AJP home rebuild

[itiejim]

Well, after about 4 months, I have come to the end of rebuilding my 4.5 AJP engine and will be trying to get it fitted later this week. I started this job due to a horrible rattling sound which I eventually traced to two broken gudgeon pins



I have stripped the engine down and carried out the following work:

Replace pistons, rings, small ends, big ends, all seals and O-rings, head gaskets.
To get over any future gudgeon pin issues I had a set of very high spec pins made by Pankle Racing (Weymouth Pin).
Skim clutch pressure plate, intermediate plate and flywheel and reline clutch.
Balance entire rotating assembly including clutch and end to end the con rods.
Remove power steering pump and replace with electric one.
Port match the exhaust manifolds.
Heads had already been ported and flowed, so I just cc'd them and reseated the valves. The heads were then skimmed to RR compression spec.

Whilst the engine was out I have also cleaned the chassis off and repainted it and all of the suspension bits with POR-15. Replaced all the heat shielding under the bonnet and added a load more Nimbus sheet in the transmission tunnel.

If anyone's interested I've posted a few photos below:

[Lefty Two Drams]

Good effort!



How long has it taken you (in terms of hours)?

[itiejim]

Hard to say, as I haven't counted. I'd guess at about 60 hours for the actual work of disassembly and assembly, plus all of the time running around to get bits machined, balancing done etc.

[THE BIG DOG]

I really envy people like yourself. Must make ownership more rewarding.
Good work

[caduceus]

Very nice indeed!
Looking forward to seeing what it makes when you dyno it..

[jammy_basturd]

That is sexy!

[itiejim]

It made 401 last time it was mapped by Joo and I'd be happy to see that again reliably! Though, with the exhaust work plus removing the PAS pump and the short induction kit I've now got, I'm secretly hoping for a bit more!

Spoke to Joo this morning and intend to get it up to him once it's run in.

[TheDetailDoctor]

It's very rewarding isn't it. Remeber bring my old (real) Mini Cooper S back to life, great feeling first time it moves under it's own power.

[JensenA]

Great work, I'm impressed and envious - that engine looks gorgeous.

[ridds]

Now that is a nice touch on the front cover. Good job!

[RichV6]

Well done sir. How many miles were on the engine before rebuilding?

Also I assume you had an engine manual, where did you get it from as if
I can get enough info I'm looking at a diy rebuild towards the year end.

[clive f]

nice one jim, bet you`ll feel pretty satisfied when you get it back in and fire it up

[itiejim]

ridds said:

Now that is a nice touch on the front cover. Good job!

Cheers, I also had the throttle bodies and air boxes done while I was at it. I'm usually more in favour of substance than appearance, however, hopefully the former will support the latter in this case!

[itiejim]

RichV6 said:

Well done sir. How many miles were on the engine before rebuilding?

Also I assume you had an engine manual, where did you get it from as if
I can get enough info I'm looking at a diy rebuild towards the year end.

Only 9000 miles since the last rebuild (by the previous owner) However, having stripped it down myself, I can safely say that it was built by people who shouldn't have been let anywhere near an engine. The actual cause of the rebuild (failed gudgeon pins) was due to the fact that they had shortened (badly) some spurious pins which then cracked. However, I also found a few other horrors along the way.

The good thing is that the company in question is no longer trading and I have now had the chance to do it properly!

Edited by itiejim on Wednesday 24th February 13:57

[itiejim]

clive f said:

nice one jim, bet you`ll feel pretty satisfied when you get it back in and fire it up

Thanks Clive - and for your help with getting the timing spot on. After chatting with both Andy at APM and Dom at Power - both very helpful - I settled on running equal overlap.

[AlexH22]

Could you PM me the company name? (could come in handy when looking at rebuild receipts for potential purchase- sounds a right nightmare on the cut down pins)

Was it much harder than taking apart a std 4 pot? and any manuals/ bibles so to speak of for procedure and torque settings?

[itiejim]

Alex, yhm.

[FarmyardPants]

Looks v sexy . Your front pulley seems to think so, too, judging by its erection

edit: fking iPhone doesn't understand it's vs its

Edited by FarmyardPants on Wednesday 24th February 17:25

[ridds]

FarmyardPants said:

Looks v sexy . Your front pulley seems to think so, too, judging by its erection

edit: fking iPhone doesn't understand it's vs its

Edited by FarmyardPants on Wednesday 24th February 17:25

Sorry had to quote that for comedy value. front pulley erection? wtf

[headcase]

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