Engine rebuild

I've removed the engine from our knocking 16v Evo 1, and had a bit of an engine

swap around to keep the taxed and mot'd red Evo mobile.

I took the knocking motor to Engine Repair Services in Burscough, Lancs for appraisal, with a view to a rebuild. After a strip down, Steve at ERS said the cams were worn and the crank was just under spec. The crank would be ok used again in a lesser engine, but we both agreed the high performance Delta motor

needed the best we could give it.

The crank bearings were very worn, the rear bearing shell being quite squashed by the constant compression strokes. The engine had kept its troubles quiet for a long time, its failure was dramatic and gave no early warning.

I ran the engine on Mobil1 synthetic oil, I asked Steve if that would be a factor in the failure, he said no, it was very unlikely.

Engine stripped down at ERS, head needed a skim and block needed a rebore,

crank and cams also needed renewing.

ERS proceeded with the rebuild, to this end and after talking to Tanc, I ordered 2 new cams from Tanc Barratt, my new found camshaft knowledge can be found here. A new oil pump, new crank and bearings, new +0.4mm pistons and rings and gasket set were ordered, with a new water pump, thermostat and balancer shaft bearings too. Many other seals, pipes, filters and bearings were ordered also.

A lovely and expensive box of parts from Tanc Barratt. After a helpful talk

with Tanc, I ordered a set of his good quality, slight performance cams.

They are are lovely looking pair of items.

A lovely box of biscuits,

oh, and 2 16v heads!

At ERS Steve skimmed the cylinder head and fitted new valve guides, the Tanc Barratt cams are slightly higher lift and duration, but don't require different shims or cam followers. Steve has a stock of Fiat cam shims, so he set the cams up carefully.

The block was stripped and cleaned and given a 0.4mm rebore,

the bores were honed, and the block was painted.

The Pistons were assembled with supplied new rings and gudgeon pins, using the original conrods, also using the original bolts at the bottom. Tanc has never known these Lancia bolts to fail,

so we were ok to re-use them.

I requested that the engine's rotating parts should be balanced, so the crank pulley, crankshaft, pistons and rods, the flywheel and a new clutch were all sent away to be dynamically balanced, this will make a sweet and smooth motor.

The engine was finally ready for collection, it took about 6 weeks to complete.

I collected it in the Hilux, Steve gave me a can of running in oil, and advised application of assembly oil to the camshaft lobes before starting up.

The engine was all assembled with new belts and bearings, there was still lots to refit, we headed back to the workshop and carefully unloaded the engine with the engine crane, placing it on the trolley where it would remain until fitting in the car.

Back home I matched the engine with the recently rebuilt gearbox, the box slipped into the new clutch easily, Steve had aligned the clutch perfectly. With the clutch being new, I had to fit the release bearing over the input shaft, and as the gearbox is tightened up the release bearing is supposed to clip through the clutch centre.

As expected I had a bit of trouble locating the bearing through the new Valeo clutch, and getting it to clip through the clutches spring clip, but a few pulls with a

scaffold tube did the trick!

I had stripped the flaking finish off the inlet manifold and wrinkle finished it, see here. I replaced the inlet manifold air temp sensor, its brown plug was replaced also, the spring clip had gone from this and it was taped in place.

The original alternator and starter motor had been reconditioned, so these were refitted, a new water pump and thermostat are fitted with the freshly painted connecting pipework.

I spread thick assembly lube on the camshafts, then secured the cam cover with new gaskets. You will know the engine components need to be fitted in strict order, I did get this order wrong a few times, the water pipes included, and had to remove things again.

Assembly lube allows parts to be lubricated, then assembled!

The thick oil sticks to the parts, and won't drain off before it's needed.

£7.40 at Amazon

New inlet manifold temperature sensor,

the old one was dirty. It's probably quite an important

sensor, I got a new brown plug for it too.

The water pump needs care to install, as said before all the bolts are different lengths, and they extend into the engine's water jacket. These bolts need the corrosion cleaning off them before replacing, and the pump mounting area

needs cleaning too.

These bolts extend through the engine block into the water jacket, so the cleaned bolts need Hylomar or similar applied to them before fitting, and the original load spreading large washers used too. Hylomar the gasket faces then the pump can be fitted. I had printed out the torque settings from berlinasportivo, and was careful to respect these. Some fittings are into alloy, and some, like these bolts,

are into steel.

Don't fit the water pump pulley wheel (yes I did!), until you've fitted the side pipe and the metal cover, you can connect up the side water T hose now too

Water pump mounting location, the fixing bolts

pass through the engine block outer casing

Corroded pump fixing bolts need

wire brushing before refitting

Cleaned fixing bolts need sealer applied

and torquing up carefully.

Car lifted high, and the engine rolled underneath,

body can be carefully lowered over the engine.

Eventually the engine was ready to be put into its new home in our white Evo1. So I lifted the car up high on the engine crane, with the suspension tied out of the way, and rolled the engine under the car on its trolley. I lowered the car onto axle stands, transferred the rope to the engine, and lifted the engine into place. With a bit of persuasion, the engine was rested in its mountings, but not before I'd connected the gear change linkage, it's important to do this first 'cos it is difficult to get it located properly later. Gearbox top, two front, and the low rear engine mountings were then all secured. I could then attach the oil cooler, oil filter, and the sensors to the oil filter block.

Then, most importantly, fill the engine with oil. I can just imagine forgetting to do this!

I actually filled the oil cooler and the turbo with oil before starting the engine, just to be on the safe side.

Then I did fill the engine with Steve's running in oil, it's a semi-synthetic oil to allow the piston rings to

bed in to the honed bores

Can't be too careful!

With the engine secure, the turbo and exhaust fitted, and the minimum attached to allow the engine to be test started, I cleaned around the spark plugs, removed them and put a little oil down the bores, I left the plugs out so the engine could turn over easily.

I connected the battery, and after one last oil check I jumped in the car and

turned the engine over until oil pressure showed on the gauge.

Steve had packed the oil pump with grease to make sure of priming, and I had filled the oil cooler and turbo with oil too. The oil pressure soon came up, so I stopped turning the engine and went around the front, I fitted the old spark plugs back in and

connected them up, these old plugs will get fouled up with the starting procedure,

I will fit the new spark plugs later.

I connected the dizzy and new leads, and made sure all required electrical items were connected properly, then I jumped back in the car and turned the key. To my joy, the motor fired up at its first turn, the oil pressure went to the end of the dial, we were in business! There was no water in the engine, and it started to run rich with no temp sensoring for the ecu, at idle the engine eventually stopped itself, the plugs fouling with the

overfueling and the oil down the bores.

I left it there and got back on with the rebuild...

Joy has no limit when a new engine bursts into life!

The oil down the bores burning off in a dramatic cloud.

We're on the home straight now, there will be problems,

but none that can't be overcome.

I'm already thinking of the adventures me and

the Evo will have.

I fitted a new clutch slave cylinder support bracket, the car didn't have one, a replacement had been delivered from Jim at NW Integrales. This original equipment bracket stops the slave cylinder cracking its alloy gearbox mounting with the heavy Delta clutch release. Also before the inlet pipework was refitted, I bled the clutch. I checked everything, then fitted the air filter box, with a new element, then I fitted the intercooler

and induction pipework.

Next I fitted my reconditioned radiator, I had new pipes and clips. I have found previously that the new top coolant pipes are just a bit too long, and when the rad is pushed into place it folds the pipe a bit at its bend, this reduces the coolant flow. So I cut off about 20mm at the radiator end

of the hose, which allowed a better fit.

I fitted the header tank, sensors, bulkhead and fuse mountings, the fuel filter and fuel lines. I made sure the power steering pipes were secure, and fitted the belt cover to the pump.

The important bracing bar which supports

the rather weak slave cylinder mounting

Bleeding the clutch,

high tech jam jar and pipe

New plugs, leads, rotor arm etc. etc.

Would it start? Of course not!

We'll take a break here and start part 2 on a new page.

Thanks for reading!

I secured the oil cooler to the radiator, then filled the cooling system with 50/50 ionised water and green anti-freeze. I then fitted the new triple electrode NGK plugs, after checking everything one more time I jumped in to start the car and check for leaks.

It wouldn't go of course!