My VHPD 190 suffered an engine problem at Croft a couple of weeks ago. It has now been stripped and the damage appears to be have been caused by a big end failure on No 4 cylinder. Overall it is not too bad, with one bent conrod, a damaged piston (it had hit a valve at the top of its stroke and the crank at the bottom), a scored liner and damaged valve. I have been advised that the basic repair is to:
(i) Regrind the big end bearing faces and fit new big end bearings
(ii) Fit new piston, con-rod and liner
(iii) Fit new valve
Whilst the engine is out, I also plan to:
(i) Have a Plans Motorsport baffled sump fitted (approx �200 exchange I think)
(ii) Have a new clutch fitted (AP about �175 from Eliseparts)
(iii) Have some Piper verniers fitted and have the cams timed (about �190 from Eliseparts - Ironically, I was supposed to be going down to Dave Andrews to have this done later this month!)
(iv) Have new cambelt fitted (about �40 from Eliseparts)
(v) Have an SPA oil pressure/oil temp gauge fitted
I am thinking about one or two other things, but would appreciate advice:
(i) To remove the aircon compressor and bracket (which seems huge) and blank off the pipework (but leave in place). I never use the aircon, and didn’t really want it, so it seems I could lose some weight straight away by doing this. presumably I could refit the compressor and re-charge the aircon system if I needed to when I come to sell the car?
(ii) If I do this, I can then, presumably, fit a remote thermostat?
(iii) Fit an Emerald. Again, I hade been fixing dates with Dave Andrews for this, but now the car is apart it might be a good time to do it. However, if I remove the aircon, I will still, presumably, have to fit an aircon compatible Emerald in case I ever restore the compressor. If this is the case, will the aircon compatible Emerald have any problems when the compressor is not connected up?
Also, I wonder if there are any other jobs that I should have done at the same time, or any other useful modifications that might be sensible to do now. I am thinking of things like:
(i) New main bearings
(ii) Ali crank pulley (about �80 from Eliseparts)
(iii) New oil/water pumps (either standard or e.g. Eliseparts steel oil pump)?
Any thoughts/comments/experience would be appreciated. I probably wouldn’t have a Honda fitted as it seems too expensive a route to go and I prefer the Audi concept anyway, but this seems to suffer from very long waiting times and I probably can’t afford to have the car off road for too long.
Cheers
Bryn