Thursday 27 May 2010

oil leak

I was talking about the engine leak at work today and figured out it shouldn't be leaking from the sump seal or the crank oil seal as the oil level shouldn't reach that high. In my usual eagerness, I'd filled the engine with 4.5 litres of oil as indicated in the Haynes Mondeo manual. However, since I'm using a shortened CVH sump, the actual oil volume will be less than this and I'll need to use the level mark on the dipstick as a guide. Looking on LCB again, the volume should be somewhere around three litres.

Looking at this from another angle, I now know there is a leak somewhere and I'd rather deal with it this stage than further on in the build when there more to remove to get the engine out!

I also spoke to Phil at Extra EFI today about purchasing a Megasquirt system.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

crank position sensor continued...

The crank position sensor bracket I made fouled the alternator belt so I've started to modify this to move the bracket's position. I'd previously fixed the trigger wheel onto the pulley so this will need to be moved round so that its 90 degrees before the new position of the modified bracket. I took advantage of the machine mart's vat free day at the weekend and invested in a small drill press as it makes the job easier as I'm less likely to snap drill bits if I was using the pistol drill instead.

I've ordered an exhaust system from MK and I'm hoping this will be delivered before the bank holiday so I can spend the time getting this fixed on and cutting the hole in the side panel. Photo of the car as it looks now, side panels just clamped on temporarily.


I've filled the engine with oil and they appears to be a leak where the engine and gearbox meet. This could either be from the back of the sump or from the crank shaft oil seal. Either way it'll mean I have to drain the oil, take the engine out and remove the gearbox.



Friday 21 May 2010

Trigger wheel

The trigger wheel needs to be mounted to the crank pulley for the crank position sensor. I had a small recess machined off the pulley in order to center the trigger wheel. Based on helpful advice from locostbuilders again, I'm going to drill, tap and bolt the trigger wheel onto the pulley rather than mig weld.


I started making a bracket for the crank position sensor. Once I'm happy with the bracket, I start the job of fixing the trigger wheel.


Monday 3 May 2010

Stoneleigh kit car show

Just got back from the Stoneleigh kit car show having spent a small fortune:

36-1 Trigger wheel
Front headlights
Rear LED stop/tail light & indicators with mountings
Resistors for LED indicators
A pair of rear reflectors
P-trim for the rear wheel arches
Tubes of PU adhesive
Sabelt seat belts
MK Carbon fibre dashboard
Oil catch tank
Barrel nipple for throttle cable
Black mesh for nose cone
Thread lock
Shock spanner

Was a good show and met a couple of fellow locostbuilders