Smaug: Return of The Green Monster

[tigerdog]

Watch this space for info on his new set of BRG Samco coolant hoses. James at Amber Performance told me to expect the hoses in about two more weeks. I'm going to put Smaug up on stands this week to get him ready. Maybe this is the time to do the Wilwood conversion, too.

[tigerdog]

New hoses will be joined by new header tank. Though this one seems to have been recently replaced, it also seems to be cracked on the back side. Bummer! Oh, and still waiting on the hoses.

[tigerdog]

Whilst disassembling in anticipation of new hoses, I discovered this on the underside of the header tank, hidden against the firewall. Oddly, felt like there was silicone sealant oozing out of the crack.

[tigerdog]

I arrived home yesterday to find my new expansion header tank, cap, and custom BRG Fed-spec Samco hoses had arrived simultaneously. Unfortunately, the pack/ship person at Amber neglected to pack and ship the Samco clamp kit I'd ordered. To be fair, they had the new one shipped out same day as I pointed out the trouble. Looks like this weekend will be devoted to disassembly and preparation.

[tigerdog]

Removing tank and intake plumbing makes it easier to see the cooling hoses.

[Monty]

Should look good when finished

Is that the standard turbo heat shield on the Garrett?

[tigerdog]

Is that the standard turbo heat shield on the Garrett?

Yes! I thought that Houdini did a particularly nice bit of camouflage there. Only the offset bolt hole gives it away. Better view here.

[tigerdog]

Making slow progress. I have sourced 4 quarts of 0W-40 Mobil 1, a Mobil 1 filter and the needed coolant so I expect to be able to continue work this weekend.

Clamp set arrived on Friday. I gleefully opened the envelope and proceeded to match clamp to hose-end. As you can see from the photo, I received a couple of unneeded clamps (probably for the odd double-90 degree lower radiator connector that's not included in the Fed set). Unfortunately, the kit is also missing six of the smallest size, needed for the turbo coolant and heated throttle body lines. I've contacted James at Amber; I'm sure they'll make things right.

[tigerdog]

Spent several hours under the car this weekend and now have a few green hoses in place. Currently struggling with the Seuss-o-phone long hose; when properly tied to water pump and radiator, I have yet to find a route where it will neatly mate to the auxiliary electric pump.

Until today, I did not realize poet e.e. cummings had owned a Lotus or at least changed Elan hoses. Nothing else could as well explain the last line of the poem somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond which reads, "nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands".

[lotusgirlmarie]

You know whats alittle deja' vu, Ekapol had the exact same issue....... with the overflow tank.

[Ekapol]

Boy~ Oh boy. You know what, I'm now on my 5th tank or something

[tigerdog]

You know whats alittle deja' vu, Ekapol had the exact same issue....... with the overflow tank.

After installing this one, I'm going to jump on the group buy on the "LGM Special Edition Polished Aluminium Overflow Tank" that uses a standard dual seat 15PSI cap and has a drain hose that drops down past the ignition so overflow doesn't disable the car...

...

[tigerdog]

After much muttering, swearing, skinned knuckles, etc., Smaug now wears a lovely set of BRG Samcos. Earlier photos showed the engine bay stripped of hoses; I had originally intended to swap one hose at at time but that's simply not practical. In the end, I pulled them all out then started replacing. Here's a photo with the old hoses removed. And yes, that is a BRG towel draped over the fender to avoid scratches!


One word of wisdom: especially with the big ugly hose, don't tighten any clamps until everything is slipped in place! I found it easiest to work from the firewall forward and moved mostly in this order:

Heater pipes.
Heater valve.
Y-Pipe.
(metal junction pipe)
Jumper from one metal pipe to the other - has to slip on prior to bolting the metal pipe to the engine.
Throttle body pipes.
Pipe from Y to electric pump.
(if I had the stock turbo, I'd do those hoses here)
Big ugly hose - starting at water pump, then radiator, then electric pump, then overflow tank.
Lower hose from radiator to thermostat housing.

Removing the old heater hoses was a chore. I loosened the clamps, then sliced through the old hoses where they were well-stuck to the heater core inlet and outlet. Though at first glance the heater hoses are simple "S" curves, there's a particular orientation to make them line up. I learned this by installing them in the opposite orientation. This photo shows orientation as if facing the firewall from the front of the engine bay. Firewall end is at the left.


Tightening the heater hoses is not fun. I settled on a socket with two wobble-extensions and a nut-driver handle.


The heater clamps have to be oriented just-so in order to be accessible.


After removing my old heater valve, I'm now firmly convinced there are only two kinds on M100s - those that have been replaced and those that need to be replaced! The parts cross-reference lists a Jaguar part that fits. I sourced a valve from my local NAPA auto parts store (US equivalent to Halfords, maybe.) NAPA part number BK 6601230 is all plastic (no rust), normally open as needed by the Lotus and is cheap at $14! The vacuum fitting is the same size as the outside diameter of the Elan's vacuum pipe, so it won't stretch to slip on to the valve. I made an adapter using about 1" of larger hose, pushed the lotus vacuum hose inside, then slipped it onto the valve.


Routing the big ugly hose is especially challenging. Water pump-to-radiator is self explanatory and there's only one place the side branch can get past the AC.


From there, I ran the hose along the anti-roll bar, over the radiator support and just behind the cooling fan to reach the electric pump.




My Samco kit seems to assume the distance from the front of the car to the firewall is about two inches longer than it is. This photo clearly shows the overlap on the two pipes that run back from the electric pump to the "Y" pipe. Making matters worse, the Big Ugly Hose section from the e-pump to the header tank was similarly too long.


In the end, the hoses in my kit would simply not allow me to keep the electric pump on its factory mount. Mine is now securely tied to the (non-standard) turbo-to-intercooler duct using handy nylon ties and appropriate padding.


In the end, three hoses were not replaced: coolant to and from the turbo housing is non-standard because of Houdini's pioneering Garrett T2560 conversion, and the infamous radiator connector that Samco have apparently never managed to duplicate. I believe the best way around this will ultimately be to use a stock 45 or 90 degree pipe out of the radiator and bend a new metal pipe to connect it to the pipe running up to the thermostat housing.

Here's a pic of the final result


Now, how do you keep these sticky silly-cone hoses from gathering dust and looking filthy?

[tigerdog]

Now that the cooling is sorted, it's time to continue with Smaug's evolution. When he was acquired from Houdini, he came with a raft of extra bits and a "to-do" list. I'm fortunate enough to have a complete Wilwood conversion in hand so herewith marks the start of the next project. Watch this space (if you give a rodent's bum)

[nitroman]

Now, how do you keep these sticky silly-cone hoses from gathering dust and looking filthy?

TigDig, GoJo (the kind you use on your hands) does an A1 job on silicone hoses & ignition wires too.

[tigerdog]

...of one year almost to the day, I now have the necessary parts to begin the brake upgrade. As I was preparing to turn wrenches last fall, the whole issue of 6816 v 6806 calipers came to light and the wind went out of my sails. I now have the proper front calipers, new sets of Porterfield R4-S brake pads for front and rear. Very soon now, I'll actually begin to install Brian's Wilwood conversion. I'm hoping to have all the work finished up sometime in August.

[F1 LOTUS]

'bout bloody time

[tigerdog]

'bout bloody time

The "Doug's buying the beer installation party" invitation is still on the table, Brian!
Stone IPA? Newkie Brown? Unibroue Trois Pistoles? Budweiser? Tecate?
Or perhaps some fava beans and a nice chianti? What does it take to intice a master? Kidding, of course (well, half kidding!)

[tigerdog]

Having had my fill of boy-racer WHOOOSH noises, I replaces Smaug's TurboXS blow-off valve with one sourced from Ebay. It uses the same base fitting as the TurboXS and with a little creative engineering, I was able to configure it as a recirculating compressor bypass valve by ducting back to the clean side of the air filter. Not only is the engine quieter, but compressor "whiffle (indicating stalling) was still allowed by the TurboXS and is gone with the new setup. More importantly, off-idle throttle response is 100% better. Smaug would sometimes choke and stall after idling at a stoplight; possibly due to overfueling from the 3 Bar MAP/550cc injector combination. The valve and spring combination opens under idle/high vacuum conditions. I hypothesize this presents a less restrictive path than the main inlet, at least while the turbo is not spun up; this prevents momentary over-richness and lets the engine respond better.

In any case, this was $40 well-spent. Click for full details of the valve project and for a discussion of how to set up a blow-off valve.

[tigerdog]

This subject has been debated ad nauseum elsewhere on the board but my Wilwood installation is now temporarily held up while I find the "ideal" bolts. Yes, I've found the requisite Class 10.9 bolts. Yes, they're in the correct length and thread pitches. So what's the hold up? An aerospace engineer friend (he really is a rocket scientist) and long-time SCCA racer indicated, for this application, it's critical the bolts not be threaded all the way to the head, but have some unthreaded portion. In his opinion, the shear forces have the potential to push the threads against the inside of the holes and lead to premature failure. I have not been able to find bolts of the correct length that meet this description. For the M10x1.5x35, I can cut down a 45mm bolt to do the job. For the M12x1.5x30, such an animal simply doesn't seem to exist. Perhaps I just like to procrastinate in the name of analysis.