First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

[Pete Boole]

I used a block of wood on the chassis between the front mounting lugs of the rear arms - chassis very strong there. As Alan says - front wheels need to be on the ground or supported so a "triangle" of support is formed.

Pete

[MetBlue]

This weeks prize for intuition goes to Mr Boole.

I mentioned on this weeks team meet that when I removed the brake pipe gland nut from the rear calipers, the pipe still wouldn't come out of the caliper. With a bit of wriggling, it was out, but the end was clearly quite damaged.
Looking inside the caliper fitting, there appeared to be a circular raised ring, that would have cut into the end of the pipe swage. Both sides were the same. It looked very uniform and hence looked like it was an original feature.

"That's a PO bodge" says Pete. Then followed a little discussion about steel pipes maybe originally.

Prior to the call I'd decided I was going to mount up in the pillar drill and create a better seat, which I did on one caliper yesterday morning. Didn't take long before a slug was free and I was back to what I recognise as a conventional caliper pipe seating face. So the other side I tapped an M3 thread into it and used a bolt as a simple puller. And this is the result (puller with the slug on the right).


Some clown in the past had pipes made up with short fittings, then obviously found it bottomed out on the hex, long before it clamped the brake pipe swage, so would appear they put an olive down there as a spacer The spacer then got drawn into the small bore into teh caliper, hence locking the pipe in place (A long fitting shown along side for comparison).

It obviously sealed, but very glad it's now sorted.

Tony

[Pete Boole]

Glad you've got it sorted Tony!

Pete

[Alan_M]

Glad you got it sorted and at least it’s a simple fix !!

[MetBlue]

Were in the doldrums waiting for the makers of all things clean and shiny to return may rear suspension.
My decision having now stripped all down is that the rubber bushes are staying - everywhere. They're in good nick and Poly bushes work differently to rubber ones, so I'll stay with the original lotus set up.
I'm not going to disturb the wheel bearings, so brake back plates will have to be cleaned up and painted in situ. I tried removing the M8 bolts that fasten them to the Ali hub ( as Alan suggested) but only 1 of the 4 bolts was prepared to come out. The others just had that feeling of "I ain't coming out - keep trying and the head will shear off" , so I'll paint up as is. If just one of these sheared, you'd need to remove the hub in order to get access to drill out. Oh the agro of steel threads or bolts into Aluminium.
Shocks will be changed, not least because I had to destroy the lower eye on one side to get it off the bolt. They did seem to function OK though and both sides had identical characteristics ( harder on compression than on rebound). Can't help but wonder if these were original and this was intentional. - Will probably do a thread under suspension to discuss this. The new ones I have are susposed to match the original, but are same on compression and rebound.
Oh yes, and the top spring mount will be changed to poly. Just need to take a little off the main OD so it fits inside the spring, but it nearly fits - SJ parts - Not the first to tread this path. Having said that, the rubber ones weren't seated properly, so I think the Poly's are the same dimensions as the OE.

Tony

[Pete Boole]

You're right Tony - on a Lotus you'd normally expect more rebound damping. Good decision on the bushes.

Pete

[Alan_M]

Are the shocks the ones Lotusbits have had remade?

I have a set of new genuine Lotus shocks and can see what they are like.

[MetBlue]

It's been a long haul, much longer than originally planned, but tomorrow we have an MOT booked..
Been a bit tardy on updates recently, but will try to catch up once we're on the road.
Tony

[Pete Boole]

Good luck - I'm sure you won't need it

Pete

[MetBlue]

Don't want to talk about it .
Didn't fail. Didn't actually have the MOT.
Checked last night and all electrics working fine then today on the drive up - no indicators.
There's more, but that's for later.
Tony

[Dwaynem884]

Thought I'd start this thread to record ongoing improvements to my new acquisition, the Silk Red MY92 Excel I collected last Friday


When I viewed the car, I noticed the screws securing the drivers door latch were slightly loose. Over the weekend I thought I'd tighten them, result being that the door wouldn't lock. For now, I've slackened them again, but it convinced me it would be a good idea to get the passenger door locks working correctly. Besides the levers feeling stiff to operate, the key barrel had pushed in so this seemed a good place to start. A nice quick and easy job the get my ownership underway.

Fault was simply the M6 bolt coming out. Route cause seemed to be the securing plate was badly worn where the star washer would normally grip, so this has been refitted with a countersunk screw with SS star washer underneath. Time will tell if that holds. I think it will.

Readers familiar with Toyota door handles will know whats coming next. Yes the rear nutsert was broken out. Quite a job getting the handle out and whats that vertical pin all about Can't see it does much other than make dismantling very difficult when its seized in. Anyway, creative repair with an M6 threaded insert ( readily available from Screwfix) more usually used pressed into wood. I needed to add a 4mm "extension", but otherwise it bonded in well and the spikes on the outside fit against the webs of the original part, so should help resist torsion.



All now good, started re-assembly, lock working well, but neither internal nor external door open lever would work ( fortunately I'd actuated the latch with door open to check things - Phew. Spent the next 2 hours removing the latch and I really don't know how I would have done it if the door was latched closed). It looks like everything is just very worn. Once removed, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Interestingly, the internal plate was slightly bent, and when I clamped it to the nylon, it locked up, which is same symptoms I saw on the drivers door. In the end concluded nothing to be lost by drilling out the rivit pivot, so I can clean, deburr and grease it all properly. Picture of the internals, which no one normally sees below if anyone interested.



I think I have a plan to re-assemble it, but if all else fails LB are only 45 minutes away. I'll report in my next post if it works.

So, thats my first day of "on the road" Excel ownership. Wise words by those on the forum warning about the distraction from my Elite restoration But I do like this sort of stuff and generally they are only a day or two tasks.

Tony

Tony, going down your route with the m6 insert for the door handle. What did you use to bond it? Thanks.

[MetBlue]

Isopon P38 body filler for bonding the insert. Sticks like the proverbial to both metal and plastic.
Was done 3 years ago now and still holding.
Tony

[MetBlue]

Don't want to talk about it .

After a nights sleep, a session on the couch and a bottle of red, the therapy's working and I feel able to elaborate.

Was driving to the MOT station ( only about 1 mile away), first round about and - No indicators. Fuse was good, so had to abort and return home - Now solved - it was just the relay falling out !.

In the short drive though, I wasn't entirely happy with the brakes. Maybe there's still a little air in the system, or I managed to swap the pads around between disks so they are not in full contact ( I did try hard to know what came off which side, but with so many parts removed, there were moments when I found myself questioning things. I think they were as good as for the last MOT though, so I wasn't a reason on it's own to abort.

Before sharing the main event, a couple of pretty pictures :





Oh, if only the look was representative of how it drove
Suspension felt fine, but even on flat roads, it sounded like a tool box of spanners had been emptied in the boot and were bouncing around. - that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture.
Impression so far is that it is drive line noise. First thought was whether I got any muck into the rear wheel bearings when cleaning up the disk plates, but I've raised both wheel now in compressed suspension condition, and they feel fine.

Second thought relates to what I know to be a cracked Diff mounting bracket and whether it moved / bent when the car was supported on the diff. Picture below is best I have of the support. A piece of wood across the diff and two axle stands each end - you can just see one of them - and I did replace that broken suspension rubber before anyone states the obvious. - and ignore the Allen key and strap, that's another story I might expand on one day.



Removing and repairing the diff bracket was originally on the To Do list during this rebuild, but I decided to put it on hold as I wanted to get back on the road quicker and thought it could perhaps wait until next winter.
Investigations will continue after the weekend - I'm away for a few days, which is probably a good thing

Tony.

[Alan_M]

[

Was driving to the MOT station ( only about 1 mile away), first round about and - No indicators. Fuse was good, so had to abort and return home - Now solved - it was just the relay falling out !.

Tony.

Something very similar happened with mine a couple of years ago. Indicators working as I pulled into the MOT station. After about 10 minutes tester came through to me a said indicators not working!!
At the time I had the footwell side panel out of the car.
Basically tester with his size 11 safety boots had knocked the relay. Fortunately I got it sussed, relocated and MOT passed.

[Pete Boole]

Intrigued now to know what's causing all the noise!

Pete