Lotus Elan Central

by **GeoffSmith** » Sun 30.09.2007, 14:11

TheBard wrote:Great piece of kit!

by **TheBard** » Sun 20.01.2008, 17:08

So having just passed the 3 years of ownership, 55,000 mile mark, I'm now looking forward to the 60k service in the summer.

To save myself some stress, I've trawled the bowls of LEC, and explored the web, and found the following, grouped here so I can find it again easily:

CAM Belt Change parts list
or maybe PAS/AC belt-Dayco p/n 5060410 6PK1040, and Alternator belt-Dayco p/n 5040275 4PK0700

Oh, and this'll be useful for ordering the parts
www.rockauto.com/catalog

While I'm at it I'll get the brake discs replaced up front with some of these: EBC front discs, although I know I'll get my leg pulled about not upgrading. I might get the pads to match but these might be better Pagid Blues PGD-E9521-RS42 if only I could find a URL for them...

expect updates as the shopping list grows

by **GeoffSmith** » Sun 20.01.2008, 21:18

Specky has just added some belt info to the Wiki.

by **tigerdog** » Wed 23.01.2008, 07:13

TheBard wrote:...While I'm at it I'll get the brake discs replaced up front with some of these: EBC front discs, although I know I'll get my leg pulled about not upgrading.

Smaug currently wears these discs up front, along with what appear to be greenstuff pads. Stopping is better than I remember from driving cars with stock brakes and pedal feel is excellent. Braking is still a bit marginal from supra-legal speeds. One good hard haul-down and you can smell the brakes quite clearly. I'm looking forward to installing the Wilwoods currently on the "to-do" list.

by **TheBard** » Tue 11.03.2008, 00:49

So the shopping begins, and thanks to TheElanMan and DaPinky for their posts of "shopping lists".

All from www.rockauto.com
1991 ISUZU IMPULSE RS 1.6L 1588cc L4 FI Turbo (4)

BECK/ARNLEY 1312115 $ 25.79
GATES T169 $ 16.46
GATES T41027 $ 46.79
GATES T42001 $ 44.79
GATES K040270 $ 6.73
GATES K060415 $ 13.24
Discount $ -7.69
Shipping $ 18.72
Order Total $ 164.83

That'll do for this month, now to think some more about brakes!

by **TheBard** » Wed 09.04.2008, 00:58

Ah, just ordered the discs and pads, now to see how long they take to arrive... supplier had a 1-2week wait.

by **TheBard** » Tue 29.04.2008, 21:54

Ordered the discs from ThePartsBin, but they eventually cancelled my order as they weren't getting anymore. now to try Summit Racing Equipment!

Fingers crossed...

by **TheBard** » Sun 18.05.2008, 15:52

Okay, yet another attempt for discs and pads. The current order is as follows:

EBC discs from importperformance.com

Wagner Thermoquiet pads (MX378) from rockauto.com

I've had good experiences with RockAuto before, so hopefully all will be well!

by **TheBard** » Wed 25.06.2008, 02:10

All went well, RockAuto originally shipped the wrong type of Wagner pads (high performance not Thermoquiets) so I asked them how we could make good and the express shipped me the correct pads whilst letting me keep the other ones! So I've got a nice spare set of brake pads ready to try later.

So now the day has finally arrived, my trusty daily driver currently returning 29.4mpg US (which I think is about 34mpg UK due to the smaller US Gallon), goes in for the 60,000 mile service.

Work to include the usual 60k service list and;

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

...Update...Update...Update...

Due to the mechanic being tasked on other things the work has been delayed a week. Good news is I Know they'll do a good job!

by **TheBard** » Thu 03.07.2008, 12:58

The work has now been postponed until after the Independence Day weekend.
However, in the interest of the "What mileage do you get?" question that floats up regularly, my car at 58,900miles, and pre-service, is giving me 29.69 miles per gallon, using US Gallons! Not bad going considering it is summer and I've used the AC on several occasions!
Now to go and rack up a few more miles on the commute to work!

by **TheBard** » Mon 14.07.2008, 18:01

Okay, car back, everything except the hoses done.

Turns out the rubber gaskets that hold the pink/orange turbo module on the front right of the engine bay (from driver's seat) have broken during maintenance and the unit is currently held in place with duck-tape. This means it isn't grounded properly and so the boost gauge needle is buried all the way to the right.

So I'm off to read the Turbo/Boost thread to see if folks can give me more detail on th mounts, and ways of encouraging the unit to work again. Is there a spare earth near there?

-UPDATE--UPDATE--UPDATE-
Okay, so I don't need a new earth, I can just clean, reconnect, and use some new grommets or whatever to hold the damn thing in place. Hmmm, wonder if upholstery christmas trees will do the job?

by **Doug** » Mon 14.07.2008, 18:33

unit is held in with "Rawl nuts" -- I forget the size but if you search it you'll likely find old discussions of them.

by **TheBard** » Mon 14.07.2008, 19:02

Doug you are a bloomin' genius. I've got some spare rawl nuts stashed at home from various door trim and window adventures, should be a piece of the proverbial to repair, and explains why the nut was threaded, I'd guess the rubber has rotted out and the metal nut portion has rolled off into the scenery. Cheers mate for clearing up my mental picture!

Once I get the unit secured, I'll be polishing the connection and hoping the needle comes down from the sky.

Fingers crossed.

by **TheBard** » Tue 15.07.2008, 01:03

Doug was right! I fortunately had two spare rawl nuts hanging around from door repairs and after removing the old, perished rubber (fortunately the copper part was still attached to the bolt in each case), I bolted in the new ones, roughed up and reattached the negative terminal, and presto all was well in the world of boost gauges.

So total cost for the 60k was $1635.87 or about 815 quid. Mostly labor, with just $220 for fluids and filters.

Running well, and looking forward to getting the brakes and the tranny oil run in, shouldn't take long with my commute.

by **tweetdriver63** » Tue 15.07.2008, 04:44

Rawl nut? Is that the same as a well nut?

http://store.nutsandbolts.com/well-nut-threaded-inserts.html

I have a few of those hanging around too. They're pretty useful with a fibreglass car. I used them to mount the amp in my boot.

by **Elanlover** » Tue 15.07.2008, 13:06

Yup. Same thing.

by **Doug** » Tue 15.07.2008, 21:03

I used to order them from Napa online parts as they were like a fiver for a bag of 3 . . .

by **Ekapol** » Tue 15.07.2008, 23:04

Or you could get them from ACE Hardware too. They should have plenty of them there but then you would need to buy 2 more screws in SAE in place of the previous Metric screws.

I've just retightened Lucy's ground, that fixed boost gauge randomly bouncing around.

by **TheBard** » Wed 16.07.2008, 03:10

Same type of nut, and the gauge is working fine once more.

The brakes will take some time to bed in, which I hope will explain the somewhat exciting moment when in tonight's commute the car in front dropped anchor and I had a "will I stop, better start steering to avoid" scenario.... I'm planning on waiting 150-200miles before seeing if I can finally lock up the front end. If not I'l probably be putting braided hoses and a new master cylinder on the Christmas wish list!

Happy Elaning!

by **Elanlover** » Wed 16.07.2008, 03:15

This and this could be useful for you when it comes to bedding the rotors and pads (if you weren't already aware of this process).

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