So, another week another boring update
As I assume has been the case everywhere, the weather here has been pretty rubbish this week. Mostly heavy rain showers though some hail and sleet too.
As a result, I headed indoors on the most part and figured I'd try and get a little more done to the engine whilst it was on the stand. Coolant hard lines first, I grabbed the line I'd removed from the AYP engine when I picked it up, which looked like this:
Turns out that it's somewhat different the LCR (AMK/BAM) line, which was a bit of a pain. Some of the take offs are different and some don't exist at all. It'd be possible to connec the dots using hoses, but I'd like to keep things close to stock to ensure it goes in the bay and all plumbs in as easily as possible. Then I remembered there was one on the spare AMK lump I'd recently acquired:
Whizzed the short/cut off hoses from it and cleaned it all up. Spot on with one exception...
Turns out the o-ring that mounts to the 'stat housing had seen better days and looked to have been bodged with a little silicone too. Back to the AYP line to pinch the (fortunately decent) seal from there. Whilst I could have gone for a brand new one, it was in near-new condition so I'm happy it's up to the task. That said, if it leaks I'll throw a new one in.
Whipped out the EGT sensor whilst I was hiding from the rain. Looks to be an M12x1.0mm thread so I'll get a stainless boss knocked up so I can fit it to the DP when I get it welded up. Seems to be the best spot for it when doing the k04-064 conversion, given I don't want to modify the integrated exhaust manifold to take it. Will have to factor in the drop in EGT by that point when mapping though of course...
Has a slight nick in the braided shielding, so I may look to repair that down the line. That said, I may forget. We'll see.
Assembled another set of shelves in an attempt to create a little more space in the garage. It helped, though I still need to go through and organise a few other bits and figure out a better solution for the bikes/boards (wall/roof mounting)
With that sorted, there was a brief break in the rain so I popped out to the car. Figured it was time to throw in a new cabin filter. I was right.
I'd been meaning to refit the arch liners I'd removed XXX amount of time ago for reasons I forget, and kept not doing it so that was the next job. First up scrubbing out the accumulated dirt and grime so as not to leave filth rotting away back there, then refitting the cleaned liners with all new bolts. Look at the state of that water, grim!
A few showers later, the sun came out and so did Brownie. A few little bits under the bonnet between dodging the showers, with the foreman casting a scruitineering eye over all the work to make sure it was up to scratch.
By the time we were done, it was getting dark and even wetter outside. Given we'd had a pretty heavy session the night before (culminating at around 7am) we figured it was safest to head indoors for a quiet social one. Pulled out the Corbeaus for some Forza
They were soon hijacked
So we shoved some beanbags out instead and cracked on
Next day, I'd hoped to do a few minor pre-MOT bits. Nothing major, but I wanted to swap some wheels over to get the best tyres on (I'm waiting on a new set to arrive this week, annoyingly) and refitting the engine undertray.
Popped out to the parents place to say hi, and pinched their campervan leveling ramps
They're only really designed to
help compensate for slightly sloping campervan pitches, so don't give much room but it's easier than jacking things up
Enough for me to stick my head/arms under, only to realise that the undertray couldn't go on due to some light damage on its own mountings and a missing piece of trim below the gearbox. Ah well, I guess that gives a decent excuse to do something a little different down the line
Anoyingly, the weather drew in again so I ventured back indoors. Prawn was kind enough to send a spare flywheel/pressure plate my way to try out, but it was looking a little tired. I'm well aware that it'll ever get seen and will only get dirty again, but it was raining and I had paint and a wire brush to hand...
With no sign of the weather letting off, it was getting late. Many moons ago I'd had the subframe assembly off to fit an ARB and the tracking was a little out when refitted as I'd not centred the steering wheel (mong). I'd considered getting the tracking sorted but given my plans at the time were to drop the subframe again and fit a 3" DP, I didn't bother. The wheels were straight so things drove fine, however as the steering wheel was out by more than 4.5 degrees it popped up a code. Straightened things up by eye (to within tolerance) and went for a 15 mile drive so thing would settle down, leaving the engine running whilst clearing the code and resolving the issue. Bingo, clear dash for MOT (once I'd put some fuel in anyway!).
These two were wondering what the hell I was doing. Standard.
Ended the weekend with a fresh ticket. Good to go for another 12 months and that's a green light for finalising the engine swap really...