The Race for Stoneleigh National Kit Car Show 2017

Yeah ok, so this is 4 months late. But I'm gonna date it for May so no one really knows.....you're just slacking on reading this post ;)

One of the main issues I've had with this rebuild is my deteriorating health. I was diagnosed in 2003/4ish with Ulcerative Colitis, a part of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). In simple terms, it is my immune system attacking my own body, seeing it as a foreign body that needs removing. Having been stable for a good 12+ years, it started going downhill as medication stopped working and more powerful stuff didn't touch it either. By Christmas 2016 it was apparent I would be looking at the final option of surgery to remove my colon. Pretty major. So that kind of put me out of action from late March with a week in hospital post-op and 8 weeks off work. Worst part was being told no heavy lifting and taking it steady! That's garage time ruled out then apparently!
If you're interested in learning more about IBD, then this website is perfect Crohns & Colitis UK

However, you're definitely here for the kit build....so back to that we go! At this point in writing, it has become apparent that I have missed some major events of my build.......

So we had the first start. Obviously this was some time ago and the car was built up a lot after this...I'll add another couple videos below, the high pitched squeak you can here was thought to be many different things from a stuck valve or bearings to unbalanced throttle bodies and air leaks. Luckily, it was only an air leak from the adapter plate and throttle body set up. A layer of RTV sealant (same stuff used for the sump) fixed that, the gasket paper just wasn't up to scratch.

So, the car is basically there and ready to go right?

Well....almost.

Knowing I would soon be out of action for a number of weeks I pushed to have the car ready so I could literally sit with a laptop and play with the tune to get it idling nicely and all "heavy lifting" was completed. Not quite what happened, although heavy lifting and contortionist positions were not necessary anymore. The only thing I had left was the wing to do which you saw in the previous post, so not vital but there is a show coming, gotta show off, right? This was done with my willing Brother (probably under the instruction of our Mum to prevent me from damaging myself) who decided he would play fireman instead....













Not entirely sure what he thought would happen but with the wing sorted, I focused on trying to balance the throttle bodies. This was proving difficult....

The theory behind balancing the throttle bodies is simple. You want each cylinder getting the same amount of air, opening and closing at the same time. Usually, the intake manifold covers all cylinders with a chamber and a single butterfly valve at the front meaning all the cylinders get fed from the same capacity of air. With throttle bodies, you have a valve per cylinder....balancing 3 was difficult, balancing that with the other 3 was damn near impossible! - Remember this little nugget. It will become apparent later on ;)

With what felt like an eternity rebuilding again and again the throttle bodies, tweaking bits to aid balancing, I finally got to the stage of having a high idle, plus careful use of the accelerator meant it was enough to drive and at least got me moving under my own power. Sadly no evidence of this other than various rev and idle videos but it was driving! Now to figure out the tuning side to make the fuel map safe.....

But wait!

 In true Project V6 fashion, all is not well!

What a lovely breadcrumb path it left to help me find my way home.

At this stage, I am fairly sure the car is very rich. There was the suggestion it was just unburnt fuel/vapours from the engine that were washing down the exhaust and leaking through pin holes and clamping points.

Unfortunately the patches look very much like fresh oil so will definitely need identifying properly. Unfortunately I cannot see where this is coming from....

Deadline to Stoneleigh - Approx 3 weeks.

To add more issues, the alternator I have doesn't seem to be too happy charging nor keeping its belt on. A mix of misalignment and a slack belt I used this ingenious method to put tension on the alternator to ensure the belt was not slack. It aint pretty but it sorted the tension.

Deadline to Stoneleigh - Approx 2 weeks

Well it was running, it was rough, but running. Therefore the truly get going I need to road test and tune the car with the help of tuning expert Dan from RHOCAR. We had planned to get the car going in the morning and tune as we drove to the MOT centre. Unfortunately I still had worsening oil leak issues as well as a real problem with throttle body balancing. Something just didn't seem to be happy. Dan, whilst knowing how to use an alternative ECU, was learning how the Microsquirt and Tunerstudio worked. Despite this, he was able to show I was a lot further back than I thought and whilst we spent the day sorting the idle and basic timing, we had missed the MOT slot.

Overall though by the end of the day the car was in a position drive. It idled happier, it would rev smoother, it would even make it round the block if caressed. The main thing to sort was the fuel VE tables. The problem was finding time and expertise to tune them without using the much discussed Autotune feature which would basically tune as I drove. This has great reviews from hobby tuners saying its improved their car, however rolling road experts highlight the dangers of using it. Great if its a well tuned map 99% complete....using to create a map, no so much. All I wanted was to drive to Stoneleigh and then to a rolling road....but I had bigger issues yet to find.......

Deadline to Stoneleigh.... 24 hours to go.

To help combat my oil loss issues, I rigged up this brilliant contraption. Whenever the engine began to seize, the car would lurch forward, carrying oil out of the bottle and straight into the engine, preventing it from seizing. Braking would also have the same effect and aid preventing getting to the aforementioned situation.




Disclaimer: I did not actually intend to do this...purely a comedic intent to aid laughter rather than crying. Do not try this at home.

Anyway, I battled on and made my way to the MOT centre. Everything I could cross, was crossed.

Problems:
Oil leak
Tracking on the front causing monumental tyre squeal
Poor state of tune meaning its a bag of nails to drive
New brakes are bedding in
Handbrake needs a lot of adjustment
Air leaks, throttle usage and tune combination causing mega lean spikes in AFR
Plus 1 more issue found later in time...probably accounting for 2 of these issues

However this little trooper made it and the test centre....then disaster! I'd misbooked my appointment for the Friday rather than the Saturday (muppet), already got 2 walk ins and low staff. Thankfully, having explained my situation - plus a bit of begging and pleading - they reckoned they could squeeze me in. It was make or break for the kit standing any chance of getting to Stoneleigh.

A quick top up of oil and we were off. I won't bore you with the details but the MOT Gods were kind. Despite the battery giving up - still no/not enough charge from the alternator (surprisingly, its not a fail!) - this happened:

Yes I framed the MOT pass certificate and hung it on the wall. And what?!
A few more advisories than some would like but its my car, it'll have many more before ever looking at being sold so I didn't care, the pass was enough!



It did however leave me with a number of things to sort out, most importantly, I had discovered the source of the oil leak.


The oil filter/cooler housing. Here you can see just next to the alternator.

Due to the new environment, I have had to fit a relocation kit. Annoyingly, this still fouls the engine mount and during use, the engine is knocking the housing which is pulling the lower edge away - hence a worsening leak...

Deadline to Stoneleigh - Saturday, 18 hours to go

I would not give up. I still had the afternoon to try sort this. My good friend Stu was following progress. His car was in a better state from last year and at least in a driving condition. With the amount of oil I was losing though, I definitely would not be making it. In a bid to help he popped over and offered an extra pair of hands to get the car going, maybe even have a play with the tune to make it less of a pig to drive.




First thing first, sort that leak. Being an aluminium block, threads are easily stripped. To prevent this (and also maaaaybe having already done one) I helicoiled the threads to help when pulling the cooler tight.

Unfortunately, with this going on and off numerous times, we quickly found oil going everywhere. It just would not seal. We tried to move the engine mount, we grinded some of the contacting edges, however the engine just kept knocking it loose and the gasket paper was not able to fill the gap effectively. We'd even run out of curing time for the RTV sealant so if Stoneleigh was to happen, we had to be sure it'd fix it and try speed up curing time overnight. Unfortunately we couldn't get close. It was getting worse and pouring out.

But then....brainwave. In a car that has more spacers and adaptors than...well any bodge job before, it hit us. What if we spaced it away from engine. Would this give the clearance to the mount? one way to find out!

Yes it is simple. Left over aluminium plate, 3 clearance holes and 2 holes for the oil. Yes it probably restricts flow, but its the best we could provide at midnight with limited fabrication skills/equipment.

Yes you heard, midnight. It was technically Sunday and the day of Stoneleigh. In 8 hours we would be meeting for breakfast before convoying to the show. It was last chance saloon....

There is no easy way to put this though so here it is..............

IT WORKED!

 We had managed to provide enough clearance to tighten the cooler on enough to compress both gaskets either side of the spacer plate! No more oil leak! Double check we actually had oil in...yep still no leak! Winner. Car was now back together and called it a night at 1am.

Deadline to Stoneleigh Departure - 6 hours

Right, clean up, pack tools, pack overnight bag for camping, sleep....