Diesel headz check this out!

[countrydude]

I have bought a turbo usually fitted to an L series engine to fit as an upgrade to the prima engine.

As the engine has the same bore and stroke the turbo is a good match. Dan (ETV) pointed me in the right direction and steered my decision of the chosen turbo.

The internals of the manifold are that much smaller I'm going to open up the ports to match the head. Under inspection the final dimension within the 2 turbos are similar in size. The L series has smaller exhaust ports than the prima and there for a faster flowing exhaust.

As long as where the exhaust ports meet the manifold there is no huge lip to interrupt the gas flow then all should be well. It looks doable to me!!

I will get some better pics up soon to show what I am up to!!

I have posted up on the MG Rover forum as I need some parts, there is a fairly active community with available parts for this engine!

The turbo arrived with out the exhaust elbow which I have located there, I also managed to foul the manifold face (grinding edges off to fit onto head) and located another!

I will update with pics to show progress!

[countrydude]

An update on this, I have been working here and there when I can find the time!
I have sorted out the port mismatching but need to blend them in more.
The manifold now fits with opening up some of the holes to make them fit, 2 pieces of m6 studding, 2 bridging plates and 2 custom oval shaped washers.

With the die grinder I just pulled the hole down to allow me to use an existing thread on the head. The next hole along is where I am fitting the studding, holding the inlet manifold with the first nut, then through the bridging plate with another nut!

Manifold fitted, using the bridging plates, note the open end to give space for the thermostat housing!!

Next 2 photos showing the reshaping, quite steep at the moment, need some blending!


Having removed the valves last night I am thinking of a small porting job, this is the clearest picture. The exhaust is clearly partly blocked by the large step, is the best thing to do to remove it and then reblend to maintain the swirl?
You can just see the line in the intake also I was thinking of smothing that out of the casting.
Apart from that the ends of the valve guides are ok, I did see something where someone filled the recesses with a metal epoxy and polished up to make a completely perfect port, is this worth while though?

I would say removing the large step from the exhaust and taking out the recess from the inlet are my main concern? Opinions?

The porting work will all be experimented on first with a junk head, I will then go on and port a recon head.

[countrydude]

I am a bit torn now, after asking a friend and showing him my progress we discussed among other things the importance of gasket matching.
With the rings of the gasket clearly visable on the head you can see how much metal there is to be removed! There is not physically enough metal on the l series manifold to do this though.

Where are the best gains? His opinion was to gasket match, polish and clean up the head, fitting the old manifold and original turbo, increase the pressure to around 20psi and intercool.

The alternative is to use the l series turbo but with the old manifold which can be gasket matched but, will have a harsh entry into the turbo as the mating plate will be joining 2 holes of very different shapes and sizes. (This isn't a good alternative!!)

OR keep as it is here and accept that the manifold gasket is going to interrupt and undo part of what I am trying to achieve.

I think I will carry on with the project but as always I am interested to read other's thoughts.

[E_T_V]

Make a new gasket?

[countrydude]

Ok last update for today at least!

I have attempted to improve an inlet and outlet:

I guess sheer ignorance is a blessing sometimes, I managed to grind down the valve seat so itis flush with the head! Father also said it couldn't be done!

I just turned the regulator down to around 30psi used a carbide burr and went slowly.

Inlet cleaned up:



The outlet, a few pics as the lighting wasn't perfect - it's a workshop!!





I did slip a few times so the valves would need to be re seated but that is a minor detail!!

[E_T_V]

I was going to say that it looks like the valves need reseating. I wouldn't have done it myself as reseating the valves means you then have to do the tappets too which is a bit of a pain and best avoided if you can in my opinion.

I didn't think the seat inserts would cut too well but carbide is your only hope really with that!

[countrydude]

this is the test, junk head though, hopefully the seats will be clean and I will certainly be more careful on the recon head! I don't want to be messing around with valve clearances if I can help it.