You guys are superstars for making this video-journal of the engine rebuild. I've been rebuilding the engine of my TF160 after a broken cambelt and this video helps a lot getting the final bits and bobs together.
@@DoubleDuckGarage Now working on it and getting a bit stuck on that part where you look through the hole and should see the half circle. You check and recheck in your video, but never get to a point where you point out if something was wrong and if it should be redone. Im afraid my VVC is now turning in the incorrect direction so i'm going to take it apart again, as i see the same as you, just a metal part. At 5:57 you also refer to the notch in the sync shaft, but in mine even when in remotely the same spot, there is no other part where it lines up. More questions :D
@@DoubleDuckGarage I have been a great admirer of the K series MGs and Rovers since I bought the first new one back in 1993. Soon after a friend had a Rover with a 1.4 K which had many problems. Those included a DAMAGED Cylinder Head Gasket ( They rarely fail, invariably damaged from excessive engine heat first due to numerous reasons.), The car had been professionally repaired by trained ( not Longbridge ) mechanics and suffered an immediate so called "repeat" failure on the few miles journey home from the repair shop. Parked up and did not move for a month and I asked why. Making no promises, I said I would take a look. Long story short, the professionally trained repair outfit were the real FAILURE. On reassembly, somehow they had not fitted the all important Locating Dowel for the head to block interface. The one nearest the timing side of the engine. That dowel does far more than simply locate block to head inter-face. It is the main conduit of high pressure oil supply directly from the Oil Pump to the Double Over Head Camshafts and all the valve Gear. Cue oil at high pressure pumped around the engine and cooling system everywhere it should not go. Fixed it and last time I drove that car it was showing in excess of 120,000 miles. I learned so much from that exercise that I have specialised in ebay so called HGF MGs and Rovers. I particularly like the MG ZT and ZT-T 1.8T Petrol Turbos. Saved a few of those over the years still have three. A ZT-T my daily driver workhorse. My now older son now in his late thirties is a keen K-Series specialist as are his circle of car mad friends, All keen Rover and MG Owners. Which range from a pristine 1983 MG Metro ( which looks and is better than the one I bought new back in 1983 on day one ) to various others including an MG ZT260 V8 with a Mustang engine. All this torpedoes Clarkson's BS that only the "pipe and slippers" brigade like me like these fine old cars. Youngsters love 'em. I gave up smoking forty years ago otherwise I would not be typing this. I do possess a pair of comfy slippers though. My son over ten years ago slotted an MGF/TF VVC engine into a Rover Metro I bought new. Instant pocket rocket. He bought a complete MG Subframe assembly with Engine, Gearbox driveshafts, Discs and Calipers. That lot loaded into his friend's Rover Metro, highly modified, the long drive back from Lincolnshire. Amazing what you can get into a humble Rover Metro with seats removed. That gave the poor car as many young car enthusiasts would say ,, a "slammed" stance.. until the assembly was removed. My son even with a new daughter to care for found time to help me get my wife's MG ZS bought new in 2003 pass the MoT Free ReTest recently. It need some routine under the car work which my old bones and joints do not appreciate now. I was able to fix the other minor issues more easily assessible. That car fast approaching it nineteenth birthday and over 110,000 very reliable miles of daily driver family runabout service. Including trips on the European Mainland where my son let slip he cruised that fully loaded with all the Holiday gear well into treble figures MPG where it was legal to do so. The rascal. He also has a Lotus Elise S2 he's had for ten years with K-Series power. A hoot to drive as you can imagine once you get into it... getting out is a bit of a laugh for old 'ns like me.. Yep, lots of folks still like these fine old cars irrespective of age. @Daniel Wayne Davies ... one of my sons' friends had that issue with a Rover 25 he bought. It had been "repaired" recently in previous ownership with lots of lovely sealant applied to the Camshaft Oilways... blocking oil supply. There's always reasons why some folks are unlucky with their cars. It is sad that the car invariably gets the blame when the real blame lies elsewhere as numerous investigations by me reveal when I'm approached on a "John you know about cars " basis. Pro-repair incompetence is far from rare. There again, it's a Rover mate, they all do that. Cost ya! Been on BBC and everything. FAKE NEWS is nothing new.
the problem that the VVC mechanism does not turn smoothly when it is assembled is in the gasket LJQ100950SLP LJQ101970 the new ones are a little thinner than the factory ones
SWAMPY: Thanks for Watching and taking the time to comment. We had the issue that the vvc gaskets seemed thicker and we couldn't get them on properly and we're pinching... it just didn't seem right. Either way... it went back together after deciding thay mechanical force had actually seated things correctly and there were no leaks! Do you have any recommendations?
SWAMPY: You speak the truth! We've learnt that now so wont be making that mistake again :) Which brand of running in oil do you use it just a generic thin oil?
Oh yes, having looked closely at that clever VVC device, because I had little idea how it worked, I now know. Very clever. I have a spare VVC cylinder head with some bent valves, There's a very good reason why manufacturers advise checking the Timing Belt and renewing as recommended. There again why fix it when it aint broke .. d'OH.
@@DoubleDuckGarage Took it apart. Was going to use the Head on one of my MG ZT 1.8Ts as I believe it was machined to enable the engine to breath better. I'm now wondering if any gains would be worthwhile considering the work involved. Also fitting the VVC Inlet Manifold which is of good quality Alloy construction in place of the Plastic Manifolds. That conversion is very popular with the 1.8T K-Series cars and is far less work. The 1.8T K-Series enables even a relatively large car to perform very well. I have fitted an MG6 1.8T to one of my ZT-Ts. With the British and Chinese versions side by side, they appear identical. Closer inspection shows numerous improvements in the Chinese version of the Rover K-Series. However, the real improvement is unseen. The Chinese used different casting processes for the major engine components resulting in a denser and stronger alloy. Some of the first MG6s used as Taxis have completed in excess of 200,000 taxi miles with only the renewals you expect of any ordinary car covering that mileage. If only the boys up at Longbridge were allowed to make those same improvements. It was not Rocket Science. However, alien ownership asset stripping control and a very short sighted Government failed miserably to provide the funds for any of that... Hence.. as the Bavarians and their clever accountants demonstrated and here I use their very words at the time. "The English Patient".
@@DoubleDuckGarage Now retired, many moons ago I was involved in the Motor Trade selling both new and used cars on the Sales side. That meant I had to have some idea of what goes on under the cars' bonnets when assessing part exchanges ect. The hands on tools sort of things is all self taught since the days back in the 1960s when I changed the front discs on my MGB. A close friend who worked for London Underground on call when things mechanical and electrical went wrong, gave me confidence to work on my cars and motorcycles ... I was nineteen at the time and he a few years my senior. I now enjoy working on problem "project" cars previous owners have given up on having been advised professionally repairs will "cost yah" or get rid. Specialising in mainly Rovers and MGs for over three decades now. Bought my first new K-Series car in 1993 which is still in the family fleet. The last new car being an MG ZS 120+ with the according to some "They all do that" 1.8 K-Series only my one now fast approaching its nineteenth birthday with well over 110,000 very reliable miles. Yet to do "that" ... I do lift the bonnet and check things as all car users are advised to do by ALL car manufacturers. It's mainly for safety those checks but, far too many are brainwashed of the opinion that "My car is German/Japanese and they are so reliable no need to check" ... then guess what. Ask my "Always buys German" friend about that. Repairs to his example of Stuttgart's finest cost more to repair than I paid for my MG ZS on the road new! The car he believes is so reliable because of its .. wait for it. HONDA engine. Media brainwashing evidence of the finest quality right there. Chinese versions of the Rover K-Series 1.8T. A friend of my son's worked for Longbridge when the MG6 first appeared and it was he who told us some "insider" information about the manufacturing process of the Chinese version. Based on my experience of four MG6 engines, including the one I fitted to my daily driver load carrying workhorse MG ZT-T, they are far better which I discovered based on the best evidence available to me. That of my own hands on driving experience. Worth repeating, the MG6 is a far better car than many of the Clarkson wannabees would have us all believe. That based on the ownership of two and hands on experience of driving four.
You did have me wondering if once the cams are in, the VVC mechanism has to overcome the valve spring tension when changing the valve timing, which would feel like considerable tension to the MKI human digit.