Head update I took the head in today and a few hours later they rang me to say they have stripped it down and all 4 exhaust valve guides have gone and the head needs skimming, all valves are good Good stuff!
It's alive! Again! Well, it's fixed Top end rebuild seems to have done the trick, it fired up on the first turn to my absolute amazement! The cam is now easy to turn by hand and springs into place nicely whereas before it was stiff to turn so I guess those exhaust valve guides must have been really bad. Talk about a nightmare! lol I have to say I do have a real bond with the car now and intend to look after it much better than I had been. Scrap it they all said!! No I said!! Pistons Before After Cleaning Rebuilt head I'm going to do the ignition timing tomorrow as per the guide and hopefully MOT'd this weekend all being well. All of the electrics are repaired now, I managed to source some good condition loom plugs for the coolant senders and isv from the scrappers so although not ideal the loom is now soldered and heat shrinked on the repairs which will do for now.
Back on the road! Cheers slimwadey! It took a while but got there in the end it was a tricky one mainly due to the symptoms before it died, very strange really although I think the head was in need of repair when I got the car and it just got progressively worse over this year. I'm actually back on the road as of today The engine now produces nice smooth power while accelerating and maintaining a constant speed whereas before it was juddering at 30mph in 3rd gear and lacked torque completely, especially at low rpm. I set the ignition timing up yesterday and I just need to do the idle/co setup now, is there any difference in setting the ignition timing at 2000rpm or 2500rpm?
as long as you set it within that range you'll be fine, you might find it likes 8degrees if the cam is a bit special, seemed to work alright with my gs1h which is a bit tame compared to most. dont go too mad though as it'll mess up the timing/knock control
Cool, yeah I just set it dead on the diamond mark at 2000rpm for now and it drives really nice! The engine feels nice and strong when pulling off now, I haven't even had it above 3000rpm yet as its pulling so well low at any rpm The cam is a TSR 202 which apparently "The TSR202 = inlet 268/272 exhaust split duration Mild Road cam" - So perhaps I can get a bit more out of it, the timing gun I'm borrowing has an advance setting so I can have a play at some point. I noticed today that the exhaust has a much nicer deeper burble when driving, it had a very distinctive sound before which I have now realised is the noise of exhaust valves not sealing properly lol
glad to hear this is finally all sorted out, what a saga it has been! you must be pleased as punch with it now, special feeling when they fire up on that first turn of the key. i know i would be grinning from ear to ear!
It has been a total nightmare mate, I'm more experienced because of it though but I wont lie it nearly broke me lol I couldn't actually believe it when it fired up on the first turn! Always a good sign Took it for it's first long run on the motorway on Tuesday and it's awesome, it was so knackered before that if I was doing 60mph in the middle lane and I needed to overtake quite quick on a slight gradient I would need to drop into 4th and use full throttle! Now I can stay in 5th and less than quarter throttle does the same thing but with instant response! It's funny how you get used to problems with cars and it's not until they're fixed you realise what you have been missing! It was really low on torque it would seem! Really glad I didn't rebuild the head myself as well, I think it would have cost me half the cost I paid just for cleaning it! Sounds really sweet and smooth now And yep I was smiling ear to ear and jumping around like a mad man! I still keep thinking it's going to break but it's gaining my trust lol Onto the bodywork now, ahh the jobs never end but that's why we love old cars eh?