Gozza

Oh, and this turned up too. Should fuck the neighbours off if used correctly

Well the busy season at work has been keeping me away from the garage and making much progress on the engine swap but there have been some developments. More of a one step forward two steps back kinda thing though.

A bit of thought went into a starter motor due to the fact a standard starter can't be removed without first taking off the exhaust manifold. There are options for smaller high torque replacements, the quality ones (expensive) or the Chinese ones (cheap) were considered but in the end I went with having a standard one rebuilt. Time will tell if that was wise but I don't expect it to give me any shit...

Then, with that all bolted up and the manifold on I got all enthusiastic and hoisted the new motor up into the car which took only 40 minutes including the two beers I seemed to need. All looked great....

...until I put the front crossmember in.

I am adding power steering to the car using MK2 parts, months ago I had asked around and was assured it was all a bolt in affair. Off I went and found all the bits I needed and set about rebuilding the pump, rack, etc and reprinting everything. When I bolted it up it became obvious that the earlier MK1 was going to protest. Turns out that the later cars have a notch in the chassis rail to clear the steering UJ which is now in a different place to the manual rack. Fuck it

So out with the grinder...

Tig in a piece of 75mm pipe...

and prime it up...

had a real good look up inside the rail and it was mint with no rust. Took the time to blow a thick coat of Brunox all up in there to help keep it that way.

long and short of it is, apart from respraying the rail I'm back to where I was a couple of weeks ago.

Small bit of progress... Adapter plate for the throttle body welded on to the plenum and painted it yesterday. Also cleaned up and painted the water pump housing and fitted that along with a new QH water pump. The previously overhauled power steering pump and a new Alternator got thrown at it also.

Getting closer...

It's starting to get complicated

Just need to make up a few brackets to mount things properly then it'll be time to start on the computer.

Picked this little bastard up in Temuka today. 

Time to clean out the shed and start fitting all the little do dahs and nick nacks I've been collecting for the megasquirt EFI setup. 

Steep learning curve ahead

Good things are supposed to take time right? 

Seems like months have passed (and it fucking is) since I got this started but a milestone was reached recently. 

Bottom half is all done and dusted. 

Bored to 2.6L, fancy pistons, Newman 280/300 cam, new oil pump, line bored, new bearings, balanced everything, blah blah etc...

Have had to find another head as the one I had turned out to be cracked but the new one has gone away to have the big nitrided valves fitted. Some new guides go in also, along with a little exhaust port work and a skim to get the compression ratio up to 10:1

Hopefully have it in the garage in the next couple of weeks to make a start on the EFI conversion.

Be a good girl and wait here for awhile...

Probably time for a little update on the Trumpy.

So the new engine is currently being built up from an old PI motor that was lying around in a garage down south. Basic details are .40 thou over, forged pistons, Newman cam, lightened flywheel, balanced pistons/rods and rotating bits, 10:1 comp, extractors, and the EFI setup based on the old PI bodies.

There is also a power steering rack and pump getting the treatment in town which will go in at the same time...

Please enjoy some pictures 

Been a while since I've posted anything up on my Trumpy but have been having heaps of fun with it.

The OD gearbox has made a world of difference to how it goes on the open road so that was definitely a worthwhile excercise.

Since I got it back on the road last June it's done about 4500 miles with no real faults to speak of. Been mostly just around Nelson and Mot but have been up the lake half a dozen times and once down to Westport which was a blast... 

I am really stoked at how it handles now compared to before the big upgrade but have been pining for a bit more grunt. For a little while now I've been collecting bits for a new donk and am just about ready to pull the trigger and get it built. Plan is a 2.5 bored out a bit, up the compression, EFI, cam, headers etc... 

Ive got most of the stuff together for the EFI setup and have been modding a set of PI manifolds to suit. As soon as this is done I'll get the engine itself underway....