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Project Beatrice. (1999 Birkin S3)


Jackal

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Yeah, I found out last night, and I was pretty bummed about it. It just seems to be conspiring against me, the blasted thing!

 

Any other things I should be looking for to determine the challenge? It was described as brownish "goo" in the coolant when I talked to the tuner about it.

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Sounds like the head gasket. Was there anti freeze in the system? If sooooooo then brownish goo sounds about right. Was this engine rebuilt by the guys you bought it from, and did they torque the head down correctly. Compression test will tell a story..

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Sounds like the head gasket. Was there anti freeze in the system? If sooooooo then brownish goo sounds about right. Was this engine rebuilt by the guys you bought it from, and did they torque the head down correctly. Compression test will tell a story..

 

Leakdown test results are in, and it seems a little confusing. I am in new territory here, so any help would be great.

 

Cyl #1 145psi less then 10% leak-down

Cyl #2 150psi less then 10% leak-down

Cyl #3 150psi less then 10% leak-down

Cyl #4 150psi less then 10% leak-down

 

No residue on the dipstick either.

 

Also a huge thanks to Bill. I picked him up, and he took the time to introduce me to his friend that stores the trailer. This paves the path for me to go gather the trailer and bring her home to keep working on it. I'm telling you......Great bunch of folks we have here!!

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You can also try to pressure test the cooling system. Also there's test strips to test for exhaust gasses in the coolant. Check the sparkplugs to see if there's any coolant residue on them. Head gasket may only leak under pressure. Good luck hope its nothing big. Brownish goo might be just from corrosion. Have you flushed the system and put in new coolant?

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Glad Bill could help out, cheers Bill you're a star.. Some Good advice do far, try the simple stuff first Duane, with a bit of luck it will be some thing easy. Keep us posted, will help out as much as possible. If it should come to removing the head I'm sure we can figure out some way to get together and tackle the project..this car is going to be running like a clock come hell or high water. Keep your chin up mate.

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Glad Bill could help out, cheers Bill you're a star.. Some Good advice do far, try the simple stuff first Duane, with a bit of luck it will be some thing easy. Keep us posted, will help out as much as possible. If it should come to removing the head I'm sure we can figure out some way to get together and tackle the project..this car is going to be running like a clock come hell or high water. Keep your chin up mate.

 

 

I keep plugging at it. I wish the tune was complete before dragging it home, but the tow is almost free, so I really can't complain. It will be all I expect it to be or I'll die trying.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well here I am again. This time with the same challenges, but with some positive news. I brought Trixxy back to a buddies garage for me to work on her. Being the slow season, there was no need for the shop to stay open late and I needed to get in quite a bit over the coming months. Even though she is not tuned, I figured that it was best for me to get her home and sort out some of those details and challenges I have to face.

 

I am going to be tracking the list of things left to do here. It will be subject to lots of changes as I fix some challenges and create others. I'm going to be a little more detailed in this list I think, as I need them to stay on top of things.

 

Essencial for tune

 

Engine

 

- Sort out the oil in the coolant. There is no coolant in the oil that I can see, but have only checked the dipstick a thousand times. Vex did a compression test and leakdown for me. Results aren't bad, but who am I kidding.... I have no idea. Hopefully it is just residue.

Cyl #1 145psi less then 10% leak-down

Cyl #2 150psi less then 10% leak-down

Cyl #3 150psi less then 10% leak-down

Cyl #4 150psi less then 10% leak-down

 

- Finish the coolant reservoir. Unfortunately there was a miscommunication, and the overflow can had another spigot welded onto it. I have to sort out plugging it as it is not needed. A vented cap should be all I require with the one spigot that was previously on the can.

 

- Sort out the collector/header slip joint. I get some leakage out the collector slip joints even though I have the slip a full inch into the collector. My other club has simply suggested VHT copper gasket maker, but if I use that solution I'd still rather have the slip fitting as close as I can first. I may need to stretch the inner tube a bit to get the fit needed.

 

- Double check the fan relay to the fan, and finish the last of the water sealing heat shrink on that connection.

 

Electrical

 

- Test the rest of the electrical connections. There is a short in the read tail light housing currently. The chassis harness has not been blended to the motor harness fully yet, and as such I'll be spending a tonne of time ensuring the electrical is up to par. I will have a look at every wire, and ensure that the harness is fully sorted and to my liking.

 

Brakes

 

- Both Vex and myself had had challenges bleeding the brakes. I am not getting pressure to the four corners, and need to double check the brake system. According to the instructions, and pictures from numerous sources on the internet, I have them right, but Ryan thinks they are hooked up backwards. I'm willing to entertain that thought as we had the same results when bleeding the brakes. I'll add some pictures as I gather more and show you all what I mean. The brake balance bar needs to be adjusted to ensure that I'm getting more braking power to the front.

 

 

Suspension

 

The steering and suspension need to be sorted. I will need to sort the steering rack and ensure it is centred. Ride height will also need to be adjusted, as these cars like to dive forward in the corners, and the travel is needed to allow it to do so.

 

Needed for inspection

 

- Headlights need to be raised a bit as they have been hitting the fenders when at lock.

- Finish the installation of the Harnesses

- Test all the electrics for function

- Install horn switch

- Learn more about the whole process of getting a car VIN'd. Since the car runs but is not tuned yet, I'll be looking to get the car road legal and towed to Vex for tuning so I can drive it home.

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Good to hear that you have the car where you can work on it now. Only a few months to official blatting time.....went out a couple of days ago in mine for a quick blip...need to get new shocks for her. I have my bike carbs and am working on getting all the bits needed to build a manifold.

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http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/01B41778-1A68-45D1-A482-39AA38FE27B7-234-0000001AD70846C9.jpg

 

I'm pretty sure I got this set up for the brakes correct. Please feel free to correct me if I haven't.

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I moved the collector forward as much as I can, and adjusted the fit of each pipe in the collector. I have a full inch of the header in each collector pipe. As a bit of assurance I did use the Ultra High Temp gasket maker, above and beyond fiddling with the fitment of each collector.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1672_zpsccb7abe3.jpg

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1673_zps1e74434e.jpg

 

I have to move the muffler forward a 1/4 inch now to ensure the collector remains pushed up on the headers as much as they need to be. It will work out to be much easier to move the single mounting point of the muffler, rather than cutting an rewelding the mid pipe.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1693_zpsebd6c38c.jpg

Edited by Jackal
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I moved the collector forward as much as I can, and adjusted the fit of each pipe in the collector. I have to move the muffler forward a 1/2 inch now to ensure the collector remains pushed up on the headers as much as they need to be. It will work out to be much easier to move the single mounting point of the muffler, rather than cutting an rewelding the mid pipe.

 

Could you not just make a bracket to fit the existing point on the body and then attach it to the muffler?

 

Bill.

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Could you not just make a bracket to fit the existing point on the body and then attach it to the muffler?

 

Bill.

 

Yes, that's what I mean. There is a tab on the side of the muffler, and I was hoping that I could just widen the hole, but the gusset that supports the tab is in the way. I'll weld on a longer tab, and gusset it up on the other side. I'll leave the tap long enough to have it adjustable.

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I managed to get the 1/4 inch I needed by widening the holes for both the Muffler to isolator, and isolator to hanger joints. This should allow me to keep the pressure on the collector from the muffler. I found that one of the riv-nuts I was using to support the hangar didn't seat correctly though, and it popped out while I was removing the bracket for drilling. I'll need to paint the hangar bracket and get a new riv-nut in the chassis, but beyond that I just need to charge the battery up, and give the car a start to test the fit.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1701_zpse9793b78.jpg

 

Here's just a shot or two on how the car looks in its new home for the next few months.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1664_zps446726f1.jpg

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1667_zpsb5b3a46f.jpg

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Looking good in her new temporary home, you look as tho you are sooooooo close to being road ready....keep posting.

 

 

Knocking the list down one by one.

 

Brakes are next. As mentioned before, I'm not getting pressure to them. I have the brakes set up the same as every other Birkin does, but the fluid burps into the reservoir instead of getting forced to the caliper. I think the seals may be gone, and they need a rebuild. When I opened up the clutch cylinder though, there really didn't seem to be much to rebuild.

 

The outlet on the top left goes to the brakes, and the one at the rear comes from the reservoir.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1703_zpsfc9bfa28.jpg

 

There are no seals/valving at the bottom of the ports, and when I removed the drive pin, the cylinder didn't come out. I found out here: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pdfs/GirlingMasterCylinderRebuilding.pdf that a little compressed air may be needed.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1705_zps552e25a4.jpg

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_1709_zpsfd8f5a83.jpg

Edited by Jackal
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I think you may have your supply line and the output to the brakes backwards,

 

There was a time I would agree with you, as the layout seems a little counter intuitive. After researching the Girling brake cylinders a bit I have been able to confirm that they are indeed assembled correctly.

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That's bassakwards from any brake master cylinder I have ever worked with.

 

In the link in your signature the clutch brake in the pictures has a similar layout to my Girling cylinders. Instead of a remote reservoir though, the reservoir is on the cylinder case and fed into the case behind the outlet to the brake lines.

 

http://www.who-sells-it.com/cy/bat-inc-4088/formula-ford-parts-20165/page-19-fullsize.html

 

http://www.rallyshop.it/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=20&sort=4a&language=en

 

http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7047

Edited by Jackal
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