[Car_Upgrade] Yet Another Mi16 1.9 Build

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Couple more photographs. All being well, primer goes on today and engine parts ready for collection on Monday(crank assembly, head , bearings and thrusts etc. Cambelt, tensioners and gaskets to sort and I am almost ready to start engine building too

[hillbilly 3]

where about you getting your car painted?

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Car is being painted at Amber coachworks in Derby. Brilliant company. Cannot speak too highly of them. They have called this afternoon to say that the primer is now on so I can go over tomorrow and spend the day seam sealing inside and out. I will get some more photographs! In the meantime, I had a trip to Stanwood Engineering in Bawtry near Doncaster today to collect my balanced crank, rods and pistons , skimmed head with new guides and seat recut and some bearings, thrusts and rings. Another absolutely first class place whom I recommend whole - heartedly. Extremely helpful, quick, great service and very skilful people .

Anyway, a few pictures of the head attached. I have started the job of measuring the installed valve spring height as per the excellent guidance given by Peter Taylor. Glad I have as I need at least 2.5mm of shims under most of the springs to get close to 90lb (41kg) installed preload on the valves. This means a trip back to the Peugeot dealers for some more 1.0mm shims

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Almost forgot cost update! The full balance of crank, rods, pistons and flywheel, flywheel skim, head skim, new valve guides, seat recut and valve recut, along with thrust washers, mains and big end shells and an engine set of rings cost £830. The balance came with a set of data with 'before ' and 'after' crank out of balance, piston mass in grams, rod mass in grams . The piston balancing was done via the inside of the gudgeon pin. Just got the gaskets and cambelt kit to buy!

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

A whole day spent at the body shop today doing nothing but seam sealing. Back tomorrow to paint the underside and arches in 2 pack epoxy resin paint ( Rustbuster) . Sealing the bay and the inside was not too bad. The underneath was a bit more of a challenge! !

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

I thought I had better do a thorough job of measuring the installed valve spring heights on all 16 valves. Having done so I am surprised at the variation, especially on the exhaust where the biggest difference is just over 0.5 mm(1 and 8 as it happens) and also how many shims I need to get to an installed height of between 37.0 and 36.8mm As the shims from Peugeot are available only in either 1.00mm or 0.5mm my aim will be to get to as close to 37mm as possible with as little variation between valves as possible.

Photo below shows how I did it, thanks to the guidance given by Peter Taylor

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Made a start on cam timing today. I know that I could use the #4 on the inlet and #2 on the exhaust, but I have vernier cam wheels and thought I would try to get the cam timing degree perfect, so aiming fro 114 abdc for the exhaust and 106 atdc for the inlet. The only snag is finding a really good place to mark the timing (tdc on both cams) that is easy to see and accurate.

[welshpug 1,661]

erm, you kinda need the rest of the engine before you do that, stuff like timing belt, bottom end..

 

 

 

degree wheel goes on the crank pulley not the cam pulley.

Edited November 18, 2016 by welshpug

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

I will respectfully refer you to , say , Guy Croft's 2013 book. It is possible to accurately time cams in the head, off the engine . The only thing to remember is that one degree of camshaft rotation = two degrees of crankshaft rotation . Indeed , Guy always times his race engine cams this way, prior to installation. He does, of course, also accurately mark tdc on the flywheel when the bottom end is built. I will need to do the same as my cam timing marks will be at tdc.

[welshpug 1,661]

how do you know the cam is at tdc without a belt and a crank?!

[petert 588]

how do you know the cam is at tdc without a belt and a crank?!

Set the lift @ TDC on one cam against a known point on the head, then set the other to the required lift @ TDC. What you're doing is making sure the relationship between the cams is correct.

 

In the case of an XU engine, I do think it's easier to bolt on standard pulleys initially and dowel them, then carefully remove and fit the verniers.

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Not a big problem. Using a dial gauge set up on no 1 valve face and a degree disc on the cam wheel, locate full lift on no 1 inlet. Easy way to do this is to rotate the cam wheel until the valve is opening and then at some reading on the dial gauge( I used 5.00 mm) record the reading on the degree disc against the pointer you have already set up. Now continue to rotate the cam wheel forward until the dial gauge again reads 5.00 mm as the vale is now closing. Read the degree disc again. Calculate the difference between the two degree disc readings ( say it was 74 degrees) , then rotate the cam wheel backwards exactly 37 degrees . That should now be full lift, but best to check by doing the same thing several times with different initial dial gauge readings to verify the same reading for full lift. Make sure that this full lift degree disc is recorded. Now suppose you want the cam timed at full lift 106 degrees atdc. If so, rotate the cam wheel,backwards from the full lift position exactly 53 degrees. This new position is the cam timed at tdc. The tricky bit is making a suitably accurate scribe mark somewhere on both the cam and the housing to provide this tdc reference point. Once achieved you now have the cam timed at full lift 106 degrees atdc. Do exactly the same for the exhaust, but deciding where you want full lift, and remember to rotate the exhaust cam wheel forward from full lift position as the exhaust cam will be timed at , say, 114 full lift btdc.

When building the engine, on the assumption that true tdc has been located on the flywheel for the pistons, and that the head is assembled with the cams installed close to their tdc positions, before putting head on block, back the pistons down the bore by 90 degrees, put the head on and bolt it down. Put on vernier cam wheels and make sure that both cams are exactly at tdc. Then rotate the crank forward to tdc and installed the belt. With unlocked vernier cam wheels it should be possible to install and tension the belt without disturbing either cams or crank . Finally lock cam wheels and rotate very carefully to check that all has gone to plan . Naturally you will have done all this as a dry build with some plasticine on the piston crowns just to check valve piston clearance at tdc and just after .

I do appreciate that it would be much easier just to use the standard cam pullies and locking pins and have done with it. However, with a combination of a head skim and a block deck , there will be some subtle changes in crank - cam relationship. Given that I have a pair of vernier cam wheels, I may as well make the best use of them that I can .

This is my starter for ten. It may not be the quickest or best way, but it served me well on the 8v engine I built with a Kent cam and vernier wheel ( I know, much easier as only one cam) and before that , on my 16v Integrale engine.

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Final coat of paint on the shell and doors fitted. I hope to get the wings, bonnet and tailgate fitted tomorrow, then a final polish. It really is beginning to look like a car again after all this time!

[TAG 25 1 Cars]

Thanks for the posts Peter and Andy, good info to know.

 

Andy - Shell is looking good!

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Thanks. Yes. I am pleased. I will be at the workshop all day tomorrow giving the underneath a coat of white gravitex to finish off the etch prime followed by a coat of epoxymastic and seam sealer, so I will get some more up to date photographs . I am looking forward to piecing it all back together with the possible exception of relocating the under dash wiring and installing the dash. Actually, question about the dash follows here. I have the Haynes guide and the guide from the forum here . When I removed the dash I did so, perhaps unwittingly in two parts. That is the lower dash is with the glove box is separate from the upper dash. When I reinstall, can I do the same and replace the lower dash first , followed by the upper dash, or is it better to fix one to the other and replace as one big lump of flimsy plastic?

[Anthony 1,003]

I prefer removing and refitting as one, but you can do it either way.

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Thank you. Given that some wiring is attached to the lower dash panel, I will try to fit the lower panel first !

[Bakes100 20 1 Cars]

Out of interest whats your reason for putting the epoxy mastic over the gravitex? Not the other way round

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Sorry. Wrote badly. First stage was two pack etch. Second was epoxymastic. Third was gravitex as in the following photos

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Although not photographed yet, I also managed to get the fuel tank and filler in place today. Plans for next Monday when I return to the body shop include front to rear brake and fuel lines, rear axle, handbrake and as many other underside jobs at the rear as I can manage in a days

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Andy, possibly not what you want to hear but the fuel tank will be in the way for the brake lines and probably will also make the fuel lines awkward. At least with new fixings etc it's an easy job to remove it again.

[Shane17 7 1 Cars]

I'm definitely no expert but the shell looks awesome, I really am envious, must feel refreshing knowing that the whole chassis has been treated and sealed and every nut and bolt will be new and as it should be. Keep up the good work mate no doubt will be very rewarding when complete.

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

I hope so. Some of the nuts and bolts will not be new but most will have been cleaned and plated. However, I am rebuilding the car to use and not be a garage queen so I am sure I will end up with some compromises. Photographing and posting on here is a big help as it does keep reminding me of what has been done . This is also a fantastic place to information and guidance as I am no expert !

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

Hi Tom. Brake line front to rear is inside the car. Fuel hoses are on the installed tank so I am hoping it will be easy to connect up my new fuel lines to the flexible hoses without too much drama. I have labelled each hose feed and return , but as you say, if I have too, dropping the tank would be easy.

[Andy 105 1 Cars]

I have done a bit more on the head build today. I managed to acquire some 0.25mm shim stock . What that I was able to make up some extra spring base shims . Upshot of all this is that I have now got the installed spring heights to within 2lb of the 90lb target