Ph1 revival

Finally to close, here's a fun thing I've learned, early ph1s don't actually have a keyway in the crank sprocket. I am told that this is because they use a forged crank of another renault but dont know for sure. Annoylingly i had thrown my original one away (or into the rusty scrap metal pile) in favour of the keyed one, so will have to source another.

Also Also - (i wish you could edit posts) - has anyone seen a breather like this before? I has a completely flat bottom, no machined chanels what so ever, i assume this is part of a larger assembly? It also has no residual evidence of the channels in the rocker cover. I've basically just used it to mask up the breakther openning now so i guess its already ruined anyway.

I think that breather plate is a tessa one for coilpack relocation. Pms new style one is best,id go with that.

I also had one of the bolts deep in the sump round off. Drilled it in situ knackering the sump in the process, right carry on. If yours aint leaking, id leave it.

Someone threw it in when i bought some KTEC ITBs off them, IIRC they mentioned it was a Tessa one at the time. I was going to just get the PMS one when i get around to placing a big order.

And yeh, so far I've gone for, sump not leaking, leave it on. My only fear is when I had to drill out 5 headbolts, i tried very hard to get all the swarf out when a magnet and i didnt see any evidence of any getting further than the head, but there is a chance some ended up in the sump, thought it was full of oil at the time so most should have come out when I drained it.

Tbh I'd happily buy a new sump as theyre pretty cheap on PMS, i just dont want to try and cut the existing one off and do more damage out vanity.

Old one didnt clean up too bad with the wire brush, i will leave for now.

Dropped the subframe in situe - wasnt the easiest job as the was is basically up against the wall of the garage - left the hubs and brakes in situe. Need to actually work out how to get hte car our of the garage in this state... will be interesting.

Stripping the old paint off the subframe - i did it with a paintbrush and it was chipped and looking a bit sorry so thought it could do with being redone.


Greenhouse has basically become my spray booth at the moment. Subframe after a lick of paint.


Need to do the underside this week.

Another little job was to wrap the exhaust - I bought a 182 manifold a while ago and like the idea of not cooking my starter motor on track.

Before:


After: (quite an unpleasant job to be honest)


That is all for this week kids!

Head is still at the machine shop - should be back next week so hopefully i can get my engine build back up sometime in the coming month.

I also have realised that i neeed to get rid of the cams i have - i bought 422s cheap but it sounds like i need to get new pistons to make them work, perhaps 421s are the only ones that that will work with a standard bottom end.

Not really an update, just a photo dump


Also had my driveshafts rebuilt by Peter Withers, not sure if he uses the forum or what his name is on here but hit him up on facebook if you're looking for a refresh.



And my efforts to convince my dad to sell his vintage bike for more room has failed... He bought another one, so now even less space in the garage.

Got some new toys!!

Vernier cam pulleys
Lightened flywheel
Lightweight crank aux pulley
lightweight water pump pulley
PMS breather plate
the list goes on - it was not a cheap order in total.

the build is always the most fun part!


Having the silly desire not to leave my subframe outside in the elements while looking so fresh, ultimately silly since it will go back under the car where it will live afterwards...


cylinder head has been ported/polished by M.S.Customs - again not sure if theyre on this forum but find them on facebook if you want work done! they recut the valve seats, modified the intake/exhaust ports, checked all the tolerances, pressure tested, gave it a skim and rebuild the head with Wossner valves and uprated cat cam springs (and new stem seals). Very happy with the result.



I hate putting heads on! so much at stake! and the need for so much force while trying to stay to delicate precision...


but its on! time will tell if on correctly.

I found out the other day that the cams i have ordered (5503421) are on back order and wont arrive for another month. So my build has basically ground to a hault.





in my bordom i decided to just test fit a few bits i had lying around to see what the engine would look like once complete. great use of time if you ask me!

realised then that the second hand hoses i bought were dirty...



And finally, in case you wondered how i leave my engine out at night with the newly refurbished head exposed... ask no more.


After this a few bin bags over the top and just tape it all up!

How much was the driveshaft refresh? Mine are looking quite tired now and could do with some sprucing up.

Also make sure the clutch you're fitting works with the lightened flywheel. I made the mistake of fitting a stock clutch the first time around, which wouldn't engage any of the gears. Ended up going with a Sachs Performance clutch kit as they have more clamping force than standard.

oh wow, thanks for the heads up, i hadnt considered at at all! this is an engine dynamics one, didnt say anywhere that it wouldnt work with the standard clutch but will check.

Drivesaft refurb was £250 - quite steep considering the price of pattern parts but was all proper Renault components used.

Might be worth sending ED an email to check, means you'd avoid pulling the engine back out like I had to do lol

£250 doesn't seem so bad considering you can't buy the ph1 shafts anywhere now!

This was my thinking! I read so much about people getting the wrong lengths with pattern parts and having knocking issues. Especially for ph1s as it sounds like they changed every dimension a tiny amount just to make sure the ph2 parts wouldnt quite work right!

Having such a headache with the fact that the ph1 had such a limited run that lots of suppliers just lump them in with the ph2s even though the parts wont work!

On a better note - checked the ED website and it specifically says that it will work with a standard clutch. Didnt plan on updating given the power i am aiming for.