Ian's S4s refurb

[Sparky]

That's the 'Virgin Mary In Grilled Cheese' to aviation nuts.  You'd get a fortune for it on eBay.

[Chillidoggy]

So it continues...……………..

I've been experiencing some rhythmic vibrations whilst driving (this with no sign of Bob Marley on the radio), so wheels off to the balancing machine whereupon the 'balanced' wheels made no difference. I contacted a guy in Maidstone who straightens rims, and handed them over to him. Turns out one front and one rear were 'very bad'. I pitched up at his place yesterday, and watched the wheels being spun - oh, dear, they were definitely buckled. Now, I can only assume this has been during 'normal' driving, and I certainly don't remember hitting any bad potholes. He maintained that's what it was, and pointed out the size of the wheels mean they're particularly susceptible to being dented, more so than smaller diameter rims, which makes sense. He also pointed out that my front tyres were 'past their sell-by date', and wouldn't have helped matters. More £££'s, then. Anyway, I was happy with the £60 charge for straightening, which has saved me a packet.

As it is, I've decided to buy new Radinox outer rims from Felgenfuchs, so he only needed to straighten the inners that needed doing. I now have them back in the garage, and will look to stripping them down and measuring them before placing the order for new rims. I also noted that they don't have the standard OZ 10-point bolts and nuts fitted. This is particularly annoying, having just ordered the correct sockets to do the job.😡

 

The other job for now is the repair of the RH rear chassis mount. This is apparently a common issue, and having looked at the area, is not really one of Lotus's finest solutions. I have some plans in the mix, but haven't yet decided how I want to cure the problem. Thinking time required.

[Sparky]

If you want help with that chassis mount, just call me - 00 11 585 629 889 436 078 7628232012512230.

[silverfrost]

Ian,

Do you mean where the fiberglass rear body mount cracks and breaks away from the chassis mount ? 

[Chillidoggy]

Note to self -

When car has no wheels fitted, on no account allow scissor lift to go any lower than usual simply because it’s easier on the ageing back when attempting to access knackered chassis mount area. The result of doing this will create an additional hour’s work attempting to find jacks low enough to fit under the car, and modifying said jacks with a hacksaw in order to lift car up high enough to get some angle on the lift rams. This will also delay work on said chassis mount by the same amount of time, and elicit both piss-taking and utterly unhelpful suggestions from wife.

silverfrost - yes, that’s the one.

[Sparky]

Haha!  Did exactly the same with that lift once.  Once.

[Chillidoggy]

As time was moving on and I wanted to place an order, I split both a front and rear wheel to get the requested measurements, the nuts undid OK in as much as I didn't break any but either they were torqued more than the recommended, or some kind of thread lock had been used, I haven't looked yet. I was gearing up for a fight to split the rims but a couple of decent taps with a soft rubber mallet, and the centres dropped away. A Stanley knife around the sealant bead and the remaining two halves peeled apart with no resistance. I shall clean up the inners and centres to see if there's any work to be done on them first.

The chassis mount will have to wait for another day. At present I'm considering taking a mould from it, but will make that decision after a good dose of looking at it, and some procrastination. It's no wonder Esprit's suffer problems with them though, having measured up, the contact area between GRP and chassis mount boss is tiny.

[silverfrost]

Not factory standard Ian,  but when i did my mount repair,  i used a fairly thick bit of alloy sheet, drilled a hole for the large enough for the bolt,  and lots of little ones for the resin to soak into to secure it,  still had the bit of lotus facory metal stub in their or what ever you call it,  but never broke again afte rthe repair and still no signs of cracking,  maybe it has something to do with the battery been in that area causing extra stress  ?  

 

[tomcattom]

For the benefit of the newbie Esprit owners amongst us, I've seen mentions of the Radinox outer rims several times on the forum, but I'm unclear what the differences/benefits of them are over the OE fitment part?

[Chillidoggy]

1 hour ago, tomcattom said:

For the benefit of the newbie Esprit owners amongst us, I've seen mentions of the Radinox outer rims several times on the forum, but I'm unclear what the differences/benefits of them are over the OE fitment part?

They're really shiny and stay that way, which the alloy outers don't. They're also stronger, and if you live around these parts, The Somme had less potholes and bomb craters.

https://www.schmidt-wheels.com/radinox/

 

[pete]

On 24/02/2019 at 10:43, Sparky said:

If you want help with that chassis mount, just call me - 00 11 585 629 889 436 078 7628232012512230.

I have rung your representative in Nigeria and sent them my bank details as requested. Hope you receive your winnings soon.

[Chillidoggy]

Having taken the OZ inner wheel rims and centres to a reasonably local and well-respected alloy wheel refurbisher for a quote to strip off the old paint and recoat them, I damn near fainted when they told me how much they wanted. Turning down their astonishingly high offer, I shall be on the lookout to see where else I can get them done for a sensible price, and I already have one very local recommendation. If I don’t find a sensible price they’re going together again as is.

I now have confirmation that Felgenfuchs have the correct outer rims sizes, so it’s simply a matter of paying for them now. I’ve also decided to invest in a new set of nuts and bolts, all 150 of them, and a new set of valves. Someone here already posted that Pete has some carbon fibre rings, and I’ve decided I’ll go for those instead of fannying around myself. I could do them, but frankly I can’t be bothered.

That chassis mount ain’t gonna get another look at until the weekend, whereupon I shall endeavour to keep the scissor lift above it’s critical height so as not to treat my wife to a repeat performance of the Cliftonville Comedy Hour.

Looking at the winter job list, it occurred to me that spring is nearly upon us and I need to get my finger out if I’m to have it all done by May.

 

 

[Giniw]

27 minutes ago, Chillidoggy said:

I now have confirmation that Felgenfuchs have the correct outer rims sizes

Do they? I thought they only had the correct size for one axle?! (can't remember which one)

[Chillidoggy]

True, the rears are 1/4” wider, but I’m  thinking that will be fine.

[davevr6car]

I'm thinking of doing the same with my wheels......what size rims did you go for?

[Giniw]

If someone wants to get rid of a few external (or internal) rims parts, please let me know

[Chillidoggy]

7 hours ago, davevr6car said:

I'm thinking of doing the same with my wheels......what size rims did you go for?

I try to keep to the standard S4s look as afar as possible, so the same size. Apart from the rear being 1/4” wide, which I think will go unnoticed.

[Chillidoggy]

Through my local car club, I managed to find a local wheel refurbisher, who comes recommended, and at a cheaper price than previously quoted.

For anyone considering a Futura wheel refurb, bear in mind this is most definitely not a cheap process. The previous quote didn't stack up with their website prices, as despite the fact I'd already split the rims, didn't need any assembly or disassembly and only wanted the inners and centres attending to, it was only £25 cheaper than if I simply dropped them off and told them to get on with it. I can therefore only assume that they simply didn't want to get involved with them. The OZ rims do seem to me to be 'delicate', I was surprised at the amount of bent rim on them, and I'd consider myself very careful when it comes to avoiding potholes. I should see them ready in a week or so, which means I can now turn my attention elsewhere.

[Steve V8]

16 hours ago, Chillidoggy said:

I try to keep to the standard S4s look as afar as possible, so the same size. Apart from the rear being 1/4” wide, which I think will go unnoticed.

[Chillidoggy]

Since the wheels are now off my hands, I thought I’d sneak a bit of time on the chassis mount. First thing I did was to drill out the rivets in the wheelarch liner, and pull it away to prevent it, and the battery cables, being cut by my saw. This revealed the turbo silencing arrangement which I may or may not modify. I finished up by cutting out the damaged portion of GRP after marking up where I thought it best.

Next will be to grind/sand back the edges to the marked line, feathering it down to virtually nothing at the inner edges of the cut-out. This should give as much contact area as possible for a decent mechanical bond when I start laying up. I need to find a suitable piece of steel to bond in too, to stiffen it up still further.

 

[Chillidoggy]

Back on the wheel refurb trail............after days of playing the game of e-mail Ping-Pong providing them with measurements which they probably had to start with, I finally managed to place an order with Felgenfuchs today. They are very slow to reply, I reckon they must only look at e-mails once a day, if that. I now need to order new nuts and bolts, and wait for the rims. I hope to God they turn out to be astonishingly good, because the cost is racking up, and that's without any new front tyres.😕

[Chillidoggy]

Returning to the chassis mount, I ground back the GRP around it, which took ten times as long as it should have due to my asthmatic, and woefully undersized air compressor. Every time I use it I swear at it for being so useless, tell myself I’ll have to replace it, and then duly forget about it until the next time, and it all happens again.

I bent up some steel plate to give the repair a bit more rigidity, Mirrorglazed it, and laid up a single GRP chopped strand layer on its underside before releasing it off. Plan A is to glass-in that thin moulding to support the steel plate which can then be bonded in before building up the remainder of the glass on top, to include the boot floor mounting boss.

As an observation, I must say that having inspected the cut GRP, and the sections that I’ve ground back, that it’s perfect, no voids, or air bubbles, with very well distributed, even, mat. Lotus clearly got that VARI process down to a fine art.

No photos, as I’m having issues with file sizes at the moment, but I’ll see if I can resize them later.

[silverfrost]

Can you not weld the bobbin to the steel plate Ian, that would be super support  

[Chillidoggy]

5 hours ago, silverfrost said:

Can you not weld the bobbin to the steel plate Ian, that would be super support  

Yes, I suppose I could, but actually getting underneath it to weld anything is a bloody nightmare. Plus my MIG died, and arc welding upside down is not my strong point. I think I’ll have to stick with Plan A for now. I now need a new MIG as well as an air compressor. 

At present, Plan A is leaving me with some doubts, so a good coat of looking at, head scratching, and thinking is required before I do anything else.

[fjmuurling]

Why not go for a TIG welder ?