Mercury Grey MK1 VTS Restoration - Updated 103/07/16 - Page 8 - Saxperience

stevo67 · 25th September 2015, 21:23

Looking good mate.

Jigs2895 · 26th September 2015, 19:54

Made good progress today, got the last few bits bolted onto the engine.

I made the decision to run without an oil cooler. I know it's not original which is what this cars all about but I don't fancy it failing on me like the last one did and filling my new radiator full of oil.

So got the engine into the hole... Finally!

It's back into the garage and onto axle stands to put everything back together now.

Made a good start and got the manifold studs into the head. (Even measured each one to make sure they are all the same length into the head.

I will be cutting off the excess sealant. Just waiting for it to fully cure.

Got the manifold bolted on with the new nuts and washers.

Got the rear engine mount on, tidied the wiring and routed it all correctly, both driveshafts are in and painted the wishbones. Powdercoated dipstick tube is on, along with the powdercoated flywheel cover. New clutch cable went in and it's hooked up now also.

Changed both track rod ends, that's all the suspension at the front fully rebuilt and brand new now.

Arches are looking good. Just need to clean off the brake hoses, and source some arch liners.

The list of things to do goes on and on but I'm hoping to get a large chunk of the putting back together done tomorrow.

I'm hoping to get it to MOT on Wednesday, might be a bit optimistic with the amount of work to do but I'm going to push for it.

Don't want to rush it to much as this is the really enjoyable part of the build, making everything nice and perfected.

Gandi699 · 27th September 2015, 00:11

Great thread this. I doubt the oil heat exchanger will make any difference , 106 GTis didn't have them iirc and they are fine

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saxokid100 · 27th September 2015, 00:35

Looks very clean build...

iSlayeR · 27th September 2015, 11:43

paint the power steering pump and brackets and brake servo

makes a massive difference after you've just painted the bay and engine

VeiRoN · 28th September 2015, 18:59

Great progress,no oil cooler should be fine,in fact it's more than an oil heater than anything for emissions reduction,oil temperature should not change,looking forward for you to confirm this when you get it back on the road as I'm interested in the matter too.

Jigs2895 · 1st October 2015, 19:29

Although there has been no updates recently. There has been lots of progress, just haven't had the time to log it. Here is a weeks worth.

So the last update showed the engine in the hole. However the only thing I had done was put 2 engine mounts on, that's all that was holding it in.

So back into the garage on axle stands and went through the usual procedure.. Driveshafts, rear engine mount, water hoses, fuel lines, wiring, gear linkages.. Etc..... Anyone who's taken a engine out will know!

Once the majority of the bolting up was done I cleaned up the fans and bolted them up along with the slam panel, headlights and radiator.

I didn't get round to painting the slam panel but it's bits I can do at a weekend in the future along with bits like the brake servo, power steering bracket etc..

Starting popping bits on like the powdercoated battery tray, air box bracket and power steering reservoir bracket.

Other small bits such as the washer bottle. Got a new genuine bottle cap on order.

I haven't actually cleaned bits like the ECU cover or inlet manifold as whilst it's in the garage they will gather dust to quickly so that will be the last thing done before MOT.

Finished on the rocker covers the other evening. They are by no means as nice as Prickles (Johnny G) but they will do for the moment.

Finished putting the front end back together, front bumper needs a respray!

Battery in and all the wiring seems to work!

Front grill loosely put on and the near side arch I had painted earlier in the year is bolted on with new genuine clips.

And that's where I am at the moment. The list of things to do is small now. It will be ready for MOT next week. The things left are:

Under seal the bottom
Mount ARB
Fit correct steering wheel and airbag ring
Fit passengers seat
Bleed the coolant and fill with oil
Fit the airbox and piping
Fit the rear wiper motor and rear shocks
Fit new rear badges

And finally.. Fit a new set of number plates.

I want it to go to MOT as perfect as possible. But it's close now, the turn of the key will be a tense moment, with any big build it always is!

Mickswan · 1st October 2015, 19:33

I'll take it off your hands when it's finished.

lincolndanny · 1st October 2015, 21:11

Spot on Zac, it's looking great mate

Jigs2895 · 12th October 2015, 21:13

A lot has been going on with this.

To cut a long story short I had made a massive mistake and it nearly cost me dearly.

Went to start it up last week and the starter motor did nothing but grind and sound horrible, sounded like a faulty starter motor. 2 used and 1 new starter motor later and it was still grinding.

I eventually found out I had someone how managed to leave the timing pins in the cams... Bad news was the crank was tuning over whilst the cams where locked..... First thought was bent valves.

After some investigation tonight it would appear I've been extremely lucky. The belt has been jumping theeth whilst the crank was turning over, but none of the valves we're in the interference zone, so it was a simple case of wipping off the belt and getting the crank back to TDC and putting the belt back on.

Obviously it's not immediately obvious if the valves are bent so after putting it back together and turning it over by hand I did a quick compression test. Results were 180, 180, 170, 170 left to right. Not bad at all. And clearly no bent valves.

So plugs back in and coilpack connected, after about 10 seconds of cranking she fired into life...... Definitely one lucky guy! So I'm back in progress with this, however I'm in the middle of moving out so trying to juggle the two on the evenings at the moment.

But I'm hoping to sort the niggles tomorrow night and get it in for MOT Wednesday.

lincolndanny · 12th October 2015, 21:19

After your texts this week mate it's great to read that all is well and as you say, you have had a very lucky escape! I bet you'll never leave timing pins in again as long as you live

saxokid100 · 12th October 2015, 21:34

You were well lucky there my mate...

Gandi699 · 13th October 2015, 10:22

Lucky escape indeed that plus way less work than a gearbox off job to replace a duff flywheel!
keep up the good work, will be the cleanest vts about this car

sri_130 · 13th October 2015, 12:06

Major luck there! Great escape indeed.

jpsaxo · 17th October 2015, 00:42

Love reading the updates, if you need any advice on anything feel free to hit me up.

Cheers,

Josh

Jigs2895 · 21st October 2015, 19:47

Progress has been very good on this, although im seriously lacking on my updates!

After my great escape with the timing pin issue I've had a few more problems.

First was the powersteering being constantly on, soon found of the earn to three alternator was the issue, I'm using a MK2 alternator that is supposed to use a plug, managed to find the earth I needed on one of the plugs, problem solved.

Next was it overheating due to no fans. Checked all the wiring and couldn't find any problems, thought I'd try a fan switch next, as I pulled the old one out the rad I noticed it only had 2 of the 3 connectors left on it, new switch, problem solved.

The rest of the progress has been getting it ready for MOT:

Mounted the ARB
Bilstein rear shocks on
Passenger seat in
Fitted airbox and piping
Tidied up some wiring
Sorted some break light issues

There was loads more but it's all been niggly little bits and bobs.

But ta ready for MOT that is booked for Saturday morning, after MOT the plans will
Be to run it for a few weeks and then one weekend drop the axle and give the boot floor some love and maybe a fresh axle.

No pictures for the moment, it's going to get a good clean after the MOT and I'll take lots of photos of all the work I've done to show everyone.

SimpleJoee · 21st October 2015, 20:00

I've got a fresh looking boot floor, and axle, jealous? Wait a minute...

Jigs2895 · 23rd October 2015, 20:27

Took this for MOT today.

First turn of the key and the ABS light decided to come on!! Typical! Had the MOT booked so had to take it anyway.

First actual drive since the rebuild and it drove well with the exception of some flat spots.

45 minutes later I had a failure list.

And here are the reasons and the way I sorted it all this evening.

Failures:

ABS light (near side sensor needed changing)
Steering rack gator (just needed a new gaitor, I didn't check it)
Rear fog light (bulb)
Headlight aim (done at the MOT centre)
Centre stop light (dodgy earth)

Advisories:

Worn steering rack (will be sorted at a later date)
Water leak (there isn't one, it was old coolant from bleeding)
Coolant hose fouling on driveshaft (needed clipping in to the chassis leg)
Air leak (silly me forgot to put the O ring round the idle control valve)

So I have sorted everything except the rack so It should pass at retest tomorrow
With 1 advisory.

The air leak also explains the flat spot on the way to MOT so I'm happy!

Few quick pictures, sorry it's nothing great!

Engine bay needs a good clean up! Even though the paint is fresh everything is now covered in dust from sitting in the garage. Looking forward to the weekend to get everything back to a exceptional standard.

More updates tomorrow after a pass hopefully.

The MOT testers were very shocked when they opened the bonnet!

lincolndanny · 23rd October 2015, 20:40

Looks good under there mate

Jigs2895 · 24th October 2015, 18:11

Well the retest didn't happen!

After a short drive the ABS light didn't go out. I checked both fronts again and they were both showing a reading of 1.1ohms, spot on.

However I am getting nothing on either of the rear and sensors, I can't imagine why 3 ABS sensors have decided to give up in the last 2 months but I've got 2 rear sensors on there way, hopefully they will arrive on Monday.

I removed the rears ready for Monday, what a pain they were to get out. Sensors came out but left the metal casing still seized inside the holder.

Fingers crossed for retest on Monday.