Do you want to go higher? If not then your probably going into the realms of over engineering with anymore than you have already done. But then as you've said do it once do it right.
Cerips, thanks for that, will fine comb later Pictures as promised, boring ones, but a vital tool I cannot live without anymore. Originally, I used a 'secret refractory mix' to line the walls of smelter. This wore down pretty fast, and I had to re do it. The lid was also lined and little bits used to fall into smelter and onto crucible lid, which, lead to a mess in there long term. So, I got some fire bricks. These are rated for I dunno what, but Im told they are the best type?... They were aound 4euro each, and I used 10 doing the 'floor' walls. I marked out the plan on a bit of chipboard, I originally thought 6 bricks would do it, but I had to pull it to 7 for good edge contact with each other. I then 'scooped' a curve on the face of each brick with the most epic dangerous angle grinder jig you ever did see I pretty much broke all the angle grinder safety rules on that one, so no pics for your own sake. The end result was perfect, and I then cut the sides off them, to form the angles. I did that bit by eye. They now fitted pretty snug into the gas cylinder. I fire cemented them all in, bar the last joint, which I packed with asbestos(substitute) to allow them to move a bit if they need to. The end result is far far better than it ever was, its also more efficient Id imagine as Im losing no heat through the walls anymore. I also re did the burn tube, and was at the new lid(bricks) this evening. I vee'd them also for the tip ring, and the spout. Crucibles are now a snug fit in there, unlike before where the walls had eroded. This all seems a bit pointless in my car/engine thread, but since its the core tool for the parts you see, I feel its a very important part in the whole engine and gearbox also. Im now thankfully, nearing the run to actually assembling the engine at last using this, better smelter to do so. I got a few other bits too which Ill show you tomorrow BG
i'd read it all and its fantastic! casting your own head(race head in mind?) are the drawings in the back ground of the head or are that original 16v keep it up take youre time then it al will be fine. greetings from Holland
Thanks! Head is all my own design, and aimed at maximum hp. Ive already taken a year, Im in no rush I mentioned in my birthday thread that the current 1.8 8v engine in my car is finally nearly dead, I thought it would last until I fitted the first of my 'special engines' (8v and 16v) but it wont, the block is cracked, and its burning masses of oil, so Im going to have to pull it and fit something for the time being to tie me over, this car is my daily, and gets driven very hard so no transport is not an option. I also have to pass an nct soon(Irish car test) and I know for sure that the current engine would fail badly, its loosing loads of coolant, and oil from all places. It is the engine that was in car when I bought it a yr ago, and have not done anything with it since. It might be all for luck, as it will also give me a chance to fit megasquirt to this engine(below) and play around safely(low cost engine/parts). Ill be converting to megasquirt after the nct. I also have a lot of other parts going in at time of engine change in a few days, a front subframe, rear beam, and new wishbones, including all bushings, and all genuine items. The subframe is power coated, and I blasted and painted the rear beam with the best prep/paint I could get that was sprayable. Im very happy with all results. I took no pictures of any of that job as plenty exist on the net already. For my nct engine I picked up a clean 2e unit. It was in ok nick but I gave it a light rebuild all the same. The rebuild consisted of shells(all) Intermediate shells, waterpump, oil seals, oil cooler, headgaskets, oil pump, sump, fastners, dissy cap etc. Ill be using my head thats on my current engine for it, so Ill be bolting that off old engine, rebuilding it, and fixing it to this once I pull engine. Im going to give it a light port. It already has a Kent gs2h cam fitted, so It will be a nice engine all in all for the time being. Ill also skim head a touch too. The waterpump is not genuine, but Ive used them before without any complaints. After all this is just a tie me over engine, and one Ill be using whenever the car has to do an nct. My 'special engines' would fail an nct with Idle emissions I feel since the idle speed will be over 1000k. With the megasquirt Ill use one mil spec connector so changing will be easy. Onto the light rebuild pictures, I cannot rebuild an engine quickly or using old parts no matter what its for so I painted block too to have it all near leaving factory floor. Im not really going to talk about the rebuild as its pretty basic, but one thing I will mention is the oil filter housing. Inside this is a one way valve leading to head. Since Ive now come across two of these that had loosened, come out and dropped down(blocking way to head) I now remove them and loctite them in for peace of mind, this one was just hand tight too. You have been warned. I used my dipping practice to clean any old alloy parts, details on this, and a thread on it can be found in the engine section, Ill link to it later on an edit.>http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217675&highlight=chemical+cleaning You can see looking at the new pump, and the filter housing, that it does work. The oil senders in housing are temporary and have to be jigged around to read correctly in the right ports yet. All fasteners are zinc plated and of the correct grade pending position on engine. You can see in the second last picture the crank seal castings, cleaned with the method mentioned above. Solution treatment like this is also very safe compared to media blast, since no particles can be left in any oil ways/drillings, potential disasters waiting to happen. Ill be casting a few bits for this engine also, just a few improvements to leave my mark on it. Its going to be a busy week with updates on here so keep an eye, BG,
Thanks, Itll be a good solid reliable engine for the time being with enough poke to keep me and the nct man entertained hopefully Ps, bores and compression were fine, as did pistons and rings look ok, so I left them alone.
Well it is, ah it will see a few miles now and then so its as well to do it right sure I feel. Few more pictures, nothing major, I use sealer in all places where there was originally gaskets. Obviously you need to take care and place any excess sealer towards the outer edges so it does not block anything, or find its way into sump. Ive not had one problem doing it this way yet, and it tends to be more secure, given that a gasket has two possible leak sides. I trim off excess sealer once its set. You need a lot of prep time for faces in order for the sealer to work, but, its just cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning which is standard practice anyway. Fitting crank seals, Sump on, sealer awaiting trim, One beautiful Fram oil filter Ive had for an age, I hate these, but it will do for the run in, after that Ill fit a Mann, and bin the fram. Im also going to cast a rocker cover for it with my name on it, its something Ive wanted to do for a while, its pretty simple, but will be nice in my eyes, and all mine. More later, BG
I made a pattern 2 weeks ago, and kind of forgot about it again I better pour one so, keep ye happy and all BG
Ok ok!! More done this eve, started on the skeleton frame for rocker pattern. Nearly done on that, I can then start sanding it, adding ribs, epoxy internal fillets, My second name ontop,(boxer script) which I have to fret saw out of veneer[:^(] And also add a few other bits and bosses for stuff(oil cap too!). I didnt bother doing drawings, I know exactly what I want it to look like in my head, so Ill trust my hands can do the transferring. Ill be striking right off this, both for cope and drag(top and bottom mould) so I can have no undercuts anywhere(bits that lock pattern in sand). Its not the worst piece to cast though so It should be ok. The walls will be finishing at 2.8mm. Its a bit of an over kill doing this, but I simply haven't got a rocker i can use. The tin one on my current car is rusted to bits, I phoned around the local guys and nothings turning up, and the 2e just looks wrong, with the two bolt holes for intake supports which the Gti 1.8 intake does not use. So what the hell, Ill make one, Im dying to see my name on there too sad as it sounds Onto a few pictures, One plank of mahogany and a table saw, Theres 4 degree draft angle on the end bit there even though it doesn't look it, The whole thing is going to get approx 5mm shorter too when it solidifies so that cant be ignored either, The end jigery pokery that has to take place also. The end bit has to be eased internally for cap nuts too, I got it glued up after that, so the real pattern building can start tomorrow eve, where Ill be adding all the important bits to it, BG
blimey you do really have ocd, i just left the isv bracket bolted to the rocker cover and left it loose at the inlet end when i put the 2e rocker cover on gonna look ace this, have you considered doing cgti member rocker covers with their user name in?
