Front cover oil leak

Since I rebuilt the engine I've had an small oil leak somewhere around the front cover. It has not been any problems at all with normal street usage, but after a track day the the leaked oil makes a mess from the front cover and rearwards.

I had my dampers dismounted for another reason and now I had plenty of space in front of the engine. I removed the starter motor to be able to lock the flywheel with a chisel when removing and tightening the front pulley bolt.

I used CRC Gasket Remover to  remove the old sealant a bit easier.


New pulley bolt, new front mainshaft seal, new diamond washer, new bead of RTV sealant.

Because the front pulley was removed I had to set the cam timing again. Easy when you've done it before.

Dry sump blanking cap

New vs old

On the EU4 CSR 200 there is a hose between the external dry sump oil tank and the dry sump. When I rebuilt my engine I changed to an open oil system, and that hose was no longer needed and the unused hole in the sump needed to be blanked.

The problem is that it uses a very unconventional thread: MF22x2.0

After many failed attempts to find a fitting blanking cap I finally went directly to the source - Titan Motorsport, and of course they had one.

So for the record, the part number is:  A1016510200A3


For both theirs and my convenience I ordered it from Burton, who in turn got it from Titan.

Gelleråsen end of season

Beautiful crisp autumn day at Gelleråsen. Crisp indeed. In the morning the temperature was -4 degrees C and there was frozen water on the puddles. I was running an old and square set of slicks, and the grip was close to nothing until the afternoon when the temperature rise to about +5.

It was several years ago I visited Gelleråsen and I can't say I know the circuit very well. It was lots of traffic and mixed slow and fast cars, and for some reason some of the slower cars refused to move aside when someone faster came from behind. One cars even used to block me. Why is  that? It is so easy to leave some room, and it it nothing worse than to wait the entire lap until the straight. At the end of the day I got a couple of clear laps and managed a good 1:10.1 lap! I'm sure that time can be improved by several seconds with some practice and better circumstances, but it is a fast time and I'm really satisfied.

Sleep tight

 A wash, a last short ride to dry the brakes and into the garage for the winter. No big plans for this winter, at least not yet...

Mantorp wear and tear

An humid day at Mantorp with rain in the morning and dry after lunch. One of those days when nothing felt good. I pushed harder and harder but the lap times stayed high and today's best time was 1:23.0. A Camaro cup team confirmed that the track was slower than usual because of slippery rubber from drift cars the days before. Still I didn't feel like I drove as good as I could have.

A couple of other things didn't go very well either.

Cracked wing with zip tie

First my right front wing went loose and cracked. Back in the pit I drilled a small hole and put it back with a zip tie. The next lap the left wing went loose...

The oil catch tank got full and spew oil in the engine bay. I don't know how that is possible but that is what happened.

The exhaust manifold sealant didn't hold and the leak is back. Another winter project.

The orange colour is where the pad material ends.

Rear brake pads worn out completely. I have ordered a new rear set of Pagid RS4-2 (1158 for my calipers). When the front pads wear out I'll try a different brand and see how they compare. I'm also considering installing a pressure reducer valve to rears and use the same compound on both ends. (Right now I use Pagid RS14 on the fronts and RS4-2 on the rears)

The A frame bushings are worn. At least I think so. When I brake I can see the wings move much more than they did before. I'm thinking of replacing them with Powerflex bushings during the winter, but they sure are expensive!?

One more trackday before the winter, this time at Gelleråsen. Lets hope it doesn't rain.

Exhaust gasket leak

It seems I can't get the exhaust manifold to seal against the head no matter what I do. I have even bought new primaries. It still leaked.

Now I have removed the gasket completely and tried to seal it with this stuff. No leaks, but lets see how long it lasts.

Min Stora Dag charity event

Min Stora Dag, or in english something like "My Special Day", is a non-profit charity organisation that tries to fulfil wishes from very sick children. The last three years they have organised an event on Mantorp where sportscar owners drives them around a racetrack. This sunny autumn day it was more than 100 very nice and fast cars that have come to the race track, and about 100 sick children with their families.

My car was very popular and I drove lots of children and their parents. Some older children asked me to "Go as fast as you can!" and it was always fun to see them shaking when getting out of the car, and then see if I could make their parents even more terrified than their children :-) Just to be clear - I never pushed any limits this day. An accident on a day like this would be disastrous.

One of the strongest impressions were this blond little girl Sigrid. I asked her if she wanted to go slowly or fast around the track and she responded "I know these are very fast cars. So please start off slowly and maybe you can go faster after a while." We agreed that she'd use the thumbs-up sign if she wanted to go faster, and thumbs-down if she wanted me to slow down.

When we got out on the fast straight she raised her hands above her head, just to feel the wind, and I could see she laughed loudly inside her helmet.

Back in the pit she laughed and said it was fantastic, and the big smile on her face was enough of reward for me for the the whole day. My body shivered for several minutes just for seeing how happy she was and how much she enjoyed it.

A great day and very rewarding, for everyone I think!

A day like this it would have been so much fun just to go around with my camera taking pictures, but I was so busy driving I didn't take a single shot. These are from various sources and I hope no-one mind that I'm using them here.

Yearly MOT - No problems, no worries!

Did two changes to the engine before the test:

• Put a hose from the catch tank into the airbox (closed oil ventilation system)
• Changed target lambda to 1.00 on low load and enabled closed loop lambda control.

At about 2500 rpm

Progress

Sometimes it is fun to look back and see how much progress has been made over the years. I'll never forget  my first track day with my Caterham. I'd traded in my Porsche 996 C2 for a Caterham and was terrified and a bit regretful because the Caterham experience was so much more in every way and I was not sure I was ready for it. I'm the first to admit I was not very good at driving back then.

2008-09 Green 1:38.87
First visit. Windscreen, terrified. CR500

2009-08 Brown 1:30.76
Getting confident, got some tutoring by a professional driver. CR500

2011-10 Red 1:27.69
Best time with old engine, ACB10

2012-08 Blue 1:21.78
New engine and second hand slicks

Over the years that is an improvement of 17 seconds!

Mantorp - slicks vs CR500

Mantorp, again. A new personal best, again - 1.21,8!!! That is 1.5 seconds faster than last time, and I haven't changed anything except put on a new set of (second hand) rubber. I never thought I could reach laptimes like that!

At the end of the day I mounted a set of standard 15" rims with Avon CR500 tires just to see the difference compared to the Dunlop Radical slicks. 1.24,8 or 3 seconds. That is a big difference, no questions about it, but with the CR500 the car suffered tremendously from understeer and I think the difference would be less if I took the time to adjust the suspension to suit the tires better. Not to mention tires with better dry performance than CR500.

Slicks in red, CR500 in blue.

I also put zip-ties on the damper rods and that confirmed my suspicion that the front dampers bottoms out onto the bump stops. I don't know if it is while cornering or while braking, but that is something I should look into next time.

Riding on the bump stops is not necessary a bad thing. Read an article here.

OptimumLap simulation software

I got an invite to test a new software for simulation of how fast a car can run one lap on a race track, called OptimumLap. It uses a simplified model of how a car behaves on a race track, but according to the company, despite the simple model it gives results that are accurate within 10%.

I have only good things to say about the software, and if you get the chance I suggest that you should try it out. Atleast for me it was a bit of an eye opener.

In the software I constructed seven variations of my car, and run it in the simulator on two Swedish tracks. The simulated lap times was a bit from my real world actual lap times, but it is still very useful for finding out what changes to the car could make a significant improvement.

Mantorp - A wide track with a long straight and high average speed.

1. Current setup: 85,72s
2. 10% more tire grip: -2.43s
3. 160N more downforce @100 km/h: -1.05s
4. 10% more power at rear wheels: -0.80s
5. 10% less drag: -0.28s
6. 30 kg less weight: -0.26s
7. All of the above: -5.66s

Gotland Ring - A very technical track with hills and cambered corners.

1. Current setup: 83.81s (I wish...)
2. 10% more tire grip: -1.55s
3. 160N more downforce @100 km/h: -1.34s
4. 10% more power at rear wheels: -0.31s
5. 10% less drag: -0.19s
6. 30 kg less weight: -0.04s
7. All of the above: -4,60s

The results are quite interesting.

• Tyre grip is very important, of course. No big news here.
• Some extra horses would be nice on Mantorp, but expensive and 10% more hp is a lot.
• Working on reducing drag is nice, but not that much to work on.
• Reducing weight does almost nothing on Gotland Ring!
• Adding downforce does a lot! Over a second on both tracks, that is really something that could be improved!

Adding downforce to a seven type car is almost as swearing in church, but what if it is a wing that could be removed when not on a track? I have no idea of how much downforce a wing could provide, but to me 160N at 100km/h doesn't sound completely unreasonable? Of course the drag would increase as well, but it would still be an easy and cost effective way to loose some lap time. I believe a front wing would be most beneficial since I use to experience some understeer on high speed corners, probably because of lift.

A quick Google search gave me this: Levante front wing 

I'll start looking for options...

Paddle shift

Here is a can't miss video of a CSR 260 with Geartronics Paddle shift and a straight cut Quaife 60G 6 speed sequential gearbox.



Unfortunately the price tag for a system like this is up at the roof, and personally I'm not sure I could live with the gearbox noise even if my car is quite track oriented.

Mantorp and two new sets of slicks

Back to Mantorp. It may appear as it is the only track I go to, and yes, that is sadly true.  I wish I could go to more tracks but Mantorp is both convenient and economical for me. 

Increased front neg camber with 0.5 degrees (two turns).
Little more tyre pressure than last time. (about 22-23 psi. 19.5 psi cold.)

And I shaved off another big second from my personal best! - 1.23,3.

I ended the day early because I didn't want to ruin a good day by breaking something.

I found a new source for second hand Radical slicks from whom I picked up two complete sets on the way home.

Fuel injector voltage compensation

I've noticed that the engine sound changes when the cooling fan kicks in. Not a big deal, I thought, but now I understand it is something worth a bit of attention.

Injector "dead time" is the time between pulse and fuel is delivered. What makes it a little bit complicated is that the dead time is not only voltage dependent but also fuel pressure dependent.

When the fan kicks in, or the headlights are lit, the battery voltage is dropped. The ECU have a voltage compensation map that add some time to the fuel map. If that map isn't correct the engine rpm may drop, causing the alternator to generate less current, even less fuel, and the engine could eventually stall. If we use closed loop lambda control the ECU would stable the engine within a second, but what would be written to the long term fuel map?

In my case the compensation map set up was not correct for my injectors.

The easiest way to measure injector dead time is to have the engine running and measure the lambda. Then remove the alternator control cable to drop the voltage about 2v, and see if the lambda changes. Adjust the map until the lambda reading is as before the alternator was disabled.

A more accurate way is to start the engine, remove the battery and connect a variable voltage source, and then disable the alternator and measure lambda at different voltage levels and adjust the map accordingly.

Or, you could do as I did and Google the injector's specs.

Bosch "Green giant" injectors at 4 bar, MBE 9A4:

It worked.

Mantorp

Very windy, sunny day. The wind kept the top speed down on the long straight.

Used 13" Radical slicks. Started with ~20 psi hot, but it got slippery a couple of turns if I pushed a bit too hard. Raised to ~22 psi after a talk with the Radical guys. It certainly improved but I think I could go even higher.

Inertia switch released twice on the straight! Then I short wired it...

Experienced some mid corner oversteer when pushing hard. Maybe the rear suspension bottoms out? Next time I'll investigate this.

I've always had problems with fuel surge in long right hand corners when having about 1/4 of fuel, but it was even more obvious now. The fact it is in the right hand corners doesn't make sense to me, since the fuel pump is on the left side of the tank. Here is an interesting thread on Blatchat.



Best time 1:24.3!!! That is almost two seconds faster since last visit!

I need a better microphone to my GoPro.

Inertial switch

Who said highway driving isn't exciting?

Fortunately it was only the inertial switch that cut off the fuel pump. Never happened before and took a while to figure out standing roadside with oncoming darkness and decreasing battery power.

A press on the top and I was back on the road.

Inertial switch

New exhaust primaries and collector

I could no longer ignore the fact that my exhaust flanged was warped and leaked, and I also found something that looked like a small crack on the 4-1 collector.

The exhaust system on the EU4-version of the car is welded and can't be removed without lifting the engine out - something I've had enough of for a while - and as one of the primaries has cracked before I felt like I just wanted to buy a new manifold that was more easy to remove instead of repairing the old one more time.

The EU4 collector also looked like it was limiting exhaust flow, but that was just an hunch.

So I removed the old system with an angle grinder and steel saw, and bought new CSR260 primaries and cat/collector from Caterham. The new system holds together with springs and can be mounted with the engine still in place.

Warped flange

Cracked collector - worse than it looked from the outside.

Old vs new cat/collector

The new cat/collector moved the silencer a bit outward, so I have to make new silencer mounting brackets. I'm also thinking about buying a new silencer but that can wait for a while.

Wideband lambda

I've installed an Innovate LC-1 wideband Lambda controller connected to my MBE 9A4 ECU.

A wideband lambda output a linear 0-5V AFR (air/fuel ratio) sensor reading for a wide range of lambda values, in contrast to an ordinary lambda sensor that output more like a narrow rich/lean reading compared to a fixed reference. This makes it possible for the ECU to real time control the fuel mixture to a set value, based on the these readings - "closed loop lambda control".

The 9A4 also supports a long term AFR adjustment map, a bit like "self mapping". Some of the difference between the expected and measured lambda value is written to the long term adjustment fuel map, so the next time it is time fire the injectors for the same conditions it uses the updated value. For making the changes persistent to the primary fuel map you manually have to select to merge the long term map into the primary map with a computer connected to the ECU. The long term map is cleared after ECU power loss.

This sounds a bit too good to be true, and probably is. I've done some internet forum digging and it seems like it is not recommended to use closed loop lambda control when the engine is under high load, although the reasons why are a bit vague. For medium load and idle it seems to be no reasons not to use it. And for logging ECU data a wideband lambda sensor is a great tool.

However it won't work unless you have a pretty good base map to begin with.

The wiring was a bit fiddly and time consuming but pretty straight forward.

It took some trial and error to figure out how to program the ECU, so I thought I'd do the world a favour by showing my setup for the LC-1 controller configured with factory defaults. (Analogue 2 output from the controller into the ECU, brown wire).

Start with the "Analog Lambda Sensor 16 bit Index Map" setting. This tells the ECU the sensor input is linear and the interesting voltage range is between 0 and 5V.

Then "Analog Lambda Sensor Calibration" setting. This is what voltage corresponds to what lambda value. This is for the factory settings, 0V = lambda 0.5 and 5V = lambda 1.523.

Set the Oxygen Sensor lower and upper limits settings to 0 and 5V.

And finally you must have a target lambda map. Target lambda 1.0 at idle, and lower (richer) for more power at load.

Target lambda map. NOTE! The values used here are quite lean!!

Start the engine, and if all readings seems fine you can activate lambda control by setting "Lambda A (1) Control Enable".

After about 30 seconds from engine start, the ECU should start to adjust the engine's AFR to follow the current target lambda.

Flat tyre

The missing screw found... DOH!

Air temp sender location

The Cosworth carbon air box is supplied with a combined MAP and air temp sender, which measures temp and pressure inside the air box. After studying an ECU log file it reveals its location for air temperature is far for optimal. 

Blue line is air temp. The real temperature this
evening was around 11 deg C, not 29. 

I have now moved the sender to in front of the left footwell. The MAP sensor I only use as a barometer sensor before starting the engine so it will do its job just as good outside of the air box.

Old sensor location

Trackday slicks part #4 - how did it go?

During the winter I modified the rear calipers to fit 13" rims, and this weekend was the first test how it worked out.

Well..

First impression was that it didn't. Lots of scrape marks on the inside of the rims and I was really concerned that the rims were ruined.

After a closer inspection, I believe the scrape marks are not from the calipers themselves, but from gravel trapped between the calipers and rims. They are very shallow and I don't think it's anything to be bothered about except maybe for visual appearance. Brake dust, old tire rubber for sure doesn't improve the look of things...

I might give the calipers another go with the grinder just in case.

UPDATE:


After another track day I did have another go with the grinder. After trying several different ways to measure clearance I found the best way was to tape a small drill on the inside of the rim and see where it touches the caliper. Now I'm certain I have at least 2 mm clearance everywhere.

I also took a black pen and painted the edges of the caliper, so if it touches the rim again I can see exactly where I need to grind some more.

Mantorp graduation

A big day today, I have done so many modifications since last track day before the winter.

In short I have

• Fitted 13" rims and modified the rear brake calipers to fit.
• Bought an used set of Radical 13" slicks, which are radials and totally different than the Avon cross-ply slicks I have tried before.
• Rebuilt the whole engine and added much more power.

"April weather"

In sweden we use the expression "April weather", because the weather can't be trusted at all this time of year. Some days are warm spring days, but suddely the snow come back when you least expected. This is what happened the day before. Lots of snow and below zero degrees temperature. I had to knock away ice from the trailer when loading, and my neighbour had to help me to push the Caterham because I couldn't get it out of the garage. 

A few hours later when I got to the track the weather was complely different. +8 degrees, dry and sunny?!

First the good parts. I have so much power I now need to learn how to master. No other car (ok the turbo charged 350-400 hp Atom excluded) had any chance to keep up with me, but most of my driving was like an on/off switch, and my mind played tricks on me so all brake points were too early. I gained about two seconds on the main straight, but lost much of the gain because I braked way too soon! The higher top speed made the grass at end of the straights really intimidating!

Red line this day, black line last year.
Very good acceleration, very poor braking!

The tires worked flawless. The asphalt was cold today but there was no overheating and good balance. My impression is that the tires are more forgiving than cross-plys, and not equally sensitive to camber/pressure and slip angle.

Best time today 1,26.1 but the car has for sure potential for sub 1,24 times!

Then the less good things.
My temporary catch tank was too temporary and spew oil all over the engine room. Yuck!

The rear calipers scraped on the inside of the new 13" rims. I have to do a damage check on this, more about this later.

Camber calculator

An easy way to measure camber is to use a spirit and a ruler. It is really important that the car is standing on a completely flat surface for this to work. Accurate? Well, accurate enough for me anyway.

Simple camber calculator:

Rim	mm
D1	mm
D2	mm
Camber	degrees

Rear hub nuts

Both sides loose - scary! Left side so much I could turn it with my fingers.

41 mm socket.
270 Nm (yes that is a lot!)

Engine upgrade - part #9 - final results

So far the engine have behaved extremely well and almost no problems at all. A bad battery connector, small coolant leak because of a loose jubilee clip, oil filler cap leak, but nothing serious.

Then it was time for a rolling road session at Turbocenter. It was kind of the ultimate test to see if the build was successful or if the engine would dissolve in a puff of smoke. The first time Claus took it to rev limiter my hands were shaking and my heart was up my mouth, but it held together!

As you can see in the video, in the beginning there was some problems with tyre slip against the rollers. I left the car with them for a week while going for a well needed vacation and I'm not sure how he solved the tire slip, but I think he tied down the roll cage to the floor. 

The final result is: 231 hp on the rear wheels @7500 rpm. Max torque ~230Nm. It would for sure be interesting to know how much that power would equal on the flywheel, but that is impossible to find out. Google it and you'll find lots of opinions on this subject. The loss is dependant on gearing, tyre wear, tyre air pressure, moon phase etc etc and even compare the same car on the same dyno two different days could generate different results. But I guess crank power around 270-280 hp is within reason.

As seen on the chart I have a problem maintaining constant fuel pressure when power increases. The reason for this could be many, leaking low quality fuel regulator, insufficient fuel pump, clogged fuel filter, too narrow fuel lines. Before buying a new pump Claus recommended me to move the fuel regulator to the end of the fuel rail, and put the fuel return line from there. He had a neat solution for this and I might give that a go further on.

I also have a power plateau around 4500 rpm. I don't know why. Could it be the exhaust system? I leave it as it is for a while and let all this digest until I feel ready to handle it.

Immediately when I got the car I took it on a test drive. It is early April and the roads are cold and my tyres have almost no rubber at all, but on all of the first four gears I got wheel spin when getting into the engine's power band!! This is crazy!

UPDATE: A test run this morning. Here is a 110-190 km/h comparison before and after:

Special thanks to:

Hanns Per Kober
Jeremy at Cosworth
Steve at SBD Motorsport
Claus at Turbocenter
Jan at ENEM

Also thanks to:
Kenneth at Motortjänst
Nacka Biltrim
Helpful members at Focaljet


All parts:
Engine upgrade part #1 - intro
Engine upgrade part #2 - disassemble
Engine upgrade part #3 - parts
Engine upgrade part #4 - block assembly
Engine upgrade part #5 - head
Engine upgrade part #6 - putting it together
Engine upgrade part #7 - electrical and fuel
Engine upgrade part #8 - first start
Engine upgrade part #9 - final results

Engine upgrade - part #8 - first start!!!

Finally it was time for the first start of the engine. The whole family was excited and my wife would help me with operating the throttle pedal, and my kids have promised not to destroy anything and keep out of the way.

• I primed the oil system by cranking the engine without plugs. I expected a oil pressure reading on the gauge but nothing happened. I plugged a volt meter directly to the sender connector, and after a few revolutions I got a reading on the meter, so the reason I didn't see anything before was simply something with the wiring to the oil pressure gauge. Update: It was simply the oil gauge connector on the backside of the dashboard that had fell out.
• Fuel in the tank and connected the fuel pump power. A few on/off with the ignition primed the fuel system.
• Computer connected to ECU, extra starter battery, voltmeter connected, wife in drivers seat, kids out of the way, cameras on and... NOTHING! The starter didn't have enough power to turn the engine! Talk about anti climax!
• Borrowing a starter battery from the daily driver and exchanging the small lightweight racing battery with a more powerful kind.
• Another attempt was made and it started after just a few revolutions!

Next part - Engine upgrade part #9 - final results

All parts:

Engine upgrade part #1 - intro

Engine upgrade part #2 - disassemble

Engine upgrade part #3 - parts

Engine upgrade part #4 - block assembly

Engine upgrade part #5 - head

Engine upgrade part #6 - putting it together

Engine upgrade part #7 - electrical and fuel

Engine upgrade part #8 - first start

Engine upgrade part #9 - final results

Engine upgrade - part #7 - electrical and fuel

My old Ford BlackOak ECU is locked so I needed a new after market ECU. My choice was MBE 9A4, because it already was proved to be working good with Duratecs, but mostly because that was the ECU my local engine builder workshop knew best and also sold parts for.

Duratec loom

As I wrote in a previous post I ordered the ECU and a Duratec loom from SB Motorsport. The loom was missing some 'features' that existed in my previous loom, so quite a lot of wiring was needed. Most if the wireing was made while the engine was in out of the car while waiting for parts. I took the original loom apart and reused the connectors, and removed the wires that was no longer needed. Two relays where already in the new loom, but I needed two more relays for starter solenoid and cooling fans.

• Fan switch relay, controlled by the ECU.
• Starter solenoid coil relay, from ignition key.
• Ignition to ECU, from ignition key.
• Coolant temp, oil pressure, rpm (from ECU), to the dash.
• The lambda sensor connector was of the wrong type.
• Throttle position sensor connector changed, and the TPS was calibrated.
• The air box from Cosworth came with a Bosch MAP sensor with integrated air temperature sensor. It is not necessary with a MAP sensor with roller barrels, but I decided to use it anyway because that way I didn't need a barometer sensor. A few more electric wires from the ECU was needed, and calibration of both temp and MAP sensor. The temp sensor was calibrated using a fridge and an oven. The map sensor is linear so it was easy to calibrate once I figured out the sensor high and low spec values.
• A new coolant sensor was fitted to the coolant elbow in the rear of the engine. I had to manufacture an adapter from a 3/8" NPT to M12x1.5 using pipe parts from the local hardware store.

• The fuel pump controller module which exists on the EU4 model was removed, and a new adjustable fuel regulator was fitted.

• I did a rough adjustment of the fuel regulator using an electric tyre air pump with manometer. Cosworth recommends 4.3 bar for their 280 crate engine.

Next part: Engine upgrade part #8 - First start


All parts:
Engine upgrade part #1 - intro
Engine upgrade part #2 - disassemble
Engine upgrade part #3 - parts
Engine upgrade part #4 - block assembly
Engine upgrade part #5 - head
Engine upgrade part #6 - putting it together
Engine upgrade part #7 - electrical and fuel
Engine upgrade part #8 - first start
Engine upgrade part #9 - final results

Engine upgrade - part #6 - putting it together

• Head and block now back together with new ARP bolts and new gasket. 60 lb/ft in three stages and ARP lube. A dab of sealant on marked spots in the assembly guide.
• Chain guides and cam chain.
• Alternator

• Roller barrels
• New fuel rail and injectors (310 g/min)
• I put the engine on the floor and mounted the flywheel with new OEM bolts. The flywheel could be easily locked using a chisel on the starter ring, holding it against the block.
• The old clutch. I already had the type of clutch used on CSR 260. I used an extended socket I normally use for the spark plugs as centring tool.

• Coolant hoses and coolant rail. I made a simple coolant temp sensor adaptor (M12*1.5 to 3/8" NPT). Or actually, I let the engine builder thread the inner hole because I didn't have the right tap.
• The old hose from the oil tank to sump was plugged using a standard brass 1/2" NPT plug from the hardware store. Here I can save a few grams by changing to an aluminium plug :-)
• Cam chain and camshaft sprockets with new bolts and new friction washers.
• Front cover with sealant

Finding true TDC

• Front pulley. New bolt and new friction washer. First I put cylinder 1 on true TDC, using a dial indicator and pencil. I locked the pulley with a small bolt through the locking hole. A helper hold the flywheel using the rear part of an hammer against the starter ring and a bolt in one of the bell housing holes. With a big breaker bar I could turn the bolt the last 90 degrees. Not easy, but it worked. The cams were not locked during the tightening of the front pulley.

Locked cams

• Then it was time for cam timing. The cams where locked using the timing bar grooves and cylinder 1 was put at true TDC again, and the cam bolts where tighten. The timing was then measured with a dial indicator by turning the engine and with a degree wheel find when the intake and exhaust valves are fully open. To my surprise the timing was spot on and no adjustments were necessary.
• Cam cover
• Belt, belt tensioner
• Starter motor (35 Nm)
• Bellhousing and gearbox (47 Nm)
• Airbox and filter, using thread lock! I don't want any of those screws sucked into the engine.

And... the engine is finished! Time to put it back into the car.

Shoe horning the engine into the car is really frustrating. After some cursing I removed the oil cooler/filter holder and starter motor. Much easier, but maybe not that easy to put them back on.

The brake master cylinder fooled the new air box, so I had to remove some carbon from the air box.

Next part: Engine upgrade part #7 - Electrical and fuel


All parts:
Engine upgrade part #1 - intro
Engine upgrade part #2 - disassemble
Engine upgrade part #3 - parts
Engine upgrade part #4 - block assembly
Engine upgrade part #5 - head
Engine upgrade part #6 - putting it together
Engine upgrade part #7 - electrical and fuel
Engine upgrade part #8 - first start
Engine upgrade part #9 - final results