Exhaust exit from bonnet

Still focused around the bonnet area of the build, attention turned to the aperture which needs cutting in the bonnet for the exhaust manifold to come through.

First thing was to fit the manifold into position using the stock ford gasket and bolts sourced from GBS (Note the stock OEM bolts are too long for the GBS manifold). Simple job end result thus:

now that was in position I could start taking some measurements and datums for where the exhaust exits the bonnet relative to the chassis. I used a piece of paper to mark and make a template which in turn I transposed that onto the side of the bonnet. 

Clearly marked it was a case of taking a drill bit and drilling alot of holes around the perimeter of the the cutting and then using a junior hacksaw blade sawing through each hole to cut out the unwanted piece of metal.

Once removed it was a case of taking a metal file and cleaning up the outline and making a nice smooth finish. Apply some edging strip and one aperture cut int he bonnet to provide an exit for the exhaust manifold.

NB - the eagle eyed readers among you will note the bonnet has suddenly been wrapped in this sequence of photos! I adopted the carbon fibre look for the bonnet and when doing it forgot to take the photos, so only the finished article to note in the pictures. 

Inlet Manifold to Plenum

jumping around the build somewhat now... Clutch, front brakes and now back to the engine bay and a re-visit to the plenum.

The GBS plenum needs mating to the modified inlet manifold. This is achieved by gluing the two components together using the Polyurethane Sealant thus preventing the plenum drawing in air through the sides of the plenum rather than through the throttle.  

It is worth getting a selection of "G" clamps to hand for this task as they are invaluable for ensuring the two components are seated together in a flat manner thus maintaning a tight air seal between the parts.

I also used some nuts and bolts as extra pressure to the sealant whilst it cured.

Don't use too much sealant, a nice even smear across the face of the inlet manifold should suffice, when you mate the two parts together ensure none of the sealant seaps into the inlet openings, wipe away with a white spirit soaked cloth.

Its a case of being patient and leaving to dry for a few days before undoing the "G" clamps and nuts and bolts.

Whilst the unit was gluing together, I also fitted the air temperature sensor as I noted access with a spanner to this is restricted once it is fixed onto the engine block.

Inlet Manifold modification

In the engine strip note I referred to the inlet manifold needing to be modified in order to accept the GBS Plenum. You can do this yourself sand take a hacksaw to the plastic and cut away, however unless you know where to cut exactly it could prove a costly error so i err'd on the side of caution and sent the original recently dismantled manifold back to GBS for them to do the job properly with the correct equipment.

As you can see from the attached photo the freshly cut manifold loses all of its injected moulded pipework and you are left with e a nice flat face onto which the plenum will sit.

So this piece can now go back onto the engine, re-fit the injectors which simply push back in, locate onto the engine block and secure with the original fixings. Again ensure the holes are tapped over to stop debris being ingested into the engine.

Engine Part 2 strip down and prep

Seems such a shame to gut the engine of its dignity especially since it has not turned a wheel in anger... But this needs to be done, so out with the socket set and spanners!

first off was the inlet manifold and injectors.

The manifold needs to be "customised" in order to accept the GBS throttle bodies. Now on paper this is a simple task of sawing off the moulded pipework from the manifold thus leaving the inlet manifold face to be refitted back to the engine. However not wishing to mess this up GBS will do this for you so I need to strip the manifold of all its bits and return to GBS for them do the modification.


therefore I also removed from the inlet manifold the IACV  and the IAC valve. If this has been done correctly you will be left with the injector rail, an IACV and IAC valve



Next attention turns to the exhaust manifold off with that!



Not sure there is any use for this in the build so looks surplus to requirements... maybe a future ebay disposal

Finally removed the burn chamber which is covered with a breather blanking plate supplied by GBS

In all cases, exposed holes were covered with masking tape, any debris, screws accidentally dropped through the holes will spell the end

Engine Part 1

Well, I finally bit the bullet and ordered myself a brand new Ford Zetec engine from Kitspares, after much deliberation and shopping around plus hearing rumours that supplies of Zetec were drying up I placed my order and a shinny new engine was duly delivered on a pallet.

To make life a little easier I built a simple dolly on castors to move the engine around the garage floor, this was more useful for gaining some space back as the pallet took up alot of room preventing the wife's mini being parked in the garage!

A few pictures:

Before it can be installed some prep work needs to be carried out namely:

remove the inlet manifold / injectors

remove the exhaust manifold 

remove the fire trap

Fit spigot bearing

Replace filter with short filter

In addition to the above removal / replacement the following will also need fitting:

Alternator kit

Water rail kit

Throttle body (Single body plenum)

Gearbox!

Replacement inlet manifold to accept the GBS throttle body