Waterfall mystery solved :(

[Guest Troy Halliday]

I stripped the head of tonight and found out why I have a waterfall in my exhaust. Basicaly something must of at some point fallen into cylinder number 4 and smashed the piston and cracke dthe liner. The head shows signs of scoring which I hope can be delt with. So I am now looking for a replacement HC piston and liner and a full engine rebuild.

If I look at in a more positive side I will only now have to worry about the gearbox because it will be the only thing that has not been replaced or reconditioned. To say I am gutted is an understatement

So time to look through your garages folks for a HC piston and Liner that you want to part with

I am going to make a phone call tomorrow to an engine tuner I know and see if he has any ideas on a couple of upgrades for my engine. I do have a second 104 cam that I could fit and I know they do verier pulleys. The head will need some TLC so I may ask if he can improve on it at all.

Any sugestions welcome.

Just when I thought the end was nigh I get this kick in the balls!

[Guest teigan]

sorry about the bad news. you've officially got the most expensive S3 ever. i'd want a full rebuild too given the circumstances. how bad is the scoring? don't let anyone talk you into a larger bore. the performance gain will be minimal, and the transmission can't even use the existing power. if you really want to turn this setback into a positive, you should source a thinner stronger crank. maybe you can sell them to the rest of us. hang in there.

[f1karting]

Troy, maybe the people at LotusBits can help with a one-off piston and liner... see down the page.

http://www.esprit4sale.co.uk/Sale/parts.html

I may be able to salvage one good nikasil liner from a recent replacment we did.. dont know if you want to risk using "used" parts though. Maybe as a last resort..

Teigan.. the crankshaft on these cars are not problematic.. besides where would you find such a beast as you describe?

Edited January 6, 2006 by f1karting

[sbarc]

Hi Troy,

I've been quietly following your images as you've proceeded. I am deeply impressed with the quality and depth of work and the persistance you've shown.

Keep at it!!!

[Guest teigan]

Teigan.. the crankshaft on these cars are not problematic.. besides where would you find such a beast as you describe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the thing looks overly beefy when compared to what goes in today's cars. it must drag in the oil. the new part would need to be milled from billet stock, but if anyone made one, i'd be first in line to buy it.

[jimmybondi]

Troy

Sorry to hear that, mate!

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Just got a quote from SJ's for about

[bladerunner]

Troy

I have been following your progress along with all the other members.

I am very impressed with your workmanship and dedication to the project.

I am sorry to hear about the new problems.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Duncan

[Simon350S]

Gutted for you mate.

I'd try lotusbits as already suggested if you just want to replace the one piston/liner.

Any ideas what it was??

[USAndretti42]

Really sorry to hear the bad news, Troy, but it does sound like a good time to include some engine upgrades. I can't help with parts but it sounds you have most of them sorted out.

Where do you find the patience?

[silverfrost]

Im so so sorry to hear the drama your having at the moment Troy

the sheer patients and the proffesinal manner you have gone about your restoration of your esprit inspires us all i feel. I hope you overcome this drama soon mate and get her on the road.

It just goes to show how much passion we have for these cars

because i think if it was any other car i think we would of all given up on them along time ago

p.s was it an inlet manifold nut or washer by any chance! i nearly lost one of the basta*ds down the inlet port when i was doing my headgasket in situ!

hope to hear your engine running soon

regards dan

Edited January 8, 2006 by silverfrost

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Thanks all for your support.

There is no sign of the ofending object at the moment. I have looked in the exhaust but as yet there is no sign of any foreign matter.

My patients are coming to an end I must admit, but when I look at what I have achieved and how good it is looking I kind of get a boost. A friend poped round who has not seen it since he helped lift the body of the chasis. He couldn't believe it was the same car. It's things like that and support from you guys that helps you march on when you are mentally and emotional drained and just want to shut the door and leave it there.

I must admit the car is looking so good at the moment. I have pretty much tied up all the loose ends I just have a few left. I am going to start work on the boot carpet set if I run out of things to do before I have the new engine parts. I may even have time to do the gear linkage upgrade I have been thinging about using some quality rose joints and bearings to try and make the linkage slicker.

Ho hum it will all be worth it in the end.

[cbclotus]

Good on you for every thing you have done .i look at my s3 and think i need respray colour red badly faded .also trim black felour .not looking to good . it will be worth it cheers mike

[mchlrodrigues]

Teigan.. the crankshaft on these cars are not problematic.. besides where would you find such a beast as you describe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QED used to do the forged and nitrided cranks for Lotus Sport, out of EN30B I believe. I bought one around '94. If I remember correctly I think they were around 1500 GBP or $2000 at the time. Albeit much stronger and harder than the original cranks, they were in fact heavier, until you rework them and knife edge the counterweights. The rod jornals on the 910 motors are wider than they need to be and the piston pins thick and oversized as well.

Garry Kemp has had cranks done with thinner jornals using H-beam rods with smaller wrist pins, custom pistons and honda bearings, but only for his 2.5L stroker conversions.

The windage losses can be solved by added scrapers to skim oil off the crank and reroute the flows. But this requires machining drainage slots in the main bearing girdle, making the scrapers from 4340, positioning them and drilling the girdle. It's tedious, time consuming and not a trivial job.

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Well I have just put a cheque in the bank that will pay for all my parts I need, so I should be ordering the parts early next week.

I am going to fit two 104 cams and vernier pulleys and am dropping my head into an engine tunner today to get skimmed and if possible ported and polished a bit more.

I have spoken to a friend Steve Greenall who is an ex lotus mechanic and now runs a rolling road comapany in london and he expects my engine to produce about the 200bhp mark but we will see when she gets on the rollers for the final tune up.

I have been quite busy of late working to get the extra money to finish of the car but have still managed to get a few things done.

The graphics are now on the car

It has been re mopped and polished

The window screen trim has been replaced with a larger rubber trim

All the little scratches and nicks that have occured over the rebuild have been touched up

The door handles and number plate lamps have been repainted/colour coded to match the car

The sterio system is installed minus the sub because after all my calculations it stil didn't fit

The front brake that was binding has been sorted out

Seats are now fixed in

Tail gate drain tubes are in

Battery tray is fitted

Wheels have been polished

The puck for my new air box has been made and I am in the process of making the fibreglass mould

Oh and today I will be getting the engine ready to come back out agin and will be stripping her down ready for the rebuild over the coming week.

Unfortunately I will be working again this weekend chopping down some trees in Kent so only have a few days to play with her

If any body is in the Chathem area over the weekend and would like to have a drink with myself and my girlfreind let me know it would be good to see some of you. I am desperate to get to the LOtus show with my car this year if she isn't working I may well trailer her up there

Well sorry to everyone for not bbeing around but the devil drives as the needs must and all that.

Hope to be seeing you all real soon at the show and hopefully I will be in my Esprit (fingers crossed) all be it driving slowely while running in the engine.

[markt]

Thought you dropped off the planet or something...Nice to hear you've made some progess Troy

Interested to see what you've used for the windscreen trim. The rubber profile you suggested to replace the old cracked plastic 'chrome' on the top seams of the roof on mine worked out quite nicely thank you.

With an equally crap gearchange, I'll be modding a front wheel drive Toyota cable shift to fit in my ride. Done this on one of my X1/9's and even the misses could find all the gears no problem...

Keep plugging away - You'll get there eventually. Don't know how long you've been busy on this project, but last weekend, I finished a car I started almost 9 years ago.

Keep fighting the good fight - Mark

[WayneB]

Just read this thread, I feel bad for you Troy

At this stage, you should go the whole 9 yards and Turbocharge the bleeder

[JRTurbo909]

Yeah turbo would be nice. I cant wait to see the final product. You sure set the bar high on this one. I wish I had your patience.

Shah

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Well here is a quick update.

Engine is now out and partialy stripped. Tommorow I will have the engine completely stripped tomorrow night . I need to strip it down to get the main bearing size so that I can order up the new parts. I have pretty much decided to put in two 104 cams and vernier puleys. I think that with my other mods this should help me keep up with you Turbo boys

I'll keep you all posted on my progrtess.

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Ok engine is all stripped down on the whole it looks in quite good condition. The main bearing are worn more at the flywheel and cam belt end. I am not sure if this is the norm so the crank is going of tonight to be balanced along with the Flywheel (which I already had lightened and balanced), the clutch aseembly, and the con rods. The head is going of to be skimmed, cleaned and polished aswell. I should here back by Wednesday on the condition of the crank to see if it needs any major work and as soon as I find out I will be oredering my parts. The big ends are in very good condition and look to have been changed not to many miles ago bot will be replaced anyway. The pistons look in good nick as do the liners, all baring of course the cracked liner and smashed piston.

WHn I get all my parts together and the skimming and blancing is done I will be:

Lapping in all the valves (oh and he is checking the guides aswell)

Replacing the 107 cam for a 104 (ie 104 inlet and 104 on the outlet)

reconditioning the oil pump

reconditioned water pump

replacing all the piston rings

reseating all the liners

changing all the big end shells

changing all the main shells

all new gaskets and oil seals

remote oil filter if possible

Oil catch tank

rest of the car

new locks

new interior handles (mine are just to rusty)

removing the massive amp I bought and replacing it with a smaller one and self powered sub

new wing mirror controller

new interior door light switches

I think there may be a couple of things I missed but you get the idea.

Wish me luck, I am on a limited time scale here

[silverfrost]

Troy top man and glad to see that the whole waterfall thing is sorting its self out!

as crap as it may be, it may have damaged your bank balance for now, but you will benifit by knowing your engine inside out , also the car should be good for many many trouble free driving hours, and lets face it with a fantastic restoration like the job you have done on your car it was the law of averages that something had to go wrong

Just think of the smile on your face when you get her on the open road! Priceless

Keep up the good work

regards dan

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Well I juts got a phone call back from the guy who is skimming my head and checking my crank. It seems that my crank is bent .............................. but that was the crank from my old engine The head has been skimmed , although there is slight pitting it is inside the firing line so should not be a problem. The crank is fine and has been freshly balanced along with my flywheel and clutch assembly. The head is being decoked, valve stems are being checked and I should be able to pick it up soon. I have managed to get a piston and liner from Garry Kemp so I will be sending him some money across tonight so that I can get it here asap. I will be ordering my parts tomorrow so fingures crossed I should still be able to get her together for the show.

[Simon350S]

nice one troy. Keep plugging away mate, wont be long now!

[Guest Troy Halliday]

I piked up the head last night all freshly skimmed. The valve stems were ok so no extra work was done there. Down side is I asked for it to be dipped and once more I recieve a head back that has just been put in a hot bath.

So tonight I decoked the ports and then scrubbed it within an inch of it's life in the parts cleaner. Result one shiney head................... oh and black hands

The exhaust ports looked a bit pitted almost like a cast finnish but not quite as course ........... so I set about it with a sanding bit for the drill and then proceeded to polish it up to a mirror finnish. Then realise it was 1.15am and thought I had better get home to bed because I have to leave for work at 6.30.

Just thought 6.30 am and I'm on here typeing away

Well everything is ordered so my fingers are crossed that they will all turn up in a speedy fasion. Unitl then I can clean all the other parts, Lap in the valves, reasemble the head and a few other little bits.

[Simon350S]

Are we still on track for donny then??

Looks like its almost there now so i've got my fingers crossed for you mate!