The Time Has Come........

The Time Has Come........

Author
Discussion

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Sunday 19th June 2016
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Have finally decided to take the plunge and get the engine over to Dom, system has been pressurising and vent through the cap, diagnosed as head gasket. Whilst the engine is out thought I may as well have a full rebuild. Not opted for an upgrade as that is to far away from my budget, so having standard 3.6 rebuild.

Throttle bodies going off to be refurb'd whilst out and a chance to clean up the engine bay whilst the engine is at Powers.

Looking forward to having it back and run in, hope to notice something of a difference after spending so much, although the engine is pretty good other than the water loss and pressurising.

Anyone else out there had the standard rebuild and notice much of a change once the engine was back in?


potash4

118 posts

102 months

Sunday 19th June 2016
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Looking forward to see some posts on this, I'm on the original still and keep swaying between std n 4.3 mainly down to cost.

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Tuesday 21st June 2016
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I'll let you know what I find once all is back and sorted.

Although I'd love the 4.3/4.5 not only are they out of my budget,, but I'm also a stickler for originality and prefer to keep the car as standard as possible. (Justifying my inability to afford)

Will keep you posted.

Andy_mr2sc

1,223 posts

175 months

Tuesday 21st June 2016
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Hi Mark,
I can't give a back to back comparison as my engine was rebuilt before I bought the car but it has a standard Powers 4L rebuild. 25K miles later it is still strong on power, smooth, quiet and uses negligible oil. There is no smoke and the oil comes out clean when changed. What you are doing is definitely a safe bet.
I know you said you want originality but could your engine be rebuilt as a 4L without too much additional expense? That would give a better torque curve for drive ability without losing some of the revy nature of the long stroke engines. Dom does so many 4.3/4.5 conversions he must have a pile of standard 4L parts knocking about!

Andy

KillerJim

968 posts

202 months

Wednesday 22nd June 2016
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Does a 3.6 > 4.0 conversion (or rebuild) end up with an engine that is mechanically identical to a factory build 4.0L?

The main reason I ask is that I really liked the way the Sagaris accelerated, the delivery of power felt smooth and existed from a lower RPM.

So curious is the upgrade gives you exactly the same feel and response? does it require a remapping?

gruffalo

7,509 posts

225 months

Wednesday 22nd June 2016
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KillerJim said:
Does a 3.6 > 4.0 conversion (or rebuild) end up with an engine that is mechanically identical to a factory build 4.0L?

The main reason I ask is that I really liked the way the Sagaris accelerated, the delivery of power felt smooth and existed from a lower RPM.

So curious is the upgrade gives you exactly the same feel and response? does it require a remapping?
Depends what you specify and where you get it done.

Yes it will need mapping.

The 4.3 is worth the extra if you can stretch that far, this is what a friend of mine did, 3.6 to 4.3 it transformed the car and is really very good.





Edited by gruffalo on Wednesday 22 June 14:23

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Wednesday 22nd June 2016
quotequote all
I simply cannot justify the extra, plus i don't do track days or drive particularly hard 3.6/4.0 is plenty for me.

Just dropped the old girl off..


billynobrakes

2,675 posts

264 months

Wednesday 22nd June 2016
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KillerJim said:
Does a 3.6 > 4.0 conversion (or rebuild) end up with an engine that is mechanically identical to a factory build 4.0L?

The main reason I ask is that I really liked the way the Sagaris accelerated, the delivery of power felt smooth and existed from a lower RPM.

So curious is the upgrade gives you exactly the same feel and response? does it require a remapping?
What you are looking for is torque which gives you smoother acceleration at lower revs more like a V8, some like the revy 3.6 but I like the V8 type of engine which it seems you do as well, I went for the 4.5 and love it gives me exactly what I want low down driving ability low revs and loads of torque so when you hit the loud pedal it flies. After the rebuild and the 1000 mile run in period service you have to run it in for a further 1500 miles then get it remapped then you will notice the difference worth every penny to me but that's IMHO

Speed 3

4,486 posts

118 months

Thursday 23rd June 2016
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Andy_mr2sc said:
Hi Mark,
I can't give a back to back comparison as my engine was rebuilt before I bought the car but it has a standard Powers 4L rebuild. 25K miles later it is still strong on power, smooth, quiet and uses negligible oil. There is no smoke and the oil comes out clean when changed. What you are doing is definitely a safe bet.
I know you said you want originality but could your engine be rebuilt as a 4L without too much additional expense? That would give a better torque curve for drive ability without losing some of the revy nature of the long stroke engines. Dom does so many 4.3/4.5 conversions he must have a pile of standard 4L parts knocking about!

Andy
Must admit that thought crossed my mind but I guess he'd be reluctant to put a warranty on a mix of used parts that didn't reside previously in that block without doing a load of NDT and fettling ? Wonder if he scraps most or gives them back to the customer ?



Andy_mr2sc

1,223 posts

175 months

Thursday 23rd June 2016
quotequote all
Speed 3 said:
Andy_mr2sc said:
Hi Mark,
I can't give a back to back comparison as my engine was rebuilt before I bought the car but it has a standard Powers 4L rebuild. 25K miles later it is still strong on power, smooth, quiet and uses negligible oil. There is no smoke and the oil comes out clean when changed. What you are doing is definitely a safe bet.
I know you said you want originality but could your engine be rebuilt as a 4L without too much additional expense? That would give a better torque curve for drive ability without losing some of the revy nature of the long stroke engines. Dom does so many 4.3/4.5 conversions he must have a pile of standard 4L parts knocking about!

Andy
Must admit that thought crossed my mind but I guess he'd be reluctant to put a warranty on a mix of used parts that didn't reside previously in that block without doing a load of NDT and fettling ? Wonder if he scraps most or gives them back to the customer ?
When he rebuilds a standard 3.6 or 4.0 he uses the original crank and rods (unless they are the early rods) and he wouldn't know the history of the engine so I can't see them being scrapped (or given back for that matter) when decent parts are getting rare.

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Saturday 2nd July 2016
quotequote all
My twin engined mondeo....




It would appear that the previous owner decided to take the stat out..... Cheers, always wondered why it took a while to warm up and a small amount of valve wear. Hopefully collect in a couple of weeks. Now for some tidying up of the engine bay.

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
quotequote all
After a couple of weeks Dom has finally got round to starting it, due to work load and sickness a little later than hoped but it's in good hands and will be completed in time.

Couple of pics

Skimming:






Nice to get regular updates and pics, Cheers Dom

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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Amazing what some white spirit and elbow grease can do, was really pleased to see the chassis was in superb condition, have made up a heat shield to run along the passages side rails to protect it from the exhaust heat. Big thank you to Mat Smith for allowing me to spend the afternoon at his garage cleaning and tinkering.



Picking engine up from Dom Saturday morning and hopefully Mat will get it in and ready so I can still make Helmingham Hall next Sunday, all assuming that my throttles make it back from Andy in time.......

Edited by Milky400 on Thursday 28th July 21:35

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Saturday 30th July 2016
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Getting there...........





Hope to collect Thursday..... Seems as though it's been an age..

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
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Finally back where the old girl belongs. Treated to a clay, 3 stage polish and hard wax..... Ready for helmingham hall tomorrow

Engine feels so much smoother although a little tight. Only 870miled to go before I can exceed 3000rpm..









Just need to tidy up the fuel rail now........

Edited by Milky400 on Saturday 6th August 17:05

m4tti

5,426 posts

154 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
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Mark who did the coolant pipe round the head, Stevie wonder biggrin

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
quotequote all
Mat i bit the bullet and got the ACT pipe, Tim just called to say, he'd make it, and he meant it from the bottom of his heart.......

Milky400

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

177 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
The fuel rail was annoying me so I went in armed and dangerous




|http://thumbsnap.com/vpBGQ36P[/url]


will revisit in the colder months to finish the rest off.

Ps. Not sure why it's upside down

Edited by Milky400 on Saturday 20th August 17:49