latest bits to mine

[tim_s]

Thought I'd put up a few recent pics of mine. Latest upgrades include switching to serpentine belt setup with new alternator and PAS pump; COP conversion, MS2 extra beta with 16x16 tables etc, and further upgraded cylinder head: it's based on a late m42 head with narrower valves and lighter valvetrain. it's been reworked with larger ports, 15% increase in area on both the inlet and zorst valve throats, 3 angled seats, shortened and chamferred guides and the lump in the port near the guide removed, knife-edged split in the port, skim etc.
without larger valves its about as far as you can go. Thanks to Steve for doing the grinding and organising the machining work etc.
Next step is new TBs and cams. Cam choice is up in the air, sold my old set up on and am on standard cams for the mo. The car drives really well, it picks up and pulls so strongly im concerned about going for a wild cam just to get it stronger past 6k in case it has a negative impact lower down where it really matters to me. At the moment it seems to tail off at 6.5k, much like a standard IS, although it still pulls quite well to 7k+.









have a lsight problem though; had a new clutch put in a month or so ago following the release bearing failing, when bolting up the zorst manifold when doing the head, noticed this:

not sure what's going on there, I've been meaning to take it back to the place that did the clutch to find out. clutch works fine though!

[Toby_Unna]

looks like the clip that holds the pivot end of the release fork in place while you put the gearbox back on has come adrift.

shouldn't cause a problem as the fork/pivot ought to remain in place with everything bolted together, but if you paid to have the work done i'd take it back!

rest looks cool, although i can't work out what's going on with the piping on the inlet manifold side of the coilpacks?

[tim_s]

looks like the clip that holds the pivot end of the release fork in place while you put the gearbox back on has come adrift.

shouldn't cause a problem as the fork/pivot ought to remain in place with everything bolted together, but if you paid to have the work done i'd take it back!

rest looks cool, although i can't work out what's going on with the piping on the inlet manifold side of the coilpacks?

ah cool, thanks! yeah i'll def get them to fix it, quite annoying though could do without having the car off the road again. the piping by the inlet manifold is for the LPG injectors, which at the mo just rest on top of the rocker cover. Ideally I should make a bracket to hold them, but I've never got around to it or worked out how I'd like to do it.

[appletree]

hi tim, long time no.....message????

Any way nice to see your still progressing with the engine work! is the above still on the 2.1??? or have you gone back to 1.8? I've still got theat adaptor from Dave to fit the throttle bodies!! are you coming up to the pod meet at the weekend? be nice to have a chat and see you car again and get a chance to show you mine.

Have you got a ball park figure for your power and torque yet? last time i read your thread i think your small ends had started to knock

Any one reading this thread Tim is a hero and realy helped me at the start of my project top bloke and derves alot of respect for the work he's manged to do to his IS.

Tim the help was much appreicated!

[tim_s]

lol thanks mat! read your PPC article, good work! glad it all panned out for you. don't think i will be making the wknd, have plans sadly
As for the car, yeah I'm still on the 2.1. The little end bushes thing was a bit of a pain, was back in february after the engine had done 10k. The engine shop who built it in the first place were pretty helpful though and tore the block down/fixed/rebuilt for free. It was more painless than expected - got the head off one fri afternoon after work, spotted the prob when the head was off (piston rotating in the bore lol), engine out sat morning and off to engine builders sat morning, engine back and refitted following wknd. M42s are nice to work on. no real indication as to why it did that, but its now on new tougher bushes and new lighter pins. after another 10k I had the head off to do the new cyl head and checked that the small ends were fine. basically think it was just one of those things, the piston pins weren't brand new and that might have been why.
In brighter news though, despite needing a new release bearing, the engine's spot on now. Finally managed to get it properly quiet and actually sounding like a rebuilt engine, it also drives really well now. I've not had her on the rollers this year, to be honest after the small ends thing i tamed it all down a fair bit, sold on the cams and the ITBs and focused on getting the car running perfectly. before the new cyl head (so a touch slower than it is now) it was identical performance to my bro's 328 sport and faster than my old man's 323 touring, so still pretty quick. is a really nice engine for the road, picks up really well. 3.91 is quite a short diff for it really, but i like that. With standard cams in there I'm never going to make high bhp figures, but it has a really flat torque curve. If I put new cams and ITBs are on, I'd like a bit over 200bhp. Some friends were on about visiting sheps at the end of the month for a sesh on the rollers, so will prob join them.

[appletree]

Nice to hear its all working out for you tim, might come and see you again some time, i'am still that way on quite abit!