Part 2 Rebuild | EJNProjects

At this point I had a shelf full of refurbished and brand new parts, and I was ready for reassembly. This process also involved designing and creating some brand new components in order for my build to come together as planned. The first order of business and first of the performance modifications was to reassemble my refurbished radiator fan shroud with brand new fan and radiator, I fitted an oil catch can to the fan should as well, being in a cooler area of the engine bay it would allow for oil vapour to condense back into liquid much more easily. I also chose to wrap the exhaust downpipe in Heatshield Products Lava Wrap, this was a fabric which was comprised of lava rock and would insulate the engine bay from heat radiated by the exhaust downpipe. This was assembled with stainless steel ties. After this was done, I installed a threaded bung in the downpipe, approximately 1 meter away from the turbocharger outlet, this was to enable fitting of a lamba sensor and air fuel ratio monitoring equipment.

I then began assembling some parts on the engine, the intake manifold would be used as a lifting point to suspend the engine from an engine crane and remove it from its stand so this was installed whilst the engine was still out of the car. Coolant sensors were also fitted and the exhaust manifold was also test fitted. One of the first major problems was then encountered, the oil return that came with the Garrett T28 turbo would not fit through the runners on the exhaust manifold, the turbocharger inlet would also foul on the firewall of the engine bay.

I solved this by designing a new oil return which was machined out of billet 6063 aluminium alloy and provided a transition between the T28 turbo oil drain flange and a -10AN male fitting. This was designed to be the perfect length to go through the gap between the exhaust runners and would connect via its AN fitting to a braided hose, which would be plumbed into the sump of the engine. I created this part using SolidWorks and enlisted a local engineering company to manufacture it for me, having supplied them with a specification and technical drawing.

Before going any further, I started to assemble some parts on the car that would need to be in place before the engine was mounted into the engine bay, these were the brake lines, brake master cylinder, brake servo, clutch master cylinder, shift cables, exhaust downpipe, power steering rack, subframe and engine mounts, I also assembled some of the suspension on the car, which were the rear beam axle, front lower control arms and anti roll bar. I chose to install a polyurethane bushing to replace the original rubber steering rack bush, this would hopefully result in a better steering feel. The engine bay wiring harness was also re wrapped in loom tape.

With most of the assembly in the engine bay finished, it was time to install the engine. This was done by positioning a toolbox central to the engine bay and then using an engine crane to take the engine off the engine stand and position it on top of the tool box, the engine could then be bolted into the engine bay via its engine mounts. Some more parts were assembled to the engine before doing this, including the oil filter bracket, coolant pipes and hoses, dipstick tube and dipstick, warm up regulator and some vacuum components.

With the engine secured into position it was now time to install the flywheel with new stretch bolts, clutch and gearbox, one of the three mounts holding the engine in was directly connected via the transmission, so this had to be installed before the temporary engine supports could be removed. A VR6 clutch disc and pressure plate was selected as this would be able to handle more power and torque compared to the original 1.8 16v clutch. After this was complete, work on the driveline was started and suspension work was continued with installing the rebuilt CV axles, suspension struts and hubs with new bearings pressed into them.

The performance front brake discs and calipers could now be installed, these were fitted along with the rear coilover suspension, rear performance brake discs, performance brake pads, calipers, stub axles, dust shields and new rear wheel bearings. brand new brake hoses were installed throughout, the system was then bled with fresh brake fluid. As the clutch hydraulic system shared the same reservoir as the braking system, the slave cylinder was installed into the gearbox and a performance stainless steel line fitted between the slave and master cylinder, this would result in a more solid clutch feel compared to the original rubber hose.

I fitted the front crossmember to the vehicle, which enabled me to fit the final engine mounting, I also fitted a new oil cooler which I plumbed into the top of the oil filter bracket. This was replaced due to the damage to the original turbocharger which could have potentially led to metal particles getting trapped in the old heat exchanger, this was installed along with the new radiator assembly and the intercooler. With all of this fitted it was possible to bolt the front panel on to the car. I installed boost hoses and some of the electrical components which were the MAP sensor and HKS EVC3 boost controller solenoid. As I built this engine to have a forced induction system the intake piping had to be modified, this involved getting a hole drilled and a port welded into one of the intake pipes, to enable connection of the idle stabilization valve. I used SolidWorks again to design this part, and tasked the same machine shop as before to manufacture it for me, from technical drawings supplied.

After designing a modified vacuum system for the vehicle I was able to fit a vacuum manifold, which would allow me to provide a vacuum and pressure source to all the necessary components, these were a boost gauge, HKS boost controller solenoid, MAP sensor and blow off valve. I also plumbed the oil catch can in line between the crank case vent and boost intake pipe and fitted the alternator, timing belt and turbocharger coolant hoses.

All major assembly in the engine bay of the vehicle, along with the suspension and brakes were now complete, the electrical system of the car could now be concentrated on. I started by designing several key things, these were a switch and gauge panel which would be placed central to the cars dashboard, designing a new wiring harness which would allow for the Turbo Technics ECU to be positioned inside the car, away from moisture and vibration and a separate wiring harness which would connect a new fuse box and relay module to all of the ancillary switches and gauges. The wiring harnesses were constructed using aerospace standard contra-helical laying techniques, for flexibility and space management and shrouded in flexible heat shrink tubing. The fuse box of the main OEM fuse box of the vehicle was then installed, after repairs were done to cables which a previous owner had damaged while installing 'scotchlok' wire splices.

With the wiring harnesses finished I began constructing the gauge and switch panel. I wanted to have 4 gauges displaying the battery voltage, oil pressure, air fuel ratio and boost pressure, two would be positioned in a plate in the lower half of the center console and the other two gauges positioned in the central air vents. To do this I had to remove the vents, cut away some of the slats and install sections of plastic pipe which matched the outside diameter of the gauges. I also wanted the HKS boost controller to be installed where the old ash tray would have been placed so I had to design a bezel to hold the module and fill the space without leaving any gaps. I again used SolidWorks to design this, and had the profile laser cut from aluminium plate by a local engineering compnay, the end result was a perfect flush fitting bezel which held the boost controller module very secure.

All electrical work on the car had now been finished, and after the first start and warm up it was clear there was a fault with the dashboard cluster, as the coolant gauge was not showing a reading, I removed the cluster from the car and found that the actuator that was responsible for moving the needle of the coolant gauge had become detached, this was repaired and then put back together and installed in the vehicle. The car was now ready for its MOT and to be used on the road!