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andrewp1989

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About andrewp1989

  • Birthday 09/11/1964

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  • Name
    Andrew Podor
  • Car
    silver 1988.5, calypso 1989, calypso 1991, titanium 1997
  • Modifications
    lets just not go there right now
  • Location
    Fort McMurray or Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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  1. I, too, fear a long delay on this project. AP
  2. It has been A LONG, LONG WHILE . . . but, hey, I am back. F1inSchools was big our second year and even bigger the third year; but both of us teachers got wholly burnt out and it has been cancelled for this school year. With that decision I am both disappointed and relieved. But I will return with a slim and trim junior team of (so far) only boys and plan to compete in April of 2016. Their car is being drawn and virtual aero-tested on SolidWorks presently. Trust me, it will be a unique technical solution . . . my lips are sealed as to how, however. A replacement frame from "Salva" in Portland Oregon graces the shop garage and we are soon to swap the old with the new one. This year I have a small team of more dedicated senior students in block 4. Yesterday they voted to work on the Esprit exclusively until the school year end. That is 6 weeks away. I hope to supply photos to those who are interested. AP
  3. Sorry about the immense delay . . . I have been coaching/trouble-shooting our "F1 i n Schools" team. We develop the car from scratch each and every year. A rather troublesome approach. Hope to do well in the Canadian Nationals this year (in Michigan, USA!) on May 11,12. The Esprit got a replacement frame. It came from a small-time scrapper in Portland, Oregon (a Russian guy named "Salva" on eBay). Really reasonable actually. He has a bit of bodywork remaining from a red S4. The front clip. No time in the school shop to do this swap (or anytime soon). Swapping out an engine on a mystic blue Mazda5 and doing bodywork on a Merkur XR4T1. By-the-way, I love the Mazda5. I think all of you should own one . . . seriously. I will -slowly- return to the Esprit after "F1 in Schools". AP
  4. A bit of both. We have the TV . . . just don't have cable; so TSN can't be seen. Also the 3 1/2 year old boy = quiet nights at our house. AP
  5. I went to work to watch the F1 (11:58 PM Saturday to ~2 AM Sunday). The last 14 laps I was standing up -watching the TV. The last 4 laps I clapped and cheered the car/driver to the finish. Good thing no one was around to hear that. AP
  6. It's been a while . . . but is the wing still for sale? AP
  7. I intended to wake up and watch the race only to miss out because of the time-change here in Canada. Duh.
  8. The oddball 15" rear wheel that is rather deeply dished (has a negative offset). Standard on a 1988 model year. Any leads? AP in Edmonton
  9. Yes, I have seen and heard of that method. However, our welding teacher was gone by the time I started my hub repair. Maybe next time. Couldn't the heat or welding splatter damage the thin stamped SS grease deflector? It is so fragile that I doubt it could be pulled off without destroying it.
  10. Okay, I'm game (outer bearing "cone" of the rear hub bearing = a race). What is the easy way?
  11. Decided to leave the alternator alone (for a short while at least). Fort McMurray lacks a stand-alone auto electrical shop. Instead we separated the rear hubs from the wheel bearings. That operation was a head scratcher - at least for the first few tries. Significant problems existed at virtually every step. On every hub carrier at least one internal hex-head bolt has to round/strip. The necessitates drilling the head off the shank to release the bearing and then easing the bolt(s) out with a combination of penetrating oil, oxy-acetylene heat and vice-grips. The '91 had both rear wheel bearings dry, pitted and rusty . . . but why? Turns out the shallow pressed stainless steel grease deflector between the hub and the bearing had been pounded/pried on by previous owners or their uninformed mechanics. Thus with every wheel revolution grease could exit the bearing and water/dirt leak in. We pressed the hub out from the backside (luckily we have a huge shop press) to liberate the hub BUT the inner bearing race always remains firmly attached to the hub. Oxy heat plus a chisel/hammer will not budge it. I tried. During my lunch, it took me a few tens of minutes to figure out that widely slotting this race with an angle grinder and cut-off wheel would allow a bearing separator enough grip to capture the race and press off the hub. This way we salvaged every hub even though they where pretty banged up and chipped by some weird previous prying (both on the flat back side where it mates to the CV joint and in the bearing grease deflector area). According to my searches, Lotus DOES NOT sell that stainless steel grease deflector alone. Usually you need to spend about $500 Canadian to get a whole new rear hub complete with the deflector. However, here's a good tip: A 1991 Dodge Monaco uses an identical front wheel bearing (though their hub differs; it has 12 mm bolt holes). Dodge sells that grease deflector for $11 Canadian or $6 US, allowing you to salvage an Esprit hub with a mangled deflector. But good luck finding one . . . Dodge no longer supports that car. You could try the Eagle Medallion or Premier (they have the same set-up) or, in Europe, look for all manner of Renaults (from 18 on). After buying the last pair of these from a Chrysler dealer in Middle River, Nova Scotia, I am told that Chrysler Canada is, now, out of that part. First freeze the hub and then warm the grease deflector ring (say, in boiling water) and I "hope" the two with mount without issues. Understand that I can't afford ruining too many of these. Now, we are awaiting the arrival of the deflectors. AP
  12. Okay, I'll buy all of that except when we tested both a Ford and an AC Delco unit they produced a positive voltage - both CW or CCW. The Valeo Lotus unit produced a negative voltage using the same leads (negative on the case and positive on the the large threaded stud). What am I getting wrong here? AP
  13. Thank you all for input (especially Mark T-C). Mark . . . long time no hear. Today -after a long interval of doing unexciting term work- the Lotus finally got worked on again. One student and myself measured all the various necessary bolt lengths needed for the side mounted oil pump. Because I find the OEM bolts to be, well, weak crap . . . I always install new/improved versions. Lets just say that Spae-Naur of Kitchener, Ontario does A LOT of business with me with grade 8.8 and 10 fasteners. The original Lotus oil pump gasket was so thin that the paper buckled and distorted inside the unopened engine gasket package. There was no way I could trust stretching it out and not tearing it. So rather than wait 2 weeks to order a new one, we did what every cash-strapped mechanic would do. We cut a new one out of quality gasket paper ourselves. That took 1.5 hours of nerves with a scalpel, ruler and vernier caliper. It worked great, however. One trick is to use a Dremel and a tapered grinding stone to "smooth" inner gasket window corners and enlarge the bolt hole apertures, as a scalpel makes a pretty jagged small radius. Tomorrow we start stripping the cam covers and plenum box. Since I am told that I have "too many" Esprits, I purposely strive to make each rebuild that little bit unique. So the '89 has powder-coated engine bits in gloss fire engine red (hey, I was younger then). The '97 V8 uses a crackle finish dark grey instead of the red (note the the DPO re-did the red via a Canadian Tire spray can; bolt heads and all). For this '91 I haven't yet decided on an engine colour scheme other than knowing it will NOT be the orange crackle finish from the factory. I may strip, bead-blast and polish these to a satin alloy. Powder painting prices in Edmonton are, in my opinion, nutty. Cleaning and detailing the throttle bodies comes next. For sure the alternator also needs a rebuild. We tested it in the last few minutes of class and the multimeter indicated the unit makes a negative voltage (!?!) when spun (both CW or CCW). Could this be a bad diode or cracked diode plate? The clutch, flywheel and throw-out bearing are all new so these went in beautifully. It was a good day. AP
  14. For me, visiting the auto wreckers = an opportunity to see where Lotus might get their parts from. Look at the 1997-2001 Cadillac Catera rear door power window switches. I think they are identical to those in my 1997 Esprit V8. I also think they match the ones on a 1991 Lotus Elan SE. A Cadillac Catera is really just a re-badged Opel Omega. Since the Opel bits seem so similar to SAAB stuff, someone should also look at the early to mid 1990's SAAB 900S or SAAB 9-3 switches. This could be a bonus to those with well-worn Esprit window switches. AP
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