GTA turbo work in progress

Paul, can I suggest that after you have rebuilt your engine, the whole cooling system is flushed out completely including flushing out the rad having removed it from the car as sludge will collect in its lower half due to the input and outlet pipes being half way up the rad. Having done that be sure to use the correct Renault coolant to refill, it does not seem to allow the steel pipes to rust internally, and hence the blocked turbo bearing/oil cooler circuit is less likely to block up again

A bit of shameless polishing there I admit hmm... did I replace the paper gasket? . I'll get new gaskets for the turbo oil pipes but surely silicone used sparingly on the rocker covers will be ok

Thanks John, not looked at the radiator yet, I suspect the 20 yr old connections/pipes will be a whole headache! Will be flushing the system through as it didn't look too healthy and I have no idea when it was last done. Is there no type of drain plug in the rad?

but surely silicone used sparingly on the rocker covers will be ok

......I fully agree with simonsays74 (Richard) if you are talking about silicon sealant, then do not use anywhere near petroleum based substances (petrol/oil) unless it has been specificly made for that purpose (possibily Instant Gasket...but check)

Is there no type of drain plug in the rad?

I actually drain the system by raising the rear of the car up a few inches so pipes underneath drain towards the rad, then remove the rad switch which is the lowest point you can drain from. Once the coolant is out, there will be a little left in the bottom of the rad which you can tip out once the rad is removed. Then bend the rad hoses down to allow the rest of the coolant in the pipes to drain down. There are two further drain bungs either side of the block to remove. With a water hose trigger nozzel and some rag wrapped around it to make a kind of seal fire it up the offside pipe untill the water is comming out of the two block bung holes, When water is fired up the nearside pipe you can only flush the pipe up to the thermostat which of course is shut. Then down through the coolant reservoir. When water is clean....job done
Suggest you put a plastic bag over the Altenator...we don`t want any spillage getting into that

I did not mean use any old silcon sealeant.
I meant use an instant gasket type.
I'm sure the one i used was the polyurethane type too.
The make was loctite, I gave Tony Law the last tube of the stuff i used.
Send him a PM to identify for sure.
But don't use the pre cut out form renault produces.

Dave

Bye the way.
What did you use to polish up those components?
They look fab.

Dave

Paul, welcome, and nice project doing great!

Twin reg setup - you have a late engine and cross bolt block there, so will be a solid engine

ECU - best advice ditch the mod. I can explain how to do this in a pm if need be. I have worked on these extensively, and that mod will mean you never have the correct injector duty cycle for the manifold pressure applied to the engine, and consequently will run lean. There are in fact only 4 real positive pressure load lines (taking you from atmospheric to X psi), and depending on the setting of the board gain setting pot "Superchip fudge" you may not actually hit the last one - bad bad bad

I keep saying it, but nobody listens

Good time to upgrade your turbo, the turbine looks ok actually, and the compressor I've seen worse Have a chat with CLee, has played with many options and I'm sure he still has some left overs in his cupboard that could be liberated

oh and word to the wise, check wiring under the moulded boots for all sensors and valves (IAC idle solenoid especially) etc that are mounted on the engine, as they see the most heat, and PVC insulation over the years goes brittle and breaks off... result shorts in loom and dead ecu components...

The boots can be prised back carefully and reinstated after your inspection.

Have fun!

[simontaylor]

What did you use to polish up those components
Dave

I want to know too, or did you just put it in the dishwasher ?

ha ha although I did have half the engine on the kitchen table, a trip to my mums to 'use' the dishwasher would have ended in pain . I just used the tube of Autosol metal polish from motor factors. Also I bought a machine mart dremel tool which I have to say is the most satisfying power tool to use ever! So many uses. Only downside is the wire brush attachments only last less than a minute, I bought 50 off ebay The large ali parts were bead blasted by a local company.


Have used this for 'gaskets'. Finally got round to setting the tappets and getting the rocker covers back on.


Visited the local renault dealers yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at the interest shown by the Parts Dept in the car, went out of his way to track down parts numbers.. and talk about R21 turbos. Hopefully I will be able to get the inlet manfold back on before I have to leave for god-knows-where. Wheeled it out of the garage for a final sit-in-it today, sad I know

Hope to have it up and running around April time. I think I will stick with the standard turbo, to be honest I still find it scary to drive and have had a few 'moments' in it... but sitting behind the wheel today I miss it so much!

top job wish i had the time to do that to my engine.

Did you bead blast the rocker covers ? I'd triple check the rhs cover as the splash plate under the filler can trap an awful lot of shite .

yeah I spent a good while rinsing and scrubbing it all out, the dust is very sticky and gets into everything. Also double checked before I put them back on and fished out a small jubilee clip from the RHS one must have fallen off one of the fuel hoses.

So.... to someone reading this thread it probably appears by now I have given up and sold up to the Frenchies.. but I've been busy!

Today I got everything together and have reinstalled the water pipes, inlet manifold and various clips/brackets etc.



Just got to check back through my photos and make sure I've not missed anything or made any howlers. Its all pretty complicated! The turbo and alternator will have to wait until after my next trip away but it should be back up and running in the summer.

Looking good to me

Maybe get a clean new expansion tank now. The old grubby one detracts slightly from the lovely shiny engine.