Slow Progress

Well, today was another engine building day, but overall not terribly good progress. Mike has been dialling in the cams, but even with the key in the crank holding the toothed chain wheel in place, there's too much movement. We needed the harmonic (the bit that takes any harmonic vibrations out of the crank) in place to hold it all together, but that's off being cut down. So it all came to a grinding halt, to be picked up next weekend.

Adding to that, I think the water rail I have doesn't fit the engine - I can see where it should go, but there's a whole heap of engine block in the way that doesn't seem to have been catered for in the design of the rail. So something else to look at.

So a slow week once more, as I work through some minor tasks. I've fiited (one) clear plastic 3M sheet on the rear guard to protect against stone chips, made a small bracket to mount the ECU on, and redone some wiring in the front. But that's not a great deal to show for a week.

I think next week may be focussing in on a few other things, like more furniture and stuff ;-)

Camera Work

With the build nearing completion, I thought it would be a good time to look at how I'm going to record it's first steps into the real world, so I've bought a camera setup.

The best regarded setup at the moment (according to OzClubbies) is the Elmo SUV camera - it has a good resolution lipstick lens that you can mount onto the rollbar, and a simple, lightweight recording unit that you can stop and start with one button press. I bought the camera with 150cm cable, the rubber mounting and wide angle lens from Digital Camera Warehouse, who are also well recommended on OzClubbies.

What made it easier was that Frank also has one, so the trend of basically copying everything he does continues ;-)

At the time of writing, DCW has a damn good deal on these things, which make them cheaper than anywhere else on the planet as far as I can tell.....btw, no commercial relationship with them at all. And if they stuff up the delivery you'll be the first to know.

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category566_1.htm

The camera will therefore provide me with some decent video to add to the blog as well as photos, so look out for those in future ;-)

Putting it all back together

With the engine parts now back, the engine can start to come together. On the principle that I'm barely qualified to tighten a bolt, I've decided to allow someone else to assemble the explosive part of the car ;-)

So, Mike has come back to reverse the exercise of disassembly, and is putting it all back together. So far, the crank is back in, along with the pistons. At this stage it's all large things going back in, so progress is fast, however next weekend we're looking at the cams, belts and chains etc, which could take a little longer.

Some early photos:

I have an engine!

Yes, the big news over the weekend is that the engine is back from the workshop, with the head ported and polished, the crank keyed, and the pistons flycut.....

So, what does that all mean? Well, porting the head means cutting away additional material from the part where the air gets into and out of the engine - again, one of the most important things for an engine to develop peak power is it's ability to breath, so removing any barriers or inefficiencies (such as rough patches, edges etc) will always yield results. The thing with the Duratec head is that it's pretty perfect as it stands. So, unlike the Zetec which was also cut for another Birkin (where a huge amount of material was removed), the Duratec is more of a polish. The key element is that the ports allow the right volume of air to flow based on the size of the valves, so there's no restriction in the head. Also, the split between the two chambers has been cut to a knife edge to reduce turbulence.

Keying the crank has been discussed before, and as you can see in the photo, it's a simple matter of notching the gear and putting a small key in the crank itself. Now, the gear cannot move on the shaft. Given the revs and power I have, I've read that it's probably overkill, but what the hell....

The pistons were apparently the hardest part. As you can see in the photo's, not a great deal of material was removed, which is what you're aiming for, as wholesale shredding of the piston heads is to be avoided. So you can see that there are now four small scallops taken out of each piston, which will allow the clearance required by the new, more aggresive cams.

All in all some nice work that will allow the engine to reach it's peak performance once it's all back together.