S3 renovation

[sandwer]

I've mentioned that I got a wake up call about my 81 S3 when I walked past it in the garage the other day. After reading stuff on here, I've spent the day with the beast, and made a list. I'm checking it twice, lol. Just cleaning it and reacquainting myself with it makes me think its probably going to be a lot of fun getting her on the road again.

The story is that in 2001, I took her off the road. When I tried to put her back on the road the next year, the contacts in the fuel pump were corroded, but eventually got it all cleaned up and started again. The same old story every year, go out and clean the electrical contacts on the starter motor and the ignition circuit, clean the fuel pump and turn her over. So - its march again, and its time to do exactly the same thing, except in the last year, the rear brakes have seized on. And to my way of thinking, a Lotus that has been sitting idle for 6 years is going to need a little tlc in the form of rubber goods (oo-er) - hoses and bushes, and almost everything is going to need checking electrically. I can tell you this today which is utterly bizarre, I connected a battery, and the digital clock worked. For the first time. Ever. I think this may be a bad omen.

Immediate priority.

1. Get the car rolling - the rear brakes are seized on.

2. Get the car on ramps and change the fuel pump.

3. Remove plugs and squirt some easing oil into the bores to ease the next stage

4. Remove and clean all the electrical connections to the ignition and starter.

5. See if the engine turns over.

6. Replace plugs & try to start it...

A days work do you reckon?

MoT priority -

1. Change all brake pads

2. Check electrics and lighting

3. Check steering

4. Replace brake and clutch fluid

Maybe, another two days based on what might need doing?

Long term

1. Fit both fuel tanks.

2. Renew all fuel lines with aeroquip

3. Red hose replacement

4. Front suspension cleanup/rebuild

5. Carb rebuild

6. Work out some kind of baffle in the sump [0]

7. Investigate oil consumption

8. Cooling system revamp

9. New headlining

10. Refinish wheels

11. Replace 'chrome' roof strip

11. Cut paint

I'll post some pics 'before' tomorrow in this thread.

[0] loss of oil pressure on long sweeping left handers.

[Advantage]

Chuck a new cambelt at it too!

[bigsi]

alternator, tensioner, thermostat, temp sensor, oil, cooloant, carb refurbishment and overhaul, replace bushings, brake seals , clutch hose if its the redd one, brake lines, the list goes on and on, depends how you want it really, if you want to see where you can go, either look at my thread or look at troy hallidays details about his total restoration.

i intended to strip out the rear engine bay clean paint the framework, block, gearbox etc, refit re-macined head, belts etc.. re-fit etc... on and on..

[matk]

Mine was off the road for 18 months until Sep last year as I ran out of money! Full C service, ease sticking front brakes and it's ran well ever since. As stated above new timing belt is ESSENTIAL. Also check the fans and otter switch are all working. You don't want to get it running and then melt the head on your first hoon!

[Simon350S]

Good luck dude....

Welcome to the club...!!!

Simon

[Guest Troy Halliday]

ooh can I join in I need to change my cam belt and tensioner, fix my wiper box, tighten my alternator. Fit throttleboddied injection, fit vernier cam pulleys,fit lightened and balanced Turbo flywheel and uprated clutch, get it set up on a rolling road get the locks for my colour coded door handles, fit new springs cos I still hate the height of the car at the mo. .............. erm wash, polish, and then get back to my other little project.

Ah the joys of cars.

if you are gonna take the tanks out and replace them then I would suggest doing all the work at once. As you will need to remove the engine to replace the N/S tank, you can investigate your baffled sump (although they allready are) fit the new cam belt (much easier out of the car). As you will be removing the engine and box as one the brake calipers are attached so much easier to do out of the car. Rubber bits lets presume you mean engine mounts (erm while the engines out) bushes are a major pain in the arse on the lower bolt of rear hub carrier. In if you are thinking of doing all of this then start spraying everthing with WD40 now while you save up the money (believe me you'll be glad you did that).

Depending on what you want to do I have either got pictures up or I have them on my PC (I have about 5 times the amount than is on the site).

Good luck mate and don'y forget if your not bleeding your not working on an Esprit.

[sandwer]

Wow, some great suggestions in there. Cambelt was changed...snigger...3000 miles ago, although that was in 1998. So is it the age or the use that is important? I'm just wondering, I know the correct answer is never "nah, run it anyway - it'll be alright for another 5000 miles at least".

See I'm figuring that this needs to be done in three stages - get it moving = stage 1, get it MoT'd = stage 2 and then stage 3 = the proper work that will involve more than a weekend, if you see what I mean. Engine out stuff. As long as there is the incentive for me to get the work finished (ie, it has an MoT and tax) then it will get done. I'm all too aware that if that motivation to get it back on the road isn't there, then it'll turn into one of those 'year long' things, which quite honestly, doesn't appeal.

Here's the car yesterday evening, before I dusted it.

And the interior, complete with a car cover languishing on the front seat. There is something about acres of blue velour that has always made me want to don a chest wig, platform shoes and stick a barry white tape in the player.

And here it is this morning after a quick clean (can't abide working on a dirty car...)

And what I've been doing since 7.30 this morning. I hate getting the surround off. There is always one rounded head, or one fastener that has special needs. Another thing to sort out. Todays jobs - nip to Peter Smith's and get a set of pads front and rear and then drop the calipers and see whats what. Discs (front and rear) thankfully are new (500 miles old).

@bigsi - I had a look at your resto. Wow. I have never seen a bellhousing or starter motor look that clean. Eat your lunch off that!

Edited March 8, 2007 by RichardS3

[fenton]

I don't believe it, Hilly hasn't posted "SLIPPERY SLOPE" or "LOW TRACTION INCLINE". So i'll beat him to it.

Welcome to the slippery slope restoration club.

My first tip would be start working the wd40 in to anything your going to be taking off in the coming weeks, it certainly helps.

Best of luck

[hilly]

Alright Shane, how about

Ohhhhhhhh, be careful Richard as this can get to be a bit of a lubricious gradient..............

Welcome to a lifetime of dirty finger nails and skinned knuckles.

If the cam belt was last done in 98 (making it 9 years old!!) I would change that before driving it really as you defo don't want it to snap.

It can be done with the engine in the car, I know coz I have done it, more than once.........

Hilly

Edited March 9, 2007 by hilly

[Goose]

Good luck! I agree with the get an MOT first idea. I did it the other way around although there was a huge sense of satisfaction when it passed without any problems. Driving it reminds you why you are chiselling an exhaust manifold stud nut off that you can't even see at some stupid time in the evening during winter, while trying to fight off thoughts that there are another 11 to go...

Edited March 9, 2007 by Goose

[matk]

You gotta do that cambelt. Rubber perishes after time, and if that snaps you're talking engine rebuild.......

[sandwer]

Alright Shane, how about

Ohhhhhhhh, be careful Richard as this can get to be a bit of a lubricious gradient..............

Welcome to a lifetime of dirty finger nails and skinned knuckles.

If the cam belt was last done in 98 (making it 9 years old!!) I would change that before driving it really as you defo don't want it to snap.

It can be done with the engine in the car, I know coz I have done it, more than once.........

Hilly

You sir, are quite mad, and I like the cut of your jib. Audi V8 indeed. An entertaining and awe-inspiring read

Everyone forgets to mention rust flakes iand dirt n the eyeballs. I HATE that more than everything else, although slammed fingers comes a close second. And women say we never come close to experiencing the pain of childbirth? Do they work on cars? I rest my case.

I did the last cam belt change in the car. See story about slow-closing tailgate and understand my reticence about getting in the lotus position again. Although I have new struts now....

Rich

[USAndretti42]

And the interior, complete with a car cover languishing on the front seat. There is something about acres of blue velour that has always made me want to don a chest wig, platform shoes and stick a barry white tape in the player.

@bigsi - I had a look at your resto. Wow. I have never seen a bellhousing or starter motor look that clean. Eat your lunch off that!

In the early 90's I had an Opel Senator with blue velour interior. Lovely cruiser and I know what you mean about chest wigs and plarforms.

I agree with you about BigSi's stuff. Puts us all to shame. I don't know how he has the patience to get things so shiny.

[bigsi]

In the early 90's I had an Opel Senator with blue velour interior. Lovely cruiser and I know what you mean about chest wigs and plarforms.

I agree with you about BigSi's stuff. Puts us all to shame. I don't know how he has the patience to get things so shiny.

quite simple really..

1: too much american hotrod and overhaulin, damn i love them, programs i would love a job there!!!

2: i want to make a concours level car, it has to turn heads inside the car and engine bay as well as outside, a looked after car will look after itself.

oh and im bloody bored out of my head!

[sandwer]

Procrastination is the thief of time, I believe they say. Its been three weeks since I have done anything to the car. Shameful - so this morning, I set to put that right, and got her up on stands. Now, I don't like stands, not since a car fell off them while I was working on it. Buy my trolley jack won't get the car high enough to go on ramps, and I needed to be able to turn the wheels as well.

Once up on stands, I clambered underneath to have a look at the seized calipers. It turns out it was only the passenger side, the drivers side wheel was turning perfectly well. A coffee or two later with the manuals, I set about trying to free the caliper. No dice. I asked for help and Bigsi came to my rescue with what I have to say was indecent speed. See, the parts manual drawing if you don't read it correctly, shows three pins/bolts, and gives no clues how to remove them. Anyway, Simon cleared that up for me and 20 minutes later I was lying in a pool of brake fluid with a brake pad attached to my face. These things hurt when dropped on your face, so take it from me, be gentle when you are liberating them from the disc

It seems that its not a seized caliper, rather, the pads had attached themselves to the disc. Ah well, there was no other way of freeing it up...

The discs are new, with only a few hundred miles on them since being fitted by Strattons in 2001. I thought they looked a bit thick. Its a bit of fun finding out that _you_ are the dreaded PO. That means that I have new discs/pads on the front too, according to the invoice.

Same goes for the pads....

So tomorrow I'm going to take the caliper to bits and see what state its in, nip over to Peter Smiths and see if they have two caliper kits, and have a go at tarting them up. It can't hurt. But don't expect a concours finish....

That will mean that this weekend, the car will be rolling, which means I can pressure wash bits of it that haven't been cleaned in their life.

Rich

Edited April 4, 2007 by RichardS3

[hilly]

These things hurt when dropped on your face, so take it from me, be gentle when you are liberating them from the disc

Rich

Rich, you are not wrong!!!

The brake pads bloody hurt when they drop the 12" from the caliper onto your face as I have done the exact same thing.

Hilly

[sandwer]

Rich, you are not wrong!!!

The brake pads bloody hurt when they drop the 12" from the caliper onto your face as I have done the exact same thing.

Hilly

Shall we form a club?

<grin> But its not going to happen to you again though, is it? Not with your outboard anchors, anyway...

Rich

[hilly]

Shall we form a club?

<grin> But its not going to happen to you again though, is it? Not with your outboard anchors, anyway...

Rich

True, I won't have to deal with the in-board brakes anymore, but I have already found new improved ways in which to maim myself.

Like dropping a front wheel and squashing my middle finger onto a castellated nut and ripping half the finger nail off, now that did hurt

Hilly

Edited April 4, 2007 by hilly

[sandwer]

I've overhauled and refitted the caliper and now I have a mobile esprit. That is, I can push it in and out of the garage. This represents a huge plus, as its been immobile since 2004 at least. Just got to bleed the rear brakes today. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the self-adjustment part of the caliper. Compared to the old Cortina self adjusters this is an engineering masterpiece.

I've been playing with the electrics as well - the only casualty is the electric arial, everything else is working, which is a bit of a plus considering the amount of Lucas stuff on the car, and today should yield the acid test of whether or not it turns over, as I'm redoing the starter motor connections which have oxidised beyond belief.

The new SU pump arrived from SJ on Friday, and thats the next project-ette. I can tell that I'm in for a petrol bath at some point....

I'm going to take some pics of it out of the garage today as well, so I will post them later on. Lots of sitting in the drivers seat going 'vroom vroom' today, which is an important stage in bringing any car back to life, I believe

Rich

[silverfrost]

Good work Richard,

Its nice when different parts of a restoration start to come together,

like you finally been able to move your car :yes each stage is a breaking point in

the project and before you know it you wil be flying down those country lanes

keep up the good work,regards danny

[sandwer]

Right - wheeled the car out, gave it a wash, and then set about the wiring. Five minutes later, having acquired a new qualification as a contortionist along the way, I've changed the spade terminal on the wire to the starter motor. Nothing is that easy, is it? Well, apparently it is.

Last week sometime I stuffed some 3in1 down each of the bores just to make sure there was some oil helping things along when the big day came. So I stuffed some more down there just to be on the safe side, went and had a coffee and then tried to turn the thing over. Bingo. It does turn over really quickly when you don't have the compression to deal with (plugs were still out) so I know I don't have a seized engine now. I put the plugs back in, and connected everything up, and it turns over like it would normally - except theres no fuel (no fuel pump....and even if there was, 5 year old 4 star ins't going to be much cop).

So - I have two remaining tasks before I can get it started properly - replace the fuel pump and bleeding the brakes. Wow. I've already undone the pump mounting from behind the seats, so just as soon as I can get it up in the air again, I can change that.

Anyhow - heres some pictures of the car.....

Been a few years since it looked like this....

Or this....

@Danny - cheers for that, its great when things turn out to be easier than you think. Can't wait to try out the twisties....

Rich

Edited April 29, 2007 by RichardS3

[sandwer]

This gorgeous looking item - was it standard or an option fit in 1981? I'm just curious really....

Rich

[matk]

Looks non standard to me but best way to check is access the parts manuals available to members on Club LEW and have a look there. I know that the S2 manual specifies which stereos were in use.

PS just had a look. Lists Panasonic 973, 583 Motorola, Blaupunkt Cambridge, Boston, Toronto, Clarion 950,920, Sparkomatic SR309F...............

No Pioneer.................

[sandwer]

Looks non standard to me but best way to check is access the parts manuals available to members on Club LEW and have a look there. I know that the S2 manual specifies which stereos were in use.

PS just had a look. Lists Panasonic 973, 583 Motorola, Blaupunkt Cambridge, Boston, Toronto, Clarion 950,920, Sparkomatic SR309F...............

No Pioneer.................

Matt,

How odd, the only other 81 S3 in Essex blue with blue muppet pelt interior that I know of has the same unit.

Well, its a talking point. Especially when I turn it up - its unbearably loud.

Rich

[sandwer]

I did the fuel pump this weekend. As I predicted, a petrol bath, grazed knuckles and recalcitrant fuel lines all conspired to make it a weekend to remember. I still smell of petrol. Still, the lawnmower lapped up the gallon of 6 year-old 4 star

The old pump came off without a struggle, but the bracket needed cleaning, so I thought I'd hammerite it as well. Result is here.

Either I've got a bad case of colour blindness or hammerite never looks like it does on the tin - what was supposed to be an approximation of Essex Blue turned out looking like a piece of meccano...Well its not as if anyone is going to see it.

So I connected everything up - fuel pump and battery and went to turn on the ignition to listen for the tell-tale 'dugga-dugga-dugga-dugga' - nothing. No lights on the ignition, nothing. Checked everything was ok wiring-wise, fuses, charged the battery overnight, you name it I did it. Still nothing. Everything else works, lights, fans, windows, radio, its just anything on the ignition thats not working.

Now I have an immobiliser (no alarm) and its Just Worked for 10 years. How it works is, you stick a dongle into a slot until the led flashes, and then you can turn on the ignition. Since I changed the fuel pump, theres nothing going on with the light - sticking the dongle in does nothing.

So my question here is - When I started work, I pulled the wires off the fuel pump with the battery still connected. Then I realised I was working with fuel, so I disconnected it and went for the petrol bath...is it possible that disconnecting the fuel pump has triggered the immobiliser so that it has latched itself into some kind of 'locked' state? If so, is it unlockable? I confess I know absolutely stuff all about immobilisers, so enlightenment is welcomed.

Rich