Engine disassembly is normally a messy job!

Stripping the engine down

The valve train is in great shape, and is testament to good and regular servicing.

This engine is on it’s second cam chain, and even this one is approaching the end of it’s service life. We’ve seen stretched chains cause unwated valve timing variations, and even jumped teeth.

This engine is coming to the end of life for it's second cam chain.

The cylinder head is removed exposing the cylinder block deck face and piston crowns.

The build up of dark carbon deposits on the piston crowns is a result of heavy oil consumption which is the reason for the freshen-up.

The standard pistons show a build of carbon deposits as a result of heavy oil consumption.

One of the greatest risks to engine life after tuning, is detonation.

Detonation is evidenced by the appearance of errosion of the piston and cylinder head material. Here we can see that good pratice in relation to ECU calibration has allowed this engine to serve the owner faithfully for 145,000 miles for racing and as a daily driver, without even a hint of detonation.

The pistons and connecting rods are removed from the cylinder block.

A common mistake that some tuners make is to use too much ignition advance which may not be sufficient to induce detonation but it still creates excessive and unecessary loading on the pistons, rods, bearings and crankshaft pins. The first signs of this phenomenon appears on the “softest” components which are the big end bearings. Here, the bearings are in great shape.

The standard pistons, connecting rods and bearings

The cylinder block, crankshaft, oil squirter jets and main bearing girdle.

The crankshaft journals are fine and will require only a micro polish.

We’ve selected Cosworth racing pistons for this application, which have the following features:

• Polished crowns to reduce carbon build up, minimising the effects of hot spots.
• Offset pin bores to reduce engine noise.
• Anti detonation bands
• Xylan skirt coating improves bed-in and reduces frictional losses.
• Accumulator groove improves compressing ring sealing under high cylinder pressures.
• Very light weight reduces reciprocating mass
• High tensile strength aluminium forging with well designed ladder frame pin support, enhances structural rigidity at high load/rpm conditions.

Cosworth pistons are available in 86.00mm / 12:1 CR , 86.25mm / 12:1 CR and 86.5mm / 12:1 CR and can be bought from these links.

We’re using Cosworth connecting rods which have the following featres:

• Manufactured from high strength EN40 steel forgings for maximum strength.
• High tensile rod bolts
• H section with detailed CNC machining to optimise weight and strength
• Radial truss small end to optimise weight and strength

The Cosworth connecting rods can be seen and purchased here

When we do engine builds, we normally have the metal components such as fasteners etc plated. This is an inexpensive process which makes the egine look a whole lot better.

The cylinder block has been bored and honed to suit the new oversized Cosworth forged pistons.

The bores are measured for size, ovality and taper because it’s dangerous to assume that the boring has been carried out properly. We often have to reject cylinder boring work that hasn’t been completed to our satisfaction.

When working to tight tolerances, the correct piston to bore clearance is critical. Cosworth recommend a bore clearance as low as 60 microns, so any tight spots may lead to a catastrophic seizure.

The engine build specifications are recorded to ISO9001 standards in case we need to rely on them at any time in the future.

Here are some of the engine components prior to being prepared ready for assembly.

The Cosworth components are very consistent but we still process the rods to ensure the rods are balanced end to end and the pistons are also balanced, all within 0.5 gramme.

The inside of the crank case prior to installation of the crankshaft.

The main cap girdle is very substantial in order to enhance the stiffness of the crankcase assembly and prevent crankshaft whipping.

More pictures of the Cosworth engine components

The main girdle is fitted to the cylinder block to ensure that the main bearing tunnel is within size and straight.

Cosworth Race Series main bearings are installed, the crankshaft is fitted to measure the clearances.

The crankshaft and main girdle has final fitment so it’s time to measure the big end bearing clearances.

The piston rings have been gapped, oil squirter jets modified, and piston/rod assemblies installed.

The first image is of the main studs being torqued up, and the second image shows the short block fully assembled with crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons and bearings.

We’re using the new Cosworth metal head gasket, which is available in 87mm /0.8mm, 87mm / 1.1mm and 90mm / 1.1mm

High tensile Cosworth head studs are used to maintain clamping pressures under extreme conditions.

It’s been a busy day for this TDI/Cosworth engine, so it’s time to get tucked into bed for the night.

The main cause of the heavy oil consumption was worn valve guides.

It’s difficult/impossible to buy replacement valve guides from Honda, but fortunately Toda Racing offer a set of heavy duty guides for the intake and exhaust which we know to work very well.

The valves were in remarkably good condition with no stem wear whatsoever, so just as a matter of good practice we treated them to a very light reface on the seats. Cosworth racing inlet valves and exhaust valves are also available.

The cylinder head has had the new Toda Racing valve guides installed and the valve seats have been recut.

The valves have been lapped in and installed with Toda racing valve springs.

The new oil pump and original windage tray is installed.

The cylinder head is torqued down to the correct settings with an electronic torque wrench.

The rocker arms and shafts are installed ready for some Toda Racing A3 camshafts.

Toda Racing camshafts have been used successfully many times and are reputedly one of the best manufacturers available. We’ve selected the A3′s for this application which offer a useful spread of torque throughout the engine operating speed range.

Here we’re torquing down the cam carrier caps in order to check the bearing clearances.

It’s best practice to check all bearing clearances. You know what they say about assumptions!

The Toda A3′s have final fitment together with an uprated Toda cam chain for improved reliability. The front cover is now safely installed too.

We’re using a Toda Racing flywheel to reduce the rotating mass and improve engine response, with a standard Honda clutch.

We’ve applied lush new coats of wrinkle finish paint for the valve cover.

The engine is installed and running!

The car is away now running the engine in, and will return to us for tuning and servicing in due course.

Derived from years of F1 engine research, the quality, effectiveness and attention to detail that you would expect from one of the worlds best Motorsport engine manufacturer is now available for you to insall in your car.

Among the components available from us are: Cosworth crate engines, Cosworth stroker kits, Cosworth crankshafts, Cosworth pistons, Cosworth connecting rods, Cosworth gaskets, Cosworth engine bearings, Cosworth oil pumps, Cosworth CNC ported cylinder heads, Cosworth camshafts, Cosworth intake manifolds, Cosworth supercharger systems.

Cosworth manufacture the above race and road parts for Nissan VQ35DE, Mitsubishi 4G63, Subaru EJ20, Ford Duratec.

To review the range of Cosworth components for different cars, please go to http://www.tdi-plc.com/