u/jmechresource

Despite the lack of any visible progress I did make it out to the shed tonight. Didn't get to document it very well though, typically a visitor comes to talk shite as soon as you get a bit of momentum. Starter off, coolant drained from the sump... Yeah... Does anyone know the calculation for how many litres of coolant can pass through the oil filter before I need to replace it ?

Ring of bolts around the box undone, clutch cable not undone... Doesn't need to.

I put an oil filter relocation kit in a few years back for ease of maintenance, failed to put it somewhere easy to get to of course. But had to leave the see through oil dripping into the drain pan and walk away. The engine comes out tomorrow evening. Last time I had to pull the engine I'm pretty sure I had to insert it vertically from above only for the bastard to sit down on the floor.. but I'm still going to try to lift it out because I can't remember if the gearbox was fitted that time... Happy hump day folks

A year ago I rear ended a 2014 seat leon. Minimum damage for the vag but the insurance classed my car as a write off with a repair bill of 7k and a value of 5k. They paid out €4500 after buying the car back and I fixed it myself for 2,000 using a mix of 2nd hand and new parts. I nearly broke it for parts but so glad I didn't.

A year is a long time, but I have a job, a second kid came along, and a time consuming hobby. There are always options based on time, effort and cost. I did it cheap and slow.

On this week's episode of mechanical husbandry we see how far we can push the phrase "just send it" to new heights. Ever hear of animal husbandry ? I picture a clueless dude elbow deep in a cows arse... Its like that but with more oil.

After failing epically trying to replace a cam shaft we are left with the remnants of a head and a block (that were never meant to be bolted together) that touched in a way only choir boys can know the true experience of. Basically I possibly left the main crank a tooth out, I don't know, I was coming from a 2 hour night of sleep with an 8 month old succubus baby that somehow lives off the weariness of its parents. If I didn't leave it a tooth out then I definitely forgot to leave the ignition table at a default value. Either way it became ungood.

What I'm doing here is experimental in a way to get around racing loopholes. It hasn't worked so far.

What you are looking at is a midget car. This particular midget car is in the 1200cc class. If I use an engine in the rear of the car and rear wheel drive I'm not aloud to modify it (boo). But if I have a front engine car, rwd it's open season short of stroking it or over boring past 60thou. So I go with a 1.1 citreon saxo, a natural choice for any thoroughbred race car. Because I can bolt a 1600 vts twin cam head to it. Slap it onto an old starlet gearbox and an mx5 rear end and what you have is a list of broken parts longer than the amount of race laps completed.

A big issue I had was no power between idle and 3krpm and then all hell opened up through the French portal of goodness. I finally remembered the head I installed had excessively large cam profiles. Hence replacing for standard. In a bid to battle the lack of power I found I could advance the ignition timing as far as 32⁰ at 1500rpm and battle on for a day or two (not ideal) which is less than ideal when you put the standard cam back in and forget about the absurd timing table.

So today I cleaned out the shed.

Took a 1.6 donor engine apart to find a seized cylinder 1&4 due to water (not ideal) and tested the valve profile seal with some wd40. I figure if it can hold a penetration fluid for 10 seconds then surely it'll withstand at least several years of racing abuse. There's a deadline of the end of August and I ain't getting my head rebuilt before then unfortunately (just send it). Now I gotta strip down a 1.1 engine that drove into the shed without the car, ran when parked, and mate it to the haphazardly built blue and orange machine.

Feel free to ask questions, if I can post pictures in response I will.

Please don't ask about mental health or qualifications, there could be some unpleasantness.

Will update as I go this week

I should have taken more pictures...

480miles round trip just done from meath to Glasgow at the weekend by the scenic route.

Older cars are just an adventure in themselves. Not a single issue from the wagon all weekend