Lotus Elan Central

by **jimbob** » Sat 16.06.2007, 09:41

Just ordered a new peco stainless exhaust the other day, have been reading through the threads regarding this and am left slightly puzzled. Should I port my wastegate as a matter of course since my turbo is off at the moment any way or should I just fit the exhaust and see what happens?

Cheers Jamie.

by **paulwatkins** » Sat 16.06.2007, 09:43

Jim,
Its a relatively easy job to do when you've got the turbo seperated and on the workbench. I'd do it before fitting if I was you.

Paul

by **jimbob** » Sat 16.06.2007, 09:52

So is this the only modification I should do? and if so whats the definitive size I should take the hole out to?

by **paulwatkins** » Sat 16.06.2007, 10:05

Jim,
There are some write ups on the actual process, do a search if you need more detail, but basically all I did, was purchase the grinding stone set shown below from Homebase, and used the stone shown to open out the wastegate port.

Its very easy. Just clamp the turbo up and apply steady pressure on your drill. (But not too much incase it shatters!) It took me about 30mins to do.

Its the only mod i did in relation to fitting the peco exhaust.

Cheers, Paul

by **Andy_J** » Sat 16.06.2007, 10:52

Jamie

IIRC it is 18mm or 20mm you need to port the wastegate to.

When I ported the wastegate I put the turbo to Calder Engineering to get it milled out.

Andy

by **Dico** » Sat 16.06.2007, 11:13

Jamie

B & Q sell the identical kit that paul mentioned above (or at least did 12 months back). 20 mm is the size you want. (the cone shaped bit is spot on).
Can't think of anything else that you need to do.

by **Monty** » Sat 16.06.2007, 11:25

Might be worth getting intoucj with Stevo to see if he`s got a Stiffy left :-D

by **jimbob** » Sat 16.06.2007, 11:30

So I take it you just undo the c clip from the flap and leave it open during this process??

by **Monty** » Sat 16.06.2007, 11:36

jimbob wrote:So I take it you just undo the c clip from the flap and leave it open during this process??

Correct and stick a small rag inside to stop the s**t getting in.

by **Sy V** » Sat 16.06.2007, 12:14

Yep, all good advice. I already had a variety of stones and took mine from 16mm to 21mm diameter.

Oh, and before removing the C clip I scored the gate's outline on the flat of the housing where it shuts...just as a sanity check.

by **jimbob** » Sat 16.06.2007, 13:07

My weapon of choice!

by **dapinky** » Sat 16.06.2007, 14:52

Jamie,

I tried the same weapon of choice to start with, but found a couple of limitations.

1) My compressor wouldnt keep up enough air flow for very long (Its a bit of a Fisher-Price economy model, though :-D

2) The wastegate housing is cast iron, and soon took the sharp edges off the porting tool.

3) i then reverted to the grinding stone in electric drill and at least it kept the hole centered.

As paul said, 20-30 mins of reasonable pressure is all it took.

Just an extra twist to the tip about stuffing a rag up the pipes - give it a squirt of oil first to help the swarf stick to the rag and not get forced past it, then blow out with compressed air.

by **lotuska** » Sat 16.06.2007, 15:37

Having done this myself, I would advise that you don't try and undo the nuts holding the wastegate manifold onto the turbo.

They might look completely rust free but I believe they are of a type that you can't undo without either snapping off the stud or stripping the threads.

My advice would be to cut the nuts off and replace them, unfortunately the new ones are rather expensive. But if you don't you'll probably end up replacing them and the studs...and possibly have issues getting snapped studs out.

by **johnny** » Sat 16.06.2007, 15:50

I hope Neil is ok.. :

All this talk about the wastegate & no sign of him...

The good man he is with this sort of talk. :wink:

by **jimbob** » Sat 16.06.2007, 16:55

lotuska wrote:Having done this myself, I would advise that you don't try and undo the nuts holding the wastegate manifold onto the turbo.

They might look completely rust free but I believe they are of a type that you can't undo without either snapping off the stud or stripping the threads.

My advice would be to cut the nuts off and replace them, unfortunately the new ones are rather expensive. But if you don't you'll probably end up replacing them and the studs...and possibly have issues getting snapped studs out.

Turbo is already off, 2 studs snapped in turbo

by **Enright** » Sun 17.06.2007, 23:41

johnny wrote:I hope Neil is ok.. :

All this talk about the wastegate & no sign of him...

The good man he is with this sort of talk.

I've been watching, but you're all doing fine.
There's plenty of sound advice so far.
What more can I add?

by **jimbob** » Mon 18.06.2007, 02:50

Well my weapon of choice came up trumps, 10 mins and out to 20mm - job done (new world record?) and my tungsten carbide bit is still like new! :smt023

All I need now is for my peco to arrive. :shock:

by **ratman** » Mon 18.06.2007, 17:10

sorry mates, but how much for a peco st/st exhaust? and where??
thanks! is it better than the SJ one?? ciao!

by **jimbob** » Mon 18.06.2007, 20:26

£295 + £15 delivery direct from peco, their phone no. is on their web site www.peco.co.uk ask for Dave Jones, he is spot on.

by **GeoffSmith** » Mon 18.06.2007, 20:27

Don't forget to mention LEC for the discount!

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New peco coming should I modify anything?

New peco coming should I modify anything?

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