Went out for a longer test drive this morning, to see how it all feels. All seems to be going very well and the oil pressure is rock solid at 63psi under full acceleration, just where is has always been. At idle (once warmed up) it goes down to about 10psi, also as expected.
The paddle shift mounting tube can be moved in and out as required by undoing the clamping screws. It relies on the clamping effect of these screws to hold it in place. The amount of metal in the Sierra column and the short length of these screws had me worried though, so I fabricated some locking pins. These basically stop it moving in and out and the clamping screws hold these pins in place. These are not really needed but provide piece of mind.
Last month I'd noticed that the Fury was slipping occasionally in 2nd gear. It only seemed to happen once or twice on each drive and usually when the engine was cold. I'd assumed this was down to the worn clutch but, now that this has been done, I'm still seeing this happening. This video clip shows it (just before I change up a gear):
This now appears to be down to rounded cogs in 2nd gear (and probably 1st gear too). I'd long suspected some damage from my original rod gear linkage as it is not a floating design and causes the engine movement to work against smooth gear changes. So my task for the coming week is to get the engine out and to 'crate' it up for another journey back up to AB Performance. This will be the first time the engine has been out of the car, since I built it. I'm going to use this opportunity to clean up the engine bay and clean up a few chips in the powder coats on the chassis.
Removing the engine was not as simple as it should be. It didn't really give engine removal the consideration it deserves when buildign the car and what should have been a 30 minute job, took about 90 minutes to do this first time. If I had to do it again, I reckon it could be done in 40 minutes now.
Throttle Cable
Disconnecting the throttle cable showed just how rubbish the Fisher throttle pedal is. I'd not noticed before but it is now very sloppy and has lots of sideways movement. The cable is undone at the pedal end and this provides enough slack to allow it to be removed at the engine end, by sliding out the barrel nipple.
Gear Linkage
This is easily disconnected by undoing a single bolt at the engine end. I've also unbolted my mounting bracket, which bolts onto the engine mount.
Clutch Cable
This is easily disconnected by undoing a single bolt at the engine end. I've also unbolted my mounting bracket, which bolts onto the engine mount.
Air Filter
The air filter and mounting plate need to be removed to gain access to the fuel lines and coolant pipes. This is simply a matter of undoing the rubber trumpets. There is also a temperature sensor mounted within the filter.
Electrics
The electrical wiring removed from the engine is:
Loom connecting coil packs, themostat temperature sensor and Cyclinder Indentification Sensor [21]
Digidash temperature sensor. Had to cut the earth wire and add spade connectors.
The oil temperature sensor also required me to cut the earth wire.
The alternator has its own earth strap that needs to be unbolted.
The rectifier needs to be disconnected as the alternator lead is fixed to the engine.
It was a lot easier to undo the earth strap a the engine end.
Fuel system
The low pressure return line is just held on with a jubilee clip.
The pressurised fuel inlet line has a plastic clip holding it onto the fuel rail. There is also a safety clip that needs to be undone first.
Drive Shaft
The drive shaft sprocket has four bolts fixing it to the propshaft. These will be replaced.
Exhaust Manifold
The easiest way to get the engine out seemed to be with the exhaust manifold in place. The left side pod and silencer needed to be removed though.
Engine Mounts
There are three engine mounts on the engine and I've undone them all at the chassis end, so that I can touch up the chassis rails where needed.
The engine won't come straight up and out. It has to move forward to let the engine mount clear the chassis rail in front of the footwell. This means tha rear engine mount has to come right out and the nearest engine mount also needs to be fully unbolted.
The engine out :-)
Whilst taking the engine out, I noticed a few things that need to be fixed ...
The sprocket adaptor locking washer was still doing its job but, it had cracked. The sprocket adaptor needs re-torquing with a new locking washer.
Loaded the engine up into my boot and took it up to AB Performance. The weather hasn't been brilliant this month but, as far as driving the Fury goes it is a lost month anyway. My focus this weekend is on sorting out the engine bay, ready to pop the engine back in.
Started work on tidying up the engine bay, so that it will be ready for the engine to go back in next week.
Whilst checking out the cooling system, I noticed one of the 25mm aluminium pipes has been rubbing on its mounting. The mount was rubber lined but this has worn away over time and started to wear through the pipes surface. It's about halfway through the pipe sidewall.
All the other pipework seems to be in excellent condition. The use of stainless steel hose clips and quality silicon hoses throughout, has proved to be money well spent. I've replaced this damaged section with a length of new 25mm alumuminium tubing.
The throttle pedal is basically a piece of steel tubing and is suspended from the top of the footwell, from a 6mm bolt. It moves around far too much for my liking but, the postion and weighting is very good. The plan is to replace this with something lighter that doesn't move sideways and has a nice solid feel and smooth action.
This is still being worked on but, I've cut a new pedal out from a sheet of 5mm aluminum plate and this seems to be much better. For the foot, I've used a short length of 25mm x 25mm 90° angle. I'll road test this and then get it powder coated. I've now fitted it and the action is perfect.
The new throttle pedal in place. There is no lateral movement now. The adjustable stop is required to take any slack out of the throttle cable, thus providing immediate response to the lightest touch. The cable bolt is not done up tight in this picture.
Andy has had a look at my engine and gearbox. Whilst the engine is very good shape, some of the gears are well worn and the three shift forks are all bent.
Started to look at getting the engine back into the car this evening. It is not going to be as quick as taking it out! Started by fixing the manifold back onto the engine. The bolts are hard to get at when it is in the car. Took this opportunity to weigh the manifold and it is 4.328Kg. The manifold nuts are torqued up to 20Nm (14lb-ft).
Spent the best part of 5 hours putting the rest of the car back together today. The order of jobs was something like this:
Undo steering column. Had done it back up to move the car. Engine needs mount sits underneath top of column.
Dropped engine into the car using the engine hoist. Sorted out all the engine mounts.
Steering column.
Main earths and electrical connections.
Throttle cable. Had to re-seat the barrel nipple at the engine end.
Clutch cable mount and clutch cable.
Fuel lines. Inlet clips on + safety clip. Outlet is jubilee clip.
Propshaft fitted with new bolts and thread locking compound.
Electics and other sensors.
Coolant system - the longest job of the day. Flushed and cleaned out header tank. Checked every pipe and clip. Re-filled and bled out air in system. Used lots of antifreeze.
Exhaust silencer.
Fill engine with oil.
After that it was a matter of praying and turning the key. After a few seconds hesitation, it started running very sweetly :-)
. This will be the first time the engine has been out of the car, since I built it. I'm going to use this opportunity to clean up the engine bay and clean up a few chips in the powder coats on the chassis.
