Bongo Fury

Bonneville wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:17 am Yes, I tend to agree. No substitute for regular oil changes. More important than the whole sunthetic/semi/mineral debate, in my opinion.

Thanks, more pics to follow but have been let down by a Bongo breaker so have lost a weekend to that nonsense

In the meantime, just cleaned up the pistons and stuff.

You could probably use your spare time having a look at the piston rings as has been suggested ,you can also check the shell bearings while you are there.

Take care

Yes, I might do that. Sump's off due to a poor attempt at a reseal to cure a leak that was coming from somewhere else (crank nose).

While I'm here, just a word on head gaskets. They come in many styles for this engine but 2 different types. One has an oil restrictor in it and the others do not. It turns out that the FE and F2 (2.2 long stroke version) can be found with or without an oil restrictor in the block. There appears to be no rhyme nor reason to this, as with alternator mountings and such, it depends on what was in supply at a given price at the time.
A restrictor block looks like this:



The correct gasket looks like either of these:



Note the separated and extended holes. Both types will work as the head bolt channel is the oil gallery to the head and there is an internal cross-gallery as well.
What should be avoided is a restrictor gasket. That one has a small hole (sometimes a copper circle) where the feed is from the block. Using this on a head with a restrictor would be unwise as the restriction is already in the head.

Probably as clear as mud but the moral is to take the head off first before buying the gasket.

All is explained better here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djl1SDZYsTs

Thanks for the update and pictures - looking good.

Head on and looking a little cleaner than before. Had to re-use the cam and followers as can't find them in the UK but cheap from Aus/NZ at about $90. All bits for the FE are reasonable if you cast the net far enough. Hydraulic Lifters 23USD per set of 12, new cylinder head (bare casting) 120, plus the shipping/customs/parcelforce release fee .

Hope you lay a sheet or some cardboard down on that gravel drive - you can't believe how easy it is for vital little bits getting lost Don't ask. Anyway, great progress - got to be one of if not the cleanest looking 2.0 ltr I've seen.

Thanks

That gravel drive is old concrete looking better in the pictures than in life (a trick I cannot pull off myself).

I'm down 2 bolts already...Someone should do a study on why bolts travel so far when they hit the ground; it defies physics.

That's becoming a work of art.

Somebody needs to stop me. I'm polishing the hoses...She just wants to go on holiday in it.

Speaking of which, all the rubber is horrible under there and I broke a plastic elbow at the intake horn. The heat soak is a real problem in this installation and I wonder if the bottom plastic covers make things worse. I saw 3 of these before buying this one and the other 2 were missing the covers.

Removing the undertray will badly effect noise and airflow through the engine housing.

My 2.0 ltr has the under engine cover, thanks for diagram. There was me thinking it was to catch the drips

Yes, good picture, thanks. Mine also has a scoop behind the bumper spoiler (Aero model) and another cover behind it. Looks like an attempt at cleaning the airflow up around the big hole where an engine normally sits.

All done and no more smoke. Put a few miles on it yesterday and it feels like a different vehicle to the one I brought home. The view from the other side:



A few observations for anyone needing to work on the 2 litre:

The manual is not much use for the engine by comparison to the 626 one available online. This covers it in more depth and the bottom end as well. Pretty much everything is the same as the FE 12V 626/929 other than the injection plenum/ICV/TB.
I used an Ajusa gasket set for FE/F2/F8 and listed as a Mazda 929 2.2 '87- set and this was high quality for £44. I've seen similar sets for £13. Other than the restrictor caveat mentioned above, anything for an F2 (2.2 long stroke, same bore) or FE should work. The F2 head casting for the 12V is the same as is the camshaft. Hydraulic lifters are also the same and shared with many other models.
HT leads were harder to cross-match than I thought but Intermotor INT76259 (£9) are a good fit (E2000 van!) just throw away the king lead.
It pays to get familiar with the Aus/NZ folks for this engine as it was popular down there. Some have taken it up to 600HP on boost and there was a factory turbo option. US fork lift bits also fit but those are 8V heads and I worry about the quality.
Ultimate Bongo engine would be B2200 F2 block with 12V head and 626T turbo on it. Power, torque and economy.

This was a great read, and a great job done!
How has it behaved since the rebuild?
Russ

Thanks It's been great since the work. I was new to the camper thing but have put a couple of thousand miles on it over the summer. I'm averaging 30mpg now and performance is noticeably better than when I brought it home. In fact, I think the 2 litre is amazing given the age of the engine.
Currently laid up waiting for the rain to stop so I can fit a new exhaust as mine is more rust than steel.

Splendid job, well done.