langleytw

I really wasn't aware that the ARB was asymmetrical and had to go on a certain way up. Could anyone confirm this and indicate how you tell which way is up? My ARB looked flat so I would really be interested to know. Cheers.

A public forum is not the best place to discuss evading taxes and duties........ I do know that if the goods are for family use then the combined annual allowance may be used quite legitimately. I'm sure many of the parts you need can be sourced in Oz.

Just in case anyone has a piston ring filer in the Norfolk area that I could borrow for a couple of days. Cheers, Tom.

Hi All, Would anyone in the Norfolk area have a piston ring filer that I could borrow for a couple of days please? Tom.

Thought I'd just put a spot of weld on the top of the nut. Getting rid of the resinous crud is the bit that takes the time.

Feel for your frustrations. Very difficult to find someone you can trust with these engines outside the Lotus circle. Though, admittedly, it's not exactly rocket science is it?

IMHO, there's the smell of BS in that shipping quote. My whole car only cost $2700AUS to ship to the UK. They've quoted you for air-freight I imagine and therefore by size....the longest dimension I'm guessing. Who are you purchasing it from? I'm about to move back to Coffs Harbour NSW in the next few months. My stuff won't get there before Xmas though. Though it seems you've got plenty to be getting on with! PM me if you like. Still amazed at that quote. It's not even a very big roof.

How did you get on with this Paul?

Take it to an expert. Cheaper than a rebuild with a new set of pistons.

Have just fitted a set of AVO's from LotusBits. Fit is good. Don't know how they will perform yet but historically AVO has been a name I can trust. Am re-using the springs. You are going to have big postage costs so I'd be making a long list and getting all the stuff sent together. Short term pain....long term..er..pain?

All rubber only seals now I believe. SJ and Lotusbits stock rubber only. Just fitted mine. All ok.

Mine is in the photo. It just needs to be a large enough gap for the bushings. The end will close up when I tighten the nut. I think it's important to remember that the parts were made by hand (quite roughly) and that they seem to get bent slightly over time, but not necessarily in the wrong way. This may be part of the original fettling anyway. Parts are made differently now.

LotusBits is bound to have one.

Previous point still stands. Test plate a piece and see what you think. As far as I know all passivation (essential) uses Chromium compounds. You'll be spending over $1000 dollars in rubber bushes and mounts so I still don't think it's worth plating yourself. All my steel was silver (BZP) but I have changed to yellow passivated because the corrosion protection is several orders better.

Think twice about plating yourself. Been there. Quality is hard to maintain. Size limits. Waste disposal (Chromium is a real nasty. Don't underestimate it's carcinogenic properties.). You'll be messing about forever......then you'll take it all to the platers. Not sure what the price is like over there but I just got all my gear back from the local platers for £50. Best advice is to chase all threads before hand. Beats doing it yourself. Even a basic kit costs twice what I paid. Photos show just half of what was plated. Links, filler necks, brackets, brakes etc. filled another large cardboard box. I laid them all out on a table and photographed them. Just re-make the photo to work out what is what.

No worries. It's difficult to save money on anything but the labour. You're basically going to be building a new car but with parts that will need re-newing or refurbishing. I really hope you have an understanding (or no) wife! Judging by the pictures you do have a mammoth task ahead. I wish you well. Tom.

FWIW. I've seen many a project languish and fall into an abyss of confusion, procrastination and dwindling resources. My own view is that body OR chassis is easily do-able. Not quick though and can be very expensive. Even saving money doesn't save any money in the long run. Ironically! I say...do the chassis/ mechanicals/ engine first. If the body is half decent, put it back on and use the car for a bit. Then at a later date pull the body again and start work on it. I know it's nice to have a 'new' car but it really doesn't matter and after 12 months in bits, the chances of it coming back together start to diminish. Just my 2 cents.

Yes I had spotted that one. Thanks. Wish I had a laser welder!!

Hi All, Just rebuilding my brake MC and my photo's that I took on disassembly don't show the one thing I really need to know! The rear piston retaining pin goes in one of the two large holes. It only goes easily (actually a bit loose) where I have placed it in the picture. But then seems to get in the way of the reservoir union and just doesn't seem correct. I rather think it must go in the hole to the side as this frees up the first hole for the fluid (in line with the front one) and also just makes more sense when the reservoir is attached. Only issue is, I can't remember how difficult it was to remove. It's tight and will need a force-fit. But that makes sense as you wouldn't want it coming adrift. Anyone done this job before? Any photos? Thanks for the help.

I don't think anyone is going to put that on after the screen was fitted so assume original. My glass is original triplex etched. No sticker.

Equivalent I think. The benefit being that they are alloy and parts are readily available.

Spoke to PNM. All sounds good. Looks like they are Seat/VW calipers slightly modified to fit the Citroen brackets. They are the most commonly used rear calipers in the mass market, apparently. Lead time of a week.

I believe you'll need to remove servo bracket and the pedal box (horrible job). The body needs to be moved either forward or back to clear front wishbone bolts. Disconnect handbrake cables.

Has anyone modified or changed their strainer? When I stripped my engine down I would say that 10-15% of the mesh area was blocked. Amazing how much crud was in there. Flies, tons of silicone, glassy oil residue etc. QED: it's obviously required. I also noticed that tiny pieces of the resin were breaking away, hence the imminent failure. The xylene that I cleaned it in finished it off! The strainer has now fallen in two halves so I'm seeing it as an opportunity to improve the situation and maybe give the oil pump a helping hand. Cheers.

Has anyone any experience of the PNM alloy replacement calipers for the rear on S1/2 Esprit? Just doing the sums on a caliper rebuild with new discs and I'm tempted to store originals and purchase a pair of these. Providing that they are at least as effective as the originals. Any input welcomed.