Steves Megane conversion build - She's finally running (VIDEO inside)

[Stephenvenning]

Right guys and girls i thought it was time to start a project thread as Ive had the car around a year now. Now has come the time when i need more power so its a megane conversion for me. Picked up the engine today and drained the oil (No bits of metal in it) now for a few months of stripping it and then hopefully forging it! I think i hold the record for cheapest ebay find £650 for a complete engine with ancillaries, turbo and ecu, bargain!

Heres a pic!

 

[Portius]

I'll be watching with interest, not that I ever intend to turbo my 197. I can get in enough trouble with 'just' 190 bhp!

what BHP are you hoping to be running once its in?

 

[Stephenvenning]

I'll be watching with interest, not that I ever intend to turbo my 197. I can get in enough trouble with 'just' 190 bhp!

what BHP are you hoping to be running once its in?

Im hoping around 280 but I'm forging it to keep it reliable at this power. Probably have forged conrods, pistons and ARP bolts. Then having hydraulic lifters and inconel valves with an uprated clutch.

 

[Portius]

You'rc obviously doing a proper job of this, thought about gas flowing the head and ports?

should see around 300bhp/ silly amounts of Ft lb?

 

[Stephenvenning]

I'll probably do some head work as well. And skim the head at work

 

[Stephenvenning]

Small update today, spent about 2 hours today stripping the engine. Managed to get the loom and coolant pipes detached. Also managed to free the inlet manifold and oil filter. With the spark plugs out i did some compression tests and everything seems okay, so fingers crossed Ive got a genuine bargain.

Few pics:

 

[Gez]

I LOVE engine build threads! Ill be following this one

dont know why, but I prefer following engine build threads more than full car ones lol.

Plenty of pics along the way please

 

[Stephenvenning]

I LOVE engine build threads! Ill be following this one

dont know why, but I prefer following engine build threads more than full car ones lol.

Plenty of pics along the way please

I'm the same!

yes plenty of pictures, I've got loads on my phone so I can refer to them when rebuilding it

 

[Foxspeed]

it already has hydraulic lifters

 

[Stephenvenning]

Does it? Nice that's one thing off my list

 

[Foxspeed]

Does it? Nice that's one thing off my list

you will see when the top cover comes off - roller rockers acting on the valves with hydraulic lifters

 

[Stephenvenning]

Okay cheers for the info. The head cover should be off this week

 

[smoggy mark]

Good luck with the project will be great when done,good buy that engine!

 

[Stephenvenning]

Today I only had a short amount of time on the engine, as i had many callipers to rebuild! Managed to get the turbo and exhaust manifold assembly off. Also gave the valves a quick look over and they are all there, which is a good sign. Pictures will follow tomorrow once Ive taken the cam and aux belt off, then i should be able to take the rocker cover off

 

[Stephenvenning]

Quick update on the strip down process.

Had a spare Saturday so it was engine time! Managed to get the belts off and aux assembly, i just cut the aux belt off as it was knackered and all belts will be replaced anyway. Next was getting the rocker cover off to see the state of the insides and it was a pleasant surprise, everything was good condition with no scoring. Had a bit of fart arse around trying to find a star/torx socket for the head bolts as no where sold them :glare: eventually found some after an hour of hunting. Used a large torque wrench to loosen them off (My god they were tight) and behold i was greeted with imaculate looking bores! So ive put some grease on them to stop them rusting. Next week ill have it completely stripped. So I'm a happy man.

 

[Tree200]

Good news on the engine! Even better buy!

 

[Leethelips]

Alls looking good so far

 

[Gez]

Brilliant start! it's all up from here

 

[Foxspeed]

squeeze the oil out of the hydraulic lifters and make sure they are still "springy"

check where the cams run in the head/cam cover and that the "cam bearings" aren't scored or heavily marked...

if you not re-boring it then just use engine oil on the bores to stop rust (before you deglaze it)

if you have the tools best check the bores for ovality/taper

 

[BruceV43]

I will be following this closely as I've 72k on the clock, after 4 yrs, so seriously considering upgrading performance and hence wondering about going Turbo.

Is it more problematic to go down this route, assuming Megane engine at reasonable price, or Turbo the 200 and then how far do you go??

Excuse my ignorance as I'm new to CS197, but I am not aware of the technical similarities/difference of the 2 engines in relation to the difficulty of fitment, ie mounting points, gearbox etc. also would a budget of 4k be enough to do a decent job assuming all build work done personally. If this has been covered before please redirect as I haven't found it - maybe this is the downside of 'grey-power'.