Well it's been a while since I've posted anything.
Since the last post the car has passed an MOT and has been on the road (The look on the MOT testers face was good). Suffice to say it's quick
.
I had a few teething problems to start with, keeping it cool was one of the biggest problems. In the end it was nothing an hour with a hole saw didn't sort out. Mapping the engine has been a pain. Clutch slip has been a major issue, anything above 3.5K on full throttle would slip the clutch.
After around four months of running around with that I bought an uprated clutch. So took a couple of days, engine and box out, swapped in the new clutch and engine back in. All was looking good until one Sunday afternoon. I though I'd go out for a run and let the mapping commence properly now the clutch was holding. Unfortunately after about ten minutes of full throttle pulls to improve the map I split and engine liner
Cue lots of steam and smoke and a little swearing, followed by laughter once I'd calmed down. I was actually quite surprised the engine lasted as long as it did running 10 psi of boost on a standard k series.
So having just had the engine out and back in a was faced with having to do this all over again. So between me and my dad we decided more access to the engine was required as this was bound to happen again. So this is what we come up with:
It makes working on the engine a breeze and engine out takes about ten minutes
That was a few months ago. I've now finished the tube frame to hold the radiator and intercooler as well as the mechanism for the pop-up lights. I did contemplate changing the lights for something a bit easier but as you can tell, if there's an easy way and a hard way I for some reason go the hard way.
Next I need to build up the replacement engine which is now a 1.8k but with a turbo bottom end to reduce the compression ratio. Then clean and paint the tube work, prep the body and respray for the front end, fit a front under tray (plywood i'm going with) and get it all bolted back together. My hope is I can have I back on the road by the end of August, hopefully this engine will last a bit longer than the previous although if it does blow up again it will be easier to change.
Simon