removing the head and cam towers

[Artie]

How about this stuff??

Dosnt look to wrinky, more sandpaperesque!!!!

Might get some myself!!!!

Simon

Oooh! Nice STI manifold, are you porting it or what Simon! It is from a Subie right?

Artie

[bigsi]

well it decided to rain today so i did a little bit in the conservatory.

the section that holds my header tank has 4 rivnuts that allow it to be bolted tothe side.

Unfortunately the rivnuts had corroded and were no good anymore so idecided to remove them and replace with some nice new aluminium rivnuts.

here you see the old fittings all corroded over

here are the new rivnuts in place

and the reverse when tightened and the rivnut spreads out.

here is a close up of a fixed rivnut

i did intend to do the ones in the engine bay but the weather conspired against me

[bigsi]

and before i get the obligratopry telling off, i just did 4 rivnuts, thats all.... oh and i fitted some skirtingboards and serviced the dishwasher for woman.. but thats all i promise..

[Simon350S]

Not my manifold.... just found the paint ona subary site....

Simon

[bigsi]

well today i plan on stripping out the front bonnet area and cleaning it all up as its stinking in there., will remove the spare wheel etc and get all the crud and crap out, when its clean i can see whats what. im also going to mark the bonnet hinges and then remove the bonnet, where my light pods are hindged the plates the tube goes through, the rivets are loose and coming away so im going to cut them off and re-rivet the plates and stick some grease in there, also adjust my right light pod as its sitting low.

will put pics up later.

[bigsi]

ok the rear bumper is now ready to have its new rivnuts fitted, the holes are done, i pick up some braided fuel line tomorrow and i will replace my old carb lines etc as they have had it.

it should be a clear day for a while tomorrow so i will also fit the rivnuts into the engine bay as well get them done and out of the way. finish cleaning the front bonnet area out of all the crap in there and also do the light pods.

will also tidy up some of the wiring in the rear as its all over the place and looks untidy, the loom which runs up the side of the car will be covered in a wire pipe and the odd bits will have some heat shrink on them as their coatings have frayed away.

i also will pick up some gasket paper and make two gaskets to go either side of the wastegate diaphram to protect it from sticking to the metal.

also how heavy is the boot lid to lift off please with the vented back in not glass??

[bigsi]

ok well i managed to do some of the rivnuts, i fitted the new ones into the bumper, they went in fine and now theres a solid base for the under trim to re-bolt to and corrosion free as i spread lots of copper grease inside them. once or twice a year i will undo them, fill with new grease and re-tighten, replacing corroded bolts as necessary.

heres the little diy tool to fit them, an M8 bolt with a washer and then an M10 nut so the bolt can rotate freely, under that an old corroded washer that will bite into the top of the rivnut and stop it turning while i tighten it to compress the fitting.

the rivnuts fitteed

then onto the engine bay area for the lining trim fittings, all the old ones were corroded badly and had to come off, so i drilled them out and had to hit some with a hammer and chisel to get them off.

fitted

there are still 6 to do, but by the time i had done this i had done enough and had to sleep for a while.

oh and kelly told me off... again...

[Paul Garle]

Hi Si

where did you get your rivnuts from. Seems like i've duplicated your last reply (oops)

thanks paul.

Duplicate post removed - matk

[bigsi]

paul i have got two bags of them left if you want some not a problem, theres two different types, but they are not aluminium but coated metal fittings, but they will last just as well, just use some copper grease on them, if you i can send you them if you want? they are M8 threaded fittings and slightly larger than the lotus standard ones but a better thread and fitting, one type is the 4 leag spreading fitting and the other is the same as the aluminium ones i used but they also have a serrated edge on the sides to offer grip to the fitting.

let me know your addy and i can send which ever bag you want down. if theres some left just see if anyone else wants them after, as i have these two bags left. and they are free to whoever needs them to replace their old ones.

[Paul Garle]

Thanks si

Thats realy kind of you. Knowing your luck you would run when you've nearly finished!

I've only just started a (light i hope) restoration on my on my old banger, so not sure

what i need yet. I won't pinch any thing off yet, but thank you.

Keep up the good work (slowly) I must admit your pictures and post do wonders for

my motivation. Hope to see you at the lotus show, i'll come for a chat.

paul

[bigsi]

decided to clean the front bonnet seeing as its roasting here today, lovely sun and damn warm too.

too out spare wheel, jack etc... and what do i find..

cables all over the place, some weird wiring into a relay socket all open, the front of the bonnet area flooded with water, both light pod fixing brackets have broken plates where the rotation rod goes through, all rivets snapped and come away.

i was ok this morning, now im really furious, i hasve to say im tempted to goto norwich and grab the guy i got it off and give him a slap.

its not just a little thing anymore its an out an out lie to me reguarding this cars condition.

i persistently find broken or damaged things that the p/o decided not to tell me about.

i have enough to deal with everyday withought this and im beginning to think prehaps its better to let it go now and get rid of it.

im too tired to care , and stupid to know any better.

there is more, but to be honest i cant be bothered.

Edited March 7, 2007 by bigsi

[Bibs]

Don't panic Si, my car look like that and I think it's mint

You've got to feel the love within the fibreglass, it will one day reward you with a smile so big your head will flip open matey

[Advantage]

The front bonnets on all Esprits aren't particularly watertight, even the latest V8s don't achieve 100% sealing. (My GT3 doesn't seem to let buckets of water in, but it does get grubby under there which means air is circulating somehow)

I've seen many a G car with untidy wiring in the front compartment, I wouldn't be too disheartened looking at the pics of yours - it looks like a vast percentage of the other G cars out there! (including my S1)

The headlamp pod issue is a pita, though. The seizing hinges isn't uncommon for a car that hasn't been used for a while, but it is a fiddly job to sort out. Good news is that the bits to fix it aren't particulaly expensive and are still 'getable'. I know SW Lotus usually have a bucket of them kicking around at their various sales.

Keep at it, you just have a G car that needs a cuddle!

[bigsi]

sorry guys but as you may have gathered by now, im not the most patient guy on the block, so to speak.

like i said im frustrated enough dealing with things as they are and its killing me seeing that bloody thing under a sheet every day in my driveway, today was a killer, nice sunny weather, and a perfect day to drive it, but i cant because at 35 years old im more like an 90 year old man.

i cant speak properly, have trouble doing most things and i get tired easily, needless to say boredom set in a while ago and the things im doing to distract myself only go so far.

im sick and tired of finding things wrong with it, anybody would especially after its only had a major service and chaeck 2-k miles ago!!

you tell me how im supposed to feel and act, because right now.. i havent got a clue.

most peoples attitude to me is , pick urself up and get on with it, i wish it was that bloody simple, but they dont grasp things the way they are now, and i get really close to putting the mstraight so many times.

i live on bloody tablets every damn day, cant look after my son while my wife works because im out for the night because of the meds..

i can go on and on.. frustrated> a long time agao, depressed, yep taking pills for that.. angry..lite the touch papaer and retire to safe distance!

[Goose]

Hey Si,

I have been watching with interest and I am always impressed by the effort and work that you do. It might not feel like much but it all slowly adds up. I am slightly better at helping with cars than with other things so I will stick to what I know, other than to say tomorrow is another day and I hope you feel better soon.

The front boot areas usually are damp, water seeps in from the light pods, from the bonnet seals, etc. etc. not a major deal - just needs a bit of soaking up and then covering with plastic sheeting when you are not working on it.

Here are some photos of my car and these were taken after I had been cleaning! I don't have any recent ones to share but hopefully you get the picture! Front boot photos

The wire running across the front boot is for the light pod motor, the pod headlights and if I remember correctly the front bumper indicator and light. It is usually held in place along the top of the boot space by some metal cable clips - they look like this: (no. 28 and no. 29)

They will tidy up the wire.

Next, the light pods... Not too bad once you get stuck in although there are a couple of awkward M6 nuts to get to. Removing the pods is not too difficult, just tedious because you have to remove the bonnet. Not rocket science but awkward. Once the bonnet is off then it all becomes a lot easier. The most difficult part I found was getting my fat mits to the small M6 nuts in the wings and I cut the split pins holding the hinge pins in. The connecting rods between the motors and pods might clean up quite nicely. If you want to replace the rods then I used some M6 threaded stainless steel rod from ScrewFix and some M6 rose joints bought from the internet - a couple of M6 nuts wound around it et voila! They haven't let me own yet and it all cost less than

Edited March 7, 2007 by Goose

[bigsi]

only problem is im not allowed to touch the car in anyway mechanical, kelly keeps the keys from me and i cant find my toolbox keys anywhere so whes probably hidden them also.

i have always worked, and not working is doing my head in!

[Advantage]

You'll have to try to explain to your missus that this isn't mechanical, it's electrical so doesn't fit under her banning order!

Don't be too concerned about venting on this forum - that's exactly what it's here for. Watching and reading about your restoration taking shape is inspiring, it certainly isn't a project I'd be keen on taking on without any help. For that, you have my admiration.

Keep at it, I'm looking forward to the next instalment.

[bigsi]

apologies for the rant.

im not myself at the moment and i cant seem to get to grips with things at the moment. so much to take in and re-learn, so frustrating all the time and i feel a little lost on occasions.

i will get there in the end though.

sorry bout the rant.

simon

[bigsi]

well its sunny and i need to do something so i think im going to try and take the lgiht pods out and sort out the broken rivets and plates.

are they easy to get out do you know? i will have someone help me to take the bonnet off so i would think that may make it easier.

[Goose]

well its sunny and i need to do something so i think im going to try and take the lgiht pods out and sort out the broken rivets and plates.

are they easy to get out do you know? i will have someone help me to take the bonnet off so i would think that may make it easier.

Easy. But I would give yourself a day so you don't have to rush it. Each light pod is held in place by a hingepin which is what connects to the bonnet and is held in place in the body with a split pin. If you feel around under the front bonnet in line with the hingepins you will find the split pins - I ground them out because mine were rusted. The outer sides of the pods are held in place by an M6 bolt/nut - it is a bugger to get to but I was able to reach it with a 'normal' 3/8 wrench. The part that you have photographed is just a metal guide for the hingepin - once the pod is out you will be able drill out the rivets that hold it in place, clean it up and rivet it back in.

Once you have the hingepin and the M6 nut off and you have disconnected the lifting rod then you should have the pod loose. Undo the headlamp holding brackets and twist them off (it makes sense when you are looking at them). I advise you take photo of the wiring at the back of the headlamps before you disconnect anything - I cleaned all of the contacts in mine. When putting it all back together I suggest copper grease around the hingepin and M6 bolt. You might also take the opportunity to clean up the headlamps - mine were starting to rust at the backs.

The parts manual has some good pictures of it.

[Edit - the bolts holding my bonnet were so rusted that the snapped when I undid them - something to be aware of. The bolt into small metal plates with nuts welded to them - SJ sell them.]

Good luck

Angus

Edited March 8, 2007 by Goose

[t70]

I noticed that nobody seems to have provided an actual price on the braided clutch hose... If you send me your old clutch hose, I can have it rebuilt for about 25-30 pounds. The shipping might cost a bit, as i am in Canada. The actual hose that I got built is teflon with stainless braid and it's good to 3000 psi i think. You will need to grind out the holes in the frame to fit the new fittings, but it's only about 1/8" too small at each hole, took me about 1 hour to install the new one including grinding.

Edited March 8, 2007 by Mark T-C

[islandbloke]

Simon - you have MUCH more patience than me, and you're battling back from a serious illness (I'm just a fat b*stard who's useless with spanners).

For instance, I decided to clean the spark plugs on Lottie a while ago to try to cure a misfire. It took an entire afternoon, including two trips to the shops for a plug socket and then again for a wire brush (both of which I KNEW I had already...somewhere) and I nearly had my eye out on the tailgate spike! And she still misfired like a bitch!

You won't notice it, but every day you'll be getting a fraction better. Just try not to go nuts waiting - and feel free to vent on here when you get REALLY annoyed (maybe the mods should set up a Taff Tiff section)!

Good luck fellah - you'll get there.

[t70]

yeah... I totally forgot to talk about that... Patience.. My old porsche was far worse than your lotus... at least yours is sitting right now.. mine was my daily driver and i fixed it more than i drove it. But, even though i was very frustrated with it, I learned a huge amount! I didn't know a thing about cars before that.. Now i build and tune engines! I can't say i fully understand the difficulties you are experiencing medically, but I do understand that how you are doing things is the right way to make yourself happy! As you go, you polish things and clean them to make yourself feel better and you've done a great job with that.. keep it up. As long as you can look at parts and admire their beauty... you can feel progress! Grabbing little projects here and there is the way to go man...

[USAndretti42]

Wiring on old cars usually has a few nasty DPO "improvements."

My car had an alarm added at some time which involved several yellow wires running behind the dash to a switch and off to a horn in the front boot (always reminds me of "front bottom" that expression). There were other wires going off to the fans or horns. Not sure where as they didn't reach any destination, hanging, unterminated, behind the front air dam on in front of each of the front wheels.

Also got some wire whose purpose completely escapes me, scotchlocked onto a wire off one of the fuse boxes. For some reason, the fan relay has no base, just the wires going straight onto the relay with Lucar connectors.

At least with a car like the Esprit it is fairly easy to get to the wires. At least for us normal-sized mortals. I had a TT (please don't hate me) and, when the right hand door window stopped working, I had not idea how to remove the door panel even. It also had sad cow disease but never did find the horns. Sold it when the cam belt needed changing. Looked like a major enterprise, that. Way more difficult than doing the belt on the Esprit. Easily an engine out job which means a transmission out job. The downside is that this ease of doig things encourages amateurs, like me, to fiddle with it. I want to add relays to the window switches, add remote, central locking and, perhaps, one-tough window operation. Pity the next owner of my car. Still, I should be dead or incapable by then as I don't plan to sell it until I can't drive it anymore.

[bigsi]

today i finally managed to have some time to get the bonnet off and one of the pods. i removed the bonnet which was quite difficult to do on my own and i had to rely on balancing it for a min or so while undoing the last bolt.

i managed to lift it off without dropping iot and placed it on the soft bit of garden.

i undid the light lift bolts and then removed the two split pins that hold it all on. after that i pulled the hinge out and then removed the pivot points that are pop riveted to the siodes of the pods and body.

i will clean them up and give them a coat of silver hammerite tomorrow and then re-rivet them onto the car and pods.

i managed to take off one of the lights but i noticed the adjuster fittings are heavily corroded, are they still available so i can replace them?

the other thing i found is that the bonnet area where it bolts to the hinge plate is split and coming away from the bonnet. is there anything i can do about this?

that enough from me for today, i have now burned myself out for one or two days, so im goning to take it esya