Once all of the various painted part had had a couple of weeks to harden off I then started to put them back on the car. The end result does not look too bad, just need to paint over the stainless bolt heads on the bumpers. Fitting the windows was a bit of a chore but eventually I found a way of doing it without damaging the paintwork so again they are in and functioning, last job there is to fit the final boot badge and hang the doors so the side groove matches up, they are sitting a bit low at the moment, this will also allow me to fit the stainless door sill trims.
Now this is where the fun starts. The engine was running OK but I noticed that there was a leak from the front crank seal, easy job I thought, bit of 5mm ally bar to lock the cams and a screwdriver to lock the flywheel, same as my old Zetec SE, off the the cambelt comes, then the front pulley, slot in the new seal and reassemble, all should stay in alignment because the pulleys are keyed. WRONG !!!! The Zetec SE has no key ways so the pulleys are all held on by friction and the tightness of the bolts. So, find TDC, again lock off the cams, undo the crank pulley (no key), put in the new oil seal, crank pulley back on, tighten it up as per the online manual I had read. Job's a good 'un. Started her up and it caught and then would not start again - you guessed it - crank pulley had slipped, what the manual did not say was to replace the bolt as it is a stretch bolt and needed tightening to the torque and then 1/4 turn after. So, process over again, this time i used the crank lock pin which I had inadvertently hidden behind the engine mount so that had to come off, new bolt, tighten up. Engine now runs but cylinder 1 and 2 do not sound right, so suspected bent valve. Rather than take the head off to inspect is was cheaper to get another engine that was running right so that's what I did. The new engine was then stripped, cleaned (looked a better engine in fact, no signs of an oil leak and the inlet ports were much cleaner) and readied for installation
So, whilst I was installing the engine and the original and the Type 9 gearbox had to come out it was a good opportunity to fit the RX8 gearbox I had also picket up. The RX8 box is a 6 speed, helical gear, all alloy gearbox with integral bell housing and a short shift. It is rated to around 250hp/ftlbs, will rev to 9k and the basic gearbox (Aisin AZ6) is used in the Mazda RX8, Lexus IS200, Mazda MX5 mk3, Toyota GT86, Subaru BRZ and Nissan 200SX S15. All off these version have different bell housing hole patterns and input shafts but the RX8 input shaft is a 1" 23 spline version which is the same as the ford one so the Type 9 clutch plate can be used. The gear ratios are a cross between a standard Type 9 (1st) and a Quaife Clubman Type 9 close ratio box (2nd - 6th). Ratios are 1st 3.760, 2nd 2.269, 3rd 1.645, 4th 1.187, 5th 1.000, 6th 0.843 . the beusty of this box is that you get all of this for less than £100 for the box, £115 for the adapter, a few pounds for new bolts (and the engine cost £90 !) which is way less than even the type 9 bell housing I originally bought and an order of magnitude less than a long first HD type 9.
To fit the gearbox to the engine a guy on ebay/turbosports makes adapter plates (freddy686868) which I ordered and it came pretty quickly. The gearbox needed a couple of modifications, the area where the starter motor mounts needed grinding out to fir and when I trial fitted the box in the car the left rear mount needed removing as it fowled the type 9 gearbox mounts that are on the car (not a standard fixture). teh RX8 box is a hydraulic clutch system (external not concentric slave) which I am hoping to adapt to use my cable clutch, initial measurements and mock up looks promising. Just need to make up a rear mount which I think I can use the Cortina one form the type 9 .
Whilst I was at it I also took the opportunity to tidy up the rear water manifold, getting rid of my home made affair and fitting in line water temp sender adapters, I also decided to keep the the cam belt cover which meant modifying the front engine mount to tidy it it. I also re-routed some of the coolant pipes. So, currently the engine and gearbox are in, they need fully bolting together, a rear mount needs making (temporary on on there at the moment) and then I can get the prop shaft ordered.
To fit the gearbox to the engine a guy on ebay/turbosports makes adapter plates (freddy686868) which I ordered and it came pretty quickly. The gearbox needed a couple of modifications, the area where the starter motor mounts needed grinding out to fir and when I trial fitted the box in the car the left rear mount needed removing as it fowled the type 9 gearbox mounts that are on the car (not a standard fixture). teh RX8 box is a hydraulic clutch system (external not concentric slave) which I am hoping to adapt to use my cable clutch, initial measurements and mock up looks promising. Just need to make up a rear mount which I think I can use the Cortina one form the type 9 .
Whilst I was at it I also took the opportunity to tidy up the rear water manifold, getting rid of my home made affair and fitting in line water temp sender adapters, I also decided to keep the the cam belt cover which meant modifying the front engine mount to tidy it it. I also re-routed some of the coolant pipes. So, currently the engine and gearbox are in, they need fully bolting together, a rear mount needs making (temporary on on there at the moment) and then I can get the prop shaft ordered.
