My beast is off the road - HELP!!!
Discussion
I took my S1 Elise round to my cousin's house yesterday to service it.
Got it up on ramps and got the under-tray off. We drained the oil, changed the fuel filter, changed the spark plugs (which showed the engine seems to be running sweet), changed the oil filter and filled her up with Mobil Motorsport and fired her up.
First Bit of Bad News
The exhaust front pipe is blowing. It is not bad but my cousin's advice is do it sooner than later. Okay, not too bad but The Hurricane Induction is now on hold.
My only concern is this;
The previous owner appears to have fitted a de-cat pipe. Will this cause problems with the emissions test?
Next we changed the coolant without too much hassle.
We drove it off the ramps and jacked it up, checked for play in the wheels and took the near-side back wheel off.
Second Bit of Bad News
The rear pads haven't got much meat on them. Not a problem, we'll do them when we do the front pipe. We changed the brake fluid and then did the other side.
We then started on the near-side front wheel. The pads have got plenty on them.
Third Bit of Bad News
This is the one I'm worried about. We went to undo the bleed nipple and it was tight. My cousin advised me that it may shear and we'll have to extract it. I told him to go for it as it needs doing anyway. The nipple seemed to give and then went tight again, next thing it has sheered. Out come the stud extractors!
No joy there, so then came the delicate task of drilling out the thread.
We shot down to the parts place round the corner and got a couple of nipples. We cleaned the thread up and put one in. It pissed fluid! We took the nipple from the other side which is longer. We tried that one with no joy.
My options now seem to be:
Dave.
ETA: Fourth Bit of Bad News
The car is currently parked in my cousin's garage in Failsworth. It is as rough as a three quid hand-job round there! I heard a scummy bird who was walking past with two male chav-rats saying "I want to hot-wire that Lotus". They may not have been serious, but round there I wouldn't put it past the little f**kers, I'm not suprised he's moving as soon as possible. I am worried that;
Got it up on ramps and got the under-tray off. We drained the oil, changed the fuel filter, changed the spark plugs (which showed the engine seems to be running sweet), changed the oil filter and filled her up with Mobil Motorsport and fired her up.
First Bit of Bad News
The exhaust front pipe is blowing. It is not bad but my cousin's advice is do it sooner than later. Okay, not too bad but The Hurricane Induction is now on hold.
My only concern is this;
The previous owner appears to have fitted a de-cat pipe. Will this cause problems with the emissions test?
Next we changed the coolant without too much hassle.
We drove it off the ramps and jacked it up, checked for play in the wheels and took the near-side back wheel off.
Second Bit of Bad News
The rear pads haven't got much meat on them. Not a problem, we'll do them when we do the front pipe. We changed the brake fluid and then did the other side.
We then started on the near-side front wheel. The pads have got plenty on them.
Third Bit of Bad News
This is the one I'm worried about. We went to undo the bleed nipple and it was tight. My cousin advised me that it may shear and we'll have to extract it. I told him to go for it as it needs doing anyway. The nipple seemed to give and then went tight again, next thing it has sheered. Out come the stud extractors!
No joy there, so then came the delicate task of drilling out the thread.
We shot down to the parts place round the corner and got a couple of nipples. We cleaned the thread up and put one in. It pissed fluid! We took the nipple from the other side which is longer. We tried that one with no joy.
My options now seem to be:
- Try cleaning the thread out better with a plugging tap. Does anyone know what thread it is?
- Replace the whole calliper. Probably expensive.
- Try and get someone to machine it. I know a good machinist or two but I don't know how much luck I'll have
- Replace the cover on the caliper (preferred option). Can you buy this part on it's own? Or does anyone know anywhere that breaks Elises in the north-west (or who do mail-order)?
Dave.
ETA: Fourth Bit of Bad News
The car is currently parked in my cousin's garage in Failsworth. It is as rough as a three quid hand-job round there! I heard a scummy bird who was walking past with two male chav-rats saying "I want to hot-wire that Lotus". They may not have been serious, but round there I wouldn't put it past the little f**kers, I'm not suprised he's moving as soon as possible. I am worried that;
- They may break into his house while they are out to look for the keys.
- They may break into the garage and damage it trying to hot-wire it.
- They may actually get it going (highly unlikely) and trash it because the clamped-up brake hose causes it to lurch off to the right.
Edited by ganglandboss on Sunday 23 September 19:33
ganglandboss said:
I took my S1 Elise round to my cousin's house yesterday to service it.
Got it up on ramps and got the under-tray off. We drained the oil, changed the fuel filter, changed the spark plugs (which showed the engine seems to be running sweet), changed the oil filter and filled her up with Mobil Motorsport and fired her up.
First Bit of Bad News
The exhaust front pipe is blowing. It is not bad but my cousin's advice is do it sooner than later. Okay, not too bad but The Hurricane Induction is now on hold.
My only concern is this;
The previous owner appears to have fitted a de-cat pipe. Will this cause problems with the emissions test?
Next we changed the coolant without too much hassle.
We drove it off the ramps and jacked it up, checked for play in the wheels and took the near-side back wheel off.
Second Bit of Bad News
The rear pads haven't got much meat on them. Not a problem, we'll do them when we do the front pipe. We changed the brake fluid and then did the other side.
We then started on the near-side front wheel. The pads have got plenty on them.
Third Bit of Bad News
This is the one I'm worried about. We went to undo the bleed nipple and it was tight. My cousin advised me that it may shear and we'll have to extract it. I told him to go for it as it needs doing anyway. The nipple seemed to give and then went tight again, next thing it has sheered. Out come the stud extractors!
No joy there, so then came the delicate task of drilling out the thread.
We shot down to the parts place round the corner and got a couple of nipples. We cleaned the thread up and put one in. It pissed fluid! We took the nipple from the other side which is longer. We tried that one with no joy.
My options now seem to be:
Dave.
Douglas Valley Breakers always has Elises, its based somewhere near Wigan.Got it up on ramps and got the under-tray off. We drained the oil, changed the fuel filter, changed the spark plugs (which showed the engine seems to be running sweet), changed the oil filter and filled her up with Mobil Motorsport and fired her up.
First Bit of Bad News
The exhaust front pipe is blowing. It is not bad but my cousin's advice is do it sooner than later. Okay, not too bad but The Hurricane Induction is now on hold.
My only concern is this;
The previous owner appears to have fitted a de-cat pipe. Will this cause problems with the emissions test?
Next we changed the coolant without too much hassle.
We drove it off the ramps and jacked it up, checked for play in the wheels and took the near-side back wheel off.
Second Bit of Bad News
The rear pads haven't got much meat on them. Not a problem, we'll do them when we do the front pipe. We changed the brake fluid and then did the other side.
We then started on the near-side front wheel. The pads have got plenty on them.
Third Bit of Bad News
This is the one I'm worried about. We went to undo the bleed nipple and it was tight. My cousin advised me that it may shear and we'll have to extract it. I told him to go for it as it needs doing anyway. The nipple seemed to give and then went tight again, next thing it has sheered. Out come the stud extractors!
No joy there, so then came the delicate task of drilling out the thread.
We shot down to the parts place round the corner and got a couple of nipples. We cleaned the thread up and put one in. It pissed fluid! We took the nipple from the other side which is longer. We tried that one with no joy.
My options now seem to be:
- Try cleaning the thread out better with a plugging tap. Does anyone know what thread it is?
- Replace the whole calliper. Probably expensive.
- Try and get someone to machine it. I know a good machinist or two but I don't know how much luck I'll have
- Replace the cover on the caliper (preferred option). Can you buy this part on it's own? Or does anyone know anywhere that breaks Elises in the north-west (or who do mail-order)?
Dave.
ganglandboss said:
hueandcry71 said:
Douglas Valley Breakers always has Elises, its based somewhere near Wigan.
Cheers! I've just seen their website and they seem to have a few in now! I'll try them in the morning!Be warned though, they arent cheap!!
hueandcry71 said:
ganglandboss said:
hueandcry71 said:
Douglas Valley Breakers always has Elises, its based somewhere near Wigan.
Cheers! I've just seen their website and they seem to have a few in now! I'll try them in the morning!Be warned though, they arent cheap!!
I've just ordered the part and I'll have it tomorrow so I can remove it from the garage in
It's cost me £75 all together because I've had to buy the entire caliper.
__________________________________________________________________________
I have had a look on eliseparts.com for the front pipe. It will cost me £145 including VAT and fitting kit for this
Do I need to get the stainless steel one or is the standard part Okay?
Cheers,
Dave
ganglandboss said:
It's back!
I've still got the exhaust and rear pads to do!
Any thoughts on the front-pipe? Do I need stainless steel or is the standard mild steel one OK?
Depends on how fussy you are and how long you are keeping the car. A stainless part *should* last longer as is shouldn't corrode. A mild steel part will be good for a fair few years tho. The stainless part seems cheap enough,and unless the mild steel part is half the price or you are on a tight budget and plan on selling the car within the next 5 years, I'd go with the stainless.I've still got the exhaust and rear pads to do!
Any thoughts on the front-pipe? Do I need stainless steel or is the standard mild steel one OK?
a) A de-cat pipe will not 'cause' you to fail the MOT per-se, and will only be noticed if the garage takes off the undertray etc. Plenty of people have them fitted and pass. Depends on the state of tune of the engine and the exhaust system as a whole. Got a friendly MOT place who'll do a quick test for you in advance so you know whether or not you need to stick the cat back on?
b) Stainless vs. Mild Steel. Go for the better option IMHO. Mild steel will rot and you'll end up with the same problem that you have to fix again. Also most SS ones will come with a lifetime guarantee against corrosion, so could save you £'s in future if the part fails.
b) Stainless vs. Mild Steel. Go for the better option IMHO. Mild steel will rot and you'll end up with the same problem that you have to fix again. Also most SS ones will come with a lifetime guarantee against corrosion, so could save you £'s in future if the part fails.
crackthatoff said:
bollocs to the chavs, I take it you have a cat 1 cobra alarm and immobiliser? got me a tracker plus for 400 notes... saved me more than that on the insurance !
The problem with chavs is that if they see something they want, which someone else has worked hard for, they will try and steal it. If they cannot steal it, they will smash it!I know that they would have had f**k all chance of driving it away, but I'd rather they not damage it trying to do so.
I do fancy the idea of a tracker though. Which type do you have? Is it £400 for as long as you have the car or do you have to pay a subscription?
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