PollyMobiles Rebuild

[MicraPRO]

Booming heck Paul did you have alot of the purple filament left haha

 

[pollyp]

I brought 1kg spool, only used a tiny bit of it upto now so plenty left

 

[solarice]

Always been tempted to get a 3d printer, but assumed i'd probably not use it much. But i suppose its the same as a welder, it's only after you have it handy that you get all these ideas / solutions to the problem at hand.

 

[pollyp]

Always been tempted to get a 3d printer, but assumed i'd probably not use it much. But i suppose its the same as a welder, it's only after you have it handy that you get all these ideas / solutions to the problem at hand.

yes as with all tools, they're only worth hiring/purchasing when you need them to resolve a problem plus willing to invest time/effort/money in learning how to use em.

 

[pollyp]

JAE 2015

Thursday 10-09-2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10am set off from home.

Arriving in Newark at 12:30, I first tried to locate Asda for when I need supplies, didn't find it. Tried refuel at BP but no super unleaded. Stopped over to grab the JAE ticket out me bag.

Passed through JAE entry, try to vaguely locate stand from memory. Spotted Tom, Chloe, Joe, Edward, Max, Ralph, Iris at the MSC stand.

James was in London so MSC had no stand or banner yet. Karl, Hannah & Ben then arrived.

Checking out Ralphs insane quadcoptors.

Andys team & Matt finally arrived later on afternoon. Helped BSR setup their gazebo then my tent.

I quickly topped up with some oil cos there's zero after driving down to JAE. Followed Matt & BSR team to a Tesco express for supplies, but there was no parking spaces down the tight back alley. Eventually Andy & guys had to scramble away cos they were holding up the main street.

Karl, Matt & me went on our own way to find a Morrison/Asda I once spotted when I first arrived. Spotted Asda24, got food & drinks, walking back we were confused if the underground parking required paying below 30min, so just left it. filled up at nearby Shell.

Back at the show, James arrived & stand was setup. It was a quiet thursday chatting around, eating drinking and spending time between the bright warm loud msc stand and dark fairy lit cold BSR stand.

Friday 11/09/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Checked over karls car in the morning.

Gave Hannah a blast in kasandra.
She may have been abit "omg-screamish-surprised" at first when I peak boost lol, bit of a rollercoaster thrill for her, but reassured the girl she's in good hands
We stopped by co-ops for food & stuff

Since thursday there was a lonely white skyline on the stand next to us, apparantly the leader couldn't make it so tis just him :/
Edward & Max parked their white K11 next to it for a fab photo

We all walked around the trade shows, not much stuff interested me (maybe I'm K11 bias or just socially anxious, dunno) got bored, walked back to stand

I prefer to just fix stuff imo, so parked kasandra nearby & checked over Matts car, tuned the TPS, IACV & timing with datascan.

(lol from this caption, it looks like Karls micra had told Kasandra something naughty and she blew off her BOV & bonnet in shock hahaa)

Tightened up the slack throttle cable but unfortunately I overtightened the nut and snapped the threaded outer cable, ah crap
I had to screw the nut further up and return back to a slack cable.

Cut off his downpipe heatshield that was rattling loose.

When Matt went out to test, the broken end I left in had wedged around the throttle cam & stuck to 4K rpm whilst trying to stop eek
So I cut the broken piece off with dremel and works fine.

While I was idling kasandra for a long time to cut Matts heatshield with the dremel on my inverter, the poor inlet stem seals would sip in alot of oil and she begins to smoke. When I blip/rev the engine soon after, a big ploom of oil engulfed the lads in the stand, sorry

Only way to clear it is to go for a drive, the built up oil would smoke for the first few sec of boosting then it clears up.
So I definately have to replace those stem seals.

That night I stuck around friends in MSC & also met Kefke and said we'd give his LHD K11 a usual tune up.

Saturday 12/09/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It rained overnight so was a cold wet morning.

Checked out the new clips on Toms bay.

Edward was interested in em, I had some spares for £25 so went to fit them on.

Jed was also interested so sold him the last one.

Andy called me over to help fit an air temp gauge to the lads MX5, and twas something to do.

Will was trying to fit an oil pressure gauge on his Pulsar, I lended a hand.

Max mentioned if I could give Ben a ride in kasandra cos he was prob too shy to ask me directly, of course I'd luv to step into my office Ben. This was his first time in a turbo car and he really luved it

Max also asked if his gf Lyra could have a ride, yup. she was quieter & calm, I wanted to goto KFC in town for food but kept taking the wrong turn in the confusing super-busy double round bouts. Ended going around back towards the entry and also along the way spotted this fully burning car in a village pub car park.

Kefkes LHD K11 from belgium popped by and attracted a whole load of attention.

Tom parking Millie next to it for before/after photos cos they're similar colour.
Thats the first LHD I seen in person with interesting brake servo plumbing and sitting in LH drivers seat with everything inverted left - right it's really really wierd

Alright let's begin her tune up. Set TPS to 0.48v, clean & configure IACV, sync dizzy timing & set warm idle, purrs nicely.

He gave me some belgium cherry beer as promised which tasted quite nice cheers.
Gave him a ride in kasandra and he luved it, he posted some phone video on FB
Parked next to Jeds K11 to fit the printed clips on his & also give a tuneup.

jeez I was on a roll with the tuneup spree, like every yr, and luv it

(oh geez my "cut too short" hair was a right old mess that weekend with the wind sorry ladies gents )

Tom williamson later visited in his very very low cool edgy looking K11

Fireworks soon went off with a fab show, all hazards lights on, told no revving anymore but few other hondas etc obviously couldn't resist
That was a good night at MSC where Tom, Chloe & Ben won nice awards, we ate very sugary cake, I drank alot more cider & wine & beer than my normal self with Karls influence and urm may have been abit drunk hehee. Max was totalled

Sunday 13/09/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a very freezing 5am morning and needed a pee from drinking, so had to shiver out the tent to the loo, still abit tipsy.

Woke up with no hangover which is gr8. Topped up fluids for the trip home. Packed up the tent.

Fixed Karls faulty cig lighter which was just rusty. we all visited the stunts/drifting showground, packed up MSC stand before finally saying goodbyes. another fab JAE

 

[Huggy444]

If you're still struggling to find a job.... Just set up a mobile mechanic service! I know I could do with it haha

 

[Love_Whiskey]

Awesome to finally meet you Paul, great to see the car and hope to see you again soon!

 

[pollyp]

If you're still struggling to find a job.... Just set up a mobile mechanic service! I know I could do with it haha

a very K11 specific mobile mechanic with rapid deployment just for Alex during rallys eh

I luv fixing & tuning up ppls K11 at the shows with my usual procedures as a hobby/passion and tis wishful thinking to do it for a living but I can't vision how to run myself as a garage business.
imagine kasandras fuel & oil bills travelling around the UK alone lol.

I've been through the ups/downs of startups that's drained my spare savings and imo it's time I stop fannying about with startups and get a proper stable salery paying job that I was qualified for and sort life out.

 

[pollyp]

Awesome to finally meet you Paul, great to see the car and hope to see you again soon!

had a fab time Edward. btw I dunno if it's just ur haircut but you initially remind me of Ed from Fusion Motorsports who tuned my car
I wonder what drink you like judging from ur username

 

[Antony]

Nah... he's still sid to me. Lol

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[pollyp]

Nah... he's still sid to me. Lol

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

who's sid?

 

[Antony]

Sid storer. Edward.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[pollyp]

Sid storer. Edward.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

ahh, noted

 

[MaxK11C]

Was awesome to see you again, thanks again for giving Lyra a ride. She really enjoyed it.
I don't think it's a weekend any of us will forget in a hurry.

 

[pollyp]

Was awesome to see you again, thanks again for giving Lyra a ride. She really enjoyed it.
I don't think it's a weekend any of us will forget in a hurry.

thx Max, it was gr8 to take Lyra out for a ride and happy she liked it

 

[pollyp]

redesigning the 3D printer using a single sliding rail rather than dual to reduce chances of binding. the L-type mount for the hot-end where the rails cross through looked abit weak

relocating the rails to cross on the other side of the hot-end, the mount could be made more solid

redesigned the sliding mounts that the lead-screw drives. the lead-screw nuts are secured facing opposite directions onto the mount with screws. adjusting the screws determine the amount of anti-backlash.

printing the mounts

prints need refining. leadscrew nuts & linear bearings arrived

mounts trimmed and leadscrew nuts grinded for clearances

assembling the leadscrew mounts

assembled setup

but soon found that all the misaligned sliding rails and leadscrews are fighting/jamming each other

so tried removing the rails that were jamming the leadscrews

but there's still a fundemental tiny misalignment issue, so I'll revert back to the original working setup for now till I can rebuild a redesigned setup.

my next plan is to buy another set of motors to use a dual parallel step-motor layout (ie 2 motors driving both ends of the X/Y/Z axis running in-sync to eliminate any binding),

as opposed to a normal single drive/single sliding rail (motor on one side, sliding ball bearing on the other end) which is prone to binding from any resistance/misalignment of the bearing making it skew/distort.

another requirement is to make all the leadscrew mounts fully adjustable so I could eliminate any misalignment that could jam the rails.

 

[pollyp]

just been talking to me sister bout organising me CV then bout my uncertainty bout apply for:
product/industrial design (cos they focus more on user studies, psychology, styling, colours etc and I feel outa touch),
or garage mechanic/technician (I have no mech qual or experience on other cars, nor do I actually prefer to do it 24/7 in all weather),

but then we hit a spark, what bout a design engineer which could also be automotive related?
Oooh now that's abit closer to my preference.
I do find I'm more interested towards designing mechanical systems/solutions more than the aeshthetics, and looking at all the characteristics of Kasandra it reflects that point.

ok I've always been lost at which career I really desire/belong in (my aspirations since school have varied from architecture > car designer > product design > virtual world designer > software designer), but now I'm abit more inspired towards a new career target of being an auto design engineer or aftermarket design engineer.

so as well as applying for product design jobs, the next step would be to also try design engineering jobs and if I need to qualify for additional mech eng courses too.

 

[karlj]

Whatever you choose Paul I wish you the best of luck

 

[pollyp]

Whatever you choose Paul I wish you the best of luck

thanks karl for ur support

 

[pollyp]

Been thinking long & hard about this new printer configuration,

First task was to design the layout of all the motors, screws, rails etc to utilise most of the available lead-screw travel, in a compact package, where each mount can be adjustable to prevent binding and allow the print area to be enclosed to trap heat.

In the same way as designing a car where you figure out how to package all the fundamental core components to meet the required spec first, then the structure, then the aesthetics.

then after many days/hrs and iterrations which I won't bore u with, I designed the supporting frame with fully adjustable points

gonna need some more expensive motors and materials soon

 

[pollyp]

since 40x30mm rectangular tube was tricky to source and limits some of the rail travel, I redesigned with a more common 20x20 square tube frame, which seems stronger and gives alot more travel range

 

[GeorgeG]

Bright minds and multitalented people like you sometimes dont realise what they can achieve. You must capitalise on your skills and capabilities. Have a look on CV library and reed under the automotive and Motorsport sections.
Prepare a portfolio with the things that you have designed and the solutions that you found even if it is on the Micra..
3D printing and additive manufacturing are areas that will only get bigger.... Just do it

 

[pollyp]

Bright minds and multitalented people like you sometimes dont realise what they can achieve. You must capitalise on your skills and capabilities. Have a look on CV library and reed under the automotive and Motorsport sections.
Prepare a portfolio with the things that you have designed and the solutions that you found even if it is on the Micra..
3D printing and additive manufacturing are areas that will only get bigger.... Just do it

thx for the fab encouragement George, helps alot.

indeed I often don't realise my potential or seriously undervalue myself. The negativity had hit hard this yr & often overthinking I can't compete in the pro job market I want through fear of uncertainty and rejection.

but slowly over the past few months from the trip to germany, the support of the forum, friends & family and talking to friends at JAE, I've been trying to gradually build confidence by reflecting on past achievements when trying to write my CV (getting motivation to do it is hard), and researching/refocusing my job title aspirations to what I think is closer to what I've been learning for all along and what I feel best at.

definately have to compile a good portfolio while I'm doing this CV. with so much material to sort, gotta take it step at a time.

aye since being involved in the design & digital industry I can see that everything in the economy is fast becoming a digital boom and all this 3D printing, 3D visualisations/workforce, digitisation of info, automation etc is just the tip of the digital revolution.

I just gotta find a career & life where I can contribute to stuff I'm passionate bout but with fairness and not being ripped off again.

 

[pollyp]

just realised my MOT is due next week, eek so better get on with sorting the burning oil.

plugs look alright

removed cover, the tape I wrapped around the spark plug tubes got abit loose from oil and seeping tiny amounts. reapply it later

timing cover sealed good

still good n clean. noting the timing marks

tensioner still good

cams off. valve buckets look ok

then realised I was only replacing the inlet stem seals so put the exhaust cams back on

got the rope to stuff inside the cylinders for holding the valves, and a pipe with same diameter as the rope to guide it smoothly inside

removed the stem seals. initial impression most appear fine and rubber still flexible. most stem guides still snug with tiny fraction of play

pushed the new seals in with 10mm socket. working on the tiny collets is back breaking work. just have to reassemble the cams & reseal the covers and test drive it tomorrow

once engines sorted I'll have to try patch up the crossmember hole.
wonder what the chances are of the turbo passing emission

 

[Huggy444]

Collets... God I hate Collets. Literally everyone I work on, everything goes well, then it gets to putting in the collets! Frustrating or what

 

[pollyp]

Collets... God I hate Collets. Literally everyone I work on, everything goes well, then it gets to putting in the collets! Frustrating or what

totally.
always nervous doing the collets in the bay thinking any moment now, the collets could either pop out and never found or I drop one down the sump drain holes :/
using a tiny magnet tip makes it abit easier but still nerve racking

 

[Huggy444]

totally.
always nervous doing the collets in the bay thinking any moment now, the collets could either pop out and never found or I drop one down the sump drain holes :/
using a tiny magnet tip makes it abit easier but still nerve racking

Best tip I got was to use a tiny dab of thick grease in a non-magnetic screwdriver... Holds the collet nicely, but it's easier to get the collets to drop in with grease give it a shot next time

 

[pollyp]

Best tip I got was to use a tiny dab of thick grease in a non-magnetic screwdriver... Holds the collet nicely, but it's easier to get the collets to drop in with grease give it a shot next time

good tip, should stop em nudging around while I grab the other one

 

[pollyp]

cams on, cleaned old sealant off, wrapped more tape around the spark tubes

all sealanted up. finish off tomorrow

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

just realised my MOT is due next week, eek so better get on with sorting the burning oil.

plugs look alright

View attachment 45134

removed cover, the tape I wrapped around the spark plug tubes got abit loose from oil and seeping tiny amounts. reapply it later

View attachment 45138

timing cover sealed good

View attachment 45140

still good n clean. noting the timing marks

View attachment 45137 View attachment 45136 View attachment 45132 View attachment 45148

tensioner still good

View attachment 45141

cams off. valve buckets look ok

View attachment 45147 View attachment 45145

then realised I was only replacing the inlet stem seals so put the exhaust cams back on

View attachment 45146 View attachment 45143

got the rope to stuff inside the cylinders for holding the valves, and a pipe with same diameter as the rope to guide it smoothly inside

View attachment 45131 View attachment 45144

removed the stem seals. initial impression most appear fine and rubber still flexible. most stem guides still snug with tiny fraction of play

View attachment 45139 View attachment 45133

pushed the new seals in with 10mm socket. working on the tiny collets is back breaking work. just have to reassemble the cams & reseal the covers and test drive it tomorrow

View attachment 45135 View attachment 45142

once engines sorted I'll have to try patch up the crossmember hole.
wonder what the chances are of the turbo passing emission

Do you mean with the turbo still fitted and without the cat? None!
Why don't you just fit a racing cat and be done with it so you don't have to swap exhausts every year.

 

[pollyp]

Do you mean with the turbo still fitted and without the cat? None!
Why don't you just fit a racing cat and be done with it so you don't have to swap exhausts every year.

Its got the stock cat on. Would a high flow cat or racing cat work any better at lowering emissions? Considering the 2nd cat doesnt get much hot being so far away and MOT tester only holds rev for limited period?

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Its got the stock cat on. Would a high flow cat or racing cat work any better at lowering emissions? Considering the 2nd cat doesnt get much hot being so far away and MOT tester only holds rev for limited period?

Sorry Paul I didn't realise you had one cat on. You have to remember though that the standard cat may not be able to keep up with the gas flow. Doesn't lowrider use a racing one. Temperature is a big thing though with the cat make sure its nice and hot before the emission test.

 

[pollyp]

Sorry Paul I didn't realise you had one cat on. You have to remember though that the standard cat may not be able to keep up with the gas flow. Doesn't lowrider use a racing one. Temperature is a big thing though with the cat make sure its nice and hot before the immission test.

gas flow or performance ain't an issue. with/without cat ain't very noticable with upto 162hp

the only time a cat matters is during MOT emissions test at which they hold 2-3k no load, which hardly pushes the gas flow limit of most cats (stock or high flow).

some mixed remarks on sites say the emissions efficiency of aftermarket high-flow/racing cats vary alot whereas oem cats are more controlled?
operating temperature is definately a big thing. one time on my cousins gas machine, when holding 3k for ages the cat slowly got hotter till it was able to dramatically burn off the emissions and yet when I took it to halfords MOT it failed cos it couldn't get hot enough in time.

so my core question is, given the same 3k rpm gas flow held for the same given time limit and same exhaust entry temp, would a high-flow or racing secondary cat be able to reach their optimum temp sooner to reduce emissions compared to a stock honey comb cat? or are they more focused on gas flow & high temp resistance and less bout MOT emissions?
would adding more cats in series make any difference or they still hindered by the long exhaust distance / low temps?

looking back at my prev cats, in 2008 I had this spiralwrap type almera/primera cat (according to online, metal spiral types have a thinner & less restrictive substrate similarly used in highflow cats?), think it's a Klarius 370121 model.

but that didn't pass emissions (on both the janspeed system and turbo setup), so brought another stock cat

and that didn't pass either. so I think low gas temp & short exposure period are why it didn't work.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

What emission did it fail on exactly.

 

[frank]

you,ve already renewed the valveseals twice iirc paul ? and it had no effect on the oil consumption surely ?

 

[pollyp]

prev on the turbo setup with that spiralwrap cat and dirty missfiring injectors the CO goes 0.5% idle, 0.75% slow idle, 1.01% fast idle and missfiring HC 120-500ppc
but now with cleaned injectors it no longer misfires when held at 3k so HC and perhaps CO should improve?

 

[pollyp]

you,ve already renewed the valveseals twice iirc paul ? and it had no effect on the oil consumption surely ?

the stem seals were replaced back in 2013 but tis in recent months that I notice she really smokes oil only after prolonged coasting or idling which usually points to inlet seals, hence replacing em again to see if it fixes it.

 

[pollyp]

ok that didn't work

primed the oil, she cold started fine

initially it cold started clear, but then 1min later the cat warms up emitting moisture and then begins to smoke blue :/
drove out to warm the system up & clear the pipes.
coasting down the hill @6:00 it collects oil and then when I accelerate it still smokes blue

back at home while the exhausts still warm it appears clear.
so I let it idle for few mins to see if the vacuum still sucks in oil.
after bout 5-10mins the exhaust pipes has cooled right down and slowly begins to emit blue smoke getting worse. blasting water and soot towards the camera when I rev it.

so urm zero difference after replacing the inlet stem seals.

after prolonged idling & smoking, the plugs appear bit rich and all the piston tops 50-90% damp & oily

compression's 10.4-10.9bar but I think the oilyness affects it.

I can only put the cause down as the piston oil rings / course bores allowing tiny bit of oil to seep past into the cylinders during high vacuum and dependant on rpm.

coasting = 100% of the oil leaking past the oil rings are slowly coating more & more of the piston top without being burnt.
long idling = 1/2 of the oil leaking past the oil rings during induction cycle is slowly coating more & more surface area of the piston top while the other 1/2 is burnt off during each combustion cycle.
more oily surface area = denser smoke.
accelerating with 0-10psi manifold pressure = no vacuum in the cylinders to suck any more oil over the pistons, combustion burns away any oil that was coating the piston top till it becomes dry again.
more surface area of piston coated with oil from long coasting / idling = denser smoke,
more load/boost = higher exhaust pressure = more volume of oily smoke blown out.

certainly nothing more I can do to fix this issue

 

[frank]

low throttle/high inlet mani vacuum = high cylinder vacuum on a petrol engine eh paul
so the oil is being sucked past the oil control rings

 

[pollyp]

low throttle/high inlet mani vacuum = high cylinder vacuum on a petrol engine eh paul
so the oil is being sucked past the oil control rings

after everything I've tried to throw at it, yup it seems the oil rings are still duff
still yet to weld the chassis.
wonder if I should still try MOT the turbo and most likely waste money on retest? or resort back to standard setup to guarantee it'll pass emissions for another yr?

 

[frank]

mot it n/a, and hope that some thick engine oil will help it pass the hc emissions eh paul (15/40 and gearoil mix)

 

[pollyp]

mot it n/a, and hope that some thick engine oil will help it pass the hc emissions eh paul (15/40 and gearoil mix)

it always passes MOT emissions in stock NA no prob.
whether the turbo will pass with this bad oil ring is always a fine line gamble, even with the cleaned injectors.
perhaps try to MOT the turbo and lose afew quid to get a final say on how far off the gases are now.
if it's way off, no point attempting to MOT the turbo in future.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

I thought HC fail was more to do with over/unburnt fueling?

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Anyway you normally get a free retest if you take it back within 7 days don't you. So even if it fails you get to know the results, and take it back n/a for it to pass.

 

[pollyp]

I thought HC fail was more to do with over/unburnt fueling?

yes when my turbo used to misfire badly holding 3k with dirty injectors or leaning the map too much, the HC shoots through the roof.

 

[pollyp]

Anyway you normally get a free retest if you take it back within 7 days don't you. So even if it fails you get to know the results, and take it back n/a for it to pass.

only if they fix it at their branch within a day.

when it leaves the centre and returned within 10days it's 1/2 price retest.

 

[wehey]

Have you got a Setyres near you?
My local does Mot for £29.95 and a free retest within 10 working days

 

[pollyp]

Have you got a Setyres near you?
My local does Mot for £29.95 and a free retest within 10 working days

nope I'm in the north east.

 

[SuperUno]

NA is the only route that it is going to pass an MOT test.

Then decide to carry on with this engine till it goes bang, or get a stock bottom end and run a couple of PSI less for reliability.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Thats a bit poor. The ones round me are free if returned within a week. Not that that helps you. Still half retest is only £20.