yoeddynz

And without the need to have a full valve de-coke every 100,000km. I'd been reading recently about how choked up some DI engines are getting from lack of fuel cleansing. Quite amazing how bad some get.

Bugger. If I'm give up on my duratec then the loom was one but I wanted to keep as I like having a stash if colour coded wire to use. It's not that insulation I've heard about that mice love to eat is it?

Its become very popular as a swap not only in the UK but also the US where many (2.3) Duratecs have been sold. Plus all the Mazda engines available which are even better. Main reasons are that the engine has a very well designed head which flows well without any mods needed plus the bottom end is very rigid and all in a very lightweight compact package. So many of them about over there that they are a cheap way of decent modern power. A stock engine is 145bhp and throw a set of itbs on with an aftermarket ecu and you have 200plus straight away. Add some decent cams, better rods and pistons and you can have a very reliable 250-300. The Zetec is quite different. Iron block for starters, head doesnt flow as well, timing belt, earlier engines dont have the solid lifters that the Duratecs have. Viva stuff!!! Yeah I am after some bits! I'm looking for a dash top in good condition- after all the work Hannah did in fixing this one up its cracked again in the sun Luckily there isn't really anything else I need except possibly a chevette/Viva HC 1256cc engine but I'm better off sourcing one down here eh - getting stuff down from Auckland and all that.... Yeah I'd love one of those boxes and had one lined up in the UK when I was there in November..$260 but couldnt sort out decent freight in time (hence I had started that freight thread a while back) Problem is the boxes are so bloody expensive here (well in Alex terms they are..) @ around a grand or more. So this is why I was going to do an adaptor plate again.

Yeah it's getting quite a lot of "wow I've not seen a viva wagon like that for years!" here too. Parked it up in the kaiteriteri campground the other night when seeing family and some old bloke came up and asked me if I'd sell it to him. He'd always liked them, wanted one but hadn't seen one in years. Then the security guard at the gates stopped me and said he just had to check it out. He had a Victor fd and had never seen a viva HB wagon.

We stripped the engine down and although there was no sign on the head gasket of blowby the head had a .010" warp. Banana shape, low in the middle. OK I thought.. Not too bad. Valves came up fine with a clean. Hannah put the camshafts back in place without valves to make sure the warping was not causing any binding and they came up sweet.. My mill is too short in travel to skim it in one hit and I thought I'd better get a second opinion anyway. Better check the bores we thought. Hannah cleaned them out and discovered this... Not sure but I think it's just corrosion from where the piston sat a while with water in the bore. Took it along to machine shop and yeah they think so too. But costs are now adding up. Having a re- think because the car is just so damn sweet even as it is. Hmm. Could avoid certification and added costs by just fitting a Chevette engine and playing with that instead. Or maybe a v6 again. Got all excited about the prospect because I have all the parts I need so I decided to weigh one again. All up, starter, alternator, manifolds, injection etc the v6 comes in at around 145kg. Really light for a complete v6 but still 40kg heavier than the stock standard viva 1159cc as it sits in the bay. (plus the mazda gearbox is 10kg heavier) So how can I save weight over the front to offset this?... Fibreglass bonnet could be a start. Hmmmm. No rush anyway. Cars projects are playing second fiddle right now. We've been given enough heaps of decking so itching to start on our cabin build up here...

It was near the end of the season when we went last time eh? I reckon plan something for late feb- after the holiday madness has settled down a little.

We shall make it a date. Maybe there can be proper teams this time. That means potential practicing....

Id love to build a lightweight sports car based around a mazda V6 I still love this cars sound so much... i've posted it many times but I dont care.

Lets try to get some numbers along then And then there is the big swap meet run by the vcc. @sidewaysickness @Slacker_Sam. @ynot (I need to chat to you about little rusty Italian cars....) @Willdat? @ThePog @Paulluap @anglia4 @AttySlungGatty @Impish1 @JasonO @2sik25 Plus anyone else you can add to this thread. Me forgot names..... Also- the Lawn bowls we did a year or so back went down well so who is keen on a repeat. Could arrange something after the mad holiday rush is over.

The details are in the link I put in the last post. Its this Sunday

Im planning on going - do you mean the Motueka one? It was really good last year.. http://www.hotrod.org.nz/events.php

Looking lush. I'm loving all of your windows. I keep spotting old Rimu windows, often sash windows, at various recycling centres and instantly picturing litten cabins built around them. Our housetruck has 4 ceiling windows, nothing flash- just perspex, but great for watching the stars at night! Those leadlights you've scored are fantastic! Bloody bargain!!!!

Hmmm. no photos working? . will fix... Fixed.

So because its near the end of the year and I wanted to finish it off by showing Hannah a lovely time we went to the wreckers together. Again. Honestly.. she does love taking cars apart. It is fun. So yesterday while out in the wagon I popped into my local wreckers to browse for engines..as ya do. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a Duratec from a 2001 Mundano. $150 for whatever I need from the car because the engine was unknown and that's what it was worth to them to sell to the Middle East (where pretty much all their engines go). We checked it turned over fine with no horrible noises and it seemed fine. I thought it was worth a punt as I could on sell the gearbox and it it all turned out bad I could make money back on the alternator and starter etc. So I paid the money before I changed my mind and came back with Hannah near the end of the day our trusty old van filled with tools. I wanted to get as much of the loom as possible. Even though I will most likely run it all on speeduino with those ITBs it would still be nice to have the option to go somewhat factory (except I'd bin the horrible plastic inlet for a home made nice alloy one!) There were also some other bits we wanted. The dash cluster is quite nice. A bit modern but still good to have in case. Hannah fell in love with the cup holder. Yeah.. seriously. It is quite cool the way it pop outs and would be so neat to build it into a centre console really neatly. So that had to get removed too. So some photos of the afternoons work and later in the evening in stripping the engine... The Mundano in question. Sans heart. Looked it up on carjam and the car has done only 136,000 kms. Barely run in. Or trashed within an inch of its life with no oil changes and spun bearings. Who knows. Its a gamble. Its had two owners. Fun times for all.. One engine and box... Back home and out with the old hoist.. Uglyness with all the crap on... I started removing bits. The exhaust cover came off and revealed a not too shabby looking set of headers! I reckon they might even sit in the bay without much hacking needed. Time will tell but at the very least I have a decent flange and start point to build my own if needed. I pulled the remaining bits off. Power steering pump, FWD engine mount. Left it as a complete engine including the very very heavy dual mass flywheel. Lowered it onto my scales and it came up at 120kg. No starter but the hoist chain on top would easily equal the starter. I think the single mass flywheels are about 10kg lighter. Here's the horrible boat anchor flywheel I speak of... I had weighed my complete spare Viva engine setup a couple of months ago. That lot came to 106kg. So there we have it- if what ever inlet setup I use stays close to the weight of the stock Duratec (horrid) plastic affair I am reckoning on adding no more than maybe 10kg over the front axle. I can handle that. Other things to consider are how far back I can mount it and how heavy an mx5 etc box is. But its all pretty close. The alloy sump will need cutting and shutting and I'll need to fabricate a new thermostat housing to get the stock one out of the way. But as it sits its already looking like a neat unit. I love the fact the inlet is on the passenger side so I'll have plenty of room for what ever inlet setup I decide to fabricate. Here it is sitting ready. Waiting. Next thing is to spin it over and see what the compression figures are. The strip will continue. Oh and the dash. I quite like its gauges. I might use it in bits. Maybe. I have a fondness for the old strip speedo but I did like the gauge setup I made in the last Viva. Back soon with more engine photos to delight you all.

In more recent news.. these turned up in our mailbox couple of days ago. They're off a Toyota 4AGE 20v Blacktop engine. About 3mm larger diameter bore than the ITBs from the earlier silver top engine. They have a taper bore and seem very similar in dimensions to the SBD units (though not quite as sexy..) http://www.sbdev.co.uk/Duratec/Fuel Injection Kits, Backplates.htm I wanted these Toyota items as they don't have built in injectors points plus they have a decent enough size bore to suit larger engines compared to many of the bike units..I am aware one can go too big on ITBs and create slow flow rates at low revs and with this in mind these ones would really be best suited to a larger engine, 2.0- 2.5. I think the 20V gets away with it because there are three inlet valves and good flow at high revs are needed for those engines to breathe properly. The Mazda V6 has a neat injector setup Id want to keep if I went down the V6 route again (however I'll need to find another set if I go that way) If I go with a four pot then I'm good to go. I'd like to trim these down a little and fit them with the injectors below to keep things really neat. Make an adaptor plate to take the ITBs and also have bosses to insert some injector into. Anyway- its nice just having them sit about looking good. Hannah and I had to visit Nelson for shopping today. We popped into a wreckers and had a look at some motors and did some measuring/photos. Hannah jotted the sizes down. I'm very romantic like that. I like to show a lady a good time...in a wreckers yard, full of old engines. It was very exciting.

two speeduinos for even more fun times at 1/4 the cost.

Yep what he said. After 2.5 years of living in a mk2 transit van your pad looks opulent

Very nice. New door aperture liner thingee (or what neal said). I's it the cloth type? Damn I miss those seats. Been looking at some more in England for my wahon (never seen them come up for sale in nz) and they still ain't cheap. £400 for tidy ones like those. Next.

Lovely boat!!!!

Bunny Island bbq always goes down well with my tummy. Count me in.

Updates please!!!

Oh yeah.. A Dro on a mill would be ideal for this!

Oh wow.. Exactly what I was going to do to shift timber. Maybe not now...

Oh and yeah.. If I had access to cnc measuring gear etc I'd do it that way too. However.. For what is a pretty simple few bits to make up plus the fact it will be as accurate as you can be bothered to make it this way is pretty easy for anyone who has access to a lathe. Certainly do make records, as shall I, so we can help others out if they want to make an adaptor.

Problem with vernier calipers is they don't locate perfectly in the holes. However.. If you scribe the X marks onto the plate using dividers you could then measure them properly using calipers.. Certainly close enough to be accurate for the purpose. I'll add another thing I forgot to mention in my last post...