Lotus Elan Central

I thought I'd start my first project page as I'm currently doing quite a few bits to my car...

1.Port the wastegate
2.Replace oil cooler
3.Replace Radiator
4.Swap hoses to new samco set
5.Change gearbox oil
6.Replace weather strips
7.Refurbish S2 wheels and replace tyres
8.Realign the bumper (after further investigation it needs replacing along with both scoops to oil & inter coolers and a minor repair to the hanging bracket from the clam)

I'm now at a point after approximately 16 hours where everything that needs to be removed has been removed for the first three jobs.
Removing the manifold was not the easiest of tasks but doable even for a complete novice like myself, the majority of the time was spent looking for solutions, the solution for me was to just remove everything that gets in the way rather than trying to twist/turn parts to squeeze them out.

The wastegate removal has been covered plenty of times. A few little things that made it easier for me:
1: just get rid of the PAS pump and hoses they get in the way.
2: I managed to seperate the downpipe (swan neck) from the wastegate whilst in the car, with the PAS pump removed it cam out easily (all PCE to front section studs had to be removed)
3: to get the manifold studs out I had to use two nuts on most of them but they came out easily...

everything else was just as wiki

Removing the Radiator (A lot easier while the above is off)
I had quite a few issues with removing the fibreglass undertray, I resorted to just drilling the buggers off. Im yet to remove the remaining shafts
All the bolts required where all really easy to remove.

1. remove fibreglass undertray
2. remove bottom Y bracket bolts
3. remove the hoses and drain
4. remove the fans 8x nuts
5. remove 3x bolts from prongeron or is it the longeron?
6. remove the long bolt from the bottom of the towing arm
7. the radiator and frame should now just pull down and out

Removing the oil cooler
1. remove the wheel arch liner (Yeah cos its that easy!)
2. remove the rubber bung under the bumper lip to gain access to the 4x bots (why are these on the inside?)
3. remove the ARB from the drop link and the ball joint
4. slide the oil cooler back a little to gain access to the hoses
5. It should now just sliiiiiiide out

pics to follow

Go go go!

Nice - the radiator frame and prongeron came up particularly well.
Good going Nick.

Nice work !
Have a glance at my waste gate porting , see if it gives you any help .
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23052

If you like nice cast iron then consider electrolysis cleaning , i did and it does a great job .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yYF8gSHdA

I put 4 coats of laquer on that fibreglass cover from beneath the radiator when i did my waste gate .
It came up bootifull , a bit like carbon fibre , but glass fibre .
Yes i know you can't see it from above but the M.O.T. man noticed it , whether it helped my test , who can say .
Anyway , carry on , all looks very nice.

Thanks for the tips!
I have a few cone bits so may have a go with them...

The car is now back together barring the under tray and wheel arch liner
With the waste gate now ported the car feels sooooo slow now there's no creep.
Just a few issues to address, new gasket ring required for the pce to front section exhaust and new o rings for the oil cooler banjos (they arnt copper ones).
I don't seem to have any other leaks.
The power steering is now a lot lighter having changed the fluid.

nicowalker1 wrote:With the waste gate now ported the car feels sooooo slow now there's no creep.

Hahaha! I recognise that! I have the same experience and still miss the boostcreep sometimes, heh heh.

By the way, i use Cu rings for the banjos without any issue. Should they be Aluminum or what?

The originals arnt copper. I've got some so I'll give em a try. The ones on have a rubberish centre

nicowalker1 wrote:What sort of place sells cu rings?

He said "Cu", not "cu"......

...standard Copper washers in whatever size you need for your banjo bolts.....

....your local shops should have them in a suitable size, otherwise it's off to ebay for a small bag of washers.

That will teach me to scan read whilst out and about

Now that you've edited your above post, you don't look such an ididot (so no-one will know that you posted something so stupid as to be unbelievable )

...anyway, back onto topic, Lotus used sealed Dowty washers on the banjos (something like these) - but i'm not sure of the actual size.

They are actually designed for high-pressure hydraulics, so probably over-specified for the oil cooler.

Standard Cu washers are probably okay, but if you can get the sealed ones, there will be less chance of a leak as they seal at a lower torque.

I forgot to mention that me and GUK found that the boost solonoid valve behind the dustbin had been by past. Having re plumbed I only get 0.5bar on the gauge, even with Grahams old chip installed (not sure which version of chip)
Are these known for going faulty or is there likely to be an issue elsewhere?

It could be an issue elsewhere. If you have any leaking pipes or gaskets on the inlet side they will bleed boost pressure. Your turbo will have to work just as hard (or maybe even harder) but it's like trying to blow up a tyre when there's a hole in it.
I have a small home-made compressor that I can attach to one of the ports in the plenum. I then put a big bung in the end of the hose that leads into the throttle body, pump the pressure up to 1 bar and use a piece of hose as a stethoscope to pinpoint any leaks from their hissing noises.
It's a bit dodgy - yesterday I didn't regulate the pressure too well... it got up to nearly 2 bar without my noticing and suddenly the bung fired out like a missile!
I had the hose up to my ear at the time and when it went BANG I nearly cacked myself!!!

Enright wrote:It could be an issue elsewhere. If you have any leaking pipes or gaskets on the inlet side they will bleed boost pressure. Your turbo will have to work just as hard (or maybe even harder) but it's like trying to blow up a tyre when there's a hole in it.
I have a small home-made compressor that I can attach to one of the ports in the plenum. I then put a big bung in the end of the hose that leads into the throttle body, pump the pressure up to 1 bar and use a piece of hose as a stethoscope to pinpoint any leaks from their hissing noises.
It's a bit dodgy - yesterday I didn't regulate the pressure too well... it got up to nearly 2 bar without my noticing and suddenly the bung fired out like a missile!
I had the hose up to my ear at the time and when it went BANG I nearly cacked myself!!!

Ill check over the pipe work but prior to connecting the valve the boost regularly hit fuel cut off. I have fitted a dump valve (which im removing as it is too chavvy) i guess this could also be a culprit

Also, ive heard a 300psi gas cylinder go, now they do go with a pop!

The chip is an old v4.? open loop which I think should boost upto 0.8 Bar. I have no idea if it still works properly though as it has been in the garage in a box of bits for the last few years and has been through a house move.

Reading through the Service Manual it says the following:

Service Manual wrote:The extent to which this air is compressed is dependent on throttle opening and engine speed, but is mechanically limited by the exhaust wastegate to a maximum boost pressure of 0.41bar (6.0 lb/in^2)

This is what you may actually be getting with the tolerance on the Boost gauge, so there is a good chance you have gone from effectively solenoid fully open to solenoid fully closed

nicowalker1 wrote:I have fitted a dump valve (which im removing as it is too chavvy) i guess this could also be a culprit

That will be an atmospheric one then? Mine got on my nerves too.
If the deisgn of the valve will allow you to plumb it back into the trash can, this will shut it up. Alternatively, you could fit a silencing filter.

Nick, I've got a spare Saab dump valve which is the OEM recirc type and could easily be plumbed into the dustbin.
Yours for a tenner + P&P - I've tried one on my new car and it seems to work pretty well (if only you can find the right pipe sizes to stop it blowing off)!