snowrx

Curious if anyone has information on optimal vacuum advance settings for the 910 turbo engine for cruise and low loads. I'm still working on a ignition map in that area. I think the US/Emissions dizzy had 18 degrees of vacuum advance, and I would like to incorporate some vac advance to gain some off-power efficiency for better mileage but a simple extrapolation of 29 degrees of mechanical+static advance @ 3000 rpm and 18 degrees of vacuum advance over the map gives 47 degrees of advance on overrun at 3000, which seems a lot. With a mapped ignition, I can account for boost retard, idle and cranking settings separately, so I'm just looking for part throttle cruise and low load timings for this engine if anyone's done any tuning there.

Looks like a Federal car, it's got the exhaust cam pulley drive flange and the cat looks the right shape, although mine had no races of the heat barrier Lukc is looking for when I got mine, just the washers at the wheelarch. On my replacement cat converter I just welded some standoff bolts and fitted a piece of polished stainless steel as a heat shield to protect the body. If memory serves, it was a piece of a tea tray from a thrift store!

Hey Mark, I'm curious about the spec's on your system as installed, do you have the build listed somewhere? I'm running the "low" boost capsule on my EFR and have had no problems with the wastegate control. I'm using the B-W provided solenoid, controlled by a Megasquirt MS3X, but I'm keeping the boost low (<=10psi/160Kpa) in deference to my Citroen transaxle, so I might not in the same boost range.

Brain still adjusting to an early pulley on a late crankcase...

Ah, regrets of an early adopter, If they weren't so damn pricey, I'd trade in my MKI Stevens unit for a MKIII T4 G-car unit. Trump's car parts tariff would likely $mack me on the import now though.

I used a bolt on T3>T4 adapter to mount my EFR on the Alunox.

The serrations remind me of the edges of my air conditioner compressor mounts. I think they are to regularly spaced to be hand cut. Could it be a backing plate for bolts going through something soft like fiberglass or plywood?

In Lotusfabs defense, there does seem to be some black magic (or unaccounted variable) in the valve clearances. The engineering view would be once the clearance and the existing shim are well measured, do the maths, swap the shim and job done! But- it often seems to take even experienced builders several cycles for each cam carrier. (Or perhaps generally we won't accept less than the exact clearance? Another issue entirely)

You can turn the worn ones upside down and use them, as the unworn rim then contacts the underside of the tappet. As few miles as my Esprit sees, I use both sides of worn shims, giving me two measures in one shim. With a good micrometer (.0005" even) you will see variance from marked values occasionally. I would think that working from a shim collection with a given micrometer, even if the mic was off in it's absolute measure, once you had a clearance to work from the relative measures would still get you there, as the error would stay the same as you measured other shims with the same mic. If the mic is giving different measures of the same piece, chuck it in the bin! Valve Shim Worksheet - Format, Metric & Sealant E97-W98.xls

A cheap Chinese digital caliper- Does Metric, standard and fractions. I use it most days to pick off or layout dimensions, size drill bits, scribe lines, measure depth, sort hardware, convert measurements etc, etc. At under 10 dollars or pounds, it inexpensive enough I don't worry about breaking it. You can attach one to another tool like a drill press for a digital readout. My favorite White Elephant gift when one is required, something for the men at the party. Get the stainless steel, not the composite one https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Electronic-Caliper-Vernier-Micrometer-Measuring-Inch-Metric-Fraction-6in/263847732367?epid=25023185893&hash=item3d6e8ce48f:g:QyMAAOSwtbtbX0LS&frcectupt=true

Just begs a Trump re-write, those jokes just write themselves........

Glad to see JB Weld is on the job in the UK! Get a digital micrometer to read ten thousandths so you can properly chase your tail whilst doing the shims. A caliper just doesn't catch the depressions worn in used shims that give you two sizes in one shim. Hope you are using a spreadsheet to do the calculations.

That photo is too scary, my '85 is BRG w/ gold wheels.💀 But my carbs and distributor are safely in a bin in the garage attic, so that gives me some peace of mind.

Warning light at the simplest just requires a normally closed pressure switch tee'd into the oil galley, specified to open at whatever minimum pressure you're comfortable with. Some electronic senders also include a second on/off terminal to trigger a low pressure light.

New panel with powder coated reproduction knobs- Thanks much Fabian! 🇬🇧

My '85 is missing the front tray as well if there's one here in the USA! I eventually plan to bend up one from some aluminum sheet, unless some one pulls a mold off one and makes some new ones.

Aux/USB port for your stereo, or device chargers? While you decide you could just label a fake button " Burglar Protection" Mine's still a blank hole in the ferrule, haven't done anything with it since I went EFI, so looking for an answer myself!

Lotusfab has his plate accessible right now, maybe he can confirm the thread size of the hose fitting. If you're lucky a vendor will make a sender in that size. If not, a female to male adapter with appropriate threads will do the trick. I would guess the usual Lotus vendors would know the thread (I would guess 1/8" BSP or M10x1.0, but only a guess!!!!)

Make your patterns from MDF, then make one of these- https://www.instructables.com/howto/vacuum+former/ How hard can it be?

I have used a shim cut from a plastic bottle to help center the seal housing whilst I tighten the bolts.

I don't think the center tell tale lights started until '86 or so. My '85 TE looks just like the '82 shown. I'm torn between redoing all my gauges in a new plate like you mention or leaving it original. Would love to relocate the rheostats and add more gauges in their place, but that would entail gutting the steel plate, and the steering wheel blocks some of that area visually anyway.

I feel the mechanical responds faster, but I'm sure it depends on the manufacturers design. Theoretically the gauge could respond immediately, but there is usually some damping in the system to prevent jumpy or vibrating needles (or drivers!). If you've ever got into a car and watched the gas gauge slowly climb to Full after a fill-up , you've seen this. With a proper adapter you can screw the pressure sensor right into the gallery cover where the existing gauge tube and turbo oil line connects near the starter. But one advantage of fitting an electronic gauge is you can also fit a SPDT switch and a second sender, and display two items on the one gauge. I run EFI, so I can switch between Oil and Fuel pressures on one gauge and Water and Oil temperatures on another. Just a plus if you're constrained on dashboard space, which we are in most modern cars.

You can disassemble the wastegate in place, but mind the compressed spring under the hat. You can't get to the valve seat, but you can check the diaphragm, and perhaps un-stick a sticky valve. Someone clever mentioned removing some of the screws and replacing with zip ties through the holes before removing the rest of the screws.

Well, in that photo it seems to be held open by the cam pin from below. I followed the lead of a PO and added a closing spring. Photo I posted earlier is the PO's solution, I neglected to take a pic of my revision. Make sure you get the cover/wires sealed when you close it up, these get water in them and the whole lot corrodes.

Have an auxiliary air pump somewhere pumping air directly into the exhaust to thin out the emissions! As did Lotus for the 80's Federal 910, driven off the exhaust cam and injected into the exhaust ports- but good luck finding the parts anymore they've likely been binned.