Lotus Elan Central

by **Paul.P** » Sat 25.02.2006, 10:18

My personal thoughts on this Isuzu thing, is that all lotus cars are hybrids, very good cars, but lotus being what they are, utilise the other manufacturers bits to there advantage. Now that being what it is, the Isuzu powerplant is the heart of our cars, & its a major factor why the cars are generally reliable, so i can't see why some of us wan't to deny the fact we have a japanese engine in there, surely in some circles, that gives us more street cred ?. Now i know its each to there own, just think its strange that some of us want to do away with any referencies of other manufacturers, when they have been a big part in the development & production of our car, & for the time of production, gave us class leading performance !.
Don't like to say this, but are we becoming lotus snobs ?

by **Darren** » Sat 25.02.2006, 23:43

I'm more than happy to tell everyone how reliable the ISUZU powerplant is in my elan. I'm more than happy to tell everyone how much BHP the Impulse & Geo Storm crowd are running. So why would I want to remove the ISUZU reference from the valve cover?

Would you remove the Ford reference from the orginal twin cam engine and the Vauxhall name from the Lotus Carlton?

Would you be happier with the ultra unreliable Lotus designed/made V8 engine as fitted to the Esprit, as that's got Lotus written all over it?

Paul.P wrote: Don't like to say this, but are we becoming lotus snobs ?

Not me, as I've no plans to remove the Isuzu name off my Elan :wink:

Darren.

by **Doug** » Sun 26.02.2006, 02:51

to reverse your argument, I'd say that to be so proud of the Isuzu engine, you should thus strive to place an Isuzu badge on the rear of the car next to the Lotus . . . :roll:

by **ailwyn** » Sun 26.02.2006, 03:31

I say each to his own, for me the jury is still out, although I have no problem with acknowledging the isuzu engine, I can see why people would grind away the reference.

At the moment I have no plans to remove the head, so no option to grind it off..... when the day comes, who knows, but either way it doesn't diminish the fact that the Elan is what it is, because of it's mixed breed heritage.

Ailwyn

by **Doug** » Sun 26.02.2006, 05:16

by **Dico** » Sun 26.02.2006, 08:47

Back to my original query -

by **Paul.P** » Sun 26.02.2006, 12:07

What ever holds the towing eye on Paul, got me back all the way from Peterborough in Whitey mate !. Them radiator frames are still available , i got one for Blacky, think they were about £180 ?

by **Darren** » Sun 26.02.2006, 12:21

Dico,

I swapped mine with a second hand jobbie (don't ask) and it too was in a similar state to the one you have.

I gave it some wicked uncle with a wire brush, got my mate to sand blast it, covered it in rust killer and spray'd it with smooth hammerite (4 coats).

Needless to say, it didn't look like yours when it had finished.

As for the towing eye, I have to say that there doesn't look alot to it or the supporting frame when you see it out of the car but as Paul says, it must have been up to the job at one time :shock:

.

Darren.

by **Gary** » Sun 26.02.2006, 15:29

Paul.P wrote:What ever holds the towing eye on Paul, got me back all the way from Peterborough in Whitey mate !. Them radiator frames are still available , i got one for Blacky, think they were about £180 ?

Would that be after the diesel incident :lol:

by **Paul.P** » Sun 26.02.2006, 15:33

Gary wrote:
Paul.P wrote:What ever holds the towing eye on Paul, got me back all the way from Peterborough in Whitey mate !. Them radiator frames are still available , i got one for Blacky, think they were about £180 ?

Would that be after the diesel incident

You know damn well it was, you tart :lol:

, can tell your back :wink:

by **stevo** » Mon 27.02.2006, 11:29

time to visit you friendly local galviniser

by **Dico** » Mon 27.02.2006, 14:56

Yeah just been, they will do the rad mount and fan cowlings for £40. Thats the minimum they charge so may even have been cheaper otherwise

But they dont do sand/bead blasting so need to source another company to do that Not easy when you work full time

and babysit the rest of your available time

I've been given permission to spend all sunday with 'The Beast'

Blimey, at this rate should be ready for 2010 :shock:

Just been on the phone to Quaife, mine and Montys gearboxes are almost ready to pick up. One box had a broken 'plunger' (?)
I asked the guy which one, but he could'nt tell me as they'd lost one :shock:

I'm just praying its Montys :-D

by **Dico** » Fri 10.03.2006, 18:55

Update -

Quaife ATB fitted and returned

Fan cowlings, radiator support mounting and towing eye, shot blasted and are now at the galvanizers.

Enngine bay - scrubbed clean and any small amount of rust treated and primed.

Waxoyl - ALL over the place :evil:

Had a spare couple of hours this afternoon so thought i would bring sundays job forward- waxoyl any hole i can find in the engine bay whilst the engines out.
Puts together the new 'starter pack' waxoyl kit i purchased from halfrauds.
Notice that amongst the numerous nuts/pipes etc that you have to assemble that one of the nuts (plastic) isnt quite tightening up correctly. undo and try again, hmm, not very good but didnt come apart with a good tug so started to pump away (sounds rather like steph writing this dont you think?). Just about reached full pressure when said nut decided to part company with its thread and releases one and a half litres of waxoyl over me, the garage floor, the elan, the wifes washing basket and montys gearbox ( :-D

)
Spent the next hour using my vast supply of paper towels :wink:

mopping up the mess! Oh, and managed to get a good dollop in my eye whilst releasing one of the pipes for good measure!

I've superglued the blighter now so no chance of a repeat performance

One step forward two steps back, glass half empty etc.... think i'll ave a beer

by **Paul.P** » Fri 10.03.2006, 20:10

Sounds like you had a good day Mate :lol:

, still when its all over it will be worth it !. Lets just hope your wallet can stand another can of waxoil ?

by **Monty** » Fri 10.03.2006, 20:42

Dico wrote:reached full pressure when said nut decided to part company with its thread and releases one and a half litres of waxoyl over me, the garage floor, the Elan, the wifes washing basket and montys gearbox ( )
Spent the next hour using my vast supply of paper towels mopping up the mess! Oh, and managed to get a good dollop in my eye whilst releasing one of the pipes for good measure!

I've superglued the blighter now so no chance of a repeat performance

One step forward two steps back, glass half empty etc.... think i'll ave a beer

LMAO

and montys gearbox ( )

and u better have clean before i pick it up Nobby!!!!!!!!!!!

by **Gary** » Sat 11.03.2006, 16:52

At least you'll never have a rusty gearbox Monty :-D

by **Sy V** » Sat 11.03.2006, 18:44

I used to know a girl with a rusty box - she was ginga though! But that's another story. ;-)

by **Monty** » Sat 11.03.2006, 21:30

a rusty hole LMAO :lol:

by **Dico** » Sun 12.03.2006, 18:04

Managed to remove the clutch and flywheel today.
Also succeeded in releasing the crank pulley bolt in order to replace the cambelt.
I'm struggling to understand a section from the service notes (section EC page 16) which states -

For a new belt, a higher tension is called for, and it is necessary to provide additional tension whilst the pulley clamp bolt is tightened. A hexagonal socket is provided in the pulley hub for this purpose. Use an allen key wrench in this socket to manually apply additional tension as required by turning counterclockwise. The socket may also be used to prevent the hub from turning whilst the clamp bolt is tightened.

Also a section from Pantz's write up -

There is a hexagonal socket so you can tension the new belt using an allen key turn counterclockwise to tension. The socket is also used to hold the hub from turning while the clamp bolt is tightened..The belt tension should be measured at the position shown on the picture using a firm finger pressure and to the tension shown

Where on earth is this hexagonal socket which is provided???

I'm thinking if i purchase a 'spline socket wrench' as also stated in the sevice notes, then i should be able to complete the belt change.

Any advice anyone?

No predictable comments please.

by **Dico** » Mon 13.03.2006, 21:30

Well, another uneventful day at camp Dico

Bought a torque socket set from halfrauds thinking it would fit the idler/tension bearings, however after the chosen socket slipped on the tension bearing stud i decided to take a closer look. The sockets i purchased are for 6 splined studs wereas the actual splined stud has around 10 splines :oops:

, what a plonker! One reason why i dont think i'm capable of fitting Niters kit to my elan.

Spotted this on ebay -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SEALEY-Spline-Soc ... dZViewItem

Can anyone confirm if it seems to be the correct kit?

The idler bearing spins nice and freely but the tension bearing seems to have a slight noise coming from it and doesnt spin as freely.
Think i'll replace the pair.

On another note, having removed the flywheel yesterday i was welcomed into the garage by a couple of litres of mobil oil on the floor.
Question - Is it normal to lose oil from were the flywheel bolts once were if you remove them, or is there another problem?

Cheers folks

Btw - Where on earth is this hexagonal socket which is provided???
Does anyone know?

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