February 2013
I cleaned the rust off the cam lobe. It came off very easily with WD40 and a bit of elbow grease. I used a piece of cardboard to rub off the rust. You cant just use sandpaper, as the surface of the lobes is hardened, and using an abraisive would ruin the finish. So I'm happy that it cleaned up, and they're perfectly good enough to be used in my engine.
The Cosworth camshafts have arrived. One of them has a small amount of surface rust on two of the lobes, which should polish out with a bit of elbow grease. The lobes are hardened, and the surface rust appears to come off if I scratch it with my fingernail, so I'm hoping it isnt bad enough to rended the cam as scrap.
The Supertech 12.5:1 pistons, and rings, are now on order from the States. And I've bought a pair of new Cosworth 250BHP spec camshafts, from a private seller on Turbosport, for a price too good to miss. Raceline never came back to me regarding the supply of the Caterham R500 cams, so I've gone for the next best thing from Cosworth. I just need to get a set of double valve springs ordered. I'll probably go for Kent items. Surprisingly, the Cosworth inlet cam lifts 12.5mm but the only springs they sell only work with up to 11.5mm lift. So I'll see if I can get a good price on the Kent springs which work up to 12.5mm lift.
The conrods arrived today. They're very light, and the fact that they're made in China is of no concern as K1 rods are used in engines with far greater power outputs. These will allow the engine to be revved to at least 8200rpm. They are supplied with ARP bolts too, so I think they're very good value for money. Next things to order are the high compression pistons. Cams. Springs for the valve gear. And a set of gaskets of course.
I've created a Picasa album for all the engine rebuild pictures. The album can be accessed below:
The steering rack has arrived. It is a Mk2 rack as described, with a raised section along the centre, which I've not seen before but it is presumably there to accomodate the gears inside. It has 2.2 turns lock to lock, as opposed to around 3 turns for a standard rack. The trolley jack also arrived yesterday. Its a lovely bit of kit and slips underneath the running boards on the fiesta allowing the car to be jacked up without interference.
I've decided to have a go at rebuilding the Duratec engine for more BHP. So I've ordered a set of K1 conrods from
Part-box.com. These are part number
FH5758BRF and are usually around £440 including VAT. Paul Dolan (@Part-Box) however has given me a very good deal on these so I ordered a set. UPS attempted to deliver the conrods today, just as I nipped out to pick the kids up from play schemes so I'm hoping to catch their next delivery attempt tomorrow.
The next parts to order are the pistons. I'm going for
Supertech P4-DU875-P7 12.5:1 compression pistons, and these are being shipped over from the States. In March I'll see if I can get a set of
Caterham R500 cams (Part 39E152A) and springs ordered, and I'll then set about rebuilding the engine. The theory is that as I already have the high flow 2008 cylinder head on my engine, the combination of these parts with that head, the Titan roller barrel ITBs and the Tony Law exhaust system, she should be good for up to 260BHP. Its going to be even more of an animal to drive with an extra 60BHP, but hell, I'd be silly not to at least try it once with that amount of power :D
I've today bought a Kiley Clinton quick rack for the Fiesta. Its a Mk2 rack, but they also do a version for the Mk1. As I'm already running a Mk2 rack it makes sense to stick with what I know. Cost is £229 incl VAT and delivery. Should be with me by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. I've also bought a new low saddle trolly jack, which should make jacking the car up a lot easier. My Halfords jack isnt low enough to allow me to jack up the car. I've resorted to rolling the front wheels on to blocks of wood to allow me to get the jack underneath. The new jack should make life a lot easier.
I have been working over in Germany this week, in Dahlewitz which is just south of Berlin. Flew out on Monday evening, and I'm back in the UK on Friday evening. I really like Germany. I've been a few times before. Its a very clean place, with modern buildings and the German people are so pleasant to work with. So today is my first day working for my new company, GDMA Technology Limited. This week I've had to buy public liability and professional indemnity insurance, both with £1M cover. And I've finally got my business bank account setup, so I can start to invoice people for the work that I'm doing. My current consultancy contract runs until the end of April, then hopefully it will be renewed again for a further 6 months. If not, then I will look for freelance work and make full use of the fact that I'm truly working for myself for a change.
On Saturday I collected my Saloon Libre trophy at the Midland Speed Championship awards bash. It was a good night, with a great speech from the championship winner, Fred Currell (Audi S4). I'm looking forward to this year more than ever, and had I not been sent overseas this week, I would at least have made a start on removing the engine and gearbox from the Fiesta. One other modification planned for this year is to adopt Mk2 Golf rear coilovers, so I'm now on the lookout for a pair of shocks and 450 lb springs at the right price.
