Brief Encounter II - The Sequel

fatherjack2002 · Post by **fatherjack2002** » 31 May 2009, 23:18

Spot on Jim !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nice to see the repair i "bottled out on " ready to roll again .....................Baggsy a ride shot-gun

Cheers Paul...........................................

addo · Post by **addo** » 31 May 2009, 23:26

I had to!

Post by **myglaren** » 01 Jun 2009, 00:42

Nice one Adam.

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 01 Jun 2009, 07:26

Which is?
_________________
Mike

The first startup!!

D

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 01 Jun 2009, 08:25

well done chaps

John

KP · Post by KP » 01 Jun 2009, 11:45

Congrats Jim

Think it will be firing on all 6 cylinders by the weekend??

Post by **CitroJim** » 01 Jun 2009, 13:24

KP wrote: Think it will be firing on all 6 cylinders by the weekend??

Between you and me Will, I hope that not only will it be running on its full complement of cylinders but I hope it'll be moving under its own power and not far off a journey to the MOT station..

I was distraught when I arrived at work this morning to find the reason I needed to be at work on Monday was cancelled

So I could have had today off after all. Still, all is not lost and I'm planning on having tomorrow and Wednesday off so that I can carry on the work.

I had to look under the bonnet first thing tghis morning to be sure that all the great work yesterday was real and not a dream

I engjoyed your caption on the picture Adam

I was a bit short on detail in my post last evening, being a bit short of time, a bit tired and anxious to say thanks Richard and get some pictures up.

The refit actually went very smoothly. By the time Richard arrived, I had the engine danging off the end of the crane and had refitted the torque convertor flex plate bolts and about to pop the exhaust headers on.

One tricky job was to get the engine, dangling on the end of the crane, in the right place and moving 260Kg of engine over my rough drive is not easy! It's also a tad worrying to see such a lump swinging up in the air supported by a crane right at the limit of it's load capacity

One good thing is that when all four engine lifting eyes are used, the engine lifts oup perfectly balanced and with nearly the right tilt at the gearbox end to drop it in the engine bay.

It's tight though, very tight. Basically ebverything that encroaches in on the engine aperture has got to be removed, including the engine mouts complete, the fusebox

and ABS block. Even then the crank pully has to come off to give another half-inch of needed clearance. On the gearbox side, there's about a 1/4" clearance to play with! Richards "guide and tilt" work was absolutely essential.

As soon as the lump was in, the gearbox mount was attached and then the engine could be brought down on the RH top mount.

One error Richard spotted is that the bottom mount bracket must be fitted before the engine goes in otherwise its bolt hole is obstructed by the rear bank exhausts. To overcome that, we had to undo the top mount and lift the engine up about two inches.

After that, it was just the task of refitting all the bits and pieces. By far the trickies was the exhaust joint. Always difficult but especially so on a V6

It's all done now...

So, hopefully, tomorrow should see the car running. Fingers crossed...

Post by **RichardW** » 01 Jun 2009, 13:30

CitroJim wrote:So, hopefully, tomorrow should see the car running. Fingers crossed...

Youtube.... 8)

Would have loved to lend a pound on the crane, but I doubt if "I'm just popping 300 miles down to MK to help put an engine back in" would have gone down very well....!

Are you just going to sneak the matrix in in-between tea breaks then???

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 01 Jun 2009, 14:38

Jim I remember that bottom mount on mine, what a pain to get everything lined up and that in too... took me awhile :O

looking forward to it running

can't believe you still have a matrix to do afterwards!

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 01 Jun 2009, 16:38

Proper Job lads!!!

I'm wearing a beaming smile at the moment...I probably should wait until it fires up first, Im sure it will

I second the YouTube video, you could make use of the French Car Forum YouTube channel as a video hasn't been uploaded in a while

Post by **CitroJim** » 01 Jun 2009, 21:47

Sadly I have no means of doing a Youtube Video but it's a lovely idea though. I'll have to see if my other digital camera will do a short video. I confess to poorly understand the video side of things. It's as much as I can do just taking still photos

jgra1 wrote:can't believe you still have a matrix to do afterwards!

Oh yes, that's a good point John

Still, the one saving grace is that a heater matrix job in a V6 is actually a little easier than in any of the turbocharged Xantias as there is good access to the matrix connector

Before that though, I need to put the new front discs and pads on, sort the leak from the rear hydractive block and give the car a good check-over ready for an MOT.

That's all assuming the gearbox now works... Reckon there's a good chance I'll know very soon now....

vince · Post by **vince** » 01 Jun 2009, 23:21

I tell you what Jim, ive got to take my hat off to you.... Thats one hell of an achievement 8)

Im sure it will fire up no problem

.....there might be a few nips and tucks to do once running but the hard work i think is definately done....

Well Done, i can think of many mechanics who wouldnt be able to do that.

Koukku · Post by **Koukku** » 02 Jun 2009, 14:27

Hats off here too. It has been interesting read, and it's great to see that huge lump of an engine back in where it belongs to.

BTW, you mentioned that it weighs 260kg. I guess that is with the tranny? Any idea how much the engine alone weighs?

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 02 Jun 2009, 15:49

hi Koukku, I can answer this as I weighed mine

about 180 for the engine and 80 for the tranny

John

Post by **CitroJim** » 02 Jun 2009, 15:52

She lives! She lives!!!

More later....