MOT time looming again

28 Feb 2010
The turbo buggy was becoming a slow process again as the realisation of the fact that the engine would not fit was a major blow as I had two major hurdles to overcome before the engine could go back in.

I decided that the best option was to take the turbo modifications off and revert to the 1600 basic engine in an attempt to run the engine in and get the MOT ticket . This was annoying as I new it was going to be another year of modifications. The major of these was a 3" body lift kit. I had been asking on several websites about the Bugpack kit but had been told that it was not as strong as a box section version. This meant that I had to have one made which would take some time to be fabricated. The good thing was at least my engine would be run in prior to the fitment of the turbo. It would also allow me to fit an electric fuel pump in front of fitting the turbo and check the systems work.

After reading a for sale post open eBay for a turbo Dell IDF carburetor I was surprised to see that if it was jetted back it would still function well as an aspirated version. With this in mind I decided I needed some new jets 28 vents, 9164.4 emulsions, 112 mains, 180 air, 52 idle. Fortunately my trust box of Dell tuning parts came up with most of the parts including the 52 idle jets but no 112 main jets. I started removing the turbo and exhaust from the engine and started to clean up and paint the previous exhaust I had used. the Carplan VHT paint was fantastic and bought the exhaust up like new. I hoped the new main jets could be located soon but would have to wait to source the parts. I found the new jets and continued to paint up the rusty exhaust. There would be some fitting issues possibly with the braketry but this would have to be sorted out after fitting. I hoped my new body mount would not be obstructing the old exhaust as it had been modeled to fit the drag exhaust. The fitting or changing of the exhaust from the turbo collector was undead a problem The no3 cylinder J tube was tight on the Heavy Duty Gearbox cradle and at first would not move. This eventually came free with the help of a friend John and the next problem was also evident. The new body support I had built was right in line with this new exhaust. I decided as as I was trying to have the 3" body lift kit made that this would have to change anyway as the whole body would rise 3" making the support arms the wrong length and angle. I removed them and refitted the drag link bars that now fitted. The bracket that held the oil filter was also directly in the path of the new exhaust. I made a new bracket that placed the external oil filter lower by using the old one i had manufactured as a template. The resulting bracket can be seen left. With the bracket made I could now refit the oil filter . I now needed to start work on the electronics to run my electric fuel pump. The electric design had been given to me by a VIZI member and I was intended to fit the new electric pump I had bought with a return flow to the tank ready for the turbo to go back in.