Plastic Fantastic Coupe

Yes they did.

Mines the lowly 82 horse but there's a Brabus 101 stallion power which is also lower to the ground.

A map and Brabus tail pipe will bring mine up to that. Don't intend to drop mine

Only weigh about 800kilo so reasonable weight to power ratio.

I had a 04 plate brabus 101 from 05 to 07. I want to say it should qualify for retro car status. It leaks, is rare(ish) but no one cares, only geeks like us notice them, they have a terrible transmission that makes driving them more challenging, otherwise they fall on their faces. I loved mine.

So... what are the plans?

I always sprayed my rubbers with an appropriate lubricant. That helped with the leaks.

Now then.

So in my last post I was going through the brakes which are now were sorted.

Having been out for a couple of spirited runs a well documented issue reared it's head...a rattling timing chain.

My Roadster needs a timing chain. It's done 77k miles and the chain is loose.

So I got everything together to do a timing chain only and got stuck in.

I also need to change the crusty sump



Unfortunately this means back panel off, engine and subframe lowered down. I was going to do it the dealer way which is to only lower the subframe so far, negating the need to disconnect brake lines and coolant pipes.

Best paid plans and all that.

Even with the back panel off and exhaust off you can see how tight it is in there.




During strip down I find the inlet wet with oil. I'd not driven it much, so no idea on oil consumption. It was still showing full but there's was also oil being pushed out of the dipstick and a few other locations.

An optimistic me was hoping the one-way pcv valve was the culprit but I was also aware of the common issue of a burnt exhaust valve as a result of tired or gummed up oil rings due to either short journeys or lack of oil changes so conducted a quick cold compression check.

Cold Dry
No1 80 No2 140 No3 140
Cold Wet
No1 100 No2 150 No3 150

Oh curse word. So it likely needs new valves & re-ringing...

I'm no stranger to engines but not the Smart 3cyl's.

So oil drained out. There is no sump bung hence the often neglected oil changes. Suction pump to the rescue.



It was a this point I found that this little car was going to fight me all the way



Every bolt I touched was seized. I'm surprised I only sheared 3.



Cheesy stretchy steel e-torx bolts assembled into aluminium with no anti seize compound applied. Even my best efforts of soaking all bolts with penetrating oil over a period of weeks, heat applied and freeze spray was no use on those three. It'll have to be the drill then.

Once I got all the gubbins disconnected I moved the the brake pipes. I tried a set of plastic pipe clamps but they were not much use so reverted to my trust home brew iron bar pipe clamps.


It then progressed quite well and I'm at this stage.



I'm quite pleased with how it's gone. Engine out and onto the floor next. Whoo hoo!!

I've also convinced myself to go the whole hog and fully rebuild the engine. Might as well having got this far.

Not looking forward to tackling those crusty sump bolts though. Might just weld some nuts on from the start. Anymore snapped studs will put me close to smash it with hammer time.

I've built loads of engines for these. Most important thing to check first is the oil pump housing in the crank case, scrapped a few casings that have been deeply scored in that area. Always fit a new pump gear set if the casing is good, they're cheap on eBay. Before you do a final wash off to build it put the gears in and make sure they turn, there's sometimes burrs on the casting that can make it tight.

It'll need a rebore, pistons are about 60 quid apiece from memory.

They're a nightmare for snapped bolts. Usually sump, timing cover and oil filter/cooler to block are most likely.

There are 2 ways to build them. You can either do the block and head together, fit the timing chain, pull the tensioner pin then slide the timing cover up into place. Downside is it's easy to nip the head gasket. Other option is to do the block, hang the timing chain and guides/tensioner in place, fit the timing chain, pull the pin, then bolt the head on. However lining the cam sprocket up is a case of mind over matter as you have to turn the pain of the chain ripping into your finger ends off as you pull upwards to force the tensioner back enough to let it line up. A waterpump spanner is also needed to turn the cam at the same time.

Cheers for that stealthstylz.

I'm going with replacing as much as I can afford and new oil pump is already on the list but the money tree I planted failed to grow so I need to reuse any bits I can.

're bore wear. I was planning on checking for bore wear as there are mixed opinons. Do you just go to rebore as a fail safe default or have you been checking them and finding a fair amount of out of roundness?

As for seized bolts, I've one stuck in the rocker cover holding a coil pack on, all the timing cover bolts feel seized. The water pump bolts feel seized. They've had penetrating oil soaking for weeks now.  Heat is difficult to apply as I don't want to melt the alloy. Gentle heat then freeze spray works in a fashion but not 100% successful...Any tips from your end?

stealthstylz,

Thanks for that info. Changes my plan but better to know now.👍

So into the fray again and another shift battling seized studs.

Made my Heath Robinson Patent Pending Flywheel Locking Tool...



Which enabled me to remove the crank bolt and pulley in preparations for removing the timing chain cover and cylinder head which I aimed to do today... ambitious I know.

Crank Bolt required Jack Handle to remove it. Was a tentative moment as to whether the Silverline sacrificial spanner or the freshly fabricated flywheel locking tool would give way before the bolt...



Needn't have fretted, it popped free before my shoulder popped out.

Turning the engine and subframe on its head I tackled the crusty sump and bolts

13 of the 14 crusty E-torx bolts came out after much hammering with hammer, heating with heat, chiseling with a chisel and gnashing of teeth.

The 14th bolt took it's toys and wouldn't come out to play, instead stuck it's middle finger up at me.



So we're left like this after slathering some more penetrating fluid on.



To be fair, I haven't snapped anything today so can't moan eh!

To be fair they're not all going to be like my car.

This one has just been very unloved. Last owner didn't spend much on maintenance and what did occur appeared to be at the hands of garages who only did what was asked of them - Prior to my ownership the last bill was for the retractable roof micro switch which allowed it to fully retract, very important indeed it was to have that working, never mind the porous sump which the level of oil could be seen on the outside, the handbrake with no more notches available, the insecure nearly chafed through ABS sensor wire, the oval misshapen wheels, rattling timing chain, intermittently working crank sensor causing it to cut out - yep to have a fully retracted canvas roof was a must.


If I could reverse time,  I would buy from an enthusiast on the Roadster forum, not from the Bay of E from a non mechanically minded owner.


Once I've been through it, no stone unturned, it should be good for another decade or two. Watch this space.