My '79 turbo project - Update 16/08/14
Turbo Mini Forums

What a bummer!

It is not uncommon for early stages of piston/cylinder wear to start at one side. Here's a very comprehensive guide on the subject of piston damage and cylinder wear (symptons and causes) courtesy of KolbenSchmidt:

http://www.boosttown.com/engine/piston_damage.pdf


Good luck with filling in the blanks!


On a general note, rolling roads are suposed to be a controlled environment with loads of measuring equipment to monitor operating health, enabling adjustments to be made when necessary and making it safe to put an engine through its paces once fully setup. On the contrary I see quite a few engines that have seen the rollers without ignition/ mapping having been touched which is very critical on boosted engines. No det cans are being used, charge temps remain unmonitored....and then the engine goes bang, hmmmm! I see very little value in using RR this way, just fit wide band lambda and simply run your car up the road to check if fueling is ok...after that hope for the best.

it is pretty amazing how many engines in the past few years have blown either on or just after rolling road work.

I think partly due to the customer sometimes wanting it all done in an hour or two , or for a fixed price that wont give enough time to do a carefull job ,

or maybe because the rr's are not used to turbo a series , and don't realise they can blow a piston with no outward signs of damage taking place . I remember being 4 ft away from Richards engine on full chat at the s/w rolling rd day , and it suddenly let go with no sounds of anything un towards . if you don't know they can meltdown with no obvious sounds , then you could run it to death without knowing till its to late .

also , theres a distinct difference in the way a beaked chamber head will work with a set octane ,compared to a opened up chamber .

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

He knew i wasn't in a rush, and also i wasn't chasing top figures..just wanted some more boost.

It was exactly as you described robert, no signs of anything un toward, and then ran lumpy and shit. Luckily it looks like it was caught very early so i'm going to try my luck with a new gasket and lower boost.

And i think i might try a different rolling road next time.

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

good luck dan ..something I just noticed , your compression test results ..the 160/170 cylinders..thats a very high cranking pressure for a turbo engine , is your cr higher than normal ,or cam timed in very advanced ?


edit , just read back and its 8.3:1 ? if so that's a very high cranking pressure .

Edited by robert on 10th Aug, 2013.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Oh is it :/ Yeah it's 8.2:1, the test was done on after a hard run so it was very warm. Would this affect things?

Edit: What sort of figures should it be reading? I will check it once it's back together.

Edited by danb41 on 10th Aug, 2013.

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

pretty much all the engines I know the details of run around 120 to 150 max....varying in cr from 8:1 to 8.5:1.

if your cam is in well advanced , that is closing the inlet valve early , that could cause it.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Intake temps would have been high too. That would have an affect

13.95 1/4 mile on a 2.95 fd. Carnt be that hard to beat!

Hmm ok well i'm sure the cam was timed in at the recommended timing as stated by piper. I will get a IAT sensor in there when i can.

In the meantime i will get it up and running and turn the boost down.

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

So after sorting out the busted head gasket last year it didn't miss a beat, turned the boost down to 14psi and it was a blast!

I've been doing a few bits over the winter to improve things further. Changed to a front mount rad and got hold of a 4X4 cossie cooler for cheep. I'm having a tidy up with the interior and have got some mamba's, the reduced offset should help with torque steer and they're light too!

Also with last years trouble with not being 100% on the CR, i will whip the head of at some point and measure it. I would like to get it tuned for more revs and boost too.

Some pics.








Enjoy.

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

Good stuff. Nice to see some progress.

Phil.

WWW.TURBO-MINI.COM

It's been a long time since i've updated this thread, to be honest not a great deal has been done. Its just been ''finished'' for now.

I still don't know what the C/R is due to lazyness, but i did get the fuelling sorted a bit as it was and still is really really rich. But it runs great. Turned the boost up to 20psi and its not gone pop yet.

Next on the list is to sort the crunchy gear change. Not happy as the genuine rover baulk rings were new only a few thousand mile ago!

And to sort out a leak from the crankshaft oil seal, as it's causing some clutch slip sometimes.
Here are some pics of how it stands now.

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

Liking the seats and the wheels... BUT i do love the old whellers!? Do the new wheels help with torque steer? And are the whellers for sale

Looking really good mate! Good to see you still have it on the road

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

Cheers guys, yes the wellers caused some huge torque steer. Its a lot more controllable now ha.

What didn't help either was that the front was toe'ing in 9mm and the rear was toe'ing out some!!

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

felt like it was on castors!

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM