S2!

[JonSE]

Only a minor update, not much progress but separated the engine and gearbox this week in readiness for moving to the rebuilder/s.

Amount of play I’d read about was still a surprise, output shaft was a little worn upon inspection.

Body is due off first week in January for sunroof fill and other minor amends then prepped for painting.

I’m expecting to get to rolling chassis stage for the costs I’ve calculated to be around £20K with everything that’s needed!

This will be to have every item new or renewed, but before any body work or subsequent costs to start building back to a working car!

Was lovely to meet a few Lotus people at the NEC in November and see first hand both of Fabians cars, with a tour round both by the man himself!

I didn’t get many photos but did snap my favourite car of the show….

[JonSE]

Next steps were to prepare the body shell for sending to a GRP specialist.

Used old guitar string to cut out the old screen….

 

Wanted to keep the screen in tact for safety reasons, it did crack and looked to be lethal if it had gone through on the road!

Managed to more or less keep it in one piece to take to the recycling centre…screen out of the shell….

The piece of wood trim that I believe holds the inner trim / sun visors? Been badly hacked around in the past, I’ll probably just make a new one….

Was surprised the self tappers mount through to the cabin from under the screen mount, could this be an issue with stresses or nothing to worry about if it goes back like this?

[JonSE]

The screen may not be original and there were multiple attempts to try and reseal it, but on some places you could thread a tie wrap under the screen, on other areas, the sealant was at least 10mm thick….

My plan for the top dash is to sand very smooth and paint matte black (no material cover), to prevent any potential lift in dash top trim on the future and maybe make a better seal.
 

The new trim will probably be matte black similar to the marcasite, although I understand exact material is not available….

I’m probably going with electric heating under the dash to replace the matrix as discussed earlier in the thread, so will delete both the main dash vent and the face level vent in the binnacle (which I always had switched off in my old car as I don’t like air being blown onto my face!)

[JonSE]

So body prepared for transport for various preparations ahead of paint….loaded onto transporter sourced via Club Lotus, an ex sea captain now in the car moving business here in the North and a Lotus owner himself….

[Fridge]

Great to see this major step finally @JonSE

Yes, those self-tapping screws are correct, but need to be short enough as to not reach the windscreen otherwise they'll create stress points as you suggest.

[Lotusfab]

9 hours ago, JonSE said:

Next steps were to prepare the body shell for sending to a GRP specialist.

Used old guitar string to cut out the old screen….

 

Wanted to keep the screen in tact for safety reasons, it did crack and looked to be lethal if it had gone through on the road!

Managed to more or less keep it in one piece to take to the recycling centre…screen out of the shell….

The piece of wood trim that I believe holds the inner trim / sun visors? Been badly hacked around in the past, I’ll probably just make a new one….

Was surprised the self tappers mount through to the cabin from under the screen mount, could this be an issue with stresses or nothing to worry about if it goes back like this?

Hi Jon, that piece of wood was rotten in my car. I made a new one. Not sure if S and J now sell them, but it was easy to make. I used Isopon Fibreglass and bonded it to the roof using wooden props. There are pictures somewhere on my blog I think, it made an as new repair.

[drdoom]

19 hours ago, JonSE said:

 

 

Wanted to keep the screen in tact for safety reasons, it did crack and looked to be lethal if it had gone through on the

The piece of wood trim that I believe holds the inner trim / sun visors? Been badly hacked around in the past, I’ll probably just make a new one….

Was surprised the self tappers mount through to the cabin from under the screen mount, could this be an issue with stresses or nothing to worry about if it goes back like this?

 

 

I chose to simply clean up the original piece and bond it back in with epoxy. See no reason that it should be removable nor that screws are relevant if it's properly affixed.

[Classic Transporter]

19 hours ago, JonSE said:

So body prepared for transport for various preparations ahead of paint….loaded onto transporter sourced via Club Lotus, an ex sea captain now in the car moving business here in the North and a Lotus owner himself….

 

 

Glad to have been of assistance to you Jonathan.  Hope all goes well.

[JonSE]

Thank you, and good to meet you too.

The chassis has now been blasted and is being checked for where it needs repairing, usual places it seems including the exhaust area, lower front box section, otherwise it seems ok. Photos attached if of interest……

Was surprised the rack mounts are welded closed at the bottom, bad water trap and a lot of rubbish had accumulated. Ideally these will be open so I can periodically blast wax back up to keep everything covered……

[JonSE]

I’m thinking if I do go with an electric heating system, to bring the water forward still through the chassis into a cross tube, to help with cooling on cyl #4, maintain as much coolant in the system as possible and also to allow (if required) someone after me to re-plumb it in if they feel the desperate need to do so.

Also weighing up wether to bring the oil cooler into the front area via longer hosing, but should I be concerned about the extra strain on the oil pump or consider an aux unit?

If it’s a basic modification that’s worth while, I’ll consider it. The car won’t be used too heavily but makes sense to be thinking these things through now the corner seems to have been turned….

[Djs44]

Jon I’m doing a front mounted oil cooler - no discussion about issues with the pump 

 

 

[drdoom]

I'd not relocate the cooler that far from the engine, too much capacity in which air bubbles could accumulate, not to mention detritus of any sort. Modern oils of appropriate grade and formulation should take all manner of operation in stride using the OEM cooler installation. Worth knowing what oil temps are truly manifest, as I discovered over years of classic Elan ownership. That's a saga I'll expand upon if wanted.

Good job getting the chassis blasted clean, are you aware of the quantity of media which will have come to rest in various spaces? I hoovered out many pounds left in the front box section, the backbone and in the engine bay round chassis tubes. I was so grateful that I'd declined to have it shipped straight off to the paint shop for spraying over, not the least confident they'd have gone to the considerable effort it took to extract the media. On that matter, I found it necessary to adapt a couple of hoses to the shop vac, the smallest being a large heater hose needed to approach the deeper reaches of the box section. It took some time and effort. Paint over such a mess at one's peril, shudder to imagine how corroded the metal so encased will become.

Cheers 

[JonSE]

Thanks for that, I’ll check into that regards the chassis. The lower box has to come off for repair which will allow all the media out there, but I’ll see what the cleaning regime is on the rest of it before it’s committed to coating.

Oil cooler location needs to be considered then, the car isn’t going to get the kind of daily use it was designed for, but is like it to cope with it if needed.

I expect modern oils have come a long way in terms of keeping the set up as it.

I’ve another car with a forward oil cooler and there is no way to drain it on oil changes without taking the car apart so it’s accepted there’s 2 litres of old stuff that mixes with the new every time as the pipes run very flat.

[jonwat]

11 hours ago, drdoom said:

I'd not relocate the cooler that far from the engine, too much capacity in which air bubbles could accumulate, not to mention detritus of any sort.

Stevens' models had front mounted oil coolers 

[910Esprit]

As does the G Turbo, but it is true that draining is not an option as part of a regular oil change

[Fridge]

On 05/02/2022 at 14:01, JonSE said:

I’m thinking if I do go with an electric heating system, to bring the water forward still through the chassis into a cross tube, to help with cooling on cyl #4, maintain as much coolant in the system as possible and also to allow (if required) someone after me to re-plumb it in if they feel the desperate need to do so.

Also weighing up wether to bring the oil cooler into the front area via longer hosing, but should I be concerned about the extra strain on the oil pump or consider an aux unit?

If it’s a basic modification that’s worth while, I’ll consider it. The car won’t be used too heavily but makes sense to be thinking these things through now the corner seems to have been turned….

What is the perceived benefit in relocating the oil cooler?

I agree with @drdoomabout the careful removal of media from the chassis sections. There was loads to be removed from mine. The chassis also needs to be protected by something ASAP following media blasting.

[drdoom]

7 hours ago, JonSE said:

Thanks for that, I’ll check into that regards the chassis. The lower box has to come off for repair which will allow all the media out there, but I’ll see what the cleaning regime is on the rest of it before it’s committed to coating.

Oil cooler location needs to be considered then, the car isn’t going to get the kind of daily use it was designed for, but is like it to cope with it if needed.

I expect modern oils have come a long way in terms of keeping the set up as it.

I’ve another car with a forward oil cooler and there is no way to drain it on oil changes without taking the car apart so it’s accepted there’s 2 litres of old stuff that mixes with the new every time as the pipes run very flat.

Not just any modern oil, however. One is wise to select one which has characteristics known to be favourable to flat tappet cams, and to have appropriate viscosity.

[Djs44]

2 hours ago, Fridge said:

What is the perceived benefit in relocating the oil cooler?

I agree with @drdoomabout the careful removal of media from the chassis sections. There was loads to be removed from mine. The chassis also needs to be protected by something ASAP following media blasting.

Not sure about the relocation to the front - perhaps better cooling ( it is right in the airflow ) or that the cooler can be bigger than normal . 

 

[Fridge]

2 hours ago, Djs44 said:

Not sure about the relocation to the front - perhaps better cooling ( it is right in the airflow ) or that the cooler can be bigger than normal . 

 

Considering that the oil cooler is normally located low down and not surrounded by an engine bay cover it seems a lot of work to relocate for the work involved and minimal gain, especially on a road car.

I would have thought that the potential danger of a stone being flicked up through it from the wheel well would be a more significant reason.

Edited February 6 by Fridge

[Djs44]

You sound just like my wife . She asks me a question , I answer , then she tells me what the answer really is …. 

[drdoom]

Stone guard easily crafted from expanded mesh metal. Easy peasy.

[jonwat]

21 hours ago, 910Esprit said:

it is true that draining is not an option as part of a regular oil change

After emptying the sump I used to jack up the front of the car & get a load more out then leave it draining overnight which also empties the filter allowing it to be removed without the contents spilling all over the garage floor. 

[Fridge]

18 hours ago, Djs44 said:

You sound just like my wife . She asks me a question , I answer , then she tells me what the answer really is …. 

Probably because I was hoping for a cost/effort vs benefit style of answer.

[910Esprit]

8 hours ago, jonwat said:

After emptying the sump I used to jack up the front of the car & get a load more out then leave it draining overnight

The oil stat seems to stop that approach working on my car in a reasonable timescale!

[Djs44]

On 05/02/2022 at 13:51, JonSE said:

Thank you, and good to meet you too.

The chassis has now been blasted and is being checked for where it needs repairing, usual places it seems including the exhaust area, lower front box section, otherwise it seems ok. Photos attached if of interest……

Was surprised the rack mounts are welded closed at the bottom, bad water trap and a lot of rubbish had accumulated. Ideally these will be open so I can periodically blast wax back up to keep everything covered……

Jon - was wondering about the closed off box that the steering rack mounts to . I imagine this has been done to make the box stiffer to reduce flex ? 

They must have done it for a reason - a  small hole to drain wouldn't make much difference I guess.