Newbie question

[Andy wright]

Todays joy was heater removal.That was not overly easy . Pulled it apart to check the shunt resistors for variable fan speed. Checked the heater matrix and generally cleaned everything up. I would dearly like to replace the heater hoses, but cannot seem to find anybody who sells them. What I will do before I refit said heater is to wire it back up and check that everything works as it should ( fan speeds and circulation flap ) I also have quite a few parts of the loom to re - cover with cloth loom tape as some bits have gone awol. 

[Andy wright]

And the next thrilling instalment which has  everything except action, suspense , drama and surprise . Heater ‘well’ cleaned . Grubby and , in places , damaged wiring loom repaired and re covered in cloth loom tape . I have loosely installed the heater and blower but plan to power up the electrical system tomorrow just to check that the blower and the distributor flap both function as God and Lotus intended . Oh , and Bilthamber Deox C did a great job on the woefully rusty brackets and clamps that held the radiator to its housing and the housing to the crash structure. Not to mention the calipers . I am going to paint them before rebuilding with new everything but not in a bling colour . Black or grey , probably the latter and dityo for the rears . 

[Badger02]

Hi Andy. I'm enjoying reading your blog with its trials and tribulations.

Reminds me of the winter refresh/rebuild I did of my S1 Elise last year.

Keep up the good work and hope to see yours on the road this spring/summer

 

[Andy wright]

Thanks for your helpful and supportive comments. I have just read your front and rear restoration thread .Great read and top job. Very thorough. I envy you your garage . 

[Badger02]

12 hours ago, Andy wright said:

Thanks for your helpful and supportive comments. I have just read your front and rear restoration thread .Great read and top job. Very thorough. I envy you your garage . 

Thanks Andy. 

[Andy wright]

This is like ‘ Lord of the Rings’ but without any entertainment value. It joes goes on and on. Today was windscreen fitting day. That is, the Betaseal arrived just before lunch and was fully used by 3.00pm this afternoon. The sealant comes with the primer and the cleaning wipe and the nozzle on the sealant cut to exactly the spec in the Lotus manual. In addition, I bought a short length of 4mmx4mm Perspex bar to make the three lower screen edge spacers and also cut a piece of wood the correct size to hold the screen in its upwards position once the glue had been applied . I hope the pictures below tell the story . Needless to say, a second pair of hands were required at the critical step of finally placing the screen in its correct position. Mrs Wright filled the role admirably . The two  strips of masking tape are for centering the screen . I dry fitted it , put the tape on the top and then cut it at the join . The purpose is to use the tape as a guide when the screen is finally dropped into place with its glue applied. Glad I did that as it helped a lot. 
And the job itself? Putting on one side the fact that the clamshell really does need to be out of the way and the dash top likewise , actually cutting out the old screen with a cheese wire ( read welding wire , meat skewer and two bits of brush handle ) took about 20 mins. Removing all the old sealant another 20mins tops . Prepping the new glass and the screen frame with cleaner , wipes, primer etc, 10mins . Test fitting the glass before the final prep took a few minutes because it needed several attempts before I was happy with the ‘fit’ . Applying the glue and putting the screen into the frame, plus taping, very quickly done . Just a few minutes . So, I think it is a diy job. The screen cost £360, the glue etc £24 and another £10 or so for the isopropyl alcohol ( that I didnt really need but will be handy for painting jobs ) and the Perspex bar so about £400 tops. 

[Guido]

I love this thread as I did with Badger's last year.  I makes me want to track down a workshop manual for my S3 Exige to try a few bits.

Keep it going 👍

[Andy wright]

26 minutes ago, Guido said:

I love this thread as I did with Badger's last year.  I makes me want to track down a workshop manual for my S3 Exige to try a few bits.

Keep it going 👍

Thanks for your comments. Appreciated. S3 Exige! I have just turned green . Oh. Manual. Best £56 I have spent on the Lotus. It doesn’t have things like all the relevant torque settings ( just some of them !) but the diagrams and instructions are useful. 

[Guido]

22 hours ago, Andy wright said:

Thanks for your comments. Appreciated. S3 Exige! I have just turned green . Oh. Manual. Best £56 I have spent on the Lotus. It doesn’t have things like all the relevant torque settings ( just some of them !) but the diagrams and instructions are useful. 

Where did you get your manual from?

[Andy wright]

EBay . Just did a quick search on there and up it popped. Basically it is a spiral bound photocopy from a place called ‘ Manual Central ‘

 

[Andy wright]

Another day,filled with excitement and drama. If you listen carefully you will surely hear the sound of Angels in Heaven rejoicing . And why? Because when I connected the battery back up , the heater blower working on all its speeds and the distribution flap moved consistently and steadily between ‘ fully hot and fully cold ‘ Result. Next, drive shafts made to look stupidly ‘blingy’ and now refitted. Residual gearbox oil drained and 1.9 litres of Redline GL5=spec  oil installed ( well, poured though a quite hard to get at filler plug ) . And the next piece of utter joy. All the suspension bits are at the powder coaters being blasted, primed and then err, powder coated. Well, phone call from said coaters to say that one of my wishbones needed a bit of TLC in the form of a meeting with some fresh steel plate and my MIG welder . Meeting duly made and wishbone now back where it belongs being primed and then coated . 
As the photos show, the repair is not quite as a professional would have done it , because a ‘pro’ would have cut out the plate, ground back the welds with a die grinder and welded in a fresh piece of steel . Well, this amateur does not have a die grinder so he plated over the existing bracket ( with some weld though primer of course ) .The damper is not going anywhere . 

[Andy wright]

Heater now plumbed up and the clutch pipe re installed. My new radiator arrived yesterday so I thought I would make a start on making new fan mounting brackets after first checking that the fans (a) work and (b) do so without bearing noise . They do on both counts. The old rad fan mountings do show early signs of slight corrosion so I thought it best to make some new brackets . Pictures show the progress so far. Autosport show tomorrow and a long bike ride planned for Saturday ( if the temp goes up a bit ) so the Lotus will go on hold for a few days . 

[Andy wright]

And whilst I was away at the Autosport show at the NEC , some goodness in the form of a box of E T* arrived from Eliseparts . (*= Elise Treats ) The treats include drop links, track rod ends, damper and wishbone bolts, 5mm and 6mm  screw clips, wheel arch liner trim clips, box of assorted screws, nuts, bolts and washers and , wait for it, spherical bearing bushes . I know. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth, not to mention sucking of air through clenched teeth , followed by dark mutterings about nvh, general noise and vibration . If they are awful, I will admit it and change to o.e type bushes. Watch this space. ( although you may need patience ) 

[DeanB]

I had a ride in an s2 Exige with spherical bearings a couple of weeks ago. It had a bit of vibration which was, I think, mostly from the stiffer engine and gearbox mounts but overall the car was really nice. Even with quite stiff springs. 

 

[Andy wright]

Thanks for that feedback. Always useful to learn about others experience. Upgraded engine mounts do transmit more vibration. Even the really high quality ones like Vibratechnic are not completely immune from that drawback. However, the upsides ( better gear change and much reduced driveline shunt ) are worth having .