Tails of unhappiness in Phase 1 land.....now resolved!!!

[Adrian E]

Hi all

Long time since I've needed to make a post on a techie subject on here rather than posting in someone else's!!

Went down to see the folks over Easter and my Dad decided he wanted to pull the phase 1 out of the garage and give it a wash - it's about all its done in the last few years is get pulled out the garage, run it up till the fans are cutting in, wash it and put it back......

Anyway, this time it was all a bit different Apparantly (I didn't see it) there was loads of white smoke coming out the back - enough for my Dad to notice, which must mean it was a lot! He undid the expansion tank and there was loads of pressure in there on a cold engine, so it would appear the head gasket is up the creak.

The car has always made a funny noise on start up that I thought was the split in the exhaust manifold flapping about till it was warm - would only be for about 30 seconds or so (although memory is somewhat distant!) and I'm now thinking it may have been the gasket leaking to atmosphere till it was warm enough to seal.

My main worry is that worst case scenario the head is cracked and we won't know that till the head is off - obvious signs of gasket blowing will probably mean a swift rebuild with a new gasket.

Depending on the condition of the head when it comes off and assuming it's not cracked I'm tempted to get it rebuilt while its apart. Who's the authority on heads for these now? I seem to remember Puma Racing stopped doing heads due to other commitments, but must admit I haven't checked in a long time. Anyone else that's worth a look?

Ideally someone it can be posted to for a thorough going over including crack testing and checking it's flat......

Suggestions/recommendations?

Adrian

[ollie]

To be honest theres nothing special about them as standard, so long as the head isn't damaged by corrosion anyone can crack test and flatten one, at which point just clean everything and throw it back together with some fresh seals, seriously it may look more complicated than a mini, but it'll actually be more familiar to most modern mechanics!

Ollie

[Toddman]

Hi Adrian hope you and your family are well?

I am with Ollie the std head is not a complicated beast so most competent motor engineers will be able to work on it.

Personally I would strip it down and give the ports a good going over,some of these heads have terrible casting flash in them. A light skim and a pressure test would also be good.
Tappets can be checked and rebuilt etc a god opportunity to give the old girl a bit of TLC.

If you want to farm the work out have a look on the mainsite links page and give Matt at QEP a ring, he is very helpfull and QEP have looked after the racer for Gary in the past.

Get cracking you might make FCS!

Cheers
Luke

[Adrian E]

Hi Luke

Yep, we're all well mate - hope the same at your end?

I spoke to my Dad earlier and he'd spoken to their local garage guy they now use and he's done a 405 MI16 in the past so is more than happy to have a go. He seems a good bloke based on the experience my folks and sister have had in keeping the cars going and also very cheap labour rates as they're out in the sticks.

The head would probably benefit from some tappet work - it's not excessively noisy but the car's now 22 years old so I'm sure the buckets aren't in the first flush of youth!

Assuming the head work gets sorted in fairly short order the car will still need an MOT before it can be taxed and that assumes I can talk my Dad into doing it.....unfortunately the bodywork has suffered from being stuffed in a garage with all the typical junk so now sports a hole in the back bumper from a bicycle pedal and a scuff on the nearside wheel cover where my Dad failed to miss the garage door frame on the way back into the garage

If I lived nearer to the car I'd be using this as an opportunity to pull the engine out completely, change the front subframe (which needs doing and I have the one I bought from Mike a long time ago) and get the engine bay painted. The car is so close to immaculate it's a shame to see it being ignored but I've nowhere to keep it near me without spending a lot on (probably damp) storage.

I even did some initial research to get Dad started on finding someone to blast and powdercoat the replacement subframe, but no luck as yet

Next problem will be getting it on a trailer down to the garage - been told if you leave the rad cap off, assuming it's not throwing coolant out under pressure, it's OK to drive short distance. Will make it much easier to move if we can get it to full height.

Adrian

[Adrian E]

Bit of an update

Having bugged my Dad for weeks to get the car down to the garage, the next thing I hear is that the head's off and been down to the local engine specialist who's confirmed the head is a write off

There is significant corrosion around a couple of the waterways adjacent to the area sealed at the top of cylinders 1 and 2. There is also an area of porosity evident and having spoken to a couple of people in the know have been advised to junk this head as by the time it's been machined to remove one dodgy area it's pretty likely another will be exposed.

I've got a head I acquired many moons ago with a job lot of spares from a Citroen specialist garage clearance, but the condition is unknown. I've spoken to QEP as suggested and will be popping down there Thursday to see if my spare head can be restored and if not what options there are. I dropped Gary C a line but waiting for a reply on whether he's got anything suitable hanging about.

I'm planning on getting any oil seals changed while the head's off, for obvious reasons. Here's hoping we'll have the car back together soon-ish. At the moment it's on my Dad's drive on ramps with a block of wood bolted across the face of the block to keep the liners in place.....

Adrian

[Timmo]

oooh, thats not so good fella,
hope your spare head is servicable!

[Adrian E]

Bought a head today from QEP - it's been refaced and the valve seats all redone so they're good as new. The head I had here was OK condition.....apart from the bent valves I failed to notice it was also missing the cam caps - when I checked I could only find 1 out of the 4 so the thing's gone down the tip today. Apparently line boring them costs a fortune, so without the caps they're scrap good job I didn't pay more than a quid for it in the 1st place!

The new head is now down in Bristol so will be getting the cam buckets sorted hopefully tomorrow. Probably take a while to get it back together as the weather's not looking too clever down that way over the weekend....

[Timmo]

good to hear its all coming along nicely adrian!

[Adrian E]

Another update Progress being made!!

My Dad spent a happy couple of hours with a vice getting all the oil out of the hydraulic lifters (good tip this from QEP as otherwise they'll be in the same position they were with the previous head, which may mean you get no compression as the valves don't fully close) by clamping them in the vice with the drain hole pointing downward and repeatedly squeezing them until they can be moved with your thumb and they are springy.

Head has then been reassembled and fitted back on the car - new head bolts torqued down as per the manual, so now it's on to the cambelt.

My Dad also changed the water pump while he was in there, although it was only done at the last cambelt change which wasn't all that long ago - but better safe than sorry.

I suspect doing the belt will take a little while before he's happy it's right and can start it up - it'll probably sound like a can full of nuts to start with until the followers pump up, but fingers crossed it'll soon be running again, with fresh coolant and soon to be fresh oil!

Lesson to be learnt here - don't neglect coolant just because the car isn't being used - it still goes off!!

Adrian

[Timmo]

nice to hear its coming on adrian, soon be back on the road in fighting form!

[Toddman]

Good work Adrian
Glad you got on well with QEP, Matt is a top bloke and I know Gary was very happy with them as well.

Cheers
Luke

[Adrian E]

It runs

Fired it up yesterday afternoon after sorting the cambelt timing - ran like a tin can full of bolts but one by one the lifters filled with oil and all quietened down!

At the moment the exhaust joint under the car is leaking a little as there wasn't much access to get to the joint with the car on the floor (on ramps) so that needs sorting, plus the top cam cover is still off - my Dad plans to remove the damper off the crank and recheck the timing.

Hopefully that'll all get done today, so it should be back on its wheels and capable of being driven for the first time in months.

Now just need to convince him to actually take it in for its MOT so it can be used......

[Timmo]

nice one adrian!

just need to change your title to Tales of unhappines to tales of Mucho happiness in phase 1 land hahaha!

glad to hear its all come back to life nicely!

[Adrian E]

Well there's no stopping my Dad now lol

It's booked in for an MOT on Friday this week, so he's going to sort classic insurance in the next couple of days. Then there's just the battle to get it taxed! Whenever we've got close to putting it on the road for the summer the last couple of years any one of MOT/insurance/tax not valid has been enough to stop the car being used.

Apparently the car is now really quiet and has lost the river boat sound to its exhaust, which I always put down to the silly DTM style tailpipe somebody tacked onto it. Suggests it's always had a slightly iffy head gasket in the time we've had it. It also doesn't rattle from the top end when you first start it up from cold.

My Dad has said he's actually quite enjoyed the challenge of doing the car, so hopefully he will now want to see the fruits of his labours and get out there and drive it! I'll see if I can push my luck and suggest we get the necessary paintwork done to sort the drivers side rear door (has a spot of rust) and replacing the back bumper (it's had a small knock in the past and badly repaired) plus painting the spoiler which is covered in scratches. It's really all it needs to make it mint, with the possible exception of replacing the subframe and putting a proper exhaust on it.

[Mike P]

Excellent news Adrian

What's your impression of the QEP work

Mike P.