Engine things have been progressing nicely although I've had a couple of setbacks...

The first setback was with the final headbolt, about 2mm sheared off of the top!



That came out easily enough with a cobalt drill bit, cutting fluid and a slow'n'steady approach with the drill.



Head came off and was disassembled. Gave all of the lifters a poke before removing and they were all nice and firm.



I tidied-up the head and checked it all over with a precision straight edge and a .05mm feeler gauge. Pleased to report that there's no distortion to speak of with only some minor indentation from the HG fire rings.



Head's been dropped to Brett Sims Motorsport where it'll have a tiny amount taken off to remove the fire ring indentation, valve seats re-cut and new valve guides.



The head measured-up at 136.91mm which was a relief as there's still enough material to play with.



With that done I painted the block...



...cleaned the pistons



(obviously had a belt filure at some point in its past)



...and set-to with the measuring devices to check the wear on the crank





All checked out and well within tolerance (which is lucky as I'd already bought standard bearings )

Next I put the rings in to the freshly honed bores to check the gaps, this is where setback number 2 occurred



Gaps on the top and second/middle ring were measuring at 0.4-0.5mm, they should be about 0.25mm ideally. Clearly something was very wrong. Either I'd made a mess of measuring the bores or the hone had been more aggressive than needed. I'm inclined to think that the error is with me due to lack of experience using the dial bore gauge.

So I've now got two blocks with bores that are out of spec for standard pistons

Only thing I can do now is use the original block, have the bores enlarged and use the oversize Mahle pistons I've found.





Edit: Found the pistons at a bargain price here!

I've been talking to them and they've confirmed they can be ordered and that they're suitable for the XU10J4RS

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Yeah, it is a slight concern. Reckon anyone ever had the official kit
Shrink fit pins aren't that uncommon and 'universal' jigs, with a variety of tooling sizes, can be had. Bearing induction heaters are widely used too.I've e-mailed Brett to see if he's got the kit.

Also, the rods in the 'R' and 'RS' engines appear to be exactly the same so I've got some spares from the XSi I broke + I don't need to save any of the pistons so the only concern is with assembly and damaging the new pistons.

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Fantastic update Tom ...good luck m8 ...keep the updates and pics coming mucker

Fantastic news Tom

Thank you it’s getting easier now I have the vision of the finished car

Keep the updates coming please

Nice update

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Goldie the track car.

Been following this on Instagram as well. That’s some bad luck - I did exactly the same with one of my wossners when I did mine so easily done

Did consider this but, as new rings in the spare (honed) block had a gap that was too big I'm certain that the situation would be even worse in this over-bored block

Been on the phone to the local factors this morning and I've ordered the LAST set of rings left in Germany. Lead time of 4-6weeks but hopeful that they'll be here sooner.

Another option is to go for the next size up Mahle 87mm rings. These are more readily available and might work with a bit of filing to the ends to achieve the right gap - might try that if I get too impatient although Tier 4 + poor weather means there's no rush to get the car back on the road I suppose.

I had a bash at disassembling the lifters to give them a good clean.



Weren't particularly dirty although cars had a lot of fresh oil + the flush recently.

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I found the 87mm rings on Amazon (part 011 58 N2) for less than £10 delivered so didn't have much to lose. Rings are identical but about 1mm longer Might have a go at filing an end but I know the right thing to do is wait for the correct part to show up.




I did contact the Czech supplier. He could do the right rings for about £8 but, they'd had to change their courier recently due to the new border/trade arrangements. All in it was going to cost me £45!

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I bought a remote hose for pointing my oil pressure sender and switch, I think I got it from tweaks but it was about 7 years ago I reckon. Then I just made a little bracket to mount it too near the thermostat housing... just a thought for you.
*Edit* This one... https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/lma-oil-pressure-remote-t-piece-244352/ And one of these for the block... https://www.demon-tweeks.com/eu/lma-gauge-sender-unit-adaptors-244347/

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Looking good Tom
Yep strange you can get it from abroad easier ...hope you don’t get caught with import duty like many are

All came together quite quickly once the rings were fitted and the pistons back in their bores.



I was a bit disappointed with the powdercoating on the cam covers. I was warned that 'silver' wasn't particularly durable and that's been proved to be right. The colour seems to rub away to leave a dull grey finish

Decided to recoat with a grey wrinkle paint.



Roughed up the powdercoat with some 120 then 240. Paint seems to have gone on reasonably well.



Before painting I checked that the covers weren't going to crush the cam spray bars now that I've had the lugs removed in order to fit the Therma-tec seals.





All good



Got next week off work so I'm planning on getting the engine mounted back in the car.

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How’re you planning on running this in Tom?

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If I get a good burst at it over the next few days at it I hope to have it started by the weekend, and it's just cleaning and tidying after that, Have our equivalent of a MOT booked for early April so if that goes well it will be on the road,