Riggers' Mk2 Xr2 project...

[jamie rigby]

got a call at 11am today 'down 15bhp than before' , turned out the cam timing was farrrr to advanced...

so i left it with him to work his majic, went to collect it at 5pm, was just expecting 165-170bhp as i thought he was just gonna time the cams upto standard and thats aorund the power they usually make, well yeh i was wrong -

Mikeanics cam timing ftw thats all i can say happy is an understatement on how the car feels now, with advancing the cams to they're best and the extra 600rpm to hold power, doesnt half make a difference

Watching the tacho continue past 7000rpm is fun too haha

 

[jamie rigby]

Purchased a Brand new Saxo VTS radiator off ebay last night, they are 35mm wider than the mk3 zetec rad, same height and same core and have a built in header tank which is the main reason ive gone for a VTS rad

with the lower rad hose outlet on the side on of the rad on the VTS rad and not on the rear like the zetec rad im gonna have to do some modyfying for it to fit so ive thought out what i need and want, a combo of escrot GTI and clio 172 lower rad hoses as the 172 hose has a 15mm take off which can feed my heater matirx, also ordered a 32mm pipe joiner to join both hoses of course...

all should be here tomorrow aswell as the Cams for the 1800

 

[jamie rigby]

Sax-slow VTS rad, 172 and escort lower rad hoses and 32mm pipe joiner -

rad is awesome -

will put it up along side the zetec one when i do the swap tomorrow to compare it.


also gave the car its first wash since i can remember -

Just ordered some OMP clamps etc off Demontweeks ready to make new door bars, will get the tube odered soon

 

[Alex H]

Get some custom silicones on there in yellow to match the cage

 

[jamie rigby]

Get some custom silicones on there in yellow to match the cage

nah i like the black and red bay

and they'd be a b*****d to keep clean if i got yellow ones lol

plus itd cost like 200+ on a full custom silicone set up not worth it

 

[jamie rigby]

Bled the brakes yesturday, did them in the correct order... was LOADS of air in the offside rear, no air at all in the nearside rear, loads in the offside front and loads in the nearside front. Yet to test them because i planned to test the brakes whilst getting the car upto temp to bleed the cooling system so that'll have to wait...

before i removed the header tank, rad and the hoses i checked the header tank to see what we have after 4-5times flushing it out with water it seems to be 99% clean now -

all removed -

new rad is 30mm wider, 20mm taller and the core is 7mm deeper -

rad resting in place then noticed this -

i attatcked the bonnet with a hammer because the filler neck on the header tank is right where the inner skin lies so i flattened that and it shuts now

then spent around an hour trying to get my lower 172 and escort rad hoses to line up, but the 172 one just wouldnt fit, so went to a scrapyard and got a lower rad hose tee off a silvertop mondeo, got it to line up sound with the joiner and a 90degree bend off the escort hose, its all just resting in place atm becuase ran out of time yesturday, will get pics tmoz when i finish it all off

also the escort top rad hose with built in fan switch which came with the 1800 im using that too as theres no fan switch on the rad

also forgot this, when i did the headgasket i was able to remove the old coil pack and bracket off the head as i rounded the 7mm bolts that hold the coil; pack to the bracket, so on went the new one -

 

[jamie rigby]

mondeo and escort lower rad hoses modified and joined together -

fitted and also piped the 15mm tee up to the heter matrix, ive blanke4d off the thermostat bypass hose -

escort top rad hose with built in fan switch, chopped down to size and fitted -

so all done, thsi was taken when i was bleeding the system, couldnt be arsed driving it so i just annoyed the neighbours for 20mins, inbetween revving it to get it upto temp i just tidied the garage etc -

all bled and spot on happy days

thermostat housing breather blocked off and some fresh pics -

cooling system before -

now, much better -

will see how the rad is when driving it and text the brakes later

 

[f0xy]

So..... what you gonna text the brakes saying? :S

Also, I've said it before and I'l say it again... Its only a matter of time before something flicks up off the road (or probably on track) and gets sucked into that engine. Just because they are facing backwards does not mean nothing can get in, put your hand over one of the trumpets and rev it to 2k - then multiply that force by around 4, then by 4 again with it being four cylinder, and you'll see there is enough force to pull pretty much anything that's loose in the engine bay towards them.

All it takes is one tiny stone to be flicked up while the engines at 7k, and it will be bye bye engine. I know someone that had a 106 with the same setup, his pulled in a 4mm nut that had been left on the scuttle panel at high RPM which really is smaller than most pieces of gravel you would ever find, straight into the engine and the piston shattered into pieces instantly. I've had gravel end up between my inlet & rocker cover before, without even going near gravel on a track day... it was just picked up and flicked up from stones on the track where other cars have been off.

Air filters are manufactured for a reason, not for looks...

 

[jamie rigby]

test*

and yeh suppose i should look into one really, might just look for some new 45x45mm trumpets as one of mine is slightly bent and try get the with the mesh over them instead of having a sausage filter...



having problems...

heater matrix is still only getting warm altho both hoses leading to it are red hot, coolant temp seems to be running higher than it did with the old smaller zetec rad too :S...

been told i may need to add in a bleed valve as saxo VTS' and 106 GTI's have a bleed valve on the highest point on the hoses, not just the bleed screw on the rad...

still looking into what to do atm, we'll see

 

[jamie rigby]

just bought a brand new Fiat 127 fan switch off ebay, it cuts in at 92degrees and closes at 87degrees so it operates 10degrees less than the escort switch...

im also going to plumb the bypass hose back in too when the fan switch arrives and also back fill the heater matrix as i think its air locked and see how the temp is then

 

[jamie rigby]

pic of bypass re-fitted -

removed the hose leading from the heater matrix to the wather pump/lower rad hose, the waters gushing through there, maybe/hopefully thats bled it a little tho with taking that off then re-fitting it, so will see how the temp is now, later.

now know the matrix is fked anyways, hmmm what to do, either -

1. remove the front section of the cage, remove the dash and swap the matrix, or...
2. heated windscreen and f*ck off the matrix all together...

desicions decisions!


on another note, fan switch hast arrived yet, should be here tmoz.

Just ordered 4m of black 6mm silicone vacuum tube off ebay for relocating my windscreen washer bottle to the boot, that should be here early next week

Picked the cams up for the 1800 last night -

and here are the cage brackets, 4 of each of these for either ends of the door bars me and f0xy are gonna make sometime next week before Oulton Park next saturday-

just waiting on the suppliers to have the 40mm CDS tube in!

 

[MATT BLACK]

Nice motor

Just seems a shame to butcher such a good example - i can understand why you have done it and i have done the same thing in the past. I think as you get older you appreciate future classics and tend to want to nurture them back to there original former glory rather than modify them. Good effort though.

 

[jamie rigby]

Nice motor

Just seems a shame to butcher such a good example - i can understand why you have done it and i have done the same thing in the past. I think as you get older you appreciate future classics and tend to want to nurture them back to there original former glory rather than modify them. Good effort though.

thanks and yeh, if i bought an average one or a s**tter itd need money spending on sorting the rust etc, theres VERY LITTLE rust on mine which im chuft to say

 

[jamie rigby]

with the bypass in the temp was the same and still heater matrix only blowing out luke warm air, unless in stand still traffic it got really hot, when on the move its basically cold/luke warm...

so, i've taken out the bypass hose for good now... and ive re-piped the hose from the rear of the thermostat housing straight round the engine into the lower rad hose (cancelling out the heater matrix)...

if the temp is fine now when i come to test it once i fit this fan switch which arrived yesturday, then its the heater matrix thats causing the probs... if its the same, only other thing i can think of is the water pump

, but im not changing that cos then id have to take my car back to mikeanics again...

so only other option really is to drill a couple of holes in the thermostat itself to let more water flow to the rad, im not gonna remove the thermostat fully as when i did that last time it just sat in the cold on the gauge unless in standstill traffic which is no good for the engine at all, only thing that was good for was the oil temp was at a nice cool 80degrees

 

[bmh.01]

Why would it have to be mapped again if you change the water pump? Lost me there.

 

[f0xy]

As long as the cam pullies were not touched it would be fine to remove the cambelt and swap the pump to a new one, as itl always time back up the same. It would only need mapping again if you touch the floating pullies as they are set now, which you dont need to so a waterpump change would be easy tbh...

Either way I dont think its the waterpump as your water is flowing well all the time, even more so at higher RPM when revved...

 

[Tom@JMS]

Madness running without filters, it's not just large objects like stones etc that will cause damage; anything in the air above a certain size that won't pass through the engines fine tolerances between moving parts will cause damage.

 

[f0xy]

Its only a matter of time.....

:race:

 

[jamie rigby]

fan switch fitted -

cuts in at the perfect time so win... but when driving the temp is still the same must be a problem with thermostat or the block itself, so im going to test the thermostat later if its fine im just going to drill 4 5mm holes init then see how the temp is, if it still rises when booting it it may be time to yeh change the waterpump altho it seems fine with one of the circualting hoses off it proper gushes out when revving the engine.


had the Eibach Adjustable camber bolts fitted earlier and the alignment re-done...

bolts fitted/before -

whilst being aligned -

how it stands now -

 

[jamie rigby]

tested the stat last night, works spot on, so then did this lol -

3 4mm holes, coolant is mint now, sits at around 1/4ish on the gauge meaning the oils cooler too, ive also plumbed the heater matrix back in too as warm air is better than freezing air lol


relocated the windscreen washer bottle, how the bay looks now -

where the old washer bottle and header tanks were -

the hose i ordered is slightly too large, and about 1m meter short than i wanted to reach where the tank is, go gonna or 5m of 4mm hose instead of the 4m of 6mm hose

 

[Zonda]

had one of these as my 1st car, loved it... had the paris blue one, yours is the best colour blue.. still like them :approve:

 

[jamie rigby]

cheers and yeh i love this colour!


fuel tank almost full, 2 jerry cans full, 70quids worth of fuel only 53litres, probs wont last me all day tmoz if all goes well lol

Ive put the spare pots with the R888s on ready as the weathers looking promising and just gave the car a quick wash

just a tad excited!

 

[Zonda]

Have fun!!

 

[jamie rigby]

Have fun!!

had



What a day...

Car lasted all day which left me with a big smile on my face...

the last trackday the oil shot upto 140degrees after one hard lap and threw out 1/2 litre of oil out the breather after one lap too...

yesturday i managed 3-4 hard laps before my oil reached 120degrees so then i just did 1/2 lap cooling down the another 3 hard laps as didnt think it was worth the risk of letting it go much higher than 120degrees altho i probs could've as my oil pressure was still at 3.5-4bar on WOT at 120degrees, think ill be taking my thermostst completely out at the next trackday, somethings defo not right somewhere either way

oh and the breather problem's sorted it seems with now a baffled sump and oil running cooler than before, only blew out 1/8 of a litre all day

brakes were have to say awful, spoke to a mate who used to race with XR2s for 5+ years and he said i need a brace bar to hold my brake servo as it moves ALOT, so will try make summat sometime in the near futre for that...

i also need a new steering rack, ive been thinking its on the way out for ages but i know know its past its days after 23years, 109k miles on my car lol, the guy who i just mentioned about the brace bar has a brand new one hes selling so ill be going to collect that this week

and last problem... my exhaust is stupidly close to the floor now after yesturdays abuse, its dropped down where i had the 4-2 welded onto the 2-1 part of the manifold, its down to i have no hangers on the system at all apart from the 2 on the back box, the manifolds heatwrapped and the crap quality of the the metal on the ashely manifold as theyre known to crack i think its just dropped slightly with the heat of it and the strain from the system weighing it down it fgot worse and worse throuhg the day its not blowing tho... so thats gonna have to come off, cut 1/2 of the heatwrap off and take another trip to piperwerx to get that sorted then ill try make summat for a middle exhaust hanger


but overall car handled awesome, had a few people coming over through the day who were suprised by how well it goes and the main thing i did 150miles out on track and managed to drive it home, ill get these problems sorted and the next trackday will be even better

 

[Curtis!]

Went well out of track but did notice the exhaust. Shame I didn't get to see your fluffy hair!

 

[f0xy]

 

[Gray]

looking good!

LOL at the exhaust in Foxy's photos!!

 

[jamie rigby]

looking good!

LOL at the exhaust in Foxy's photos!!

yeh pics are awesome and sorted now


exhaust before -

removed all the heatwrap off the secondries to check all the welds, still spot on...

so could only mean one thing, the heat of the manifold and the weight of the exhaust system has caused it to sagg, so randomly came to my head when i got the car up on axel stands, jack the manifold up from the flanges where it joins to the system, i did just that and win back to how it should be -

perfect... just need to get a hanger made up for the middle of the system now somewhere, when thats sorted i may heatwrap the manifold again or probs just leave it as the manifold is proper sh!t quality metal so rather be safe

also old steering rack off -

Picking new one up tmoz night.

 

[jamie rigby]

New mk2 xr2 rack and track rod ends -

All fitted and had the tracking done and alignment checked so its spot on again, still got creaking tho after drving the car, so ill be going to get some new ball joints in the very near future

hose for the washer bottle came too so plumbed that all back in and mounted it with tie wraps of course -

_________________

 

[jamie rigby]

few more pics from oulton -

 

[jamie rigby]

Single skinned Fibreglass Carbon fibre wrapped bonnet fitted, only took about an hour in all to line it all up drill for the pins etc etc -

looks pretty mean imo lol, with the bonnet off -

if you didnt notice, brake servo brace bar ive made, illsee how it is, i thought it was thin steel when i pinched the metal from work, turned out its copper when i cut it to size and flattened the ends etc lol -

 

[jamie rigby]

well drove the car last night and the brake servo brace bar has made one hell of a difference, locks up so easy now its scary, going to bleed the brakes again this weekend.

Ordered a pair of Lockable Aerocatches last night for the top/rear of the bonnet, should be here towards the end of the week.

Collected the ball joints from Euro Car Parts earlier -

then fitted them heres a pic of the one with the split gaitor -

so glad there sorted now!

also did a nut and bolt check over everything on the fornt end, everything was still nice and tight after the trackday apart from one thing... one of the bolts on the rear of the cradle where it mounts into the car/chassis is just spinning, **** :|!

f0xy came up with a rather good idea of the best way to sort that as the threads well n truely fked in the car/chassis...

going to drill the threads out, weld 2 M10 Nylock nuts to the back of a piece of 3mm steel i have, then weld that to the car then both 2 new M10 bolts through the nuts!

also got a hole in one of the sills that needs sorting before the MOT in 2 weeks, so will hopfully weld a piece of 3mm steel over that too

more soon

 

[jamie rigby]

Cars booked in for Friday to get the thread drilled and tapped to M12 instead of welding a plate and drilling out the threads out etc etc

also going to get the hole on the sill patched over too with some 1mm steel

Lockable Aerocatches arrived today too, will fit them sometime in the next week

 

[jamie rigby]

Got the day off work today as work was quiet and so i could get the car sorted...

had the hole in sill welded up and had the thread drilled and tapped to M12, sorted!

First time ive drove the car since fitting the new ball joints on monday, the tracking was quite a way out, so ive done that myself now both sides toeing out slightly, also both the locking nuts on the track rod ends were loose (nice one Ninemeister!)

Just taxed the car too put another year on it and the MOT's booked in for 5pm Tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Will fit the lockable Aerocatches this weekend

 

[tommy g]

Very nice car mate!

 

[jamie rigby]

cheers!


well it Failed MOT yesturday on handbrake cable and steering as the it goes heavy then light etc and excess play in the coloum mounts...


this morning ive made this mess to remove the coloum -

heres the bush thats been knackard since owning the car -

and noticed this part of the steering coloum is bent -

donk know if its meant to be or not dont think so tho...

put it all back together makeing sure everything was full socket and nice n tight and its exactly the same, great!

going to collect a low milage complete coloum off a mate this afternoon

also tried to adjust the handbrake cable but i failed so need a new one of them too, awesome.

 

[jamie rigby]

Picked the steering coloum up... all ive changed is the tube above thats bent, steerings even now doesnt go tight then loose etc etc just still abit of play in the coloum mount itself but cant remove that without taking the dash out really so if he still fails me for that then will probs just take the clocks out and get some sort of bar made to brace the coloum to the bulk head somehow, but hopefully he'll let me off...

just bought a Brand New handbrake cable off ebay for a reasonable 8quid that should be here mid next week!

 

[Alex H]

No XR2 steering is tight. Does the play go up and down or left to right?

 

[jamie rigby]

yeh the actual coloum mount moves quite abit and the bush is fked at the top of the coloum just behind the boss

 

[jamie rigby]

Steering feels a million times better now!

awesome pic Christopher took at the weekend at a meet -

Handbrake cable arrived yesturday so changed that today, quite a fiddley job got there in the end, problem tho as per... it feels almost exactly the same apart form obviously the slack in the lever as ive took all the slack up, i recon the drums could do with new springs, if it still fails MOT ill have to find some of them sharpish

will get the Lockable Aerocatches fitted this weekend hopefully

MOT re-test is booked back in for Monday