Looked down the intake runners some more last night.
The rust seems to be not that bad. Most of it sort of smeared off without a lot of work.
I did find another little busted chunk of intake manifold in the #4 tract. It was actually lodge between the valve and the seat, and I tried to get it out with needle-nose pliers and it wouldn't budge.
Got out the breaker bar to slowly rotate the engine....
And the piece fell into the cylinder.
So it would appear certain now that I'm pulling off the head.
I guess the only other possibility would be to snake a small vacuum hose down into the spark plug hole, but no idea how effective that would be. Probably would need a borescope if I were going to go this way. BTW, I had no idea that $17 USB borescopes existed!
Onward...
In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :
The USB "endoscopes" actually produce some pretty good quality images. I'd probably still pull the head too though just to make sure nothing got sucked in there when manifold shattered in the accident. Good to see the rust probably isn't that big of a deal.
I talked with the wrecking yard, and they said they would take the engine back. He said there might be a $50 restocking fee or something, which is generous on their side because I think their normal fee is 30%.
He said they thought it would probably be fine, and offered to do a leak-down test on it for me.
I'm trying to balance what it would take to pull the head and look inside. New head gasket and bolts, right?
Probably turbo gasket, and maybe bolts there.
Suppose I could replace the timing chain. Not a lot of miles on it, though (25k).
I'll have to look at the factory engine rebuild manual that I have and see what it says. Maybe it's not that bad of a job.
Might be easier than stripping the engine of all it's new bits, driving to Ft Collins and back for 3 hours, finding a new engine, and then building it up too.
I'd be worried some of those pieces already made their way into the exhaust/turbo. Worried enough that I'd probably crack everything apart or just return it.
As long as the turbo isn't hurt I'd probably be ok with pulling the head and just cleaning everything.
I'm sorely tempted to return it and buy a different engine that hasn't been smacked across the front end.
In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :
Tear it apart. You’ll learn more that way...
Recon1342 said:
In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :
Tear it apart. You’ll learn more that way...
That's very true. I am learning all this stuff just figuring out the wiring harness and sensors. Would definitely give me even more insight to open up the head.
I'm going to return the engine and start over with a better candidate.
I've been discussing it with Saron81, and there are 12 special tools listed in the rebuild manual. The high pressure pump would have to come off, and with that the fuel injectors would need new seals. The cams aren't keyed and need special alignment fixtures.
This is all seeming above my pay grade.
On the bright side, I did learn a ton about the engine from this first donor. And I'll know a lot better on a new engine what is missing or damaged. So I'll put this in the misadventure category.
RossD
MegaDork
4/26/18 7:27 a.m.
USERNAMETAKEN said:
I'm going to return the engine and start over with a better candidate.
I've been discussing it with Saron81, and there are 12 special tools listed in the rebuild manual. The high pressure pump would have to come off, and with that the fuel injectors would need new seals. The cams aren't keyed and need special alignment fixtures.
This is all seeming above my pay grade.
On the bright side, I did learn a ton about the engine from this first donor. And I'll know a lot better on a new engine what is missing or damaged. So I'll put this in the misadventure category.
One step back on the wrong trail, two steps on the correct trail. No misadventure there.
The engine is back to it's stock condition.
Interesting putting it back together. Like the balance shaft assembly had to be aligned specifically with the motor in a TDC condition. Tricky holding everything just so, but it went right together.
Though when I was turning over the crank that chunk of plastic in the cylinder kept jamming in the valve.
Not a keeper.
Old engine has been returned. They were very good about it. Thumbs up to Scott's Used Parts in Ft. Collins, CO (hondapartsused.com)
Ordered a different 2014 Escape engine that only has 5000 miles! This one got hit in the back too, so it should be nice and clean. No intake-smash. Has to get trucked in from Nebraska, so I'll probably see it on Tuesday.
Better.
My garage feels so empty without an EcoBoost engine in it. Sigh...
Did some clean-up on the radiator. Original condition:
The citrus paint remover worked very well. Hit it with that, gave it a rinse, and then used some CRC engine cleaner.
End result:
Hmm, red on the core. And some red on the case too. I wonder what's stock and what was added at a later date.
Found tons of old scale and crap inside. Flushed it forever. Found this too:
Would appear the hoses were pretty much at their end of service life.
Yuck. Have you considered having a replacement radiator made from aluminum?
In reply to mblommel :
Haven't gone down that road yet. This one may be fine, though it's not real pretty just yet.
It seems to actually be aluminum for the "working" part of it. The top and bottom supports are steel. It may be that I can get it boiled out and it will work fine. A little paint and fin straightening and it could be good to go.
The fans are supposedly trash, and one of them does feel like it's got worn out bearings. According to PO, fan failure was the reason the car got parked back in 2011.
Deja Vu all over again:
This one is so CLEAN!
I found that all of it's harnesses were also removed, along with some of the plumbing and the turbo heat shield. I ordered a bunch of used parts of e-bay for the old motor, and all of that is missing on this one too. So I'm happy to not be wasting that order.
This one came with the turbo inlet too. Maybe I can make use of that part of it in the new configuration. Probably will toss the engine cover. Or maybe sell it along with the intake manifold.
This one does have a throttle body too, so I'll probably return the one I bought when I go to get a starter and alternator.
In reply to mblommel :
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME???
That's a sweet looking unit. I'll have to look at that a bit more when I have the chance. They show triple fans on the website, and I was thinking the same thing. But then when I looked at the car I saw the fans go between some frame members and it doesn't look like there's room for three fans. Could be this unit is thinner. I'll have to get the old tape measure out and see.
Seats!
I'm very happy with the finished product. I think they did a great job.
I had to skip the seat heaters. They needed to add some additional foam and that sucked up some of the budget.
That upholstery vinyl actually came from my first job out of college. They had a big room full of junk, and I was tasked to clean it out. That mission came with the allowance that I could take whatever I wanted. I found a big giant roll of that stuff, and I've been using it ever since.
I recovered my Spitfire dash-board with it. A piece of it covered my work-table for a long time and stood up amazingly well. Got a little chunk back from the upholsterers, so I'll find another use for it now.
Time to wrap up those in plastic bags and tuck them away until they're needed. Fun to have something DONE!
Oooooo looks nice!
Maybe it's just the pictures, but those look amazingly narrow compared to the American-sized La-Z-Boys that are in modern cars. I can imagine that with the hip-point raised like that, they probably hold one in pretty nicely.
damen
My graphic designer buddy did some photo-shop magic for me. Super cool.
The initial picture I sent him (which I think looks great, btw):
In some blue Matt picked. Very nice! You see Dodge Charger-ish vehicles in this color. It's eye-catching.
A BRG. Maybe a little dark for a true BRG. Yellow in accompaniment might be required.
Cherry red. Nice hue.
A grey that Matt picked on his own. The man has taste. Not sure I'd paint my car that color, but it's flash.
This is one I suggested - you see Hyundai's everywhere painted this color. I think it has a higher purpose. This one is the fan-favorite around the dinner table but I think they're tired of me buying cars in the red-spectrum.
And this one is a current Mazda color. I find it intoxicating!
More to come, and send suggestions!
In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :
Good grief. It's hard to pick a favorite when it looks so damn good in each of those colors. I'm generally a big fan of the darker-than-normal BRGs, but I don't know if I can call it for the TVR...
I would be inclined to pick a more vintage color rather than modern, maybe :
In reply to coexist :
I've debated that too. The car is an interesting age - not old enough to really do justice to a vintage color. These came in some pretty loud colors right from the factory. Also some sedate ones. Evidently my car came originally in Burgundy - probably similar to the one you show there. I've been reading the Resto-Mod thread, and paint colors, new and old, would certainly be a topic there.
And since it was the 70's you get some browns and tans too:
My friend did a few more concept colors. Heritage Blue with White
This a newer Mercedes color - Quartz Blue. Saw a car with it the other day, and thought it was a super sharp color. Clearly a more modern look.
This one might be the winner though...
I'm getting the new engine dressed and ready to go. Picked up a tube of torque-stripe, because torque-stripe looks awesome:
Working on getting the engine harness cleaned up too. My control pack is on back order so I'm still not totally sure what's needed and what's not.
It's come to my attention that I'm not the only one with a big build thread who feels like he's writing for himself. So for all you anonymous readers, here's a TVR update.
I vacillated long enough on the transmission choice, and ultimately it came down to money. I've been hemorrhaging cash on various things the last month or so, and $3600 for a TKO package was just too much to swallow. So I got a used MT-82 out of a 2015 Mustang. Shipped in from Indiana for $1200 total.
I think it'll work out great, and I'm looking forward to redesigning and fabricating the shifter for a new location. That's just good old fashion mechanical engineer work there!
I don't have good access to a loading dock right now, so my buddy's dad offered to unload it at his trailer sales place. Plus I saw this awesome smashed trailer. Clearly it got friendly with a low overpass somewhere.
I'm excited to start doing some motor and trans mount fabrication. Time to get the plasma cutter fired up! It'll be nice to get out of the never-ending-spending mode and into some building instead.
In other news, I found a buyer for the old TR6 engine! A lady in Oregon is wanting for a GT6 project. Yay! Cash and floor-space!
