Another resto...

[mikeeech]

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!

Yeah I noticed that - i'm building a long list of things that I must do before i drive it - bolts that need torque checking etc... makes mental note;- must right this list down! 

[mikeeech]

Brake pipes now mostly done in copper, polished a laquered (looks like a bit like a steam engine!)  and held to the chassis with stainless fasteners. Power steering rack is on too but the track rod ends that I got from SJS have the wrong thread so I might get these to an engineering workshop to be re-tapped.

Work has now switched to the rear end with the rear shocks fitted and the poly trailing arm bushes done. Next job is to get the diff stripped of the brakes ready for the rebuild.  won;t be long before the body is back on...

[mikeeech]

Track rod ends have now beedn retapped and fitted (m14 thread for power steering rack if anyone is interested - front all now done.

Drained the oil out of the diff and this looks clean so i'm hoping for a relatively cheap rebuild. This will be dropped of at the engineers new week. Rear brakes stripped down - nothing much left of the shoes - with brake rebuild parts on order. All good!

[esprit s2]

Good news! Am looking forward to seeing your car one day.

[CharlieCroker]

We need photos!

[mikeeech]

photo's once all the wheels are back on. I need to test fit the engine and box before the body goes back on also since it now has a S2 chassis with a S1 gearbox and I am a little uncertain as to the arrangements for fixing the gearbox in place if I don't get a bracket or support of some type sorted out.

Is htere an easy way or is a custom fabrications my only route?

[mikeeech]

Diff taken to London today for a once over and new oil seals at least. New rear brake cyclinders were needed since the original were seized solid. I'm within touching distance of a rolling chassis now - then I really need to stop spending money for a while!

for those that are interested I have been keeping track... don't tell the wife!

Scary how it all mounts up!

 

[CharlieCroker]

If I kept a spread sheet on my build, Camp Freddie would have a heart attack!

[mikeeech]

MotorGear in walthamstow can't do the diff. Bummer. now need to switch to plan B... now what was plan B?

[mikeeech]

So plan B, C and D have failed. basically I cannot find anyone that wants to touch the diff including a Jag specialist near me (AJS engineering services) who does salisbury diffs all the time - I have not tried voights yet...

With no knowlegde of how this diff runs since the car was brought as an unfinished resto I thought rebuilding it for safety's sake was prudent. Since I cannot find anyone to do this I have taken to cover off and inspected inside the case.

behold!

So nothing major to report with no signs of major wear of the crown wheel or any other gears for that matter.

I know the diff was replaced at 12,900 miles in Nov 1980 and the car has recorded 75,000 on the odometer. If this is the replaced diff then it's got slightly more than 50,000 miles on it! There is no record of the car having an MOT online so no MOT since 2005 - this matches the last tax disc which expired in feb 2005 - if all this is real then it covered 2000 miles/year for 25 years!

So I'm working on the optimistic side and assuming that this is correct and that, therefore, the bearings are good. Just for the hell of it I will also assume the seals are good too and so will not worry about it anymore. A lick of paint, a wipe round inside the case and new oil will see it good!

So that's a good job done! Nothing like rationalising work away... although I might come to regret this later.

Rear hubs now fitted and closed cell foam glued in place.

So last jobs to do to get to a rolling chassis...

• Paint diff
• Rebuild rear brakes
• Fit hand brake
• One last connection on the brake pipes
• Fit rear wheels!!!
• check torque on all bolts...

this should be done by the end of next weekend...

[markgenesis]

Keep at it, awesome standard of work so far, love that chassis, this will be great when its done

[mikeeech]

It's been a while since I updated this... jobs left were

• Paint diff - done
• Rebuild rear brakes - done
• Fit hand brake - need new handbrake balancer. Can you even get these any more!
• One last connection on the brake pipes - done
• Fit rear wheels!!! - done and with no diff - got a funny angle on them!

But... took the inner drive shafts off to find mastic between the brake backing plates and the drive shaft oil seals so had to split the collet holding the bearings on, replace bearings, oils seals etc. now got a problem of fitting the new collets. I've phoned my local gearbox repair shop and they will fit them in a few weeks so another delay.  

It's so close to a rolling chassis I can taste it but should be on track with getting the body back on in September!

[eclat22]

Hi Mike put driveshafts in freezer to chill heat collars as high as possible in oven and then tap them into place with a steel tube slid over the shaft, it's always worked for me.

Hope this helps and speeds things up

Dan

Edited August 4, 2014 by eclat22

[mikeeech]

Got my drive shafts back today - woo hooo

So drive shafts are in with new bearings and o rings, having removed the mastic from the diff casing applied, presumably, to stop the old o rings from leaking!

it's 'cause they are flat! (in my best Ali G voice!) 

Rear brakes have also been rebuilt with new cylinders, new pads etc.and diff is now sitting under the chassis (excluding brake drums) ready for the big lift tomorrow.  Damn that thing in heavy. Progress at last!

[esprit s2]

Excellent news Mike.

[CharlieCroker]

Cool, epic restoration is how I would describe this build!

[mikeeech]

Epic... tell me about it. Only due to bad planning and a small amount of incompetence on my part... let me explain

For example. I brought a load of s/s UNF bolts but find myself 4 short for the rear suspension... I've just come back from my local trading estate having gone to get more and the place shut 2 hours ago. Bummer! why didn't I just count them.

Any way diff is now in.

 yeah!

after dropping it on my finger... ouch

So not being able to bolt the rear suspension up was not going to stop me now. I just need to get the handbrake connected up... I thought I had made an e-bay faux pas when this turned up this morning...

This of course was my new handbrake cable gaiter shown with the old one (for the grand price of £2.50) and quite a bit bigger it's fair to say. It fits really well though and there is plenty of space for the spring to move around and a doddle to get on! so got away with that...

So whilst I had put the rear brakes together with the diff off the car, I had left the handbrake assemblies off and the diff went onto the car with no drums on. A simple job of sorting out the handbrake has turned into a bigger job now, since I have realised that the brake backing plates are on the wrong side!

Guess what I'm doing now - other than having a cuppa and a break!

[CharlieCroker]

It's gunna be worth the pain, you can see it's coming together and to a very high standard. Keep up the great work.

[Denis247]

Diff taken to London today for a once over and new oil seals at least. New rear brake cyclinders were needed since the original were seized solid. I'm within touching distance of a rolling chassis now - then I really need to stop spending money for a while!

for those that are interested I have been keeping track... don't tell the wife!

lotus costs.jpg

Scary how it all mounts up!

You haven't factored in the labour costs!

I've always maintained, these days anyway, that unless you have something rare and special, then restoring a car is a labour of love and very rarely will you ever recoup your outlay.

[mikeeech]

You haven't factored in the labour costs!

 

I've always maintained, these days anyway, that unless you have something rare and special, then restoring a car is a labour of love and very rarely will you ever recoup your outlay.

Yeah I completely agree. the money I have not recouped on cars makes me weep but since I'm a masochist i'll still torture myself and track it...

So drive shafts came out again and good job too 'cause I snagged an o-ring and split it when I first put them on. I have since snagged another and split that - at least I can tell that I'm splitting them now.

So how do you get the buggers and keeping them in situ whilst the brkae backing plate goes on!

[eclat22]

Stick them in place with some hematite blue or similar from memory.

[mikeeech]

Gasket sealant worked a treat. I now realise that I should have put the handbrake mechanism on without the backing plates on. No big deal just a abit of reworking to do but I sure am glad that there is no body on and I'm not just undertaking a rear brake rebuild. That would be a real pain.

[mikeeech]

So rear brakes assembled with new shoes and cylinders. I have painted the rear drums tonight although I am wondering about getting them sand blasted and leaving them in raw steel since back in the olden days I was told that paint keeps the heat in and reduces the effectiveness. This is probably more of a problem on car with drums up front to be fair!

Hand brake mechanism all cleaned up and reinstalled.

Jobs left are becoming more inconsequential...

• Bolt up intermediate drive shafts
• Fit flexi brake hoses
• Plumb in the brake pipes from the rear wheel cylinder to the bleed nipple (polish and lacquer the copper obviously!)
• almost forgot... need to bolt on prop shaft.
• bolt up the rear suspension!

[mikeeech]

Result...

 

I'll leave it a few weeks until I put the body back on and there a few bits and pieces still to do.

I have to say I take my hat off to anyone who has adjusted the handbrake with the body on! this was an epic job with it off!

[CharlieCroker]

Looking great, so clean you could eat your dinner off of it!