[trackday_prep] Cameron's Mi16 / Gti6 Hybrid

[Cameron 16]

Got a little present today.

 

 

Can you guess what it is yet?

 

 

Its my TIG welder!

And its bloody tiny! Smaller than I expected, here it is next to my lid for a sense of scale.

 

 

So I waited til lunch, hooked it all up and had a quick go. Works very nicely.

 

 

Was a little hot, hence the pink colour, so turned it down a few amps and had another bash.

 

 

Which is a bit better. That's with BOC Stainsheild though hence the sexy golden colour! Hopefully I'll be able to find an equivalent without having to pay BOC prices. So all I need now is a bottle of gas and a regulator and I'm all set to start making stuff.

Didn't get time to try out the pulse setting but I'm sure it works just fine. All in all, a bit of an eBay bargain!

[welshpug 1,622]

Nice work, can I ask how much you paid?

 

I can mig, but I think a TIG would be so much nicer for bodywork.

 

 

how are you going to lock the bottom end now? one solution to your multi piece timing covers may be an XU7 setup

[Cameron 16]

It was £348 including delivery from Italy, which is a little more than I expected but demand for these things seems to have shot up recently! Not complaining though, it welds very nicely considering the price. Yeah TIG is much easier to control on thin stuff, but you have to get the surface back to bare metal otherwise it will weld like a piece of crap. You can usually get away with being a bit lazy on the prep with MIG.

 

Not sure, I think I'll time the engine up by TDC this time rather than rely on the timing holes, and put a TDC mark on the crank pulley. The bottom end won't be locked but I can't see it causing too much of a problem.

[Cameron 16]

Some progress today, my water pump blanking plates arrived this morning so I've fitted one to see how it fits and the answer is very nicely.

 

 

 

 

As you can see there are two holes that are very close to the belt and there just isn't room for the bolts, so I'm going to have to countersink the holes and get some countersunk bolts. I'll do it to all the holes so it looks nice and neat. Other than that I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

 

As it was such a nice evening I decided to do a little bit more work, and have taken the gearbox apart.

I've never touched gearboxes before so this is probably going to be a bit of a steep learning curve! I managed to break it down into smaller pieces pretty easily but I'm guessing the hard bit is getting it all back together. While its apart I'll be vapour blasting the case at work as its bloody filthy and its pretty pointless having a nicely painted engine next to a crap-soaked greasefest.

 

I don't have a bearing puller so I left 5th and 6th in place and just undid the case bolts, with a bit of wiggling it came apart.

 

 

Then I was left with a whole load of internals to clean up!

 

 

I'll blast the case at some point in the next week or so, it should come up pretty nicely.

[swordfish210 20]

I friggin hate doing road car gearbox's, give me a Hewland LD box anyday Have fun

[Cameron 16]

Well it hasn't exactly been fun so far, the oil stinks and the case is absolutely plastered with s*ite! Will be a lot better when its all clean!

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

You'll get used to the oil... it doesn't smell that bad once you get used to it... right?

 

Looks impressive cameron, going back a fair way to your lowered seat mounts, does the standard exhaust fowl anywhere (i.e. the cutouts)?

[swordfish210 20]

it doesn't smell that bad once you get used to it

 

If you like the stench of cats piss in all your clothes, all over your hands and stinking out the garge then you carry on pal.

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Wanna help me with the spectrum tomorrow then mark? Needs changing to combe ratios and you obviously love gearbox oil!

[swordfish210 20]

Not unless you've steam cleaned the casing and all the internals first anyway back on topic.....

[24seven 104]

good thread!

 

How easily did the RS head go on the Mi block? I plan to fit an RS head to the XU7 on my 306, which I know is a direct fit, but have thought about one on my Mi as well as a means of combatting oil surge.

Edited March 17, 2009 by 24seven

[BackStreetRacecars 3]

I'm following this one closely!!! Looks amazing with those rallye arches on the black car!! Is also the engine I am looking to build next Mi/git6 hybrid!!! Was wondering what head gasket you used> also have you a link for the site that the tig welder came from??

[Cameron 16]

It goes on easily enough, but the little fiddly bits take a bit of time to get right. The cambelt cover was one of the annoying things to sort out, had to use half of the 6 and half of the Mi.

 

Head gasket is an Mi one, as are the head bolts and spacers, I was using an Mi cambelt before removing the pump.

[24seven 104]

cheers bud. I'll have a go at this then.

[bobob 0]

Looks like a very good project

 

Just a quick Question, why go for a hybrid rather than just use the whole GTi6 engine? Is it just a case of those were the part around at the time, or is there a performance benefit?

[Baz 421]

A Gti6 without the extra weight, chocolate pistons / An Mi with a better head & oil control i should imagine.

Edited March 20, 2009 by Baz

[Cameron 16]

Got it in one!

 

As it was such a nice day today I did a little bit more when I got home from work. The car is now up on stands and I've removed everything from the front end - suspension , steering & subframe etc. I'm fed up of getting filthy every time I go near the engine bay so its all going to be cleaned and re-painted.

 

 

I also did a little more work on the gearbox, just removing as many bits and bobs as I can so it can be cleaned and blasted. Annoyingly I broke one of the bearings when I was taking it out, those plastic cages get really brittle!

 

 

I'm pretty sure I can source a new one from my local bearing supplier, it has INA and a part number stamped in it so that points me in the right direction. Still a ballache though!

Edited March 20, 2009 by Cameron

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

Nice stuff Cam.

 

Re the welder. You took a photo of it next to your welding lid to show the size. However this could be misleading, as maybe you have a massive melon (?).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cameron 16]

You've got a point there, so just to clear things up I don't have a freakishly large head.

[Cloverleaf 1]

Just read this...great project. Looks like it's turning into a serious strip down at the moment tho. When you hoping to have it up and running? I'm determined my project doesn't escillate so I miss a whole summer again!

[welshpug 1,622]

Cameron, pretty sure you can get an uprated bearing with a metal cage to replace those, a bit stronger

[Cameron 16]

Yeah it is getting that way, I'm determined to have it ready by May or June at the latest. It does look like a lot but most of the jobs are just cleaning and then putting it back together, they shouldn't actually take that long. I really need to get my arse in gear with the door moulds though as I need to sell a few sets to finance the project!

 

Yeah I've been checking the INA website and found some that look right, they don't cost that much so I'm tempted to replace the whole lot. An guesses how much Peugeot are charging for a full set of bearings? I'll give you a clue, it's daylight arseraping.

[Cameron 16]

Update time!

Although it doesn't really look like it, I've been very very busy this week! I've mostly been cleaning everything I took off ready for a coat of paint, but also made some decent progress on my doors. So, err, the bits I have finished are:

 

Subframe:

 

 

Battery tray, brake servo, and some other bits and pieces:

 

 

Then there's the doors, which has been an almost never-ending saga of sanding and polishing but it has paid dividends. I've spent today applying 6 of the 10 coats of release wax needed, so tomorrow I may be able to get some gel-coat on it and the first layer of GRP. Its looking very shiny now anyway.

 

 

But most importantly of all, I got the bits I needed for my welder!

I set up my account with Energas on Wednesday and got a bottle of argon, and then got the regulator and hose this morning, so now I'm all set! I was itching to weld something but it was just too cold outside and I couldn't be bothered.

 

 

Then all set up!

 

 

Got lots more cleaning and painting to do this weekend, so will be doing that around coats of wax to the door. In other news my Gaz coilovers have seen better days, some of the plating on the damper rods has flaked off and the exposed steel has rusted. I've emailed Gaz to find out if they can repair them and possibly re-shim them to suit my needs, but have also asked how much a set of GGA shocks are.

 

I've also got some plans to modify the firewall / exhaust tunnel to make clearance for the GTi6 / a new manifold, details of that will come later.

[Cameron 16]

Been busy with more painting today! Got the steering rack (GTi6), pedal box, gear linkage and anti-roll bar done.

 

 

I also cleaned up the sump ready for paint, but I haven't painted it yet as I decided to make a start on my door moulds. They've had their 10 coats of mould release now so I've put a layer of gel-coat on and they'll get a layer of GRP in a couple of hours.

 

 

I also had a go with my welder! I shortened a downpipe for James R last year but as I did it with a MIG welder using the "series of tacks method" (as I didn't know better then) there were lots of little craters and some pin-holes. So I ground it all back and started again, this time with my trusty TIG welder and stainless wire (as its a stainless downpipe). The results are a lot better!

 

 

You can see how much the downpipe needs shortening to fit a GTi6 manifold!

 

 

So that's all of the painting out of the way for now, I'll be doing some serious hole cutting this week though as I'm going to be doing some mods to the firewall / exhaust tunnel area (basically making a new one) to allow clearance for the exhaust manifold (and a potential new one).

[welshpug 1,622]

does it really need work to the tunnel seeing as the ally block is shorter?