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.

@Struggler Good to see the Ph1 getting some love Front subframe all looks great, it's on my list of things to do along with the rear beam, any tips? I was going to get it powder coated along with the wishbones but someone else said raptor the subframe, not in any rush, it doesn't have an MOT currently and I SORN'd it for the Winter yesterday, but am going to come up with a plan!

I think my one tip would be to remove the pivot bolt on each side rather than removing the bracket from the body. This way you can avoid the risk of the captive nut just spinning. Once that happens it becomes a massive headache. Downside of that is you need ot drop the fuel tank a little one side to get a bolt out but still not remotely difficult. I managed it all on my own.

I was going to go down the powdercoating route but read some stories about peoples cracking and chipping almost immediately. Not that this wont happen with painting but its pretty cheap to paint.

Also recommend the axle spacers, really imrpoves the stance.

Update!
I've not really updated this in a while. The problem i have is the cams are still on backorder so I'm really just spending my time getting other bits and bobs done.

Fitted the ECU to the shock down and the catch can. Im running the PMS gearbox mount so theres really not going to be anything else to mount to in the area. You might also notice that I've used some spacers on the catch can. I put brakeline pass through right in the middle of this section of firewall before realising i wanted to put hte can there. Rather than move it ive spaced the can out on top. restricts access to the brake line which isnt ideal but its using M8 bolts so not going anywhere. Might change later but will involve draining the brake system.


Also its not as wonky as it looks! its just the body shape makes it look so .

The Gen90 ECU im running is designed only for the ph2s, and Renault made the wonderful decision to completely change the engine loom with the facelift. So you had the wonderful task of repinning all of the ECU to match. Horrible job that im not 100% sure ive done correctly.




Then went about hacking some connectors off the loom to tidy it up. ITBs cannot run an idle control valve or MAPs sensor so they're gone. Also not running VVT so lopped off the VVT solenoid connector. Left some length on the wire in case i change my mind and want to put it back on!


All capped off!


Another wonderful ph2 only design - the ITBs run a throttle position sensor, same as the ph1 but a different unit with its own wiring. KTEC supply an addaptor for the ph2 throttlebody, which again is obviosuly not compatible with the ph1 loom.


So cut that off and hard wired it into my engine loom


Then just started rewrapping the loom to tidy it all up. probably not worth doing at the moment since i dont know the final routing for the wiring until the engine goes back in, but makes it look a bit tidier!


Thats all for now! hopefully the cams come next week and i can get the engine rebuilt and back in!!

Also those bolts for the PMS susension top mounts are rusty... thats going to bug me.

Also - shout out to @KitsonRis for well documenting his struggles fitting this kit to a ph1! And responding to my barrage of questions about it!

I did have a lot of help from others on here doing this! But my argument was if I can do it anyone one can 🤣
I hated doing the ECU changes as that was an expensive piece of kit that I didn’t want to ruin!

Oh might want to chuck some sacrificial spark plugs in when you start it for the first time. My Gen90 was defaulting to 100% throttle as a base map and ruined the spark plugs from over fuelling. I’m sure I mentioned this in my thread.

Oh thats interesting, i will clean up my old plugs and reuse them to begin with.

I am really not sure what map is on the gen90 I have. It is second hand from a 182 but i got the ITB kit inc injectors all at once so maybe what is on there will at least fire up.

Thinking about it, now that ive repinned i should be able to power it up, I'm unclear on if the gen90 runs an imobiliser, which obviously might be quite unhappy when it picks up my key in the ignition.

I should probably invest in the wire and software so i can do some of the software side.

If it’s second hand and got a map on it then it might run better than mine did on start up.
Isn’t the immobiliser on a different ECU behind the gear stick? I never did anything about an immobiliser on mine

Behind?

There is (what i think is) the airbag module in front of the shifter, bolted to the floor, but thats long gone.



Im pretty sure there is another computer behind the dash somewhere near the fuse box. Maybe its in here.
Will stick the key in next week and see what the light does.

Oh maybe was thinking of the airbag module. I knew there was something behind it!

Yeah I wouldn’t worry too much about the immobiliser, mine seemed to still work and I didn’t do anything and I’m a proper ham fisted idiot when it comes to fixing things.

KitsonRis said:

If it’s second hand and got a map on it then it might run better than mine did on start up.
Isn’t the immobiliser on a different ECU behind the gear stick? I never did anything about an immobiliser on mine

Click to expand...

No , the immobiliser is part of the UCH box , not a separate ecu.

thats great news! thanks!

Where abouts is the UCH box?

Is it somewhere in this general area?

Yes that’s correct , the black box that all the loom connections plug into where you have circled.
Also great to see a PH1 receiving some much cared for love.
Nice 👌🏻

So, its been a while since I posted hasn't it!

I had a nice timing plan for the build set out with the engine being back in the car before winter. Got to ordering all the parts to make that happen, then... CatCams.... Placed my order through in October with plenty of time and sunlight and nice weather left of the year but when following up was told they needed to be specially made and would take 6 weeks, which ground everything to a halt a little but I found the above loom work to get done in the meantime.

Unfortunately the delays kept coming and I started to panic that the engine was going to be left outside over winter without even the rocker cover on. Had I known I would have kept the head inside and waited until spring, the engine stood outside per the last image I shared albeit with a tarp around it.

Anyway, nearly 12 weeks after ordering, literally when the days are at their shortest and we are down to single figures, this finally arrives!



Not wanting the open engine to be outside a second more than it needs to I went down to Essex to get the engine built up thinking hopefully if I start at 8am I can get it all done before the light fades.


Nice little pile of toys to fit.




Lifters and followers fitted followed by cams with lots of assembly lube


This stuff is the bane of my existence. Knowing that putting on too little risks an oil leak that can only be solved by removing all of the timing etc but too much risks some silicone coming off and clogging the oil pickup and destroying the engine makes it a task fraught with anxiety, especially for a first time... and it gets f**king everywhere!



Did I put on too little? too much? time will tell but only a very small bead came out the sides so I am hoping I fully Goldilocks'd it.


Running all the bolts down ruined my lovely painting... oh well, not time to dwell, it still looks good from afar.



See! looks fine. Also you can see how much gasket stuff came out the sides, if someone knows for a fact that I've screwed up royally, please let me know... gently.

Then it was just a case of putting the cambelt on and timing it up.


This was... interesting, and I'm a little worried the timing may be every so slightly out. You see some videos of people just putting the timing tool in with a finger and it sliding gracefully left to right. Mine does, it goes in with a push, but needs a push. We are still talking one handed push, but full palm not fingers. Most sources suggest that this is fine and I put some of it down to the aftermarket cams and springs having a lot of overlap at TDC, even with no cam pulleys installed at all the cams didn't want to sit perfectly level as the springs were under some compression at TDC.

Again - and wizards want to chip in please do.



Anyway, engine is a lot more built up and sealed now for the winter and I tried to do the best job possible as winter prep.



This is clingfilm, tarp, and clingfilm again to there are any pockets to hold water. I almost want to string some Christmas lights around it and call it festive.

As always, thanks for reading, I'm not sure I'm going to do anymore now until the spring but we can see how the weather looks. I can more or less put the engine back in the car now, we will see.

What sealant have you used on the cam cover? Should be anaerobic i.e loctite 518 so it mixes with oil if it accidently overspills.

Hmm, so I appear to have made the mistake of following the video by James Stone as a guide... Not the first person on this forum to do this it would appear.
I've used the silicone he used in the vid SI5890.

Now it would seem I'm in the difficult position of deciding if i scrape it off and start again or risk it. I am leaning towards the latter at the moment as I did head the warning and use sparingly.

Unfortunately people use/recommed the wrong stuff for the cam covers. Id scrape it off and use the correct anaerobic flange sealant to avoid any future headaches. If a bit of sealant comes off and blocks an oil gallery or oilpump strainer, be engine rebuild.