Twin Seq. Dry sumping for beginners :D

[Turbo-Brown]

Today, we had a lie in, and then made a pulley!

Start off with a sketch based on measurement taken from a crank pulley and the water pump which is what the pulley's for:




Machine a rebate for the hub of the pump:




Cut the Vee for the belt:




Drill some mounting holes:




And the finished article:

[Speedtouch]

Tasty! I had one of the BMW steel ones rust and collapse on me on an '87 320iSE, so I had to resort to buying a replacement from fleabay. That looks 'V.groovy'

[Turbo-Brown]

That's a terrible pun, and you should be ashamed!

[Turbo-Brown]

Right, priced up the remaining bits of the Tilton clutch I needed to make it work. Turns out the pressure plate and floater were both out of tolerance Anyway, bit the bullet and bought a complete clutch from Super Clutch which will hopefully arrive on Monday.....hopefully!

Also, actually managed to make some proper progress with building the engine!

Got the crank in:




The lovely ARP main studs:




Caps all on:




Pistons and rods all assembled, I'd forgotten how much of a pain it is (literally) to get the little clips which hold the gudgeon pins in place to go in!




And then got all the bits and bobs put together:





Was gonna say it all seemed to come together really quickly, but of course I'd cleaned everything before hand and done the rings etc so really all I needed was the main bearings!

[appletree]

Did you use any of that special engine building oil?? demon tweeks sell it dont know if its any good or not, or worth while using over normal oil.

[Turbo-Brown]

Well, the last two engines I build (actually they'd be the first two engines thinking about it ) I used and assembly lube called Graphogen, which is this thick black grease like stuff that comes in a tube.

For this one though, I bought the assembly lube that Millers do. It's some kind of fully synthetic stuff which isn't especially thick, but it does behave like golden syrup!

You get strings of it everywhere, and it clings to whatever you've applied it to....which is what it's supposed to do until the engine oil arrives I guess.

Only thing is, with it being fully synthetic, you have to be a bit careful about where you get it, so you put it on the gudgeon pins for example, but have to be careful not to get it on the piston rings.

Anyhoo, the bottle of Millers came from Frost

[appletree]

Intresting thread for you. silular idea.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ?t=1141418

[Turbo-Brown]

Ooh that is scarily similar .....except that that guy's welding is a million times better than mine!

Have been slowly plodding along with the engine build.

Got the oil pump and drive all in, and spent aaaages cleaning up the oil seal housings today.

Got new seals fitted to them and they're both on.

Thought I'd a chunk of metal kicking about to make the oil seal bit for the nose of the crank but don't unfortunately.

Not to worry though, gonna make the oil return for the turbos tomorrow and bolt it to the sump. With any luck most of the crud in that will be soft tomorrow as I've left it to soak over night.

[Turbo-Brown]

Been a bit slow over the last couple of days. Spent most of yesterday modifying the rotary table for the mill, so that it would actually work!

I would say to anybody thinking of buying a mill, lathe and accessories, that you should work out how much you can afford, and then see what's available used from professional workshops for your budget because the lathe we've got cost a small fortune when it was new, it's 15+ years old, and it's never gone wrong! It's only been through one belt in that time!

The mill we've got is shite by comparison! You can get good results out of it, but you shouldn't need to strip the drive mechanism down every 10 hours of use! Likewise the rotary table, it's simply been made badly! There's a long hole which the spindle for the worm drive passes. The spindle must've been hammered into this hole at the factory because it'd barely turn and I needed to hammer it out again and rectify the faults it had using.....the trusty lathe

Anyway, back to the project

Here's the oil return spigots being cut. Could've done this more simply, but fancied making a billet oil return block:




Drilling some holes (thanks Mum and Dad for the clamps, perfect Christmas pressent )




Saved some time and lots of material by just hacksawing off the unwanted bit of metal:




And the finished product:






Plus some holes in the sump for it to bolt to and for the oil to flow through:




Ended up taking the baffle out of the sump so make it easier to clean. Seems this poor engine was a bit neglected in it's previous life as the sump was thick with gummy oily-poos. Spent hours and hours scrubbing away at it today to get it as good as it is!

The baffle will be re-attached using a little M6 screw and washer, tapped into the place where the rivety bit used to be. (It's not actually a rivet, it's a bit of the sump which is peened over in the factory )

[e30_Turbo]

Nice, loving the clamps! Made mine out of some old steel sheet, one hole, one bolt, works ok!

I'm still hunting down my milling bed, will try get a 2nd hand one tho, should be able to with all the engineering companies I work with.

That oil return is very nice, are they push-fitting for the hoses?

My sump was power cleaned using a ultra HP power washer, Ant and I chased it around the yard!! I wasn't gonna stand and hold it while he blasted it! LOL

[appletree]

Nice work and very nice clamps they look like a usful quality piece of kit!

Totaly agree with what you say regards the older machine qulity and modern stuff, think its fair to say they dont make them like they used to

[gareth]

I've got a custom flywheel which takes this twin plate Tilton clutch:



It's only a 7.25" one...

7.25" crotch measurement... seems adequate

sorry...

[Turbo-Brown]

Got fed up with Tilton's suppliers in the UK so I bought a complete and brand new clutch from SuperClutch just before Christmas. Still a twin plate, but all of the sections are thicker so it should be a little more tolerant to road use. I'm beginning to think that the ultra low 1st gear of the 535tds 'box may be a blessing if it means not having to slip the clutch so much to get moving.

Just need to sort a release bearing/slave cylinder for it now! I've toyed with the idea of making one using seals from brake calipers but I'm still weighing up the pros and cons of this idea. Will have to see whether there are any OEM concentric release cylinders that might fit, or how much the race type ones cost.




And here's the oil return block in place, with the new arrangement for holding the baffle in the sump. I'm thinking now that it might be an idea to drill a hole in the screw that holds the baffle in, and in the baffle itself, and wire the two together to make sure it doesn't rattle free. It's got a load of RTV stuff on the thread, but whadda people think?

[hoshy]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this in the flesh when it's done Alex! I might just about have the stupid s/c running by then too

[Turbo-Brown]

It not going so well Ash?

Was told I needed to tidy up in the machine room yesterday my my Dad. He had a point but I've just been putting it off and putting it off. So that took most of yesterday, as did making this lil' fella as a silly late Christmas pressie for my girlfriend :] He just needs a name now




Back to business today though, finished off the take off for the oil gallery and found a conveniently sized copper washer to seal it.

Then made the distribution block which has tappings for the oil pressure switch, an oil pressure gauge and the two turbos.





Really have gotta think about starting these rocker arms as they're what's stopping me putting the head back on!

Once that's in place, I can get on with the oil feeds and charge cooler plumbing, bracketry for the pumps and so on.

[hoshy]

Put a poll up for a name

It's going better after this weekend. Very close now - see my thread for an update

[e21Jason]

Alex

Saab 900 I think uses a concentric release bearing for a fraction of the price of a race one.
Also how are you going to face your rocker arms.

Jason

[Turbo-Brown]

Think he's gonna be called Bosch, as the first box I found was for a Bosch coil pack

Glad to see you're up and running Ash

I did have a look at the Saab ones, but they only seem to have a 30mm hole down the middle and the BMW input shaft is 29mm in diameter. Not a problem per se, but that doesn't give much allowance for error! Seem to recall that the bearing itself can align slightly if the unit itself is slightly off centre.

A suitable material to make the followers from is eluding me! I keep meaning to send a rocker off to see how hard the pad is as that'd help in the selection. I'm thinking some kind of hardenable iron which can be machined, then hardened and attached to the arm.

Wanna keep the standard eccentric adjusters really as I think it's a pretty good system and it's less stuff to make.

[gareth]

I keep meaning to send a rocker off to see how hard the pad is as that'd help in the selection.

the offer is still open mate

[Turbo-Brown]

Awesome, cheers Gareth. Did try to liberate a couple of rockers last weekend but it's an understandably tedious job for someone to stand around watching so I gave up Might try again tomorrow though!

Now, I've had a bit of an idea regarding the oil system.

I've really hated starting cars up just to move them a few feet ever since Brown's engine died when I was doing just that. Those seconds of cranking the engine over, and then it catching but the oil pressure warning light being on for a second more conjures up images of my lovely bearings grinding agains the crank and wearing out. As a consequence, I'm always reluctant to move my car when a housemate wants to go to the shops or whatever, which isn't really fair on them if I'm being honest.

So, I thought a way around this might be to install an electric oil pump which feeds into the oil distribution block via a non-return valve.

The idea would be that turning the key to the start position would turn the pump on, and the starter motor would only start to turn when the oil pressure warning light went out.

It's a long winded answer to a problem which doesn't really exist I know, but does anyone see any inherant drawbacks to it?

[maggspower]

Blimey, you've got it bad haven't you

Seriously though, I know how much you have put in to this, and dont blame you for wanting to protect your blood, sweat and tears. You could just create some elctrical switch, conected as you said to the pressure light, to kill the sparks until the oil pressure comes up off the starter cranking it over. This would work, although your idea with the seperate electric oil pump has a little more finesse

To be honest I dont think you should worry about it.

However, an idea I have thought about is an engine pre-heater. Most engine wear takes place when the engine is cold, as I'm sure you know, its because the various metals have not expanded to their running clearances and oil working temp. Imagine the reduction in wear on an engine that was never cold started (except may be for running it in).

It pre heats and circulates the coolant around the engine, and runs off 240v.

I believe that one of the reasons that mobil 1 test got to 1,000,000 miles was due to the lack of cold starts, as the car was only stoped for routine servicing.

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/whatwill.html

Hope thats some use, anyway the rocker pads. I'm not exactly sure where your at with these, you are going to make up some to your own design yes? Why dont you get some old rockers and take the pads off them, then braize them on to the alu billet ones you are going to make, get them reground to match the correct profile and take out any wear. I dont know exactly what they are made from but it will be some high grade heat treated steel, I do know its hard though, almost as hard as Chuck Norris

Hope i've got the gist of your rocker problem.

Keep up the great work

[Gunni]

It will take YEARS and YEARS of starting and cranking to wear out your bearings.
It´s not a problem as every car ever made has had that problem and some go on for decades of use

[appletree]

You could just have it on a manual switch on the dash that you flick on/off before you turn the key.

You're determind to use every bit of enginebay space you cant arnt you! Lol!

[Turbo-Brown]

I'd forgotten about the hotstart things.

Thought about making one years ago using the pump and heating element from a washing machine. Might still do actually.

I know every other engine in the world has to start without any oil pressure, but I like the idea of my engine having a nice easy life

[e30_Turbo]

The tvr speed 12 had to be plugged into the mains to warm the oil before use, they said it was seized up when cold due to the specs/tolerences.

Alex, I've had to swap turbo's due to old dieing, this one's even bigger

[stonesie]

I'd forgotten about the hotstart things.

Thought about making one years ago using the pump and heating element from a washing machine. Might still do actually.

I know every other engine in the world has to start without any oil pressure, but I like the idea of my engine having a nice easy life

Maybe Volvo could provide an answer, my mates V70R has an electric oil pump that comes on to keep the turbo supplied with oil if you shut the engine off after giving it some abuse... Just a thought.

[cplagz]

What about something like a Moroso oil accumulator?

[Turbo-Brown]

Ooh what's an oil accumulator, is it like an Accusump or something like that?

It's relatively easy to implement this idea so I'm gonna see how much room there is before doing anything about it, although I am liking the idea of the hot start things alot!

What turbo have ya gone for Mark? And what happened to the old one?!

Certainly an advantage of having a leccy pump would be that it could be left running after the engine's turned off, did the Volvo have that as standard or was it something your mate fitted?

Well, not much of an update, but I've finally got around to designing my new rocker arms.

They'll be a little heavier than standard I shouldn't wonder, but a good deal stronger / more fatigue resistant (which is what we're concerned with really)

Had a measure of the follower pad too, does anyone know why it's so narrow?! I've made mine 2mm wider which, whilst adding weight, should reduce wear on the cam and pad by virtue of lower contact pressure.

Anyway, here's what I'm proposing:

[E30Mark]

Had a measure of the follower pad too, does anyone know why it's so narrow?! I've made mine 2mm wider which, whilst adding weight, should reduce wear on the cam and pad by virtue of lower contact pressure.

Perhaps to do with noise / clatter? or perhaps designed to give a certain pressure on the lobe and stop any valve train bounce.

Keep up the good work

[stonesie]

The leccy oil pump is standard fit on the R's according to him

[appletree]

Alex have you see these? bit pricey though.

http://www.pureperformancemotorsport.co ... ucts_id=69

[Turbo-Brown]

I have seen those, but there are a number of things which concern me about them.

First and foremost is that they don't have a bronze bush for the rocker shaft, and the second is that their pad is only held on by a little M5 screw. Now it's entirely possible that the pad locks into the arm inside, but if not, it's just that M5 screw that stops the pad flying off.

There's a big thread about them on the E30Tech site, and the makers of those rockers are being veeeery cadgy about the materials used for the pad, and their reasons for choosing those adjusters too.

Anyhoo!

A little bit of work from today I took my manifold to the machine shop when I had the block bored etc. but they said (quite reasonably really) that they'd no way of holding it while it's machined.

Here's how un-flat the manfold face is:



My solution to this little problem is to weld a support frame onto the manifold, machine it flat, and then grind the structure off.

So here's the beginnings of the structure:



Think I can only really get three supports in unfortunately, but might be able to make another one which goes up past the WG pipe:



And how the manifold sits on the structure:



I reckon that if I brace up the upstands a bit, I can machine them all down to be exactly the same height above the table which means that they mani should sit as squarely as it can, given that it's bowed!

Should be able to get that done next weekend, after which I'm planning on taking the cam and rockers out of the head, making up a dummy head gasket, and then putting everything into place so that I can make the oil feed pipes etc.

[e30_Turbo]

I had the same issue getting my flange milled flat, no way to hold it, luckily mine is thin enough to bend flat, that and some paste shoved in for good luck.

My previous H1C had end float issues, was a 95 model so did well, today I removed the bigger housing from the newer H1C which was a 21cm and fitted the new core to the smaller old housing, also found two cracks in the bigger exhaust housing too, now all is back to normal except I've now got a bigger inducer, same 82mm wheel but more max flow, which is handy

[cplagz]

The moroso oil accumulator basically holds oil pressure in a cylinder when the car is off, when you turn the ignition it releases it back into the system allowing it to be pressurised prior to start up.

Youd need the accumulator and solenoid relay for it to be setup via key operation, otherwise its all by hand!

[Turbo-Brown]

Ooh, will look into those Cheers dude!

Well, had a meeting yesterday about the rockers.

The shape's set to change quite a lot in order to make them much much MUCH cheaper and easier to machine!

Just need the results of the hardness test so that the material for the follower pad can be chosen. The hope is that the pads can go through the hardening process with something else which the company does so that I don't have to pay for the furnace to be turned on!

Still, made good progress with the design, will post more piccies of the revised design later on