VVC upgrade advice...Given!

[Kevsta]

Surprisingly this is advice for anyone who is doing a VVC upgrade rather than asking for advice. I have done mine on a very strict budget and so thought I would share my methods! It is only useful if you are upgrading from a CC K already.

 

The usual rulkes applied with using the sump, pick up pipe, baffle plate etc. I also retained the alternator from the engine (the VVC one that is). The grinding was done as per usual for all K series with old threads read on here plus a few web sites.

 

I purchased a spiggot bearing and sleave form CC and double checked the fitment of the gearbox input shaft before putting it in and it coudln't go in all the way due to the inner part of the crank tapering to a smaller bore sixe...it was 2mm smaller in diameter than the input shaft so I just got a drill oversized to the input shaft and drilled it out a little more...problem solved.

 

The other area that needs attention is the cooling system. Due to the rear cam belt mechanism the original CC water rail will not fit...bugger! Therefore you need the C one (about 100 notes!)...or you can mod it yourself and solve a problem experienced by many in the temp senders. So, you chop off the end where the by pass pipe would go (and fouls the rear cam mech) and get it welded flat shut. Then buy the sender submarine from CC (about 23 quid) so that you can relocate the sender you have chopped off and the dreaded guage sender. You also get clock off screws with the kit so you also have a nice bleed valve now...ace! Also order a tee piece from caterham (the same as the one for the bottom hose to thermostat and expansion tank) to be able to relocate the by pass hose. Now cut the top hose between the rad and water rail and insert the tee piece. Then put in the pipe from the tee to the thermostat housing and hey presto a new by pass hose and cheaper than a new water rail from CC. Don't forget to put in your temp sender submarine also. By the way, you cannot do this if you have a (nanny) heater!

 

Then onto the wiring...well, I'm in the midst of doing this so will write out how to do it soon...wish me luck!

 

Kev

[ponant]

good idea ..

what kind of "profit" will you obtain doing that 🤔

 

[inspector71]

aahhh, It's all coming back to me now.......

I was in a similar position to yourself a couple of years ago, stick with it, it will be worth it in the end

regards

Peter

 

[henry21p]

wiring was the biggest pig on getting mine sorted. not sure it IS sorted yet though.....

Can vouch for the rest of it as that is exactly as was done to my car!

Nice thing about the submarine for the senders is that they are no longer mounted over the exhaust and hopefully as a result, reading something more sensible/less prone to failure.

[Kevsta]

Bernard, well, the new water rail is circa £100 (with vat and postage) and you still have the problem of the temp senders being above the exhaust! This way has cost me £50 for all the parts etc so its a £50 saving with a modification that most people are doing now and hopefully reducing the need for new senders every couple of years! Did look at making the tee piece myself using normal piping joints (central heating) but found it hard to source the 30mm pipe, you would have to buy 28mm tee and then converters to size down the by pass part to 15mm (one down size to 22mm then another from 22-15)...decided it would look too messy plus the tee from CC was only about £13 and the other bits were about £10 so not worth the hassle and possible *arrowdown*look!

 

Thank you peter...I seem to recall we had a chat last year about october time...its nearly there now and thank you for your words of encouragement!

 

Dave, did you sort the wiring yourself? if so you can check my methods...I've sussed the plug differences and am going to use the existing old plug (as I have both male and female) and joint the correct wires on the engine side to the engine. That leaves one wire unconnected for the 5AS unit to ECU whcih I will run a separate wire for and put in a suitable connector for if I ever need to take the engine out. The other problem is then the power side of things as they run different circuits...but for now I am going to make both circuits live so that the bits for the car work on one supply (lights etc) and the engine on another. This will hopefully make the thing run and get it back on the road and I can then go about converting the engine into the car loom at a later date (when time is less pressing!).

 

Many thanks for replies.

 

Kev

[henry21p]

Clive at Aryliam did the wiring loom for me. Original trophy 160 VVC wiring loom, ECU, fuse and relay box and 5as unit all plumbed in. he's the best port of call should you have questions... If you want his details, blatmail me

 

The only thing we're trying to work out at the moment is why she won't idle cleanly. Possibly one of the senders is duff, or possibly fuel return problem... Running v rich at the moment.

[Kevsta]

I think I may have mailed you about this before dave? Will hopefully get the engine in on sunday and then will be fiddling with the wiring so will let you know if I need his expertise!

 

Good luck with your problems though...keep me posted...what have you tried so far? Have you tried looking at the temp sender to ecu?