3.3SS rebuild finally underway..........

[fred cook]

[fred cook]

Connected the wiring to the alternator and installed the top shroud. Spent some time locating and adding wiring loom clamps on the harness so that it would occupy as little space as possible. Replaced the ends on a couple of wires going to the senders on the front of the engine because of age/heat damage to the insulation. Added all of the perimeter engine tin, finished fitting the a/c mounting brackets. Temporarily set the a/c compressor in place and measured for a new a/c belt. Lucked out and found one that fits perfectly on the first try! Installed the 6 lower spark plugs and in the process, found a piece of the engine tin that had to be modified slightly to allow the lower #3 plug to be installed. Last of all, spent some time cleaning up the shop and cleaning/putting away tools!

Basically, all that's left is to install the CIS system, get the engine off the stand and add the clutch disc and pressure plate. I hope to at least get the injection installed tomorrow! Getting really close!

[fred cook]

The a/c compressor and mount will come off prior to installing the CIS. The a/c compressor also needs a final cleaning. The tube on the right heater hose backdate was a bit too close to the underside of the a/c mount so I used a set of large channel lock pliers to reshape it into an oval rather than a circle. Not much of a change, but enough to give 1/8" or so extra clearance between the tube and the bracket. Also re-shaped a reinforcing piece on the underside of the a/c bracket from a 45 degree angle to a curve.

As an afterthought, I added a clamp on the ignition sensor so that I can remove and replace it without having to use a feeler gauge. The area around the sensor and toothed pulley is not very accessible so this eliminates that issue. Might not ever be a problem, but who knows?

[fred cook]

Spent some time this morning installing the CIS fuel system back on the engine. In order to use the CIS on the Carrera heads, a spacer is required. The top shroud had to be modified slightly at the intake runner openings to allow the spacers to drop into place. I used a spacer as a template and then made the changes with a Dremel tool. Once the CIS was back in place and some adjustments made in some of the hose clamps everything got tightened down securely. Once done, all of the electrical connections (plugs, etc.) were completed. I added the lower plug wires to the engine, running the 3 wires thru a 1" diameter hole in the side engine tin to allow them to plug in at the rear of the engine. The wires are protected by a rubber grommet inserted in the hole on each side. The upper plug wires are already attached to the DFUs and are draped over the rear fender on each side of the engine bay. Oh, yes, some parts arrived this afternoon from PP including a heater hose. I installed that hose on the right side. I thought the piece of hose would be long enough to do both the left and right, but it was not. Will order another piece of hose tomorrow. Almost done, will probably take the engine off the stand on Monday or Tuesday. Don't think I will have time to install the engine until next Saturday (maybe).

Some pictures..........





Before installing the engine in the chassis, I am going to double check the valve adjustments and the cam timing "just to be sure". Much easier to do with the engine on a stand than in the car!

[fred cook]

Was out of town on Sunday, so nothing was done to the engine/rebuild project. So, today is officially day 46 of engine rebuild work. Was tied up before lunch, so only a couple of bits done today. I added an a/c brace to the mounting bracket. The one that runs from the front of the engine case up to the main mounting bracket. With the new backdated heat duct on the right side of the engine, it turns out that the support brace will just barely fit around the metal duct! I also made a sheet metal shield to cover the lower #3 spark plug. It took some head scratching, fancy bending careful fitting for the plug to be covered and still be available to allow the spark plug socket to access the plug. Some pictures:



I would have liked a better shape/fit, but this is at least functional!

[fred cook]

I built a lift/spreader bar for the engine so that the lifting chains won't hit or rub on anything. Tomorrow afternoon I will check the valve adjustment and cam timing (just in case!) and probably move the engine off the stand and onto the ATV jack that I use to raise and lower the drivetrain. Once the engine is off the stand, I will add the clutch and transaxle, hook up the starter and backup light wires and then it will be ready to go into the chassis!

[Lapkritis]

Geeez, that was fast. Project-a-holic and searching for the next yet? All that new shop space would have me tempted to try a couple.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Geeez, that was fast. Project-a-holic and searching for the next yet? All that new shop space would have me tempted to try a couple.

This is a project that has been a long time coming. I started thinking about what I would do when the engine was rebuilt years ago. Then, about 5 years ago I started looking for and acquiring parts. Before the engine came out, I already had the following parts on hand: cylinders, pistons, reconditioned heads, cams, gasket set, hardware set, etc. About the only items not on hand when the engine was taken apart were the main and rod bearings, the bolts and large washers for the newer style cam shafts and a few other very minor parts that were readily available from PP or others (if necessary). Over the last month and a half, I have spent about 180 - 200 hours working on this rebuild. About 1/2 of that time was spent cleaning parts! The other thing that has taken some time is that each assembly step was done at least twice, once as a trial fit to make certain that everything was ready to go together and then the real assembly. A few items like the front engine mount from a Carrera had to be slightly modified to work with the 3.0 liter block so it was off and on several times. Also, I made some mods to the CIS (more on that later) that required more than one assembly process. Because the new engine will use an Electromotive XDi ignition system, there was some excess wiring in the engine wiring harness. Rather than just hack them off, I unwrapped the harness, removed the coil wires, the heater blower motor wires, the distributor "green" wire and the original wire that fed the external alternator regulator (the alternator now on the car has an internal regulator). Once these wires were out, I re-wrapped the wiring harness. Now, the 6 pin plug that originally went to the Bosch CDI now only has two wires left in it. One is a switched power source (to trip the ignition relays) and the other is where the tach connector will plug in. Each part of the engine or engine sub assembly has been touched, either cleaned, modified, refurbished, what ever. I even super cleaned the muffler and repainted it with some the VXT black header paint! Anyway, now, the next step is to verify the valve rocker adjustment (easy while on the stand), remove from the engine stand and install the clutch and tranny. With a bit of luck, that will be done by the weekend.

Later,

[fred cook]

Spent some time this afternoon going back thru the valve adjustment. Good thing that I did as I found a couple of rockers that were not adjusted properly! Both were on #6 so I may have just skipped that cylinder for some reason! Anyway, everything is "happy" now. I also added the heater hose on the left side and did a test fit of the refinished muffler. Just wanted to make certain that the muffler support bracket on the motor mount was adjusted correctly. Now, everything that I can think of is done and the engine is ready to come off the stand. Maybe tomorrow!





PS: The muffler will come off prior to the engine being reinstalled in the car. Seems to be easier to do that way!

[iiXii]

Nice picture

[fred cook]

Ok, the engine is now officially off the stand! I lifted it off this afternoon using a rented engine hoist and the spreader bar that I made the other day. Worked like a charm. The spreader bar is made from a piece of square steel tubing with a piece of chain starting at the rear with a length of about 24", then bolted to the bar, a little slack left going to the front, bolted again to the front of the bar and then extended 18" to a hook. A second piece of 18" long chain is bolted to the other side of the front of the bar again, with a hook on the end. The rear chain wraps around the engine stand adapter for one lift point, and the front hooks catch on the motor mount cross bar on each side where it bolts to the motor mount console. That way the lifted engine is stabilized front to back and side to side. Anyway, the engine is now sitting on the ATV jack waiting for the clutch to be added and the transaxle to be bolted on. Will probably do those two jobs tomorrow afternoon and plan on bolting the drivetrain back in the car on Saturday morning. Latest pics.







The piece of plywood that the engine is resting on looks to be somewhat bent. Not to worry, there is a piece of steel angle fastened under the plywood to reinforce it. I don't think it will bend much more!

[soren.911]

Very nice project.

I had to adjust my WUR on my euro 3.2 with euro carrera 3.0 CIS in order to get it run probably between 2-3000rpm. It was running too lean.

Wcp set to 2,0 bar and ccp set to 1,0 bar

[fred cook]

Ok, the engine and tranny are back in the chassis! I still have all of the little stuff to connect up so that might not all get done for a couple of days. In the process of putting the engine back in the car, I discovered that I had bolted the motor mount cross arm on incorrectly. So, I very carefully unfastened the 4 bolts holding it onto the motor mount console and turned it around. Other than that, the install went pretty easily. While the engine was "almost" in, I finished plugging in the plug wires going to the DFUs mounted behind the CIS system. I believe that I got everything in the right place, but will pull the CIS bonnet so that I can eyeball the wires on the right side. After making all the small connections, I will add oil, pull the top spark plugs and turn the engine over to build oil pressure. From there to running should be fairly straight forward! Will post pics of the engine back in the nest tomorrow.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by soren.911

Very nice project.

I had to adjust my WUR on my euro 3.2 with euro carrera 3.0 CIS in order to get it run probably between 2-3000rpm. It was running too lean.

Wcp set to 2,0 bar and ccp set to 1,0 bar

Hints and tips like this are always appreciated!

[fred cook]

One last picture before going back into the chassis! Engine with gearbox and starter installed. This is the "easy" way to add the tranny. Engine on one jack, tranny on another. Adjust up and down until everything matches up. Then, if you did a good job installing the clutch, it all just pushes together!

[fred cook]

As promised, a picture of the newly rebuilt engine back in the chassis. All of the little things have yet to be done, but it is back home now! The a/c compressor will be the last thing to go back in! Hope to have it fired up in the next couple of days!

[Dave Kost]

Looking good Fred!!!

[fred cook]

Ok, all of the stuff under the car is back in place! I could not remember the torque spec for the CV bolts (34 ft/lbs) so I will give them a final tweak and then REALLY be done underneath. The next step will be to make all of the connections in the engine compartment. I should be able to get all or most of that done tomorrow. If all of the checks go green when the battery is connected, then Monday will probably be startup day!

[fred cook]

Today, I finished up in the engine compartment and gave everything else the once over/double check. Put 9 qts. of oil in the engine and will see if any leaks develop by morning! The car is sitting tail high (rear is up on jack stands) and it appears that I do have a small tranny leak at the shift rod seal. Once the car is back level, that will pretty much stop. I will deal with that issue the next time the drivetrain come out, a long time, I hope! I tried the clutch pedal which feels like it needs a bit more adjustment. No biggie. A couple of 15mm wrenches and that will be done also. So far, I believe that I have about 200 hours of labor in this project. Of course, that includes not only the engine building time, but mods to several subsystems as well. I'm glad that I'm not paying $100+ per hour for shop time! Once the engine is running and tuned, I will pull a vacuum on the a/c system and recharge it. I'm hoping that the larger a/c crankshaft pulley (5" dia. instead of 3 1/2" dia.) will help make the a/c a bit more efficient. The larger pulley will move the belt a bit over 15" per revolution compared to about 11" per revolution. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for the startup tomorrow!

[fred cook]

Went out to the shop this morning to crank the new engine only to have some issues getting oil pressure built up. I finally disconnected the inside end of the left camshaft oil line and got a pretty good bit of oil to pump out. I reconnected the oil line and let it turn over some more hoping that the oil light would go out. All I got was a bit of a flicker! I let it sit for the rest of today and will work on it some more tomorrow. I checked the continuity of the oil gauge pressure sender which was ok. Will make certain that the oil light sender wire is plugged in tomorrow. The fuel checks out ok as does the XDi ignition signal light. We'll see what tomorrow brings!