engine out again

The engine came out again today so I could get the sump off and look at the dipstick issue.

It turns out the hole I drilled in the top of the sump tray to allow the dipstick to pass through was in the right place and it was actually the pick up pipe that was wiping against the dipstick. The zetec pick up pipe runs along the centre line whereas the cvh pick up runs along the exhaust side. I did consider trying to modify the zetec pickup but given I needed to get the engine back the car this afternoon (no space to store engine seperately in the garage) I took the option of adjusting the bends in the cvh pick up to give more clearance.

The engine is now back in the car and I'll fill it with oil tomorrow once the sump sealant has had a chance to set. I'll also need to reconnect the clutch and throttle cables. Hopefully this is the last time the engine will need to come out (famous last words......)

Throttle return

The throttle return is working and there doesn't seem to be any need to attach another spring to the pedal

Throttle off:
Throttle on

General update

Fuel lines:

The height of the fuel lines in the transmission tunnel meant they were very close to the universal joint on the prop shaft (approx 20mm). In theory, the UJ wouldn’t have touched the fuel lines and the gearbox mount is very stiff which eliminates movement but I was never happy with this so the fuel lines have now been moved down by approx 50mm giving much more clearance between the lines and the prop. To give me clear access to work on the transmission tunnel area, it meant removing the engine and gearbox and the rear suspension had to come off in order to remove the diff. I had to make new fuel lines from kunifer pipe as the bends in the pipe which took the route underneath the diff wouldn’t suit the new height position.

pic showing clearance since pipe layout changed:


And from the other side:



Whilst I had access to the tunnel, I also changed the plastic P-clips for rubber lined metal P clips for supporting the brake pipes.

I’ll be needing to take the engine out again (hopefully for the last time!) to sort out an issue with the dipstick. I drilled a hole in the top of the modified CVH sump to allow the dipstick to pass through to measure the oil level. It seems the dipstick is rubbing along the edge of this hole which then drags the oil level mark off. (Maybe its me who is the dipstick for drilling the hole in the wrong place)


Bodywork:

Offering up the bonnet, I’m finding it doesn’t sit flush with the top of the side panels. This is partially due to the side panels being bolted on so part of the bonnet is resting on the top of these bolts. I’m planning to drill some recess holes into the bonnet so that it slots over the top of these bolts.

The other area where the bonnet seems high is where it meets the nose cone. I have used the dremel to file down the underside of the bonnet as far as I dare. It may mean the nose cone is slightly high as it is sitting on top of the side panels. Other cars I have seen don’t have side panels that go all the way to the front of the car (like mine do) which means that the nosecone sits directly on top of the chassis rail and doesn’t have the extra height of the side panel included.


Throttle bodies:

A new throttle cable has been made to connect the pedal to the throttle body linkage. As I’ve seen before, the spring on the TB isn’t quite strong enough to return the throttle pedal to rest so I’ve started making a return mechanism to give the TB spring some extra power. The first off return mechanism I made gets jammed on itself so I need to re-think this.


Another quick job done - Some anti-slip sheet has been applied to clutch and brake pedals