Big Uno's R26 Project / Engine Build

Thanks again mate! Your work is a pretty good inspiration for detail though!

 

Thanks mate appreciated! Hope you enjoy the read, I am not the best at write ups but I have tried to keep it imformative and (hopefully) not too boring Still alot of pieces to the puzzle to put together! Actually liquid yellow was the first choice but the silver has really grown on me!

 

Not had a lot to post up recently but thought I would put some of the recent progress up, photos to follow later when I have more to show.

Swapped out my seats for Corbeau club sports, removed my rear seats, fitted 4 point harnesses but will be changing to some 6 points shortly.
Started preparing for the battery move, just deciding on where to, likely behind the passenger seat as it will keep the room in the boot free for the fuel system. Need to start looking at housing for the battery if anybody has any tidy suggestions. Will likely be going with a Otima redtop and charger, just need to test it and check it holds charge

Fuel system is now taking shape, I swapped the Walbro 255 error for the Bosch 044, so now gathering fixtures and fittings and prepping it to go in.
Gone with a Bosch fuel regulator in a Saxon housing, nothing fancy.
Picked up a mk3 fuel rail (thank you Ian!!!) today so will also be adapting that to fit my manifold!
Also going with AN push fittings and clamps for now, at standard fuel pressure they will be fine, may look at upgrading them in the future!

 

Wish I could! Should be worth the wait when the blower finally arrives

 

No polish needed with that thing!

 

Agreed mate I have not heard of anyone having problems with Bosch pumps, as for Walbro I dont know anyone running one so Ill stick with what I know!

 

Yes I will need to run a return, looking at removing the regulator housing on the rail and just having a basic inlet, ill run the rail from a T and regulate it there and then return. More ideal to have a inlet and outlet on the rail but it will be fine the pump wont be struggling holding 3.5 bar

 

Started prepping for the battery move today, decided its going behind the passenger seat, so lifted the carped up to check on the best way to secure it.
Decided ill get a new battery tray and bolt it down.
Removed the foam under the carpet, had to take the front seat out and removed it right back to the start of the passenger seat. I have left this seat fixed so it cant slide back too.

Gone with a Optima, kindly given to me as a gift, these are gel type for anyone that hasnt used them before, so safer for in cab use.
Forgot to take photos but I will take some when I fit the tray and battery to show how I have done it.

Has anybody tried running a cable into the engine bay with the standard air filter box? Had a look today but could not see much past it
Wanted to start getting this ready as soon as possible really!

Heres the battery anyway, the green knob is just a disconnect, not going to be used as a isolator its more for if the car is not in use.

 

Cant get rid of the box yet still got the stock engine in could run a coffee filter though I suppose
I know where to send the cable lol its finding it on the other side thats the problem ill take that box out tomorrow.

 

Ill grab a ripspeed one at halfords tomorrow

Ill leave the cable until the battery tray arrives, but Ill do that cheers!

 

Moved on with the fuel system since the last post.

Decided that I would definitely be going with a straight through fuel rail system, and would need a new inlet / outlet.
So some modifications would be needed to the mk3 megane fuel rail to allow fitting to the mk2 manifold, and also to run the system I want.

So to begin with fitting the mk3 standard rail to my manifold to measure up what needs to be done. The left side mount is correct however the right side mount needs to be moved to the left around 6.5mm.
I would need to remove the original regulator housing and block off the inlet.
Then holes drilled and new fittings added for the new inlet and outlet.

So here is the standard mk3 rail.









I had the work done by a local fabricator, the rail came back however with issues, the mount had been moved to the wrong position so had to be moved a second time. Here are a couple of pictures of the new fittings joined.





Picked up the rail for the second time, I then enlarged the slot on the right mount to allow for some up / down play for fitting, the rail is made from fairly thin stainless and its extremely hard not to warp it when heating the orignal brazing and welding. This should be enough to account for any isses lining up to the injectors.
Then did some more work on it improving the finish, primed it up ready for painting.









Finally I painted it in a gloss black enamel, its turned out quite nicely and fits perfectly. Here is the final rail finished and fitted. Just needs pressure testing, just for obvious reasons.

 

Got the new battery fitted today, still not terminated it but I did run the positive line into the engine bay.
I think it looks quite tidy behind the passenger seat.
I have a battery bag to go over the top also.

Going to be lots more to follow later.

 

Cheers mate!

Yeah sure I could make one for you, the fabricating cost me £60, the two weld on stainless fittings are around £8 each. Think there may be somebody else interested too.
I have just ordered a couple more fittings to run the line how I want it, so will make a list up when Im happy of what fittings and lines I used. Will probably be running it in the same place as the OE line but with a return.

Drop me a dm if you want one making mate!

 

No problem and thanks, I will keep it updated with everything I use and fitting. Are you still using the stock rail?

 

Im guessing you are still running the standard turbo?
Yeah could be worth looking at then if you decide you want to replace the pump will kill two birds with one stone!

 

So it would open up more potential for you too that would be well worth while then.
Have you thought about what set up you want to run? External inline or just in tank etc?

 

I dont think you will struggle to see 340. Seems a bit unusual, dont know the processes they use for assembly but the lobes will be ground, they probably couldnt make any at all wonder if they could do custom profiles? Wouldnt be much of an effort for them if you sent a spec.

Same for me, I am not worried about comfort, the external pump and swirl pot is an eyesore in my opinion, but again I am not too worried as its not for daily driving. Im still thinking about where I want it all to sit, almost contemplating enclosed behind the driver seat? For me its safety is the only concern.

 

So as promised I will be posting up all the development on my fuel system, I have been trying to decide how I am going to post it up and for now going to keep it in small posts covering each area. I will compile everything at the end and make a more comprehensive single post and full parts list on the thread here later: http://rsmegane.com/threads/megane-r26-225-uprated-fuel-pump-options.14353/

So for now I am going to focus on the fuel rail.
I have been playing with different ideas and fittings, ways to run my pressure regulator, ways to run my fuel lines etc.

I have now decided I want to run both lines in the same direction as OE, there is not a huge amount of space between the fuel rail and manifold, have considered removing the manifold and cutting back the engine cover mounting points to gain more room, but now happy with the fittings.
I am looking for a solution that used as few joints and fittings as possible, to lower any small chance of leakage or weight of fittings having the chance of moving when the engine is running from vibrations or bumps etc.
So I have now decided due to lack of anywhere to securely fit my regulator I will now be running it in the cab further down the return line. This will create around a 2 - 3m distance of line between the regulator and rail exit, I do not believe this will significantly effect the rail pressure. However pressure loss is created by bends and pipe drag / resistance so it is important to keep these in mind. You may potentially have a higher rail pressure than that at the regulator due to these.
The distance is also important for maintaining the pressure at the rail, however again due to the pump output and expected fuel usage I do not believe this will be an issue.
I am able to run a pressure gauge to test rail pressure which of course I will be doing later once installed.

The welded fittings I have used on the rail are 9/16-18 thread as used by AN-6 / ORB-6. I can explain threads and fittings however they can get quite confusing if you have not used them before, especially NPT and NPTF. I dont want to teach anyone to suck eggs but there are some very important things to remember with fuel fittings and lines, I am trying to keep this set up as safe as possible. I will also be more than happy to help if anyone wants to do something similar but Im not the worlds leading expert.

So fitting directly to the rail I will be running "ORB-6 swivel - 90 forged corner - AN-6"
This clears the manifold by around 4-5mm when tightened down, allowing my return line to run to the left of the rail over towards the standard rail inlet.
Sealing between rail and ORB is by O ring / flat clamped face.
Swivel is needed to point the fitting in the direction required.
The inlet (left side of the rail) will be running the same set up (parts on order)
From the 90 corner I will be running "AN-6 female to 8mm barb"

The return hose will then run parralel to the rail over to the left.
I will be doing away with the pointless bracket that goes between the manifold and rocker cover as the fittings will be in the way.

Hoses will connect to the barbs and be secured by jubilee. Will also be running a outer heat shield on the lines in places just for added protection.

But that is more or less the rail and engine bay finished

Couple of photos below, you can see the rail inlet has a different fitting set up, which I will be changing to lower the number of joints. And probably be starting a shop after all this selling all my spare fittings

 

Started fitting the new harnesses today, Schroth 6 points, had 4 points for a short time up until now so decided its about time to fit them properly.

Managed to get one side almost complete, just waiting for a eye bolt for the outside, and need to install plates and eyes in the tunnel for each side.

Got my lower plates fitted, not ideally spaced but safer to run them from seperate points closer than just one point.
Not really anywhere to bolt to on the inside as the lines run below on the left side of the driver seat, and I wanted to maintain the rearward angle, so fixed one either side of the ridge that runs down the middle. Cut some holes out in the carpet for now to fit the harness clips to as I dont want to get rid of the carpet just yet. Also tidied up the loom infront of the bolts since the photo as the open wires are a mess.

 

Thanks again mate, if you wanted just the centre feed you could just go with a mk3 rail move just the mount over, would need to fudge the regulator though if you still wanted to run the reg in tank. Or could swap over to the whole 250 system?

 

Got on with the short shift mod today, milled the cut away for the ball joint, I have gone with a threaded type.



Fitted the rest of the eye bolts today for the 6 points. Took some more photos to show how I have done it. Floor mounts below the passenger seat below.



Then fitted the plates and bolts to either side of the tunnel, tried to keep them as in line with the door side fixing point. Had to move the driver side slightly forward because of the pressings on the indoors side of the tunnel, there are a couple of ridges where the bolt will not sit flat so have to pick the best spot.
Can also see my Vauxhall battery cover too





And the final result. Also recently painted the hand brake assembly - forgot to post that up.