Cheers Dale.
Following on from this latest work there's a bit of a twist in the tale, resulting in a major change of plans for the immediate future at least.
Upon removing the cylinder head and inspecting the block there's very evident scoring in each cylinder bore, most notably #1 (which receives the most air). The worst marks can be felt with your nail - not your average wear and tear.
Cylinder 1:
Cylinder 2:
Cylinder 3:
Cylinder 4:
Back when Bill fitted my uprated rods in Dec 2009 he noted that there were
signs of scoring, but nothing as bad as what we see here, some 7,000 miles since.
While it's open to speculation what could have caused this it's most likely either:
1. Debris entering the intake
2. Worn rings causing piston slap
I am curious as to whether I may have damaged my rings when my WMI unknowingly stopped working and the car was still driven hard on boost, causing sky high CFs. This is one possible theory of many, who knows...
Upon removing the pistons tonight there are no signs of any damage to the crown, but the skirts do have some form of debris stuck to the sides which would seem to account for the scoring. Whether these are melted fragments of piston ring is unknown.
I noticed some time ago that I was also consuming some oil that appeared to be being burned (no signs of any leaks), though a compression and leak down test suggested that compression was OK (
see here)
It's difficult to know what's really responsible here when these tests show healthy figures, not forgetting the car itself was driving and performing perfectly well prior to the gearbox and manifold issue at Castle Combe.
So, from here I've decided to re-focus my efforts on completely re-building the engine to it's fullest potential, with:
Overbore to 82.5mm (retaining standard head gasket)
JE 9:1 2618 alloy pistons
Port/polished head by JNL, fitted with Supe***** valve guides, stem seals, inconel valves and valve springs/titanium retainer set
New main bearings and supporting bolts/caps as required
As I'm already running IE forged con rods this will give me a fully built engine, that together with my SQS gearbox ought to be pretty bullet proof and ensure I don't have to go to the effort and expense of stripping anything down for upgrade again. Do it once, do it properly.
Once this is all sorted I will re-assess my turbo options as and when I feel it necessary, which also allows more R&D time on the new breed of K03-2283 hybrids currently in development/testing by the likes of Badger5.
Continued thanks to Alex, Bill and Dale for their
help and support - appreciate everyone's input.
More pics and progress reports to follow soon, with the aim of sending the head and block away this weekend to begin the necessary work.