Turbo project - back on the road June 16
Turbo Mini Forums

Well, after a few ideas and suggestions, i had a good look at the car this evening to confirm my suspicions.

The hoses all looked good and tight so i stripped out the intake pipe which isn't the easiest to get into. It was hard to get to the impeller, however when i did, there was nothing of significance to note.

A little puzzled, i started looking harder at the install and a close inspection found the plug for the connection for the anti run on valve was missing. All replaced and car is moving back a forth a few feet as expected. I will need to wait until the wife is home before i can take it for a quick spin to confirm.

Now, turning to my rash decision it was the turbo, i haven't answered the 'whirring' noise i noted when it was cutting out. All i can think of is that the turbo was still spinning whereas i would normally have the car idling when i switch off so wouldn't usually hear this

Fingers crossed the test confirms all is well again.

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

well, as you will have seen from some of my other posts, I broke it a couple of months back. During some spirited driving, I lost all drive changing from 2nd to 3rd. Due to various limitations, I had to side line the car until I had space to pull the engine and investigate - the result being stripped 1st motion and laygear.



Now, taking it forward, I had also been plagued with lower than expected oil pressure, so this was a second reason to strip the engine to see that internal issues I had









So while stripping the engine, I discovered 2 of the Zetec oil jets were damaged or faulty and were either blocked or had no pressure control. The current trend is to fit the BMW jets but these were coming in at over £85 plus, as I had already dripped the block for the zetec ones, I needed a helicoil insert to fit them. Being the tight git that I am sometimes, I looked for alternatives and found some 2nd hand ones out of a VTEC locally - the down side was that these had a thread pitch of M8x0.75 and the cheapest helicoil kit for this size was more than the BMW jets! I did a bit of searching and came up with Mazda MX5 jets which are apparently M10 x 1.25 thread but the free set offered didn't materialise so at the weekend, I decided to work something out with what I had.



As a trial, I ran an M8 x 1.0 die down the VTEC bolt to see how well it would take the re-thread. Stage 1 went well and thread appears to have generally retained its appearance so I found a lump of steel and drilled and tapped this to trial fit a jet to see how well it torqued up before I touched the block; stage 2 went well



so, with this bit of initial test engineering over, I set off to find a local stockist for an M8 x 1.0 helicoil kit that was open on a sunday - good old Bills tools in the Barras!

Having got the kit, I went down the workshop last night to try the block. A bit of a hassle in that I only have a tap spinner and not a Tbar so ended up having to tap it with a spanner due to space (pillar drill chuck was fouling the block preventing me using this as a guide).

Anyhow, got 2 of them fitted. I've still to fettle the positions of the jets and relieve the bodies a little although they will be fitted with copper washers which will lift them off the block and give a bit more clearance from the piston skirt (if needed) but I'll need to build the engine back up again to see exactly what is required. For now I'm happy with the results



hoping for another evening during the week to tap the remaining holes then I can strip it down and clean everything out before the re-build; got a box of goodies in the boot of the car from MiniSpares ready to go

As for the gearbox, I'm going to refit the SC box I originally had in the car before I robbed it for the Metro build. Only thing I need to do is swap the diff over again.

Edited by Rob Gavin on 17th Nov, 2014.

well a bit of progress on Wednesday evening. The new jets have a bit of a tail on their body which was preventing them sitting where the block had been machined for the zetec jets so a little bit of work with the hacksaw and file had them cut down to size



and here they are fitted; all I need to do now is fit the rotating assembly and see if I've got any clearance issues.



having competed this element, I stripped out the bungs in the oilways in preparation for cleaning and was more than a little shocked by the debris in the galleries. Granted, these are open to the tapping operations however the debris was uniform along the galleries and not concentrated under the openings suggesting it is old. If this is the case, I'm surprised the shells are not in worse condition

So the weekend plan is to clean and re-assemble the short motor at least; ultimate goal is to get the car back together and finished by Christmas

They look to be a tidy solution, so what are they out of then a honda vtec? But with re threaded bolts?

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

yes brett, apparently Vtec although I'm not sure which particular car; the guy I got them from had a 53 plat type R although no idea if this is coincidence.

The reason I re-cut the thread was because the block needed an insert because of the previous jet fitment and I couldn't get the correct insert at the right price. If you are fitting them to an un altered block, you could get the correct tap easily enough so no re-cutting required of the bolt.

Well managed to get a few hours yesterday at the workshop. First thing was to check the cam timing was still ok. Couldn't find the info for my cam anywhere in the shed but eventually got something from the interweb (110 deg at full lift, med T3). We have it at roughly 110.5 so happy enough to progress with a fresh coat of paint to complete.



Now moved onto stripping the bits out of the knackered box to build up the replacement one and get it all back together. I really want this done soon so i can get on with the metro

got a bit more progress last weekend with the assistance of Keith. Stupid little things seem to take for ever but got the engine back in


As you will have read, I had a bit of an issue with the oil feed to the turbo leaking at the block but perhaps this key fitting or the lack of it was my problem!




Managed to get back up after working out the oil issue on Tuesday evening and tried to get oil pressure. Car was turning over but was struggling to get anymore than 10psi. I checked a few things, swapped over the pressure release valve for another and still no difference. After a bit of a discussion with Keith, I decided to try and start it - instant 60psi and started first turn of the key



Still got a few last bits to sort which I hope to get done tonight and then I'll pack it away and drag the metro out of the corner and get started on that

as you will see from some of my other posts, the saga continued. As a bit of background, I didn't touch the car since the initial start-up as I've been working on the metro build. However, sitting in the office on Easter Friday, I decided to put some tax on the car so I could get it out for a run. That was probably the worst assumption I could make that it was ready for the road!

During the day on Saturday, Keith was up at the workshop and was going to move the car out to get his own car into the sunshine; however no oil pressure from mine so he left it as it sat. I went up that evening and couldn't get pressure off the key either but when it fired up, I did get 60psi or so after a few seconds. All is good I thought and disconnected the jump leads and moved the daily out the way. Got back to the mini and pressure was down to 20psi and dropping, eventually ending up with pressure light on.

So out comes the engine again to investigate. A complete schoolboy error and photos tell the story! Clearly, in my haste to put it all back together, I'd left a sheet of blue roll in the box or engine (I'd been using it to keep dust and debris out while it was apart.)


choked pick-up


torn pump gasket




A full strip and thorough clean before re-assembly; no damage was found in the engine and looks like all the debris was contained to the sump by the pick-up



Pressure now back up to 60psi or so at idle. Just need a bit of time to bolt on the last of the bits and get it out for a test drive

Edited by Rob Gavin on 14th Apr, 2015.

good news!

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

Phew! You'll get there in the end, glad there's no permanent damage done. I like those Stack gauges too.

Glad to hear it just needed a good clean up

I can imagine the 'DOH!!' when u realised, glad its not too bad

While i was glad it didn't appear to have any particular damage, i was more thsn a little frustrated! Time could have been better used getting the engine together for the metro

Here's hoping that all is ok from now on.

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

LOL,

Reminds me of the time I changed a turbo the Friday morning before setting off for Avon Park, and left the blue paper towel in the turbo impellor, re-fitted all the pipework, and made a mess of a brand-new hybrid T25...
Oh well lol

well it looks like I've not been on my own with the error!

hoping to get up to the workshop tonight so I can go for a drive but i'll not hold my breath

Time to change the title of this thread perhaps?

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Well a bit of an update. After getting the engine back in, i took it for its first run up the road. After about 30mins running and 10 mins on the road, when i got back to the farm, the pressure had dropped so low the light was back on at idle and no noticable differance under load. I then checked the oil pressure release and found the spring was a good bit shorter than the spare one so i swapped it over and idle pressure instantly raised to around 25psi. I left the workshop at that point before anything else went wrong!

Went back up last night to check everything over and finish bolting the car back together. Pressure took a good 5 secs or so to lift from fire up and once hot, was down to 20psi idle and around 40psi under load. Not quite what i was expecting and, to be honest, i was very close to pulling the bloody thing back apart again last night but decided to leave it alone for now. While pressure isn't great, its also not too bad either so am going to wait and see.

Looking long term, i think the car may get pulled apart for a re-paint over the winter and i'll perhaps reconsider the engine build at that time if it keeps going for now

Clear blue skies this morning so i can see it coming back to the house today for the summer

Edited by Rob Gavin on 26th Apr, 2015.

thats the pressure i tend to run rob , maybe 50 psi higher up .

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Like wise Rob - the A35 runs only 40 psi hot and under 20psi at idle and has stood up to consistent hammering for years now.

Thanks guys, feeling a little more relaxed about it now.

Going to just enjoy it now and get on with building the metro for the summer

on the road for now; needs a good clean (problems with keeping it on a working farm!) but I can do that at the house

Looking good Rob... Two projects, you'll be busy!