Mark 1

[monkeyjim]

Making a start on getting to the bottom of the mk1' s problem tonight . fingers crossed its simple , but I doubt it .

[monkeyjim]

admin said:

Well looks like your sorted then

N :-)

mgf vvc into mini makes sense as i have complete donor car so i have no rover bits to buy , i can sell bits off the car to buy the remote oil filter housing, rad and a few other bits needed .
Waiting for 16v shop to finish his conversion but also need to investigate things like clearance for vvc manifold and which gearbox to use as the 1800 has a bigger box or something .
Will speak to 16v club , Toby and Steve about conversions.

[Simon1275mpi]

Are you inspecting the oil pump then? What else do you think it could be?

[monkeyjim]

Taken oil pump off this evening (engine in car ) and surprise surprise it is scored , can tell that just by looking through the ports
I changed the oil last week and found loads of metal on sump plug magnet , drained oil tonight and had tiny bit on magnet.

So do I stick another oil pump in as they are cheap enough and hope whatever went through it was stuck to the magnet on the long sump plug I have fitted and its not something wearing in the engine .......... cheap and quick repair if it works.
or
Do I remove the engine and take it to bits ..... out of action for a month at least .

I am inclined to try a pump .

Dave

[monkeyjim]

I did forget to modify the timing cover as is required when fitting a duplex, if not the duplex rubs on a lump on the inside of the cover .
When I first started the engine up after finishing the build it did rub , obviously by the time I realised what the noise was it was to late and tiny bits of metal worn off the inside of the cover by the duplex set up had gone through the pump .
I modified the inside of the cover immediately..

So I will just try the new pump to start with.

[monkeyjim]

and fit a uprated clutch that the budget would not allow at the time .

[Simon1275mpi]

If I was you.... with my cheap run about 998, I'd just throw in the pump and drive

But I gather you've invested a lot of cash into the block.... But what would you check? Do you have a magnetic trap on the oil feed?

Where else could you be losing oil pressure? Would it be worth a titian oil pump, they are a top piece of machining.

[monkeyjim]

Cannot blame the pump if something metallic has gone through it.
Whether that is because I have cocked up or maybe it is just a result of the timing cover episode.
Goes to well to be a internal prob as this stage .Who knows .

The med 1340 engine was £450 , morspeed box £300 plus the MED head .

MED are sending me a new pump and a turbo clutch plate in the morning. ;D They reckon a standard 1275 cover adequate .

[paul1275s]

judging on how consistent your oil pressure was i would also just put a new pump on. also a couple of cans of cheap oil and a couple of oil filters for a bit of a flush through. is this why you fitted those quick release engine mounts? ;D

[Simon1275mpi]

That much metal would not come off the timing plate, it would beat the panel out more than dislodge chunks of metal for the pump to eat up.

The metal most of come from some swalf, from the head/block machining. Sounds like a nice spec though.

[monkeyjim]

metal filings is the best way to describe what I found inside the timing cover when I took it off. So no not really big enough on there own to do damage I would of thought .
The bloody engine mount was one of the worst bits of the job , had to undo it from the subframe to get it off , just like a normal one

[Simon1275mpi]

When will you have it all back together again? Just a new pump is it?

[monkeyjim]

Will put it back together tomorrrow evening.

[monkeyjim]

Oil pump turned up this afternoon

Fitted it and re-assembled rest of engine tonight.

As my quick release engine mount was grief to remove during dismantling I decided to dig out a new standard captive nut type mount from my stock.
That went in really easily and lined up ok , started tightening the bolts and the captive nut broke away Oh well .
So I had to use a bolt and nylock .

Not run the engine yet, will do that wednesday when I have the time to give it a run up the country followed by a oil change when I get back .

[monkeyjim]

Been out in the rain for around 135 miles today with the mk1 .
You see Si it does go out in the wet I just dont do Fords, floods or Salt. ;D or it will look like yours.

Unfortunately about 133 of those were without windscreen wipers as they packed up in Newhaven and I relied on the Rain X to clear the screen .

Took mk1 over to see uncle Gerald.
He agreed the level was low and the pump I replaced was not healthy . He suggested stretching and packing out oil pressure relief spring to bring oil pressure up. Did this once before on the knackered MG motor I had in mk1. It does bring the pressure up but does not solve the problem .
I went back home and duly packed the thing out , I knew it would not stop the pressure going down but it would boost it a bit allowing me to drive to the 16Valve Mini Shop near Horsham .
By the time I got back from there via A23/A27 the idle pressure had dropped to 18.
To compare .... when Hot immediately after messing with the relief valve spring I had a pressure of 35 at idle .
Its lost around 15psi on that 60-70 mile trip.

So as Gerald says the only thing to do is take it out .