Engine & Gearbox Meet

This morning I managed to get the gearbox fully bolted up the the engine.  It took a bit of wiggling, but it went together without much effort.

The bolts were torqued up to 35 ft lbs.

I now need to modify the gearbox mount a bit since the holes don't quite line up with it and the chassis....

Hopefully not be too long before the engine and gearbox can go in!

Clutch Slave Cylinder & Gearbox

I finished machining the remote bleed fitting and hydraulic supply fitting, and they have now been welded.  I have filed the hexagon faces back on and have fitted them into the slave cylinder.

I have also fitted the stainless braided hoses that go up to the chassis.  With the machined fittings, I didn't have to modify the gearbox in any way.

Once this was done, I proceeded to mate the engine and gearbox.  This is a bit tricky on your own, but it is nearly together now.  I will get the bolts in to help pull them together.

Brake Pipe Clamp

I wanted to use stainless steel brake fittings where possible and minimise joints.  GD supply an aluminium clamp that holds the pipes for the front & rear brake pipes along with the clutch slave cylinder supply and remote bleed.

Stainless flexible hoses connect from this point to the master cylinders in the compartment behind the front offside wheel.

I bought some stainless bulkhead connectors to do the job:

2x M10x1.0mm - 3/8"(-3AN)
1x 3/8"(-3AN) - 3/8"(-3AN)

The only issue now is that the GD supplied clamp is designed for holding round male to male connectors but these bulkhead connectors are hexagonal.

I thought about turning them round on the lathe, but i thought the best option would be to machine the clamp to accept the hex part.  That way, I won't have to use a spanner to hold them.

I got a local machine shop to do the machining.  They also polished up the stainless bracket for me.

I just need to machine the remote bleed part once I know what I'm going to do......  I have flared the last two ends and so I will finally fix the pipes in.  I will get photos tomorrow.

Clutch Fitted

With the machining of the clutch remote bleed fittings complete and away for welding, I managed to fit the twin clutch assembly this morning.  I bought a McLeod RST twin clutch system which can handle up to 800bhp.  I purchased this kit from Roadcraft UK along with all the fixings.  I followed the included instructions and torqued up the bolts to the following:

Adaptor plate bolts - 52 lbs

Pressure plate nuts - 35 lbs

All in all a fairly straight forward job.

Clutch Remote Bleed

The clutch slave cylinder is located inside the bellhousing on the gearbox, and a remote system is required to be able to bleed the clutch hydraulics.

GD normally weld a nut onto a M10 bolt (M10x1.5 thread), drill a hole through the centre, machine a flat surface and seal using a dowty washer.

I have decided instead of using the dowty washer, I will machine a 45 degree end on the bolt and use that as the seal, similar to a normal fitting.

It is taking me a little while to drill the hole through the centre of the bolt since I don't want to break the drill bit.

I started with a A4 stainless M10 x 55mm bolt, but probably could use a 50mm long one.  To help grip it in the lathe chuck, I drilled out a M10 nut with a 10mm bit and slid it onto the bolt.  The chuck then gripped the bolt head and the extra nut to help support the bolt.

I then faced off the bolt and centre drilled the end (this isn't quite centre for some reason!).  I then used a 3mm drill bit to drill as far I could.

I then started turning down the end of the bolt to start making the 45 degree chamfer.  I used the original belled nipple for size, and the turned down diameter is 7mm.  This was done.

I then started on the 45 degree chamfer.  I have now finished this end and have stared drilling in from the bolt head end.  I managed to drill in around 15mm this morning before work, so hopefully can finish this of in the next day or two.

Engine Dyno Test Video

There have been some issues with this website and video links, but I am hoping this now works.  This is a video clip of the engine during it's dyno test.  It reached 620bhp and 588 ft lbs of torque.  Turn up the volume!

Engine Spigot Bearing & Flywheel

I fitted the spigot bearing that holds the input shaft to the gearbox in the crankshaft.  This was tapped into position using a 19mm deep socket and a plastic mallet.  It went in pretty easy.  I was told to put the bearing in so the roller bearings were away from me.  The photos should show this.

The flywheel was also fitted.  I cleaned off the stickers and using ARP bolts fitted them with threadlock and some of their own lube.  These were torqued up to 84 ft lbs as per the instructions.

Engine / Gearbox

Out of interest I weighed the engine using a borrowed load cell coupled up to my engine crane.

The engine isn't complete, but I'll try to explain what it has on it.....

The engine is dry and has fitted to it the flywheel, twin plate clutch, coil packs, spark plugs.  There is no starter or alternator included in the weight.  That will need to be added along with the oil.

With all that, the weight came to 186kg.  Not too bad I think.

I also weighed the gearbox.  The T56 Magnum weighs 62kg.  This is including the bellhousing, but no clutch slave cylinder (which isn't heavy).

Gearbox Bellhousing

I fitted the bellhousing to the gearbox.  I used the bolt kit that came with it from RoadcraftUK.  Threadlock were used on the bolts and these were torqued up to 38 ft lbs.  You can only use 7 out of the 8 since one of the holes don't go anywhere!

Suspension Setup

I spoke with Andy at GD and he said to set up the suspension it was best to move it into the midpoint position.  Andy said that the front shock length would be 11-11.5" and the rear would be 12-12.5" (roughly).  I had lengths of steel made up with a hole in each end to simulate this.

The front ones are 11.5" long and the rears are 12.25".

I have ordered a dual axis camber / castor gauge which will hopefully come in the next few days.  This will allow me to get the geometry relatively close to what it's supposed to be.