Recommissioning my old (now Shaf's) Carb Turbo

[Sparky]

Shit, that's funny.

[CarBuff]

My thought when looking at the flooded headlight buckets was "I hope the goldfish Are OK" 😅

[Sparky]

2 hours ago, snowrx said:

Thanks for the pics fix Sparky.  Seeing those headlight frames has me considering the stainless option!

The frames do pretty well TBH.  It's the lamps and mountings you need to worry about!

[Sparky]

Mission resumed yesterday.  Finished the LED headlamp conversion but awaiting some new H4 connectors as the old ones have suffered badly from corrosion.

All went pretty well, helped by a lot of Dremel time with some decent burrs.  One caveat:  if you're fitting the PNM kit you can purchase optional foam surrounds for the lamps, which I highly recommend as there will be an unsightly gap between lamps and cover if they're not fitted.

Next:  carbs.  Undoubtedly the worst I've ever seen on an Esprit.  The job just took on a whole new dimension, as the entire fuel system needs to be stripped and, largely, renewed/reconditioned.  I will try and mitigate things by pouring a few gallons of petrol through the tanks and seeing what comes out.  Hopefully I won't have to remove them!  Regardless, this is going to be 'character-buliding'.

 

[shaunw]

Jeeze.... those carbs are baaad!

Edited June 20, 2023 by shaunw

[LotuStuart]

"Nice motor-is it a Ferrari 328?"

[Gjk]

Have you fitted the alternative headlamp relay so all four units light up on full beam? Make a huge difference.

[Sparky]

Mate, if you did that with these you'd literally make people go blind.

[Sparky]

Spent all day yesterday on the carbs, and still haven't finished the second one.  Decided, finally, to buy my own large ultrasonic kit and have at it myself rather than send them off.  Very pleased with results so far, but initial engine start (a long way off) will tell.  Unfortunately a couple of weights are stuck in the second carb (final pic), even after a particularly vicious cavitation battering, so I'll be leaving that body to soak for a long time today.

[TAR]

13 hours ago, Sparky said:

after a particularly vicious cavitation battering, I'll be leaving my body to soak for a long time today.

You should've just carried on fixing the car  

[Sparky]

YESSSS - another hour of ultrasonic bath at nearly boiling, and the weight and ball bearing finally moved.

Replaced the snapped deck release cable.  Shaf was really lucky as he'd managed to snag it behind the latch after it gave out.

Not my favourite job.  Found and sorted plenty of other problems with vac and fuel vapour hoses whilst in there.

Sorted out an oil leak onto the manifold.  Fortunately not the cam tower to head seal - looked like a combination of cover gasket and access plug seals.  Cleaned up the area a bit.

Water pump to inlet manifold hose looks well dodgy and will need replacing.

And a missing cap clip on the distributor; can't find it anywhere so will order.  I won't be fitting the carbs until the above 2 issues are resolved.

Did various other minor repair bits and pieces, and changed the transmission oil.  Also did a compression test prior to removing the cambelt.  No. 2 quite low compared to the others, but it's a cold engine that hasn't run for sometime.  I have to be optimistic.

Finally: a snail, FFS?  @shaf007 you need to drive faster.

 

[Gjk]

Dead one at that!

[Bibs]

Probably empty, as usual! 

[Sparky]

9 hours ago, Bibs said:

Probably empty, as usual! 

Ain't it always the way?

[red vtec]

@Sparky I’m undertaking a similar journey with my car. Where are the LED units from? 
 

also do you have an induction tool for free the rusty bolts? As I’m thinking of getting one and wondered what people thought of them. 
 Ta

[Sparky]

LED kit from PNM.

What I use for rusty fasteners:  brute force, ignorance, heat, heat and heat!  The flames kind.

[Sparky]

Well into righty-tighty mode now, so it's all feeling a bit more optimistic.  Replaced the dodgy inlet manifold hose and distributor cap clip, then was finally able to mount the carbs and build up around them.  Replaced the timing belt and tensioner, and was able to turn it on the starter to verify the ignition system works, so that's a relief.  Still plenty to do with the fuel system - inspect/replace all pipes and hoses, and figure out whether the tanks will be of any use at all.

Pods weren't behaving as they should, especially the LH one, so I stripped and rebuilt the motor.  As usual, the nylon pins were ground to dust, so were replaced.  Fixed dodgy connections on the pod delay module, and now both pods lift and drop consistently - another relief!

 

[Sparky]

Carbs have been through the cleaner twice and thrice respectively, new pump and filter, installed an additional serviceable pre-pump filter, every single fuel hose changed, new balance pipe, also replaced the inertia switch (first one I've ever seen fail), and flushed the tanks with many, many gallons of water until what came out was the same colour as what went in.  Left to dry out for a few days in nice warm weather.  Finally, a couple of gallons of fuel and it started first time, amazing.

This is all the fluid drained from the balance pipe.

Rusty balance hoses!

RH tank before.

...and after copious flushing.

I'd changed the RH tank about 14 years ago (for original Lotus), and it wasn't anywhere near as bad.

 

An incredibly long list of checks and snags is growing ever shorter.  Tomorrow I'll get it on its wheels and see if there's any clutch...

[drdoom]

Water would collect at the lowermost point. Nice work mate, glad to see you keeping the faith. 

[Bling]

Amazing work and perseverance Sparky !

[Sparky]

After extensive leak checks, Ithe car is now back on its wheels and moves OK with the exception of gear selection.  Unfortunately the alternator was history.  Reconditioning cost is very close to buying new from SJ, so I chose the latter.  I've fitted a couple of these to LC turbos with no issue; on the HC it's not too bad but the +ve pole is quite difficult to get at.  Perfectly possible though.

The cooling fans Otter switch wiring needed sorting, during which I discovered a previously hidden coolant leak.  To be safe, I'll replace the seals on all switches.  Can't remember where my wirelocking kit is!

Gear selection is suffering from multiple issues.  The translator to selector shaft bolt was backed well out (no idea how), the clutch pedal has several mm too much play (hydraulics seem fine at the moment), the gearstick baulk pin has disintegrated entirely, and the baulk block is in a bit of a mess.  I remember profiling the baulk block around 15 years ago, so I'm nut sure there's much tolerance left!  Guess I could always fabricate a longer baulk pin...

Still a fair-sized snag list to work through and, of course, MoT.  It's going to need tyres too.