Damnation: The Cynos Project

Don't ask me about the title, it just popped in my head for some obscure reason! Anyway, these last couple of days were spent on two main jobs - on Saturday I too apart the old 4E, hopning in doing so to find the reasoning as to why it consumed so much oil, and today I mostly tidied up the garage, but I managed to do a couple of other things too.

Saturday firstly started out with a purdy collection from the local post office (and returning with a resultant violated posterior after the excise fees were paid):



After gawking and drooling at the pulley, I started on the engine - this is the 4th engine I pull apart, so no need for details, other than the crankshaft pulley was rather recalcitrant so I was cohorsed into using prehistoric methods of persuasion to remove it (gave it hell with a hammer). To my suprise/disappointment, after degreasing and wiping up the pistons and connecting rods, I could find no sign that would explain the hideous oil consumption this engine demonstrated. All of the bearings looked fine, no broken ring lands, the piston rings look ok too. However, the engine block was absolutely encrusted in a layer of oily grunge - closer inspection of the oil pump revealed a lot of said gunk, as well as around the oil dipstick and rear crank seal..hmm...



I know I know, a dismantled engine on a garage floor is all a bit "Bangla Banger". Come Sunday, I mostly attempted to clean up the mess left over from the previous day - I cleaned up the old 4E components to a limited degree, and cleared a space to store them, cleared away some leaves and detritus, and laid down sand on the oil that was spilt when dismantling the old 4E. In the mean time, I also decided to remove/install a couple of things, so I replaced the fuel filter, removed the crash bumper mounts (will weigh for weight saving tomorrow), charcoal canister, and front ABS Sensors.



I also installed the Zep Racing Braided clutch hose.



Then came the graceful moment - it was time to remove the driveshafts.



Well, yeah, that tells you some of the story! Long story short, with the mother in the car applying the brakes, and me putting all my weight onto the breaker bar to undo the driveshaft nut, I think the suspension gave a little (I only had one of the strut bolts on), and my hand catapulted into the side of my noise - I heard a crack, blood poured out instantly, and I felt faint. I think I may have broken my nose! Anyway, when I decided to stop being a noob, I re-attempted this and managed to gut the nuts off. I was ecstatic to find that the driveshafts were surprisingly easy to remove as well! So, I brought out the spare driveshaft I bought aeons ago and...oh dear...the spline count is different. Oh crap, what about those TRD CV Joints?? As it turns out, they followed the spline count of the spare driveshaft. Frack. Then, A-ha I mused, I have a spare set of Glanza hubs I bought to test fit the Levin brakes! Result, correct spline count for the CV Joints. This does however mean I need a new driveshaft! Oh well, little things! Oh, and the driveshafts:



Sooo...

I will be taking the dashboard out soon, perhaps tonight if I can be bothered, but that's unlikely; I will soak the old 4E components shortly as well to inspect more accurately in order to determine the previous oil consumption. Again, I'll aim to finalise assembly of the new engine, and I really do want to clean and pain the engine bay as well. Hopefully the forthcoming weekend should see me enlisting the help of my dear Mark to help me strip down the wiring loom and work out a plan to relocate the battery. Oh what a feeling!