Freelander 1 Freelander Turbo build

Alibro said:

Sounds like an interesting project. Watching this with interest.

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A V6 manual conversion would make a better fast FL1 in my opinion.

Nodge68 said:

A V6 manual conversion would make a better fast FL1 in my opinion.

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As someone who's owned both v6 190 zt's and 1.8t versions, a mapped 1.8t is lighter, quicker and faster than a 190, the only real benefit is the sound lol.

ColinNI said:

the only real benefit is the sound lol

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That's important imo.
A suitably modified V6 is an awesme power unit and has better low end torque than a K1.8 turbo.

I'm very tempted with a second freelander V6 for the sound but the weight difference between the two engine choices is huge, there is a reason why the freelander challenge engines are mostly K series.
My freelander is going to be aimed at hillclimb and rallying so low end torque isn't really essential in those situations.

big hole where the engine is going!
It's going to get a clean up and lagged in anti corrosion spray.

Excuse my "garage", I've just bought a farm and this is my garage before it get's renovated. Turbo block on the left and NA block on the right.

Good luck with the farm, not an easy life but if you can make it work a very rewarding one.

So Ive finally got back into the freelander and started sorting the engine out ready to go in.

I've managed to fit the new clutch, move the freelander loom over on to the ZT engine, cleaned out the sump, fitted the new head gasket and fitted the head.

This hole is on the MG ZT engine, the same is on the freelander engine. It is for the crank sensor and needs moving over when you fit the engine. The freelander flywheel is also used on the ZT engine.



The coolant pipe needs moving over as well, it has an extra take off for the gearbox cooler.



The eagle eyes among you may notice this is wrong.... just to warn others, it is possible put the head on the wrong way around!



And obviously, my favourite words written on the ECU.

When anyone on here says that they have Bought The Farm I get my black tie out and ask if its flowers or donations...

davidsmith1307 said:

When anyone on here says that they have Bought The Farm I get my black tie out and ask if its flowers or donations...

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Ha, I feel like its going to kill me!

monkfish24 said:

This hole is on the MG ZT engine, the same is on the freelander engine. It is for the crank sensor and needs moving over when you fit the engine. The freelander flywheel is also used on the ZT engine.



The coolant pipe needs moving over as well, it has an extra take off for the gearbox cooler.



The eagle eyes among you may notice this is wrong.... just to warn others, it is possible put the head on the wrong way around!

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Nice to know I'm not the only idiot hereabouts. That's like something I would do.

More Progress today!

It's all timed up, everything that needs moving across has been moved across, including the water temp sensor and head outlet (Pictured) the only sticking point has become the exhaust. The down pipe section is VERY different from the exhaust pipe on the car so it might take a bit of welding to get it to fit. I thought from previous posts it may have been an easy fit but not the case.

The other interesting point is that the hydraulic lifters are slightly different in height between the MG ZT and the freelander engines. It seems at this point that it is just the skirt height is different. only by a few mil. I unfortunately lost one of the lifters somehow and needed to use the freelander ones. There are two types of lifter for the K series but it seems that isn't true. The valve spring recess depth is the same between both engines so hopefully it'll be ok. I've used one lifter from the freelander rather than the whole set so if it does go wrong, it hopefully won't be catastrophic...…

Talking about catastrophic.... I want to leave the top covers off... old school.... could be catastrophic, could be cool...!?!

anyway, more cleaning, and more pictures!

monkfish24 said:

Talking about catastrophic.... I want to leave the top covers off... old school.... could be catastrophic, could be cool...!?!

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Are you talking about the belt cover?
I personally wouldn't leave a belt cover off, especially on a competition vehicle. It only takes a small stone to get in the teeth to wreck an engine.

Other cosmic engine covers can be left off without an issue.

Nodge68 said:

Are you talking about the belt cover?
I personally wouldn't leave a belt cover off, especially on a competition vehicle. It only takes a small stone to get in the teeth to wreck an engine.

Other cosmic engine covers can be left off without an issue.

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Yeah, I understand that, for now though they will have to stay off as I have managed to snap the top cover. The bottom cover is all fitted, I will just have to scour the scrapyards for a top cover.

Engine is in, Turbo is on, the only issue is that the turbo is water cooled as well as oil! So we have been up to the scrapyard again to "develop" some new coolant hoses. A T Piece will run from the radiator return to the coolant header tank and then from the turbo for the return line. A T piece will go in from the engine side of the PRT to the Turbo for the pressure coolant flow, that should set up a flow from the engine, through the turbo and back to the coolant tank.

The next Job is to get an exhaust welded up, It's a bit of a hash up of parts, I have the MG connector from the down pipe to midsection, then the freelander centre pipe and Cat. It will work hopefully until I get a stainless exhaust made up, as you can see from the photo, it's pointing straight at the subframe.... No Bueno!

The engine is all built. I spent a few hours in the scrapyard robbing pipes, T pieces, clips and a couple of Intercoolers.
I made up the pipes to fit from all the hoses I collected and also a few sections of thin walled stainless steel tubing for the intercooler lines.

Unfortunately it wont start, I suspect a problem with timing as we were scratching our heads a bit when we were fitting the belt but reading through some old posts I think I have a solution.

monkfish24 said:

The engine is all built. I spent a few hours in the scrapyard robbing pipes, T pieces, clips and a couple of Intercoolers.
I made up the pipes to fit from all the hoses I collected and also a few sections of thin walled stainless steel tubing for the intercooler lines.

Unfortunately it wont start, I suspect a problem with timing as we were scratching our heads a bit when we were fitting the belt but reading through some old posts I think I have a solution.

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Double check the pulleys are on correctly. I fitted them with the little lug in the centre in the wrong position once. I fitted the inlet pulley with the lug in the exhaust position. I didn't realise the pulleys are identical so can be fitted wrong.
I tell everyone this when they have problems starting a K series after head work and a few have had the same issue.

Alibro said:

Double check the pulleys are on correctly. I fitted them with the little lug in the centre in the wrong position once. I fitted the inlet pulley with the lug in the exhaust position. I didn't realise the pulleys are identical so can be fitted wrong.
I tell everyone this when they have problems starting a K series after head work and a few have had the same issue.

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I think this may well be the case! I didnt check the lugs before I fitted them and we struggled to get everything to line up when timing it so it wouldnt surprise me if this has happened.

Yup, swapped the cams around! Reset the cams to where they should be and its running beautifully now.