Slomove

Just went through this mess and tried to burn off some oil that had crept into the bellhousing. But it got only worse over time. I gave up and when I finally took the clutch out I could see some black carbonized deposit streaks on the clutch surface. I suppose I could have tried to burn them off until the cows come home and in the process ruined my flywheel. Gert

Hmmm, the timing belt idler on my US spec Zetec ZX1 is also plastic as far as I can tell. Anybody heard of them falling apart? Or is this strictly a faulty design by Vauxhall? Gert

Looks like Webers' demise has some effect. I saw a pair of used 45DCOE152 on eBay selling for $970 😳 here Some of the Italian variety a said to have sold even higher. Maybe I should sell mine now and change to injection witout much upgrade cost Gert Edited by - Slomove on 11 Apr 2005 03:52:57

I managed to mess up my clutch with oil (overfilled and did not drain the small catch tank, doh!) and have some slip now. It can not be much because it is noticable only when pushing really hard on the track. Is there any chance this will burn off over time or is it a guaranteed engine-out job? I tried spraying in some brake cleaner, but no difference. Thanks, Gert

Thanks Graham, just looked up "stand-off" in the search facility and yes, it appears to be a common thing. First I was going to say "why only on curvy mountain roads?" but then I usually drive these roads in a certain load/throttle region that is different from city, freeway or hard track use. That may indeed mean it does not come from curves and fuel sloshing but from some funny intake resonances. Oh well, I got used to it. Gert

It may be a moot point since my 45DCOE carbs have been doing this since I bought the car 2 years ago: On very curvy roads, and when driving in a spirited fashion they emit a distinct fuel smell and once a while a droplet out of the air filters. I imagine this is caused by fuel sloshing in the float chamber and sometimes finding a way out of the vent hole to the filter area. No big problem at all I was just wondering if TADTS or if my setup is different. I read that some people missed the "carb smell" after going EFI. Another probably unrelated observation: If I disengage the clutch and make a left turn (e.g. shortly before coming to a stop) the engine sometimes stalls, as if the fuel supply was cut off. Another TADTS?? Otherwise everything is just fine 😬 Gert

Quote "Do they sell them for track days? *tongue*" Well, I made it from air duct tube, glass wadding and duct tape. Very light BTW. You could use it for a track day provided you can sprinkle the duct tape joints with water every other minute while driving. Mounting might be another issue but a vertical silencer like on the US big rig trucks should look very cool on a Se7en. 😬 😬 Gert

BTW, I solved the problem to run the engine at 2500 prm for 20 minutes on a Sunday morning without a neighbourhood riot with the Monster Muffler 😬 Gert

It's Alive *smile* *smile* Engine started at first crank. I had it run for the required 20 minutes or so. Then carbs balanced, idle adjusted and off for a blat. Did that feel good after 2 months without 😬 😬. Can't say much about performance, I kept it mainly under 5000 rpm, but feeling pretty good. Behavior at lower revs is just as good as with the stock Zetec cams. Smooth tickover and everything. Thanks all for your help! And I will make a donation to the R.S.P.C.E. You know where to send the money, AMMO? Gert

AMMO, too late to listen to your advice but I guess so far nothing broken and as mentioned before the oil is now flowing. I did indeed not expect to have a suddenly broken oil pump. But that is why I was so puzzled after many folks wrote the starter should be able to build oil pressure. Well, it seems it can but only if it is not filled with air. Gert Gert

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!! I tried it again and cranked for over 2 minutes....still nothing. Then I jacked up the car in the rear (with the idea to flood the oil pump) and here we go! Oil came after a few seconds. I guess after taking off the head the oil pump drained completely and the low cranking speed did not expel the air. Whatever, it works and I can continue reassembly Thanks all for the tips! Gert

Oh well, then I will overcome that scary feeling and keep cranking. Actually, I do still have the valve cover off and can watch it. I was only wondering if I have some kind of an air lock in the oil pump (never heard of that....). Maybe I just lift the car in the back to help the pump. Any opinion on the bearing damage? Thanks, Gert

I finally got my new Zetec FZ2002 cams installed and timing set to spec. I tried to crank the bare engine (no intake, exhaust, alternator/water pump belt or plugs and that works just fine, cams spinning etc. BUT, there is no oil pressure :-( There is normal oil level in the sump and the engine bottom end was not even touched. To make sure I even removed the pressure sender and no oil squirting out of the sender tap hole when cranking. Now what Gert P.S.: Another unrelated strange thing...After that cranking experiment I had to remove a few cam bearing caps (had them swapped) and noticed on one of the bearing surfaces in the head and on the corresponding camshaft some deep gouges as if some sand grains or other grit had been caught. Darn it. I polished the worst ridges away, cleaned and lubed everything and there is little I can do. I only hope that one half of five bearing surfaces in the middle of the shaft damaged is not too bad. Edited by - Slomove on 19 Mar 2005 03:43:20 Edited by - Slomove on 19 Mar 2005 03:52:06 Edited by - Slomove on 19 Mar 2005 03:53:19

Thanks Ammo, that helps. Now I can get going Gert

Darn, just found that Kentcams does not list the TDC lift spec for their cams only the degrees for max lift. Anybody know how much that is for the FZ2002? (I did write to Kentcam tech support, let's se if they know). I also read on various posts here that it is better to have 2 or 3 dial gauges. I understand that is preferable if you want to set the cams on the fly without other markings. However, I printed a precise degree wheel the size of my pulley and stuck it to the pulley with silicone. That is set to TDC zero with about +/- 0.5 degrees accuracy. Using this degree wheel I suppose I should get away with a single dial gauge. Or do I miss here something? Thanks, Gert

O.K., I got it! Maybe I try it both ways and see if they agree. Gert

Thanks Johnty, that is what I am going to do with the oil and lube. I did not understand what you mean with your last sentence. I do have verniers now and stuck a printed degree disk to the pulley that I zero'd in carefully with a dial gauge on the piston. I hope that will give me the means to fine tune it. However, nobody answered my question about the timing degree numbers so far.... I will probably figure it out once I install the new head and adjust it coarsely with the flat bar in the camshaft rear slots. But just out of curiosity: the degree numbers for inlet are AFTER TDC and the numbers for exhaust are BEFORE TDC or what???? Thanks, Gert Edited by - Slomove on 13 Mar 2005 04:58:11 Edited by - Slomove on 13 Mar 2005 04:58:46

It is only new cams and followers, springs and retainers. The rest of the engine is well run in. If there is no need to switch temporarily to non-synthetic for the cams I am even wondering to leave the current Mobile1 5W-30 in the engine for start-up. It has only 1500 miles and maybe 6 months, still rather clear. Then, maybe after 100 or 200 miles change with new oil and filter. Does that make sense or is it skimping at the wrong place? Gert

Aha, thanks....should have thought that there is no point in time when all valves are closed....But that is why I asked. I will try to get the cam lube. No Halfords here in California but I hope some auto shop has it. I will also swap engine oil for some fresh petroleum oil and replace with Mobil 1 after a few 100 miles. Gert

I will get my ported cylinder head (Zetec) back next week with new Kent FZ2002 cams, followers, springs and retainers. I read the adjusting instructions in the Kent booklet and it looks somewhat straightforward. But I have a few numpty questions (never done that before...): - the Kent booklet mentions to smear cams and followers before installation with "cam lube". Kent has that in the catalog but of course I forgot to order. I suppose I can use some other lubricant but what is recommended? - I read in the Clifton manual to use regular engine oil for this purpose. Is that good enough? - I had the idea to crank the engine for a short while without timing belt, carbs and plugs (and valves closed) to prime the drained oil circulation system, build oil pressure and pump up the hydraulic followers. Only after that to install the timing belt and do the fine adjustments to the verniers. Is that a genuinely foolish idea? - The table for the cams mentions 108 degrees for maximum inlet lift and 106 for exhaust. I suppose this is 108 degrees AFTER TDC for the inlet and 106 BEFORE TDC for exhaust. Is this correct? Or what is the reference point for these measurements? - Kent requires to run the engine for 20 minutes at >2500 rpm before idling. I don't have a road here where I can go for that long without stopping, i.e. I would have to do it in the driveway. Let's see what the neighbours are going to say... - Are there other recommendation of how to break in the new parts? E.g. not to exceed XX rpm for YY miles? Thanks, Gert Edited by - Slomove on 12 Mar 2005 03:08:13

Yep, does happen. I had one break the first week (the cheap one from Harborfreight Tools) where the internal check valve seemed to have failed. I.e. you pump it up with a stroke but it goes down again as soon as you let the handle go. Took it back for replacement . The new one I got is working just fine for over a year now. But I never go under the car without jack stands. I heard from somebody else here in the US who had a bad one out of the box. Gert P.S.: And it is a real one not this

I cut a sturdy headrest support plate from 3/4" plywood, bolted to a mounting bracket on the diagonal. The shape conforms to the top edge of the seat and extends it upward. For padding I used 3 layers of the "anti-fatigue" foam foot mats that you find somtimes on workshop floors or behind sales counters. This is very resilient but inexpensive foam sheet about 1/2" thick. Finally covered everything with black vinyl sewn to size. If interested I can take a picture. Gert

Brad, how can you wreck your car when the most important track day of the year is coming up 😬 But seriously, good to hear you and Magnus are O.K. (and the car still in repairable shape...) This does not sound like the problem Simon mentioned that several Birkins had a while ago. In their case it was apparently incorrect spring/shock setup that made it bottom out and bend/buckle the a-arm at the shock attachment point. Not such a complete rupture. The failure Magnus describes sounds really weird. Right in the middle of the tube? I would really like to see the pics.... Gert P.S.: Better don't imagine that happened on one of our mountain blats PPS: Oops, just read "Duratec SV"....that is not your car anyway, isn't it? Edited by - Slomove on 28 Feb 2005 03:54:30

Yes, please!!!! I am just rebuilding my Zetec to similar spec with FZ2002 (although I will stop at 10.5 : 1). Lacking an idea what to change I was planning to keep the chokes (36mm) and main jets (145) then just see how it flies and change depending on resulting AFR at various operating conditions. But if somebody has a good recommendation for Mike I would be very much interested. Gert

I got my ali dash grained (machine satin brushed) and black hard anodized. Looks nice, totally scratch-proof and not too expensive. It does seem to attract dust, though. But that is maybe just the air pollution in Los Angeles.... Gert