Project Polly - 850 AWD

[Dangerous Dave]

So I thought it was time I posted something up about this. The car has been sat on the driveway for 3 years now (and still starts first time on the old fuel).

It had a headgasket problem so I ripped it apart and fitte a new HG but alas a week later it went again. So instead of messing about I purchased another engine off ebay and set about stripping it to renew the gaskets and seals to save doing it in the future.

The engine as it was when I retrieved it from Leicester. Unfortunately I got within 50 yards of home and the trailer hit a bump and bounced the engine, which cracked the sump. So I'm going to have to either get another sump or take the one off the engine in the car.


PCV was a bit blocked.....


Hardly any buildup in the inlet ports


So the whole thing was stripped down and then my daughter arrived so the engine build was put aside.

Then in August last year I decided to get on with it.

Had the block sections cleaned and I sprayed them with black engine enamel (no real reason for this, just fancied doing it)
Please excuse the crappy pictures, seems my phone lens needed cleaning (also spot the A series cylinder head...).



Crank going in...


Bought these rods a while ago, thought it only fair to use them..


A bag of goodies turned up from FRF Swansea (thanks Rufe ) some shiny new rod bearings


New intermediate section bolts too. Pistons in and everything tightened up.


That's it for now, more to come

[Santa]

About time you posted ?!?!?! About time you finished it

[Dangerous Dave]

Yeah, like a lot of other things in my life that should be completed by now.....

[Dangerous Dave]

Bit of an update....

Big thanks to Molet5-r for supplying me with a sump pan to replace my broken one. All cleaned up, sprayed and fitted.






And fitted shims between the liners (as it is the 2.5 engine)






The head is being skimmed today. Looking forward to putting it back together and fitting it.

[claymore]

Looks like it will be a nice engine.

[Dangerous Dave]

Thanks Colin, getting there with it slowly.

The paint probably won't last long, but hey ho I did my best with it.

[Biff]

Project rally eh? I'm a big rally fan & ex codriver/passenger.
Any plans for uprated awd? Looks like the engine is going to be a good spec.
Good to see you back mate.

[MoleT-5R]

wow nice build mate and that sump looks way better than the last time I saw it, bet you cleaned a good pile of cr#p out of it, plus I did spot the 'A' series head in blue and a turbo casting as they would say in those sort of circles if I am not mistaken.

[Wobbly Dave]

Did you balance the rods, crank and other internals?

[Dangerous Dave]

Project rally eh? I'm a big rally fan & ex codriver/passenger.
Any plans for uprated awd? Looks like the engine is going to be a good spec.
Good to see you back mate.

No plans to do anything with the AWD as yet, will be a daily driver. Can't wait to get back to some better grip.

wow nice build mate and that sump looks way better than the last time I saw it, bet you cleaned a good pile of cr#p out of it, plus I did spot the 'A' series head in blue and a turbo casting as they would say in those sort of circles if I am not mistaken.

It wasn't too bad to be honest, the broken one I've got has a shed load of crap in it, thank god I didn't have to clean that out
I can't remember what A series head it is, it's been sat there that long....

Did you balance the rods, crank and other internals?

I'm afraid I didn't get that done, it did cross my mind when you mentioned it at the Two Henry's last year, but I decided against it in the end.

Head came back today from it's skim, £20 and a cracking job. Now setting to work grinding the valves and putting it all back together.


Have had a problem with some of the upper spring washers. Three of them have got what seems like stress fractures


So I'm gonna speak to FRF tomorrow and see if I can get some replacements.

[MoleT-5R]

No plans to do anything with the AWD as yet, will be a daily driver. Can't wait to get back to some better grip.


It wasn't too bad to be honest, the broken one I've got has a shed load of crap in it, thank god I didn't have to clean that out
I can't remember what A series head it is, it's been sat there that long....


I'm afraid I didn't get that done, it did cross my mind when you mentioned it at the Two Henry's last year, but I decided against it in the end.

Head came back today from it's skim, £20 and a cracking job. Now setting to work grinding the valves and putting it all back together.


Have had a problem with some of the upper spring washers. Three of them have got what seems like stress fractures


So I'm gonna speak to FRF tomorrow and see if I can get some replacements.

just re-read the post and noticed it's the spring caps that have fractured so will you replace all of them just in case or just the fractured ones

[Dangerous Dave]

just re-read the post and noticed it's the spring caps that have fractured so will you replace all of them just in case or just the fractured ones

Well, a couple that are cracked were off my dad's engine from when I replaced the head gasket, I just swapped them for the ones on my engine. It seems the later engine ones are slightly thicker (not by much, one of them is starting to fracture)

I ran them all under the wire wheel to remove the crap and show up any issues.

Anyway, I have some new ones coming from Sweden (via FRF) so should have some in a week or so (bloody bank holidays)

[Santa]

Looking good Marty

[Dangerous Dave]

Little update, the washers arrived from Sweden

Valves all fitted, head painted and fitted to the block.





Now having trouble with the tappets. Because they have been sat for the best part of 3 years they have dried up and some have corroded. So I've binned the corroded ones and I'm currently taking apart the ones that are left to clean the crud out of the pistons. Involves a bit of force to get the pistons out but they eventually pop out.

[MoleT-5R]

Little update, the washers arrived from Sweden

Valves all fitted, head painted and fitted to the block.



Now having trouble with the tappets. Because they have been sat for the best part of 3 years they have dried up and some have corroded. So I've binned the corroded ones and I'm currently taking apart the ones that are left to clean the crud out of the pistons. Involves a bit of force to get the pistons out but they eventually pop out.

so worth dropping into a pot of oil when stripping the head down to keep them nice, whilst awaiting rebuild as mine will be this weekend, cheers for the heads up about them drying out and corroding

[Dangerous Dave]

Yup, deffo a preventative measure needed.

[Dangerous Dave]

More done.

Cams in, cover on, sprayed some stuff silver, cam belt on, turned the crank a few times all good.




One piece exhaust gasket modified to fit the older engine (extra studs at each end)



Japanifold on



PCV, inlet manifold and some other bits on.





Not much left to do, some bits I need to remove off the engine in the car to put on the new one.

[Santa]

More done.

Cams in, cover on, sprayed some stuff silver, cam belt on, turned the crank a few times all good.





One piece exhaust gasket



Japanifold on



PCV, inlet manifold and some other bits on.





Not much left to do, some bits I need to remove off the engine in the car to put on the new one.

Looking smart mate

[Dangerous Dave]

Have finally got the old engine out the car. Started stripping the AWD components and gearbox off. I've forgotten how heavy the gearbox is (the real reason is I'm not a fit as I was a few years ago).



Whilst draining the oil out the engine I noticed some machining on the intermediate section of the block. Seems this is to accommodate the angle gear (not even a fingers width clearance when in situ), so looks like I've got to get Pedro down with his angle grinder to attack the block

Looks like they've taken a lot off the bolt hole (compared to the other one on the right and on the new engine)

[MoleT-5R]

Have finally got the old engine out the car. Started stripping the AWD components and gearbox off. I've forgotten how heavy the gearbox is (the real reason is I'm not a fit as I was a few years ago).



Whilst draining the oil out the engine I noticed some machining on the intermediate section of the block. Seems this is to accommodate the angle gear (not even a fingers width clearance when in situ), so looks like I've got to get Pedro down with his angle grinder to attack the block

Looks like they've taken a lot off the bolt hole (compared to the other one on the right and on the new engine)

amazing these small changes that you would not normally even think about, these awd's really are a different breed...!!