Cossie update Part 11

Hey, I’m back, and I’m broke! The car is costing me a fortune at the moment, but it’s getting better very quickly. When I wrote my last cossie update in September (?), I was just getting a few electrical problems sorted…. In fact, to remind you where I was up to with the car, this is what I wrote in Spetember:
So the plans for the next few months are these:
I’m taking the car off the road for a while, and taking out the engine. The front end will be stripped down, taking out the entire front and including all the suspension, rack and power steering system, rad etc etc, and replacing everything for new or better. I have a new loom to go in, and will route this in a better manner than that originally specced for the car. Before the loom goes in, the car is going to be trailered to APVM to have the engine bay and boot floor rubbed down and sprayed, so that the car is minty mint come next show season. I have a few touches to be done with the paintwork on the front end after I hit something on the track at National Day (object, not car or barrier!). The entire engine will be stripped down and overhauled, replacing the oil and water pumps, all the belts, and all the metal bits for nice shiny chrome versions. The cam cover will be off to Mike R to be painted, and if there’s any money left in the bank, I may well ship the engine up to Harvey for something a bit extra ! I have to replace the fusebox, and rewire the inside of the car, which means ripping out the interior…. and no Charlie, you can’t buy the leather from me! I have to replace the entire power steering system, and am looking at some trick rally spec adjustable top mounts for the Bilstein coilovers I may have on the way. All nuts and bolts will be changed for new, as will all hoses and clips etc…… As such, the car may well be off the road for a good few months, but I want a magazine feature on the car, with 420 brake (can’t have Kev beating me), and it fully finished by the summer next year. Also, the wheels on the car will have to go, after many non-complimentary comments, but I may have a buyer for mine, so we will have to see…….
I’ll keep you all informed on how it goes…. Watch this space!
There you have it – my plans as they were nearly six months ago, and nearly six months later, how have I got on? Well I decided I was going to turn the car into a total weapon, so as soon as I started working at SCC, I started removing things from the vehicle! My diff worries worries have yet to be rectified, as I haven’t driven the car in four months, so here’s what’s been going on in that time…..
The car came off the road in November after the clutch has started slipping. I was a little disappointed in this, since I’d only put an Alcon six paddle and new cover and bearing in about 6000 miles previously. However, I’d been doing a lot of Santa Pod, and it also appeared that the main oil seal had gone, contaminating the plate. When the clutch came out, the sight I was greeted with was very interesting! The driven plate was absolutely on the rivets – so little material was left, it be hard to describe it as a clutch! The flywheel though, was worse – there were massive heat spots on it, and when it went off to be skimmed, I was told by the engineering firm, that it had to have about two mill ground off it to get a good surface. Whilst it was there, I had the flywheel balanced, and then had to put new dowels in, the old ones having to have been drilled out.

With the gearbox out, and the clutch ready assembled, I then made a decision that would see the car off the road for longer than intended. I could see that the engine bay looked rather grotty, and since I had taken out the box, it was relatively easy to lift the engine out complete. And so I started taking off all the ancillaries, and deciding what I was going to replace when it all went back in. Once all the hoses and wiring were off, it was very easy to take the engine out, so out came the hoist, and out came the engine complete. What I was left with was a total mess! The wiring loom was in a horrible state, the paintwork was so yellow, and even the passenger side engine mount was on upside down!
After stripping the entire bay out, I then got a little silly, and stripped the interior of the car. You see, I’ve had loads of electrical problems, with windows not working, and fuses continuously blowing, so I though I’d get it all sorted once and for all. With the entire dash out, I decided to remove the engine loom, which is relatively straight-forward, and because I had a new engine loom to go in. I stripped back the new engine loom, and cleaned it all up, re-taping it in what I considered a better way. With that done and to one side, I started on the engine bay loom. Everything that could be undone and cleaned was, and I then proceeded to wrap all the wiring down the driver’s side in a thermo-shield wiring wrap (cheers Christian for supplying it). The reason for this is because a customer’s car that had recently come into us had seen all the wiring down that side melted due to the heat of the turbo. I wasn’t going to suffer the same fate, so I started heat proofing everything around the turbo and exhaust, including the brake resevoir, and heat wrapping the exhaust (cheers Christian again!).
After this had been done, I took the car to our local sprayers to have the engine bay painted. I wasn’t after a concours job, but just something to make it look nicer, so I spent about twenty hours prepping it ready for paint. When it came back from the spray shop, I was well happy with the results, so I got back to the process of putting it al back together. Just as I was contemplating putting the engine back in, I decided to remove the power steering pipes, and purchased myself a small 9 row cooler to replace the crap metal pipe that routes near the bumper. Whilst I was getting these pipes sorted, I purchased a nice bit of kit in the shape of a 19 row Mocal oil cooler. Now because I am looking to do some track days, this became a bit of a necessity, with previous oil temps in the 130 degree area at Donnington in August, but this wont be fitted till next month as I’m still awaiting the arrival of my remote filter head – you have to move the filter as the sandwich plate for the cooler causes the filter to hit the engine mount.
The engine then went back in, after I’d replaced the tired old engine mounts for new ones from Ford. I then slowly started replacing every ancillary for new, and binning the old stuff. The header tank went in the bin, as did the power steering resevoir, to be replaced with Bailey items. I then purchased new boost hoses, due to mine having a split in two of them, so I now have lots of shiny bits under the bonnet! The cam cover is away to be painted blue to keep the theme going, and I’ve replaced everything I can think of for new items! The new engine loom was put in, and routed under the inlet manifold to keep it out the way, and I junked all the unnecessary parts of the wiring like the headlamp wipers etc.
Well that’s where it is right now. I’m doing a track day at Bedford on 1st March, so I’ve bought myself some pukka FIA approved 4 point Sabelt harnesses and fitted them, and also bough myself another Defi gauge in the form of Exhaust Gas Temperature – the other two should be with me in a few weeks (fuel pressure and water temperature). I’ve also got a set of AVO Coilovers on order, and will be looking to fit some crazy suspension in the next couple of months. We’ll see whether my diff is shot soon enough, and in which case, I’ll be looking for something stronger – maybe quaife, maybe not…. Watch this space as the car is transformed…… and I’ll be running interesting boost via a bleed valve on Saturday to try and give my knackered old T3 a pasting, so I can blow it up, and justify the T4 I’m about to buy!
Laters,
Richard Nathan.