Ian's S4s refurb

[Chillidoggy]

Thankfully, the oil strainer gauze has come up clean enough to pass the wife's inspection after a good deal of attention, so I can refit it to the pick up pipe, and secure the lid. This is good as it means I don't have to buy a new one. The pistons measured up within specification, so are reusable, yet another bonus. The cash savings of both these has prompted me to order an LSD for the gearbox to be fitted while it's being stripped and resealed.

No progress has been made for a couple of days on red wrinkle paint removal, however. She really does need to get a move on.

[Sparky]

She really needs to polish up her act.

[Chillidoggy]

And on that note, we’ve just returned from the vapour blasting shop. Much to their surprise, she rummaged through their workshop tool box drawers to see whether they met the required standards before leaving the engine parts on their premises. They agreed to finish off stripping the red wrinkle painted parts for another tenner, so no-brainer, really. The bits should be ready next Wednesday.

The finish the vapour blasting achieves looks very good, kind of silvery-satin, less shiny than polished alloy, which is exactly what I want. It is a shame that so much of the engine is hidden in the Esprit but that’s the way it is.

I’ve found a guy about 50 miles away who is willing (and supposedly able) to fit the gearbox LSD and do the reseal job, hopefully that will go smoothly and not leak this time around.

Waiting for parts is probably going to be thing that will hold up the job, although I now have a chance to have a good clean up in the garage ready for the next stage.

[Giniw]

On 19/01/2020 at 11:11, Chillidoggy said:

Oh, and I just found out an LSD is £729.

Including VAT? (is it an online shop?)

[Chillidoggy]

1 hour ago, Giniw said:

Including VAT? (is it an online shop?)

It's not an online shop, contact by telephone, or e-mail. The website is http://www.gtoracing.co.uk/

[Giniw]

Thank you very much! (not that I am sure I will buy one, but it's a bit tempting!)

Edited February 21, 2020 by Giniw

[Chillidoggy]

As can be seen on another thread, putting the charge cooler in the oven to harden the paint off turned out to be less popular than I thought. Relations are almost back to normal now, but I'll have to figure out another paint-curing method.

I'm now at the stage where I'm waiting for bits to arrive. Main bearing shells are OOS, which means I can't start building even if I had the rest of the stuff. Vernier sprockets, cam tensioner are also OOS. The gearbox parts are apparently somewhere in the delivery pipeline.

I should be able to pick the alloy parts up from the cleaners this afternoon, so it's not all bad news, I'll have lots of shiny bits to sit and look at.

[Chillidoggy]

Oil pump assembly ready to go, thanks to Dave for advice on a couple of the finer points. No movement on the outstanding parts front, so I’m on to cleaning up what I’ve got, which I’d have to do anyway. I’ve decided to leave spraying the red wrinkle finish on the alloy bits until the weather warms up a few degrees in the hope of getting a decent finish.

 

[Sparky]

Will Shan be doing the covers?

[Chillidoggy]

31 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Will Shan be doing the covers?

When she finishes in the engine bay.

[Sparky]

You really know how to treat a woman.

[andydclements]

Id suggest Gumtree to find a cheap 2nd hand oven for curing paint,  they only need a 13a socket so can be used in a a garage etc .

[Chillidoggy]

Or wait for the wife to go out?

[andydclements]

You like living on the edge don't you.

[Chillidoggy]

I’d never get away with it!

[Sparky]

She's like a SOCO; she'd find DNA.

[Giniw]

Have you found the right paint? The original looks lightly orange-ish to me?

 

(the cleaned parts look very nice indeed!)

Edited March 11, 2020 by Giniw

[Chillidoggy]

It's VHT red wrinkle plus.

Now the wife has cleaned the engine bay so I don't get dirty, I took the opportunity to fit a new power steering pump. Easy job with no engine in the way, a bit different from when it's in situ.

[Chillidoggy]

Finally a bit of good news. After weeks of staring at the hard, encrusted Loctite 572 in the engine block where the liners had been, I didn’t want to get in there with any mechanical abrasive, so thought I’d call the manufacturer, Henkel. Getting through on the phone to the industrial department proved more difficult than getting an audience with the Pope, so I resorted to going through their main customer service department. They also failed to get through, so I tried their online form. That too drew a blank. Finally I tried email.

In the meantime, I tried acetone, and also the industrial hot air gun. Nothing, not a smidgeon came off, didn’t even make a dent in it. Finally, I tried some of the Frosts Strop Gel paint remover, and bingo! It took a couple of hours, and numerous applications, but I got to a point where I’m happy there’s no residue left.

Just after I finished the job, and right on cue, I received a reply from Henkel, which said heat and mechanical abrasion was the way to go. I did reply, saying I hoped my information would boost their knowledge of how to remove their own product, although I suspect this will fall on deaf ears.

 

[Sparky]

Outstanding!  You live and learn.

[CHANGES]

lovely 👍  👏

[sailorbob]

The Loctite 572 datasheet says to use localised heat (to about 250 dec C) for disassembly and removal of the cured sealant can be done by a 'combination of soaking in Loctite solvent and mechanical abrasion such as a wire brush'.

I wouldn't want to scrub the liner bores with a wire brush.

[Giniw]

3 hours ago, Chillidoggy said:

Finally, I tried some of the Frosts Strop Gel paint remover

Good to know it didn't do any harm to the aluminium alloy, thanks!

Is the remaining Loctite material that hard to remove? Its surprising the liners can be pulled without difficulties?

Edited March 12, 2020 by Giniw

[Chillidoggy]

14 hours ago, sailorbob said:

The Loctite 572 datasheet says to use localised heat (to about 250 dec C) for disassembly and removal of the cured sealant can be done by a 'combination of soaking in Loctite solvent and mechanical abrasion such as a wire brush'.

I wouldn't want to scrub the liner bores with a wire brush.

Precisely the same data sheet Loctite sent me just after I’d finished the job. Although I gave them the full details, in their response they appeared to simply toe the company line. I also finished them off with fine emery paper, not a wire brush. The Strip Gel worked well.

giniw - the liners were more difficult to remove due to them being coated in the Loctite from the landing face downwards, which caused them to drag. I am told this is not the case with every engine, depends on what Lotus were doing at that time.

[Chillidoggy]

On to more mundane things, the wife masked up the bits that need to be painted red. I bought some car pinstriping to mask off the flutes, which worked well. I worked out that heat is the key to a decent finish, so got the hot air gun out before spraying, then quickly back with the hot air again, and so on.