The Winter Works

[Gary71]

Great stuff. I've also got one of Stefan's drawings, he just makes it look so easy!

[Tclynes]

Short update. Alternator mount as been machined, tin work is now black again.

[neilbardsley]

That is all looking very good. Looks like you will be able to stay with your existing pistons and cylinders but be happy that the engine is solid!

I wish my wife would pay for a car to be repainted. Then again not because I would really be paying

Hopefully we will see it at Standford!

[Tclynes]

We're still going for the Shasta set up, whilst the engine is out it seems to make sense. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

Will most definitely see it at Standford, got the MSA Classic at the end of April so it needs to be ready for that.

[Tclynes]

Further progress, carbs cleaned and ready for rebuild, engine all cleaned and ready, and most importantly, Shasta parts are here. They seem too nice to hide in the engine to be honest!

Crank to be grinded and balanced this week.

[Tclynes]

An update after what has been a really busy few weeks for me and the car.

A day at Goodwood with Mission Motorsport reminded me how much I miss driving mine, I was consoled by a ride in a friends Carrera GT, it's just a completely different world of car, even compared to modern hypercars, still running on original compound tyres it was just insane. There was also a lovely 904 there, the owners replica as he didn't fancy driving the original through rush hour London, but I don't blame him, it has a 911R spec engine in it.






I got back to a snowy Yorkshire to some shined up valves, a block ready for some air flow work and all my painted goods done apart from a few silver bits. The exhaust is also blasted and repairs and spent some time as an ornament at home for polishing.







Next was a delivery to the workshop from Roger Bray of a big box of bits including the new clutch, then for me to go to various delivery offices for a Neutec SX2 cam, some smarter filters and a new 123 ignition that will work better with the new cam.






The flywheel has been grinded and polished due to some heat damage, and the crank has been at Hindle Engineering, where, after testing it has been sent for hardening by nitrocarburising as they weren't happy that it would meet their quality control, another cost, but it's cheaper than a vital part of the engine breaking, I'm quite looking forward to getting it back all shiny and balanced.



We had a little trip to the Members Meeting last week where we saw a few lovely examples making the anticipation for mine even greater, so now it's just waiting for a few bits from Roger Bray and then the engine goes back together. I don't think it's going to take me long to break it in when it's back!

[hot66]

That'll be Andy on Ddk'er old 904 he built. Stunning car

[Tclynes]

It was excellent, such a tiny powerful little racer. Sadly the engine in it alone is out of my budget.

[nikmak912]

Hi, love your 912, I have a '69 912 and a '66 912 resto project. The '69 car is taxed and MOT'd and is a running driving RHD car fitted with a 2.2 6 cylinder. The '66 car I have only just purchased and is being stripped for restoration. I am in west yorks myself (Halifax) and would love to chat and swap technical ideals about the cars. many thanks, Nick. I also need loads of bits! I PM' you.

[neilbardsley]

How is it going Tom? Car back on the road?

[Tclynes]

It was all on track until today, having and issue with the head and the exhaust valve guides. Got some oversized ones from Roger Bray but seems there is damage at one end meaning they are loose.

Off to an engineering company in the morning to sort out, but chances of being on the road for next weeks MSA classic are disappearing. Can't even find replacements heads at short notice. Gutted.

[neilbardsley]

Sorry to hear that. Keep the faith

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

[Tclynes]

I spent the whole night shift telling myself it is worth the wait. It is, I'm just in the dip where money is out and fun hasn't come in yet.

Was playing with a friends cars last week in Norwich which has just made the desire to get back in it even worse!

[Tclynes]

Ok, long overdue update time!

Where I last left it, we had a set of valve guides that had obviously been inserted by the strong and the blind and had left us with some head work to be done.

Luckily a great engineer locally drilled out the less than uniform holes and made some custom valve guides (after giving Porsche a call to ensure he was using the correct grade material!) the cost of it all was less than a set of replacement guides off the shelf, so apart from a time delay, its not killed the cost too much. Sadly I only have a picture of one poking out...



Crank was back from Hindle all done and dusted, and Michael spent a decent amount of time getting the little ends right!





Pistons were assembled, and the rings ground down to what I think we can agree is a very respectable tolerance.



The engine then started going back together after everything was balanced and polished

Crank and cam going in, bottom end then cases together





Next up was pistons





Then finally the ported and polished heads with the valve seats nicely complete



The rockers were rebuilt (correctly, god knows how they worked before) flywheel fitted and clutch popped on



Carbs and air filters rebuilt



And then it really started to take shape







If anything could throw up a problem, it has, from awkward tin, to incomplete opening of the carbs under full throttle, to throttle linkages that just don't meet up once fitted, Michael has only been tempted to set fire to the car once, but with arms covered in pressure bruises, does insist he has enjoyed the engine and what we have gone for

I spent a day cleaning out the old bell housing and giving the car a once over before the engine went in whilst we waited for some extra oil pipes which was very therapeutic post nights, nothing bonds you with a car like sitting in its engine bay drunk on machine cleaner fumes





Then the heart started going back into the patient





And the extra oil filter was fitted, we decided that tucked in the corner of the engine bay away from road muck and easy to get to was the best way of doing it, not the purist way, but definitely practical



And there we had it, the usual pre flight checks took place, and then whilst at work the other day i received this video...



I then rushed to the garage, heard the engine and had a go.



Its been a long slog, as I said, it threw up every issue possible, but, its been great having the daily updates from Michael and conversations about things, so much more went into it then I could bore you all with here, and even more that even Michael hasn't had the time to tell me, so I will never think of an 'engine rebuild' in the same way again, though granted, we did go all out on this one.

As for the drive, well, my estimate for how much power was left before the rebuild gradually went down as we found more things that made a running engine seem impossible, but a generous 55bhp through a ageing clutch would be kind. As for now, even though it can't be wrung just yet, though running in isn't taking long, the throttle response is amazing, the power and pull feels like a different car even from low down, and I am so glad we went aggressive with the cam as I sounds superb under load. I would guess at at double the power it had when I was lapping around Donington in December, its going to be a case of relearning the car.

There will be more updates soon, our big trip isn't long away, but I am at last at the euphoric stage of having my car back (just got to hide the invoices from my better half!)

[mycar]

Phew, that was quite a journey, congratulations, the car sounds and looks fantastic.

Steady away with the running in, here are the instructions Shasta include with their pistons and cylinders.

Fill with a good quality basic mineral oil such as Fuchs Silkolene 20w/50 - do not under any circumstances attempt to ‘run in’ on either semi or fully synthetic oil.

First 100 miles - 3500 rpm shift point at no more than ½ throttle ( an oil change and checking of the valve clearances has to be done at 100 miles)
100 to 200 miles – 4000 rpm again at no more than ½ throttle
200 to 300 miles - shift no higher than 4500 rpm and occasionally ¾ throttle
300 to 400 miles - shift up to 5000 rpm again ¾ throttle
400 - 500 miles - occasional use of 6000 rpm at full throttle (another oil change and check of the valve clearances at 500 miles)
500 - 750 miles - don’t over do it with prolonged use of full throttle or high revs

Remember the above are highest shift points and are not mandatory every shift !

Keep checking the oil for quality and quantity - if it smells hot, slow down your pushing too hard. If it gets very hot (touch & temperature gauge) change it !

Warm up thoroughly prior to driving and try to vary the rpm often and avoid prolonged cruising at steady speed.

Cheers,

Mike.