The Long Old Road Ahead (Time to Strip!)

[silverfrost]

Well done Simon

Glad to see you are cracking back on with the motor, Looking great hope you get her finished soon,

Regards Danny

[Simon350S]

Well as your all no doubt aware, the progress took a big leap forward last weekend.

I'm currently sourcing bits so I can finish off the rear suspension and also trying to get all the bits togeather so I can build myself a completely brand new engine.

Yes thats right a NEW not reconitioned engine....!

Consisting of a brand new block, crank, rods and pistons.

I'll be using the existing cylider head as there was nothing much wrong with it.

Today I've also sorted out one other problem, rear lower hubcarier stud. Inevitably they got cut in two and removed to avoid damaging the hub casting, the result of which was I had no replacement. What I did have however was two replacement front studs.

I went to my mates unit who just so happened to have a UNF tap and Die set.

There they are cut down as can be seen, thread cut ready to go, just need my split spacers now.

Also found an upper suspension bolt I needed to replace my old bent one, there was one in my box of bits all along!!!

Happy days

Just been reading up on some of your engine rebuilds and its jogged my memory a little.

There was large amounts of oil coming from the cam towers and I've got this horrible feeling that it may have been down to stripped threads in the head, so I may be looking at some helicoiling!

Glad I remembered now, I'll have a look at the head tomorrow and see what I can see.

Fingers crossed

[USAndretti42]

Simon,

That stud with the cut threads won't last as long as the proper part which, I would assume, have had rolled threads. The cut threads leave sharp edges at the root which encourage cracks. I doubt it will be a problem for a long time but something to be aware of.

[Simon350S]

Thanks for the warning trevor, I'll have to keep a close eye.

My new shiney alloy slave cylinder turned up today all silver and clean n stuff!

Yesterday I got all my new nylock nuts to do the whole of the front and back of the car.

Tomorrow I pick up my newly refinished flywheel and my shiny new petrol tanks are being delivered late at the pub.

Also Tomorrow Mark from Pipelines Motorsports is coming over (hopefully) to size up all my hose and fitting requirements, thats going to include, new clutch hose, new brake hoses, all new fuel lines, all new stainless and alloy fittings throughout

My fuel tanks will hopefully be very pretty, much more expensive than first imagined but I'm guessing thats because they may be stainless steel, rather than alloy, and I'm guessing gold plated to reflect any engine bay heat Who knows, but atleast they wont be leaking any more fuel!

Waiting on news for my new set of conrods to replace my mis-matched set and then I can get on with building the heart of the old girl which is really exciting

Just got to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to decide which thrust bearings to order until I've started building the engine, this could hold the build up somewhat! I just want all the bits there so I can just build it up in one go!

Anyways, happy days empty back accounts LOL

Getting there boys and girls

Edited July 10, 2009 by Simon350S

[Simon350S]

Had a stupidly busy weekend, by busy I mean pissed, as it was my mates wedding! The result of this was no car work at all...!

But!

My tank man was also at the wedding so this is what I got

He has given me a price if anyone else wants some but it may be a little steep, not looked at what others are charging though so it may be ok?

They are lush, shame they are going to be stuck away under some plywood! Maybe a perspex cover mod is in order! LOL

Anyways, awaiting some exciting engine news so watch this space!!!!

[Advantage]

They do look very nice. I'm assuming you're outside now, with a torch and a spanner.....

[Simon350S]

Well the petrol tanks are now where they belong, which means they are out of the house where they were beginning to annoy Lisa!

God they are auqward little buggers to get in, but in they are, just run out of the closed cell foam that I got from Punky so will need to get some more so I can get the ply boards back on!

Also just finished packing up the Vectra with a garage full of stuff....

1 x full engine, and a second complete bottom end, weld the blocks togeather and you've got a V8

All these parts are being part-ex'd with a tump more money, for this

One of the last S4 engines with the ZEUS block and head.

I'm very excited

Its only lacking one thing that I think I might also get....

Looks like a new throttle cable may be required as well

SJ is open again tomorrow so I guess I'll be spending a shed load of money and getting all my bits by the end of the week!

Edited July 19, 2009 by Simon350S

[silverfrost]

Simon,

Looking good mate, glad you have managed to get yourself a deal on an engine, well worth the effort for the later better built lotus engine, and at least you get to have a bit of a clear out aswell as there is nothing worse than trying to work round large metal objects in the garage!

Good luck mate with the conversion and keep up with the pics,

Regards danny

[Simon350S]

Just spent

[Simon350S]

Well here they are all blue and shiney B)

You can almost see it in Pollys eyes, she's thinking when I turn my back whick one shes gonna chew first!

Well I couldn't just jump in to the Garage on my early return from working away today, nope, had to fix Lisas truck. Got told when I picked her up that it'd had new pads fitted.... New pads fitted how long ago??

The glistening part of the upper pad is what was causing the grinding noise ho hum 1 1/2 hours later all done and test driven, much better

Now time for the garage

Heres the setup I got to replace the two retun pipes that connect up to the main feed pipe to the rad through the chassis, it looks like it could work, happy days

Next the inlet manifold and new spec S4 water pump.

That I believe is what you could call a success....!

Need to get the black end pipe removed and blanked off and the alloy coupling pipe joining the two 90 degree pipes has been shortened so need to have a swage put back on the one end.

Very happy, it worked well as hoped. Big thanks to Garry Kemp who sorted out the alloy pipe when I picked up the engine.

Also just got my Alloy cutting Carbide Burr to do the inlet manifold porting, although now not 100% sure I'm going to do this at all as its extra time I don't have and the differences are most probably not even worth thinking about. Who knows, maybe I will have a bash at it!

Still got a few more pipes to order but I'm getting there I think!

Edited July 31, 2009 by Simon350S

[Jonathan]

Ouch on the hoses, look nice though - Whats the big deal on silicone hoses anyways ?

Are they more reliable ? (having never had a rubber one go) tbh the lotus replacements would have cost similar amount I reakon.

[910Esprit]

Simon

I used nothing more scientific/exotic than a rough half round file to blend the the last 15mm, or so, of the manifold to the head - simply to avoid a step and any undesireable turbulance that may create. (Use the HC gasket to mark the cut line on the LC manifold).

This worked absolutely fine, with stock carburation (with the exception of 42 idle jets to improve transition to mains). Good power and smooth idle, with an even burn on all cylinders.

cheers Steve

[silverfrost]

Well done mate,

Some great progress, its nice when it all starts to come together, As for the silicone hoses although expensive they are well worth it for the duribility as they last donkeys longer than the normal rubber and look the dogs aswell You only have to look at why motorsport use them that gives you a good felling about there pedigree

Keep up the good fight and hope its back on the road soon regards danny

[Simon350S]

Cheers guys

The silicone hoses were a reasonable amount cheaper, I have had ruber hoses go but never used silicone so have no idea how long they will last either. I've taken a chance on some of the silicone bits though as I've bought the fleible stuff to replace one of my moulded pipes, lets see how it works hey!

The water rail isn't a standard one, apparently its something that gets knocked up for some of the sunbeam guys? Not entirely sure but it looks like it'll work, looking at it though I'm a little concerned the turbo pipe may not clear it. Have to wait and see when I get the Carbs back.

Interesting about the idle jets, will have to wait and see.

I've just spent the morning on the drive on the suspension, split spacers fitted, pins fitted shocks fitted so thats te rear pretty much sorted. New bolt to replace the bent one on the front fitted.

Noticed however that the pinch bolt on the steering UJ is knocking against the bodywork when you turn the wheel. Not entirely sure why that is as it can only really go on one way?

Now getting nagged by Lisa to help clean the kitchen so we can go to her mates for the weekend. So that looks like end of sports for the weekend.... Women!

[Bibs]

No?

[Simon350S]

Yum Yum Yum Essex Blue engine!

Working local is great, finished early today and painted my bits this evening!

Done 5 days work in 4 so I now have a 3 day weekend which means I can do loads of stuff on the old girl.

Need to sand down the raised bits and do the cam covers tomorrow, picking up my spare carbs tomorrow so can see how it all fits togeather with the new cooling pipe.

I'm guessing the exhaust cam cover may not last a massively long time due to it not being VHT paint but the rest of it should be ok, can't be any worse than the wrinkle stuff.

Got my new Chargecooler today, but don't think I'm going to put it on just yet, best I just get her working for now!

Edited August 6, 2009 by Simon350S

[rocket63]

Looking Good Si. Mega impressed. Keep up the good work mate

[arbell9]

Need to sand down the raised bits and do the cam covers tomorrow, picking up my spare carbs tomorrow so can see how it all fits togeather with the new cooling pipe.

Col...c..c...c...colour sand per chance? 1200 grit or 2000??

Details man, c'mon we need them!

[Simon350S]

1/ Trip to Halfords

2/ Buy pack of mixed wet & dry

3/ Use wet and dry with sanding block

4/ Done!

Need any more de...d...d....details?

AH BOLLOCKS!!!

My new alloy pipe won't work. There is absolutely ZERO room between the cast turbo outlet pipe and the inlet manifold/carb assembly to do anything remotely fancy!

Even the original pipe just sqwwzws in there and is litterally jammed between the two! Grrr....

You can see the marks on both the water and inlet pipe where they have been rubbing away for years.

Back to the drawing board.

Maybe the pipe will fit below the manifold.....

No luck the throttle linkeages are in the way!

What next? Who knows!!!!

Off to do more sanding and have a think!

Ahhhhh... and Breathe!!!

Think I've sorted it, bit of thinking outside the box, not that far though has to be said.

Just ordered some more pipes but I'm going to have to cut down my new shiney pipe!

Getting there

[AJay]

Fit the chargecooler, you will need a custom made adaptor but it will give you more room for your water pipe.

Second thoughts it might be easier to use the HC inlet manifold and then use the proper adaptor, i am still usig the LC water pump so this made sense at the time....

Edited August 7, 2009 by AJay

[Simon350S]

I've had a look at the chargecooler and it looks to me like it sits even lower than the original inlet pipe.

Anyways, I'll wait till my new pipes turn up and have another look.

For today anyhow and just to keep our good friend Alex GT3 happy here are some pics of my work on the cam towers.

Firstly Nitromors stripper to get rid of the old red paint.

2 x applications of the stripper and the paint was completely gone!

Mask off all the bits you dont want to paint, in this case the oil filler, screw holes and the underside then one good coat of acid etch primer.

By the time the bumble bee buggers off the primer is dry for top coating.

3 x coats of lovely Essex Blue

Followed by 2 x coats of laquer.

Thats not still wet, it really was that shiney after it dried

I used a sharp stanley blade to remove the majority of the paint from the raised bits just to save some wet & dry time and was feeling a bit stoopid so played with the bits left over....

and then finally some gratutous sparkly new bits pics! Iain popped over to check up on me to make sure I was actually working on the car....

Its all only temporarily fitted at present, when the carbs are back from being rebuit I can swap them out for these ones I've got on at the moment then I can start fitting it all back properly and getting her ready to refit the engine.

Very happy today! :) :)

Edited August 8, 2009 by Simon350S

[silverfrost]

Simon,

Nice work on the paintwork you will have one very nice looking bay once complete, keep up the good work regards Danny

[Simon350S]

Well its been a busy afternoon again

Fuel tank installation 95% completed, foams cut for the tops of the tanks and the plywood bolted down, fuel filler necks in with connecting pipes and fuel filler caps on to keep the inevitable rain out and lastly balance pipe connected up.

Just the earths to make up and connect and the fuel suppy&return banjos on the underside of the tanks. Got the hoses off so I can order up new fuel hoses and need to get new breather hoses as well.

Seat belts bolted up to the bulkhead.

Front colant pipes conected, a few more bits to order there to finish off along with iminent arrival of my new elbow pipe that houses the otter switch, it had massive holes in it!

Clutch hose removed ready for replacement.

New throttle and choke cables fitted.

Think thats about it although there may have been a few other things I've forgotten about.

Just getting in the shower so I can start on the Stellas for the evening

[Bibs]

Very pretty mate, lovely work and well done on the progress. How close are you to moving it much, much closer to the car?

[Jonathan]

Looks really nice !