Nick Bassett

If the red Supersport is still available, I'll have it please. Thanks Nick

Glad to hear you've got her fixed Andy... see you Sunday.

I'm not sure for the Duratec engine, but for the K series I always use a Rover genuine filter - for the cost difference, it's just not worth scrimping IMO!

There are varying approaches recommended by various people, but having had my engine rebuilt last year, I would recommend running it in for the first 500 miles on Millers Running In Oil - this allows everything to bed in properly, before switching to fully syn. For first start up, I'd remove the plugs and turn the engine over to get oil pressure up - I think this is a better start in life for the main bearings, but I'm sure others will offer a better technical explanation! Good luck!

So to close the loop on this for anyone who's interested... the problem last month was caused by the DS gold pump pulley coming loose meaning the pump was no longer scavenging anymore. The bottom of the engine filled with oil and pushed out the crank seal. So engine & gearbox out (again) and new seal fitted (thanks DVA), although not without a bit of persuasion. Thankfully the new clutch plate fitted just over 12 months ago was uncontaminated, so could be reused. DS pulley needed a bit of fettling, but thankfully having a son who works at a F1 gearbox manufacturer was very convenient and he sorted that out for me! Titan don't stock them anymore but wanted a considerable sum to machine one for me. With the assistance of my good friend Simon, we spent this weekend putting it all back together again and started for the first time. Engine sounds great as does the DS pump. Great oil pressure. Once the airlock in the cooling system was removed, all worked very well. Even took the opportunity to fit the later, redesigned coolant rail that now allows me to remove primary #4 without having to drain the cooling system & original coolant rail first! Next step is to road test the car, so fingers crossed. Weather looks good this week, so that's helpful. If all goes well I might be able to attend Wilton Wake Up this coming Sunday. 🤞

Thanks Ainsley. It's a fine line in putting enough not to ensure it doesn't come off in normal operation, but does when you need it to!

Thanks Geoff... that was my thinking too.

Hello Wondered if anyone has any experiences of the above? Background: following my breakdown on the way home from the fish n chip run, I'm gradually putting the car back together. One job is re-attaching the gold DS pump pulley which caused the breakdown in the first place. I've been advised to use Loctite 270 to ensure the bolt stays where it should, but someone else has said that if I used 270, I'll never get the bolt out again, should I have to! Plan B is to use Loctite 243 and torque the bolt up. Welcome your thoughts... Thanks Nick

Thanks Paul - I've only just seen this! Probably too late now...

As above - if you have either gathering dust somewhere and are willing to exchange for some cold hard cash, please let me know! Bit of a long shot, but if you don't ask...

Thanks Alex, that’s a very kind offer 👍

Hi Stuart, I really hope you're wrong - I've just had a full rebuild by DVA and probably only covered about 1500 miles since then. Properly run in using running in oil etc. The gold DS pump was also rebuilt by Titan a few years back, although they said it was actually fine, so preventative maintenance really. Up until switch engine switch off on Sunday all temps and pressures were normal - I have a mech. oil pressure gauge. I was wondering if it was the rear engine seal that had blown?

On the way home on Sunday there might a slight metallic rattle - I stopped all seemed OK. Noise seemed to go away... coming out of Rhayader there was another funny noise, an acrid smell and then smoke coming out of the bonnet louvres. Quickly stopped and got out - oil being thrown out of the bellhousing. Called the RAC just after noon - a recovery truck finally showed up at 9pm... 🤬. Car now at home - it'll be an engine out job for sure - gawd knows what I'll find. 😟

I used Lloyd Specialist Developments in Warminster last September: http://www.lloydspecialistdevelopments.co.uk/ They had a Dyno, not a RR, but seemed experienced and quite easy to get to.

I'm not entirely sure tbh Jonathan - I know that the way that my isolator switch works, it doesn't isolate everything, as bits have been added over the years. Plan is to have the old alternator rebuilt and keep as a spare... for now I have bigger fish to fry though... 😟