Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Lotusfab]

Bauke Tocus on here is selling a set of restored original wheels, but they are expensive!

I already have the centres and am looking for rims.

[RichardJGC]

8 hours ago, RichardJGC said:

I'm still getting emails from Harry at Image Wheels saying that remanufacture of CX500s is a possibility if they can get enough interest. I doubt it will happen personally but you never know.

Ive got my name down for a set should it ever happen 

I have two centres and need two more. I do have a couple of the later cx500 fronts too but it's the earlier ones I need for my white 007 replica. I'm ok for rims...just had them mirror polished.

Dont forget you will need The Panasonic roof stereo too.....almost as hard to find as the wheels.

[Lotusfab]

Stumbled across this in the service manual!

Nearly completed my tool kit just need the 19 mm socket and 5 inch extension bar.

[Lotusfab]

Slowly moving this project forward. Wastegate mod is ongoing. The company below in Surrey made me the collar. Paul the engineer is very competent and can do any engineering job including wheels! 

http://www.cranford-engineering.co.uk/

In the top picture the valve seat is upside down. The plan is to use the original lotus gasket with the new collar, then the valve seat, new gasket and the Wastegate. There's not much room to get the nuts on with this inexpensive Wastegate valve. Other types would be better that don't have a curved body directly above the stud! The studs were stepped. The ones in the picture have to be changed as they are too short. Plan to use self locking nuts, manifold type. Plenty of clearance to get the exhaust on. The whole thing sits about 15 mm lower than the original. Still have to try the fit on the car. 

Blanking plate will go on the lower port. Stainless extension piece to the exhaust and a welded piece onto the flange that came with the valve. 

[Lotusfab]

Forgot to say in the toolist above notice the Compomotive tool kit is different! It has one 19 mm socket whereas the BBS toolkit has one 17 mm socket. 

[Lotusfab]

New studs came so the Wastegate mod is complete. I decided to test it. Set up is easy used a compressor with a tyre inflation attachment and a accurate sealy pressure guage. The tyre inflators allows you to control the pressure very accurately. The valve works perfectly. It cracks open at 6 psi and is fully open at 8 PSI the max boost pressure. Here's the setup. You can see the valve position and the guage pressure if you look carefully!

[silverfrost]

Great work Fabian,  

I salute you on your attention to detail,  what's the score with the comps now, are you buying used or having made ? 

Look forward to future updates on this project as a whole and as always wish you luck all the way.

Regards Dan

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Dan. Hope it fits ok back on the car and the exhaust has sufficient clearance. Of course I will let everyone know and update on how it performs. I have five stud CX500 centres. Although I would prefer the four studs, as they were on the Bond car, I intend to use these and either second hand or new rims and barrels. There are engineering benefits and I can be confident putting the 210BHp through the five studs with the wheels having the original reinforcing ribs. 

[Lotusfab]

Well took the gear linkage apart today. Easy to get out. Every bush was completely worn out and the relay pivot was missing the steel bush! It's hard to believe how much play there was and it was still possible to select gears! should work so much better with the new bushes,  Am blasting and refurbishing all the bits.

Rebuilt and cleaned the clutch slave cylinder with new seals(Lucas form eBay). The adjustment at the fork end was way off! It should have 22 mm of thread showing to the pushrod. Getting this wrong could bend the clutch fork! Pedal still needs adjusting but can't get to it in my tiny shed! If the foot pedal has no slack when the pedal is up and full travel to the bottom cannot be achieved the clutch may drag! This could cause further problems so best to set it correctly from the start. Managed to bleed the clutch with new fluid, the master cylinder has already been replaced with a new one. 

The Wastegate I bought has an adjustable outlet position for the boost pressure line. Will bolt it on soon once I've been to Isleworth for the fittings.

[Lotusfab]

This place was recommended to me on the forum for fuel pipes and fittings. It's great!

http://www.thinkauto.com/acatalog/Hoses--Pipes---Fittings.html

Have been thinking about fibreglass repairs. I did quite a lot of the, on the S1 and have got reasonably competent at it. I think this time I'm going to try Gelcoat filler by Plastic Padding. Has anyone else tried this?

[LOTUSMAN33]

I have used it a couple times with the main time being the sunroof replacement on a white S1. You need to work quickly as it goes really hard so you need to smooth it out well. Works best on flatter areas but good value for money.

[silverfrost]

Have heard plenty of good things about that plastic padding gel coat filler,  the only downside is its a bugger to sand most people say,  as Dave says spread it out well.

[Lotusfab]

Great! Will try using it on the bumper edges where there is slight damage.

The bumper brackets are being remade for me, ordered through Bell and .Coville. Hopefully they will arrive soon and I can repair the rear bumper mounts. This will involve cutting out the rotten plywood, replacing it with new marine ply and fiberglassing over the top to bond it all together. Then the new brackets will be fitted. 

[Lotusfab]

Does anyone know where the boost guage pipe routes and where it connects to the intake manifold? It will save a lot of work if anyone has some pictures else I will have to take the whole thing to pieces. Thanks.

[Andyww]

The routing is the same as the oil pressure gauge pipe. Along the top of the backbone under the interior trim, through the bulkhead. It connects using an elbow to the front end of the intake plenum chamber.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Andy.

[Lotusfab]

Well finally got a chance to try the Wastegate mod on the car. Not good news the new exhaust outlet is very close to the disc. If I did this again would use a Wastegate that can rotate through 360 degrees. You could then angle the exhaust outlet away from the rear disc. That's the problem with doing MODs for the first time. Always problems. Some thing like this type would be much better. 

[Lotusfab]

Thought of a better method of changing the wastegate. The whole bottom half of the Wastegate adapter  is not necessary with the new Wastegate valve. So grind off all the excess casting and weld a new flange to take the Wastegate over the original hole. This arrangement would be neater and the outlet exhaust pipe almost exactly where it was before! 

You can see in the picture there is a lot of unnecessary casting beneath the valve.

[Andyww]

Thats makes a lot of sense, provided that material can be welded.

[910Esprit]

Would there be any chance of attaching the wastegate horizontally to the outlet that you are planning blanking off, then blank the original wastegate attachment flange?

[LOTUSMAN33]

Fabian

Would it not be easier to manufacture another adaptor flange allowing you to reposition the new wastegate? You may have to counterbore the flange and fit cap screws, this would allow another two holes to be tapped rotating the wastegate to clear the disc. Welding the casting is okay, we usually preheat then you rods designed for cast steel.

Any help let me know as doing the development work can get expensive.

Dave  

[Lotusfab]

Steve, tee not enough room to fit it to the blanking plate. The disc is far to close. It will work as is but the exhaust pipe will clear the disc by about 10 mm. Dave, good idea! This would be easy to leave the casting as is with a rotating waste gate. 

I think if I did it again I would definately machine off the lower half of the casting as it's redundant. A welded plate over the hole with two studs attached. Then you would have  an arrangement almost the same as the existing but with a modern valve. The exhaust pipe route would be very similar too. May get a quote for this work and have it done before Input it all back together.

[Lotusfab]

Have had a detailed look at the new Wastegate setup today. The disc is about 20 mm from the right flange bolt of the new Wastegate. The 32 mm exhaust will clear it by about 20 mm. 

Removed all of the gearchange system to refurb. All of the bushes were shot and two were missing! I bough new three piece bushes from S an J. There's a problem though. The pivot bolts were 7 mm on the early cars and 8 mm on the later ones but there only one size bush? Seems to me there's too much play with the new bush. These pivot bolts are about £15 each! I need to buy a lathe and make these bits! The gear change system design is quite frankly dire. There's excessive play in the pivot return linkage also even with new bushes! Any cost effective solutions out there? Think I need to modify it substancially!

[Lotusfab]

When  I removed the gear change mechanism I was impressed by the condition of this car. All the heater cams, foam and loom are in excellent condition for there age. I would guess the body has never been removed! This is a result as all the bits are there and intact. Seems to be mainly the mechanics that need sorting. 

[silverfrost]

Good news Fabian,  glad everything is in fine fettle, to be honest you will not find many bodies have been removed on our cars until nowdays with people doing restorations.

Mostly as you say its normally bad mechanicals, tired paint, poor fiberglass repairs, tired interiors and years of dodgy wiring repairs, if I had a time machine I would use it to assassinate the fellow who invented scotch electrical repair connectors lol.

Glad to see you are using the 5 stud comp centres