August 11th 2017
I Hope!
I've been battling on, squeezing this Rover 1.6 engine in. I did think I would make a neat installation, but by the time all the pipery and cables were in, it had become a bit crowded.
I think I'll get straight into explaining the ignition.
I settled on a Canems Ignition-only ECU. Lots of people are using DTA and I have not heard anything to suggest I shouldn't, except the Canems is considerably cheaper.
I had contacted NoDiz, but their vagueness and "I'll have to ask" response didn't fill me with confidence.
Dave Hampshire at Canems knows what he is talking about (I think he is the boffin) and sorted me out with no trouble. The original Rover coils on the head were not going to work with his unit (something to do with dwell) and I settled on the ubiquitous Ford coil pack.
Apart from the ECU I needed a sensor and trigger wheel (my starter motor lives where the Rover sensor used to) and a MAP sensor so that I could set the ignition map using revs and load. I got a serial cable and a USB adaptor so I could plug it into my little lappy.
I sourced the HT leads separately. Dave did me a good deal on the package.
The ECU comes with a basic loom and plug with all the tails 2 metres long, so that you can install various bits here and there.
I soldered the mini terminals onto the wires to avoid too many problems in the future.
The trigger wheel needs to be mounted on the front pulley. I can't mount it on the back of the pulley as suggested because of the plastic shrouds and stuff on the engine so it needed to go on the front.
It also needed a big hole in the middle to allow the big bolt to be fitted to hold the pulley on.
I took it to my mate Richard to have the centre cut out on his lathe. As we were in his workshop he TIG welded the wheel onto the pulley and we checked for concentricity in the lathe. Absolutely spot on.
Fitting the plug to the sensor cable required me to learn how to solder. I can weld with gas and electric and MIG, but never needed to solder. A quick exploration of Youtube came up with a good instructional video. I made my first decent (I think they are OK) soldered joints.
The sensor needed a stout bracket so I made one from angle iron bolted to a big casting on the engine which was originally the engine mount. The sensor fitted with just 1.3mm clearance to the trigger wheel teeth. (It needs to be less than 2mm to be reliable.)
(That drive belt is old and cracked. I have put a new one on)
Positioning the coil pack, ECU and MAP sensor was a bit tricky, as I didn't want to move the expansion bottle for the cooling system from where I'd chosen to fit it. There was also the fuse box and distribution of power leads to fit in.
I may need to re-visit this area again if the electrics prove unreliable, but for the moment they are fine.
The ignition is fitted, the cooling pipes are in, the carb is fitted, the clutch cable is fitted.
I tried the clutch but couldn't get into gear.
I thought about this overnight and decided I had provided too much clutch release lever travel. The release bearing was pushing the fingers past the release-point and clamping them to the boss of the driven plate, so driving the gearbox again.
By only gradually depressing the pedal I found the spot where I could engage gear.
This meant lowering the leverage at the foot pedal in the car so that the release lever on the box was pulled over a shorter range. If I could do that whilst retaining the foot pedal travel it would reduce the quite high pedal pressure required.
So I modified the foot pedal, This meant I had to lower the cable anchor point on the pedal box by 3 cm in order to keep the cable inner at the right angle. Or rather, at no angle, straight.
I put alternate holes in the foot pedal lever to allow further adjustments. Now the foot pedal would let me engage gear when fully depressed.
As it's a cable system I can use a clutch return spring on the release lever to pull the pedal fully back (clear of the clutch cover fingers).
By fitting an adjustable stop in the pedal box I can set the pedal height and the point in the travel that the clutch clears.
Now I have a car which runs, moves off (and still manages to stop).
As there are 36 teeth (35 plus the "gap") it follow that each tooth is worth 10 degrees. Counting the full teeth and any extra gave me a figure of 143 degrees.
You put this into a field in the software and set the basic advance (10 degrees) that you are looking for. This means - all being well - that your basic timing is set and the car should run.
I did set a gentle map for the advance curve. It should run and I don't want to get too adventurous until I see which areas seem to need tweaking.
After getting it running you need to check the static timing with a timing light. You set the 10 degrees (in this case) advance in a locked mode in the software, so that it doesn't advance if you check the timing at more than tickover. Setting the tickover at about 1500 rpm (on the lappy display) I checked the timing. Because of the difficult position of the timing marks I had to unbolt the radiator and lift it up to get a view. I didn't disconnect it though, so there was still coolant running around.
So I was 1 degree out! Not bad, I think I need to reduce it from 143 degrees to 142 degrees (but I'll think about that). No hurry, what's 1 degree between friends?
I tried some starts at low revs in various gears to see if it would pink and it didn't. It'll pull smoothly away in top gear with just a few revs.
Revving, or to be more precise, accelerating in first wasn't as clean as I would have liked and it did fluff a bit after doing that. It could be almost anything. The carb has been dry for 3 months, the ignition map may need tweaking, but my favourite suspect is the plugs, which are the ones that came with the engine. (It had done 47K miles and I bet they are the original). They are burning a nice medium grey (I don't want it too weak) but who knows how much muck is caked on the insulator.
I have sourced some new plugs and have yet to try them.
Because the coolant expansion bottle is now inside the cockpit I needed to move the bulkhead backwards so that the bottle (and hot water) was separated from the crew. The old bulkhead was a bit of a joke as it didn't reach up to the bonnet, leaving a 2 inch gap.
The new one is made from 1mm alloy and was surprisingly easy to do. I'd had nightmares about it. Some holes for the wiring and HT leads are protected with convoluted wiring conduit. Once I know everything is right I can seal them with heatproof silicone.
Here are a few shots showing the bulkhead, the wiring, the rather full engine bay.
Notice that I had taken the top off the cam belt guard. It stuck up over an inch and I would have had to raise the bonnet to clear it. Much easier to chop the top of the guard off. I can't see any errant stones getting in there. I do have lots of alloy sheet left so I may make a small cover for it.
I've also made a small cover for the top of the pedal box as that was open to the engine bay.
I had to alter the sumpguard to fit the new engine better.
This was it's state after a few trials, so I think I need it in place. The Rover engine has an alloy sump. I have fitted some conveyor belting (canvas and rubber) between the guard and the engine, just to soften any blows. My car is a bit low anyway and the new engine is quite tall. In an attempt to avoid grounding too much I've made some adaptors to lift the shocker mounts on the front axle, to give me an extra 4cm clearance for the sump.
I could have just welded new brackets on, but that is a bit final. This way, if I need I can add more height, or less.
The trigger wheel needs to be mounted on the front pulley. I can't mount it on the back of the pulley as suggested because of the plastic shrouds and stuff on the engine so it needed to go on the front.
It also needed a big hole in the middle to allow the big bolt to be fitted to hold the pulley on.
I took it to my mate Richard to have the centre cut out on his lathe. As we were in his workshop he TIG welded the wheel onto the pulley and we checked for concentricity in the lathe. Absolutely spot on.
Fitting the plug to the sensor cable required me to learn how to solder. I can weld with gas and electric and MIG, but never needed to solder. A quick exploration of Youtube came up with a good instructional video. I made my first decent (I think they are OK) soldered joints.
The sensor needed a stout bracket so I made one from angle iron bolted to a big casting on the engine which was originally the engine mount. The sensor fitted with just 1.3mm clearance to the trigger wheel teeth. (It needs to be less than 2mm to be reliable.)
(That drive belt is old and cracked. I have put a new one on)
Positioning the coil pack, ECU and MAP sensor was a bit tricky, as I didn't want to move the expansion bottle for the cooling system from where I'd chosen to fit it. There was also the fuse box and distribution of power leads to fit in.
I may need to re-visit this area again if the electrics prove unreliable, but for the moment they are fine.
I'm missing some bits of the process out now
because it all seemed to become a bit of a blur.
I'm missing some bits of the process out now
The ignition is fitted, the cooling pipes are in, the carb is fitted, the clutch cable is fitted.
Time for Take-Off!
I messed about a bit and wizzed up the engine without plugs to get the new oil around. Then, with the plugs in, I got it started. It seemed to run very well.I tried the clutch but couldn't get into gear.
I thought about this overnight and decided I had provided too much clutch release lever travel. The release bearing was pushing the fingers past the release-point and clamping them to the boss of the driven plate, so driving the gearbox again.
By only gradually depressing the pedal I found the spot where I could engage gear.
This meant lowering the leverage at the foot pedal in the car so that the release lever on the box was pulled over a shorter range. If I could do that whilst retaining the foot pedal travel it would reduce the quite high pedal pressure required.
So I modified the foot pedal, This meant I had to lower the cable anchor point on the pedal box by 3 cm in order to keep the cable inner at the right angle. Or rather, at no angle, straight.
I put alternate holes in the foot pedal lever to allow further adjustments. Now the foot pedal would let me engage gear when fully depressed.
As it's a cable system I can use a clutch return spring on the release lever to pull the pedal fully back (clear of the clutch cover fingers).
By fitting an adjustable stop in the pedal box I can set the pedal height and the point in the travel that the clutch clears.
Now I have a car which runs, moves off (and still manages to stop).
Timing
In setting the timing sensor you have to tell the ECU how far the sensor is from the cut-out in the trigger wheel. You do this with the engine set at t.d.c. so the ECU can work out where t.d.c. is, from it's point of view.As there are 36 teeth (35 plus the "gap") it follow that each tooth is worth 10 degrees. Counting the full teeth and any extra gave me a figure of 143 degrees.
You put this into a field in the software and set the basic advance (10 degrees) that you are looking for. This means - all being well - that your basic timing is set and the car should run.
I did set a gentle map for the advance curve. It should run and I don't want to get too adventurous until I see which areas seem to need tweaking.
After getting it running you need to check the static timing with a timing light. You set the 10 degrees (in this case) advance in a locked mode in the software, so that it doesn't advance if you check the timing at more than tickover. Setting the tickover at about 1500 rpm (on the lappy display) I checked the timing. Because of the difficult position of the timing marks I had to unbolt the radiator and lift it up to get a view. I didn't disconnect it though, so there was still coolant running around.
So I was 1 degree out! Not bad, I think I need to reduce it from 143 degrees to 142 degrees (but I'll think about that). No hurry, what's 1 degree between friends?
A trial run
I went for a run on a neighbour's farm track and the car ran well, good oil pressure (80 psi cold) and didn't overheat. The cooling fan cut in at about 75 degrees, but it's adjustable so that is something I can fine tune.I tried some starts at low revs in various gears to see if it would pink and it didn't. It'll pull smoothly away in top gear with just a few revs.
Revving, or to be more precise, accelerating in first wasn't as clean as I would have liked and it did fluff a bit after doing that. It could be almost anything. The carb has been dry for 3 months, the ignition map may need tweaking, but my favourite suspect is the plugs, which are the ones that came with the engine. (It had done 47K miles and I bet they are the original). They are burning a nice medium grey (I don't want it too weak) but who knows how much muck is caked on the insulator.
I have sourced some new plugs and have yet to try them.
Because the coolant expansion bottle is now inside the cockpit I needed to move the bulkhead backwards so that the bottle (and hot water) was separated from the crew. The old bulkhead was a bit of a joke as it didn't reach up to the bonnet, leaving a 2 inch gap.
The new one is made from 1mm alloy and was surprisingly easy to do. I'd had nightmares about it. Some holes for the wiring and HT leads are protected with convoluted wiring conduit. Once I know everything is right I can seal them with heatproof silicone.
Here are a few shots showing the bulkhead, the wiring, the rather full engine bay.
Notice that I had taken the top off the cam belt guard. It stuck up over an inch and I would have had to raise the bonnet to clear it. Much easier to chop the top of the guard off. I can't see any errant stones getting in there. I do have lots of alloy sheet left so I may make a small cover for it.
I've also made a small cover for the top of the pedal box as that was open to the engine bay.
Sumpguard
I had to alter the sumpguard to fit the new engine better.
This was it's state after a few trials, so I think I need it in place. The Rover engine has an alloy sump. I have fitted some conveyor belting (canvas and rubber) between the guard and the engine, just to soften any blows. My car is a bit low anyway and the new engine is quite tall. In an attempt to avoid grounding too much I've made some adaptors to lift the shocker mounts on the front axle, to give me an extra 4cm clearance for the sump.
I could have just welded new brackets on, but that is a bit final. This way, if I need I can add more height, or less.
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