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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024
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Lotus Elise S1 Honda Conversion

Entries in this blog

Intermediate Drive Shaft Heat Shielding

One of the biggest problems with the Honda conversions is the amount of heat generated by the engine. The drive shafts are particularly vulnerable to this, especially the intermediate one.   The intermediate drive shaft sits directly behind the exhaust manifold and as such soaks up the majority of the heat generated by the exhaust pipes.   The Honda engine comes with a standard, black shielding, however given its colour, its always a good idea to try to either change the colour ( powder coa
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Engine Steady Mounts

Now that the engine is settled in and the lower wishbones are in place (covered in a future entry), its time to complete the securing of the engine.   The kit comes with the two main engine mounts at the top, and two steady arms at the bottom of the engine.   First up is the mount that secures to the chassis cross brace, in line with the firewall.   Prior to the installation of the engine, I drilled two holes to receive a 'U' shape bracket to which the arm is secured to...     Now, it
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Sub Frame Modification

Pretty much all the conversion kits require some type of sub-frame modifications. With the Stark kit, the only modification required is the enlargement of the nearside driveshaft hole to allow for any movements whilst the car is in transit.   This is a pretty simple task.   Firstly, I cut a series of cuts a long the area required to be removed...     It should be noted that the reason that I did this was because I did not really want to use a Dremmel on it. If you do, it would be just
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Braided Brake Pipes Installation

We are now getting towards the business end of this installation.   The job on the list for this week, was to replace the original flexy brake pipes with uprated steel braided ones.   Searching through the tinternet, there were several options, I guess ranged quality and therefore price. I chose, for whatever reason to go for these...     I must say, I was quite pleased with the quality and seems to be as good as expected.   At this point, it's worth pointing out that if you don't kn
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Coolant Hose Modification

Following the installation of the gear linkage system, it became apparent that the way I routed one of the hoses, was simply not going to work and in time would end up being an issue.   The hose I am referring to is the one running from the near side chassis, to the engine thermostat. The route I took, placed it in direct clash with the two gear linkage cables.   I must point out that speaking to other people who have installed this same kit, they do not seem to have had any issues. So thi
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Belt Installation

Quick update.   Whilst scratching about on Sunday, Carlton X (A VX220 refugee on here) come over for a nose and to say hey.   Here he is, with his rather bright VX220. His face seems to say ' that's never going to run Bis!' Oh ye of little faith     The belt installation is actually a very simple process.   All you need is a suitably length 14 inch spanner latched onto the pre-tensioner wheel and pull towards towards the front of the car.   What this does, is move the whole assemb
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Geal Linkage Installation

As part of the kit, you get two new gear linkage cables and gear selection assembly that is bolted onto the gearbox. Although I managed to get this work done by myself, ideally two people should do this to ease the pain.   I had a cap imposed on me this weekend by the 'trouble and strife', so could only really get this done before I had to down tools for the remainder of the day.   Gear Linkage Assembly   The assembly sent, simply bolts on to the gearbox, with a couple of spacers. Its
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Geal Linkage Installation Cont...

After removal of the old cables, it was then a matter of fishing through the new cables into the cabin and bolting them in place.   It should be noted that the new linkage come with extremely large sets of bolts that hold the cable into position (the original ones used a clip that you push from the top). I found this to be extremely tight and painful to tighten. I will get further information from Stark as to how best to completely get the bolts secured. As it stands, they are all hand tigh
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Fuel Lines Installation Part 2

Following on from my last entry, I wasn't too happy with the layout of the fuel hoses. Due to the locations of the fuel filter, in relation to the pressure regulator, it meant that some of the fuel lines ended up crossing each other and although functional, it just looked messy.   So after some rethink, this is what I came up with.   BTW, I ended up adding a little garnish by way of gold clip covers that I bought from deemontweaks.   I hope you like the new layout...   Note that I manag
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Fuel Lines Installation

I have been looking forward to a simpler task all project long and as far as I am concerned, this is it.   So, before we get into it, the question is - were there any Santa's little helpers today? YES!   I was glad to see a good friend of mine that I have know from when he as a little kid ( and now towers over me like a giant! ) who happens to have a pretty nice black CTR.   This is he...     Down to work.   The kit comes with fuel hoses, a fuel filter, a pressure regulator and t
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Coolant System

Now that the engine is in place, the next job on the list is to get the coolant system piped up.   The kit comes with all the appropriate hoses (you get a choice of Black, Blue and Red) and the associated clips, bends and joiners.   You will note that I have gone for RED! I had a long think about this before I chose and I concluded that its really a matter of taste and preference. I don't really think that there a right or wrong choice here. Alan (The chap who converted his S1 on Seloc wit
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Engine Installation Part 2

Before lifting the engine up into position, the bottom engine mount bracket has to be drilled and bolted.   This is a little awkward as you have to place the bracket into position, mark and then get under the chassis to drill through. As lining up the holes was pretty tricky, I decided to drill a pilot hole then enlarge it to suit, with the bracket in-situ.     25 minutes later - all done.     I bolted the bracket into place and we are good to go for the installation.     Mar
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Engine Installation Part 1

I have been looking forward to this for some time. The moment when I start heading the other way and install bits back on the car.   As customary, I first like to thank they guys who gave up their time and helped me today..   So, thanks go out to Martin R - Dependable and as reliable as...well a Japanese engine And Jason, my little Nephew (with world's fastest car - 1.6 Nova )   The installation   On Friday, I was relieved to see the delivery van pull up at the house, bearing a box of
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Sub Frame Painting

I had a long think about what I do with the sub-frame. Looking at it, yeah its dirty, but in pretty good shape all round.   So the options are:-   1. Leave as is - Since I intend to keep the car for some time and the clam is off, it seems a shame not to do something to it.   2. Get it powder coated - Nice idea, durable and good finish. The problem I had with this is that you would have to remove the sub-frame, send it away, wait, wait and wait then get it back and install! Sounded a b
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Baffled Sump Installation

It seems a long time since the engine removal. I was rather hoping that I would receive all the engine mounts, fuel lines etc during the week, to enable the engine installation to commence. Alas, due to some delays by the supplier, the only things I received this week were some bits for the engine and the baffled sump.   Today I had visits from Martin R and his lovely Wife and Daniel ( the originator of all that I am going through - as he was the first to take me out on a Honda powered Elise
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Clam And Engine Removal Cont...

This weekend has been a big one. The aim was to get the rear clam and the engine removed all in a day! That is a lot of work to undertake in a single day, but given that the Saturday is the Feb 14th (Something to do with Roses and the like for the Wife), it was evident that I will not be able to spend the whole weekend in the garage.   At this point, I would like to extend my thanks to Phil S - of the famous T-Series conversion. A couple of weeks early, he had offered to come a long and lend h
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Clam And Engine Removal Cont 2

Engine Removal   With the engine removal, its all about ensuring that all the pipes and cables are detached.   - We had to un-do the water pipes and drain the system into buckets.   - Clip the fuel line and unplug   - Un-clip the gear linkage   - Removed all the wiring   - Undo all the engine mounts bolts   Tip: Phil suggested that we remove the manifold before lifting to ease the removal     Disconnections...     She is ready to go!     Here she comes...     M
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Engine And Clam Removal

In preparation for the big job of removing the rear clam and the engine, I started work on the complete suspension removal. Apart from the drive shaft removal, the rest of the suspension assembly can actually stay bolted to the sub-frame and it is not necessary to remove for the installation.   After seeing the state of my wishbone, I decided that this is a good time to remove all rusted out components and get them treated and bushes replaced. Yet more expenses   At this point, I would li
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Wishbone Removal

The next job on my list is to remove the rear far side lower wishbone that need to be sent out to Stark for modification.   Its worth mentioning that because this installation is likely to take me 3 months or so, I decided to officially take the car off the road with DVLA and the insurance company. Every penny counts!!   I reversed the car into the garage, placing it in such a way that I have good clearance all round, jacked up the one side and placed an axle stand on the chassis.    
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Final Engine Tidy Up

Almost there with the engine prep work before I start bolting on new bits. All these bits are no longer required and can go in the dispose box...         The gearbox bellhousing needs trimming to get it to clear part of the subframe. I used an angle grinder and a metal file to get it shaped to my liking. It took about 20 minutes - job done.     I then hoisted the engine up and drain all the oil out of it. The oil seemed to have a nice brown tint to it that indicating that the
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The Start...

So, a couple of years ago I decided that plan for a Honda conversion on my S1 1999 Lotus Elise. Interestingly, up to that point, it was not something that I really desired until one fateful afternoon when Daniel gave me a pax ride in his car!   What blew me away was the shear difference in pace, noise, acceleration etc. The list went on. I was officially hooked.   Initially I thought about going for a full turn-key solution, however with time, it became apparent that with me the Lotus own
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K20A Engine Prep

Before I started doing anything major on the car, I decided to give it a decent clean. This is only to remove grease and oils that tend to go everywhere.       After 30 minutes or so, job done!       Before doing anything else, there are a number of bits that need removing and either re-used at a later time or discarded. I have already removed the air conditioning pump (off to ebay with that one) and now all these bits, such as hoses, mounts, wiring loom supports have to be removed
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