentrating again on the transmission.

On wednesday my Helix 4 Paddle clutch arrived with pressure plate. It should handle the torque fine. I know it wont be ideal for around town driving due to its "ON OFF" feel, Im sure Ill get used to it. Lovely bit of kit and Im glad Ive gone overkill on the clutch, the last thing I would want is for it to slip after all the work Ive put in to anything else.

Today my gearbox parts finally arrived, so excited. They look to good though to put in my gearbox They have been Cryo frozen, shot peened and super finished, this should result in a 40 % stronger and smoother gearbox with less losses.

Over the weekend Ill start rebuilding the gearbox so Ill keep you updated.












Thanks

 

UPDATE:

A lot had happened this weekend with the gearbox rebuild. First off I cleaned all the parts with solvent degreaser to make sure there was no debris on the gears, especially on the journals and oil holes on the shafts. I concentrated on the output shaft first. The gears were laid out on the previous drawing I had made when I took it apart. The gears could now be assembled, being very careful of the orientation of the gears. The replacement synchro rings were checked that they were gripping the gears correctly and the synchro teeth lined up without any "Point to point" contact. The rest of the gears need to be pressed onto the shaft, Ill do this tomorrow at work.

Next up was the input shaft. Like before they were cleaned and laid out on the drawing. They were assembled in the same manner, checking synchro's correctly, particularly on the 3rd and 4th synchro, Ive changed to the steel ones to see how they fair. If they fail after a while Ive got some ideas to re-design the synchros. The curclips on this shafts were a particular pain in the arse. They tended to ping off the pliers and I would spend the next 10 minutes trying to find it

The next job I achieved was bolting the pinion gear onto my quaife atb LSD, I'm unsure of the torque spec for this but have found other similar car gearboxes and they all seem to be around the 100N/m area. If anyone can clarify the correct torque setting that would be great.

The slave cylinder was also bolted into the bell housing and loctite used, you really dont want a bolt to work its way loose in this area.

Some pictures as usual.
























Thanks

 

UPDATE:

I hope everyone had a great xmas. I spent mine largely rebuilding the gearbox

Anyway the gearbox is done. On Monday I pressed on the last remaining fixed gears onto the output shaft. Simply got a thick piece of aluminium tube and placed it over a gear and gently applied pressure until it was in place, this was repeated for every gear and the taper roller bearing at the top. The retaining curclip was then installed above the bearing. Now was the tricky bit and was to get all the shifter-fingers, shafts and diff/final drive gear, reverse idler and barrel shift mechanism all in place at the same time. I achieved this by loosely placing the diff, shafts and fingers into the case, while holding everything inline I wiggled the case and everything fell into place. The input shaft was then pulled out a little bit so I had enough clearance to install the reverse idler and its shifter finger. The last step was to install the shifter mechanism, easiest part of the install, just make sure that the spring is in the correct position otherwise the shifting action will be sloppy. Once all this was in the magnet was cleaned and intalled and a bead of silicon sealant applied to the case mating surface, the other half of the casing was placed on top of the mating half, you have to rotate the shifter bracket at the same time to engage it into the barrel mechanism. The bolts were intalled and torqued to 24 ft/ib, left for 24 hours to settle and then torqued again. All parts inside the gearbox were coated in zx1 to aid lubrication on first start up.

gearbox is now finished and it shifts lovely and smoothly

Now with all the gearbox and engine done its time to remove my old engine, today i cleared out the rest of the garage and finally parked the clio in there the conversion starts now.....




















Thanks