Richard J Darnell Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 For some time I have been contemplating upgrading my 1.6k SS engine. I can't justify spending 5k to get someone else to do the work for me and therefore will have to do the work myself (if at all). My question is, how hard is it for someone with no mechanical experience to do this sort of thing? I realise it would take me much longer than someone with experience but if I had proper instructions I believe I could do it. Do comprehensive fitting instructions exist/come with the upgrade parts? How can I learn how to do this sort of work? On the basis of what I have read on this site, the first thing to do is fit throttle bodies. Has anyone done this starting with my level of mechanical expertise ie. none! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjwb Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 If the link below doesn't work go to a tech topic of 25/10/01 @ 14:16 to see my response to a question such as yours. By all means have a go, learn to fend for yourself, but PLEASE be aware that what you may not know about the specifics of a job due to a lack of training, will prevent you from making a valued judgement. Experience and training are priceless when things go wrong and knowing what to look for when something isn't right. Daft things like the orientation of bearing caps, clearances, what tools to use, how do you clean the sealant from the mating joint faces, how tight to screw a bolt? These are facets of experience which help in the absence of technical data. You may well learn by your mistakes - expensive ones! And yes, life is a learning experience but you need the basics first. Go to your local College and get some training, because believe me learning from none specific sources can be fraught. Good luck! here Steve B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Howe Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Richard, how long is a piece of string. What exactly are you thinking of doing to your engine and do you have a suitable working area? JH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Micallef Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 A piece of string is twice the length from its middleteeth.gif This Year I'll Own One teeth.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard J Darnell Posted January 31, 2002 Author Share Posted January 31, 2002 hmmmm......makes me wonder whether this is such a good idea John, I have garage with light and power. I want to start with something simple (if there is such and thing) and build up some experience before doing anything more major. How simple is it to fit throttle bodies for example? And I assume this will also require a new ECU. I would be happy to read up on all the detail of how to do the job but need a very practical guide aimed at beginners - can anyone recommend a good book? What would be ideal is a Haynes type manual that is devoted to tuning the k-series! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Howe Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 DHTB's are a good move and it has been more than well documented on Dave Andrews web site. If you get stuck there is always someone in the Club who will give you a helping hand - advise (good or bad) is just an e-mail away. Remember necessity is the mother of invention... JH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Hi I fitted TBs and ECU about 12 months ago. It was an interesting conversion but had a few niggles, in the end it took about 2 weeks to do (inc a RR session) I got about 15bhp increase over the std Supersport figs. I think if you take your time and follow instructions you can easily do a TB conversion in a long weekend. I can remove and refit mine in about 2 hours now. If you are looking at porting your head there are a few people who can help you on this forum. If you are not looking at porting the head then I would say you are limited to 160bhp ish. It cost me 1500ukp to do my TB conversion, on its own its not very good value for money but if you plan to upgrade the head over time then the TB conversion is a good place to start. If you want more details drop me an e-mail. Simon. X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard J Darnell Posted February 1, 2002 Author Share Posted February 1, 2002 thanks for the replies Simon, I understand the head has already had some porting by Roger King so this will help on the power front in order to know how much power I will get from an upgrade i will need to visit a rolling road to get a current reading can anyone recommend somewhere? (I'm in NW London) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 In that case it is probibaly a wise choice to fit TBs to get the best from the porting. Emerald are somewhere near you I think. X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Emerald are in Brixton, so not very convenient for NW London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Its only a few miles round the M25. You lot down there dont know how good you have it! Close to all the tuners, RRs, suppliers and Caterham. X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Simon, you and I are destined to disagree on everything. From the Southern wuss point of view, if you specify that you are in NW London Brixton is a different country. Your comment that Emerald are "somewhere near you" is laughable in its fatuousness. It is as daft as my saying to you "pop in and see this geezer in Wick. Scotland is near to you I think". Emerald is not just "a few miles round the M25". "The outskirts of South London" are a few miles round the M25 which can take "hours". To get from the M25 to Brixton can also take "hours". So leave the southern geography out of your posts. teeth.gif Having said all of that, a trip to Emerald is well worth the bother. Dave W is rigorous in running his rolling road to get repeatable normalised power figures. If you want to get a decent before and after comparison I can think of nowhere better. There is also a collation of Emerald rolling road runs that allow cross comparison. If you go anywhere else, make sure they give you a flywheel figures following a coastdown loss test and ask them where their barometer is. Make sure they can give you the RR results electronically so you can plot them for yourself and plot the overlay yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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