New 350i owner

[ralph350i]

Hi Guys am still here lol
Well i finished the install on Friday and on Saturday i installed the fuel pump, but found the live feed was not working, so today i tried to find the feed, but no luck, so had to run a live from the battery just to get it started, i,ll install a feed with a switch and fuse hopefully tomorrow.

So with that sorted, i set the timing as i always do and the b*****d carb catches on fire:lol:lol:lol great, so i time the car again and again and again and finally i get somewhere, only now to find that the lifers are stuck and knocking bad:mad, yet another bloody job ( see video), any ideas guys????

I also need to sort out the bleeding of the coolant as the car is getting toooooooooooooooo hot, how the hell do you bleed these engines?? do i just fill it up and turn the heaters on????

Still its alive and running ok apart from the above, throttle response is good and i did drive the car down the drive and it felt pretty quick it all off 50ftrofl:rofl

So my hands are completely mashed and this car is turning out to be a missonroflrofl, still for me this is a first, so in someways am pretty pleased, bring on another day:thumbsup:thumbsup

Edited by ralph350i on Sunday 8th April 19:57

[ralph350i]

Jack Valiant said:

Ralph, "burping" the V8 is always interesting and there are various views on the best way to get all the air out of the system.

I do the following.... Run the car up to reasonably warm temps and either then run it up onto some ramps or jack the front of the car up onto axle stands. Leave the swan neck cap on and run the car with the main coolant reservoir cap off and watch the air bubbles work their way through. You may need to do this a few times but generally I have found that this works well fella

Chris

Cheers Chris
i,ll give this a shot tomorrow mate

Cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

Mike Brewer said:

Hope you get there Ralph.You deserve to good on you mate.Mike

Hi Mike
hope your well mate, i have to say mate this car is now pissing me off big time, these bloody tappets are driving me mad and for the life of me i dont understand why this has happen, when they were completely fine before, sorry mate rant over lol

cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

Hi Mate..Sorry to hear that its starting to pee you off, You have been trying to sort it now for a while!!..Ive been trying to find an answer for you by googling the problem..Im still looking..Hopefully someone can help you out..Chin up fella..Ziga

Cheers Zig
Thats very kind of you mate, small rant mate, but am gonna try a 50% ATF & 50%20W50 oli and see if that helps, but they are knocking really bad mate, still weekend is near and i,ll have another go

cheers

ralph

[ralph350i]

Mike Brewer said:

I feel for you Ralph....But i am sure you will sort it.I am still digging .Just started digging foundations on my weeks holiday lol.Stay with it mate ....Mike

Mike
Any room in them foundation for a red tvr 350i mate lol just thing you could claim to have built your house with TVR foundations lol

[ralph350i]

Wedg1e said:

You are having a laugh, aren't you? The RV8 should be absolutely fine on straight 20W/50.

The lifters wouldn't suddenly start clattering for no reason, have you actually got oil pressure on the guage? If so I'd start by having a bloody good look to make sure one or more of the pushrods hasn't come out of its socket on the rocker arm.

Hi wedg1e
lol mate, its a know way to free up tappets mate, am not running the car on ATF.
Oil pressure on tickover is around the 40 mark and i looked in the rocker covers to see if i have dropped anything and all looks ok, so it seems that i may have dropped something into the inlet port or in the valley, great, i,ll pull it apart again tonight and hopefully find something, please god

cheers

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well pulled of the manifold and carb, removed the valley gasket and rocket cover and used a small camera and magnet and had a good look around and nothing so its all back together again and i,ll re-time the engine and run it up and see what happens

cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

JMF894 said:

Fingers crossed for you here in Norfolk bud

Jimbo

Cheers Jimbo
i could do with a bit of luck mate

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

Hi Ralph..I hope its not the cam!..Its sounds like your having a tough time of it mate..I hope you can sort it as it would be nice to see you at an Ace cafe or park meet...And make it to this years BBWF..Fingers crossed for you mate...Ziga

Hi Zig
Yeah would be nice mate and i think my lack of knowledge is the main problem at the moment mate, still i think this has still got to be a timing issue as the engine run fine before i installed the carb, i,ll get a mechinic over today or tomorrow to set it up properly and take it from there.

Gv
thanks mate i,ll call you today around lunch time.

Many thanks

Ralph

[ralph350i]

Hi Adam and Zig
Thanks guys for the info much appreciated, been out this evening and fixed the leaking fuel pump, bloody fitting lol, so just an oil change, new coolant and new plugs and shes good to go at last

Cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

If all well mate, why not, is that in the evening Zig????

[ralph350i]

Well i was having a good day, found and sorted the live feed to the new fuel pump, fixed the relay board back, changed the oil and coolant and sorted out the remaining hose connectors and then all hell broke lose, bloody timing been driving me mad, i did have it running, but it was still knocking very badly and would not rev as per the last vid, still i,ll try again tomorrow, but am getting near the stage were this engine is gonna get a 14lb hammer right though its block

cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

Hi Ralph...Sorry to hear you are having all this trouble getting it right mate...Probably more than you should have..Maybe an option is to look for a reconditioned or good running RV8 to put in it for now so that you can enjoy it for a bit and give yourself a break..You could then either exchange your engine or strip and rebuild it in your own time..At least you will have a running car that you could pop around in...There are SD1 engines for sale on fleabay at silly prices and you wont need any anchillaries or looms..Just a thought mate...Its a proper head fk when its like this...Good luck mate..Ziga

Hi Zig
yeah mate its doing my head in, i would not mind if it had the problem when i brough the car, but its just happened out of nowhere mate, i did have a look on ebay and a guy in chelmsford has a lump for £175.00 and will take an offer and i have a feeling that one of the valves could be bent mate, lets see what tomorrow brings and if its still knocking the heads are coming off and i,ll take a look, cheers mate ralph

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well after a lot of re-search in to timing and my engine knocking am pretty sure the lifters are stuck, so it's time to remove the rockers and lift them out and check, it looks like a pretty easy job so hopefully get this done on saturday and am getting closer to the poor running issues which i will deal with once the knocking has been sorted, as have found numous test on the dizzy as i think this is an ignition issue as it cant be anything else as i dont have the efi.

Cheers


Ralph

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

Hi Mate..Any luck with the mechanic you mentioned?

Hi Zig
He's booked in for the 1st May mate, but if i can get it sorted before and save me some money, then no harm in trying, have finally got my head around the timing and how the dizzy works, so as long as its just the lifers that have stuck i should be home and dry, he saids lol, so hopefully finish that Saturday and GV (Andy) has kindly offered to pop over sunday to check my carb install.
You guys have all been soooooo helpfull it's unreal, so a massive thank you from me for giving me the will to continue.

cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

Morning Guys
Well it time to rip the engine apart again lol, lets hope it as easy as a stuck lifter

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
well its been along day, firstly removing all the hydraulic lifters, pulling them apart and testing each one which to my supprise was pretty easy, the only fault i could find on a few, was the small bearing fitted to the inner sleve had become stuck in which a good spray of WD40 did the trick, so all back together again, cleaned and gapped plugs, set timing, yep i got it right first time lol and it fired up but unfortunately the ticking is still there but nowhere near as bad and the engine is running pretty sweet for the first time, so at last some progess.

My exhaust is blowing really badly for some reason and am still having problems with overheating, my heater is blowing out hot air???, but there must be an air lock somewhere which i have to sort out, have also read that my exhaust blow could be cause a knocking noise, so tomorrow i,ll check it out and get it sealed, so all in all am pretty happy with my days work and if it was not overheating i would have been driving it today, nevermind hopefully get it sorted in the morning and take it for a drive.

Ps looks like my day just got better as this could be my overheating issues
http://how-to-build-a-pilgrim-sumo.wikidot.com/eng...

Cheers

Ralph

Edited by ralph350i on Saturday 21st April 20:53

[ralph350i]

Cheers Adam/ Mike/ Zig

Well made a bit more progress today thanks to GV ( ANDY) popping over and helping me go though my carb conversion and sorting out my overheating, so a massive thank you Andy it was really nice to meet you mate.
Also tried fixing the exhausts, but there still blowing, so i,ll get some new gaskets this week and see if that fixes the issue.
Unforunately the knocking is still present which does sound like the cam, but i have a guy coming around on Tuesday who will confirm hopefully what the issue is and i,ll take it from there, still am pretty please as am getting nearer, i only wish there was more hours in the day to work on the car.

Cheers Guys

Ralph

[ralph350i]

908glen said:

Hi Ralph.
I have just noticed you are in Surrey, where are you exactly. I have a 350i and have done lots of work to it so know my way around one pretty well by now. If you need some help i may be able to pop over sometime, or just come over for a wedgey chat and a cuppa!

Cheers Glen

Hi Glen
Cheers for the offer, i do have a mechinc coming today, but its always nice to meet a fellow wedge owner, i live in purley mate just down the A22 or A23 near the big tesco's, drop me an email and as i say would great to have a look around another wedge and have a chat.

cheers

Ralph

[ralph350i]

JMF894 said:

Any verdict yet Ralph?

Jimbo

Hi Jimbo
Well made a bit of a pigs ear regarding my dates lol, Tvr mechinic is booked for the 1st May which i thought was last Monday, still have a another guy coming this friday evening to have a listen, so hopefully some news before the weekend
thanks for asking

cheers

Ralph