That look excellent mate!

 

Jake, that looks sooooo much better

 

Cheers guys

 

I also fitted rear camber bolts and adjusted all four corners for negitive camber.

Car drives alot better now

 

Please don't forget my request Jake as this has a lot of thought towards a new motor

 

Power washed the engine today, used g101 supplied by Chris, it's come out well. Also added a Bugeye blanking panel above the air box, again courtesy of Chris lol



jake

 

Engine bay came up really well, Told you it would be ok to do it

Looks better with the new blanking pannel

 

That’s one hell of a job you’re doing Jake fair play to you...good choice of colour to..

Well I would say that..

 

Great thread, just seen and read tonight.

Well done to you and Chris

 

Well bitter sweet update.
Here's a nice shiney new strut brace and air filter



On a sad note I think the hg has gone

 

Sure you didn't catch fan switch or sensor when fitting the filter?

 

That is gutting if it is the case Jake. Just when you got to the enjoyment stage!
What are the symptoms?

 

I have a temp gauge fitted as I knew the hg was a problem, so I could check.

Tonight on way home temp was steady 90' got home and sat on drive it got to just below 100' this is normally when the fans kick in but they didn't,

I turned my heater fully up and it's blowing cold. I did check the overflow and its up, but ill check that in the morning too.

At this point I'm just hoping to god it's either an air lock or thermostat. But deep down I think it's hg

In the morning I'm Guna burp the system before I go to work and the see what's what.

Jake

 

Hate to say it mate but that is identical to when mine showed its first signs. No probs one day and then just the smallest creep up on the temp gauge when sat in traffic. That was followed by the cold air issue. Just like API told me if it is an airlock it has formed in a closed system so its come from somwhere.

 

Exactly mate.

Just pricing bits

Cossie hg £130
Head bolts £100 off a friend
Bearings £80
Oil pump if needed £200
Forged pistons £500-700
Timing belt kit ???

Then labour.

Have I missed out

 

Why will it need pistons & bearings?

 

Good list there I'd say. Forged Pistons & rings a must IMO. Bearings worth doing if you are going big power (i didn't go for them).
I think it is a mod to the oil pump rather than replacement?
How many miles has the clutch done? Box has to come off for the work so unless you can do it yourself it'd sometime it'd be worth considering so as not to double up on labour.
What kind of bolts?

 

Yeah while you have the engine out. May as well forge it to get rid of the other weak point in the engine,

Was recommended to do bearings, I'd only be getting it mapped so 350 bhp is.

Clutch would need doing. I thought of that after I posted how much are they lol.

 

Stage 2 Comp clutch was just shy of £400 + vat iirc. Fine for 400bhp and perfectly complient for 'normal' use. Very happy with it personally.
The way I see it is you'll likely never recover the full value of the work unless you keep it a LONG time but with the work you've done on it so far + forging a notourious engine will make it a pretty desireable UK car and you'll get top dollar if/when it comes to sale time. You have someone in mind for the work?

 

True,

At the moment I'm costing it up,

Either drop the car with someone, pull the engine and send that away or do it myself. Ie the hg and clutch bit sending the block away for boring and piston fitting,

I've sent a few messages out ideally like someone local but will see what prices I get,

I also have to factor in remap and running in etc.

I won't be selling the car if I put the money in, and I can't sell it like it is so I'm stuck, I always knew this could happen, but hoped it wouldn't.

I'm not looking at turbos that will give silly torque lol heard the 20g spools like mad on these

 

Same here Jake very similar symptoms to my hg failure.
Id definitely go the forge pistons route though.

Tomorrow, I'll have a look back at my invoice for the job and give you all the details of what was changed on mine.

 

These guys worked on classic that belonged to a friend of mine

http://www.manchesterhasit.co.uk/business/15589/

 

I know exactly how you feel. There is no cheap option other than spending a lot and that fact hurts sooo bad when it happens! The one comfort is you can drive it off boost without too much worry and when its done you have a confidence back.
I say it a lot in here but well worth at least calling API and talking to David or Simon there. All my advice comes second hand from my experience dealing with them. I was assured (and have no reason to doubt) that with new forged pistons, rings, bolts and the pump mod that it'll be good for a safe 400hbp with just a map, turbo & exhaust (You won't need to map it if you just have the forging done btw).

Iirc they said that you cannot bore a 2.5 as it simply won't take it (might be getting it confused with skimming tho). Another reason why to drive off boost and check the coolant religiously until the fix is done as it'll be a new head needed if the pistons start chomping!

 

Well.

This morning I burped the system, managed to get my heat back in the cabin. Fans work as per normal. I've drained the overflow to we're it should be.

Got a new stat on order, will also replace the rad caps just in case ones goosed as it can give the symptoms I've got also.

From speaking to a well known and respected tuner and my dad I've decided against forged pistons.

If I did tune the car it would be mild and well within spec of the current setup.

I have my options in place so it would be:

Cosworth head gaskets
Arp head bolts
Timing belt kit
Oil
Filter
Antifreeze.

Still close to £1000 but oh well

Part of me wants it to be something simple but deep down I think I know the answer.

 

Fingers crossed on it Jake. Have you tried taking the cap off and looking inside the header tank while it starts to warm up?
You could physically see it bubbling on mine, definative proof of air coming in. Took a vid of it at the time:


Very interesting to hear the decision on Forged Pistons (or lack of). You mind me asking what the thinking behind that relates to or is it simply a cost over benefits thing?

 

Hope it's not the HG Jake, but if I owned a 2.5 I'd seriously consider doing the work regardless. If it's a car you plan on keeping, it'll be a worthwhile investment.

I get car paranoia badly enough, so driving around with an engine with such a reputation would make me even worse.

 

Well ill check but I think I may have seen that last time I burped it. Lol.

I'm the same car paranoia lol so burped it haha.

In terms of the pistons.

I have been told that they can and do cope with 350-360 power wise, it's only when you start pushing past this that issues arise.

As for me I'm going to at best do a mild map of 330 etc so forging is a cost I really can't stomach.

I've been pretty assured that the above us the case a s while its great to future proof I think the cost out way the benefit. The cars my daily drive but never goes over 5k lol

 

+1 for sure "was that a new clunk i just heard?!" or "is that my car smelling bad or the sh*t heap 4 cars ahead?"

Is there that big a cost difference on the cast vs forged pistons? I must admit i never investigated it myself?

 

How do you mean?

I won't be doing any bottom end work.

There's prob another grand in forging the engine.

 

Sorry Jake I just deleted my last post as I was getting confused myself.
I forgot that you would of course be saving money by keeping the (at present) functioning pistons... I had myself forgetting it was (potential) HG failure not ringland!
Its a really tricky gamble there. £1k savings if the stock pistons aren't as bad as people say but an even bigger loss if they do go (especially if they chomp the head up in the process).
At least it is a decision you can leave until head is off and the bores can be looked at (better still if it doesn't come to that!).