Does the sealant not go around the holes where the cover bolts go in to? Just wondering, because the on the Clio F4R they are common for oil to seep from under some of the bolts.
That could be down to the builder and preference, I would rather run the small risk of oil leaking up the bolt holes than run the risk of squishing the sealant into the cam journals. The layer between the two surfaces is pretty much microns, most of it runs out the sides To be honest if the surfaces are flat you shouldnt need sealant at all! But with the parts warming up things expand and heat up at different rates.
Ran into a problem installing the low temp thermostat - it wouldnt fit into the housing. Turns out the diameter is around 2mm wider than the original part. So I ground a small chamfer from the edge of the housing. Only need to take around 1mm or so. Should help anyone out if they are thinking of ordering one.
Yeah I think you would get away with that if you just undo them one by one and retorque in between! I had a leak on my last megane from the condensor type thing on top!
What thermostat are you using? The 75c one from a Clio 200? What's the advantages/disadvantages of running a cooler thermostat? Reason I ask is I believe I have one fitted in my R26 (my coolant temps sit between 78-82c) and I'm trying to decide if I need to replace it with a standard 89c thermostat or not.
Pretty sure that is what my one is from, it will just open earlier and allow the coolant to circulate at a lower temp, running a lower temp may not necessarily be a good thing, as the map or tuning may have been set for full temp, if you are running considerably higher power it should help at least start the cooling earlier. The only real disadvantage is that it may take slightly longer to get the engine up to running temp.
Thanks, pretty much what I thought. My cars running a stage 2 map, running around 280hp. As mentioned my coolant temps, read via the Torque Pro app, hover round the 80c mark on the road. I've not had it in track yet but when I do it'll be interesting to see what it gets up to.
Let me know how you get on once you have taken it on track! I dont really like the way cold coolant and hot coolant meet when a thermostat opens, I had considered running no thermostat and just dealing with the extra time it takes to get it up to temp, although if your water is still cold your oil probably is too. IMO fast temp changes do not do metal parts any good! I may be needing a larger radiator also, but will worry about that when I have it running, all will be revealed when my turbo shows up
To prevent the hot/cold mix you can always drill a small hole in the flat of the thermostat so that a small amount of coolant always passes through the rad.
Could do that is a good point! Ill see how the temp sits once its in the car and running. If I am not happy I can always revert back to the stock thermostat anyhow.
Good news I finally got the car for the engine (should normally be the other way around ) Picked up a R26 F1 today, will post up some photos soon, nothing special its stock with a milltek exhaust and forge dump valve, in silver. Things are now moving a little faster than I thought, going to have a lot on my plate and need to start looking at an attack plan with fitting the lump, need to decide what I want to do with the car handling and modification wise too - which I will continue posting here so it is not going to be just a engine build thread finally! Now waiting for the blower to arrive and need to sort a clutch / flywheel kit, and that is more or less all I need to fit the engine.
I have a 225 sat doing nothing because I’ve bought a 250. My college tutor said he’d help me do some work on the engine and gearbox. Been looking at the engine dynamics diy engine builds. Would you recommend these or would you say buying all the parts separate would be a better idea? My tutor said he used to build rally engines for Subaru so I’m hoping he knows what he’s doing because I don’t!
Hello mate, there is a lot to think about regarding engine work, what do you want from the engine, and what are you willing to do following that to maintain it? I can vouch for Andy at ED, many of my parts have come from him, hes seems like a top man. Although as far as engine work goes from companies you will get what you pay for, they are businesses and of course the engine builds would reflect that, they may not build the engines themselves infact, alot of the work you might see me doing here would definitely be an extra, "blueprinting", paintwork etc. All can be done by you with the right skills it depends how much time you can put into the work. This build has litterally taken at least two solid weeks of my time, I could have had it stripped and rebuilt to a reasonable standard in 2 days if I had the parts and machining done. If you decide to go ahead and do the work yourself I advise to take your time and get everything right. If you want it done of course I will suggest myself as I am able to trade, fairly sure I can beat the retailers by a long shot, however timeframe my be considerably longer. Regardless of what you decide to do, if you go ahead I will help where I can and Im sure the others here will too!
To be honest mate I bet the build would take most of this year. My tutor is in Blackpool and I’m in Accrington and I doubt he’d give up every weekend to help me. Plus I don’t know what I’m doing so could only do any really basic stuff myself. I have another car so time doesn’t really matter. This is the level 3 kit they do that you use to do the build yourself. The level 3 build they do themselves says it’s for engines running 600+ bhp so guessing the diy kit will do the same job. This kit might be a bit ott? Is the camshaft needed? You’re running stock aren’t you? I’d be well happy with close to 400bhp!
Yes this kit is pretty much same as my build, cams are not needed, more to produce power that is when you want it, they usually sacrifice power at one area to gain in another. Would still need some machining doing to fit the kit, head skim, bores etc. But yes that is everything you need for the build. Not sure about 600+ the parts there may be capible but I would be worried about the block and crank taking that force, not to mention the drivetrain. You also have to keep in mind a built engine will not produce more power, it should be capable of enduring more force. From the long list of what I have done to my engine for example the only work that may produce more power is the headwork, and its probably minimal with a forced induction engine <10hp. Bearing matching and blueprinting is more about minimalising loss and gaining longevity and consistency. More air and fuel are needed to produce more power, which means either bigger blower with a higher output and higher fueling output or speed up what you have. The rest is pretty much trying to deal with the extra power. I cant make any decisions for you, its what you want from the engine, but have a look into turbo prices etc, it could be better to go with a lesser kit, get a hybrid turbo and spend the rest on handling
Strong engine, big turbo is what my tutor said. Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it. This thread been a great read so far!
Small update, Im bored waiting for things to arrive... around 3 weeks for the turbo kit but thought I would keep posting all the small bits up too! Put the inlet manifold on today, torqued up sensors and sump plug, pulley cover and other brackets, just preparing for fitting really. Fitted a oil accessories plate too but was not happy with it so thats heading for bin Filled the oil and span her over by hand to check oil flow, all seems good.
Its from ebay and a POS set it inbetween the exhanger and filter, fits alright, wound the centre up and ended up with alloy swarf everywhere cleaned that up carefully refitted and wound the blank bolts up, stripped a thread with 10nm Just a oil change probably mechanically. Box seems alright, although can never tell what it will take and for how long! It will almost inevitably crap itself running what power it will probably be taking so will deal with that when I come to it Have been thinking about buying a spare or new box, and tinkering with it, perhaps freeze it, fit a oil cooler, see what I can do about adjusting the crack off on the lsd? Got my mitts full with the engine at the moment so will look into that later
Thought its about time I posted up the car, and I am in need of a profile pic so got some photos tonight at one of my photo spots! Car was not really clean but thought it was worth some shots at this spot, love the background (minus people walking by ) So I guess this is the start of the project finally being about the car and not just the block! Its almost stock, only mods that I know of are the miltek cat-back and a forge dump valve!
That engine is a piece of art!. Going by that engine, i can only imagine how clean that car is going to be!.
Well judging by this thread yout attention to detail is awesome and you don't why away from it. Looking forward too see all of it come together!.
It has been alot of work, I cant wait to get the lump in, not looking forward to finding everything I will want to change while dropping it in I am still planning what I want from the car long term so have not really started on that yet, need to soon though I am running out of stuff to do
I think by the time your done I think everything will be brand new.lol. Honestly though I think what every route you decide to go down its going to be a pretty epic car.
Thanks mate, hope so, should go pretty well, I need to start focusing on the handling / putting the power down now and I still have time to look into it properly. Ill keep posting everything as its nice to create discussion, I am always interested to see what people think!
More parts arrived today, couldnt resist putting a couple of photos up. Still waiting for the turbo so not much else going on. Things just got pretty serious in the clutch department! And the fuel supply department too, not actually sure what the pump model is, asked for a Bosch 044 but this one is a Walbro. Need to enquire tomorrow may stick with it if its an equivilent?
Got a man’s clutch [emoji38], nice one ! I had one in my R26 which I found heavy but I didn’t mind it at all, the guy who bought it took it out because he thought it was too heavy [emoji848]
Cheers mate! Going to have a mans turbo to go with it soon too not worried about the weight on the pedal, but wont be trying any left foot braking when its in
When I reversed out of RS Tunings workshop after they fitted it I stalled it [emoji15]. Soon got used to it though [emoji1303]
