Project Black

[par]

Shocks looks great!

Thanks, I have coated them with silicon spray for mountain bike suspension parts to try and give them some protection from the elements but need to find something a bit more durable to keep them looking good.

[par]

Cleaned up a few of the power steering hoses and pipes in preparation for re-fitting, the main pipe that runs along the chassis leg was rusty and tatty looking so after a thorough wire brushing I gave it a couple of coats of spay on Hammerite to protect it and tidy it up a bit.



Also got around to fitting the stainless steel light fastener kit supplied by Geoff to the light pods, it is quite a comprehensive kit and well worth doing, only a few sweary words when trying to remove some of the old corroded and rounded fixings! Also replaced one of the lamps which had corroded right through the reflective surface, would probably have still passed an MOT but not for much longer.

Some of the old parts removed:-



Corroded lamp reflector:-



New lamp and stainless fasteners:-

[Rambo]

I have the Poly bushes from SJ's as well, I have not got around to fitting them yet as I need to paint the wishbone arms first. I will try a test fit this week and let you know how I get on.

Par - the poly bushes,or any re-bushing for that matter, will make a huge difference to the ride/handling.

[Rambo]

It's looking good Par. When will it be back on the road ? The good weather is back. Dry and sunny in the Borders the last couple of weeks so lots of topless stuff

PS I have seen a B4 AST reg for sale

[par]

Hope to have it completed by the end of April. I have next week off work so should get a decent run at it then in and around family stuff. Need to chase up a couple of key parts that are away being refurbished.

It will have new bushes, ball joints, bearings, driveshafts, suspension at the front and hopefully a refurbished steering rack so hope to see a marked difference in the feel. Will need to arrange a 4 wheel alignment, probably with Kenny Brown, to get it set up properly. There have been a few nice days in Fife recently as well which would have been perfect for having the roof down.

[Jamie N]

There have been a few nice days in Fife recently as well which would have been perfect for having the roof down.

Indeed Steven, good enough for Wee Whitey to blow off the cobwebs, MOT this morning at 9.30 and then away for nice run around the Fife countryside with the hood down, course the Wife didn't tell me any of this until she returned, not even a text to say it had passed .

[par]

There have been a few nice days in Fife recently as well which would have been perfect for having the roof down.

Indeed Steven, good enough for Wee Whitey to blow off the cobwebs, MOT this morning at 9.30 and then away for nice run around the Fife countryside with the hood down, course the Wife didn't tell me any of this until she returned, not even a text to say it had passed .

Wouldnt expect anything less from one of your cars Jamie, unless a bulb blew on the way to the MOT station!

[par]

Cleaned and rubbed back the passenger side chassis in preparation for a coat of POR15:-





Let the pre-paint prep rustproofing do its work:-



Project creep has bitten once again, in between the stages of the tidying up the chassis I spotted the downpipe from the turbo/exhaust has a fracture in it, it looks like it might have been welded in the past.



There was no way I was going to get the nuts off the studs where the downpipe meets the cast section, they are going to need some serious heat applied and new studs, so I split the cast section from the turbo and removed the whole lot.



Not sure whether to just get this welded up or see if there is an option to replace this with a flexi joint, will have a search of the forum for some ideas. With the cast section removed I was able to check the wastegate and it doesnt look like it has been ported so might as well get that done as there shouldnt be too much more work to remove the turbo. I thought I was getting ready to start bolting things back on the car but have nore removed even more parts, running out of places to store them

[chrisP]

Par, if you don't have a stainless exhaust, I would get one and also look into getting a piper cat replacement pipe to get rid of the pre-cat, you will notice an improvement.
Chris

[Rambo]

Nah. Scott never had it re-ported. Never had an Everest chip in it either. That's why he could never keep up with Rambo

Fairly sure Scott had a full s/s exhaust system ex Paul Matty. It's an SE so I don't think cat/pre cat is applicable

[John_W]

Mark,
I think Chris is talking about getting a stiffie.
John

[Rambo]

I remember them well from the old days

Didn't Stevo have a permanent one ?

[John_W]

[par]

Nah. Scott never had it re-ported. Never had an Everest chip in it either. That's why he could never keep up with Rambo

Fairly sure Scott had a full s/s exhaust system ex Paul Matty. It's an SE so I don't think cat/pre cat is applicable

Spot on Rambo - no cat, Paul Matty S/S exhaust, no Everest chip and standard looking wastegate.

Going to remove the turbo tomorrow and get the wastegate ported. Read the thread in the Exhaust section on the Piper downpipe (ok skim read most of the 20 pages) is that the 'stiffie' being referred to? Quite confused as to what to do now as I like the idea of replacing all that cast iron but it seems quite expensive with the chance of inducing overboost

[Rambo]

Nah. Scott never had it re-ported. Never had an Everest chip in it either. That's why he could never keep up with Rambo

Fairly sure Scott had a full s/s exhaust system ex Paul Matty. It's an SE so I don't think cat/pre cat is applicable

Spot on Rambo - no cat, Paul Matty S/S exhaust, no Everest chip and standard looking wastegate.

Going to remove the turbo tomorrow and get the wastegate ported. Read the thread in the Exhaust section on the Piper downpipe (ok skim read most of the 20 pages) is that the 'stiffie' being referred to? Quite confused as to what to do now as I like the idea of replacing all that cast iron but it seems quite expensive with the chance of inducing overboost

Not quite Par. You left out the bit about Scott being able to keep up. Left him on the horizon as we had a crazy drive up the Dukes pass all those years ago

Back on topic, I'm fairly sure that the stiffie replaces the cast iron lump. Hopefully JohnW or somebody will be able to confirm this ?.

I know that many moons ago the likes of Monty and Stevo removed their cast iron lump and replaced it with what was euphemistically known as a "stiffie". I still have Monty or Dico's cast iron lump in my shed gathering cobwebs and dust and it does weigh a considerable amount.

[chrisP]

Hi Par
this is what I was talking about www.piperexhausts.co.uk/piperstore/product_info.php?cPath=218_488&products_id=4829 It is expensive, but it will allow the engine to breath more easily and remove about 8kg of dead weight from the front of the car. (also look on the same website for the rest of the system) You shouldn't get overboost if you port the wastegate.
Chris

[par]

Bit of an update on the latest progress. The chassis legs have now been treated to a couple of coats of POR15 paint after the rust removal treatment which should help protect from the elements if it ever gets back on the road.











Looks like upside down painting is perhaps not my forte, need to get in a nd touch up a few bits I have missed:-

[par]

A few other parts have been cleaned up and painted before being refitted as they looked a bit tatty.

Coolant header tank holder:-



PAS fluid reservoir bracket:-





Horn bracket:-

[par]

Turbo was removed and had the wastegate ported (forgot to take picturess of the wastegate before & after).



Turbo topped up with oil and refitted along with new Piper downpipe (as recommended further up this thread):-



New standard Lotus downpipe fitted, had to remake the gasket as that supplied with the Piper is designed for the Piper exhaust which is larger in diameter, local stainless exhaust fabricator gave me a sheet of gasket material free which was greatly appreciated:-







Looks like the standard downpipe will now be the restrriction in flow, hopefully this wont cause any issues as the Paul Matty exhaust has a squish in the pipe where it joins the Lotus downpipe which appears to be designed that way.

In true project creep mode I discovered some damage to the bottom coolant hose next to the turbo downpipe area so decided to replace with a new part while access is so good as a precautionary measure:-

[par]

Low mileage (I hope) steering rack fitted along with new universal joint as the old one was very worn and notchy:-





Getting the universal joint to connect to the steering column in the footwell took a lot of fiddling, trial & error and bucket loads of patience to make sure the 3 spline alignment was achieved.



I took a few mm off the gearbox side bolt to make it easier to refit as removing it was very tight:-