TheBard's daily drive

[TheBard]

Doug, you know I don't give up that easily. So here we go...

Step 1
Replace the stock short screw with something a tad longer. Check out the difference between the new screw on the left and the old one on the right. The new screw could be installed fully and bit good thread the whole way down!

Click here


Step 2
Test the unit before going further, if it works use some lateral thinking and decide that a large coolant hose clamp/plumbers pipe clamp will hold the lid on and provide additional strength whilst remaining easy to remove in the future.

Click here


Step 3
Admire your handiwork. I know the stainless clip is only as strong as the screw holding it tight, but it beats duct-tape and comes off cleaner I reckon it gives me a sporting chance!

Click here


Step 4
Take a break for dinner, then reinstall in the car by floodlight!

Step 5
Go to bed happy!

Only #4 and #5 to do, wish me luck guys!

[Ekapol]

but it beats duct-tape and comes off cleaner

That is so true. I wasn't thinking right at that time and just reached for my old trusted friend duct-tape

Cool that it seems you have all under control. As for the Peugeot motor, I use the motor and the cables. The motor I used it as-is, didn't open it. The cable I used one side as-is, the other side I cut it shorter and installed my own ferrule on one side. I use original Elan rail.

In the other word, all you need to do is just cut and re-crimp the cable on one side. Then swap out the screws.

Best of luck

[TheBard]

Decided to reverse steps #4 and #5, and slept knowing the part was safe on the workbench.

Up at 6am for an hours re-install and test. It all went together perfectly first time, which is worrying but shows that you never forget how to do it having struggled with it previously. So I had a very pleasant drive to work!

Now back to bedding in the brakes, and seeing if we've resolved the drift to the right under braking!

Thanks for the advice Ekapol, if it goes again I'm phoning a Pug dealership!

Cheers,
Ian

[TheBard]

Wow, God status.... It wasn't that hard a project, but thanks!

Guess this means I now have to keep an eye out for the status changing pixies!

Ian

[Enright]

Hahaha, you DO know it goes from number of posts don't you?
Having said that - impressive fix. Welcome to Mount Olympus.

[TheBard]

Hi Enright, yup, I knew it was 500, just can't believe I've posted this much already. Might explain why Laura thinks I spend too much time on the car.

Thanks for the fix comments, it was a >>DING<< lightbulb moment!

Cheers,
Ian

[Gazza]

We have our 50th God!!!!!!!!!

[Ekapol]

God you're god

Laura thinks I spend too much time on the car.

Yeah, I hear you.

Cheers Ian,

[Aurora40]

Now back to bedding in the brakes, and seeing if we've resolved the drift to the right under braking!

I'll hope no news is good news, and that the car is still braking with a good balance. I definitely want to know how full-on braking goes once you bed them. Hopefully the brakes with performance pads can lock the wheels up. Then maybe the only thing left to do is to eventually replace the flexible lines. I imagine 16 year old rubber lines under high pressure might not still be at their best.

Good thing your pads came when they did, by this weekend all those pink flowers on our cherry blossoms (or whatever those trees are out front) will have fallen off. You got to see my house on one of the two weeks a year that they look like that.

[TheBard]

Okay so I've worn in the pads, and managed a little bit of testing. I can finally lock the front wheels if I stop really hard, and the car feels a lot happier when stopping. When I touch the wheels after a drive the right front still feels slightly warmer than the others, which is odd since both fronts ahve had their slider pins replaced and are greased up nicely. How much of that though is the left turns with the brakes slightly engaged that lead into my neighbourhood....

In other news the window hasn't stopped working again yet, but I have managed to have two Lotus nightmares, one where the window fell apart and another where the roof got cut open and all my stuff got stolen... must be too much time spent worrying about the brakes.

[Doug]

you can always get one of those infra-red temperature detectors and use it to gauge real temps of the rotors and pads -- but given the stock front caliper design, you are always dealing with X percent of slider disfunction; so your goal in life is keeping the X number as low as you can

more nightmares and you'll need to beg Brian to make more brake sets . . .

[Aurora40]

Okay so I've worn in the pads, and managed a little bit of testing. I can finally lock the front wheels if I stop really hard, and the car feels a lot happier when stopping. When I touch the wheels after a drive the right front still feels slightly warmer than the others, which is odd since both fronts ahve had their slider pins replaced and are greased up nicely. How much of that though is the left turns with the brakes slightly engaged that lead into my neighbourhood....

Well if there is no unevenness under braking, I would think that's the important thing. I don't know that wheels always have to be consistently warm after a drive? I suppose it could also be something like a hub going bad. Your wheels aren't slightly directional are they? I can't quite recall the exact pattern of them.

Good to know you can lock 'em up then. That means you really can't improve on a single stop with bigger brakes, unless you get some grippier or meatier tires or something.

[TheBard]

Okay, back to the head scratching then...

Felt it tug slightly, so decided "we're bedded in so lets go for it."

Conditions, dry road, clear stretch, straight, no obvious camber or crown.

Result, right front locks fast, the car pulls initially to the right then slides left on the lock, and off brakes...

Pull is only slight, but the right front is always warmer than the left even with slider action apparently as good as it can be.

Let the suggestions, brainwaves, and ideas come... bad hub? ballooning left brake line? master cylinder issues?

and Doug you're right, you know it and I know it, but I've got to explore first... I'm learning the slow way remember

[TheBard]

More driving and less tugging, so we'll investigate slowly but surely, and eventually take Doug's advice

So on to the more pressing issues. The brake work exposed traces of surface rust on what had previously been an unmarked suspension. So I'm looking to treat this as the drier weather arrives. I'm considering Rust Bullet Automotive Formula, as I can't find an easy Waxoyl stockist. Just wondered if anyone had any advice/experience with it.

Cheers,
Ian

[TheBard]

Okay, so the brakes are fine, and the car is a joy to drive now good weather is here

Recent projects, and difficult rating where 1 is easy when blindfolded, and 10 is enough to make you douse the car in petrol and burn the whole thing to the ground...

#1. Fitted Dave's Patent Strut Brace - 3/10
Nice and easy job, and great fun testing out the stiffer, tighter back end

#2. Changed the fuel filter - 4/10
Needs bravery to play with the fuel system, but actually was easier than expected. The only question now is do Criswell Lotus of Gaithersburg use "Coopers" fuel filters, or was I charged $35.95 (listed on invoice for fuel filter) for them to do bugger all 2 years ago? I'll be making the call on Tuesday.... who reckons they know what the answer will be to "So what fuel filters do you use?"

#3. Fitted Marie's Marvellous Roll Bar - 8/10
Not quite "patience of a saint" work, but this was a tough job and involved a fair amount of cursing, swearing, drilling, and resorting to a small lump hammer. Oddly enough what looked the hardest was actually the easiest and fitting the central nuts through the chassis was dead simple once the hole was drilled and the car perched up on ramps.

So a huge thanks to Dave and Marie for their brilliant contributions to my daily drive.

Tomorrow I cut the interior trim to fit around the roll bar, but for now a long shower, followed by a BBQ and beers is definitely in order!

[Ekapol]

I am happy for you having all those fabulous parts in your Elan finally. Feel nice huh?

Tomorrow I cut the interior trim to fit around the roll bar

Measure thrice, cut once

[TheBard]

Measure thrice, cut once

Same with reading instructions like "How to fit Marie's Roll Bar"

The lower bolt on the petrol tank side is at what could be described as a jaunty angle as we couldn't make a suitable mark and so drilled with the bar in place. On the one hand our fit is very good and the center plate is flat on the floor, however it was a good thing my long bolts were a quarter inch longer, and it does look a little odd not being square like the rest.

However, I'm working on the theory that if there ever comes a time when I have to be concerned about the structural strength of the bolt and mount, then I will have enough other worries (like being upside down and sliding down the road in the first place) that I won't have much time to think about it!

Now to go trim some plastic

[TheBard]

So the roll-bar went well, the trim looks good, and all is well in my daily driver. Except...

* The car has developed a gentle groan (sounds like body flex being restricted by roll-bar/rear strut brace) when crossing bumps under braking. E.g. in car parks moving from down-slope entrance ramp to up slope car park surface whilst braking to slow down. Not a big concern, but something new.
* I've fitted new front tyres, sticking with the quiet and grippy (even in rain and slushy snow) B.F. Goodrich G-Force Sports.
* I've painted the rear suspension and anti-rollbar with Rust Bullet rust inhibitor paint as some surface rust had developed.
* I've discovered that even on 6 inch ramps there isn't much space under the back end of an Elan whilst painting suspension parts delicately.
* I've slammed my finger in the door, puncturing it with the latch mechanism, inducing bleeding and violent swearing.

Other than that, everything is going great

[TheBard]

another recent fit was Geoff's USB ElanScan cable. Permanently attached to the dangling end, circuit box velco'd to the back side of the glovebox with the USB lead neatly coiled in the glovebox ready for action. Tried it on the commute home a few weeks back and it worked brilliantly. Laptop sat in the passenger footwell, and no error messages just about an hours worth of data collected.

Great piece of kit!

[Ekapol]

* I've slammed my finger in the door, puncturing it with the latch mechanism, inducing bleeding and violent swearing.

I was not the only one then Took forever to cure.. then I had another one from another door