thanks very much mate ,
what about if its goin into a mk4 golf ?
Cheers Dale.
Following on from this latest work there's a bit of a twist in the tale, resulting in a major change of plans for the immediate future at least.
Upon removing the cylinder head and inspecting the block there's very evident scoring in each cylinder bore, most notably #1 (which receives the most air). The worst marks can be felt with your nail - not your average wear and tear.
Cylinder 1:
Cylinder 2:
Cylinder 3:
Cylinder 4:
Back when Bill fitted my uprated rods in Dec 2009 he noted that there were signs of scoring, but nothing as bad as what we see here, some 7,000 miles since.
While it's open to speculation what could have caused this it's most likely either:
1. Debris entering the intake
2. Worn rings causing piston slap
I am curious as to whether I may have damaged my rings when my WMI unknowingly stopped working and the car was still driven hard on boost, causing sky high CFs. This is one possible theory of many, who knows...
Upon removing the pistons tonight there are no signs of any damage to the crown, but the skirts do have some form of debris stuck to the sides which would seem to account for the scoring. Whether these are melted fragments of piston ring is unknown.
I noticed some time ago that I was also consuming some oil that appeared to be being burned (no signs of any leaks), though a compression and leak down test suggested that compression was OK (see here)
It's difficult to know what's really responsible here when these tests show healthy figures, not forgetting the car itself was driving and performing perfectly well prior to the gearbox and manifold issue at Castle Combe.
So, from here I've decided to re-focus my efforts on completely re-building the engine to it's fullest potential, with:
Overbore to 82.5mm (retaining standard head gasket)
JE 9:1 2618 alloy pistons
Port/polished head by JNL, fitted with Supe***** valve guides, stem seals, inconel valves and valve springs/titanium retainer set
New main bearings and supporting bolts/caps as required
As I'm already running IE forged con rods this will give me a fully built engine, that together with my SQS gearbox ought to be pretty bullet proof and ensure I don't have to go to the effort and expense of stripping anything down for upgrade again. Do it once, do it properly.
Once this is all sorted I will re-assess my turbo options as and when I feel it necessary, which also allows more R&D time on the new breed of K03-2283 hybrids currently in development/testing by the likes of Badger5.
Continued thanks to Alex, Bill and Dale for their help and support - appreciate everyone's input.
More pics and progress reports to follow soon, with the aim of sending the head and block away this weekend to begin the necessary work.
I feel your pain tho, my car went in for valve stem oil seals and came out with rods and pistons.
All depends how you look at it. In one respect I've always stood by the fact I'm happy with the power delivery of my hybrid and the smile it puts on my face and it'll be nice to know I have an engine and gearbox fully built to withstand the abuse.
On the other... the gut feeling that after "investing" this much money into the car I ought to fully exploit the uprated spec and fit a bigger turbo rather than sitting there feeling like I'm not making the most out of what I've got. One thing's for sure, I can't do both at once and it makes the most sense to get the engine built up properly while it's in this state.
Where I go from there... we'll see.
Always the way with these things though it seems - started with just a gearbox repair and manifold gasket and now look where it's led
Hit the nail of the head in my opinion Although you will need big turbo soon
Hit the nail of the head in my opinion Although you will need big turbo soon
once built, its built.. turbos etc afterwards are bolt on's - so why the rush to "upgrade" to a slower spooling but more powerfull option? for track use, tractable power is what will go faster than banzai power
I think to make your mind up you need to go out in a proper BT car robbie.
Making it bullet proof with your power characteristics might be what you want from the car.
Personally, low end torque after a while looses its appeal, all that breaking traction was fun at first with the kick in the ass but then gets annoying, especially on track where i found i run out of steam when i needed it.
FYI Robbie.
Peak power on mine was ~5800 (351whp/405bhp) and peak torque was ~4700rpm (348wtq/400lbs/ft).
Compared to your last run at bills, 273bhp @ 5600 and 277tq @ 4788.
Not much in it in terms of power delivery is it?
Im making your peak bhp by about 4500 rpm on a equal length mani and huge intercooler, both of which wont be helping spool.
BW and Garret are working on similar turbos, EF (i think its called) and HTX series respectively. But what says rings true tho, no need to rush but it does give you options further down the line.
Hi Phil
I notice there are some differences in the printouts from the last 2 times you have run, in particular the RPM referencing ( not used for power calculation ). The RPM reference on one of the runs is wrong, yet full boost is still achieved at the same KPH. This could be wheel spin in the higher RPM.
When you get a chance, and when we have the in dyno tie down points, fancy coming back for some further analysis ?