Jim Bowen Corrado VR6 - New engine build

[culshaw 1]

ok, fingers crossed for you pal

[robrado974 1]

Hope all goes well for you Jon .

[Jim 1]

Good luck with it mate :)

[Jim Bowen 1]

Cheers guys, there is niggle in my head that something is going to go wrong with the engine again. But can only try and see what happens.

 

Some pics, everyone loves a pic right?

 

Engine turned up, been in a container up at a friends unit for a couple of years.

 

Gave it a degrease and steam clean, not going to bother painting it.

 

 

Fitted the alloy cam cover, have put new lifters in and swapped over the timing gear from my other engine as it was all new stuff.

 

Car got to see a bit of sunshine

 

The mess, can see the engine on the left, ended up fitting most bits to it, had to stop as need new flywheel bolts, could probably be ready to fit it to car next weekend.

 

Thanks dad for the garage!!!

[Jim 1]

On the plus side, you'll know the VR6 engine inside out after this debacle!

[Jim Bowen 1]

Am interested to see how this one sounds, as this is the one that had the top end tappy noise we dislike. But it had the 263 cams at the time and i've just put standards back in.

[Jim 1]

I don't want to break your morale any further on this but returning to OE cams, new tappets and even a new head (was replaced during the last rebuild) and that damn noise persisted on mine.

 

The strangest thing about it all though was that the noise wouldn't be present initially for the first 50-100 miles or so and would gradually return, as the tappets broke in. I'd genuinely give my right testicle to understand what causes it to happen on some VR's and not all of them and more importantly how to fix it once and for all.

[easypops 8]

Fingers crossed it goes ok mate, I love all the pictures as I'm sure at some point I'll be at similar points and to be able to see stuff is such a help:)

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Am interested to see how this one sounds, as this is the one that had the top end tappy noise we dislike. But it had the 263 cams at the time and i've just put standards back in.

 

FYI my VR didnt seem to sound any different on startup to OE with the 263's installed

 

it has always sounded quite loud & tappy on start up but the tappy settles down after a short while, this is usually around the time when the ECU eases off the choke & revs settle to normal tick over

[Jim Bowen 1]

The funny thing is, my new 2016 fiesta with 11k on the clock makes a similar tappy noise. Ford just say its characteristic of the engine and no action needed, its something to do with a high pressure fuel pump on side of engine. Makes me feel less worried about corrado noises :lol:

[Jim 1]

With the Fiesta, isn't it just the injectors? I used to get it on my ST too - but it was definitely nowhere near the volume that I got it on the VR.

[Jim Bowen 1]

My fiesta is the 3 cylinder 1.0

[Jim Bowen 1]

Been at it all day, got engine in. It's a bit of a fiddle on my own but manage it with a bit of patience.

 

 

Just stopped for the evening, should be running by Monday

[mic_VR 3]

Wow, great work mate.

[robrado974 1]

Great stuff !.

[Harrier 1]

Good work, nice garage to work from :)

[dbpvr6 0]

Excellent work!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jim 1]

Eggsellent :)

[Jim Bowen 1]

Another day at it. Started about 11.30am, the little bits seem to take the longest, i did machine polish the bumper before fitting and have been spraying underbody wax on everything as i fit it together.

 

 

Got to fit an oil filter and then should be ready to start.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Fired it up today, had a few issues but got them sorted. Somehow had the + and - connections to starter motor touching each other, so went connected the battery got a lot of spark and i presume the starter motor going mental, sounded like the aux pump whirring.

 

Was rather loud at first and ran really lumpy, but sorted itself out, i turned it off and let it cool and started it again and it was much better, quiet and smooth idle, but when the cooling fans kicked it it started to rev itself up, and then let out a big pop/backfire that seemed to come out the air filter (bmc) and then died. Restarted ok, but turned it off and left it for during the evenings next week. Am sure it just needs a long drive.

 

Thinking about disconnecting one of the spal fans, seems to put a big load on battery when both fans kick in

[robrado974 1]

I'm sure you're right Jim , the ECU needs to learn . A good run will do it the world of good .

[Jim 1]

I really hope for your sake it's something simple to resolve, and not indicative of some other problem or gremlin to resolve!

[Jim Bowen 1]

Cheers Jim, I think its all ok, starts up fine and idles quite smooth, i've disconnected one of the Spal fans for now.

 

Not really done much else, doing little things like sticking trim back on, indicators etc.

 

Also painted one of the last bits of bodywork that was annoying me. Had a few rust spots/bubbles in the paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needs a polish to get rid of a bit of orange peel. Need a chip fixed in the new windscreen (not sure how i got some many chips in it already, hardly driven it).. Will probably get mot done in a couple of weeks time.

[Jim 1]

Are you just rattle canning it, or do you have a compressor / spray gun? Literally had my first go at a bit of a rust repair on the BMW last weekend and whilst the spot isn't rusty any more, I can't say much more complimentary about my spray work!

[Jim Bowen 1]

Just rattle cans, i don't want to fork out for a respray yet. TBh when it is respray time i think i'll buy all the gear and do it myself. I just don't believe other people you pay are as enthusiastic/anal about it as i would be.