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Post by swissdave on Jun 3, 2020 15:25:07 GMT
So I'm definitely going turbo again. I have found a Holset turbo of exactly the right size for the engine. It's oil cooled only instead of water cooled as well and so will be easier to plumb in. The original turbo manifold I had made and then sold has just arrived back from Holland to use as a template for the new one which will be similar but with the turbo in a more central position. The intercooler is now mounted in the bumper although I still need to fix it more permanently in position with some ducting along the sides, sealing the intercooler inside the bumper so that all of the air coming through the two slots in the bumper HAS to go through the intercooler not around it. The ducting will be made from 3mm HDPE plastic sheet. I had to drill 2 x 60mm holes in the front panel for the boost hoses and I had to make some 10mm aluminium spacer blocks to space the bumper slightly further from the front panel so that I could use the standard bumper mounts. Some photos 😄
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Post by swissdave on Jun 14, 2020 15:44:31 GMT
Lots of progress, my Dutch friend Willem sent the original turbo manifold back from NL and it's away at the engineering company having the flanges cut for the new manifold. They use high pressure water to cut and can manage up to 200mm thick steel so my 8mm stainless flanges shouldn't present any problem. The new turbo will be mounted high in the engine bay like the last one but will be the other way round, with the cold side forwards and slightly further back. As I'm now waiting I have finished off the ducting of the intercooler inside the bumper. Without ducting With ducting The other thing I've managed is to provide a cold air feed for the air filter that will be attached to the turbo inlet and will be right at the front of the engine bay beside the radiator. It is fairly stealthy and I although I have enlarged the hole behind the original spotlight it is completely reversible and the spotlight could fit back without any alteration.
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Post by swissdave on Jun 21, 2020 18:17:48 GMT
I am off to the engineering company to check the drawings for the flanges on the new turbo manifold tomorrow morning. Once these are cut my friend Paul can then fabricate the pipe work. In the meantime I've fitted the new sport brake discs I got from Danny at Dafhobby last year. I'm also going to change the brake pads back to EBC greenstuff ones, they are fast road pads and the car had a set in it when I bought it. I've currently got Ferodo DS2500 race pads fitted in an attempt to improve the braking because of the extra power, they are very aggressive and do give a better bite but are horribly squeaky once warm and seem to get worse in traffic which I can't put up with. Old discs New shiny discs
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Post by swissdave on Jul 15, 2020 17:29:39 GMT
The new turbo manifold is made, I am now in the process of fitting an oil supply and return to the turbo. Once that is done it's back off to the exhaust genius to have the turbo to exhaust piece made in a couple of weeks. And that is about it.. Mapping at Emerald's rolling road beckons, I'm absolutely terrified. Attachments:
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Post by swissdave on Aug 7, 2020 18:16:07 GMT
I finished the last few bits on the engine this last Monday and then phoned Emerald to arrange a rolling road session. They couldn't fit me in until the 7th October which was a bit of a wait but they said they would put me on the cancellations list. About 10 minutes later they called back, there had been a cancellation for this Wednesday! I then found out that I needed resistor type spark plugs to work properly with the ECU. Much phoning around produced a set of Champion RS9YC resistor plugs which were a replacement for the (atmo Gordini spec) NGK BP6EFS I had in it. The rolling road session wasn't straightforward. Dave at Emerald really struggled to make any sense of the readings from his rolling road due to the Variomatic gearbox and in the end couldn't produce a proper power curve but did manage a few readings at set rpm. 90hp at the wheels at 4000rpm, 111 at 5000 and he thought he saw 130 at 6000 before it started misfiring, banging, popping and running really rough!! I feared the worst and Dave looked worried but after some investigation it was down to a coil pack lead coming loose. Dave had got the car mapped pretty well by then and was reluctant to keep beating it on the rollers with the "hot" atmo spark plugs in it, in case one broke up. He thinks Gordini turbo heat spec plugs, an 8 in NGK would be suitable albeit in a resistor type before I use it hard. A quick spin up and down the road to try it showed how smooth and punchy the power delivery is now, it boosts from about 2300 rpm and the turbo whistle is amazing. You can just about hear it in the video over the rest of the row but it sounds much louder in the car, like a jet engine spoolng up! I will do an in car video soon once the car's properly on the road.
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Post by newwy66 on Aug 22, 2020 8:29:51 GMT
Only just seen this...fabulous! Great video swissdave. Looks and sounds wonderful. You have done impressive work with your car. Just wish I had some of your mechanical know-how! Always an interesting read and good photos in your posts. Cheers.
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Post by swissdave on Aug 23, 2020 18:08:22 GMT
I have now got the car back on the road properly and I used it this weekend on family camping duty, towing its trailer. Using the new setup on the road has shown up a couple of small issues. At small throttle openings and low revs the engine can splutter and bog down, the coolant got too hot (110!) in slow stop/start traffic and it's sprung another bloomin' oil leak! The oil leak is an easy fix, just the oil temperature sensor needing some better sealant. A larger 10" heavy duty cooling fan will replace the bargain basement 8" one currently fitted and I'm going to try my spare coil pack hoping to cure the misfire. The bonnet above the turbo is also getting too hot to touch after a run and needs thinking about. But it wants to boost all the time and is so damned keen I could forgive it anything. More fixing and testing this week hopefully 😄
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Post by swissdave on Dec 30, 2020 17:35:00 GMT
I have been out and about over the last few weeks getting some mileage on the new setup and it's just amazing, it's getting better with use as the self learning engine management keeps improving the fueling. I still have a slight hesitation at small throttle openings when the engine is stone cold but otherwise it drives like a modern, super smooth and flexible. The throttle response is excellent if a little sudden, it takes care not to over do the power coming out of corners and today I discovered that full throttle from 40 mph with the "sports mode" vario switch on will spin both rear Yokohamas in a straight line on a damp road. It's so fast now that I can't wait to try it out at Santa Pod over the 1/4 mile again. It had a 15 in it with the twin Webers and I'm sure it will do a 14 next time which is Impreza WRX, 1984 911 Carrera, Jaguar XK8 territory. The down side is a new oil leak from the rear crank oil seal. I replaced this when I built the engine a few years ago so I'm surprised it's gone. Anybody got any ideas as to why? I will be taking the engine out next week to replace the seal, one of my Dutch Daf contacts suggested checking the thrust bearing clearance on the crank, any other ideas? Cheers, Steve.
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Post by swissdave on Jan 29, 2021 15:59:40 GMT
Life gets in the way sometimes and having to use the garage as a gym as well as a storage area for furniture packaging has stalled progress for a while. I managed to get a time slot booked for this morning at the local dump to clear the packaging and I've tidied the garage enough to start taking the engine out to replace the leaking oil seal. Hot side of the engine and the cooling system are off I've fitted the larger cooling fan to the radiator, it's only 2 inches wider but much more powerful and can move twice as much air. It's going to be a tight fit but should help the hot weather cooling issues. The bonnet isn't getting anywhere near as hot above the turbo now I've fitted this ceramic heat shielding. It's flexible and self adhesive, I bought an A4 size piece and cut it up to fit the bonnet. I am hoping to get the engine out tomorrow, I will check crankshaft end play to make sure it isn't excessive and if not then I can fit the new oil seal to the back of the engine and refit it.
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Post by swissdave on Jan 31, 2021 17:49:48 GMT
With the help of my youngest on the engine crane the engine came out easily and we removed the clutch housing. With the clutch visible I checked the clearance between the clutch plate and the flywheel and it is at the maximum recommended in the manual at 0.5mm. I had set it to 0.2mm when I fitted the new clutch in 2015, although it's only covered a few thousand miles a lot of it has been hard use. For drag racing and the traffic light Grand Prix I use the extra switch I have for the clutch servo for higher revs on pull away but despite this abuse this will be the first time I've had to adjust the clutch. Once I could see the rear crankshaft oil seal it was obvious why it was leaking, it looks awful! I have been advised by Andy from the NL to soak the new seal in oil overnight before fitting so that's what I'm doing
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Post by swissdave on Feb 5, 2021 19:04:08 GMT
The new oil seal has solved the leak, I took a drive out to the supermarket this morning and fingers crossed all seems well. I did as advised and soaked the seal in oil before fitting, The larger fan fitted easily in the end, I won't know if it's up to the job until the summer but for now it drops the temperature rapidly when it switches on compared to the old fan. Hopefully next month lockdown restrictions will ease and I can get some use out of it this year, looking forward to maybe seeing some of you at shows in the summer 🤞
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Post by dafman50 on Feb 7, 2021 19:35:30 GMT
Looking good mate .be nice to all meet up.
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Post by swissdave on Feb 24, 2021 16:10:44 GMT
Out and about on a couple of shopping trips today as the roads are dry and free of salt. I got the Mrs to drive us home and she loved driving it although she found the throttle response a bit too eager for smooth progress. I may have to rethink the throttle linkage, it can be driven smoothly with a bit of practice but the turbo is ready and eager from quite low revs and it can gather speed quicker than expected. I used the car last week for a delivery about 30 miles away and on the way home once everything was good and warm I tried a couple of hard launches from a standstill. I think the car is now powerful enough, I am getting a little more belt slip than before but not too bad, I need to check the belts for adjustment in case they have stretched. Even so I timed and took a video of 0-60 mph in an incredible 5 seconds, absolutely fantastic .
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Post by newwy66 on Feb 25, 2021 16:57:54 GMT
Looking fabulous. Always loved that colour
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Post by swissdave on Mar 19, 2021 11:55:49 GMT
As the weather has been better recently I have used the 66 for work a few times, it's 120 miles there and back and it's a good way to shake the car down. I've been repairing things as they break and improving other bits as I go along. As well as the recent Variomatic oil leak I posted about the coolant gauge sensor wires gave up and so I fitted a new sensor. The stainless support rod for the turbo and manifold has broken its bolt in the block, twice, despite fitting a high tensile one last time. I have remade the rod that was straight in a curved bow shape to hopefully take a little bit of the shock loading off that bolt. Driving that distance in a little old car with no radio certainly highlights the NVH or harshness of the drive, especially compared to the wife's modern Mercedes daily. The ear splitting induction roar of the twin 40s is gone now, there is a bit of a whistle from the turbo but the main issue is the constant buzzing of the body shell at high revs. When I originally fitted the Gordini engine I was advised to fit competition rear engine mounts to cope with the extra power twisting the engine and causing misalignment and possible breakage of the prop shaft. These are rubber but are very hard, I think they are the culprits for all the vibration. After chatting to a couple of Dutch Daf friends and our Graham I have decided to fit late model Volvo 340 mounts instead. These are much softer but apparently very strong. To fit them isn't easy, I am currently in the process of disconnecting everything from the engine so that I can move it forwards enough to change the rear mounts. Original style mounts; Late V340 style; I've also fitted some softer rubber mounts for the high pressure fuel pump in the boot as that was noisy. When I switched the car on with the new mounts I couldn't hear the pump and thought I must have pulled a wire off it by mistake, that's how much quieter it was! And finally I've labelled my two extra vacuum control switches, sometimes it's the little things. 😄
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Post by starider on Mar 19, 2021 19:08:43 GMT
Keep going, you will get there in the end. No matter how carefully you prepare something built/modified, there is always a shake down time where things break or produce something unexpected, as I found out when I built my Robin Hood kit car in the 1990s. You will find eventually everything will fall into place and the Dolvo will give you much enjoyment and trouble free motoring.
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Post by swissdave on Mar 25, 2021 19:06:25 GMT
So, the new engine mounts have made a huge difference, the whole car is much more relaxed now, a lot of the buzzing has gone. The peak revs for vibration are 2500, there's still a bit of vibration there but otherwise the drive is a much nicer experience. I used a friend's professional tracking equipment today to set it to zero toe in, standard is a little toe in but I like the steering a bit sharper, it had ended up with too much toe in as a result of mucking about with front suspension and track rods and it feels much better now. I'm also pleased to report another few hundred reliable miles just completed, a long fast motorway run is the next durability test, buzzing along at high revs for a couple of hours should show me which bit wants to make a break for freedom next. 😄
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Post by newwy66 on Mar 25, 2021 19:29:43 GMT
Good stuff. Sounds like she is running well.
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Post by swissdave on Apr 8, 2021 18:07:59 GMT
The testing and tweaking continues, another oil leak to fix, the exhaust has twisted slightly and now hits the spring hanger on fast right hand bends but generally it's driving brilliantly. I have booked it in for a full length Webasto sunroof to be fitted later this month at a company in Lewes near Brighton, I wasn't brave enough to cut a huge hole in the roof of my beloved Daf so I've coughed up for the professionals. I had booked to take the car to Santa Pod again last year to run it up the 1/4 mile but Covid put paid to that, thankfully Santa Pod have carried the booking over to this year so I will be going for the weekend as I did in 2019, I printed the tickets earlier. The track is the best way to measure the performance increases from the modifications, I can't wait to see what it can do. 😄
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Post by mtjm on Apr 9, 2021 9:16:17 GMT
Really looking forward to seeing how this does on the 1/4 mile!
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Post by swissdave on May 17, 2021 20:57:53 GMT
Some more bits done recently, I have been running the turbo engine without an oil cooler as an experiment over the last few months. To be honest the oil cooler I had fitted into the bumper needed to go as I now have the intercooler mounted there and I had read that for maximum power output hot oil and cool water was optimal so I thought I should see what would happen without an oil cooler. I fitted an oil temperature gauge and have been watching it constantly to see if I could manage without an oil cooler. The answer is a simple no. I am running Valvoline 20w50 racing oil which can handle higher temperatures but even so high speed cruising (75mph+) and towing see the oil temperatures hitting 120-130 degrees c which although within the maximum limits of the oil is a bit much, the turbo is only oil cooled and this is causing the high temperatures. Under normal steady driving conditions the oil stays at about 100 degrees which is fine, I have fitted a small oil cooler just to the side of the number plate, it's a 10 row x 115mm, I've kept the oil temperature gauge so I can see if this sorts the problem. The water cooling side of things seems ok now, I'm seeing a steady 80 degree c with any rapid heating situations (standing traffic after high speed cruising) dealt with by the new bigger fan, peak temperatures of 90 degrees so far.. The new Tudor Webasto sunroof has been fitted by www.thetrimmingcentre.co.uk/ and it's awesome. With the roof closed there is no more wind noise and less boom so it's quieter and with the roof open it's tolerable until about 60 when the buffeting becomes intrusive. Lovely for summer country lane cruising though.
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Post by swissdave on Jun 21, 2021 12:47:14 GMT
This weekend was the Retro Show at Santa Pod and I attended both days, hoping to try the 66 on the drag strip and to show it on the Sunday in the show and shine competition. Unfortunately the weather didn't play ball and the Sunday was a bit of a washout but I did manage two runs on the Saturday. The new turbo engine pulled really well and I managed a best time of 15.5 at 95 mph. 1/2 a second faster than last time in 2019. Nothing broke or fell off and I'm already thinking of some small improvements that could make it faster. I had a slight misfire as I left the line and I think a little more tinkering with the timing could solve that, I also think I will try a bit more boost next time.
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Post by swissdave on Aug 30, 2021 10:21:08 GMT
I've been out and about a lot this summer with my 66 mostly to car shows and family trips out to the coast. This weekend I hitched the trailer up again to carry the tents, chairs etc for a family camping trip. I took my two nephews out in it for a quick blast and they were suitably impressed by the performance if a little perturbed by the lack of gear changes. Everything is working beautifully now with the new engine setup, so the next area for attention is the handling. I will spend some time over the winter to improve the rear axle location, when really pushing on and using the power I can feel some movement from side to side. Maybe a panhard rod? I will post pics up when I start work on it.
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Post by swissdave on Oct 2, 2021 9:39:01 GMT
Now running 11 psi boost. It ran well despite a slight misfire at the end of the run. I think it was a bit of fuel starvation. Very, very pleased with that though!
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Post by rhysnolan on Nov 18, 2021 11:33:24 GMT
What a brilliant build thread. I do like it when folks show what didn't work too. Congratulations on your rocket ship!
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Post by swissdave on Dec 3, 2021 19:23:19 GMT
It's been a while but there's loads to tell. I was overjoyed with that 14.8 particularly as I realised afterwards that it was the rev limiter that slowed me at the end because I had left the hill descent on at the end of the run. This is why it crossed the line at 92 mph when it managed 95 mph on the slower 15.5 second run. I reckon a 14.5 would have been possible if I hadn't been over excited and had switched the "drag race" button off at 6000 rpm So on the way home from Santa Pod it had an unusual but slight rattle on cruise, went away with acceleration or deceleration, I wasn't overly concerned I thought it must be a heat shield or something. I used the car a lot over the rest of the weekend and took it out for a good run on the Monday. The new power from the extra boost made the car a bit scary on the road, the speed builds so quickly and on/off power delivery made the whole car feel very twitchy. Unfortunately on the Monday morning one of the front engine mounts broke and this allowed the engine to twist enough to break the special turbo exhaust manifold. The engine seemed a bit lazy making boost for a second and then it suddenly sounded like a tractor as the turbo broke completely off the manifold! This winter I'm going back to non turbo but with the engine management ecu and using throttle bodies instead of the twin Webers I used before. I'm hoping for a bit more power and drivability than the carbs but obviously less power than with the turbo. The few miles it ran on the highest boost were fun but I don't think the car would last long like that Some pics below and more soon
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Post by swissdave on Dec 26, 2021 16:55:54 GMT
My early Christmas present was a delivery from Spoox motorsport, some beautiful DCOE Weber pattern throttle bodies. These should work well with the current ecu and injectors and make the most of the engine without the turbo. I have fitted the Daf hobby R5 Alpine 4 into 1 exhaust manifold but I need to change the link pipe to the exhaust system yet to make it fit. The throttle bodies fitted well onto the Weber manifolds I had from when it ran twin 40s a couple of years ago. I've gone for the very short (30 mm) version of the throttle bodies to avoid the issue with the steering arm that I had with the Webers, they were 118mm long and the intake trumpets were in the way of the passenger side steering arm. These much shorter throttle bodies in conjunction with some Jenvey curved trumpets have overcome the clearance issue.
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Post by swissdave on Dec 29, 2021 19:54:29 GMT
Today I drilled out the base plate for the filter and got that fitted
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Post by swissdave on Mar 24, 2022 21:44:39 GMT
So the car is running and driving.The first start was using the map in the ECU that had been set up for the turbo and inlet plenum I was using last year. This started the engine ok and ran but was extremely rich on tick over and cruise but lean under acceleration. The air fuel ratio gauge I have in the car gives real time AFR and it makes tuning so easy. I went out a couple of times with a friend in the passenger seat operating the laptop with the Emerald software on it. We have managed to get the cruise AFR to the high 14s to 1 and full throttle to high 12s. The throttle response is fantastic and although it is definitely tamer than with the turbo it is still plenty fast. It's off to the rolling road this Monday coming and I hope to get some video of that which I will share here. In the meantime I have adjusted the tappets for the first time in 5000 miles and repainted the rocker cover in wrinkle finish VHT paint. It's a massive pain to use but I'm sure you'll agree it looks great 😄 Here's an excellent how to guide that helped me enormously; build-threads.com/general-car-stuff/diyhow-to-wrinkle-texture-paint/
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Post by newwy66 on Mar 30, 2022 18:29:57 GMT
Impressive work as always...always nice to see.
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