Dash Ignition Switch Connector # Wire
1 Brown/White Stripe
2 2 solid White
3 White/Red Stripe
4 Solid Red (radio)
Switch Connection/state Connections
ACC (Full Left) 1 - 4
OFF None
RUN 1 - 2 - 4
START 1 - 2 - 3
Well..got me thinking about what to do...so...
So, according to what I discovered, how does a PCV valve work?
You would think that the PCV valve would flow more at high vacuum situations like at idle and less at lower vacuum situations like pulling a hill. It does the complete opposite. Actually, if you take one apart, you will see that a spring-loaded plunger inside the valve is tapered on the vacuum side that fits into the bore of the body. At idle or cruising when the vacuum is high the plunger is pulled farther into the body. The taper reduces the opening and the amount of air flow through the valve is reduced. Under acceleration or heavy load, such as pulling a hill, the vacuum drops. There is more blow by under a heavy load producing more vapors. In this case when the vacuum drops the spring pushes the plunger, opening the port up for more air flow when it's needed the most to remove the extra gasses. Many of the early PCVs were designed for close to vertical operation using gravity on a heavy plunger instead of a spring to modulate the valve opening rather than using a spring.
So, I'm assuming, based on the advanced technology of our engines, that having it mounted just in line at a 45 degree angle probably isn't the best...so, will get the mount set up and try and find some proper sized 90 degree hoses to mount it as shown in the manual and parts list.
But, the results of my experiment apparently solved a problem that I had been hacking at since I put 693R on the road.
Hope this info provides some insight for those wondering about what this system does.
(I'll also check my plugs and idle mixture. Noticed that I'm getting some pinging on hard acceleration...I forget...should I retard or advance the distributor....I'm thinking retard a degree or two...yes, I'm running on high test...maybe I should try avgas...)
BB
693R (running ok with the pcv temporarily installed)
Well...just thought I'd update on goings on at the House of Boyle...I know...been quiet since the last one, right? Doesn't mean that nothing is going on though...:)
Photos of the install are in my website http://www.bdboyle.com/europa/index.php under today's date of the arrangement I came up with. The valve was mounted vertically; I tried to keep the same general arrangement.
What I'm also going to do is also bend up some aluminum tubing to replace the lower feed from the valve to the inlet so that there is some additional stability to fix the assembly in place; may remove the rubber hose nipple from the manifold and put in a fixed fitting to pick up the metal tube. We'll see.
Running premium (maybe I should top off with 100 octane saturday..down to a half tank...) Exxon (hey, ex-employees with x years of service still get a break on the pump price...). Once you unload it a bit (let off on the acceleration rate..), it goes back to being its normal self. So, I know it has to do with the timing.
Thoughts?
Secondarily, have been investigating the jensen motors work on suspension, and some dox in the golden gate site, as well; so, I'll probably be mucking around for some spare upper A arms to modify (leaving the ones I have stock...) to give me some camber adjustability range for the front, and then reset the toe. Can always go back to stock...which is why I'm going to track down a set of originals to mod.
Anyway...still working on her. Never ends, does it?
But, at least, after all is said and done, versus what I was thinking in June (like...is this ever going to work????), when I get something done, I get a chance to go for a drive and smile...you all know what I mean?
:)
Thanks for listening...
BB Well...many steps forward, and a rework in place for an original part... Came to a long light, and, the rad fan kicked on. And squealed like a
stuck politician taking away his graft payments. Ok...it is the
original one that came with the car...and more than a few years old.
No biggie...was pulling on the superslab anyway, so, I hied myself
home, temps holding nice at 90...pulled into the garage and pulled the
fan assembly off.
Blades came right off (original Ducellier...), and removed the motor.
Armature was rough to turn with my hand. Guess the bearings were dry.
Not a big deal. Separated the halves, brushes looked in good shape.
Cleaned the contacts with cleaner and buffed them shiny, washing them
down with cleaner to get all the spooge off.
Pushed the sintered bronze bushings out, and cleaned them up with
contact cleaner. The armature surfaces were a little rough, so, I
lightly polished them with crocus cloth, and cleaned the ends up with
contact cleaner also.
But, what to do with the bronze bushings? They are a good fit on the
armature still, they're just dry.
So...took out my hot plate, a small pan for the water, and one that
fit in it for the oil...a double boiler set up, as you will. Same way
you would melt parafin. Put a mixture of 30 wt and light solvent in
the second pan, brought the water up to boil, put the second pan in
the boiling water (like a double boiler...) and added the mixture and
bushings to it. Let it simmer for about an hour (with the door open
to the garage...and sat there and watched it (with an extinguisher by
my side...). After about an hour, turned it off and let it cool
naturally, then removed the bushings from the oil (most of the solvent
had evaporated....). Pressed into place back in the
housing...reassembled the motor, adding a little oil to the cup at the
closed end and smeared some on the exposed end and tested.
Quiet. Smooth. Reassembled the motor back into the fan shroud etc.,
and reinstalled.
Nice. It works. How long? Can't predict. But, if it lasts for even
a couple years...that will be ok with me.
So..I saw that Griots had Wheelskins, so I called them up. Obviously,
the original Lotus wheel is not on their list, so, they asked me for
the measurements, and said that a special order would be the same
price drop shipped from Wheelskins.
For reference, the size of our wheels is 14" diameter, 3"
circumference rim for the leather wrap.
They quoted 10 days. it showed up in 5. Took about an hour to put on
carefully.
I'll put the before and afters up on my site, but, it looks great.
Makes the rim just a hair thicker, but, the quality is top rate.
Not an endorsement of either Griot's or Wheelskins, but, it turned out
quite well, so, it's worth the bandwidth to express satisfaction--what
other biz would call a customer for the specs for a special order of
less than 50. USD, and go that extra step for the same price as a
stock item? Not many, so, while not endorsing, I am quite happy with
their customer service (and product quality). All in all...not too much accomplished this week, but, small steps
forward, and a minor shuffle in reverse taken care of...
BB We all know what happens to that wonderful polyurethane foam that
Chunky bought at a surplus sale that he used for the sunvisors. It
turns to dust. Mine were no different...and after most of the
interior shops that I brought them to just kind of looked at me...I
decided to take things into my own hands and attempt a repair of them
myself.
Problem is, they were assembled with a heat seal over a metal frame
and foam backing. How am I going to do that...and still retain enough
of the stock look that if you all peer into my car at the next LOG it
won't be the cause of too many snickers...
So...taking trusty tools in hand...this is what I did.
Supplies needed: 1. Take the visor in hand. Note that there is a heat-sealed seam
along all sides; what you're going to do is, with the scissors, cut
carefully along the top end of the visor (the end that has the hole
for the mount) and remove ONLY the heat-sealed seam on the top,
leaving as much of the vinyl intact as possible.
2. Remove the steel reinforcement from the opened visor, and shake out
all the decomposed original foam. Remove any that is stuck to the
frame, and, if need be, clean the rust off the frame surface.
3. Lay the frame on the closed cell foam (I used the left-over stuff
from the chassis..), and, with a marker, trace out along the INSIDE of
the frame. What you're going to do is use the closed cell foam to
close off the inside area of the wire frame. With the scissors, cut
out the foam along the line you scribed.
4. Take the cover, and CAREFULLY use it to draw the outline of it on
the regular foam. What you're going to do is get the general shape
(minus the backbone where the visor slides onto the mount...but along
the flat piece of the mount (you'll see what I mean if you look at the
frame..it's a tube with two flat extensions that pick up the wire
frame...) that will be about 1/4" smaller than the outside shape.
5. Taking some contact cement, apply to one side of the closed cell
foam, and the proper side of the regular foam. Lay the frame flat on
the bench, and put the closed cell foam inside the frame. When the
cement is fired off, carefully lay the regular foam, proper
orientation, so that the top edge of the foam is about 1/4 inch down
from where the tube and flat strips are joined. What we're going to
do is make a sandwich of foam/closed cell/foam capturing the wire
frame...so, do the same to the other side.
6. When all set up, offer the frame-cum-foam sandwich into the open
visor. Note where it is too big...remove and carefully trim so that
it is an easy fit in the visor...not too tight, not too loose. You
should have (if you opened the visor up carefully) about 1/4" of
overlap if you fold the loose ends over the top of the frame.
7. When satisfied with the fit, brush on some contact cement to the
frame, and one side of the vinyl. Wait to flash off, then carefully
fold the first flap over and attach it to the top of the frame. Do
the same for the other side, except you're going to apply the cement
to the vinyl you just folded over and the underside of the second
flap. Wait for the flash off, then fold the second flap over and
smooth out carefully.
8. If you've made it this far, you will notice that the hole for the
mount is a little off. No problem...with the scissors, just trim the
opening so that the visor will fit back on the mount.
9. Satisfied? Then clean the vinyl with any reasonable solvent (be
careful not to get the seam you just glued with the solvent), and
spray the vinyl dye on, a few light coats.
10. Reinstall when dry. Admire your handiwork.
Total time for both took me, after I figured out how to put the foams
together, was about an hour and a half.
I'll put some photos up tonight or tomorrow on my website.
BB And...in other news...
Changed the tranny fluid today, swapping out the Castrol GL4 with
Redline MT90. I had noticed that, as the tranny heated up with
driving, the shifting would get a little notchy.
Not anymore. Spent about an hour running around the area...high
speed, low speed, traffic, open road.
Up- and down-shifts area lot smoother. Most certainly the box is a
bit quieter. Cross-gate movement is smoother.
Maybe it's just my perception...I was hoping that the synth gear oil
would work out better. We'll see, as I put some more mileage on her.
For the record, I have aprx 1500 miles on her since august 21. Last
fill up returned 38 mpg (pretty good for 5.25/gal avgas...). Been
still fiddling around with it pretty much every day.
Next week, taking a week off between companies (yes, leaving Lockheed
Martin and gov't contracting to get back into the real world...), so,
have lined up all the stuff I need to do the headliner, a-pillars,
crash pad, and reseal the windshield with new replacement chrome trim
and corner clips from RD.
And with that, she'll get transfered to the airport...to be taken out
on the 28th for a NY/NJ LEO drive, and then get laid up for the winter.
BB Came out fine. It was being held in by prayers. Literally, did not
even have to use a cold knife, a wire saw, wedges, or anything. The
trim was holding it in...but, pulled the trim off, and the windshield
did not have to be cut out.
Sat it in my basement on a number of blocks of styrofoam so I could
clean out the channel of the old butyl..gently leaned it against the
sheetrock wall.
Nice.
Came back an hour later to clean the butyl remnants off the glass.
Cracked.
Sigh. Minor setback, I think. Probably wrong, though.
Anyway...doesn't mean I can't keep going, right?
Removed the visors, headliner (it came off pretty much in two pieces),
with a THICK coat of factory glue on the foam. The new headliner I
ordered 2 days ago came in with the headliner cement. So, to take my
mind off the windshield in the basement with the big crack, I replaced
the headliner. It only took about an hour or so, including cutting,
trimming, etc. Need to pick up some edge molding the finish the top
of the opening; still need to trim the front edge afterwards.
Hint for installing...start at the rear of the ceiling and work
forward to the windshield opening.
Also pulled out the crash pad. Have the new one from RD/Banks/? to
install...looks like some trimming involved...but that's to be expected.
Swapped out the VIN plate; now, all the plates (except for the chassis
stamping...) match. That's a good thing, right?
Cut out a couple pieces of connoly, vinyl dyed with flat black, and
installed on the A-pillars as they should be done. They look nice.
The way they should; when you match up the new headliner, the
cantrails, and the freshly replaced A-pillar trim, along with new door
seal...wow. I can see the light at the end of the interior tunnel.
Well..thought I'd escape the cracked windshield syndrome. Guess not.
Durn.
Oh well...
Good thing I have off next week. I did pick up 4 tubes of urethane,
still trying to find the primer (no one around here seems to have
it...), new trim...corner clips...and have cleaned off most of the
spooge in the channel, so...forward she marches.
BB Well...put the inside all back together over the last couple
days...and, while I had to attend my grandson's first birthday party
this afternoon, did manage to close up some loose ends: Total to install trim, prime channel, mount windshield, and fully
polish the outside? $200. USD. I figure that's a bargain.
So, the crated replacement windshield will be carefully placed in
storage when I get it from Ray's, and, I'll go with the original
Triplex, albeit polished out, for now. It's nice to have spares, you
know...:) Lord knows, the crappy way that PA DOT leaves gravel all
over the roads here...
As always, photos of the completed interior (and the old windshield
taped in place..) are at http://www.bdboyle.com/europa/index.php under
10-21-Interior_Finished .
BB Well..off to RD's today to pick up the OEM Triplex windshield. What a
day to do it...???? Photos in http://www.bdboyle.com/europa/index.php under
10-27-Windshield directory. Also a shot of the adhesive I used, the
primer container, and, Dan Costello proudly showing off the rear deck
to his TC that he brought over...:)
Looks nice, I think...new trim, no scratches, OEM triplex tinted
windscreen. Life is good (even if the checkbook took a BIG hit...)
Now, I just have to figure how to get the old rear view mirror button
off (when you want to, they don't...when you do, you can't budge
it...) and transfer it over to the new window. Maybe I'll just take
the broken windshield down to the dump, take a sledge to it, and save
the piece that has the button on it...:) It's not any good, anyway,
right?
Either that, or stop by the local GM stealer on Monday, and buy a new
mount and day/night mirror off something like a Grand Am or some such,
so that when stopped at a light, the SUV in back of me isn't blinding
me...:) and go with that solution.
I'd like to thank Dan for his great assistance (and he's certainly
getting a Europa Education...) this afternoon; it made it a whole lot
easier having four hands instead of wrestling with it myself. It
would not have gone in as quickly or easily without him. Thanks, Dan.
Now...on to the leaking head and tranny. Some things never are
finished...:)
BB
Anyway, casting about for a gasket kit for a -30 engine that I'm
planning on rebuilding this winter...and the sources are few and far
between.
So...a lot of folks have dealt with Geert of the R16 club over in the
Netherlands; he's a good chap, and willing to deal with those of us
who enjoy (?!) the feeling of French power in our Brit cars (with
Italian tires and US carpets...).
He has access to complete, fresh manufacture gasket kits, which are
the same for the 821 engines installed in the original cars as ours.
The cost, excluding shipping (and I added in transaxle gaskets and
seals) was about 160USD, when converting from Euro to our devalued
currency. Shipping was another 40USD (24 Euro). If you need them,
you need them.
Shipping time was only 5 days from the Netherlands, besides, to the
east coast.
FYI, current manufacturer is a subsidiary of the Dana Corporation,
called Glaser Sealing Products (http://www.glaser.es).
I've passed this info on to RD for his research to see if there is
source for them over here.
I found Geert to be cooperative and willing to research the
differences, so, if you're in the need of these items, it might be
worth your while, even accounting for the exchange rate and shipping,
to consider taking this tack if you're in a rebuild mode (or, just
want them on the shelf In Case).
(costs to other countries is unknown, so...ymmv.)
Geert's email: r16geert@home.nl
Just thought I'd throw this out for the general masses and KB
(eventually).
Well..it's come time to finally give up the garage and move her to her
hibernation location...so, as a wrap up for this season, bear with me
as I bring everyone up to date:
1. As a datapoint for the car...since re-arriving on the road in
August, she's done a bit over 1600 miles of enjoyment on the roads of
NJ/PA/NY (just a bit...). What a blast.
2. The yard shed formerly known as "that empty shed in the back yard"
is full of the cast-offs of the rebuild...not that they're not useful,
but, were baggied and part numbers scribbled on the bag. The cast
iron or steel pieces were rescued, cleaned up, sprayed with a mist of
oil, and put in baggies, stored in my basement...things like the extra
set of hubs, stub axles, etc.
3. I've stored away the new water pump, fuel pump, gasket sets,
thermostat, extra set of belts, hoses, suspension bushings...shims,
seals for the tranny, etc in preparation for next year and the
cross-winter projects that I'm looking forward to.
4. In the interim, with the upcoming hibernation, I decided that,
before putting her to bed, it would be a propitious time to finally
install the new speedo cable. Don't know why there is such aggida
about doing it (unless I did something wrong...:)); took, with
replacing the original speedo head (which is getting sent to
Nisonger...) a little under an hour. Did it just as the manual said;
the only change was to use a bit of safety wire as a pull wire to get
the front thru the hole under the dash. The old cable? Well...it was
broken about 4" from the rear end...which might have explained the
somewhat erratic indications....works fine now, if a bit high (3850
rpm, which should give about 70 mph actually reads 75. I have a spare
angle drive which I can try...but, assuming that it's a calibration
problem which will be taken care of when I get the Nisonger repair
back...after all, the mechanicals are somewhere between 37 and 35
years old, right?
5. Still weeping a bit of anti-freeze, but only after a longish ride.
It's a head gasket. So, that's on the list for this winter in the
hangar...
6. Whilst underneath stringing the speedo, made sure that I cleaned up
the drips, etc. Undercarriage is clean, tidy, and ready for winter.
Note...didn't wax it this time...:)
So, off to the hanagar she goes. Cover is stashed in the trunk.
Interior is cleaned, floor carpets ready to come out, along with the
seats...going into my basement for the interim. I'll put the battery
on a tender when I get her to the field.
Oh, yeah, also changed the oil and filter. 20w50 castrol. New Fram
PH3512. Half pint of Camguard per the instructions to keep the film
up on the metal, and a bottle of water wetter in the antifreeze. Get
the thing nice and warm on the way to the field and get the fluids all
through the engine.
And then, hibernate. Sniff...:)
But, then, that leaves space in front of the SO's car to do the other
things that I've got lined up...
BB
So...after spending an hour shoveling out my corner lot sidewalk...
traced out the vic brit high-current headlight harness they sell and
draw it for the benefit of folks who are thinking of upgrading their
headlights, which means that the existing wiring has to be considered.
One of the neat features is that the high-current feed for the
filaments is taken off the panel switch and high/low on the stalk and
that circuit is used to turn relays on and offand there's a separate
fused feed direct from the fuse block (or direct from the
battery...remember to put a fuse in as close to the power source as
possible in case there's a short closer to the load...) that bypasses
the whole dashboard/column mess of wiring.
Another nice feature, I think, is that, with the use of two relays, if
one fails, you can swap the good one into the socket of the failed one
(or, carry a spare...these relays are pretty much all I use, so, there
are a few that are mounted that are not used right now...and are
pretty ubiquitous) and it will get you home. As a matter of fact,
it's the same relay I use for the alternator, radiator fan, air horns,
etc.
Anyway, the page I built with the diagram is in the 693R menu on my
site (http://www.lotuseuropa.us) under "Mods". I think I'm going to
maintain the out-of-the-resurrection mainstream upgrades here, while
still maintaining my blog on Jerry's site for the final phase of
693R's resurrection...and starting a new one when the next car gets here.
Thoughts? Comments?
BB
With the rising flood waters of the Delaware lapping at the next town
over (Yardley), and no flights (yeah, right?), figured I'd dig into
the box o'parts that have collected space in my garage and start
working on freshening up stuff in preparation for the paint work.
1. Stripped both doors that I have from the original car. Window
frame (no rattle strips in either of them...), quarter lights,
mechanisms, motors, etc. Couple of the welds on the rattle strip
mounts are broken...which is normal, I guess, as well as the spacer
piece at the front of the main frame that positions it outward on the
door. You know, the one that's always broken? No problem.
The rubber gaskets for the quarter light are in reasonable condition,
a little shrunken, but, useable. IIRC, they are NLA, so, I'll
carefully soak them in some rejuvenating oil (from leatherique.com)
and hope they are ok. When I reinstall, I'll use some of the urethane
I have in the unopened tubes to close the open joints at the corners.
That should be ok...I guess.
2. Found a box containing the remains of a couple handbrake handles
I've accumulated. So...stripped them all down, and spent some quality
time at the sandblast cabinet to clean them up. Figure will chromate
them, a nice coat of semi-gloss black, and use the single good white
press handle as a pattern to make up some replacements out of aluminum
stock I picked up along the way. Photos are on my website
(http://www.lotuseuropa.us) in 693R's photo album, in the 2008
directory (I had to re-arrange the album due to some limitations in
the software regarding how deep the software will dip to alphabetize
the listing...).
3. Unpacked the bell housing I scored off evilbay, and removed the
old, hard input shaft seal, installed a new OEM seal, and installed an
NOS throwout bearing into the fork after prelubing the housing.
Smooth, clean, and looks ok. On the shelf for later use....
Anyway...a quiet day.
BB
Hi, I'm Bryan..
(HI BRYAN!!!!)
Anyway...good day today, even if I didn't get to work on 693R, being
involved with finishing up my friend Joe's aircraft interior.
1. Dropped a supply of stuff off at Ray's (now I'm supplying stuff to
him..but, I'll let you look at his page to find it..:)). Picked up,
seeing has he had some new stock, of the front quarter light rubbers
(sadly, only the top and bottom, not the H channel...but, the ones on
the car are ok, so...will use those (unless someone knows who has the
quarter-to-main window frame channel...:)). Also, took advantage of
his sale on side marker light bases, as well as the 3-year badge for
the new bezels I picked up a couple months ago. So, the side rear
badges are complete...and photos are in my 693R photo album, 2008,
under today's date.
2. Got home, and dug out the stash of parts I had for the side lights
left over from some car or the other along the way. Took them apart
(well, the rubber just crumbled in some cases...), brought the lenses
upstairs to the kitchen, and scrubbed them clean (which also got a lot
of the white wax residue out from between the lettering on the faces.
3. Took everything to the workshop, and proceeded to polish the chrome
frames (I have 2 extras besides what I used and what's on the car...)
with a light touch of Simichrome. Got off a number of years of crud
and spooge...and there's little if no pitting. Nice.
4. Proceeded to reassemble the side lights; first, put in the backing
plate for the reflector, then the reflector lens itself, then the
light socket (will still have to bead blast them to clean them up, but
just wanted to try the assembly...), then the light lens. Then,
carefully attached the chrome trim by placing it in position, lightly
compressing it with my hand, and using my thumb, teased the rubber lip
over the flange on the trim. Took about a minute per., and everything
seated real nicely.
5. Still have to, as I said, bead blast the sockets and backing plate,
but, now that everything is together, they look sweet. And, oh, new
rubber, so, when I pick them up, I don't get black rubber dust all
over my hands (which is a pita to wash off...it's almost like used
motor oil from a diesel...it just never comes completely off.
6. Appropriated Karen's camera, and took a few shots which I dropped
into the same directory as mentioned above. I'm not trying to sell
anything, but, if yours are a bit worn, or they are almost NOT holding
that chrome trim in (which is unobtainable, so...), I'd consider it
(considering the minor $ to save a piece which is, if you can find
them, going for upwards of 150. USD last I checked overseas) a
worthwile investment.
7. Started trimming the quarter light rubber trim...realized that I
probably should wait till I actually go to install the things so I can
get the miters right at the corners. But, they do look a LOT better
than the deteriorating stuff on there now.
7a. FINALLY got both original doors free of their door pins, bushings,
and assorted ash and trash. FINALLY, they're just shells. So, when I
cut the existing doors off 693R, I'll choose the better of each side
to use for the sand-down and repaint.
8. Picked up 200 pads of 230 grit sanding disks for the orbital, as
well as a trade-size box of 600 wet/dry for smoothing out the final
sand-down and primer coat. I'm going to do most of the prep work
myself...and just have someone do the final smoothing of the primer
and color shoot, rather than the whole magilla.
9. In preparation for the arrival of another car, I rented a garage
(15x25) at the airport to have a place to store/work/disassemble/? the
next project without inconveniencing the One Who Must Be Obeyed. Only
a C note per month (cheaper than my old tiedown for my plane...), has
40A electricity service (can anyone say compressor and blast
cabinet...???), overhead lighting, and a concrete floor. Anyone need
any work done...:)??? Enough room for my roll-cabinet of tools, and
space for a good sized workbench and shear and brake. And, I won't
have to inconvenience my friend Joe...:)
10. Speaking of Joe...arranged to drive the car to his shop in 2 weeks
to r&r the head gasket. He offered, since he has all the tools and
stuff there (especially to dump the fluids, and clean up
afterwards...), as well as a surface plate to check the head. So,
that's in the queue.
11. Whilst at rd...picked up his binder of factory service bulletins
from the 1970s...and will scan them in for Jerry's site. It's not a
complete set, but, I'm on the trail of one...so, there will be gaps,
but, it's a start. There's a bunch of scans ahead of them,
though...like a rescan of the TC/TCS parts manual (ray loaned a
pristine manual, as in it's in a sealed bag with an OEM parts tag on
it...:)) to clean up the diagrams on Jerry's (and rd's...which is a
modification of the original work done last year...) site.
Just for giggles...I looked at my calendar...a week from this coming
Wednesday (26 March) I took posession of 693R from the shipping
company. And almost a year since this resurrection started. How time
flies when you're having fun, right?
To be up-front, if it wasn't for the great folks on this list that
have kept me honest, I never could have even gotten this far, let
alone known how to even start. Steve, Jerry, Mike, Pete, Whit, Jay,
Ed, Dan, and I'm leaving out a whole gaggle of folks who have
encouraged me, not by choice, but this would go on too long...I'll
throw you my keys anyday for a ride (as long as you bring her back...:))
Thanks, guys.
BB
Well...being the retentive engineering type...need some help, if
someone has access to either the cylinder liner hold-downs for the
821-30 engine or has built them...
Next weekend, I plan on pulling the head and regasketing to cure a
small weep from the front left side. I have a complete set of gaskets
(well, more than one set, one never knows, does one...??) for both the
top and bottom ends, etc. I have a couple of long head bolts that I'm
planning on cutting the heads off of and slotting for removal to make
up the locating pins, as well as the locating tool for the rear left
side (that funky looking one with the two fingers that stick up
(thanks, steve...:)). Also have a Cardone rebuilt water pump (while
I'm in the area, you know...) to go on...didn't like the thin paper
gaskets they supplied for both the base and the rear plate, so spent a
little time this morning replacing with new OEM, which are
impregnated paper (out of the curty gasket kit...) rather than what
Cardone used.
Anyway, don't want to take chances whilst the head is off that the
liners will pop. The engine only has about 28K miles, according to
the records I have, since the engine was rebuit in Miami by a couple
POs ago. While I don't forsee any problems if they do (I have a set
of the bottom end gaskets that I'm bringing Just In Case...so I'd just
have to drop the oil pan and pull the jugs and pistons, etc...in
essence, doing an in-frame rebuild (I also have a sealed set of
original hepolite rings that came in the original delivery...), I'd
like to gin up a set of retainers to eliminate the possibility as much
as possible. I know about only loosening the center cam side bolt a
couple of turns and using it as a pivot point, etc to break the seal
by hammering with a soft-blow hammer to twist, etc, and the fellow
(joe) who's shop I'm doing it in has experience in wet-sleeved french
engines (peugeot, citroen, and some renaults...:)), so, I'll be as
careful as possible...:)
I do plan on putting the tranny in neutral and disconnecting the
actuating lever and blocking the wheels to imobilize the car, too.
Again, Just In Case...:)
Anyway, if anyone has a set of hold-downs or a bare 821 block, could
you do a favor for me and measure bolt-center to bolt-center across
the head so I can drill up some bar stock to build a hold-down set?
I'm going to make a guess here based on discussions, that the bolts
themselves are 11mm x 1.5 pitch; not a very common size, but, I can
cut some 1/2" ID tube to length to just use 4 of my head bolts to hold
the bar stock down.
Any thoughts from folks that have gone down this road before? (Yes,
I'm going to check the torque before pulling the head just in case
it's a case of the head not being torqued properly from the PO's
overhaul...not that I think that will do anything, but....)
If anyone has any input, I'm sure everyone will benefit...:)
Thanks, all.
BB
One year anniversary. Let's whoop it up. Roll out the barrel....
So...loaded one of my gasket kits and all the bits I've collected over
the past couple weeks...into 693R...and off to Flemington Foreign
Car...to start pulling the head off and regasket the thing...:) You
know, took a lot of back roads up hills and down the other side on the
route between princeton (beeped at the owner standing outside of the
Lotus dealer in Hopewell NJ as I went past...he waved back...),
sweepers left and right, decreasing radius turns, nice smooth
roads...these damn thing are fun. I keep remembering that, even with
all the issues you can have...when they're running and the road is
clear...watch out. Fingertip control, get into the groove. Feel
close to what it's like when you get a smooth night, and the flight is
just grooving..fellow pilots will know what I mean...:) Anyway...
1. Backed in onto the alignment rack at the shop, and chocked the
tires, as well as set the handbrake. No rolling allowed for this job,
even it it's in neutral, and pulled out the bolt connecting the
mechanism to the lever coming out of the tranny, making doubly sure
it's in neutral.
2. Started clipping tiewraps all over the place. I use a lot of them.
And clip them just as wantonly. Spare the tie wraps, spoil the job...
3. Removed: engine wiring to the Alternator, distributor, water temp
sensor, and pulled it back as well as the choke cable, throttle cable,
E-clip for the throttle arm, pullies, belts, alternator adjusting arm,
carburetor, exhaust clamp, valve cover, rocker arm assembly (lots of
spooge in the oil passages...no biggie, will solvent wash out the
assembly and head before reinstalling...and turn the engine over
without ignition connected to preoil before starting on the flip side
of this...). Punched holes in a piece of cardboard, numbered it for
the cylinders, and lined up the pushrods in the sequence they were
located in the head.
4. Put heater valve on high (joe mentioned, and dug out an original
OEM valve the same as mine. Has no idea where he got it..but threw it
in my box o'parts with a 'you may need this someday...') and removed
the closure plate in the front and the aluminum plates closing off the
nose from the rack area. Popped the pressure cap on the swirl tank.
5. Pulled over the BIG 5 gallon bucket, and unfastened the hose clamp
for the bottom coolant hose. There's a LOT of coolant in these things
as compared to a normal (HA!) car.
6. Missed one step...sigh. Forgot to check the torque before
untorquing the head. Oh well, will never know whether it was right, I
guess.
7. Disconnected the coolant hoses from water pump and released the
drain on the side of the block to drain the block.
8. Following the instructions in the manual to the letter, released
all the head bolts EXCEPT for the center one on the cam side.
Loosened that just a couple turns (at the most).
9. Just for retentiveness, scribed a line on the portion of the block
that is just proud of the head around the distributor boss as Yet
Another Registration Mark. Can't hurt. Didn't carve it, just used a
diamond scriber to give me a line.
10. Moment of truth. Couple of 5 lb dead-blow plastic-faced hammers,
couple blocks of wood held longways at the front right corner and rear
left. tap...tap...tap...hmmmm...nothing. Whap...Whap...Whap...head
moved. WHAP...WHAT. Head turned enough to move it with your hand.
Whap...whap...whap the other way. Head is free.
11. Released center bolt on cam side that was left. All bolts in
order stuck thru a piece of cardboard. Picked up the tappets out of
the cam galley and put them in a piece of cardboard, too. Everything
numbered, everything accounted for, in order.
At this point...took 4 of the long head bolts, the lengths of pipe cut
to about 4.5", a handful of 1/2" fender washers, and used them to
clamp 1&2/3&4 cylinders down using the long bolts on both sides of the
block, in the holes between each pair of jugs on the edge of the
block. Didn't have time to get fancy this week with the cross strap,
so I used the technique listed in an old remarque. There was still a
little coolant in the bottom of the block; I'll drain the oil tomorrow
to see if there was any displacement or leaks from the bottom seals.
Have a couple sets of both the paper and the newer excelynl seals as
supplied in current gasket sets.
At this point, it was time to call it a night. Didn't even turn the
head over to see what horrors or good surprises await therein...just
was too bushed. So...put it on the surface table to sit there till
tomorrow morning. Will check the flatness tomorrow. Can't wait.
Photos in the 2008 folder of 0693R on my web site. Batteries died in
the camera part way through, so didn't get some 'action' shots. It's
charging now...will take more tomorrow.
Did find out that the mainfold I had gotten with the car, with
multiple weld repairs, is coming apart again. Lots of cracks
appearing in the welds. So, I have a spare manifold in great
condition, no welds...tomorrow, on top of everything else, I'll
transfer the phenolic block, gaskets, and studs over to the new old
manifold, and, found a set of original PCV hoses. So, dug out the PCV
valve mount, fashioned up a new gasket, and will have OEM hoses from
the flame arrestor on the valve cover to the manifold with the
branched feed to the air cleaner. Will have to adjust where fume feed
to the air cleaner is to the side rather than the back where it was,
but, all in all, considering the work, not too bad.
(Somehow it feels like deja vu all over again...starting to take the
car apart on the 28th of March is getting to be a regular occurance.)
More tomorrow. Let's see what transpires in the AM. Also on tap, new
water pump, belts, replacing all the bolts that were removed (the ones
I took out were rusty...can't have that...and some other things..but,
for now, a glass of cabernet, and off to the rack. Up with the
rooster tomorrow, and back to the shop. (didn't have a car, so, Joe
offered me a choice of his Beemer 7-series or a new Ridgeline to drive
home...took the ridgeline...:))
Good karma appreciated...from the collective. Updates as they happen...:)
BB
Cam was fine. Tappets had a nice circular pattern to them, which
means they are rotating in their bores. Only #1 exhaust cam lobe
showed any sort of wear; not critical right now, but, is going to send
me looking just in case, you understand. Only reinforces the need to
use a good oil with enough ZDDP in it to protect the boundary layer
lubrication areas, as well as having a good additive package that
prevents rush and corrosion formation.
No rust on any of the lobes that I could see. One of the pushrods was
not perfectly straight on rolling it across the surface table. Can't
even see it looking at it, but you could notice it on the surface
table. Will swap it out; have a couple casting about, but was able to
reset all the clearances ok, so, another day.
Looks like the head had been trued at some point; putting it on a
surface table, it was dead nuts flat. Tried it in a few locations,
and rotated it around, and the same answer...no distortion of the
surface that would let me get my thinnest feeler in under it (and the
thinnest was WAY thinner that even the minimum distortion range.
I cleaned up all the surfaces with paint remover, Joe took over and
buffed both the head and the top of the block and cylinders to almost
a mirror finish. Talk about surgical clean, right? Well...(wish I
had photos...sigh...I hate digital cameras...give me 35mm
anytime...don't ask...) I mean it. Spit shine clean.
Replaced the water pump with a fresh Cardone overhaul. New impreg
gaskets to replace the paper ones they supply (I seem to be lousy with
water pump gasket sets...). New bolts, washers, the whole 9 yards.
In examining the top of the block using the tool I won from a lister,
found the jugs were proud right in the middle of the allowable range.
Drained some oil from the pan to see if the liners had popped (doubt
it, since they were tightened down very nicely last night....).
Nothing. Just oil.
Valves looked ok...didn't pop the collets and examine the seats,
didn't think there was a reason to after only 28K miles since the last
overhaul according to my records.
Also found that the bushing that was supposed to be in the top of the
block on the cam side was not in the head or the block. Hmmmm....
So, made one out of thin wall brass tube, .8" OD, 11.5mm ID. 12mm deep
(total depth of the easement in the head and block not including the
gasket...) Tapped it in. Is it "C"? If they're going to pull the
engine apart, they'll find it (as well as 1800 of my closest
Europanauts knowing...). But, it Does The Job. And that's the
important thing (as well has having access to a shop lathe to cut the
piece...there is that, right?)
So, nothing else to do but set the locating dowel I made earlier in
the front passenger side bolt hole, placed steve's repop finger gauge
in its fitting, aligned it as per the manual, and set the gaskets in
place.
Dropped the head on. Between the locating pin, the bushing, and the
finger gauge, everything lined up properly first time. Dropped the
distributor in, went right down all the way smoothly without any
forcing or jiggling. And, the head was aligned perfectly with the
scribe mark I made around the distributor mount last night.
So...three bolts (lightly oiled threads) in place and lightly
tightened them down. Removed the locating pin and completed
installing the head bolts. First torque to 30 ft lbs with a beam
torque wrench (not a break-back). Nice and smooth. Second torque to
55 ft lbs, again, per the order in the manual. Nice and smooth.
Installed the rocker arm rack. Hm....the center stud hole is
stripped. Well...it's not an oil feed hole...so, out comes the
helicoil kit...carefully drill it clear (with a vacuum there to suck
up the swarf as it's being drilled...tap out with the helicoil tap,
and insert the coil. Nice. It takes the stud and the 20 ft lbs
torque for the rack bolts. (put the pushrods back in at the same time,
btw...). Lifted one side, reconnected the shift mechanism, put in
4th, and adjusted the valves to spec.
You want I should continue? Pretty much went back together just as it
came apart. Only problem I ran into was that the valve cover gasket
needed to be replaced (it was new last year, but...since I had a new
one...) since it was weeping a bit when we got it all together. So...
Got the whole shooting match back together, closed all the coolant
taps except the radiator tap, and water pump bleed valve, and filled
it with Global Gold Antifreeze and a bottle of water wetter. Kept
filling it till it was running clear out of the radiator, the water
pump, and the swirl pot was about half full.
Hooked everything up...except the throttle cable...and fired her up.
3rd blade (almost...joe, whose shop we were working in, is a pilot,
too...). Nice, and no more tap tap tap tap....Let it run till the rad
fan came on, cracked the bleed valves again just to make sure, and let
it cool down for 50 minutes.
Valve cover off again. Torque wrench out. Torque to 60 ft lbs.
Smooth. New gasket in place, put the rest of the engine anciliaries
back in. Wrench to every bolt, to check that everything was tight.
Missed one...the bolt for the alternator adjusting arm...now it's
tight...and checked all the hose clamps one last time.
Guess what? It runs. Runs well. Temps steady at 90 degrees, Oil
pressure at 40 or so. Charging about a half needle positive. No
weeping antifreeze (you could see where it was leaking based on
looking at the old gasket...right where I thought it was, front driver
side), just a little (about 2 drops worth of oil still leaking from
the valve cover gasket...just tightened it down a little more when I
got home...fwiw, you can use a 22mm 6-point socket on those funky VC nuts.
Car is resting in my driveway right now. Van is still at the airport.
Seeing as I get the garage back on April 1...figure I'll just have to
keep it here with me, and go pick the van up tomorrow...:)
Besides, I still have to sawzall the doors off and install the
stainless pin kit, rebuild the window frames (or just swap them out
with the rebuilt ones I already have...) and put in the new rubber
gaskets for the quarter windows....finish installing the radio/CD
player, and start getting things ready to be soda blasted in a month
or so.
Spring is here. 693R is running. The project continues.
Oh, yeah. 3 hrs last night. Started at 8:30 this morning. Finished
(ie driving out the garage on my way home) at 3:30PM. YMMV. I had
some expert help. But, I'd add a couple hours if you all wanted to
attempt it. Advice? Follow the manual. Clean everything. Don't
reuse old gaskets. Use new fasteners. Take your time, and if you
have any questions, Read The Manual.
(and for all those who provided input, advice, or guidance on the
list, you all are the best!)
BB
I'll cut to the chase: All of the suspension mounting holes on the
transaxle in 693R were repaired, permanently (or as permanent as
anything is on a Lotus...) last evening. Cost me a dinner at a real
fine Italian restaurant afterwards...but, small price to pay (and Joe
had to be forcibly NOT be allowed to pay for dinner...:)) for some
yeoman's work and guidance.
How they got there is a story of upheaval, oops...wrong story....:)
Anyway, after a leisurly drive on the backroads between Lawrenceville
and Flemington, through some very pretty scenery, we dug into fixing
the one stripped hole, and continuing the process (while there, in
other words...to the remaining mount bushings.
1. Backed the car onto the lift and set the brake. Chocked the tires.
2. Propped the boot open all the way, and removed the trunk box.
3. Whilst waiting for the manifold to cool down, removed the muffler.
4. Then, in order, started to loosen and remove all of the bolts that
held the rear suspension UP in the car. In doing so, noted that
there is a lot of tension on the individual components. This gave
both Joe and myself some pause. I know it went together easily and
didn't have any force on the parts when I did the work last
July/August. Why the heck is everything so tight now? I busied
myself with removing the downpipe from the manifold (to get ID and OD
measurements so I can fit the new Stebro sometime in the next
month...) and clean it up a bit...
So...scratching our heads...since it was the alignment lift, it has
the jacks to lift the front of the car for the alignment process, so,
we shimmed the jack up under the rear hoop, and lifted the rear.
Unlocked the locks for the lower link heim joints, loosened them up,
removed the road wheels, top shock bolts, and drove out the #8 bolts
at the inboard side of the lower links (since we had to drop the
bracket to repair the holes. No tension, and everything moved easily.
5. Keeping track of the washer pack and cone spacers (which were a
subject of multitudinous posts last year...), the lower links dropped
down and out of the way.
6. To get the bracket off, there are 2 #5s through the lower case.
We removed these as well as their washers and nylocs. The rearward
one is a close fit, so, I used a thin-wall socket to get a good grip
on the bolt head.
7. Took a look at all 3 holes (2 on the driver (left) side, and one
on the right). The one I was worried about was truly buggered (lower
left); the other 2 were showing signs of starting, after 37+ years
since their original manufacture, of deteriorating, as I kind of
figured they would.
8. So...the M8x1.25 helicoil kit calls for a 21/64" drill size for
the coil size tap. Pulling out the depth gauge, I set a bit stopper
for 1/8" less on the drill bit, and proceeded to drill out the holes
to accept the tap. No problems, air drill set for medium speed, nice
and easy to the stop. Blew out the chips with the air gun.
9. Assembling the helicoil tap onto a handle, proceeded to tap all
three holes to the proper 12.5mm depth (using M8x1.25 x 12mm coils.).
10. Put the three coils into place, sunk a half turn in below the
outside face. Snapped the tab at the end off, and removed the tab
with a spot of grease on the end of a xcelite greenie screwdriver.
11. Now...on to reassembly. All new bolts, flat washers, lock
washers for the mount to the transaxle; the original nylocs were ok
for the lower links. All assembled tight, but not torqued. Wheels
and nave plates back in place.
12. Lowered the car off the jack onto its wheels. Rolled forward and
back out the garage (with the downpipe on and muffler off...I'm sure
the neighbors appreciated THAT at 8PM...) to set the rear suspension,
then back on the lift, and up in the air (it was on its wheels). 150
lbs in the driver seat, 150 in the passenger seat (bags of spedi-
dri...). Torqued to spec (60 ft/lbs for the #8s, 55 for the top
shock bolts, 20 for the thru-tranny-flange #5s...).
13. Pulled out the camber gauge, set rear camber for -.5 degrees.
14. Inspected the admittedly beatup muffler. The inlet tube was, how
shall I say, cracking where it entered the muffler can. So...off to
the bead blaster to clean up the metal while Joe pulled out the
brazing equipment. Mounted in the BIG vice (i'd hate to lift this
one...it has to have jaws about 8" wide and an 18" travel...:)), and
braized the joint with a nice bead to repair (for now...).
15. Let it cool, and hogged out the mounting holes on the bracked to
ensure that there was NO interference with the bolts on the transaxle.
Checked the security of the downpipe clamp on the mainfold while it
was cooling off and tightened down the new stainless #5s and lock
nuts tight.
16. Remount was the reverse of disassembly...:) Tightened up the
mount bolts (there's a spacer for the top one...since the bottom of
the mount is outside of the lower link bracket...), again, new
hardware.
17. Put rear screen back in (it had been removed to pull the muffler
out...) and the license plate...and started to check for exhaust
leaks. Nada. With the cracks braized shut, it's even a lot quieter.
I can hear my stereo now...:) Still needs to be up a bit, though.
18. One last look around underneath...rolled her out the door, and
waited for Joe to lock his shop up. Off to a dinner of some real
topshelf chicken marsala and a glass of cabernet...
There's 3 photos in 693R photo section under 04-09-08. Only 3. Was
up to my elbows in spooge, since I did most of the heavy lifting.
Needed to get the technique down so that future repairs aren't an
imposition on friends. Self-sufficiency is a good thing.
Drove in this morning...and life is good. Muffler is quiet for now
(I know the Stebro will be a bit more 'obvious'); and I'm a bit more
confident that the rear suspension will be at the end of the journey
where it was when I started.
Life with a Lotus goes on, right? As I'm fond of saying, a good
Lotus day...:)
Subject: Fans and Steering wheels
693R (my ball joints were hard to remove too, if that's any
consolation...took a lot of colorful language and big hammers...)
Subject: sunvisor repairs
1. A hunk of closed cell foam large enough to do two visors.
2. Enough 1/8" foam to do 2 visors, double thickness (4 pieces)
3. Sharp scissors
4. Contact cement
5. Can of spray vinyl dye (I used oxford white...off whitish)
6. Vacuum
693R (visors fixed...)
Subject: transaxle lube
693R
Subject: windshield ou
693R (windshield less, but with a fresh headliner...)
Subject: Interior done
693R (Started pulling the hoses away in the engine compartment to get
the valve cover off so that I can check the torque of the head
bolts...as Steve so rightly pointed out, it couldn't hurt...:))
Subject: Windshield In
693R (not windshieldless anymore...I can put my flying goggles back in
my flight bag...next to my silk scarf...)
Subject: Gasket Kit source
Subject: 693R update....probably the final one of the season...:(
693R
Subject: Idle hands are the Devil's workshop
693R
Subject: well...continuing work
693R
Subject: I thought this was a support group...and update on today
693R
Subject: small request
693R
Subject: So...one year on, and already taking it back apart...
693R (in pieces again...THAT will change...:))
Subject: Re: So...one year on, and already taking it back apart...
693R (back in the saddle...again...)
Subject: Adventures in Helicoiling