Lotus Elan Central

by **GeoffSmith** » Tue 07.11.2006, 20:08

Looks good Dave and it seems like you've ported the wastegate properly with a long branch: Any chance of a picture of the whole downpipe?

Geoff

by **Dave M** » Wed 08.11.2006, 06:11

geoffsmith wrote:Looks good Dave and it seems like you've ported the wastegate properly with a long branch: Any chance of a picture of the whole downpipe?

Funny you ask - as I was working on the car tonight, I took a few shots of the whole turbo/manifold/downpipe together as I was test fitting things. I'll get them resized tomorrow and post. However, all was not good tonight as I worked on getting the turbo in:

I'm out in the garage test fitting the turbo and the downpipe. While it appears I can't get both in at the same time, I was trying to devise a way to at least get the studs into the turbine housing (tight and thread locked) and then connect the downpipe once the turbo was back in the car. While the turbo was setting in the car, I noticed the bearing section needed to be adjusted so that the oil inlet was on top for what I assume would be the best oil flow. The inlet was sitting at about a 45 degree angle the way it came from the dealer - it should be as straight up and down as it can be, right?. I loosened the 6 bolts that hold the bearing section to the turbine housing just enough for it to rotate slightly. Once the position was correct and I had tightened things back up, I notice that there is now play in the turbine shaft. WTF? Can the bearing housing not be moved?

First thing tomorrow I'm taking it to the local turbo shop and having them do whatever it takes to make things right. Who knows what is going on in there, but I give. I had the evening to work on the car, and now I'm stuck again. Argh!

On the positive side, there is no way anything is damaged as the turbo hasn't spun under power yet. Thankfully I found out before everything was back in and running. It may just be a matter of internal realignment (hopefully!) and I'll be back in business. This could have been what happened last time as I had to adjust the bearing housing that time too, but I'm baffled as to why a slight rotation of the housing causes things to not fit right. Anyway, that nearly eliminates my fears of a bad oil feed - though I'll still check.

Figures...it is supposed to be in the 60s the rest of the week. I was dreaming of driving with the top down, though I won't give up hope. I'll pray it's a quick fix!

by **Dave M** » Thu 09.11.2006, 14:21

geoffsmith wrote:Looks good Dave and it seems like you've ported the wastegate properly with a long branch: Any chance of a picture of the whole downpipe?

Here you go... The O2 bung was put in as close to the turbo without being seen from the top to help clean up the look of the engine bay. Despite adding a slight amount of distance from stock, the car runs perfectly. The downpipe attaches at the stock location, but my exhaust is now a full mandrel-bent 2.5". Therefore I guess this whole piece could *almost* be a "bolt-on" upgrade.

Good news on the turbo front! Long story short, after having things checked out at the local turbo shop and bothering poor Russ (thanks again, dude!) with my frantic ravings, it appears the turbo is OK. It will go in tonight if I can get an extra set of hands from a neighbor (the turbo/manifold needs to go in from the top and the downpipe in from the bottom - then connected

). We have snow flurries in the forecast for Saturday...right about the time the car may get on the road. :banghead:

by **Doc Fizzix** » Fri 10.11.2006, 23:02

Very nice Dave!

I have been very busy these days but I do need to get back to my project also.

by **Dave M** » Wed 15.11.2006, 20:08

It's been an eventful few days...

This past Friday and Saturday nights I was able to work on the car. I finally installed the turbo and downpipe/EWG housing and after many scuffed knuckles (that Jet Hot 2000 is like sandpaper!) was able to sufficiently tighten all the nuts and bolts. The tricky one was the bottom nut on the downpipe flange, but after much contorting under the car it's done. I just hope the turbo never comes out again or I may just pull the whole engine to make it easier!

While the modifications I've done have worked well, the parts and connections sometimes aren't the easiest to get to and/or require removal of other things. Cost, time, and my engineering ability (or lack of!) have resulted in some very tight fits.

After working until 2:00 am on Sat night, I went back at it on Sun afternoon trying to have the car done for my oldest and I to drive to a father-son get together we had in the afternoon. We got things done to the point where the turbo's oil return fed into a bottle so I could verify the oil supply was working well. Still being a bit unsure about why T3 version 2 had the issues it did, I'm making sure I look at all possibilties. I can now say that the oil feed was *not* an issue - but more on that in a moment. Anyway, we were looking over the car, triple-checking all connections and then decided it was time to start it up and watch the bottle. Granted the bag made the Elan look sad just hanging there, like it had a colostomy bag or something. Poor car... :smt011

Well, she must've been pissed about the bottle because upon turning the key - CLICK - then nothing. Stupid me forgot to unhook the battery lead, and after sitting for 4+ #@$% months, it needed a charge. That was the end of the chance to drive, so I connected the charger and left.

Later that night after getting the kids to bed, I thought I'd give it one more try. It had been charging for 5-6 hours. Well, she turned right over (as always). I quick jumped out of the car and looked underneath to see if the turbo was pooping into the bottle, and sure enough, some oil started to drain in. Good! Then a whole lot of oil started to drain everywhere from up above. Bad! Like A LOT. After diving for the key and then a catch pan I realized my wife was standing in the doorway to the house. She'd heard the car start and came out to say congrats. I yelped for her to get lots of paper towel as oil continued to drip down all over. Mind you I have (had) a piece of carpet that the Elan parks on and oil is just soaking into a big puddle.

About one roll of paper towel later (did I mention previous to this the engine was finally clean again after the nasty exhaust leak?), I finally had the chance to look for what the heck was wrong. I traced the leak to the oil fitting on top of the turbo. Not believing I left it loose, I put a socket on it and it turned about 1/8 turn. Did I leave it loose? Another 1/8 of a turn and the :censored:

thing breaks in two. The banjo bolt fitting must have cracked when I tightened it, I started the car sending 60-70 psi of oil pressure through the crack and all over, then upon tightening it some more, it finally gave. Thank goodness I wasn't driving when it broke! Though I did have that solid oil line crack in almost the exact same spot years ago while driving which made a rather nasty mess.

The short end to a long story (sorry, but this is theraputic) is that the engine is clean (again) for the most part, I've ordered *two* new banjo fittings which should be here tomorrow, and the turbo's oil feed and return are not an issue. My wife says I'll laugh about it someday, though someday isn't here yet. However her version of events *is* rather amusing (car starts, she looks out to find oil pouring down and me with a dumbfounded look on my face).

This week has sucked as far as weather (rain and low 40s) so I haven't really missed any driving, but I'll have a go again this weekend at getting her out. Send good thoughts my way! :roll:

by **Dico** » Wed 15.11.2006, 21:22

Don't know what to say

You WILL get there Dave, just see it as a challenge and persist!

:-)

by **Dave M** » Wed 15.11.2006, 21:59

Dico wrote:Don't know what to say

You WILL get there Dave, just see it as a challenge and persist!

Oh, yeah...I knew going into this there would be bugs. It will all be worth it in the end - for sure. Guess I'm getting my sense of humor back after posting above. I'm thinking of calling the car the Exxon Valdez after Sunday's incident.

No worries...I'll be back under the car again tonight getting the brake ducting fixed back up and getting everything ready to go once the new bolt comes in. Probably should check the oil level, too! :lol:

by **GeoffSmith** » Wed 15.11.2006, 23:17

Dave M wrote:I'm thinking of calling the car the Exxon Valdez after Sunday's incident.

I must be a bit older 'cause I was thinking Torrey Canyon, but was too polite to mention it. :wink:

Keep smiling Dave.

Geoff

by **Matt RI** » Wed 15.11.2006, 23:32

I think that it will be worth it sooner than you think, Dave-

Like when you get it out on the road the first time...

Hope that round 2? 3? 9? Goes better than the last one.

by **Dave M** » Fri 17.11.2006, 14:40

Matt RI wrote:I think that it will be worth it sooner than you think, Dave-

Like when you get it out on the road the first time...

Well, Matt...that was last night! IT'S ALIVE...ALIVE! The new banjo bolts came from Pegasus Racing in one day (with regular shipping! - great place BTW...a great source for those in the US).

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/home.asp

Anyway, I installed the new bolt, gave everything another once over, mounted the brake ducting, put the wheels on, and kissed it for good luck. Again, first crank and she's running - this time with no environmental damage. :roll:

I let it run for a while and crawled underneath with a light to check everything. Then I took it off the jack stands and again was amazed how low the car is. After seeing it up over a foot in the air for almost 5 months, I had a warped sense of height.

Time for a ride! I drove for a bit, staying out of the boost at first, just listening to everything. Then I slowly kept gassing it to bring on more boost. Mind you, I'd installed a new spring in the EWG and have run the boost feed hoses to the Tial slightly differently, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't overboosting. After bringing it up to about 20 psi, a big pop and whoosh. The familiar sound of popping an intake hose. Quick, back to the garage! Granted it's about 11:00 pm now, but I'm a flurry of sockets and wrenches. Popped coming out of the IC of all places, so I needed to remove the front wheel and liner. No problem...about 10 minutes and I'm back on the road.

It was about 35 degrees, so traction on the Kumho V700s was not happening...but still. Wow, this thing really flies! :shock:

Something in the way I rigged the boost feed to the EWG wasn't right as the valve was allowing more boost than I wanted to run last night. After reinstalling the intake bits that popped off, I was able to run way past 20 psi. I caught the gauge at 30 once, but was modulating the gas to find traction and to keep the boost down. Getting on the highway once brought 80 mph in the blink of an eye. When on boost the speedo seems connected to your foot. The needle moves as fast as you want to step on it. The car sounds quite unholy with the BOV venting to the atmosphere, too. Hissing and whooshing and screaming. That'll be one item this winter - finish the pre-turbo intake to route the BOV back in. It needs to be a little more subtle. :lol:

I will write a little about the brakes in the APV thread, but suffice to say that the first impressions are good. With all corners heated up and the APVs set with the least pressure to the rears, the front wheels consistently locked first. Glad to have the really old Kumhos still on as I have a number of flat spots after last night. :smt018

A good first outing!

I tried a few pics while I was out, but my old camera doesn't do low light very well. Regardless I liked this one as the white gauges were visible. The other pic is upon returning to the garage. You'll note that the date is different. That's because I didn't get back 'till much after midnight.

Cinderella's chariot didn't turn into a pumpkin. Nor did the chariot leak anything again! A little work on the EWG side, and then more fun.

by **Monty** » Fri 17.11.2006, 19:06

Great to hear u`ve got her back on the road, so what BHP do u think she is kicking out now?

Love to see a pic of the engine bay :-D

by **Doug** » Fri 17.11.2006, 19:24

Thanks for the update, Dave.

Glad you did a good engine break-in

I too live at 20psi now so I know the feeling . . .30 is sounding a bit supercar to me :shock:

bet it sounds pretty furious at 30 psi driving by :burnout:

by **Dave M** » Fri 17.11.2006, 20:13

Monty wrote:Great to hear u've got her back on the road, so what BHP do u think she is kicking out now?

Love to see a pic of the engine bay

Considering I ran 255 at the wheels prior to all of this, with the head work, new pistons, different downpipe, dedicated T3 (not the hybrid), and more boost I'm guessing somewhere in the 350 range at the crank. That may be a bit high before the air/fuel ratio is sorted, but it's a goal.

Here's the most recent pic of the engine bay. Very little difference from now - just the intake and sprak plug cover aren't on.

by **DeeAitch** » Fri 17.11.2006, 20:32

Stunning Dave (& that's just the garage :-)

)

by **GeoffSmith** » Fri 17.11.2006, 20:36

Mmmmmmmm. Tasty.

by **F1 LOTUS** » Fri 17.11.2006, 21:00

Always entertaining following your exploits

Sounds like you need to garage the car over here on the West Coast for winter testing :twisted:

How close are you to offering the Dave M-Power upgrade as a kit?

by **Dave M** » Fri 17.11.2006, 23:51

Dave wrote:Stunning Dave (& that's just the garage )

Thanks! The color looks a bit nasty in the pic. It's "Norfolk Mustard" yellow (on the sides) and BRG on the ends. :-D

F1 LOTUS wrote:How close are you to offering the Dave M-Power upgrade as a kit?

Actually I wouldn't mind doing a kit if it weren't for doing the piping again.

Maybe if I get something better to cut the stainless pipe with. Cutting it all via hacksaw and Dremel really bit. :wink:

Bet I have over 20 hours in the intake piping and the downpipe alone. And that's not counting the welder's time. Did I mention I'm anal?

I *can* get the manifold-to-T3 adapter made for anyone who is interested, however. The guy who machines the solid shifter mounts will do others if anyone wants. That would be a first step down the slippery slope...

by **Dave M** » Sun 19.11.2006, 06:06

Had a great time in the car today. We lucked out with a relatively warm (mid-40s) and dry day here so it was out with the car for its first wash in a while. She still had rubber marks up the side from the last track day

(the Kumhos pick of lots of stuff, BTW). I took my oldest on a rip around the area - what a blast! He kept asking if all the boost and BSV racket was normal. :lol:

He and I made plans to cut some pipe and finish the intake over the winter so the BSV routes in to quiet things down. We also adjusted the boost feed lines into the EWG and it works perfectly now. Per their tech sheets it says I should see ~21.8 psi with the combination of springs I'm running and that's what I'm seeing on the gauge. Rock solid with NO creep or peaks. Lastly, a few more small adjustments to the braking system and APVs, but I wasn't doing too much with my son in the car. It was just time to enjoy the drive and the car.

We did find a place to get some good pics, so I'll have those up Monday after a few size edits on my work computer.

by **Dave M** » Sun 19.11.2006, 06:52

Oh..almost forgot. After the drive we pulled the car into the garage and checked the engine for leaks, etc. As a testament to the Jet-Hot coating, the manifold spacer was glowing red-hot (with the lights out in the garage) but the manifold and turbine housing looked normal. Good stuff! Having that heat stay in the pipes and give more energy to the turbo helps performance - even if just slightly. Plus it keeps under-hood temps down.

by **F1 LOTUS** » Sun 19.11.2006, 08:14

Good to hear you're continuing to make progress. Are you able yet to judge the latest mod's with the previous build in terms of turbo response? What are your butt-kicking targets for track performance, Elises? Vipers?

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