Another resto...

[mikeeech]

So fuel pipe routing done and gromits on order to hold it securely and stop it rubbing (99p!).

Rear radius arms also on ready for the rear shocks - these have been put back on with the original bushes since poly bushes are on back order and so will have to come off again at some point.

Handbrake mechanism also fitted with handbrake lever out of the car ready to be fitted to the chassis - so I can hook the cable up and make sure everything is good before the prop shaft goes in.

Discovered the rear spring mounting rubbers on the old chassis today as well... I thought it a bit odd that the front springs had them and the rear springs didn't but they were covered in so much crud that they appeared to be part of the metal. All four have cleaned up really well and have a few more years in them yet so these will go straight back on rather than get replace with poly ones!

I will probably remove the brake pipe manifold from the old chassis tomorrow and clean this up ready for fitting to the new chassis. Cleaning the road muck off takes so much time and if i'm not careful i leave dirty finger prints on the white! arghh 

[mikeeech]

This is slow going - just "simply bolting it all back together" I though to myself. "how hard can it be"

I'm glad I fitted the handbrake now since the keyway slot that the handbrake cable moves through was too narrow and needed to be widened out with an angle grinder - probably as a result of the powder coatind and zinc spraying but there was nothing else I could get in there with - Had no real collateral damage to the chassis coating so that's good!

Got new front lower link bushes today from Lotus Bits so these are being pressed into the lower links and will be ready tomorrow. I will be sending the poly ones from SJ sprotscars back since I can't make them fit.

Since I was out and about I went to see the man who is diamond cutting my wheels today - he's back from hospital and has pretty bad burns and after a bit of a chat I'm now hoping to get wheels by the end of the week! Just needs some working suspension...

So on that, no rear suspension bushes at Lotus bits. These are to be ordered. And no shocks yet either. 

No rollling chassis this week then... actually several weeks away I would guess.

I can now conclude that I have procrastinated too much and tomorrow I need to focus more... this means I need to drill out the sheared bolt (which I have not been looking forward to) and get the lower links on.

[CharlieCroker]

I know how you are feeling, it's hard work the whole way through. If you think, as in the collective, think you are going to get an easy ride then think again. Don't know about you but I now look at it as if every job is going to be hard work, if I happen to have a smooth day when it all goes well, then that is a major bonus. Keep up the good work, will be soo worth it in the end.

[mikeeech]

So this is what I'm up against.

From the front

from the back

So you can see that the remants of the bolt is not very big. Nothing to get to which only leaves me the option of drilling it out. So I get x2 5mm toughend HSS drill bits to drill a pilot hole and x1 10mm bit to widen it out to try and collapse in in on itself enough to push it through...

The first drill bit actually made the hole you see in the first photo in about 30 secs and went about 15mm in (I estimate a 30mm length to get through!) before it stopped cutting; excellent I have another, I'll be through it in no time... but nothing touches it any more...

I'm off to buy some more drill bits - maybe its a quality issue with these (which I doubt) - but if anyone else has any more ideas then I'll consider anything. including cutting out the tube and welding a new one in.

[CharlieCroker]

Quality drill bits. I have just purchased a new set of Dewalt, good price and the difference between them and the crap ones I have been using are simply worlds apart. Also a slower speed on the drill and sometimes I use a touch of 3in1 oil to lube the tip (haha), sounds like a porn film but does seem to work! 

[mikeeech]

The drill bits of my choice were Dewalt Extreme 2 - i mean if it does what it says on the tin then happy days. Regretably I can conclude that there is significant variability in drill bits.

x3 2mm drill bits later and I have a 2mm hole straight through the middle of the remants of whatever beelzebub ( ) stuffed in there to ruin my day - get in!

x5 4mm drill bits after that I had a 4mm hole straight through the middle of it... yeee ha

after x3 6mm drill bits, the third bit welded itself into the hole and broke. No more hole...

 

then

and then

  

and finally.

[pbharcourt]

Has the tip of the original drill snapped off inside the hole?

Sorry a bit slow typing there, you have already got further!

[TAR]

You have run the drill too fast and heat hardened the bolt. You need to use a very slow speed with lubrication to stop the heat build up. Best quality drill bits are also a must have for this type of job.

Is the broken bolt screwed into the tube or just stuck in it?  Could you soak it repeatedly in penetrating oil and whack it with a punch?

you type too quickly!!

[mikeeech]

You have run the drill too fast and heat hardened the bolt. You need to use a very slow speed with lubrication to stop the heat build up. Best quality drill bits are also a must have for this type of job.

Is the broken bolt screwed into the tube or just stuck in it?  Could you soak it repeatedly in penetrating oil and whack it with a punch?

you type too quickly!!

The bolt, I'm guessing, is a shouldered bolt - heaven only knows how it sheared off in the first place but is has no thread but has seized solid. I did try hitting it - repeatedly. I will try to run the drill slower. I am buying the best quality drill bits but am probably treating them like a muppet.

I've been trying to think how many bolts I've drilled out in the past and it might only have been 2...?

[cdfps]

Do you have mig welder?  Removing bolts with a mig welder and impact wrench is a lot easier and you won't damage the threads.

Here is a good youtube video about the technique involved.

I did a little one in the middle of the following page.

https://sites.google.com/site/kwolshomepage/lotus-504/lotus-504-part-04

Once you remove a bolt this way you never go back to anything else, it is "free", fast, and doesn't damage the threads. 

You would think that if the bolt was rusted in place and the head sheared off of the bolt, that just reattaching a nut as a head would do nothing.  Well, I can assure you that after welding on the head and hitting it with a rattle gun, the bolt backs right out.

The hotter you get the bolt when welding on the nut, the better it works, so what I think actually happens is that when you heat the bolt in welding, it tries to expand in it's threaded hole and when it can't the metal is forced into a little extra length.

With the hot bolt fit tightly in the the threaded hole, you let the bolt cool.  As the bolt cools, it shrinks away from the threaded hole walls allowing it to be backed out.  

[mikeeech]

So after 5 days of drilling i'm now half way down the bolt and can now see that the sheared drill bit (I mentioned above) is pushing me so far off centre that only a 6mm drill bit will go through without touching the original sheath that the bolt is seized in. Over the hours i have also contemplated how it got to this point in the first place and can only imagine that the lack of lubrication has resulted in the bolt welding itself into the sheath - at which point only replacing it will do.

So that's now the plan. cut the sodding thing out and weld in a replacement. My powder coating will be screwed but that will be a leason learnt since I should have checked it over more fully when I collected it.

There will be no going back though. If I loose the placement then the chassis is scrap.

[CharlieCroker]

Shit, I thought my project was hard! Bloody hell, really hope you find away around this, would be a major downer to loose the chassis. Could you fill the hole with new metal (weld something back in there) and redrill the bolt hole in the correct center?

[mikeeech]

No the sheared drill bit was toughened steel. the surrounding metal will go first every time. I can practise cutting this bit out on the old chassis which I will do first.

of course my offer of a free chassis elsewhere on this forum comes with a significant "but" now!

[red vtec]

I have set of drill bits from ideal world of all places they go through any material, they have a 10 year warranty on them. Might be worth it?

[mikeeech]

Well, cutting out the sheared bolt setion went really well. I should have done it sooner. A practise on my old chassis took 5 mins with the angle grinder and this chassis has now provided replacement metal. I tried to weld it myself with my mig welder however my welding could best be described as functional and was never very pretty and so I will pass this over to a professional next friday.  

consequently my MIG wleder is now on ebay!!!

Replacement shocks turned up this week too after getting incorrect front ones from GAZ a few weeks ago, so one front shock has been put on today with the lower link and upper wishbone to match.  

Wheels are still two weeks away but a least some progress.

[mikeeech]

After a bit of a delay due to re welding of the chassis and some family issues the front suspension is largely back together. You can't see the join where it was re welded although I suspect in 10 years time you will!

I was seriously contemplating getting it recoated but bottled out in the end since I wouldn't have got it past the misses.

I will be picking up the wheels on saturday, the hubs will be refitted without being rebuilt since this will be a winter job once the body is on. Steering rack will be done by the end of the weekend and so the front end will be on it's wheels and complete with the exception of the brake pipes.

[CharlieCroker]

Looking great, solid progress and you havegot over the welding issue. Onward and upward!

[esprit s2]

That looks very nice! Am liking the white chassis look.

[Don.Hasi]

which shocks are you using?

[mikeeech]

Got Gaz shocks for it - I understand there is a small design floor in them which can lead them to seize but a bit of regular wd40 should keep them good. Besides it's going to be years before I drive it and I suspect it won't get much use after that... and the nickel coating looks good!

[mikeeech]

Not much progress to report. Only.

Before...

After...

Power steering rack ready to go on but just figured out that I need to do the brake pipes first. another job I've not been looking forward to since, if I don't get a good joint then I might not know for a year or so...

[CharlieCroker]

Very tasty, wheels look awesome!

[esprit s2]

Does look very nice!

[Dunc]

Looks great.

I'm really liking the yellow detailing on the ARB and springs. (I like yellow things)....

[Loose Cannon]

Nice wheels. Tyres need to face the other way (arrowheads forward) but you no doubt know that and are just pushing the thing around the garage!