My new Rally car arrived today...

[kas750]

There is a very small amount of flex in the front shaft which i think comes from the needle roller at the other end of the shaft.It really is minimal though and the effect is accentuated because of the length of the shaft.
The bearing i changed was totally shagged though.I suppose this a problem with with s/c gears,knowing what is "normal" noise and what is not!

[Moose]

There is a very small amount of flex in the front shaft which i think comes from the needle roller at the other end of the shaft.It really is minimal though and the effect is accentuated because of the length of the shaft.
The bearing i changed was totally shagged though.I suppose this a problem with with s/c gears,knowing what is "normal" noise and what is not!

Will you ever know what is normal and what is not normal with S/C gears? It's music to my ears when I'm driving and when its shagged I'll know cos it won't won't work anymore

[kas750]

So..today i was rained off..again!!!
So whilst i am waiting for the rebore to be done i thought i would have a go at fitting the electronic speedometer and hall sensor that i got from rally design.
First of all i made a little bracket to hold the sensor.I made it from a little bit of flat bar and screwed it to the bottom of the strut and pick up a signal from a screwhead that i fitted to one of the disc mounting bolts.

i then ran the cable along the flexy line,through the inner wing and up through bulkhead to behind the clock pod.
.
.
I originally had a mechanical speedo and a jaeger electronic rev counter that had been fitted in place of the original fuel and temp meters.

I wanted a speedo that would kind of match the jaeger meter as it still looks fairly old school.
The jaeger meter had a white needle so i had to remove the bezel and respray in fluoro orange to match the speedo.
I made a adaptor plate to fit the new meter also.
Because the new meter has a trip button on the front i figured i would need to drill a hole in the perspex on the old clocks enclosure so the button was accessible.
I then did a bit of lateral thinking and figured that i would remove the perspex as both meters had glass covers.
Wiring the meter was straightforward.The only problem i had was because i only planned to use one bolt as a pick up i could not put my calculated figures into the speedo to set it up.
I have now removed the screw and it picks up on the 4 mounting bolts.

...and a night view of the speedo..All in i reckon it was pretty good value for 150 quid.

[mk1rally]

Looks good that, can you spin the front wheel enough to get a reading on the trip? at least you know its working to some extent?

[kas750]

Looks good that, can you spin the front wheel enough to get a reading on the trip? at least you know its working to some extent?

I forgot to add that the sensor lights up evertime it is triggered by a bolt head.The 2mm maximum air gap prevets rogue signals from other moving parts.I verified my calculations with the manufacturer calibrating the speedo.Looks and works brill.Really pleased.

[kas750]

I got a call later on this evening to say that the engine parts are ready.
I have had the block rebored to +60.The pistons have been cut to accomodate the 244 cam lift and the head has been skimmed and the valves and seats cut.I bought a lightened flywheel from escort-tec.This along with all the other engine parts have been balanced also.I am going to collect tomorrow and will post some pics when i have something to show.

[ATR477V]

Sounds good Adrian, look forward to seeing how it goes. Should be starting on mine in the next couple of weeks to fit the new head and cam, type 9 and Quaife ATB.

[kas750]

I picked up the block and other parts today.The bottom end has been balanced inc flywheel,clutch and front pulley.


Head has been skimmed and valves cut.

and i made a start of buttoning it back together.

[kas750]

Managed to finish off fitting the seats today.It took a lot of planning to get them just how i wanted them and of course a lot of fabricating to get them right.I was concerned that they may not fit but in the end there is plenty of space.


...i have also repainted the centre of the wheel to get rid of all the blue.

wish i could say the same thing about the engine

[ATR477V]

Looking good Adrian, whats the problem with the engine?

Just started on mine yesterday, a bit since I had a few grazed knuckles, I can remember all the swear words though.

[kas750]

Looking good Adrian, whats the problem with the engine?

I can't say yet..but i am sure to tell everybody the story very shortly though..

[mark2marty]

sorry to hear you are having problems with engine, thought it was just getting freshened up

[kas750]

So..As I stated above I took the block to be rebored and have the core plugs changed.The guy informed me that he was a Kent cams agent so I asked if he would be interested in building up the engine as a short motor,basically fitting the crank,pistons and timing the cam.
He did this and in the last pic I had just got the engine back and was about to fit the sump....
Soo just before I did this I fitted the flywheel and checked to see that the engine turned freely...well it would turn about 90 degrees each way and then locked!
My first thought was to have a look myself but then thought no I had paid good money to have this done so I returned the engine.
They rang back a couple of hours later and said that an incorrect bolt had been fitted to the cam pulley...basically it was too long and was locking the engine..not good!!
Anyway I got the motor back and it now turned freely and everything was good..little did I know...
I built the engine up totally and had a late nighter carefully fitting it..the next I finished off fitting the ancillaries..we were ready to start it..
So oil in,water in,fuel pumps on and ignition..I had carefully timed it up and primed the carbs so it started after a couple of turns..I ran it at just over idle for about 20 seconds and then raised the revs to about 4000 rpm...
****in bang!! The engine stopped immediately with a massive clatter accompanied by a massive flash from the bell housing and water everywhere!
Wtf...it's one of those moments when you are in shock and want to rewind everything by about 30 seconds..
Nothing else for it.i had to pull the engine out...now!
Anyway 30 minutes and I had hoiked the engine out and the problem was clear.
The first time I revved it the core plug that had been fitted at the back of the block had popped out when I revved the engine...it got jammed between the flywheel and starter motor and had ripped the flywheel from the back of the crank,destroying the flywheel,crank and front pulley!
So I rang him up and said that he was about to have a bad day!
Anyway he said would make everything right and fit proper ford core plugs this time(wtf).To be fair he has made everthing right including lightening another flywheel that he supplied etc..I have very little confidence so when I got the engine back I checked everthing myself..just wish I had done it myself in the first place..

[HarrierTony]

Bloody hell Adrian, what a horror story, hope all is well with the engine now.

[RS_Fiesta]

Nice seats those