five minutes a day fixing my lotus

[tom kilner]

On 17/04/2020 at 20:34, TAR said:

@tom kilner - have a look at this post for info from an expert about measuring nip

 

Very useful thanks - I was going to measure with feeler gauges but hadn't thought of swapping the liners around and writing down all the measurements.

On 17/04/2020 at 20:11, Tony D said:

I wonder what I'll find when I get my unit out.

Tony 

It's a lot of fun this sort of engine forensics.  you probably won't love the previous owners though😂

[tom kilner]

Aha progress of the paperwork kind

Fresh from the dvla.

[tom kilner]

Some progress after a very long 5 minutes...

Finally got my ar5e in gear and a £400 well spent at Ashley Engines - I've used them for motorcycle heads a few times back in the 20th century

[tom kilner]

After several years of indecision I've finally given the crank, case, cradle and shells to lotusbits to assemble...

It's hard to decide how good to make everything,  a new car would be cheaper.

I fully understand the idea that if you've got it out, you should get it right... but if you fix the budget around what the car could be worth,  you might find yourself reusing the old oil🤣

Mike pointed out I've now got 2 and 2.2 litre valves in the head... but as most of my engine was an early 2.2 911 from a lotus sunbeam,  it had the 2 litre head (and probably cams) anyway.

[jep]

Another Lotus head case...... there's a few here. 

[tom kilner]

On 05/10/2023 at 17:16, jep said:

Another Lotus head case...... there's a few here. 

Head case, or just another crank? Plenty on here😉

[tom kilner]

The bottom end back from lb - reground crank shimmed out,  new big end and main shells, new liners and rings.

Now I think I fit the pickup pipes and just glue the Sump back on with some wurth rtv🤔

How hard can it be?

[EXCEL V8]

On 08/12/2023 at 22:07, tom kilner said:

just glue the Sump back on with some wurth rtv

Or preferably Permabond A136 😉.  They are equally expensive, but you won't end up with silicone in your sump later.

Pete

[tom kilner]

New pickup pipe olive and crankcase breather pipe on their way,  a massive load of stainless nuts bolts and washers accumulated,

Sump thing's  goin' on🥳

[tom kilner]

Pickup pipe olive and Union, plus (optional?) breather pipe fitted and torqued down

Then it's time to clean the housing and fit a new rear oil seal

[tom kilner]

Housing cleaned and new seal fitted - with the 2.5mm offset on the inside face that wasn't there before...

[tom kilner]

Rear oil seal housing to slide over the shaft.With a bit of lubricationAnd voila!

I need a smaller Torque wrench though. 1kgm is off the bottom of the scale on mine, so judged by "arm".

[EXCEL V8]

I'm not sure how important they are but the bottom four fasteners are button-heads from the factory.  I can't see them using them without a reason but I haven't investigated yet.  Do your cap-heads touch anything when the flywheel is offered up?

Pete

[tom kilner]

I'll check that Pete.

My old bolts were the sort of things you find by the side of the road. Lucky they were all m6 tbh. Allen, phillips, hex - in round,  pan and button head.  Stainless and galv. A real pick-n-mix. I assumed it was random... but maybe not.

 

[tom kilner]

The tank has shown a couple of little holes now I've started cleaning it up. Looked good before I peeled the gaffa tape off the bottom. 3 rusty patches.

99.9% good otherwise.

Repair?

With epoxy,  or braze patches?

[EXCEL V8]

Cut out all the rusty bits and weld in a fresh bit of steel.  I wouldn't braze it, and defo not epoxy.  I had to get my Mercedes tank welded because of the rust - it was fine afterwards.

Pete

[Elite 4.9]

I agree about cutting out the rusted parts but you can braze a new piece of sheet metal to the tank no problem. I had to do the same thing on a gas tank from my 1953 Jaguar 120 FHC with no problems after years of service with no leaks.

Also you should seal the inside of the tank after making sure it is clean and rust free otherwise you will have fuel delivery problems down the road and it will leave you stranded by the side of the road.

Cheers,

Richard

[Gray14]

Flagging up the need to remove the explosive gases and residue inside the tank before doing any welding.

Mike Brewer (on Wheeler Dealers ?) did a feature on repairing holes in rusty petrol tanks, taking it to a specialist. It might be on YouTube, with lots of others.

[tom kilner]

Thanks for the helpful advice.

Even though this tank has been empty with the caps off for 5 years,  I still wouldn't trust it,  brazing brings a lot of heat and a surface coating or tarry residue could vaporise into an explosive mix with air.

I'll fill it with water before cutting the holes,  then take a closer look.

Once patched I'll treat with a tank sealant.

I did wonder about fitting an 8 gallon alloy tank,  available for 200£ - but the snakey filler route (even one side only) looks a bit challenging.

 

[EXCEL V8]

I had an aluminium copy of the Elite fuel tank made a couple of years ago for about £250 - it would probably be more now though, what with the price of aluminium having doubled in the last few years 😲.

Pete

[tom kilner]

£400 custom tank now - like a component for the £20k project💰💰💰

I should be able to fix it for £10 of consumables, and an afternoon.

My wife would be very unhappy if I blew myself up though, so I will take  "precautions"🤯

The £200 "off the shelf" alloy tank (part of the £15k rebuild?) Just leaves a snaky filler tube to source, secure and seal🤔.

At the end of the day, does that save time? I could probably fix the old tank in less time than I could solve that filler neck challenge.

[C8RKH]

21 hours ago, tom kilner said:

My wife would be very unhappy if I blew myself up though

Do you know that for a fact? Has she been enquiring about your insurances recently?

Tank looks like a piece of art by the way. Wow....

[tom kilner]

Well the old tank looks a bit like a coffin...

 

[tom kilner]

Sump bolted onto main bearing panel - some "twist" from a previous bodge came out easily as the bolts torqued down.

I suspect the home- made 911to907 Sump adapter plate (shown earlier) flared the Sump slightly, but the bead of sealant looks quite uniform so I think it's pulled it back and should seal ok🤞

A136 used to seal.

Next... the head or oil pump🤔

[EXCEL V8]

Head - then you can stop worrying about the liners 😁.  When fitting the auxiliary shaft make double-sure there are no burrs on the keyway end - any burrs will score the auxiliary housing bores. 

Pete