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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Radiator Upgrade... And All That Goes With It


Phil S1

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You did well to retrieve that Keith! I tried to retrieve mine with a telescopic magnet, which obviously wasn't going to be flexible enough to reach very far but on top of that it was constantly sticking to the duct itself.

 

Regarding the flexible duct, I used some Autoglym Engine Machine Clean and an old nail brush, certainly got the worst of it off smile.png

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Replacement of the front clam to sill corroded fastener using aluminium rivnuts

 

When initially removing the clam one of the fasteners between the clam and the sill was corroded and I had to carefully cut the bolt head off using an angle grinder.

This is the offending fastener, after retrieving it from within the sill:-

IMG_0057_zps6c8f34e7.jpg

 

The nut and the washer with the holes in it are one part and is bonded with black mastic to the fibreglass within the sill. The bolt had corroded until solid within the nut such that when trying to undo it it broke the bonded joint between the washer and the fibreglass. Once I had cut the bolt head off, the remains of the fastener dropped down inside the sill. Unless you want it to be rattling around in there forever more it needs to be removed. There are a number of ways to resolve this, some better than others. I opted to remove the coin tray:-

IMG_0033_zps74dce81d.jpg

 

For such a flimsy bit of plastic these are stuck in place with about 10 times more mastic than was used to hold the nut in that I was trying to retrieve!

I eventually cut through the mastic using a sharpened wallpaper scraper, having first applied masking tape over the aluminium sill and paintwork in order to protect it:-

IMG_0034_zpsb05e9866.jpg

 

With the coin tray removed, it was then possible to retrieve the remains of the fastener. I think I might just try a blobs of silicon when I glue it back in and see if it holds.

This is the hole in the sill with the old fastener removed:-

IMG_0043_zps3e025fe4.jpg

 

I bought a cheap rivnut tool and a few M8 aluminium fasteners off Ebay:-

IMG_0044_zpsc5c2714a.jpg

 

It is possible to install aluminium rivnuts without buying the rivnut tool by using suitable nuts and bolts, Martin did it this way I believe.

The hole in the fibreglass sill needed to be enlarged very slightly to take the rivnut. I used a 10mm drill followed by a bit of filing (the hole needs to be about 10,80mm to give a snug fit).

IMG_0047_zps89e54895.jpg

 

Rivnut in situ and ready for installation:-

IMG_0048_zps6ef9ed70.jpg

 

The rivnut tool screws into the rivnut, then similar to rivetting, the tool pulls the lower part of the rivnut up and deforms it until it grips the underside of the fibreglass. This is a close-up photo of the rivnut showing how it has deformed:-

IMG_0052_zps5bd08dfc.jpg

 

Next job now is to refit the clam smile.png

 

 

 

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The old battery has had it I'm afraid, it's only showing a few volts on the multimeter, I can't see it fixing anything to be honest.

So sweat Phil, thought I'd try my luck........Didn't want to wait a few weeks while I ordered an Odyssey.

 

Will have to pop across and have a poke around car again when it's done (It's Luke, Pauls mate with the Megane)

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So sweat Phil, thought I'd try my luck........Didn't want to wait a few weeks while I ordered an Odyssey.

 

Will have to pop across and have a poke around car again when it's done (It's Luke, Pauls mate with the Megane)

Hi Luke, I didn't realise it was you, sounds like you're on a bit of a weight saving exercise with yours? You're more than welcome to pop by anytime, there's still one or two other little jobs I want to do on mine but it should be back on the road again before too long.

 

Been there and done that with coin tray to retrieve the remains of the bolt.... What a complete pain in the backside.

 

Great write up Phil and nice work thumbs_up.gif

Thanks Andy, what did you use when you stuck your coin trays back in?

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Hi Luke, I didn't realise it was you, sounds like you're on a bit of a weight saving exercise with yours? You're more than welcome to pop by anytime, there's still one or two other little jobs I want to do on mine but it should be back on the road again before too long.

 

Thanks Andy, what did you use when you stuck your coin trays back in?

 

Tiger seal, Just not as much as originally used by Lotus !!  Any type and mastic glue will do, 

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Re-fitment of the Front Clam

 

Before re-fitting the clam I gave the inside a bit of a brushing down, just out of interest there were some manufacturing reference numbers and reference to the colour scheme on the driver's side arch and behind the air intake. Curiously the numbers were different, not sure what they mean:-

IMG_0071_zpsf53e6924.jpg

 

IMG_0069_zps56ba5978.jpg

 

IMG_0078_zps49d57e33.jpg

 

The rivnut I had fitted in the sill stood proud of the sill itself so I had to modify one of the three spacers slightly to clear it:-

IMG_0077_zps2e49e146.jpg

 

With the first spacer in place the other two fitted without modification:-

IMG_0076_zps754b5322.jpg

 

With that done I was now ready for the clam. Although I removed the front clam single-handedly without too much trouble there were 4 of us to get it back on, one at the front, one each side and me overseeing things smile.png . It could be done with less bodies for sure, I just didn't want to risk damaging it. It was much easier than trying to get the rear clam back on that's for sure. Once it was in place I loosely fitted all the bolts, then worked from the bottom upwards. I tightened the ones underneath first, followed by the sill bolts, trying to ensure a consistent panel gap with the doors. The bolts at the top of the door openings and those around the bonnet opening all require spacer washers to be inserted, again to ensure all the gaps are nice and even. Once all the washers were in I was able to tighten the remaining bolts and the clam was on.

The real fun came when I put the bonnet back on. It's just about possible to do this on your own. It's a bit of a faff trying to hold the bonnet in a near vertical position whilst simultaneously inserting and tightening the 3 bolts that hold it to the hinge and inserting the necessary spacers. Once over that hurdle I loosely tightened the 3 bolts and lowered the bonnet to its closed position to check its alignment. Once I was happy with the alignment I tightened the bolts and then shut the bonnet fully, after which I couldn't open it again bangin.gif

Now I have encountered this problem before, with the boot release. The usual method is for one person to pull the T-bar handle whilst the other presses down on the boot/bonnet and forces it from side to side. After wrestling with this method for quite some time till I was quite literally hot and bothered I decided to try something else. The bonnet was popping up slightly but not enough to release it. It did open sufficiently however for me to shine a torch onto the catch to try and see what was happening. I eventually realised that in re-fitting the bonnet I had aligned it slightly too far forwards. No amount of movement side to side was going to release it, I needed the pin to come rearwards within the catch. After this moment of enlightenment I hastily bent a piece of stiff wire, something like a wire coat hanger, into a hook. I was then able to insert it under the bonnet, from the windscreen side, hook it around the pin, give a sharp tug and hey presto...up popped the bonnet smile.png . A few more adjustments later and I had the bonnet shutting.....and opening! After that it was then just a matter of adjusting the height of the rubber stops which set the bonnet height in relation to the clam. I ended up fitting a few more washers under the clam than previously but I reckon the bonnet fits better now than it ever did.

So that's it, I'm pretty much there, fitted the last few bolts securing the arch liners to the clam, popped the front grill back in, put the mud flaps on and reconnected the harness. Still got to stick the coin trays back in and tidy up a few other bits and bobs but otherwise, job done smile.png

 

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Nice one Phil! I can't believe - in fact I can now I think about it - that the INSIDE of your clam is cleaner than any part of my car :-)

laugh.png  I only gave it a bit of a brushing down, it's not like I jet-washed it or anything. I'm starting to feel I need a bit of driving fix so rest assured it will be getting dirty again before long smile.png

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