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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

...and Withdraw


MrWill

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...and withdraw.

 

Those dreaded Haynes manual words which strike fear into many a home mechanic.   Loosely and often interpreted as smash repeatedly with the biggest persuader at your disposal, rein down on it with fire and ice.  Concede defeat and go inside an sulk in corner of the lounge plotting your revenge.

 

Having worked on my rally car for the last 14 years I thought the immaculate engine bay and underside of an Elise would signal the start of a new era, I thought the fundamental lie which is; 'and withdraw' would change..idiot.

 

So having enjoyed the Elise since purchasing in March I've got a few small initial improvements.  A new ARB will be fitted for no other reason than I have it so I might as well fit it.  The rattling passenger door which the guy I had bought it off had 'hidden' by fitting the hardtop when I had a test drive, wasn't sorted by the larger door pins I fitted - turns out I'm missing one or more window blocks apparently (whatever they are - I'll be asking for advice on the tech forum at some point). The Lotus in the Park morning blast around the Peaks revealed a recalcitrant gear lever downshift under braking - which I've decided to address with an adjustment of the short-shift linkage, an Eliseparts lower engine mount and clutch slave reinforcing bracket.

 

...which brings me back to my first experience working on the Elise.  So the clutch slave bracket is 'apparently' a half hour job; just remove three bolts and refit.

 

Well it's taken me six weekends to 'with-#%$'ing-draw' the gearbox nut and bolt. Some of the following may sound familiar to some of you: Wedged myself under the car chest touching the sump with my chest as I breathed in, with about as much arm leverage as a T-Rex.  

 

Position assumed I start by using penetrating spray again and again.  Then I used my spanner carefully but felt the nut starting to round and immediately stopped.  Que purchasing long arm spanner specially for the job...only to feel the nut starting to round again, albeit that feeling came from a little further away.  

 

I then applied the fires of Dante worrying that if I dropped the flame it would land on, and melt my face - It didn't work but then again I didn't melt my face.  I then bought a special set of locking sockets which are another great way to round the wax-like gearbox nut (and bolt) of the K series.

 

Time to use a nut cracker on this bad boy.  Nope.  Just too soft but managed to re-shape it like Plasticine.   It was then I decided to flay at it for an hour or so with newly bought cold chisels but the metal is so soft it just distorted.

 

The proud new owner of a super dremel; I then used the worlds smallest angle grinder attached to a flexible drive and spent 50mins carefully grinding a slice into the nut.

 

And at then, at some point (it's all quite hazy as I was delirious and crying), the dremel broke the seal and it came loose.    I 'withdrew'.     

 

The nut a bolt remain on show to remind me of the fight and the lessons learnt.    If there is a moral to this story it similar to the sex education advice given to sixth formers; 'The withdrawal technique is not safe or guaranteed to work; just don't trust it will be alright like your friends tell you it will'

 

Oh, and I just found out that the bracket doesn't fit and I'll have to loosen and move the water pipe work to give it room.  The Eliseparts instructions make it sound so easy, I'm already suspicious.

 

Thanks for listening.  I feel healed.

 

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It's an often used phrase.

'I looked at doing it myself, got the manual out, looked at my car, looked at the manual, stuck my head in the engine bay, got a spanner out, then decided to withdraw and call Gav to book it in.

 

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Yeah, thanks for brightening up my morning laugh.png  I fitted one of those brackets myself some years back, didn't take me six weekends thankfully but it's definitely more than the claimed half an hour's work and adjustment of pipework was required too from memory. Still, if you had let someone else do it for you then you wouldn't have that immense sense of satisfaction you have now unsure.png

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On the topic of paying someone to do it for you .....

 

Not on a a lotus but....

 

Having recently replaced amthe thermostat housing on my Pug 205. I got very concerned and promptly said no thanks to a mechanic who wanted to remove my cam shaft to fit the housing!

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