The mains and thrust washers came to £158, I bought a set of big ends 5 years ago and they came to £60 with some discount so not going to grumble to much at the current price. I’m hoping the cost of buying them from Mr T will pay for its self in the long run. D

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Black CS 2771

Dorris - as you already know, all the clearances need to be measured, measured and remeasured. I would NOT trust the crank/block marks to provide indications of clearance and which size bearings to fit.

Plastigauge is the only way I know of to ensure your engine will live more than a few miles

As a side note - Cleanliness is next to godliness in an engine rebuild - everything MUST be clean, washed through and free from any debris...

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Kris
95 ST205 - slept for 10 years, now waking up...
Avensis
http://www.gtfours.co.uk
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Turbocharging - the replacement for displacement

No worries Kris the garage is always spotless it’s a bit cluttered at the moment what with all the CS bits and other projects but Its always clean. I had to Plastigauge all the big ends as I’ve changed the crank and rods anyway, I’ve got the oil clearances bang on to what Toyota recommend but will double check them all again before they go in permanently. TTFN Dorris

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Black CS 2771

More problems again yesterday, whilst I’m waiting for the big end bearings to turn up it’s time to turn my concentration to refreshing the cylinder head. The head cleaned up nicely with the only damage being a stripped thread to one of the exhaust stud mounts, which will need helicoiling at a later date.
There is a small amount of burning on the exhaust valve seats, which will clean up with a bit of valve lapping.
However after I removed all the carbon and cleaned up the valves I found three of the exhaust valves had crack across their faces and seats, valves 12, 13 & 14. Obvious the valves will need replacing but I’m figuring that if three have gone then the others are not going to be far behind them, so on that note I’m going to be looking for a full set of exhaust valves when the finances allow it.
I checked out the manifold and cant find any cracks in it and it is in a much better condition then my original 7 stud but the face will need skimming flat as there is some distortion across the length.
I’ve put up some pictures of the flywheel and original clutch. Something that confuses me is the car has done 140k and looking at the state of the original clutch so as that, but the flywheel? It looks in too good a condition for 140K miles, can’t believe someone would change the flywheel without changing the clutch?
No doubt there will be more set backs to come and a new set of valves is not what I need on my shopping list right now but hey ho, guess these things happen. TTFN Dorris

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Black CS 2771

More intrigue in your engine build than a James Bond film! The valve cracks I believe are due to 'hoop stress' caused by differential temperatures around the circumference of the valve head. This situation can arise when there is combustion leakage past a poorly seated valve. I can't remember if you did a leak down on the engine before you strippped it. I would have thought the leaky valves should have shown up then.

How do the valve seats look in the head? I'd imagine they will have to be either re-ground or possibly even re-cut assuming there is enough meat left in the valve seat inserts.

The flywheel does look in remarkably good nick compared to the pressure and friction plate. Nice to have some good news.......

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Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

The valve seats remarkably look ok and from what I can see just some light grinding to reseat the valves when I get them.
I was looking at the idea of getting a 3sge head and killing 2 birds with one stone by using the exhaust valves and the cams, however the 3sge exhaust valves are 2.5mm longer then the 3sgte ones so that’s blown that idea out the water. Unless I can find anywhere that do valves at a good price my option might be to buy a second hand head either to bolt straight on or to utilise the parts. Hopefully one day I might get this finished and back in the car. Dorris

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Black CS 2771

Have you considered an ST205 head (incl. camshafts and manifold) - a very straight forward and beneficial conversion (ST205 head flows better than the 185 head - so I have been reliably informed)
I also know where you can get one at a reasonable price

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Vice Chairman
1990 White UK Celica ST185 - Project DTM
1997 Cream BMW R1200C (as seen in James Bond "Tomorrow Never Dies")
2005 Jaguar X-type 3.0 Sovereign AWD Automatic
Blood Bikes - https://www.freewheelers.org.uk/

205 head is not compatible with 185 manifolds and 205 manifolds don't marry up with a 185 chargecooler. Both turbo and inlet are offset. Not a big problem if you have a FMIC though.

There is some debate about the 205 head flowing better as I believe the 185 head has bigger ports.

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

I decided to bite the bullet and went and bought a complete head that’s only done 60k, its a 9 stud head which is a bonus and looks in much better condition then my original CS head which you would expect for only 60k.
At a quick glance at the ports, they are not quite as tidy as the CS ports but they will clean up no problem and of course I don’t need to do any helicoiling to the new head either.
I'll get the new head apart and check it all out and as long as nothing else goes wrong I should be looking at getting it all bolted up to the transmission soon.
Next on the shopping list will be to replace all my hoses with silicon ones, I have a nice selection of stainless steel hose clamps that polish up nicely to compliment them.
Before I go and throw the old head back together I’ll take some measurements of the 185 valves if people want to compare them with the 205 valves. I’ve also got some pictures of the CS head all cleaned up from last time that I’ll put up also if people want to take a look at and compare the ports to a 205 head. Anyway time to get busy in the garage again I guess. TTFN Dorris

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Black CS 2771

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Black CS 2771

Another quick up date, I finally got around to fitting the big end bearings today but before they went in permanently I checked all the oil clearances again just to make sure I got all my maths correct and much to my relief I did, all the oil gaps are now bang on what Toyota recommend.
All new pulleys for the cam belt have been fitted and I’m now starting to fish around for black silicone hoses to replace all the old battered hoses around the engine. Cylinder head next! Dorris

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Black CS 2771

Have a bit of a situation with the ARP mains studs, went to put the sump on last night and the studs for the rear most main bearing cap are too long and are interfering with the sump pan and stopping it bolting up so much so the bolts don’t even reach the holes. I could grid them down to fit but it looks like the nuts might also be too tall especially with the supplied washers. I have the option of using the original bolts but a bit reluctant for obvious reasons. Don’t know if anyone else has come across this issue?



On a good note he rear crank shaft seal is now in place along with the back plate, flywheel and clutch, the oil strainer is also bolted up to the other end, hopefully by the end of the day I’ll have the sump pan issue all sorted.









Next will be to get the engine back on to the gearbox. Dorris

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Black CS 2771

Dorris,

As I recall this is a common issue with the ARP mains and the sump.

I think most people solve this by grinding away material from the sump pan bit rather than cutting the studs - am sure the others will confirm/clarify.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

From memory, the 185 is entirely sheet steel (unlike the 2 part 205 sump), so there won't be much meat to grind away - assuming it's the outside wall that's fouling of course.

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

As above, it's a standard problem

On a 1 piece 185 sump you'll probably need a bit of cut'n'shut action oon you (prorably freshly painted ) sump pan. A bit of heat and hammering might achieve the same

On a 2 part 205 sump the upper ali section can be massaged with a dremmel