Kangoo Compact (aka Racevan3)

[Brigsy]

The bad

The bad news is that i noted a bit of white smoke on boost out of the exhaust when Shez was giving it some last Sat. Overall the engine is mostly running OK and going well, but still had 10 second misfire from cold and coolant use has not gone away.

It lured me into a false sense of security with a couple of days of clean starts after changing upstream lambda which was needed, but went back to misfiring from cold, and coolant going from max to min in 250 miles. So more investigation was absolutely needed.

The ugly

I had suspicions about misfiring from cold and using coolant with no visible leaks. From my gtt days this was almost certainly coolant in the cylinders when sitting.

I had noted cylinder 1 spark plug was cleaner than the rest which indicated something was going on in that cylinder when i changed them recently, so pulled that when engine was cold/sat overnight.

The indicated wet ring around the spark plug was not good, with the smell of coolant and brown mark on electrode.


My borescope is about knackered but confirmed type d green coolant sitting in the piston dome.



Its a squirter with no plug in.






On refitting the plug



So the engine is pretty poorly. Consensus is the head is cracked between the valves/water jacket, which is an issue that has cropped up on a few meg 250s due to thin casting in the cylinder head.

With the oil useage ill have to get this engine pulled soon and rebuilt.

 

[Brigsy]

Typically i was planning to take it to the Nurburgring in 4 weeks.

Got my Compomotive mo6 1880 refurbed in anthracite ready for the trip but was not to be. Took them down to Advance Detail in Leeds to be ceramic coated with Gtechniq crystal serum ultra. I took Jon who owns Advance Detail out in it to show him what its about, and i believe that almost finished the poorly engine off, s**t happens i guess!!

Check out the R S stamp and 2002 date stamp on the inner face, and 2x valves on one wheel. From research i believe Icarus used them on the pre production 225 for testing which is super cool.











They can now sit in wheel bags looking sexy until new engine is built.

Negative, im pissed that ive barely enjoyed it and wanted to do a trackday before weather turns to s**t.

Positive is that it all works, just needs engine rebuild and version 1.0 will be better.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[DaveL485]

Took the Kangoo to The Motorist in Leeds for Vanned show last sat. Also took my Extra van and joined by my old Kangoo 172 cup.

Sorry but the Extra wins all the cool points - the Kangoo's know it, the Extra knows it, we all know it. It's just sat there with its arms crossed, smoking a tab, with half an eyebrow raised thinking "ha, you wish!"

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Kangoo is now sorn due to poorly engine. Ive not really touched it since last post but have started gathering parts.

Have purchased a rebuilt megane bottom end. Spec is Wossner pistons stock c/r, pec conrods, new oem renault oil pump, gen renault main bearings, king big end bearings and new oem oil squirters. I wanted to use different pistons and rods, but this came up at the right price and built by a trusted company so will do for what i need.

Picked up in trusty clio van.





I have also bought a 197 head. I wanted a 250 head but they are pretty much made of unobtanium or the ones ive found have been impossible to buy for some reason!

Anyway picked this 197 head up on the way back from Retro Rides in the Extra van. Its off a rebuilt turbo converted engine which had not been started up. Cam journals are mint and head is in very good condition.




Also got a set of arp head studs with it that were fitted to the engine. Dont think ill be needing them at the power i require but will use them most likely.



Ive got a set of inconel supertech valves and cat cams valve springs coming to suit. Itll be engine building time soon after doing the vital checks.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Mark_L]

Result on the Head, what cams are you planning on using?

Pretty much exactly the same spec as mine will be if you go 172 cams.

 

[Brigsy]

Ill be using 172 cams again, they work pretty well with the larger turbos. I plan on fitting a toothed wheel to the inlet cam and using a 197 dephaser/vvt solenoid in prep for full sequential with ecumaster black in the future.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Motivation has been low with this but need to get the ball rolling, engine building season is here now the weather is turning bad.

Started by removing the technomagnesio with the semislicks on as its going to be sat doing nothing for a while. Give them a mega clean up inside and out and back in the wheel bags.

Couldnt resist trying the freshly refurbed comps on for a look. Anthracite defo works.
Its now sat on some old ph1 225 wheels with crap tyres, no pics as looks awful. Have applied more xcf50 to the Ast coilovers for winter protection.

Also got a great deal on a new set of 4x 225/40/18 Michelin pilotsport cup2 so have them in stock for when its back on the road next year. Will get another set of comps refurbished for these and will use as road tyres.
Ive started doing a bit to the new cylinder head and will hopefully get it down the machine shop this week if all goes well.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Mark_L]

Must admit I Love the Technomagnesio’s.

 

[Brigsy]

Small update

Bottom end buttoned up, oil pump cover, oil splash plate and sump refitted. Sump had a mega clean.




Block had a quick clean up and repaint.


Ive painfully removed the flaking powdercoat off the 197 cam cover. I sprayed gasket remover all over it to soften it up and a combo of acetone to get the stubborn bits off. Took hours of pain but now its ready for aquablasting.

Cleaned up even furthur. The aquablaster wanted all the powdercoat off, i reckon ive spent 8 hours of pain doing it. Best look nice!



Modified breather hole in 250 breather plate. Drilled out to 10mm, didnt measure before but it was around 6-7mm iirc.




Head is in the machine shop to get the supertech valves fitted, guides checked and catcams springs in. Just been doing the maths and its a toss up of 1.75mm thick head gasket giving around 8.3:1 comp or 1.9mm giving around 8.0:1, need to make a decision on that.

Interestingly the old engine had an 0.65mm clio head gasket on so static comp was a bit on the high side from memory around 9.0.1, that will explain why it was knock limited and would not take much timing up top.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Brigsy]

Cam cover came back from aquablasting. Looks nice and fresh.





Hopefully get the head back from Amac this week.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Give that a lick of high temp lacquer to stop it corroding again.

 

[Brigsy]

Give that a lick of high temp lacquer to stop it corroding again.

Ive coated it in xcp rust blocker to keep it looking nice. Its brilliant for protecting bare alloy and steel, ive got all the aquablasted bits on the trophy covered in it and not seen any corrosion forming. Its slightly thicker than acf 50 which is also good stuff. Only negative is it picks up a little bit of dust, but easily wiped down if needs be.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates.

Well basically f**k all to update. Cyl head is still in the machine shop for supertech valve fitting, 6 weeks and counting. Hopefully get that back next week.

In the mean time ive sourced all the other parts for the build. Parts for the f4r seem to be harder to get these days for whatever reason, 197/250 dephaser and cam seals were out of stock/backorder from ren but eventually found a set.

As engine is not built, dont see the point in pulling the current engine out yet to have it sat in bits for ages.

Give it a wash off and an application of gtechniq c2v3 today to keep it right. Looks sad on the ph1 225 wheels.


Had my spare set of Compomotive Mo 1882 in rare r26r et63 offset refurbed in white and michelin pilotsport cup2 tyres fitted. Look mega, going to get them ceramic coated to help with future cleaning.








Hopefully next update will be cylinder head back from machine shop.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Got head back from the machine shop, so can start assembly soon.

Amac have fitted the supertech inlet and exhaust valves, cut 3 angled valve seats, lapped valves in. They also installed the cat cams single valve springs, which required a 2.2mm shim making up so the installed spring length was correct. Alastair machined up some bucket style shims that sit on top of the valve stem oil seals as he did not like the usual way of installing what is basically a flat washer under the valve stem oil seals. He said that raising the stem seal 2mm above the guide is a bit too much so wanted it as oem in that respect. Head has also had a little face too, decoke etc.



Cc'd the head to check combustion chamber volume after facing, and had repeat results of 43.6cc. Done the maths for static comp and selected a cometic headgasket to suit, static comp around 8.4:1.



Might get it together next week. Will see.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Motivation to go in the garage was very low over xmas so didnt get anything done. Now the new year has ticked over, ive finally got my arse into gear.

Mot runs out in April and i need it up and running soon ish so i can just get it straight out on the road to run the new engine in. Set goals, get s**t done.

Block face a quick wipe over to get the lube off.

Needed a thread chaser to clean the holes out in the block. Typically my set did not have the right size, so went oldskool and ground some grooves into an old head bolt. Works great.

Arp head studs pre clean.


Cleaned, lubed up with arp lube and installed to block as per instructions. Cometic head gasket 1.52mm.

Head face wiped over, fitted and torqued in 3x stages, letting it settle between each one timed by a brew. Final stage 105ft/lb.



If the weather plays ball, ill start stripping the ancillaries off the old engine.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[andybond]

Motivation to go in the garage was very low over xmas so didnt get anything done.

Does your garage have heating in it? If not I understand the reluctance. Hate working in the cold

 

[DaveL485]

Does your garage have heating in it? If not I understand the reluctance. Hate working in the cold

Essential this time of year - i've got one of these, I do about 2-3 13kg tanks of propane per winter. It's too big and I only use it on minimum setting, run it maybe 10 mins on, 20 off but they had an offer on it at the time haha.

Clarke Devil 900 24.9kW Propane Gas Fired Space Heater (230V) - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

 

[Brigsy]

Does your garage have heating in it? If not I understand the reluctance. Hate working in the cold

No heating and agree not a big fan of working in the cold. Definitely not enjoyable.

Essential this time of year - i've got one of these, I do about 2-3 13kg tanks of propane per winter. It's too big and I only use it on minimum setting, run it maybe 10 mins on, 20 off but they had an offer on it at the time haha.

Clarke Devil 900 24.9kW Propane Gas Fired Space Heater (230V) - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

Get a lot of condensation off them. Ive considered a 5kw diesel night heater as less condensation with exhaust exiting outside. Can run on oil too.

 

[DaveL485]

Get a lot of condensation off them. Ive considered a 5kw diesel night heater as less condensation with exhaust exiting outside. Can run on oil too.

I dont get much, nowhere near what I expected anyway. None of the exposed metal has been rusting either. Then again it is a pretty large space!

 

[Brigsy]

Small update.

In the process of building the new engine up im putting the parts in place to run 197/250 vvt and full sequential injection. To do this, i need a trigger wheel on the inlet cam for cam position, and the 172 inlet cam does not have one.

First port of call was to remove a cam trigger wheel from an old 197 inlet cam. Heated it up, did not really need to heat but it flew off with puller no dramas.



Tried to refit to a spare 172 inlet cam with bit of heat/knock into place. Did not go well as i realised i was never going to get it over a small ridge where the trigger needs to sit that the 197 cam does not have. I damaged the trigger wheel slightly in the process so binned that idea. It could have been welded on but not ideal. Lessons learned on this one!!

Next step was to fit a catcams trigger wheel. I had this in stock but got stuck fitting it, as it would not go over the ridge on the cam as described above and would need to be machined off so it can locate in the correct position (41mm from the end of the cam if anybody needs to know in the future).

Took the cam round to a retired machinist i know who has a lathe in his garage. He had the cam in, clocked and ridge machined off in ten mins, for the price of a drink.

This has allowed the trigger wheel to go fully home in the correct position. Its a nice tight fit, so just needs a small amount of studlock and nip up the grubscrew and its going nowhere. Im.going to set the orientation as close to oem position as poss but as im planning on using a standalone ecu, it wont matter too much can fine tune it via the software.



Should have all the relevant parts to finish off assembly now.

Thanks for reading!!