Tonight I have been ...

[Adrian Southgate]

Dismantling my spare engine block.

 

As you can see it's now in bits, all carefully laid out on a clean board. What you cant see clearly is crud, oily rust particles which have crept in everywhere, Dave is bringing me some engine wash tomorrow to clean up this mess with. By this time tomorrow I hope to have a pile of nice clean parts to put back together.

The engine block is going to be washed off and tidied up before being painted, then I can strat to put it all back together all being well. More photo's to follow tomorrow night.

[Big Vern]

No increase in hp just because you've increased the capacity. HP isall about airflow, increasing the bore by such a tiny amount w3ill have no increase in power and then increase in torque is so small its usually less than the dyno error that measures it. ( assumed rolling road ) Mechanical fam is worth 5 - 8 HP depending on which one you have. A well set up twin choke and air filter with a decoked head, decent exhaust system and reduced parasitic loads such as the fan and a 2.0L pinto should give up 112hp at the flywheel compared to 98 for the stock engine.

I've built all out 2.0L racers and same spec 2.1L's and there's only 3 or 4HP to be gained when you up at 190HP !

[Adrian Southgate]

Thanks James. I assume that just bringing the engine back close to original, wear free state will also bring the possible HP back up as well. We all know engines loose power when worn...thanks to Clarkson and Co.

Progress report then. Thanks to Mr Taylor for doing most of the graft while i watched and learned stuff about engines. Block honed slightly and wiped out, bores looking good. block washed out with Daves super mix which does a really good job, better than gunk or jizer any day of the week. All the bearings have been removed and cleaned and as far as Dave and I could tell have never been run, all the other internal bits have been cleaned and prepped but due to the lack of a piston ring compressor we have settled for refitting the crank. Yesterday when I took it out I had problems turning the engine with a big spanner, After re-assembly it turns over by hand using the small sprocket for grip, silky smooth and silent. Oil everywhere due to an enthusiastic oil can but its in the right places. 

I worked out I have had this block longer than the green legerra, it was given to me when I helped out with the orange Sierra back in 2003 and has been moved around the garages and lockups for ten years, I'm glad I didn't bin it as a rust bucket last year...

I don't use a mechanical fan as it won't fit between the front of the block and the cross rail without fouling, binned it and got a Fiesta electric one on the front of the rad. The spec looks something like this if I use the parts from the existing engine, just swapping them straight over.

2l block, +1mm pistons (are these normally alloy? they look to light in colour for steel), reground crank as bearing shells are stamped -0.05, Conrods show signs of some work being done but don't know if they have been balanced or not as the scales are crap. Standard Sierra EFI head, standard valves and springs, re-profiled camshaft of unknown make (will try to find out) this has a noticable kick at about 3000 RPM even in the existing Legerra engine. Standard inlet manifold with 32/36 twinchoke and a K&N oval filter. Sierra exhaust manifold marked with a 1984 casting mark, single outlet not the double one. RS alloy sump and pickup pipe as the engine site 2 inches lower than a standard pinto. Completely horizontal drive train from front of the crank to the end of the propshaft. We re-made the RS 2000 alloy engine mount supports when the chassis was modified for the 5 speed to bring the engine down into a level plane with the rest of the drive train. My first legerra nearly touched the inside of the bonnet with exactly the same manifold and carb setup, on this I have 2 inches minimum clearance.

I have a spare flywheel, is it worth getting it lightened to reduce the engine spin up times? Will it make that much difference to the general balance of the engine?

Crankshaft bolt came out using manpower to hold the crank and a air gun wheel wrench on setting 2, Thanks Mike :-)

[James Doulton]

1mm on the diameter will take the bore to 91.8mm and will raise the capacity by 45cc to 2039cc. That's worth about 2.25bhp, so about the same as removing the mechanical fan which is worth about 2 bhp on a Pinto.

[Adrian Southgate]

Oh to be bored... :-)   

The Legerra has been knocking for about 18 months, i've nursed it until I got the Sierra running but when I drove it last month it was so apparent that the bottom end needed doing. The block i'm working on has been exposed to the elements for some time as it was directly under the worst of the leaks in the garage. It didn't get water directly in it but the ground around it was a large puddle so it got very damp and suffered from a lot of condensation. I'm hoping it will clean up inside with a glaze breaker, all the parts I have removed look like they will clean up ok with a soft scotchbrite and a large dose of Dave's special petrol/derv mix. 

Once the block is rebuilt I can get the legerra engine out, swap all the bits over and put the rebuilt unit back in, its the only way to find out if its good enough to use I guess. It will be an educational experience as I have never taken this many bits out of an engine before.

At worst I hope to have a running pinto that doesn't knock, what i'd really like is for the +1mm pistons and the warm camshaft to make the most of everything the DGAV can force down the manifold :-)

Anyone got a clue as to what the +1mm pistons will do to the capacity of the engine? Math is not my strong point and I haven't a clue.

[Adrian Southgate]

I've got plenty to keep me busy as I had a collapsed wheel bearing on thursday night, got that to sort when the rain stops, plenty of engine block bits to clean until reinforcements arrive and I'll have a go with the air wrench before drilling bits of metal.It can't be that tight as I only used a spanner to do it up... but it was in the block then and stable.

[Dave Adams]

not much help in Adrian's situation though.

[Dave Adams]

it wouldn't be first time i have jammed a spanner in the engine bay on the crank nut and hit the starter......brutal but effective.

[Dave Adams]

i have a 340lb/ft half inch drive airgun, from when i was a mechanic, but it needs a lot of air to run it at full torque.

[Dave Adams]

shock....put good fitting spanner on bolt and give a solid whack with a decent hammer....does the trick 9 times out of 10

[Adrian Southgate]

Low torque setting and get a firm grip on the crank ya reckon Mike?