205 Si 1.6L Auto Rescue
- Thread starter Lincolne
- Start date
Day 25 - Rims arrived !
Nice - very happy (Thanks Craig !)
I'll get the tyres fitted next week and grab some photos and measurements re clearances and particularly how much they end up protruding outside the body line with tyres fitted and correctly inflated.
Now I really want the suspension parts to arrive. A little bit lower at the front will look so much better.
Nice - very happy (Thanks Craig !)
I'll get the tyres fitted next week and grab some photos and measurements re clearances and particularly how much they end up protruding outside the body line with tyres fitted and correctly inflated.
Now I really want the suspension parts to arrive. A little bit lower at the front will look so much better.
good one
don't be concerned about the paint, 205's look good no matter how bad the paint
Peters suggestion of keeping the XU5 and improving it sounds the way better option
its all there in front of you, no shipping to worry bout, just some work and new bits to go in
improve your front brakes but you could leave the rear drums, they're ok, or at least do them last
you'll be plenty busy with the head and manual gearbox and front brake upgrades
ditto that, only go in there if you're sure it needs work so check all the panels around to see if there's any sign of an old crash
and have another try and get that filter off, tool or chain or chisel thru it and turn if desperate
just be careful of the rad, sometimes I tape cardboard sheet over it first
never overtighten them, oil the oring and just firm hand pressure is fine it wont leak
don't be concerned about the paint, 205's look good no matter how bad the paint
Peters suggestion of keeping the XU5 and improving it sounds the way better option
its all there in front of you, no shipping to worry bout, just some work and new bits to go in
improve your front brakes but you could leave the rear drums, they're ok, or at least do them last
you'll be plenty busy with the head and manual gearbox and front brake upgrades
ditto that, only go in there if you're sure it needs work so check all the panels around to see if there's any sign of an old crash
and have another try and get that filter off, tool or chain or chisel thru it and turn if desperate
just be careful of the rad, sometimes I tape cardboard sheet over it first
never overtighten them, oil the oring and just firm hand pressure is fine it wont leak
Day (don't know - too happy) - Wheels !!!
Well after a few matters getting in the way I finally got around to putting the Ouragan's on dressed with Michelin SP3 195/55R15's all around
Before
After
Now it's by no means a major piece of work, however for a bit of motivation it really helps - they look so much better than the original wheels (thanks Craig!)
Clearances are interesting. The front is fine, no signs of rubbing across the full range of travel, however the rear is a mystery.
I can't work out why the rear is not rubbing - the clearance between the tyres and the inner guards must be millimetres. No sign/sound of them rubbing when I roll the vehicle, so it may need a road test with a few bumps to see what is going on.
The rear wheels sit inside the guards - no issues there, still around 5mm overhang.
The front protrude past the body line - probably by 10mm or so, however it's hard to tell as the front LHS quarter panel has been hit and repaired, and appears to be wider than the front RHS quarter panel.
Given how close it is, once the car is safe to drive I may look at asking a panel beater what would be involved in professionally extending the front arches by 10mm as an alternative to fitting a set of Rallye arches, just to see how the costs work out. The LHS quarter panel has been hit and badly repaired in the past. The body filler used has cracked, the panel line is wrong and the front plastics don't line up correctly, so given that replacement panels are still available it may be getting professional attention in the future.
It's definitely sitting too high at the front. It reminds me of a 2CV, but it has a pair of Record Maxigaz dampers and likely the original Si springs. The Eibach E7001-120 springs turned up yesterday so I may look at installing them sooner. Bilstein B6's still in Germany, so it's a waiting game at present - testing my patience.
Brakes are next. The braided lines turned up earlier this week, so once I have the new rotors, pads and brake line brackets I should have everything on hand to tackle the fronts (thanks Alain for your help with that!).
Sean
Well after a few matters getting in the way I finally got around to putting the Ouragan's on dressed with Michelin SP3 195/55R15's all around
Before
After
Now it's by no means a major piece of work, however for a bit of motivation it really helps - they look so much better than the original wheels (thanks Craig!)
Clearances are interesting. The front is fine, no signs of rubbing across the full range of travel, however the rear is a mystery.
I can't work out why the rear is not rubbing - the clearance between the tyres and the inner guards must be millimetres. No sign/sound of them rubbing when I roll the vehicle, so it may need a road test with a few bumps to see what is going on.
The rear wheels sit inside the guards - no issues there, still around 5mm overhang.
The front protrude past the body line - probably by 10mm or so, however it's hard to tell as the front LHS quarter panel has been hit and repaired, and appears to be wider than the front RHS quarter panel.
Given how close it is, once the car is safe to drive I may look at asking a panel beater what would be involved in professionally extending the front arches by 10mm as an alternative to fitting a set of Rallye arches, just to see how the costs work out. The LHS quarter panel has been hit and badly repaired in the past. The body filler used has cracked, the panel line is wrong and the front plastics don't line up correctly, so given that replacement panels are still available it may be getting professional attention in the future.
It's definitely sitting too high at the front. It reminds me of a 2CV, but it has a pair of Record Maxigaz dampers and likely the original Si springs. The Eibach E7001-120 springs turned up yesterday so I may look at installing them sooner. Bilstein B6's still in Germany, so it's a waiting game at present - testing my patience.
Brakes are next. The braided lines turned up earlier this week, so once I have the new rotors, pads and brake line brackets I should have everything on hand to tackle the fronts (thanks Alain for your help with that!).
Sean
your LF quarter panel may be a GTI one which are slightly 'beefier' . the GTI bits dont really line up with Si and vice versa so maybe order a new Si panel as you're thinking
also, the qtr panel's less important than the structure underneath. I'd be more worried about the rails and inside panels. have a good look and compare to the RF before letting the panelbeater at it
also, the qtr panel's less important than the structure underneath. I'd be more worried about the rails and inside panels. have a good look and compare to the RF before letting the panelbeater at it
How are you travelling with the 205? Any updates? Cheers Steve
Hi Steve,
In short - slowly. Winter in Tasmania has slowed things down (I don't have anywhere to work on the 'Pug that I can heat) and it's cold enough that you don't notice where you left skin behind in the engine bay until you wash your hands later.
I've managed to get a GTI Instrument cluster (in fact several - thanks John!) and there may be a few issues I need to work through with the electrics. I pulled the Si cluster out and plugged in a GTI cluster in its place but basically nothing worked (not even the tacho) so there may be a fault in it somewhere. I really want to replace the 'idiot lights' for oil and cooling with gauges, so this will likely need some further dissection on the kitchen table.
Likely the smartest thing to do will be to partially dismantle the existing cluster and swap out the oil and temp gauges.
I suspect that the issue may not just be the instruments, but the sensors. As mentioned previously, the sensor on the oil pan has no lead connected (or even dangling loose) and the radiator sensor was unplugged when I bought the vehicle so someone may have been trying to diagnose an issue. The thermofans cut in when the engine gets warm, so at least the important parts work. I keep forgetting to take the relevant pages from the workshop manual into OfficeWorks to get them printed on A2 so I can read them without a magnifying glass.
The flexible printed circuit board on the back of the instrument cluster does have me a bit worried (stupid design decision) so warmth may be needed to stop both it (and myself) from cracking due to the cold.
I also picked up a Japanese GTI instrument cluster (photo below - sorry about the reflections but the curved plastic makes it a challenge to photograph). The white plastic is crumbling (possibly UV damage), one of the mounting brackets is missing and the flexible PCB looks largely shot so some careful repair work may be needed if I end up using it. It's very legible, and the gauges have a 'recessed' look so an interesting alternative to the usual
On the issue of the 405 rims - well it looks like the wheels rub on the bodywork at the rear. The 195/50R15's may be too wide for the axle, but 185's would look odd on the rims. I've put a pair of 5mm spacers on the rear wheels as an interim (fixed the rubbing there) so it looks like it's fixable. They also rub on the front on full lock but I can live with that (not like it's a difficult vehicle to park).
Longer term I'm not 100% clear on what to do about this - I've seen a couple of sets of Speedlines come and go on Gumtree, and I'm beginning to think I should have bought a set as a contingency. Maybe a new/rebuilt rear beam would help ?
I'm still looking around for a 1.9L crankshaft and conrods . Once I have those I can look at getting a rebuild kit and give the car some horsepower back (the factory 66kW seem to have disappeared over the past 30 years).
My priority at present is to get my tax return sorted out - the cheque will likely go towards buying fuel injection and an ECU and retiring the monopoint injection. The idea of rebuilding the engine and upgrading to fuel injection at the same time sounds like not much fun - I'd rather do this in small steps changing as little as necessary along the way.
I'm still undecided re who/where to drop the engine and get it sorted. I've the name of a local mechanic/shop with a good reputation with Peugeots, so I have options.
There was an interesting couple of posts a while back (from PeterT if memory serves me) discussing issues with rot in the alloy blocks a while back. I never thought of this, and I'm hoping that there are no issues with refreshing the cylinder sleeves otherwise this may become an expensive issue to sort. Still, no use worrying yet.
Either way the car gets driven weekly so it's not going to die from neglect.
Sean
In short - slowly
. Winter in Tasmania has slowed things down (I don't have anywhere to work on the 'Pug that I can heat) and it's cold enough that you don't notice where you left skin behind in the engine bay until you wash your hands later.I've managed to get a GTI Instrument cluster (in fact several - thanks John!) and there may be a few issues I need to work through with the electrics. I pulled the Si cluster out and plugged in a GTI cluster in its place but basically nothing worked (not even the tacho) so there may be a fault in it somewhere. I really want to replace the 'idiot lights' for oil and cooling with gauges, so this will likely need some further dissection on the kitchen table.
Likely the smartest thing to do will be to partially dismantle the existing cluster and swap out the oil and temp gauges.
I suspect that the issue may not just be the instruments, but the sensors. As mentioned previously, the sensor on the oil pan has no lead connected (or even dangling loose) and the radiator sensor was unplugged when I bought the vehicle so someone may have been trying to diagnose an issue. The thermofans cut in when the engine gets warm, so at least the important parts work. I keep forgetting to take the relevant pages from the workshop manual into OfficeWorks to get them printed on A2 so I can read them without a magnifying glass.
The flexible printed circuit board on the back of the instrument cluster does have me a bit worried (stupid design decision) so warmth may be needed to stop both it (and myself) from cracking due to the cold.
I also picked up a Japanese GTI instrument cluster (photo below - sorry about the reflections but the curved plastic makes it a challenge to photograph). The white plastic is crumbling (possibly UV damage), one of the mounting brackets is missing and the flexible PCB looks largely shot so some careful repair work may be needed if I end up using it. It's very legible, and the gauges have a 'recessed' look so an interesting alternative to the usual
On the issue of the 405 rims - well it looks like the wheels rub on the bodywork at the rear. The 195/50R15's may be too wide for the axle, but 185's would look odd on the rims. I've put a pair of 5mm spacers on the rear wheels as an interim (fixed the rubbing there) so it looks like it's fixable. They also rub on the front on full lock but I can live with that (not like it's a difficult vehicle to park).
Longer term I'm not 100% clear on what to do about this - I've seen a couple of sets of Speedlines come and go on Gumtree, and I'm beginning to think I should have bought a set as a contingency. Maybe a new/rebuilt rear beam would help ?
I'm still looking around for a 1.9L crankshaft and conrods . Once I have those I can look at getting a rebuild kit and give the car some horsepower back (the factory 66kW seem to have disappeared over the past 30 years
).My priority at present is to get my tax return sorted out - the cheque will likely go towards buying fuel injection and an ECU and retiring the monopoint injection. The idea of rebuilding the engine and upgrading to fuel injection at the same time sounds like not much fun - I'd rather do this in small steps changing as little as necessary along the way.
I'm still undecided re who/where to drop the engine and get it sorted. I've the name of a local mechanic/shop with a good reputation with Peugeots, so I have options.
There was an interesting couple of posts a while back (from PeterT if memory serves me) discussing issues with rot in the alloy blocks a while back. I never thought of this, and I'm hoping that there are no issues with refreshing the cylinder sleeves otherwise this may become an expensive issue to sort. Still, no use worrying yet.
Either way the car gets driven weekly so it's not going to die from neglect.
Sean
If the dash transplant doesn’t work out I have seen some neat gauge pods floating around the inter webs that are 3d models that can be used on a domestic printer - they then sit in place of bits of dash like the coin tray. I’d send the link just can’t seem to find it againHi Steve,
In short - slowly
I've managed to get a GTI Instrument cluster (in fact several - thanks John!) and there may be a few issues I need to work through with the electrics. I pulled the Si cluster out and plugged in a GTI cluster in its place but basically nothing worked (not even the tacho) so there may be a fault in it somewhere. I really want to replace the 'idiot lights' for oil and cooling with gauges, so this will likely need some further dissection on the kitchen table.
Likely the smartest thing to do will be to partially dismantle the existing cluster and swap out the oil and temp gauges.
I suspect that the issue may not just be the instruments, but the sensors. As mentioned previously, the sensor on the oil pan has no lead connected (or even dangling loose) and the radiator sensor was unplugged when I bought the vehicle so someone may have been trying to diagnose an issue. The thermofans cut in when the engine gets warm, so at least the important parts work. I keep forgetting to take the relevant pages from the workshop manual into OfficeWorks to get them printed on A2 so I can read them without a magnifying glass.
The flexible printed circuit board on the back of the instrument cluster does have me a bit worried (stupid design decision) so warmth may be needed to stop both it (and myself) from cracking due to the cold.
I also picked up a Japanese GTI instrument cluster (photo below - sorry about the reflections but the curved plastic makes it a challenge to photograph). The white plastic is crumbling (possibly UV damage), one of the mounting brackets is missing and the flexible PCB looks largely shot so some careful repair work may be needed if I end up using it. It's very legible, and the gauges have a 'recessed' look so an interesting alternative to the usual
View attachment 207275
On the issue of the 405 rims - well it looks like the wheels rub on the bodywork at the rear. The 195/50R15's may be too wide for the axle, but 185's would look odd on the rims. I've put a pair of 5mm spacers on the rear wheels as an interim (fixed the rubbing there) so it looks like it's fixable. They also rub on the front on full lock but I can live with that (not like it's a difficult vehicle to park).
Longer term I'm not 100% clear on what to do about this - I've seen a couple of sets of Speedlines come and go on Gumtree, and I'm beginning to think I should have bought a set as a contingency. Maybe a new/rebuilt rear beam would help ?
I'm still looking around for a 1.9L crankshaft and conrods . Once I have those I can look at getting a rebuild kit and give the car some horsepower back (the factory 66kW seem to have disappeared over the past 30 years
My priority at present is to get my tax return sorted out - the cheque will likely go towards buying fuel injection and an ECU and retiring the monopoint injection. The idea of rebuilding the engine and upgrading to fuel injection at the same time sounds like not much fun - I'd rather do this in small steps changing as little as necessary along the way.
I'm still undecided re who/where to drop the engine and get it sorted. I've the name of a local mechanic/shop with a good reputation with Peugeots, so I have options.
There was an interesting couple of posts a while back (from PeterT if memory serves me) discussing issues with rot in the alloy blocks a while back. I never thought of this, and I'm hoping that there are no issues with refreshing the cylinder sleeves otherwise this may become an expensive issue to sort. Still, no use worrying yet.
Either way the car gets driven weekly so it's not going to die from neglect.
Sean
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- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
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S1/s2 tachometer won’t work in an si. The gti one uses high voltage on the coil primary.
Not a big deal to transplant the Si tacho dial (do they have one? can't remember) but you need to check the wiring diagram (or maybe compare the two side by side) to make sure everything else is okay with the flexible track wiring of the pod.
One idea for a quick and cheap upgrade of the engine would be to get a 405SRi engine complete with injectors, manifold and dizzy, ECU and associated loom. Drop that in and you have what? 120HP or something like that. Alternatively if you can get the relevant bits, you can use your block and do it that way.
I have had a hard time trying to find a corrosion free block, and in the end it turned out the one in my Si wreck was pristine. But that was after I bought three engines from the east coast and found all of them corroded to some extent. Moral of the story is, if you find a corrosion free block, buy it.
I have a 205GTI crank and rods (and pistons, but they're useless) plus a couple of heads off various DFZ engines here.
Your car looks very high all around to me, but I am not sure it's any different to other Si examples. I would leave it alone.
One idea for a quick and cheap upgrade of the engine would be to get a 405SRi engine complete with injectors, manifold and dizzy, ECU and associated loom. Drop that in and you have what? 120HP or something like that. Alternatively if you can get the relevant bits, you can use your block and do it that way.
I have had a hard time trying to find a corrosion free block, and in the end it turned out the one in my Si wreck was pristine. But that was after I bought three engines from the east coast and found all of them corroded to some extent. Moral of the story is, if you find a corrosion free block, buy it.
I have a 205GTI crank and rods (and pistons, but they're useless) plus a couple of heads off various DFZ engines here.
Your car looks very high all around to me, but I am not sure it's any different to other Si examples. I would leave it alone.
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Graham is correct here. The GTi tacho has a filter to remove the 400V back emf from the coil. Use the 85/86 connections (coil) of a relay to fire the the tacho. It works a treat. Matthew suggested this in another post recently (kudos to him). Remove the mechanical side. I suggested the same recently on 205 Forum:
Ever fitted an Msd or other brand ignition box with the stock ecu setup?
Hey everyone. Has anyone in group successfully fitted an Msd or another brand ignition box to the stock setup with the tachy relay, ignition amp, ecu and coil? Im trying to fit one but not entirely sure why Im getting no spark. System works as expected when the msd is not connected. This is on a ...
www.205gtidrivers.com
You won't know how much corrosion is in the block until you strip it and get it bead blasted around the liner seals.
If you add the 1.9L crank and rods, GTi inlet manifold etc., GTi cam, in addition to an aftermarket ecu, it will be a very nice engine.
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- Aug 2, 2000
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How do I get the si tacho in my 309 work on a coil ignition system? Don’t want to pull the dash apart again to refit the gti tacho.
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
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Neither will s3 tacho work as it also uses a coil
Progress (of sorts)
Well it's been a while since my last post, but a few things have happened
The Si is now dead - head gasket has failed and I have coolant in the exhaust so a strip and rebuild is definitely needed sooner rather than later.
I've been looking around for a GTI crankshaft and conrods for a while and spotted a listing on Ebay from a seller in Germany with a 1.9L crankshaft and a set of DKZ conrods with pistons attached for around AU$1800 plus import costs. It's an option that is cheaper than buying new forged aftermarket parts but that's overkill for what I want to do (no turbo on this wishlist)
Then a listing popped up on Gumtree for a used 205 GTI engine. It looked mostly complete (pictures looked fine) however as it was in Melbourne and I'm in Tassie it's a case of buying relatively sight unseen.
As it had a few useful bits attached I took a punt and for around $1600 delivered (a lot of that is freight) it's now mine
Not my cheapest purchase to date (close to the original cost of the Si) but it gets me a few bits that will be helpful:
Delivery was a bit of a pain. Not the seller, but the courier :-(.
I've used Pack and Send in the past they have been fine - not necessarily cheap however they do everything and co-ordinate collection with the seller, etc. Not this time - the transaction went from an estimate with confirmation that they could do everything to 'we've lost our packer and can't pack it' and all they could do was broker the courier.
The engine got to Hobart fairly quickly, and then sat in the couriers warehouse for 5 days before they could deliver it :-(. Talking to a friend in the Business this is apparently not unusual - freighting engines is nowhere as easy as in past years and few companies will do it.
If it hadn't been for Sam (legend !) scrounging a pallet and cutting it down to a 'skid', tying and wrapping the engine for transport I don't know what I would have done.
Sam - yours a legend !.
Unfortunately the motor is not a DKZ as I was originally hoping but rather its a DFZ so the head is the low compression version (my Si head should be better so that's a keeper). Note the picture below was after a mix of degreaser, brake cleaner and a thorough scrub and wipe clean.
As far as the engine looks:
After 5 or so cans of degreaser and a pressure wash I pulled the plugs, gave each cylinder a quick shot of WD40 and turned the motor over with a breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt - it turns easily apart from some resistance possibly the alternator and compressor I'm happy for the moment.
The plugs were fairly filthy so it looks like it was either running a bit rich or had not been serviced for a while before it was pulled.
The GTI inlet looks fine - again after a thorough scrub and degrease I can't see any cracks or damage so I'm hoping it's OK. I haven't had a good lock at the throttle position sensor however there's no obvious physical damage. This should be a cheaper option for the moment than a full Jenvey setup (I can always upgrade later if needed).
No MAF sensor or ECU (that's OK) but I'm still thinking a Megasquirt 3 is the way to go along with higher volume injectors, etc. as well as having the option of a non-Peugeot MAF as the OEM part is not particularly cheap.
I still need to track down a suitable gearbox - the auto has to go and there seem to be a few options re a BE3/5 manual gearbox and ratios so further thought is required
Once I've stripped the DFZ down to confirm the crankshaft and conrods are OK I'll give the wallet a good squeeze and buy a rebuild kit along with a full set of new oil and coolant hoses, better cam and parts to rebuild the head, and any other sundries I can think of.
I may still be working on this car this coming winter.
Fun
Well it's been a while since my last post, but a few things have happened
The Si is now dead - head gasket has failed and I have coolant in the exhaust so a strip and rebuild is definitely needed sooner rather than later.
I've been looking around for a GTI crankshaft and conrods for a while and spotted a listing on Ebay from a seller in Germany with a 1.9L crankshaft and a set of DKZ conrods with pistons attached for around AU$1800 plus import costs. It's an option that is cheaper than buying new forged aftermarket parts but that's overkill for what I want to do (no turbo on this wishlist)
Then a listing popped up on Gumtree for a used 205 GTI engine. It looked mostly complete (pictures looked fine) however as it was in Melbourne and I'm in Tassie it's a case of buying relatively sight unseen.
As it had a few useful bits attached I took a punt and for around $1600 delivered (a lot of that is freight) it's now mine
Not my cheapest purchase to date (close to the original cost of the Si) but it gets me a few bits that will be helpful:
- A 1.9L crankshaft
- 4 x GTI conrods
- A GTI intake with fuel rail and throttle position sensor
- A remote install oil filter (better than the current arrangement)
Delivery was a bit of a pain. Not the seller, but the courier :-(.
I've used Pack and Send in the past they have been fine - not necessarily cheap however they do everything and co-ordinate collection with the seller, etc. Not this time - the transaction went from an estimate with confirmation that they could do everything to 'we've lost our packer and can't pack it' and all they could do was broker the courier.
The engine got to Hobart fairly quickly, and then sat in the couriers warehouse for 5 days before they could deliver it :-(. Talking to a friend in the Business this is apparently not unusual - freighting engines is nowhere as easy as in past years and few companies will do it.
If it hadn't been for Sam (legend !) scrounging a pallet and cutting it down to a 'skid', tying and wrapping the engine for transport I don't know what I would have done.
Sam - yours a legend !.
Unfortunately the motor is not a DKZ as I was originally hoping but rather its a DFZ so the head is the low compression version (my Si head should be better so that's a keeper). Note the picture below was after a mix of degreaser, brake cleaner and a thorough scrub and wipe clean.
As far as the engine looks:
- The fuel injectors are black so should be replaced with new ones with a higher flow rate (plus who knows how old they are).
- The A/C and coolant hoses have been cut rather than disconnected so possibly the DFZ was just pulled at a wrecker and sold.
- The exhaust manifold is cracked.
- If moisture has gotten into the compressor it's likely bad as well and only useful as a possible core swap.
- The alternator spins so it may be useful in the future.
After 5 or so cans of degreaser and a pressure wash I pulled the plugs, gave each cylinder a quick shot of WD40 and turned the motor over with a breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt - it turns easily apart from some resistance possibly the alternator and compressor I'm happy for the moment.
The plugs were fairly filthy so it looks like it was either running a bit rich or had not been serviced for a while before it was pulled.
The GTI inlet looks fine - again after a thorough scrub and degrease I can't see any cracks or damage so I'm hoping it's OK. I haven't had a good lock at the throttle position sensor however there's no obvious physical damage. This should be a cheaper option for the moment than a full Jenvey setup (I can always upgrade later if needed).
No MAF sensor or ECU (that's OK) but I'm still thinking a Megasquirt 3 is the way to go along with higher volume injectors, etc. as well as having the option of a non-Peugeot MAF as the OEM part is not particularly cheap.
I still need to track down a suitable gearbox - the auto has to go and there seem to be a few options re a BE3/5 manual gearbox and ratios so further thought is required
Once I've stripped the DFZ down to confirm the crankshaft and conrods are OK I'll give the wallet a good squeeze and buy a rebuild kit along with a full set of new oil and coolant hoses, better cam and parts to rebuild the head, and any other sundries I can think of.
I may still be working on this car this coming winter.
Fun
My suggestion would be to strip the engine right now and see what you've got. If the block is corroded, unfortunately you're back to (almost) square one. If that is a go, you're golden.
Given that you're taking the head off your engine it may be worth checking what your block is like corrosion wise. Might be better than the "new" one.
The DFZ crank and rods should be serviceable.
New OEM liner/piston sets can still be bought from Europe and they're not that expensive. For peace of mind that is what I did, I got a set and it went straight in. You will also need a lot of fasteners (headbolts, conrod bolts, etc) and gaskets.
You will also most likely need a camshaft regrind or a new camshaft and possibly buckets. A good shop can adjust/make the shims.
Valves can be serviced.
One word of warning. If you regrind or get a new camshaft you will need to run that in first. That means your engine has to start at first key and run for about 20min at 2-3000RPM otherwise you cook the camshaft. This has implications about the fuel system and ECU you choose. Make sure that is all hunky dory when you go to turn the key for the first time.
Given that you're taking the head off your engine it may be worth checking what your block is like corrosion wise. Might be better than the "new" one.
The DFZ crank and rods should be serviceable.
New OEM liner/piston sets can still be bought from Europe and they're not that expensive. For peace of mind that is what I did, I got a set and it went straight in. You will also need a lot of fasteners (headbolts, conrod bolts, etc) and gaskets.
You will also most likely need a camshaft regrind or a new camshaft and possibly buckets. A good shop can adjust/make the shims.
Valves can be serviced.
One word of warning. If you regrind or get a new camshaft you will need to run that in first. That means your engine has to start at first key and run for about 20min at 2-3000RPM otherwise you cook the camshaft. This has implications about the fuel system and ECU you choose. Make sure that is all hunky dory when you go to turn the key for the first time.
Camshaft choice is your biggest issue. The 1.9 crank, Si pistons and Si head will give approx. 10.8-11:1 static CR. You could use the DFZ camshaft, but dynamic CR will be a bit high. If on a budget, I'd get the DFZ cam reground. If you have the money, I'd buy new. The Si cam is good for nothing.
Also, Si and DFZ pistons are identical. So use the best.
Also, Si and DFZ pistons are identical. So use the best.
Last edited:
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- Aug 2, 2000
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- 11,487
Have you isolated the filter components peter? Would like to add them to my Si tacho in the 309.
I’m confused. The circuit described is for use with a GTi tacho.
The Battle Continues ...
Well the weather is approaching civilised so I decided to spend some time stripping down the 'donor' engine. Needless to say this was always going to be interesting.
I'm not a fan of the person who designed the harmonic balancer. There are no threaded holes in it to allow you to connect a puller, and despite the annoying video on YouTube from Ed China showing it slipping effortlessly off the crankshaft it decided to play up a bit. I spent two days "dosing" it with WD40 before resorting to some rope and a large pry-bar to remove it. This worked (surprisingly well) however there are a couple of chips on it so it's probably not balanced and likely unserviceable.
The cam belt tensioner had rusted solid - no amount of WD-40 or hammering would make it release so I ended up unbolting it and pulling the spring assembly apart.
I think I'm going to need to find a source of 'as new' nuts and bolts when I rebuild the Si - has anyone seen any packs of new nuts and bolts they would recommend ?
The head came off surprisingly enough without too much of a fight. I'd given the head bolts a couple of shots of WD40 over several days beforehand, so apart from a couple of tense 'ticks' when I was working my way around the head (stop, deep breath, zap of WD40 and leave it alone while moving on to another bolt) they came out in one piece . Good practice for the Si when it's time comes.
There is definitely signs of corrosion on the bolts so I suspect that if they had any protection when they were first installed (high temp grease?) it has since evaporated over time. Definitely not suitable for re-use ever again
Apart from forgetting to unbolt the dipstick from the head it came loose with only gentle levering to listen it from the dowels.
I didn't take any photos of the cam (I had to remove the valve cover to get enough clearance to remove the head bolts) and I'm not 100% sure what to do with it or the head and block yet. Probably a question that can wait until the Si is back up and running.
Corroded threads on head bolts (no - not the phone messing up the image they were that bad)
Nothing too unsightly inside the engine - there is some debris in cylinder 4 (possibly from when the engine was left sitting for several years with a valve open) however no signs of rust in the cylinders. Some crosshatching was still faintly visible on the cylinder walls and no vertical scores visible so hopefully this engine was pulled from its donor vehicle before any serious abuse occurred.
If the current unusual Tassie summer weather stays relatively warm and dry I should finish stripping the engine and get the bottom end apart this weekend so I can pull the crankshaft, conrods and pistons. The remote oil filter setup will be interesting to get a close look at as well.
I still need to find someone in Hobart to professional clean and check the crankshaft over to see if there are any issues and if any machining is needed.
Once I've confirmed that there is no further machining needed I should be able to order a rebuild kit with the correct sized bearings, etc.
Fun !
Well the weather is approaching civilised so I decided to spend some time stripping down the 'donor' engine. Needless to say this was always going to be interesting.
I'm not a fan of the person who designed the harmonic balancer. There are no threaded holes in it to allow you to connect a puller, and despite the annoying video on YouTube from Ed China showing it slipping effortlessly off the crankshaft it decided to play up a bit. I spent two days "dosing" it with WD40 before resorting to some rope and a large pry-bar to remove it. This worked (surprisingly well) however there are a couple of chips on it so it's probably not balanced and likely unserviceable.
The cam belt tensioner had rusted solid - no amount of WD-40 or hammering would make it release so I ended up unbolting it and pulling the spring assembly apart.
I think I'm going to need to find a source of 'as new' nuts and bolts when I rebuild the Si - has anyone seen any packs of new nuts and bolts they would recommend ?
The head came off surprisingly enough without too much of a fight. I'd given the head bolts a couple of shots of WD40 over several days beforehand, so apart from a couple of tense 'ticks' when I was working my way around the head (stop, deep breath, zap of WD40 and leave it alone while moving on to another bolt) they came out in one piece . Good practice for the Si when it's time comes.
There is definitely signs of corrosion on the bolts so I suspect that if they had any protection when they were first installed (high temp grease?) it has since evaporated over time. Definitely not suitable for re-use ever again
Apart from forgetting to unbolt the dipstick from the head it came loose with only gentle levering to listen it from the dowels.
I didn't take any photos of the cam (I had to remove the valve cover to get enough clearance to remove the head bolts) and I'm not 100% sure what to do with it or the head and block yet. Probably a question that can wait until the Si is back up and running.
Corroded threads on head bolts (no - not the phone messing up the image they were that bad)
Nothing too unsightly inside the engine - there is some debris in cylinder 4 (possibly from when the engine was left sitting for several years with a valve open) however no signs of rust in the cylinders. Some crosshatching was still faintly visible on the cylinder walls and no vertical scores visible so hopefully this engine was pulled from its donor vehicle before any serious abuse occurred.
If the current unusual Tassie summer weather stays relatively warm and dry I should finish stripping the engine and get the bottom end apart this weekend so I can pull the crankshaft, conrods and pistons. The remote oil filter setup will be interesting to get a close look at as well.
I still need to find someone in Hobart to professional clean and check the crankshaft over to see if there are any issues and if any machining is needed.
Once I've confirmed that there is no further machining needed I should be able to order a rebuild kit with the correct sized bearings, etc.
Fun !