Post Stoneleigh Fix Sheet

As we just saw, my Stoneleigh Show went swimmingly. I arrived with problems and left with less problems. However the problems are still pretty substantial.

So, here goes. First up, it was suggested I compression tested the engine. This would at least eliminate if I had any issues in that department in case everything else was actually ok.



From factory, these engines should have around 210 PSI on the compression test, a warm engine too. I was not too worried about needing to do the test warm, this was basically to ensure the levels were even across the 6 cylinders. If it didn't show anything then I can always retest later. As it happened, the values fluctuated from 110-125 up to 150-160 across all 6, 3 in the lower range, 3 in the upper. Unfortunately the lower 3 were the ones not firing and the upper 3 were. This maybe half suggested there was an issue with the compression. Further to this, I dropped a teaspoon of oil down the bores, this would help identify if the issue was piston rings or in the cylinder head.

All the figures rose, however the lower 3 remained lower and, as seen to the right, good cylinder 6 hit nearly 300 psi! So, all the rings are worn....some a lot more than others. At least that is easier than a head....right?







A quick check on the spare engine left me with much more consistent figures around 145psi over all 6 cylinders, this would at least mean there was not an major issue with unbalanced compression. Still recovering from my Op, I needed some help with the heavy lifting, the first engine was a pain to get out by myself, my body wouldn't cope with that right now. *RHOCAR spot light to the sky - Batman style!

 With the help of Stu and Gaz, we dropped the engine from the Zero, and began setting about getting the other engine from the leftover MX6 still sat in my garden. Good job I bought two!























The problem I had with the MX6 was the fact the car is still 20+ years old. This means rust has well and truly set in and with a transverse engine set up, the rear exhaust manifold is neigh on impossible to get off. Enter, the angle grinder!

 A good 6 hours spent dropping two engines out the cars left me with this. A nice looking engine that does not work properly, and an old crappy engine that I can neither confirm or deny the status of. Both cars ran smoothly prior to being dumped in my garden so clearly I have done something wrong....or left these engines sitting for too long...my money is on me though.

My garden now is looking like a bit of a scrap yard....again. It is probably worth noting that Jez, my electrical saviour, arrived after all the fun was over, bearing good news! He believes that it was in fact my firing order that was wrong! I shall do a detailed post on this later, simplified though, using a Ford EDIS 6 system and trying to match that up to the KL V6 firing order could potentially leave me with 3 cylinders firing at the wrong time. Well if the shoe fits......However, as you can see, the news was just a little too late to test the theory. I may as well carry on with this spare engine now, just in case....

Shouldn't this be stripped down by now? Oh wait, it is the spare engine all cleaned and dressed up again, this time with a matching colour scheme and not the Hemi Orange mixed in.








It is now looking very nice, better than the other engine if I dare say so myself!

Well, I suppose I better start getting this back in....