getting ready to fit the upgraded head with upgraded valves and camshafts. heres whats been happening.

 

right here we go!

 

had a busy day the sun shone and i started again, got loads done before i really made a big mistake!.

 

undoing a really stiff bolt , my hand covered in grease slipped off the ratchet and i hit my bad finger into the car with a massive force, then a big crack! seems my joint popped so now its back in the splints again with bruised tandons.

 

as you can see i got a lot done but nothing conclusive.

 

i also got so far and basically chickened out of doing any more a: due to the finger and b: because im a coward.

 

pics follow

 

notice the lovely extra throttle spring attatched a bit stretched just because they couldnt re-attatch the one that was there, all done now though and removed that one.

also notice the lovely crap in the coolant inlets behind the carbs, i dont think this thing was ever flushed.

 

 

progress today was slow and tedious, not helped by this damn finger!!

 

i removed the fuel line feeds to the regulator top and bottom, this way the regulator could stay attached to the carb side box ( i don't know the tech term for it sorry!) on the side next to the firewall was a small black tube connected by a nut to the side of the box i removed that. I then proceeded to remove the other coolant rail from the top of the carbs.

 

The nuts on the carb mount studs are M14 size, mine were actually easy to take off and only one stud undid in the process, a quick blast of wd40 while off and grips on the stud i was able to take the nut off the stud, clean it up and re thread it into the head. I have now cleaned all the studs up and given them a coat of wd40, until i coat them with some copper grease and new nuts.

 

Taking the carbs off was not easy at all, the whole thing would not budge for ages, i did think about just giving it a good tug but after (yep you guessed it) slamming my finger into the side of the carb housings i thought better of it. Instead i just gently pulled on the side closest to the rear of the car first and got a lift there, i then put a screwdriver under and gently prised the end up the rest followed and i was able to lift the whole thing off.

 

 

while off i had a quick check to see how much crap was covering them before they go off for refurbishment and ultrasonic cleaning. (more details on this process and details of the company doing the work to follow)

As you can see one half came up very nicely and I'm sure that when returned to me they will look fantastic, before refitting.

 

 

I also drained the oil from the cam towers with my Clarke oil syringe, and emptied it into an old Pepsi bottle i had laying around.

 

Also much to my surprise i found that one of the main bolts and nuts that hold the engine to the gearbox was missing, i have yet to check if any others are missing. As i have contacted the last service agent twice and spoken to them twice and never been called back by them twice it is not difficult to understand the level of incompetency of the work carried out on this cars last "c" service.

 

 

I am now ready to take the cam towers off, i couldn't find a torx E10 socket locally so i will order one Monday, as the cam towers are held on by these special bolts

 

 

The plan is to at least get the engine bay to an almost concourse level of cleanliness with the boot panels all colour coded and the carpet sections replaced with carbon fibre matting.

 

ok its not a zed but i thought you might be interested!!

Good post PK and nice phots as well.I can't believe that throttle spring is like that?! How much did the last owner pay for the service and what did it supposedly include?

What was done when the engine or gearbox was removed? I take it thats why a bolt is missing there? You're going to have to take me for a cruise sometime :)

Everytime you work on that fookin motor you end up injured... :smash:

I think you are becoming a HypoCARdriac. :rofl: :rofl: Get some chain mail gloves Si.

a new clutch and flywheel were fitted they are fine, its just there have been several studs nuts and bolts missing, just lazyness on their part.

 

on each carb there is a throttle return spring, but its tucked under the assembly, one had popped off its fitting and the return wasnt as powerful, i re-attatched it to its fitting and alls as new ;) a simple job that cost nowt!

Good job matey, we're all car enthusiasts so stuff like that is great to see. Keep us updated bud! :)

nice one mate, got to stop injuring yourself though :smash: ;)

The bug is well and truely back with me so its good to see others doing thier cars, what ever it is.

well i took the splin off tonight as it was hurting like fook!! good job i did its changing colour and all fookin red and swollen where they rebuilt the joint!

Are you sure thats your finger PK?

ok.

 

today i started stripping the carbs down , the head mount section and the main trumpet box.

 

the main box will go off for blasting and powder coating, the carbs are going to a refurbishment specialist for concourse restoration and cleaning.

 

i have removed all the studs from the carb head mount and the jets off the side, that will be blasted clean.

 

new seals for the spacer plates and gaskets all round and the full carb refurb.

 

i found only two of the studs were difficult to remove, so i clamped them one at a time in a vice and rotated the head mount back and fore gently while adding copious amounts of wd40 at the same time, both studs were removed this way with no damage. After removal i used a tap to clean the threads out and used a clean stud to check fitment in all holes.

 

The carbs go off next week and will take about 5-7 days i have told the firm not to rush.

 

I would love to get the engine out and get that cleaned up also, so i may go down that route, i have an engine hoist i can borrow so it looks like i may go down that route and while the heads sorted clean the rest of the engine up and give it a nice coat of silver engine paint, probably the same with the gearbox.

 

 

 

 

the rail jets

 

 

the butterfly valves were spotless and inside the chamber was absolutley pristine

 

 

the head spacers, needing new seals

 

 

the head unit cleaned up slightly but needs to be cleaned properly.

 

Lotus = Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.

;-)

Are you sure thats your finger PK?

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Lotus = Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.

;-)

 

 

that saying is so outdated and bears no meaning to the s3 turbo onwards...

 

the s1 and s2 yes, not these, this work is for an upgrade, there is nothing wrong with the engine, im restoring it to concourse level!

 

doh :slap:

todays progress.

 

hampered by the unsettled weather there was not much i could do, however.

 

I was able to take the diffuser box off the carbs and take that and the turbo to back plate pipe outside and strip them down.

 

I am having them powder coated shortly so i needed to get them cleaned up, one problem is there is no longer a media/shot blaster near me so i had to do it the hard way/

 

I got a tin of nitromors paint stripper and liberally coated the parts, i went back after 5 mins to re-apply some more and work it in, after 20 mins and a blast off with the hose they were almost clean.

 

I have now given them a second coat as you can see and will now wait another 20 mins and then blast clean again. hopefully that will be it, if not another coat will go on.

 

then a good clean in strong soapy hot water, a good drying off, then a clean with some isopropyl and then wrapped in some cling film to stop moisture getting to the aluminium.

 

then its off to the powder coaters next week.

 

heres the progress pictures.

 

cam tower covers pics to follow shortly!

Have you still got all ten?????? :rofl: :rofl:

Have you still got all ten?????? :rofl: :rofl:

 

 

oh matey.... if you could see the fookin state on my finger now...

 

im off to hospital to see the specialist tomorrow, that should be fun!!

 

i already know its fooked.

Man you obviously like getting stuck in bud :)

http://www.frost.co.uk are a good company that stock lots of bits and pieces for projects like this mate, have used em for years and their range is massive.

cheers

smithy

well the parts are now cleaned up and are being boxed to goto the polishers..

 

there are a couple of other bits but i cant be ar5ed to take pics of them! lol

 

they are going to this guy

 

http://www.glmmetalpolishers.co.uk/Info.htm

 

reccomended by almost everyone i have spoken too

quick update..

 

been working on the car all day, replacing a few bits and pieces, and finally got round to getting the head off, well almost.

 

time is a luxury i dont have much of but tomorrow after undoing a few bolts off it comes.

 

will add pics tomorrow!!

quick update..

 

been working on the car all day, replacing a few bits and pieces, and finally got round to getting the head off, well almost.

 

time is a luxury i dont have much of but tomorrow after undoing a few bolts off it comes.

 

will add pics tomorrow!!

this is a great project,think i enjoy reading as much as you owning it ;) look forward to more pics of head off :hyper:

today i finally removed the cam towers and head assemblies.

 

 

it took a little longer than intended as a few other things had to be removed.

 

after loosening the alternator and the tensioner the two belts were removed, the cam belt was also then removed.

 

the timing was aligned and marked prior to belt removal and the flywheel was rotated back a qurater turn to lower the pistons.

 

here is the 12mm hex socket used to remove the copper blanking plugs on the side of the camtowers that cover the torx bolts underneath.

 

 

here you see the process of removal.

 

 

on the end cover i had to use a ratchet spanner to remove the cover as it was not possible to get a socet in there with ratchet( i didnt have a 12mm allan key)

 

 

here you can see the sheer joy of finally getting the first cam tower off!!

 

 

and now removing the second cam tower

 

 

both towers removed.

 

 

here are the piston crowns

 

two parts as the amount of images prevent one post

 

these pictures of the piston crowns are from piston number 4 to number one.

 

 

and now you have the valve faces, as you can see number 4 and 3 show heavy deposits so it looks like they were not burning properly, and are probably sticky.

 

the same here valves number 4 to 1

 

 

here you can see the whole assembly including the manifold, aux manifold with wastegate attatched.

 

i also removed the bottom cup of the wastegate, the nut i saw was indeed the retaining nut for the valve s tem, the diaphram is in mint condition!! no damage whatso ever, however the 4 bolts that held the cup of 4 only one came out the others shared the heads, but all is not lost its having them drilled out and new threads tapped tomorrow and then cleaned up before refitting, one working and clean wastegate!

 

 

 

how hard did i find this?

 

well i had to remove both engine mount bolts and lever the engine over to the drivers side a bit, and had to then raise the engine quite a way to get clearance for the manifold, however after doing that it came right off.

 

For an inexperienced person like me this was hard going, very hard going yet perserverance and a lot of phone calls got me there in the end.

 

the head and towers are going to a specialist not far from here tomorrow for a full clean down, pressure test, strip and rebuild etc, and probably some port polishing as well.

I wish i could have a project car to slave over. I do really like the Lotus Esprit myself too. Ive always fancied modding a Bently Turbo R :)

i do have a new head and turbo to go on, but as this one doesnt look bad at all its being re-furbed as a spare head assy.

ok here is todays update.

 

I called by the engineering place to see how things were going and to give him paul mattys details only to find out he has dealt with them on many occasions before!! this guy gets better and better!!!

 

ok here are the pictures.

 

here you can see the seperated wategate assembly, only one of the bolts came out and the others sheared, the engineer is drilling them out and re threading the cup for new bolts.

 

 

here is a close up of the top of the wastegate here you can see the small stepped spigot that recesses into the aux manifold.

 

 

here is the aux manifold

 

 

this shows the inside of the wastegate chamber, notice some cracks in the ring where the wastegate valve head sits, this will be welded and shaved back slightly to a smooth finish.

 

 

here you can see where the rear silencer attatches to the aux manifold. as you can see the one sides lug has snapped, this will be welded up, a new hole drilled and tapped, the other side with the stud in will be drilled out and a new insert pressed into it as the thread has sheared.

 

 

here you can see the parts seperated and waiting to be done.

 

 

part two to follow: