raysmicra

Ray asked we could make up some new brake pipes and fit them to the car.

This Micra runs in class 4, which is for small capacity highly modified cars, and this one is a work of art. Incredibly light with a highly tuned Nissan 16 valve engine, it is a pleasure to be asked to help.

This is a space framed car with light weight panels attached. Very nice!

Also in the pictures are the copper brake lines we fitted!

The 16 valve 1.1 litre engine, not one of ours........

Due to a successful season, Ray was required to remove the cylinder head at post scrutineering to enable the bore and stroke of the engine to be measured to ensure it was below the class 4 limit of 1130 cc.

On this CG10 engine, removing the head is a fairly major operation, due to the cams being driven by 2 internal chains, and requiring a complete strip down to get the timing right at the reassembly stage.

Ray has asked us to help him remove the head and maybe use one of our modified heads to try and get some more power from the engine.

The engine will then be returned to Rays engine builder for assembly for the 2011 season. Ray is a very loyal customer and we are going to have to work hard to get him to swop his engine work over to JRE.

Well, we removed the manifolds and other parts before today to make the head removal as easy as possible.

Removing the cam covers,we notice that the exhaust cam caps are not fitted in the correct number sequence!

Once the caps are off, the cams are checked and both have sustained major damage to their bearing surfaces, rendering them scrap. Unfortunately, the damage has transferred to the head surface, so that will also end up in the scrap bin.

The bore and stroke are checked, and the engine is under the limit at 1109 cc,
so it has passed and the results stand.

Its now back to the workshop to decide what to do with the engine.

Ray gives the go ahead to strip the engine down and check its condition.

We discover the block has two cracked cylinder liners, very thin liners have been fitted to try and increase the capacity, and the crankshaft is scored enough to need a regrind.

This picture below shows how much the cylinder has to be opened up to try and get the extra capacity.

We are going to leave the bore at the standard 998cc and achieve the power increase through other means!

Inlet port from the 1109 engine Inlet port on the JRE 998 engine

Extremely light weight 998cc alloy block, cleaned and honed and ready for painting.

Crankshaft, pistons and rings fitted and front cover.

The bore and stroke have been checked and the sump sealed to the block.

Gearbox fitted, waiting for new exhaust manifold.

The fitting process begins, not quite as easy as imagined!

The car is now ready for a trip to the rollers!

Power 121 bhp and 90lbs torque are OK for a 998cc engine!

Not a good day for the Micra, problems with a leaking radiator, and then both driveshafts breaking where we had joined them at the first racing start. Back to the drawing board.