Ian's S4s refurb

[Bibs]

 

 

Good work Ian 

[Sparky]

Great stuff matey.  Looking forward to seeing it on the road again!

[Barrykearley]

Result.

[Trevsked]

Very well done Ian, be nice to see you and the car if you come up to Sparky's some time.

 

Trevor.

[Chillidoggy]

I've been there. Where were you?

[Escape]

Another one sorted and on the road, excellent work!

[glynherron]

Bloody brilliant! I can't wait for that feeling again. I remember bringing a 2002 V8 back to life after a year.

Ah......

[Mysterae]

Excellent Ian! 

[Chillidoggy]

With reference the translator setup, the threaded cable inners don't rotate. The only movement is on the cable balljoints, so it's a whole turn or nothing. The translator link is infinitely adjustable, but of course would hugely benefit from a right/left hand threaded rod for ease. And, were I doing it all the time, I'd certainly think about fitting one.

 

I managed to get the system selecting all the right gears by angling the gearstick back slightly, making sure the translator was in the neutral position, with the clamp bolt tightened, and putting the fixed link in where it wanted to go. 

 

Literally lining it up with the holes in the translator, and the bracket, and pushing the threaded ends in. BUT making sure that in doing that, that the translator either didn't move, or if it did, it reverted to the neutral position described earlier.

 

I hope that makes sense.

[Vanya]

Ah that's how it was. Jogged my memory. Right, but still put some thread lock on the little nut to the cable balljoints - one of mine worked loose and when I torqued it up again it had affected the selection to a degree. Good to hear the S4s is on the road again! 

[lotus4s]

Nice work!    Your car looks great.

[Chillidoggy]

Had another run out today, wife wanted to go to Furniture Village in Gillingham, so off we went. I got a bit pissed off with other drivers on the motorway hanging back on the offside, presumably because they were curious as to what the car was. Talking with the salesman, he used to have an Elise, then the general manager came outside, and I ended up talking to him about the Lotus for an hour, while the wife was busy inside spending thousands. All went well on the way back home, but a coolant leak appeared, so I've got to chase that down tomorrow.

Oh, and I might have driven like a nutter for a mile or so, or I might not, who can say?

[Barrykearley]

That's magic Ian

It's what it's like about......

Took my lad to a footie competition today - a mate sat in it for the first time - wow it's really old Skool - love it he said.

Was enough for me - where ever you go and stop, people have a real connection with lotus......

Other than - the clowns that say what Ferrari is it??? Happened a few times already - take it as a compliment for a car that cost less than a 1/4 of one.............I wouldn't want one though!!!!

[Chillidoggy]

That'll be the red colour! Mine's green, which really confuses them.

[Barrykearley]

Yes that's it for sure...........I wanted any colour but red..........and I ended up with.......oh red!!

[Chillidoggy]

Look on the bright side, it could have been yellow!

[Barrykearley]

No no no - I'd have chosen yellow as my first choice!!!!!

[PhilW]

Ian, I have just read all this thread. Absolutely excellent. I think I have the same fun coming my way soon. I would like to know what is Devcon Aluminimum though. I am assuming a 2 part paste that can be drilled once it's gone off.

Thanks Phil

[Chillidoggy]

Thanks for the kind words, Phil. The process of revitalisation is continuing, in the hope of getting a car that is reliable enough to take me anywhere. Not Argentina, though!
 
Devcon Aluminium is as you say, a 2-part paste.  It does need a decent time to cure, and is temperature sensitive during the mixing and curing, but once it's been applied and cured it can be machined like metal, drilled, tapped or filed. Please note: I'm not saying it's better than any others that might be on the market, and it's expensive, but I have always had good results with it in the past.

[Chillidoggy]

Just taken the centre console top off, and removers the gear-lever. Looking at it, there's a roll pin and a circlip, and if the thing comes to pieces it will make replacing the gaiter much easier, so before I go diving in, has anyone dismantled one before?

[sanj]

Disassembly is easy, just punch out the roll pin. Re-assembly is a bit tricky, but just pay attention to where all the bits go as you take it apart.

[Chillidoggy]

OK.

What about the internal circlip under the bell-shaped collar? I'm thinking if that can be dismantled, then the rubber will slide over it much easier from the top of the bell than the bottom.

[Chillidoggy]

While I'm waiting for parts to arrive, another little problem I'd discovered was that the vacuum pump was going mad every time I turned the vent control.

 

My pump only operates the heater controls now, so it had to be a leak there somewhere. As usual, access is a pain!

 

The vacuum routing is this: vacuum from the pump goes to a T-piece on the driver's side of the heater, which splits into two. Each line then goes to a vacuum valve behind the heater. The valves are mechanically operated by a black plastic or nylon cam as the vent control is rotated, allowing vacuum onto the diaphragm within each of the two actuators. It's a servo system.

 

The photo below shows the two vacuum valves, with the black cam that is turned by the vent control knob.

[Qavion]

Did you take the picture prior to reassembly?

 

Does your flapper valve operate (under the bonnet) when you go to vent? (engine running, of course). This is also vacuum controlled.

 

I've had a number of problems in this area, including leaking rubber connectors, detached lines and loose screws on the vacuum switches (the white actuators). Fortunately, most were visible from the driver's footwell. No disassembly required.

 

Cheers

Ian.

 

(EDIT) I think you can also see some of the stuff in your picture by simply removing the tape player, although you might not be able to put your hands on them, but at least it will help with diagnosis.

Edited June 7, 2015 by Qavion

[Chillidoggy]

I took the photo prior to disassembly, through the radio slot, I haven't removed anything else yet as I'm still waiting for the new parts.

The vacuum pump provides the 'power' to operate the vacuum diaphragms, so depending on the size of the leak, they will either work, be sluggish, or not work at all. My pump was either running every few seconds, or constantly, depending on the position of the vent control. Bypassing the switches and feeding the diaphragms vacuum directly, stopped the pump running, so the switches are leaking, hence the need for replacement.

By the way, the engine doesn't need to be running for the fresh air vent or the diverter flap to open, just the vacuum pump. The pump is ignition-fed and powers up when the engine is running, but you can run it with just the ignition on.