202 replies to this topic

[JonW]

Great to see youre still going on this one Paul, I dont post much these days as im working on other things and have no time, but am always keen to hear about your progress mate.

[pauluspaolo]

The weather's picked up a bit recently so I took Friday off & spent the weekend working on the SS1. Thought I’d get the engine bay rear cross-member back in. Normally it’s a pretty weedy looking bit of top hat section of steel which I had to remove it in order to fit the Zetec sump. I’d left stubs either side of the engine bay thinking that I’d either refit the original, or make a removable one, at some stage. However it soon became clear that because the sump is so close to it that a removable cross-member would probably make things easier – especially if I ever need to drop the sump or remove the engine at a later date.

I’ve used a length of square section steel (part of an old engine stand I was given) which, with a bit of tickling with the angle-grinder, fitted inside the stubs of the original cross-member. I’ve cut it to fit between the main chassis members but left overhangs each side. I’ve drilled through the stubs, & the square section, & put M10 bolts through to secure the square section to the stubs. Since the photos were taken I’ve drilled up through each of the overhangs, & chassis rails, & put another M10 bolt through. So it’s secured by both horizontal & vertical M0 bolts. I’m not sure I’ve described that very well but hopefully you can see what I mean from the photos.

I’ve no idea if it’s as strong as the original - & some of the drilling isn’t brilliant (space was tight with the underneath of the car just above your nose which made drilling, even with a right angle drill, anything but easy) – but I feel happier with it there. Of course it all needs to come out again so that I can paint it!

Any questions or comments more than welcome J

Edited by pauluspaolo, 19 February 2012 - 07:51 PM.

[Boxbrownie]

What kind of clearance have you got between the sump and the crossmember? (in all directions) Depending on the type of engine mounts your have I have seen movement of up to 30mm at sump level on a lot of setups.

If they are fairly solid (not when you wobble them around static but in dynamic modes) then you might get away with 10-15mm or so, but any mount worthy of an NVH medal will have more than that.

But aside from that its good to see the beast gradually taking shape again....the weathers a pain!

[pauluspaolo]

Must admit that the clearance is a concern of mine too - the mounts are new but standard SS1 so while they're not old knackered ones they're not uprated polyurethane ones either. The sump doesn't actually touch the crossmember at any point but it's much closer on the drivers side than it is on the passengers side due to the angle of the sump. I'm very tempted to take the sump off - again - to grind a bit more of the redundant webbing off it to increase the clearance. The crossmember needs to come off anyway for painting so I could have a go at the sump go then

Edited by pauluspaolo, 19 February 2012 - 09:56 PM.

[Silver Hawk]

Keep the updates coming Paul. Will it be driven in 2012?

[mel]

After 1 2 3 some years in Space Dock, the SS1 slowly emerged into normal space under impulse power! (pushed onto the driveway )

Scotty signalled the Bridge and pressed the start button and the mighty engine roared coughed into life. Captain James T Paulo selected Hyperdrive 1 and set course ----

Actually seems to be getting there for real now! Thanks for updates, reviewed just about the whole thread.Great stuff, and great patience also - I'm not sure I could keep going that long.

[pauluspaolo]

Silver Hawk, on 20 February 2012 - 01:43 PM, said:

Keep the updates coming Paul. Will it be driven in 2012?

Who knows! You'll be among the first to know if it is driven this year Hows your Ariel(?) rebuild coming along?

mel, on 20 February 2012 - 02:29 PM, said:

After 1 2 3 some years in Space Dock, the SS1 slowly emerged into normal space under impulse power! (pushed onto the driveway )

Scotty signalled the Bridge and pressed the start button and the mighty engine roared coughed into life. Captain James T Paulo selected Hyperdrive 1 and set course ----

Actually seems to be getting there for real now! Thanks for updates, reviewed just about the whole thread.Great stuff, and great patience also - I'm not sure I could keep going that long.

Nice one Mel made me smile that did

I have to say that whilst it's taking somewhat longer than I initially anticipated (huuuuuuge understatement) I'm still enjoying working on the thing & solving the various "little" problems it throws my way. I had a little (read: MAJOR) strop to my wife about the bloody thing on Friday & she said "you can't stop now" & she's right; I really have done too much to it, spent too much money & come too far to turn my back on it now. So many thanks for the support & please keep it coming. I won't be able to make much more progress on it for the next 2/3 weeks at least as I've a show coming up which I'm stage managing. After that I've no theatrical committments at all until June/July so I'm planning to, & should be able to, spend much more time on the car - weather should be a bit warmer to

Edited by pauluspaolo, 20 February 2012 - 04:16 PM.

[pauluspaolo]

Well work on the heap proceeds at a rate that would make the average glacier appear supersonic in comparison

No theatre duties until June means that I can finally spend a few consecutive evenings working on the car – unfortunately painting a freshly stripped anti-roll bar isn’t very exciting & you can only give it one coat at a time so 3 coats requires 3 evenings ….. & taking photos of paint drying is about as exciting as actually watching it dry in real time!! Anyway said painting was finally completed & I refitted the front anti-roll bar a couple of nights ago with the help of my “Westfield in bits” owning friend Matt (thanks Matt J ). I’d bought new polyurethane bushes for both the front & rear ARB’s so fitted those at the same time. Didn’t take long in the grand scheme of things & the jobs a good ‘un J

Front ARB drop links + poly bushes:


Front ARB chassis mount & poly bush:


Last night I attacked the sump with my angle grinder …… AGAIN …… & this is the result! The channel will, hopefully, give much more clearance between the sump & the new bolt in cross-member (which I’ve painted a fetching black) I made a couple of weeks ago. Note all the alloy dust on the bench in the back ground - glad I wore a face mask, goggles & ear defenders now - which prompted a major clean/tidy up in the garage after all the angle grinding had finished.





I was thinking about bolting it all back together again tonight but the sump’s been on & off so many times I now think that the sump gasket (rubber) could do with replacing. I bought a new one when I fitted the engine but the sumps been on & off about 10 times since then! To remove the sump I also need to remove the starter motor & the new cross-member so rather than bolt it all up tonight, only to remove it all again when the new gasket arrives (I’ve not even ordered it yet) I think I might leave it as it is for the moment. I’ve bought new brake shoes for the rear drums so I’ll probably try & fit those tonight instead.

More when there’s more to report J

Edited by pauluspaolo, 22 March 2012 - 03:39 PM.

[Phillionaire]

Best of luck with it. Sounds like a mammoth undertaking to me, and has been said I don't think I'd have the dedication to see it through.
Just think how good it'll be once it's finished

[JonW]

Always happy to hear more about this project Paul, keep going mate...

[pauluspaolo]

I fitted a new radiator to the SS1 last week. It’s actually for a 1 litre Polo (I think) but these radiators are used in Zetec engined kit cars & my friend, who’s rebuilding a Westfield with a stage 3 tuned crossflow engine, is using one of these radiators. It’s slightly smaller than the standard SS1 radiator so required a couple of raising blocks, new mounts & a bit of re-routing of the coolant hoses.

I’m also using a Polo cooling fan which fits directly onto the old Reliant fan mount with no modifications at all – bar some washers/spacers - this must make it one of the cheapest/easiest upgrades available for the SS1 & the original fan looks pathetic next to it.

I was going to use a second-hand DGAV carb but whilst renewing the gaskets, needle valves etc last week it turned out to have no fast idle screw – my fault entirely I suspect as a few weeks earlier I'd removed the auto-choke mechanism & must have removed the fast idle gubbins by mistake at the same time!! Sod it (or words to that effect!) I thought! I decided to dip into the piggy bank & ordered a new DGV carb (no auto choke) which should arrive next week – all a bit annoying but no-ones fault but mine & at least I know that the new carb will be set up properly (it’s being jetted for a 2 litre Pinto). The old black rubber heater hoses have gone & been replaced with blue silicon ones; unfortunately I’ve ordered the wrong sized hose clips so I’ll have to re-order & fit these later on.

As well as all the above I’ve refitted the sump, starter motor & cross-member. I’ve fitted new rear brake shoes but now the old drums won’t go back on over the new shoes. They have a definite lip so will need skimming …… it never ends!

Next step is installing the Megajolt – not sure where to start to be honest – after that the exhaust manifold/system will be the next big headache as the only manifold I’ve found that fits is the standard Mondeo cast iron one – not exactly free-flowing – and there’s damn all room/clearance for a down pipe So I think it’ll have to be a bodge job until I can afford something better – but that’s a bridge I’ll cross when I come to it.

Opinions welcome as always

Edited by pauluspaolo, 08 April 2012 - 06:24 PM.

[Phillionaire]

New radiator looks great. Well done.
Would it be cost effective to get some headers welded up as opposed to bodging something together? You could buy all the angles and tack it together, then get a shop to finish it?? Tuned length headers would make a big power difference too.

[pauluspaolo]

Aye up – I’ve been busy on the SS1 this week.

On Ebay last week I won a CVH free(ish) flow exhaust manifold, which came off another SS1. My idea was to fit this manifold on the Zetec as it follows the same route as the original exhaust; meaning I could refit the whole of the original system. The stud patterns of the Zetec head & CVH manifold are completely different but adaptor plates are available which allow RS Turbo manifolds to be fitted to Zetec engines (so making turbo-charging that bit easier). One of these adaptors was duly purchased (also from Ebay).

So on Monday evening I decided to start getting the engine ready for the adapter & new manifold. This meant removing the coolant pipes/hoses, the alternator, alternator/engine mount & the Mondeo exhaust manifold that I’d already fitted & was intending to use. The adaptor is fitted to the Zetec head using the original exhaust stud holes – so the studs obviously had to come out. The manifold studs on the Zetec handily have a Torx head on them so allowing them to be loosened/tightened with a suitable Torx socket. To cut a long story short I managed to undo 8 of the 9 Zetec studs but the last one refused to loosen & was too close to the water rail to get a stud remover on it & the last thing I wanted was shear it off in the cylinder head! To make room to allow the use of a stud remover the water rail had to come off as well :roll: !

Last night I fitted the adaptor & CVH exhaust manifold and refitted the alternator/engine mount, alternator, coolant pipes etc. All went smoothly but I took the opportunity to tweak a few bits & pieces (alternator support & dipstick tube mounting) so it all took rather longer than I thought it would. As the pictures show the adaptor plate overlaps the exhaust port slightly – which I’m not too happy about – but the exhaust manifold itself fits fine & should allow me to use (temporarily) the somewhat knackered exhaust system that the car came with. I’ll have to see how the car runs with this exhaust manifold but I’m much happier with this arrangement than I was with the Zetec manifold I was intending to use as I'd have had to build an exhaust system from scratch. At the very least it’ll do to get the car up & running with & I can upgrade the whole exhaust system (including the manifold) later on as & when funds allow.

So there you have it – that’s the engine installation just about finished I still need to sort out the air filter but I know what I'm going to use so that's not too big a problem. The next major job on the horizon is the wiring (Megajolt ecu/EDIS installation, cooling fan, fuel pump etc). Once all that's all sorted though it'll be "put it all back together & turn the key" time!

We’re away at the coast this weekend & I intend having a beer (or twelve) to celebrate

Adaptor plate fitted to head - note overlap on exhaust ports






Everything back together - looks good doesn't it?



Shows manifold outlet under the car - ignore the axle stand



Opinions welcome as always

Edited by pauluspaolo, 19 April 2012 - 08:35 AM.

[pauluspaolo]

Quick update (no pics/videos unfortunately) but the starter motor's now wired up properly & the engine turns over on the key which means that the starter & flywheel work with each other. I'd been told that they would work with each other but until you actually turn the key & it all works you never really know for sure

More progress is that my friend from work (Muhammad - he's a wiring whizz!) came over & helped wire up the fuel pump so that also whirs into life when the key's turned. The idea being that the fuel pump fills/primes the carb with petrol & then stops when it senses back pressure (i.e. when the carb's full).

I've still got to tidy/connect up bits of the fuel pump wiring but when I've done that I'll start wiring in the Megajolt. There's still a fair bit to do on the car - bleed brakes, put bodywork back on, check all bolts for tightness, fuel, coolant etc - but, hopefully, firing up may not be too far away

Edited by pauluspaolo, 11 May 2012 - 08:17 AM.

[jasonm]

Thanks for the update Paul...... Looking forward to seeing the finished article .... Not as much as you though I bet!