Engine work/refurbishment
I've been going through the fun of dropping the subframe and taking the engine off and dismantling it over the past month or two, I've finally gotten the head off the block and it's desperately in need of a skim
![:( :(](/media/kunena/emoticons/5.png)
So anyway what I need advice on is:
1) What do I need to do with the head before I get it skimmed?
2) Should I be getting the block skimmed/checked too?
3) Is there anything else I need to do with the head/block to do with the mating surfaces?
4) Once I've got the head and block sorted what else do I need to check or do to make sure I'm not going to have any problems once its all reassembled. I understand there might be something to do with getting shims? How do I find out if I need shims?
5) If I do need shims, where are they meant to go and how do I know what shims to get?
6) I've been told I should get a shop to do all the bottom end work butttttttt I would really like to do it myself and get all the experience I can. I've never done anything like this before is it relatively easy if you take your time and have everything you need?
7) I'm also thinking about getting the head ported as well. What would I need to do/change after this?
Thanks heaps for any help and knowledge you veterans can give! And if anyone knows of people in the Hamilton new Zealand area that can help please let me know!
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Then have a ferret through the guides here: https://www.the-t-bar.com/forum/54-how-tos/25321-a-to-z-of-how-to-guides-pics-and-videos
once you’ve gone through that lot we will be happy to explain and expand on anything you’re not sure about.
The factory manual is not the best written technical document, indeed it falls a bit short, but has diagrams and all the technical figures that you need to do the job properly.
As you mentioned one of the studs has been broken, it’s quite possible the head in warped. As such if excessively so, it might be beyond redemption.
but even if you have to shave it flat beyond the limit you can get a shim as used in turbo conversions to build up the head height back to standard.
"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"
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Nigel
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Every time I’m under the car my eyes are drawn to one section of brake pipe work which will require attention before too long. The prospect of wrestling with a bundle of recalcitrant copper pipe in a confined space doesn’t fill me with joy.
M
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I appreciate that presumably you are from somewhere in NZ, given that you asked: "And if anyone knows of people in the Hamilton new Zealand area that can help please let me know!
but even there I suspect that a few MGFs and Rovers fitted with a 1.8 K series must have been either scrapped already, or sitting around unused & un-loved, giving a potential donor for a replacement engine.
You mentioned that there a re scored bores, a snapped engine bolt and (presumably) other horrors on your existing engine.
I would suggest trying to source a replacement "Short" engine, refurbish your existing VVC head, then fit that head to the short block. This would avoid incompatibility of your wiring loom and ECU with a later TF160 head. The block only has sensors for water and oil temperatures to worry about and you could probably swap the relevant parts from your existing (scrap?) block if your wiring loom does not match connectors on the replacement block. IIRC, the bottom end of K series 1.8 non VVC engines is the same as the VVC, though others on this site may know better. I am guessing that if NZ is not a viable source for secondhand K series engines, a trip to Australia, or arranging shipping of something suitable from a source there might be cheaper than sending a block from the U.K. I am sure Cobber or someone else in OZ could suggest suitable sources?
Whatever you decide to do, Good Luck!
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- Notanumber
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I guess we are a little spoiled here in in the UK as there are still plenty of good 2nd hand engines so I must confess my mind jumped straight away to swapping to another block rather than trying to resolve multiple faults with your own.
You could even go for a 1.6 block if they happen to be more plentiful. Several people have fitted VVC heads to1.6 blocks over the years as the drop in cc only loses 5 bhp (and that can easily be offset by an ECU remap)
2003 TF 135 sunstorm
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"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"
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- BruceTF135
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If it helps, there is at least one other member from New Zealand on the forum. He bought one of my low coolant alarms a couple of years ago.
He goes by the username 0mfgroflmao You could maybe look him up.
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