Jeemy's Elan Rebuild

[Jeemy]

Cheers chaps. But can I port the turbo with the comp fan in place? Still uncertain!

[steve matthews]

remove the housing

[Jeemy]

Sorry Steve, I'm still confused. Dave said on P7 that those bolts won't undo easily; and that there is no need to undo them unless you plan to rebuild the turbo. The Wiki shows that housing removed during the porting process. This is what I am confused about.

I don't mind attempting it but with the whole assembly's tendency to strip threads, break studs, etc, I only want to remove things that are necessary without risking damaging the turbo.

If you or anybody else could clarify what else I need to do before grinding it, I'd be so grateful.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Remove the housing.

[Jeemy]

Will do!

[norman lovie]

Hi Jeemy, after recently dropping my chassis - and seeing we both have similar visable surface corrosion - which you have treated, the key area's where I can see additional corrosion now the whole chassis being visible are
1) in behind the front cross beam lower and end side plates - you could treat this by injecting in between the chassis plates and the tub bulk head - it is only needed into aprox 1 to 2' along the bottom and the side edges
2) across the top of the chassis around where the rear in board chassis to tub vertical mounting brackets are - from about 4" fwd of the brackets - right to the back - possiblly removing the chassis earth cable grommet into the tub could help with access into this area - you could also drill a few holes - right in front of the rear bulk head - behind the hand brake assembly ( which has a foam barrier between the tub and the chassis top - so you need to go back from this foam - inside the roof compartment and inside the boot to get spray access - then stick a blanking grommet into the holes after treatment
3) there is a bit of corrosion creep at the rear suspension chassis arm tops but its away from where the arm tops face off against the chassis - again you might be able to get in and inject inhibitor over the top of the arms - the inboard area where these arms weld to the chassis beam is also in need of treatment - ref: item 2

there is also a bit of surface rust where the scuttle beam brace mounts to the chassis - and you can get to this bit after removing the facia which you have

all of what I see that was hidden by the tub is surface cosmetic tarnish versus rot and should respond well to a good dose of phosphate followed by your choice of was inhibitor

[Jeemy]

Thanks Norman. With the weather now at sub-zero temperatures up here I am taking the time to get ahead with the bulk of my normal work and have been cataloguing parts and reworking my plans to ensure that nothing is missed when I have optimum conditions to proceed with the next stage. I could force the project forward but its so cold, somebody stole my creeper trolley and I have just been going with the path of least resistance and ensuring I don't fall behind on real work!

Part of this plan has been to test overpainting ML3125 with 4147, I obtained 500ml of aerosol 4147 and it appears to adhere well to my test piece. I need to check the operating temperature of the Dinitrol system as I am concerned that applying it in subzero temperatures may reduce the adhesion and penetration of it. I will add your areas to the official list if they are not already on it, as I plan to inject everywhere with ML as one of the next key tasks before any real cleaning and polishing and rebuilding can begin.

At present my main headache is seperating the wastegate capsule from the turbine capsule.

I have removed the 3 easy bolts and managed to use a vice operating backwards to push the capsule apart about 2mm on all but one side where I cannot get access. The compressor blade still rotates freely but I am keen to push only on this side and have actually snapped the rack inside the jack I think!

Its been mentioned in other threads that you can get something called jackscrews - I'm imagining effectively a braced bolt that can expand and push to seperate the fourth area and try to prise the two parts apart cleanly. However I cannot find anything searching ebay, amazon, google etc - anybody got any tips?

I will of course provide photos of everything once I get some progress made.

[Jeemy]

Looks like what I need is a bar clamp/spreader. Looking to find something thats small enough on initial setting to allow me to push this final section apart. I have definitely broken my vice, haha. Went for it again and it has snapped a spline on the rack inside for sure.

[Jeemy]

So aside from bar clamp/spreaders, and please anybody with any knowledge, don't forget to chime in, I did some inside work today:

With the inner fascia protected by a towel, I prepped it for rebuilding.

First was the light dimmer; this has always spun, and after some hairy moments, I realized the dial front pulls off, and the pot is held on by a grip washer and a nut, its all fairly simple, so off that came:

Next to come out was the heater controls, held in place according to the manual by 2 screws.

NOTE: the dials can easily fall off and I will be refixing them with superglue. Pull the 2 dials and slider before you start.

The first of these can be seen to the left of the top dial, also holding on a cable clamp. Note the bottom screw on the dial is missing and the retainer below is smashed. I can't abide dash rattles, so as I work backwards through the thread refixing everything, this will be on my fibreglassing list:

The second screw can be seen on the right, below:

Out it came, and for my own reference these are the parts to replace:

What the manual fails to mention is there is another screw with a small cable clamp, this also needs to come out before easy removal:

Next were the two blanks, to be replaced by seat heater switches on rebuild (anybody got a good source for these - ideally 2 - position?):

Next (I need to get to a point I can totally respray this unit) was the cig lighter; the light retainer at the top took some gentle focring to prise away the side clips:

Away it came, and the self-earthing mount will need a quick file and the area it mounts to ditto, you can see the accumulated crap:

A LOT of gentle pressure with various pen-ends, and in the end a screwdriver, got the two mounting tabs pushed through, and then it jammed on the light retainer clips, these thankfully prised past the metal surround fairly easily:

And out it came:

[Jeemy]

This was the best tool for all of this in the end; the interior will need a good scrub out, filthy smokers:

Next to come out was the headlight switch, the two tabs either side need pushed inwards:

While doing it, I worked out how I'm gonna fix the break, I'm going to use 2 1.5cm sections of wire coathanger or slightly thinner metal, push them into the cheapo expanding foam and join the pieces, then lather it in fibreglass, before sanding smooth and repainting:

So thats the inner fascia of the dash completely clean and ready to spray from the front. The ashtray back is still there but frankly, the way its glued in, I feel like if I removed it so it didn't get oversprayed, I'd be foolish and risk damage. To be honest, the way I am, I will probably tape a little masking tape in there!

So I plan to use Plastikote black to overcover this once its repaired and the fittings reworked to ensure a snug fit.

In excellent news, I've negotiated a price to cover every piece of dark blue/black plastic trim, the entire main dash, main part of the door cards, the gear knob and handbrake lever, in dark brown leather. The remaining parts will be the cognac previously shown.

So this is the only piece that will be left black in the entire cockpit! I would love to have it match or fit but I cannot think of a better colour although I am considering doing this and the binnacle in grey and grey carbon respectively. But this would leave the dial surrounds to be done; where does it end?

More pressing is the need to find a way to seperate the final corner of the turbine/compressor housing interface.

[Jeemy]

Thinking about it, high gloss grey is the ideal colour for this. But how to get a smooth finish to it?

[RayD]

I’m sure someone will have already mentioned it Jamie, but you are doing a fine job, particularly on the picture front.

Ray

[epipete]

I think for completeness you might want to reconsider not removing the ashtray, it really is simple if you use a sharp knife and are careful and will leave the facia mask ready for treatment it also leaves a nice space for a Tomtom or some other device as others here have done

[HJ2]

Good picture show!

[Jeemy]

Thanks Ray, thanks HJ, and yes epi I will consider it. If there was a GPS device that was a perfect fit, it might be worth it. If not I will examine the unit again but I don't mind if the ashtray gets repainted at the same time as I spray the rest.

WELL

Happy New Year to you all first of all. I've had a few weeks off because everybody was ill, it was XMas, work needed doing etc etc.

Weather has been pretty warm for a Scottish winter, 8-10 degrees, and my plan was to work hard Mon/Tue, then get a full day on the car today when it was forecast sunny and dry.

Forecasts being what they are, and life being what it is, the sun was out for a bit, but the wind was much higher than anticipated, and I didn't get outside til 2pm or so, by which time it was freezing. Decided to do as much as I could to get the dashboard out and get onwards to the heater.

First an aside. I struggled over the last weeks of the year trying to seperate the turbo. The more hours I put in, the more things I tried and the more I looked at it, I realized I was going to probably damage the fans when I seperated it, and weighing up the fact I didn't know if it needed rebuilt, or if I was capable, I eventually gave Essex turbos a ring, who did my van turbo, they put me onto CR, who took my turbo, ported the wastegate, completely overhauled and rebuilt it for a failry reasonable sum, when you weigh up my hourly rate against the time it would have taken me, it worked out cheaper to pay them to do it in real terms.

With a lot of this work its a labour of love, and while I couldn't afford to pay somebody to spent 1-200 hours rebuilding the car, and indeed the return would not be worth it, this was the heart of the engine, and something that I felt I really couldn't justify attempting only to find problems when I reinstalled it.

So I received it back on Monday, and it looks better than I could have hoped; looks absolutely brand new and beefed up. Only got this one pic of the ported 'gate so far but it will obviously feature heavily in photos down the line:

The car looks like this inside now. Fairly frightening. I've decided if I can, to get a new heater - the pipes are totally rusted on the other side which is partly why I am doing this, as I wanted to check how bad they were and this is the only way, and I needed to straighten up the dash anyway. So I've posted up in the LEC heaters thread, hopefully I will hear back.

Following the instructions in the service manual was pretty simple and before I knew it, about 1-2 hours total, the whole dash lifted out, revealing one crack which I will repair. So now, I can work on repairing the fascia and main dash, and aligning them together, out of the cold.

[Stef]

Crazy man...

Good luck with the continuing project!

[Jeemy]

Welp, today was a bad day.

I proceeded to remove the heater, and I wish I blimming hadn't.

For those who ever want to attempt this TAKE GREAT CARE of the link rod at the bottom. I forgot about it and snapped it, and they are obsolete. I might have found one in Italy and have paid 40 Euros to see if the people ship it to me. Desperate times…..

This is how you do it.

Firstly, cut the two plastic ties holding the centre top ducts on:

There is also another tie down the left side that needs cut, and then these ducts pull away from the lower corners and the demisting ducts under the windshield, and pull out through the top with a little wiggling:

The centre ducts detach with a sharp pull at either side:

I initially struggled to pull the vacuum pipe from the back of the distribution control, no 3:

I'm a bit confused if the pink one and the black one are both referred to as distribution controls. The instructions in the service manual are pretty clear, so I am confident I can get it back together. Pipe 5 was pulled from the pink one underside:

Then I pulled pipe 4 from the top I think:

I then removed the two screws holding the maxi fuses on:

And then removed the 4 bolts holding the scuttle brace on:

Behind these and the radio support bar is a screw mounting the heater unit to the scuttle brace, best removed with a mini ratchet with a philips head:

Although technically you can pull the fuse holder away from the metal bracket, I didn't really want to mess with the 20-year-old plastic, so I unscrewed it at the left:

[Brit-Car-Nut]

How about a picture of the broken link? Sorry you have had a problem.

[Jeemy]

….and pulled the rubber covers, removed the bolt at the right:

This allowed the fuse bracket to rotate to the right, and then the scuttle brace can be pulled around the control rod (see, I was taking care of it at this point ><) and removed out of the way.

The manual concentrates on the LHD and light was fading, so I just pulled the obvious 2 bolts securing it at the top, plus vacuum hose 1 from the microswitch:

At this point I had to use a bit of force to remove that earlier hose from the black actuator rear side:

And finally just remove the electrical guiding thing:

This frees the heater, assuming you've disconnected the coolant pipes in the engine bay. To get it out you also have to free the vacuum pipes from a couple of guides, one on the left (RHD) - and at this point you work out what the earlier instruction about the microswitch meant, and you can remove pipes 2 (visible) and 6 (curled round it) from the bottom, and side ports of the microswitch respectively. I did this later to my chagrin:

Theres another guide conduit on the RHS which I bent away, and you can also see the cluster of 4 pipes disappear behind the black actuator (arrowed). Not mentioned in the manual as far as I can see:

But here you can see clearly (and see the reverse port on the actuator where pipe X (CAN'T REMEMBER, UPDATE LATER, 3 POSS) came from) that they are trapped against the body, so loosening the lower screw arrowed, you can seperate the pipe cluster:

Finally pipes 2 and 6 were providing surprise resistance, so I pulled them. This is a good pic taken blind shoving the camera up there to show how they attach:

There was still corroded pipe/rubber debris at the other side, so I spent a bit of time destroying my fingernails pulling the old detritus off the other side. Eventually the rubber came loose so I could pull the heater from the cockpit. And then, disaster.

The unit needed a bit of wiggling to pull the copper pipes through from the engine bay, and despite the bracket marked in yellow technically preventing any impact to the temperature control rod, when the pipes came free, it jumped towards me and snapped the unobtanium rod:

So the worst of it is, now the heater is out, the pipes don't actually look too bad. I might not have even needed to do this. I am absolutely kicking myself; in retrospect I would have rigged up some kind of cradle over a removed bonnet so I could have got my head into the back of the engine bay and examined more closely. I was convinced the pipes were rusty, but you will see in the next posts that the heater is actually fine, its got a tiny bit of corrosion to the ends of the pipes but its the rubber and hose clamps that were cancerous.

So I've broken the control rod C100P0086F, and cannot see one at SJs, DeRoure, or anywhere. Well, I tell a lie, there are two possible sources. One is something like lotusparts.it, which suspiciously came up with no stock information and allowed me to check out the E3.20 part with from what my Italian can muster, an E8 charge for minimum order, and E25 shipping, so just over 40 Euros after tax or about £33. I just checked out, maybe it will come through the post.

Alternatively you can see its threaded, maybe I can find some kind of joining piece that screws into both ends.

To cheer myself up I decided to see if the billet oil filler cap I'd bought from the States fitted. It did not.

However, I do now have the most INCREDIBLE gear knob you've ever seen, a late-night find from an Italian company specialising in custom parts for Abarths. So that, and the following pic console me a lot. Some may recall, I can't even find the post or the email from Bob Brown, but my heater only worked in positions 3 and 4 as I recall. You can see now its removed, that somebody at the factory never used the cable tie shown, and so one of the vacuum hoses was trapped and sealed under the heater. So perhaps if I can get a new rod, this won't all have been in vain as I'll tie the vacuum hose back properly or even replace it:

[Jeemy]

So yeah, here you can see the crushed pipe, and the never-used cable tie. Good old Lotus.

B-C-N, sorry, I hadn't quite got to that. You can see the broken pic in the last post. Fingers crossed I can solve this. Hell, I can probably fashion one out of wire coathanger……