#ZedShed Project - Vixxen (track car)

[Lee]

Spent a few hours moving everything over to the new engine and refreshing various nuts n bolts. Also gave the manifolds a covering of red VHT paint. With the full team in tomorrow we’ll drop the engine back in with the new rack. If it all goes smoothly we might be turning the key.

Fitted the flywheel. It’s barely scrubbed in with two track outings. It’s a 9kg flywheel down from the 14.5kg you normally get on the zeds.

I also moved over the race plugs. These some of nastiest plugs I’ve ever removed.

The engine is now bolted back to the gearbox. That’s tough on your own that’s for sure.

 

[Mint]

Brilliant thread Lee, wish I was closer

 

[Rha]

Done a Hillman Hunter on my own back in the good old days and remember trying to get it located into the engine bay on my own, gave up three times then asked the wife to go on the hoist, bad move took us ages, we fell out big time, till not got it settled on the mounts,” up not down, showed you three time now how to work the hoist” I screamed. She stormed off to the kitchen, I went after her, “ I’m sorry but I can’t do it on my own, please give it one more try” “Why should I she replied, you got it out on yer own why can’t you get it back in on yer own”. Phoned my brother but he was out.
Bet that box was on the heavy side Lee and the engine moving about all over the place if on the hoist. Defo a four handed job. Where was Sam.lol
Could have come down to help if I’d known, been getting the rear bumper off the coupe to replace a broken bracket and mend rear light surround which supports the bumper bracket. All done and the shut lines look great.
Hope you and the team get it done and key turned tomorrow. Good luck.

Roy.

 

[Lee]

So yesterday Zedshed was quite busy. We had quite a few people over for a breakfast roll and a chin wag.

First off we need to fit the new rack. This was pretty straight forward took longer because we all kept chatting.

Once we got the car ready next in was the engine and gearbox.

From the point of lowering In it was around 2 hours before we first turnt the key. First turn we had a leaky injector so we changed the seals. Second turn she coughed into life.

View: https://youtu.be/8QdFNTng00U
At this stage the tappets are noisy because of the lack of oil. After a good drive these should quieten down.

So After the first turn we started rebuilding the front end and making her look pretty again.

I drove the car to the end of the road and back she felt fine and picked up really well. Look forward to a propper test drive. I also had a chance to compare throttle bodies. The M54 3.0 TB is about 3mm larger. So well worth keeping on the 2.8 lump.

Next update should be full test drive.

 

[GazHyde]

That was a solid effort on this one, it went back together as smooth as anything - and the for it to fire straight off was epic!

Really enjoyed this project, although a little achy this morning. Slept incredibly well last night!

 

[Rha]

Good result. Is the 3.0TB on the car and if so how did you get it to work on the 2.8, or is that a close guarded mod at the moment.

Roy.

 

[Lee]

Good result. Is the 3.0TB on the car and if so how did you get it to work on the 2.8, or is that a close guarded mod at the moment.

Roy.

Yeah we’re using the 3.0 TB. Which means we’re running the 3.0 Ecu and harness.

 

[Rha]

Yeah we’re using the 3.0 TB. Which means we’re running the 3.0 Ecu and harness.

Well you've solved the problem of the bigger TB for the 2.8tu then. Have to get it on the rollers to see just how much of a differance it'll make, I'm hoping you get a surprise.

Roy.

 

[mwpe]

Glad it runs OK looking forward to seeing how it works on the road, and track.

 

[Lee]

Success.

Gave the car a good service with some engine flush. Quick adjustment of lamda sensors and shes running like a peach. Pulls like a train through all the gears. Couple of little bits to sort like new exhaust bracket and power steering line, we made a temp line for the time being that seems to be holding.

After a period of running in and sorting bits n bobs I’ll get it on a dyno and see how she fares. I still have the 3.0 cams to fit so this will be an interesting next chapter.

 

[Bazza]

Amazing

 

[Rha]

Sounds real promising, even more so with the cams still to go in. I’m still very interested in how you’ve got that TB swap to work.

Roy.

 

[Braz86]

Good stuff Lee. Quick one as we have the same exhaust set up, where are the pre cat lambda probes? Real OEM says up by the engine, but I can't see them there and have error codes!

 

[Lee]

Good stuff Lee. Quick one as we have the same exhaust set up, where are the pre cat lambda probes? Real OEM says up by the engine, but I can't see them there and have error codes!

Hi braz. You have two. On the inside of the manifolds. Two banks of three so one for each.

 

[Braz86]

That'll be why I haven't found them! Better get underneath and see how hard it is to access....

 

[Lee]

With a cancellation this week I got a chance to do some jobs on my Zed. First was refreshing the Vanos seals, not a scary job at all.

strange sight seeing my Zed in the garage. First up was removing the rocker cover, I did run some engine cleaner through here so she’s not looking to bad at all.

minimal wear on the cam lobes.

Another 15mins and the Vanos unit was off.

Vanos Unit.

First seals I changed were the Intake side.

you can see two flat seals and under them is another o-ring so 4 in total here.

At this point it was worth measuring the seals to compare the the thickness. The old seal was 1.7mm and the new seal measured 1.9mm so a wear of 0.2mm.

repeat on the exhaust side, only difference is the spring keeping everything under tension.

That completed the Vanos seals, if I bought the rattle rings I could replace them inside body where the seals go round 4 photos above. In hindsight I should of bought these as it’s only a bearing, washer and Shim.

Once everything was back together I let the engine turn over to re build the oil pressure in the Vanos. Then she fired once I plugged the packs back in.

The idle was far more crisp with no hiccups. On the test drive the lower down torque was so much more pronounced. Well worth doing, the only costs being £32 for the Vanos kit and £20 for the rocker cover gasket.

Get it done chaps.

 

[Althulas]

Same principles as the S50 Lee? Do you lock the cams in position?

 

[Lee]

Same principles as the S50 Lee? Do you lock the cams in position?

Same principle but very different to do. On the S50 you need to lock the cams at the rear. One of the first jobs I did on my M back in the day.

 

[Althulas]

I’ll keep that in mind. It’ll be the last job on my list to be done.

 

[DomiMik]

Great project

Was a bit irritated though as 'vixxen' means 'to jack off' in german