Olaup
pfm Member
Many years ago I used to "tune" cars, it was good times, no computers, no cameras, no OBD scanners, it was raw nitty gritty solve problems or modify. I used to buy Cars & Car Conversion magazine, it was a treasure trove of tuners & real shops that you had to go to to buy stuff or hopefully get it delivered. Anyway I digress.
6 years ago we sourced a car for our daughter as her run around, it was French, oh no I hear you say, it was a Peugeot, oh no I hear you say, it was a 206, oh no I hear you say. Surprisingly it has been fairly reliable up until about 6 months ago when the cambelt decided to strip 4 teeth, it is an interference engine, that means pistons & valves collide, the engine was written off we thought.
The car was recovered to the garage, it sat there for 2 months whilst the guy "sourced an engine", we waited, we waited, in the end I got the car back as it took me 5 mins to source an engine on Ebay. I bought a complete engine for £120 as I now suspected bent valves & hopefully no piston damage. Engine duly bought, I decided to do the rebuild myself.
Once I'd read up on matters I decided that this was going to be a slow return rebuild, as components came off I'd inspect them, label them, refurbish them, basically a full clean & repaint if necessary. The head came off, it was bent valves, crucially the piston crowns were fine, a small contact indent on 2 pistons, no need to scrap the engine now. The engine bay was then fully degreased, as was the engine block, wiring tidied up, clips bought, hoses refurbished, I wanted it back to a non oily presentable bay to go forward on. I began the task of strip/cleanse/refurbish. It has now taken me about 3 months but a few weeks back I refitted the head & injection system, this was fully decoked, valves re-lapped, injectors cleaned, new O rings on whatever had them, whilst stuff is off refit new seals.
Due to bad weather & work , plus losing the bloody key which is now sorted as finally found, I haven't had time to move forward but finally last Sunday I installed the last components with new water pump, timing belt & tensioner, then auxiliary belt, radiator & fresh antifreeze/water. The time came to fire it up, will it or won't it, that is the million dollar question. Freshly charged battery was installed, the key was inserted, moved to position 1, all lights went out, no problem, I then cranked it over. It cranked for what seemed like an age, probably about 10 seconds though, mostly as the fuel pump & rail primed up, the little engine fired up, it was running about 2000rpm, a quick inspection, I'd missed a vacuum pipe connection, duly sorted, it settled down to about 1200 RPM, after warming up a nice steady 900 RPM as it idled away. I have valve clearances to check but it was far quieter than the original engine setup, seems to rev far more instantly, maybe it is just because it hasn't run for 6 months though.
The joy & satisfaction that that engine noise gave me was worth everything, after maybe 20 years since I'd last done anything with cars I had a bloody big grin on my face. We soldier on, I have front discs n pads to do yet, front coil springs to do as well, then MOT. She has given me the car for free, she bought a Toyota as the replacement, so come the warmer months soon I will bring this little car back, it deserves it, a member of the family it is. For less than say £300 it lives again but I have the satisfaction of regaining my car tuning mojo back even if for a short while.
Was it worth it ?
Yes is the answer for me.
To be continued....
6 years ago we sourced a car for our daughter as her run around, it was French, oh no I hear you say, it was a Peugeot, oh no I hear you say, it was a 206, oh no I hear you say. Surprisingly it has been fairly reliable up until about 6 months ago when the cambelt decided to strip 4 teeth, it is an interference engine, that means pistons & valves collide, the engine was written off we thought.
The car was recovered to the garage, it sat there for 2 months whilst the guy "sourced an engine", we waited, we waited, in the end I got the car back as it took me 5 mins to source an engine on Ebay. I bought a complete engine for £120 as I now suspected bent valves & hopefully no piston damage. Engine duly bought, I decided to do the rebuild myself.
Once I'd read up on matters I decided that this was going to be a slow return rebuild, as components came off I'd inspect them, label them, refurbish them, basically a full clean & repaint if necessary. The head came off, it was bent valves, crucially the piston crowns were fine, a small contact indent on 2 pistons, no need to scrap the engine now. The engine bay was then fully degreased, as was the engine block, wiring tidied up, clips bought, hoses refurbished, I wanted it back to a non oily presentable bay to go forward on. I began the task of strip/cleanse/refurbish. It has now taken me about 3 months but a few weeks back I refitted the head & injection system, this was fully decoked, valves re-lapped, injectors cleaned, new O rings on whatever had them, whilst stuff is off refit new seals.
Due to bad weather & work , plus losing the bloody key which is now sorted as finally found, I haven't had time to move forward but finally last Sunday I installed the last components with new water pump, timing belt & tensioner, then auxiliary belt, radiator & fresh antifreeze/water. The time came to fire it up, will it or won't it, that is the million dollar question. Freshly charged battery was installed, the key was inserted, moved to position 1, all lights went out, no problem, I then cranked it over. It cranked for what seemed like an age, probably about 10 seconds though, mostly as the fuel pump & rail primed up, the little engine fired up, it was running about 2000rpm, a quick inspection, I'd missed a vacuum pipe connection, duly sorted, it settled down to about 1200 RPM, after warming up a nice steady 900 RPM as it idled away. I have valve clearances to check but it was far quieter than the original engine setup, seems to rev far more instantly, maybe it is just because it hasn't run for 6 months though.
The joy & satisfaction that that engine noise gave me was worth everything, after maybe 20 years since I'd last done anything with cars I had a bloody big grin on my face. We soldier on, I have front discs n pads to do yet, front coil springs to do as well, then MOT. She has given me the car for free, she bought a Toyota as the replacement, so come the warmer months soon I will bring this little car back, it deserves it, a member of the family it is. For less than say £300 it lives again but I have the satisfaction of regaining my car tuning mojo back even if for a short while.
Was it worth it ?
Yes is the answer for me.
To be continued....
