910 Liner installation

[judson]

Gentlemen,
I am new to this forum, however, I've been active with the JensenHealey forum for a number of years.

I rescued a 1986 Esprit 910 engine with Nikosil liners. I had USChrome put their NICOM coating on the liners and then honed to match a set of JE forged pistons. The block and liners have been decked such that the nip is now .0020"-.0025".

My question is this:
What shall I use to seal the liners in the block when I re-insert them. I understand Lotus changed their recommendation from Hylomar to Loctite-White. Does anyone have any practical experience with either of these products/methods, or have an alternate suggestion (i.e Yamabond, Loctite 518, etc.)?

Thanks for your input,

Judson Manning
Atlatna, GA

[lotusguy]

judson said:

Gentlemen, I am new to this forum, however, I've been active with the JensenHealey forum for a number of years. I rescued a 1986 Esprit 910 engine with Nikosil liners. I had USChrome put their NICOM coating on the liners and then honed to match a set of JE forged pistons. The block and liners have been decked such that the nip is now .0020"-.0025". My question is this: What shall I use to seal the liners in the block when I re-insert them. I understand Lotus changed their recommendation from Hylomar to Loctite-White. Does anyone have any practical experience with either of these products/methods, or have an alternate suggestion (i.e Yamabond, Loctite 518, etc.)? Thanks for your input, Judson Manning Atlatna, GA

Judson,

Lotus may have changed their spec. although I cannot imagine it's because the Hylomar was a bad product, they may simply have found something which they believe works a little better. Or, it may have simply been an availability issue. When BMW/Audi/VW bought Rolls Royce a few years back, there was some concern over the licensing rights to Hylomar, which is a proprietary sealant developed by RR. Availability was somewhat spotty during this period.

Realize that combined w/ the Jensens, there are probably some 20k+ examples of the 9XX engine out there w/ liners sealed w/ Hylomar.

I used Hylomar when rebuilding my engine 2 years ago, despite being aware of Lotus changed spec. My concern for using the Loctite was two-fold. First, the environment in which it would be used would have temp ranges uncomfortably close to the max tolerance of the Loctite, but well within the temp range for Hylomar. Secondly, the loctite cures completely, meaning to me at least, that the seal, being rigid and hard, could not adapt as easily to any change due to constant expansion/contraction. As opposed to the Hylomar which never totally cures and so can flow to fill in any voids which might occur over time.

My engine had 45k mi. on it when I did the rebuild, complete w/ JE pistons (because I suffered the dreaded crowned and consequently melted #4 piston). My engine is pre-HC so I still have the cast iron liners.

But, upon disassembly, the liners bore no evidence that the Hylomar had failed to seal the liners, such as corrosion due to coolant seepage and as I say, this over 45k mi. and 17 years.

My recommendation would be to stick with the Hylomar. As I said, the majority of all 9XX engines out there are using it and are holding up just fine. My humble $0.02. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[rlearp]

Judson, nice to meet you here! I am looking at building a JH to race in Improved Touring, can you point me at the JH boards? The cars can be obtained easily, have a low race weight, and with the 907 should make good power. Plus, hardly anyone races these in Improved Touring Jeff Y tells me, which just makes it irresistable!

[G_Reaper]

I know a guy who has a JH with an HC Excell engine fitted with fuel injection etc uprated brakes the list goes on....
He also biulds Lotus engines as a hobby He is called Gary Kemp. He advertises in the classifieds on this site I believe. He is a nice guy with a mass of knowledge on tunning the 900 series engine. (He biulds 2.6 litre versions) I can supply his number but I will ask him first.

Regards Mike

[lotusguy]

G_Reaper said:

I know a guy who has a JH with an HC Excell engine fitted with fuel injection etc uprated brakes the list goes on.... He also biulds Lotus engines as a hobby He is called Gary Kemp. He advertises in the classifieds on this site I believe. He is a nice guy with a mass of knowledge on tunning the 900 series engine. (He biulds 2.6 litre versions) I can supply his number but I will ask him first. Regards Mike

Mike,

Gary Kemp is pretty well known to the Lotus Community as a very knowledgeable guy and he also is a parts supplier as well.

I have never met him personally, but if you know him, consider yourself fortunate. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[f1karting]

Gary has built some incredibly hot 9-series! He is even in touch with the M71 project! I have done some business with him.. he is very good to deal with.

PS: I too have found hylomar to be a very user friendly and reliable product in other applications as well, it is truly amazing stuff.

Jan 83ET