MED engine detune and overhaul

[Hans Efde]

Finally I got it running today. Friday still nothing. I changed the distributor, but it turned out the burned plastic smell came from my starter solenoid that was soaking hot. I used a blow torch to clean the cylinders and plugs and checked I had spark with my glass spark plug.That was all fine, timing was set but still nothing. Checking the spark plugs revealed they were quite dry, so I had to recheck the carb. It just didn't give enough fuel vapour.
Today I reset the CO screw, installed a lighter piston spring (I had installed a stronger one) and refilled the damper with oil. I had also standby an eau de toilette bottle that I had filled with petrol, so I could spray petrol in the inlet. But it wasn't necessary, it almost fired immediately. Wow what a relief.
A bit later the heater hose sprung loose from the head, so that take off pipe has to be modified and the radiator hose comes dangerously close to the pulley. I have to make a bracket of some sort for that. But for the rest it runs sweet. I've videood all starting attempts so will be uploading a video later.
Now I have to sort a few electrical gremlins (when I push the horn, the left indicator comes on!), put the bumper and bonnet on and test it on the road.

[manifold]

glad you got it sorted Hans.

[b1zbaz]

Excellent news hans congratulations mate hope your electrical gremlins don't take too much time happy motoring

[Hans Efde]

And a video:
http://youtu.be/baRdpotWTQA

[lankyjames]

And a video:
http://youtu.be/baRdpotWTQA

I think I saw a smile there Hans! Glad too see you've got it running, I went through hell to get mine started and running, getting it tuned helped cold starts, it was running a little lean!

Tidy looking garage too

Meant to ask, are you running an oil temp valve with your oil cooler?

[Hans Efde]

Meant to ask, are you running an oil temp valve with your oil cooler?

Yes, that's important, too cold engine oil is as bad as too hot. I fitted a Mocal valve. Before the valve I used to close the fence with my real numberplate when it was cold. This is much better. The oil is at a steady 80 or 90 degrees.
Presently the valve is hanging between the oil lines somewhere near the front engine mount. Eventually I'll put it on a bracket.

[Hans Efde]

Although the car is running now and I have it insured it won't hit the road the coming time. I was too late with the rebuild for the tv show and it's now freezing with snow and ice on the road. Despite being to cold to work in the shed right now I am collecting parts for the conversion to the ECU injection and ignition.
One important item is the lambda wideband probe. The ECU needs it to adjust the injection. But it can also be a good tool to find out what SU needle is best for the engine, since I will run a SU carb until this summer (I guess). Currently I have a BDL installed but have no idea if it matches the engine tuning. Instead of spending money on a CO test or a rolling road test I opted to buy a Lambda kit and will install it as soon as the weather improves. First I was after a Stack kit, very nice but 250 pounds retail and secondhand still does between 160 and 180 pounds. An interesting alternative is the PLX kit. I asked Emerald and they say it works perfectly with their ECU. I bought it a few days ago and it just arrived. For around 150 pounds including a touch screen it looks like a good quality kit:



The nice thing of the new SC exhaust is that it has a threaded hole for the lambda probe, so it should be an afternoon work of installing the gauge and hooking up the power to the probe and PLX module. It seems to be able to log the data and show it in a graphic as well! Quite interesting when doing acceleration testing.

[manifold]

looks just like the Innovate wide band O2 sensor I have Hans. Its a Bosch one isnt it?

[Hans Efde]

looks just like the Innovate wide band O2 sensor I have Hans. Its a Bosch one isnt it?

Yes, it's a 4.2 Bosch. Almost all kits I find on Ebay are based on this sensor.

[Hans Efde]

Today I had the first test of my Midas on the road to see if all works for the MOT. 5th May is exactly 2 years ago that I suspended the car and boy oh boy have I missed this. Awesome spine tingling noise from the exhaust, I would say with a hint of Ferrari. Also the induction noise of the KN filter is heaven, although it will disappear when I install an airbox. The Watson suspension is just awesome. Possibly in combination with the Powerflex bushes, but it is a sharp as ever but without the harsness of the hydragas. I took a roundabout on speed and it just ran on rails. There is still a rumble from the aft suspension, have to find out what that is. Also the PLX lambda system works great. It's rather close to the engine and only measures exhaust gases in the centre branch (there is a lower mounting point for the lambda probe but won't fit in the tunnel of the Midas), so it fluctuates a bit. But on speed it gives a good indication what's going on. It seems the BDL needle works perfect below 4500rpm (figures just below 14.7) but above that it starts running lean (in the 15). So the next step is to install a sharper needle after the MOT. Also the engine is tight, there is a blue smoke at start up and when shifting (also rather heavy, so that's a nice winter job to sort) the engine stalls (orange pressure plate, so pretty heavy) if I don't add a bit of choke.
Small stuff to sort and hopefully I'll enjoy a beautiful topless summer before going to the next step (ECU).