Exocet build in Kent

[iain64]

I thought it was time for another update. A few weeks ago my new engine was finally delivered. First impressions are it doesn't look too bad.


 
Took the cam covers off and looks even better. Approx. 70,000 miles on the clock, but they were definitely not hard miles !!










So today I finally finished cleaning everything and I'm now ready to start putting it all back together.







Tomorrow it's the laborious job of lapping in 24 valves. Oh joy but it's all going to be worth it I'm sure.

[1055]

if you take a piece of rubber tube with an interference fit over the end of a valve stem and slide it over the end of similarly sized rod in a power drill, you can lap the valves in much more efficiently than doing it by hand!

[iain64]

So one head is now completed, valves lapped in and cleaned up nicely so onto the second head. Unfortunately I broke one of the exhaust studs so had to remove the broken part and a new heli-coil fitted. Out with the drill and a Heath Robinson clamp/stand to drill out the broken stud, then tap it out and fit the heli-coil. Took a little time but I'm quite pleased with the result.



Now to get on and finish cleaning up the head and lap in the valves. So hopefully should start putting the engine back together.

[iain64]

This week is going to be a big spend week. I'm off to see Stuart on thursday and will be finallyordering my kit. Thinking of going with the same Kawasaki green that I used on the suspension arms for the frame and gun metal grey for the panels.
I'm also stopping off at Rocketeer to have a look around and order my parts to get the engine all finished and onto the chassis. Will be taking lots of pics and will naturally upload a few. 
This should mean that in a few weeks time the build should start to move up a gear as I will be able to get the engine complete and can start thinking about putting the PPF back together. 
Hit upon a hiccup today when I was told by the guys at Rocketeer that I needed to fit an LSD diff as mine isn't up to the job. So started looking for a 1.8 diff to replace mine. Most annoying bit is that I'm going to have to strip the rear sub again to replace it, thought I could just change the dif unit but the crown wheel is a different size as well so going to have to get the complete unit.

[iain64]

So I spent the morning with Stewart over in the new premises. Took a good look around the demo car plus the two race cars which has given me some of the answers to the huge list of questions that I have been building up.






After taking loads of photos we got down to the important business of placing my order. All now completed and just got to wait for a collection date. Very excited !!

Then off to Hungerford to Basset Down Balancing to sort out my Rocketeer kit. Andy was great. Plenty of info and showed me plenty of the bits I will be getting. All looks really great and some really nice details. Again I can't wait, hopefully delivered in the next 4-6 weeks.







Just need to get my finger out and get the other parts finished.

[iain64]

I've spent the last couple of weekends finishing off the engine. I've sent the fuel rail away to be re-chromed and need to re-spay the rocker boxes, ready for the Rocketeer kit.







So with this done time to work on something else. Time to replace the open diff for a limited slip diff. I looked around and it was going to cost me about £350 to £400 for a Mazda unit that was second hand and I'd have no idea if it was any good or not. Scouring the internet and various Mazda groups I found that I could replace the unit for a brand new unit for about £400. Bit of a no brainer then.The problem was finding one for sale in the UK as they only seemed to be available in the States. I finally found a company that could supply me with a unit from Black Line. It had a really good review so purchased one for £450.




The old unit was stripped out and replaced in a day. The backlash was checked and rechecked before putting it all back into the rear carrier.



BEFORE


AFTER.

So now hopefully shouldn't have too many problems getting the power down !!

[Stewart]

Fancy not saying you were after a diff when you came over! I've got one of the Blackline units sat on the shelf. I could have done a better price as well
Anyway, I'll just leave this pic here:

[iain64]

Thanks Stewart it looks pretty damned good in the green. Didn't know I was going to put a Black Line into the diff until I started looking around. Hoping that the Rocketeer parts will be arriving next week, so hopefully have the skate ready for the chassis when everything is ready at your end.

[calibuild]

The transformation on the pistons look great. Are they new ones with a polished block or did you just clean them up? If you cleaned them, be curious how you made it look so good!

[iain64]

Fortunately when I took the heads off I found that the pistons were in good condition but just had burnt on carbon on the crowns. Some gentle cleaning with a wire brush and then a thorough clean with some metal polish. To be fair the whole engine cleaned up really well and was mainly surface dirt and some aluminium corrosion to remove. 

[jayz101]

Hi Iain, great work on the car so far. Looks like it's going to be a realy detailed build. I will be following you as I am picking up my Rocketeer kit on Monday. Have gone for the bare bones kit and see what else I will need.

There was some good questions about MOT after the engine is changed so will need to do some digging to see what I have to do to make her legal.

[hutchey]

How are you getting on?

[iain64]

Not much has happened over the last few months as I've had plenty to do on the house, changed my job and gone on holiday. Stewart did get in touch and sent me a picture of my frame, mine's the one on the left. He is now just waiting for the body panels and I can then go and pick up the kit.




The only works done on the engine was to get the fuel rail rechromed and prep the rocker covers ready to be powder coated.



Finally tomorrow I'm off to Basset Down Balancing to pick up the Rocketeer kit. Expect to see pictures of the engine all back together and ready for the car in a few weeks

[davetherave]

Looking forward to see this built

[iain64]

So this morning I went over to Rocketeer and collected my parts. My garage is now full of lovely shiny new parts to go onto the engine, just need to get on with it now. These are just a few of the parts that are in the kit.




Lightened aluminium flywheel



New sump



Stainless steel headers



And of course carbon fibre inlet plenums