Track Elan

[Dave M]

Doesn't that mean that your alternator and power steering pump will both run at lower revs than before?

Yes. I've been told by others who have installed similar pulleys that it does not affect performance substatially, however at the first sign of an issue I will either reinstall the stock pulley or have smaller pulleys made for whichever component is having the issue. I'm mainly concerned with the alternator.

[desmondsee]

i have had the UR pulley for like a couple of years now. so far no problem, the voltage reading has been stable. however, i am having problems with the battery seems to be drained (even a new one) after a few days. nonetheless, it has been so since before the pulley install...will be good to have accessories pulleys as well, however, there isnt any off the shelf ones so far...

[Costas]

Dave my comment about your engine looks, is allready posted above so dont take me missunderstood here..

It just crossed my mind, that since I am an ALL-Black fanatic, I asked for the entire engine bits to be painted black, sorta like yours, and Greg told me that it is a common "unwriten rule" NOT to paint engine parts black in order to have any leackage (oil etc.) visible on first glance (obviously black colour doesnt help that).

Just to let you know....

[Ashaman]

For some strange reason, I have a feeling that what might be hard for some to notice "on first glance" will not go unnoticed by Dave...

I am almost under the impression he is somewhat detail oriented

[Dave M]

You have a good point, Costas. The valve cover is no problem, but it may be more difficult to find a leak with the block gloss black. I'd have gone with a flat black or more of a dark grey had I been asked as shiny oil would have been a bit more noticable, but the shop just did it. Isn't the stock block black anyway?

Josh has me pegged, though... I'm a bit anal about the car, especially the engine bay now that it's received a serious scrubbing.

[Doc Fizzix]

Dave

Do you know if the Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulleys are still avalible?

Your motor is LOOK-ING-GOOD!

[mark]

I have the UR pulley and took off the AC compressor last year. No problems with the alternator. However, my PS pump failed recently. I doubt its connected to the UR though. The car had the UR on it when I bought it 4 years ago, and there was no problem with the PS pump until this year.

don't forget to put a timing marker on the UR when you install it. the prior owner of my car didn't do that, and it was a problem getting the timing correct the first time I did it.

[picture elf]

I have a few pictures before the engine goes in...

[Dave M]

Dave

Do you know if the Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulleys are still avalible?

Your motor is LOOK-ING-GOOD!

FYI - I also PM'd you the same reply.

It appears the crank pulleys are still available. Per the following link, it appears the same pulley was used on a few Isuzus. You can use the part number from this link to shop around. FYI - I found the same exact price at another vendor via a quick search.

http://www.wholehyper.com/old_site/unortho-isuzu.html

I bought my pulley a few years back from a fellow Isuzu board member, I believe. Can't remember for the life of me what I paid.

[Dave M]

After a bunch of work this past week and weekend, the car is finally starting to look like a car again! The engine is back in and almost all vitals hooked up. I've also test fit the new turbo (it just fits) in order to fabricate all the intake and initial exhaust piping. Once the piping is done, I'll get the remainder of the wiring done/rerouted. I'm trying to wire loom up as much as I can or find a new path for wires and hoses to clean up the look of the engine bay. Here's an example:

Picture of the stock wires coming into the right side of the engine bay...

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/themeyers ... pg&.src=ph

After rerouting and elimination of some wires...

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/themeyers ... pg&.src=ph

I hope to do the same behind the engine by the firewall.

[picture elf]

An engine really goes in here!

[picture elf]

The weight savings craziness continues...

Here's what I was able to pull out of the boot:

[Dave M]

One last for the update...there are a few other pics from the past few days in the following albums. Go to the last pics in the album.

Shots of the engine before it went in.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/themeyers ... ?.dir=61f0

Others of the turbo including the big honkin' stainless steel spacer/adapter for the turbo.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/themeyers ... ?.dir=1d43

[Monty]

Dave,

Loving that turbo u keeping it on show or going to stick a heat shield on?

The engine is looking a beaut.

How u going to keep the windscreen clean now u`ve removed the plastic bottle?

[Dave M]

Dave,

Loving that turbo u keeping it on show or going to stick a heat shield on?

I'll likely do a heat shield, but it's not looking good to keep the stock one...dimensions just aren't quite right. Maybe if I do a hood vent (similar to Marie's) I won't need it, though.

How u going to keep the windscreen clean now u've removed the plastic bottle?

Are you kidding...get the car dirty after all this?! No, it'll get dirty...I may just have to drive faster to blow the dirt off. To tell the truth, I've never used the washers in the Elan and can count on one hand the times I've used them in my Subaru. And those times were in nasty, slushy, winter goo. The Elan won't ever get that dirt on her!

[Doug]

Dave has a pit crew to clean the window

Dave, I saw Marie's hood vents at the British Car meet a week ago and I must say I was impressed. I didn't think to take any detailed pictures but I did have a good look and ask her about it. Other than sinking a dremmel or similar high-speed cutting tool into your bonnet fiberglass to cut out the perfect shape in one try, she used a stock Mercedes vent which included the two vanes in white mounted to it. The white happened to be a perfect match (good for your car too ). She did have to heat up the middle and persuade it to bend a slight bit more to fit the contour of the Elan. It looks nice but we don't know how well it really works? ? ? I'd bet it'd help, but will it make a significant difference ? ? ?

[Ashaman]

Dave, how's that turbo fitting in there? That spacer looks almost just like mine, what is the thickness? With mine, I have to basically take the turbo apart on the car before removing the center section, LOL. What a pain! I had a T3 right next to the Vj17 on the bench and it didn't seem like there was any way it was going in that stock position Any consideration given to the dimensions/shape the manifold/adapter has been machined to? It looks quite a bit smaller than the T3 inlet. I wondered about this when I went after mine with a carbide cutter; so I thought I would see what your shop guys thoughts were since they seem pretty hard-core

Anyway, I am thinking of having it machined down as I have found some cap screws that are more shallow I think will work... Might make things simpler!

What is the difference again between this T3 and the previous one you had? I know the other was a hybrid, but what about inducer/exducer - Bigger...smaller...?

Oh yeah, you probably remember but rather than fabricate a cruddy heat sheild that would probably just rust/crack/rattle, I wrapped mine in thermo-tec. They make a kit specifically for turbos, it looks really nice!

Anyway, things look great as always! Does your shop have a dyno?

[F1 LOTUS]

That Thermotec heat wrap looks pretty trick
I will probably do the same with my car. Was the kit well-made and easy to fit? How far along the exhaust have you wrapped material? Cost?
Did you notice any reduction in turbo lag or under hood temp's?

[Dave M]

Doug - I really like Marie's vent as well and even if it merely has a slight impact (which from her reports it does more), from an asthetic standpoint it would be a nice addition. My goal is to take some pressure measurements on the nose once the car is driving again and place a vent in the lowest pressure area possible. However after recently reading the Mark Hughes book (yes, I just read it!), it was good to know front-end lift has been eliminated in the car already. It'll be done more for temperature purposes.

Josh - The spacer is 3/4" thick. Thankfully the T3 shape accomodates getting a wrench to all the bolts so I can get it mounted! The outlet of the stock manifold is the same size as the adapter, which are both smaller than the T3 inlet - you're right. I considered having the spacer machined to transition from the round manifold shape to the rectangular turbo inlet shape, but didn't know what benefit, if any it would provide. Any thoughts? The engine shop didn't do the work, but I have a question in to them about it. Guess it becomes an aerodynamic issue...

The only difference between the current T3 an the hybrid is the turbine housing. It is the true Garrett housing rather than the machined IHI piece. It is larger slightly in diameter (A/R) and much wider. I assume it could make a significant difference in airflow (it was designed for the larger wheel), but how much real-world performance I could gain? Maybe less lag? We'll see.

Thanks for the idea on the turbine wrap. That definitely looks better than any homemade shield I could do. A must if the stock piece can't be made to fit![/i]

[Costas]

Dave that turbine wrap looks good because its brand new, after a few hours of running the engine its getting black and dirty and and its real hell to clean it up, I know outta my own experience. You are very detailed in your engine so I would suggest you build a masterpiece shield of your own.

Costas