Leggy S1 Elise
Discussion
Whilst I'm planning to overhaul the cooling system in March, the coolant expansion tank needed more urgent attention, with a split near the filler neck meaning the cooling system pressure was rather lower than the design intended.
A number of people on SELOC (and presumably elsewhere) have modified the tank by adding a piece of brake line into the heater return inlet (which contains a short piece of aluminium tube as standard anyway) which is bent so that the outlet is below the normal coolant level. This is mostly beneficial when using an electric water pump (particularly in addition to the standard one), which is part of the plan in March. Therefore I got some of the leftover kunifer brake pipe, pushed out the standard tubing (which is only a friction fit), bent it vaguely into shape, flared the end to ensure it stays in place, and then bent it properly once in the tank.
Pipe bent to shape. A 20cm piece of 5/16 brake pipe is more than enough
Standard single flare to stop the pipe falling in. I ran a 5mm drill bit through the plastic tube to provide clearance, but if you have one a slightly smaller bit would have suited better. I simply slightly kinked the pipe so it fitted snugly
Fitting the tank is an easy job (although the nuts/bolts holding the tank on are a pain to get to as they're up against the bulkhead heat shield - so difficult to get fingers onto), and being the highest point of the coolant system means minimal bleeding afterwards. I had mismatched bolts on mine, and given the main weight is taken by the tank resting on the mounting bracket, I decided to replace the unnecessarily fiddly nut/bolt securing system with a pair of thick cable ties per bolt. This means removal is a bit easier in future - just snip the cable ties off and it's free.
New cap too of course. The best thing is now I can actually see the coolant level (I had to dip something into the old one to see what level the coolant was at sometimes).
New vs old - which makes the engine bay about 3x neater/cleaner looking
I then turned my attention to the non-functioning motion sensor. When I bought the car, the wires running to the alarm's motion sensor were frayed at the connector, and I couldn't find confirmation of which (of the four) wires went to which pin, so disconnected the lot. I finally found a helpful image (on SELOC) which confirmed the colour order as being brown - red - white - blue from the outermost to innermost pin of the sensor. Tested and I now have a working motion sensor at last.
Gave the car a quick wash and then went for a drive (once I bled the coolant system - it was unnecessary in fact). Filled with fuel for the first time since sorting the fuel leak and am happy to report the fuel leak remains sorted.
Onwards and upwards!
A number of people on SELOC (and presumably elsewhere) have modified the tank by adding a piece of brake line into the heater return inlet (which contains a short piece of aluminium tube as standard anyway) which is bent so that the outlet is below the normal coolant level. This is mostly beneficial when using an electric water pump (particularly in addition to the standard one), which is part of the plan in March. Therefore I got some of the leftover kunifer brake pipe, pushed out the standard tubing (which is only a friction fit), bent it vaguely into shape, flared the end to ensure it stays in place, and then bent it properly once in the tank.
Pipe bent to shape. A 20cm piece of 5/16 brake pipe is more than enough
Standard single flare to stop the pipe falling in. I ran a 5mm drill bit through the plastic tube to provide clearance, but if you have one a slightly smaller bit would have suited better. I simply slightly kinked the pipe so it fitted snugly
Fitting the tank is an easy job (although the nuts/bolts holding the tank on are a pain to get to as they're up against the bulkhead heat shield - so difficult to get fingers onto), and being the highest point of the coolant system means minimal bleeding afterwards. I had mismatched bolts on mine, and given the main weight is taken by the tank resting on the mounting bracket, I decided to replace the unnecessarily fiddly nut/bolt securing system with a pair of thick cable ties per bolt. This means removal is a bit easier in future - just snip the cable ties off and it's free.
New cap too of course. The best thing is now I can actually see the coolant level (I had to dip something into the old one to see what level the coolant was at sometimes).
New vs old - which makes the engine bay about 3x neater/cleaner looking
I then turned my attention to the non-functioning motion sensor. When I bought the car, the wires running to the alarm's motion sensor were frayed at the connector, and I couldn't find confirmation of which (of the four) wires went to which pin, so disconnected the lot. I finally found a helpful image (on SELOC) which confirmed the colour order as being brown - red - white - blue from the outermost to innermost pin of the sensor. Tested and I now have a working motion sensor at last.
Gave the car a quick wash and then went for a drive (once I bled the coolant system - it was unnecessary in fact). Filled with fuel for the first time since sorting the fuel leak and am happy to report the fuel leak remains sorted.
Onwards and upwards!
Edited by _Marvin on Saturday 23 February 22:02
Just having a read through this just now and feel your pain with the fuel tank saga, I had the exact same issue and was away to suggest the studs, just annoyed I never caught up on this earlier for you!
Halfway through changing the steering rack this weekend on mine, so I'm having a reasonable chunk of pain as well!
Halfway through changing the steering rack this weekend on mine, so I'm having a reasonable chunk of pain as well!
Time for a head gasket flavoured update.
For the past month or so, I've been concerned about HGF. One drive out (testing for fuel leaks), the car was behaving normally, but after half an hour, I was accelerating up a hill in 2nd or 3rd, glanced down and saw the water temperature go past 110°C. Stopped accelerating and changed up, watched it continue to rise and hit 125°C. Dropped it back to 2nd and kept the revs high and the temp quickly dropped back to ~80°C.
Over the last month, I've changed the water expansion tank (as above), bled and rebled the cooling system, performed compression tests and did the "hiss test" (letting the engine cool down fully then taking the coolant expansion cap off and listening for a hiss of pressure escaping (hence it has to be stone cold)).
Nothing excessively wrong with the compression
The engine is exhibiting an early stage of HGF, where combustion gas is escaping past the fire ring into the coolant, pressurising the coolant system and leading to fluctuating temperatures caused by air in the coolant. It’s not doing it continually, usually once or twice per drive (not when driving around normally, just thrashing), but the coolant temperature will rise whilst accelerating and the heater will go cold.
Enough has been written about the notorious K series HGF, but my Elise has had at least one HGF before, with documented evidence of an MLS gasket fitted by Hanger 111 at ~75k miles in 2011. The heads can only take a couple of skims before they have to be scrapped, and I've little history for the first 10 years of the car's life, so I have no idea whether it's on HG #2 or #3.
As I'm a driveway mechanic, I can't really leave the engine/car stripped down for extended periods so it's a case of buying everything that I might need in advance. Whilst this inevitably costs me more than if I had a garage, it's still a lot less expensive than paying someone else to do it.
The plan at the end of March was always to focus on three jobs:
Due to the unknown condition of the existing cylinder head (either thickness or hardness) and the difficulty of getting it skimmed (given I've no other car to use, and not wanting to leave the engine headless for extended periods), I've bought a brand new cylinder head including new valves, springs and VVC cam followers. One of the benefits of a K series is that the parts aren't that expensive, so a brand new dressed head sans camshafts is under £400. Sometimes peace of mind is worth the outlay.
The only unknown is whether the liner heights stand proud enough from the deck. Ideally, the liners should stand proud from the deck by 0.1mm, and if they're lower would need shimming (a liner-out job) to bring the liners up. In reality, many K series were not to spec from the factory, so the general consensus now is that as long as the liners are at least level with the deck, it’s not too much of a problem. Clearly it’s better if they stand proud, but given the work involved, it’s not a necessity. The MLS gasket (once considered the fix-all-HGF solution) can only really be used if the liners are to spec, and the updated Payen BW750 elastomer gasket is better suited when the liners aren’t.
With the PRT and improved cooling capacity, the propensity for head gasket failure is reduced, but I'm also fitting a Davies Craig electric water pump. The EWP80 I've chosen has been widely used by Elise owners already, and is actually sufficient for the Elise as a standalone, but most use them as a boost pump to keep idle temperatures low. The K series mechanical water pump is fine for FWD installations, but with the length of the cooling circuit in an Elise, the idle/low rpm flow is poor, so the EWP will fill in at lower RPM, when the coolant temperature rises. I've paired it with their controller, which is able to control the fan and includes a shutdown timer, another key to K series HG longevity (not allowing the coolant to boil in the head once the engine is shut off).
Hopefully more updates at the end of March.
For the past month or so, I've been concerned about HGF. One drive out (testing for fuel leaks), the car was behaving normally, but after half an hour, I was accelerating up a hill in 2nd or 3rd, glanced down and saw the water temperature go past 110°C. Stopped accelerating and changed up, watched it continue to rise and hit 125°C. Dropped it back to 2nd and kept the revs high and the temp quickly dropped back to ~80°C.
Over the last month, I've changed the water expansion tank (as above), bled and rebled the cooling system, performed compression tests and did the "hiss test" (letting the engine cool down fully then taking the coolant expansion cap off and listening for a hiss of pressure escaping (hence it has to be stone cold)).
Nothing excessively wrong with the compression
The engine is exhibiting an early stage of HGF, where combustion gas is escaping past the fire ring into the coolant, pressurising the coolant system and leading to fluctuating temperatures caused by air in the coolant. It’s not doing it continually, usually once or twice per drive (not when driving around normally, just thrashing), but the coolant temperature will rise whilst accelerating and the heater will go cold.
Enough has been written about the notorious K series HGF, but my Elise has had at least one HGF before, with documented evidence of an MLS gasket fitted by Hanger 111 at ~75k miles in 2011. The heads can only take a couple of skims before they have to be scrapped, and I've little history for the first 10 years of the car's life, so I have no idea whether it's on HG #2 or #3.
As I'm a driveway mechanic, I can't really leave the engine/car stripped down for extended periods so it's a case of buying everything that I might need in advance. Whilst this inevitably costs me more than if I had a garage, it's still a lot less expensive than paying someone else to do it.
The plan at the end of March was always to focus on three jobs:
- Refresh and upgrade water cooling system, with a pressure relief thermostat, new radiator, heater matrix and hoses
- Fit laminova oil cooler (to go with the PRT)
- Fit used camshafts from a 135 K series, including 6° offset timing dowels from Dave Andrews to improve performance and make better use of the intake/exhaust mods
Due to the unknown condition of the existing cylinder head (either thickness or hardness) and the difficulty of getting it skimmed (given I've no other car to use, and not wanting to leave the engine headless for extended periods), I've bought a brand new cylinder head including new valves, springs and VVC cam followers. One of the benefits of a K series is that the parts aren't that expensive, so a brand new dressed head sans camshafts is under £400. Sometimes peace of mind is worth the outlay.
The only unknown is whether the liner heights stand proud enough from the deck. Ideally, the liners should stand proud from the deck by 0.1mm, and if they're lower would need shimming (a liner-out job) to bring the liners up. In reality, many K series were not to spec from the factory, so the general consensus now is that as long as the liners are at least level with the deck, it’s not too much of a problem. Clearly it’s better if they stand proud, but given the work involved, it’s not a necessity. The MLS gasket (once considered the fix-all-HGF solution) can only really be used if the liners are to spec, and the updated Payen BW750 elastomer gasket is better suited when the liners aren’t.
With the PRT and improved cooling capacity, the propensity for head gasket failure is reduced, but I'm also fitting a Davies Craig electric water pump. The EWP80 I've chosen has been widely used by Elise owners already, and is actually sufficient for the Elise as a standalone, but most use them as a boost pump to keep idle temperatures low. The K series mechanical water pump is fine for FWD installations, but with the length of the cooling circuit in an Elise, the idle/low rpm flow is poor, so the EWP will fill in at lower RPM, when the coolant temperature rises. I've paired it with their controller, which is able to control the fan and includes a shutdown timer, another key to K series HG longevity (not allowing the coolant to boil in the head once the engine is shut off).
Hopefully more updates at the end of March.
Spent the past two nights reading this, loving the thread. So great to see a true classic getting both maintained and used as intended.
While I've never owned one but have several friends have had in the past and you brought back great memories of driving and passengering in both S1's and S2's.
Thanks for sharing.
While I've never owned one but have several friends have had in the past and you brought back great memories of driving and passengering in both S1's and S2's.
Thanks for sharing.
Bad luck - I had the same symptoms and am due to collect mine in a couple of weeks, not having trusted myself to do the work. One thing though - are you sure on the liner heights? 0.1mm sounds like lot.
This is the Freelander Tech Bulletin and even they only asked for 0.075.
http://www.wilmink.nl/wilmink/produkt/rover_18k_ml...
I'm sure you've trawled SELOC as much as I have, but there's a really good post by Dave Andrews
https://arc.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=72589&...
I've just done this job on an MG ZS (or at least I'm part way through it) and I used a combo of Haynes, the K Series Engine Workshop Manual and a couple of Rimmer Bros k-series videos and it's been very straight forward.
This is the Freelander Tech Bulletin and even they only asked for 0.075.
http://www.wilmink.nl/wilmink/produkt/rover_18k_ml...
I'm sure you've trawled SELOC as much as I have, but there's a really good post by Dave Andrews
https://arc.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=72589&...
I've just done this job on an MG ZS (or at least I'm part way through it) and I used a combo of Haynes, the K Series Engine Workshop Manual and a couple of Rimmer Bros k-series videos and it's been very straight forward.
Edited by Smitters on Tuesday 12th March 13:13
Thanks bucks - glad to know someone's interested by my ramblings! 
I'd not seen that Land Rover bulletin, but the number I see cropping up everywhere is 4 thousandths of an inch stand proud being "factory spec" (knowing that very few of the factory engines were to that spec anyway), which is 0.1mm. I'll be happy if they are at least level with the block to be honest - if they're not then I'll be embarking on even more fun.
I've got the Elise workshop manual (containing a copy of the K Series workshop manual) and have read too many DIY guides to remember which I've even looked at now. I'll check out Rimmer's videos - I ordered most of the gasket parts, bolts and sundries from them and I've been impressed with their service and range.
Smitters said:
Bad luck - I had the same symptoms and am due to collect mine in a couple of weeks, not having trusted myself to do the work. One thing though - are you sure on the liner heights? 0.1mm sounds like lot.
This is the Freelander Tech Bulletin and even they only asked for 0.075.
http://www.wilmink.nl/wilmink/produkt/rover_18k_ml...
I'm sure you've trawled SELOC as much as I have, but there's a really good post by Dave Andrews
https://arc.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=72589&...
I've just done this job on an MG ZS (or at least I'm part way through it) and I used a combo of Haynes, the K Series Engine Workshop Manual and a couple of Rimmer Bros k-series videos and it's been very straight forward.
I'd read that very piece by Dave which is what convinced me not to bother making my life even more difficult by removing the sump and replacing/upgrading the oil rail. I've also chosen the newest type Payen BW750 elastomer gasket rather than MLS to give me the best chance of a successful rebuild.This is the Freelander Tech Bulletin and even they only asked for 0.075.
http://www.wilmink.nl/wilmink/produkt/rover_18k_ml...
I'm sure you've trawled SELOC as much as I have, but there's a really good post by Dave Andrews
https://arc.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=72589&...
I've just done this job on an MG ZS (or at least I'm part way through it) and I used a combo of Haynes, the K Series Engine Workshop Manual and a couple of Rimmer Bros k-series videos and it's been very straight forward.
I'd not seen that Land Rover bulletin, but the number I see cropping up everywhere is 4 thousandths of an inch stand proud being "factory spec" (knowing that very few of the factory engines were to that spec anyway), which is 0.1mm. I'll be happy if they are at least level with the block to be honest - if they're not then I'll be embarking on even more fun.
I've got the Elise workshop manual (containing a copy of the K Series workshop manual) and have read too many DIY guides to remember which I've even looked at now. I'll check out Rimmer's videos - I ordered most of the gasket parts, bolts and sundries from them and I've been impressed with their service and range.
I forgot to add - I'll be interested to see how easy the dowels are to fit.
I've got a lightly ported and polished head and 135 cams in my Elise, but no budget for more presently. I'm not really interested in screaming power, more a wide band of drivability so I want to be careful of what I do which affects the torque curve, but timing on the existing ECU is obviously something to think about without going down the rabbithole too far (ECU, full exhaust, verniers, pistons, valves, throttle body and induction, divorce, having to sleep in the car etc etc.)
I've got a lightly ported and polished head and 135 cams in my Elise, but no budget for more presently. I'm not really interested in screaming power, more a wide band of drivability so I want to be careful of what I do which affects the torque curve, but timing on the existing ECU is obviously something to think about without going down the rabbithole too far (ECU, full exhaust, verniers, pistons, valves, throttle body and induction, divorce, having to sleep in the car etc etc.)
Update time!
The car is nearly finished after 9 days of work, with just a new heater to go in (then filling with coolant), which hasn't arrived yet.
I'll try to cover the work in chronological order. I must say I was very fortunate with the weather, with not a drop of rain coming down in the entire week.
Day 0:
I bought a new head, pre-assembled with valve guides and valves, as well as new (used) cams from a 135 K series and new hydraulic followers/lifters. Also new exhaust and inlet manifold mounting studs/hardware. So job number 1 was to assemble this lot and ensure everything was ok with the new head. This was done about two weeks before the work was planned to start.
Firstly however, K series head castings are, shall we say, not the best, with severely restricted waterway openings.
Inlet side (smaller waterways by design - it's the colder side of the head afterall - still badly executed)
The worst of this head - the exhaust side port which goes to the water outlet elbow
I don't own a die grinder, but do have a dremel, so bought some light duty grinding bits from Machine Mart for all of £5.
About half of these bits are no longer useful...
Much careful grinding later, and we've got some waterways that water can actually flow through! Most of the effort was expended on the exhaust side, but a similar treatment was afforded to the inlet side too.
Typical exhaust opening after caressing
That exhaust side outlet - can you spot the difference?
After cleaning the head up with the world's loudest air compressor, it was time to crack the followers and cams out. The later VVC style followers are apparently the ones to use regardless of application (before lightweight solid lifters become a necessity anyway), and they're inexpensive, with a set of 16 only ~£80 from reputable suppliers.
First thing required with the new cams though (which are symmetrical - the exhaust and inlet cams are exactly the same) was to insert the distributor drive spindle. Various methods have been used here, but I had the best luck with a bit of light sanding to create a chamfer on the tip of the spindle to help it settle, then I used a 2 prong puller to press it into the end of the inlet cam. It seemed the most mechanically sympathetic.
Settled into place. I actually pressed it in slightly further than the picture shows - the rubber bush part of the spindle should be about level with the end of the cam
Fitting the offset dowels was very straightforward - they only go in one way (one way is snug, the other is very loose).
As the cams rotate clockwise, the offset needs to be "going anti-clockwise" to advance the timing.
I had intended to insert the camshaft end seals, but needed to rob the 24 cam ladder bolts from the old head as a sealant material needs to be applied between the head and cam ladder before the bolts are torqued into place, and the end seals are fitted after the cam ladder is mounted.
I opted for stainless exhaust studs with brass nuts to prevent any seizing issues. The exhaust manifold is stainless too, so there probably won't be any issues anyway, but the cost was basically the same as normal studs/nuts so I thought I may as well.
All done!
Day 1:
All the parts to be fitted (sans the head/cams) over the coming week
Starting on a Friday, I assembled all the parts required, a mass of tools, the jack and stands, and began by getting the car jacked up.
Our drive slopes down slightly so trying to get the car level is always difficult, but with the front stands a notch higher I managed it. The chassis is clearly very stiff as the rear left stand wouldn't quite touch so needed shimming.
Given the time taken to get ready I decided that the remainder of Friday was best spent draining fluids and installing the pressure relief thermostat and oil cooler/lines.
The K series suffers from two main coolant related issues (besides the low coolant volume):
I bought the Elise Parts PRT kit to fit an oil cooler (which I'd picked up new from an abandoned project for a significant saving). My oil cooler is slightly longer than the one used by Elise Parts and uses -10 fittings. I don't know which fittings the EP one uses, but I'd imagine they're smaller than -10 as that is a massive size for a 1.8L K series and it makes routing a bit difficult.
Draining the coolant from both sides where the coolant hoses go into the chassis rails, I caught most of it. Removal of the stock hoses was straightforward and installation of the EP kit was easy.
I had to shorten the top hose slightly to account for the longer oil cooler
Fitting the oil lines was more difficult. I'd chosen -10 push fit Aeroquip hose, stainless overbraid and jubilee clips to make sure they don't come off. The first line was straightforward, running straight from the Mocal sandwich plate to the oil cooler with a pair of 90° fittings.
Yellow heatshrink - one must colour match...
Of course I failed to account for the wide sweep taken by the fitting and cut the hose about 3mm too short, so had to start again. There's no chance that the hose will come off by accident, those barbs are fierce!
The more difficult hose (accounting for my inability to measure) was the second line which has to run behind the exhaust manifold back down to the sandwich plate. A straight fitting works at the cooler end, but the 90° fitting was never going to be sufficient at the filter end. I sourced a 90° -10 male - female fitting which allows a 180° bend with a non-flat profile (more on this later).
I couldn't really do much more after hitting this snag, and with all the jubilee clips tight, I called it a day.
Day 2:
A very frustrating day spent stripping the engine ancilliaries down, ready for removing the head on day 3. Everything just seemed to take longer than it ought, despite deciding not to remove the inlet manifold (following advice on SELOC that removing/fitting the head is no more difficult with it in place and it's a b
h to remove in situ).
Getting the crankshaft pulley bolt out was the most annoying thing, requiring a cut-down 22mm socket as the gap between the chassis rail and the pulley bolt is very small - just enough for my largest ratchet, but not the breaker bar. Adding to the frustration is that locking the flywheel is a pain. There's a small gap in the bellhousing by the right driveshaft into which an allen key is supposed to lock the flywheel. It does but after every attempt it falls out and requires reinsertion which is a faff.
I tried various things, but I couldn't loosen the bolt (which has a torque spec of 205Nm). The usual issues of working on the floor at awkward angles presented themselves again, and I couldn't stick a pole on the ratchet to get more leverage.
Eventually I realised my big torque wrench would fit, and is as long as my breaker bar. I still couldn't loosen the bolt with my arms, but then in a moment of frustrated genius, I held onto the chassis and used my leg instead at which point the bolt gave way and I could finally move on with my life.
With the pulley off, I rotated the engine to 90° BTDC and removed the cam belt. I noted whilst there that it was just as well I'd bought a new tensioner and belt as the old head was a manual tensioner, whilst the only new heads being made are all automatic tensioners - the two tensioners are not interchangeable and must be matched to a given head, plus the belts are different too (the automatic belt is a couple of teeth longer and is 3mm wider). Thankfully the crank pulley was the later type that can take either belt (stamped with "VVT") as that would have been a right pain if not.
I ordered a new outer timing cover (£20 - at least the K series bits are cheap!) as the old one was cracked, and called it a day with the head ready to be removed.
Day 3:
It was time to pull the head. I prepared a sturdy box with an old towel in the bottom and a bin liner. Covered the back of the car in old towels and cardboard so the head could be put down quickly just in case.
Pulling the cam cover off, everything looked healthy which was promising.
The head bolts came out easily (though if done with the cams in situ it requires turning the cams for clearance on a couple of bolts). I found removing the exhaust manifold a little difficult. I'd taken the advice of SELOC that the manifold can be slid off the studs rather than being removed fully, but I found unbolting the main engine mount (supporting with a jack!) made this much easier as the engine could be canted towards the back of the car allowing the exhaust to come off.
Enlisting my brother to help out, we lifted the head off and placed it on its side on some specially prepared cardboard. Imagine my surprise to find an elastomer gasket rather than the multi-layer steel gasket I was expecting. That means it's had a head gasket done since 2011, which is the only documented one I was aware of.
Inspecting the gasket showed no obvious signs of failure (to my eyes anyway), although it was only in its early stages in any case.
The head didn't show much sign of falure either.
It was nice to see that the waterways were not much better back in the series production days.
The K series is a wet liner design and the liners are supposed to stand proud of the block (deck) by 0.1mm
Realistically, anything from level to 0.1mm is considered ok to use with the elastomer style gasket (which is more tolerant than the MLS gasket).
I am glad to say that all liners stood proud by around 0.04mm so hadn't sunk (which would have required more engine tear down than I'm prepared for).
After a clean up, transferring the inlet manifold and camshaft carrier bolts over to the new head (the Rover sealant used between the head and carrier is really bad to work with - like thick snot. No idea why they've put it in the kind of squeezy bottle used for threadlock and the like - it doesn't come out!), plus changing the thermostat over to the blank supplied with the EP PRT kit (very difficult to get to with the inlet manifold in place), I was ready to fit the new head.
By this point the driveway had become a bit of a mess...
The new head went on ok (once we'd moved the block slightly to clear the exhaust manifold) and the new bolts were fitted and torqued in no time. By the end of the day I had something approaching an engine again, and a big cleanup job on my hands.
Day 4:
This was the most frustrating day of them all. It started fairly well, fitting the new water pump and belt tensioner which were both straightforward.
Having never done anything like this before, cam belts are new thing to me, and fitting this one was a right pain. I couldn't keep the belt taut enough between the exhaust pulley and the crankshaft and the chassis rail being in the way just made the whole process more painful. Finally got it into place, rotated the crank 720° and all the timing marks still lined up.
Then came fitting the crank pulley. The bolt hole is massive and it barely locates on the crank (there's a very small notch which doesn't sit very proud), and I faffed around a lot trying to get it into place. I couldn't lock the flywheel either, so after numerous attempts, the crank had been rotated anti clockwise a number of times loosening the bolt off again. Now I see why the manuals all stress to only ever turn the crank clockwise - the slack generated in the untensioned side of the belt meant it skipped a couple of teeth and ruined the timing.
I ended the day feeling quite deflated having wasted hours and getting nowhere.
Day 5:
After some research the night before, I went back armed with a better understanding of the technique.
Starting at the crank end, I placed the belt about halfway onto the crank pulley and wedged a couple of large allen keys between the belt and oil pump housing to stop it from slipping round. That meant I was able to keep the belt properly taut when feeding it onto the exhaust pulley, then I dealt with the inlet pulley, tensioner and water pump (which was more straightforward). Removing the allen keys and rotating the engine over, the timing was spot on.
I then put the car in 5th gear and the handbrake as on as I could get it to "lock" the flywheel (after reading a tip on SELOC). Got the pulley into place and the bolt went in without much trouble this time (practice makes perfect eh?) with the pulley properly located. The in-gear + handbrake trick held the flywheel well enough to torque the bolt properly to 205Nm. Under an hour and I was done. Timing covers back into place and then the postman arrived with the 90° oil fitting.
You can see the situation with the line coming back from the oil cooler needing to make a 'bent' 180° turn to meet the sandwich plate (of which I'd tried many orientations - a smaller hose size might have allowed other orientations, but -10 is too big)
The solution is to combine the existing 90° fitting with the new -10 to -10 90° fitting, allowing a 180° bend that is not flat in profile (so it clears the oil filter)
The (blurry) finished lines
Having finished all the engine bay bits, I gave myself the afternoon off to make a start on the front end in the morning.
I'm going to take a break writing now too - more later!
The car is nearly finished after 9 days of work, with just a new heater to go in (then filling with coolant), which hasn't arrived yet.
I'll try to cover the work in chronological order. I must say I was very fortunate with the weather, with not a drop of rain coming down in the entire week.
Day 0:
I bought a new head, pre-assembled with valve guides and valves, as well as new (used) cams from a 135 K series and new hydraulic followers/lifters. Also new exhaust and inlet manifold mounting studs/hardware. So job number 1 was to assemble this lot and ensure everything was ok with the new head. This was done about two weeks before the work was planned to start.
Firstly however, K series head castings are, shall we say, not the best, with severely restricted waterway openings.
Inlet side (smaller waterways by design - it's the colder side of the head afterall - still badly executed)
The worst of this head - the exhaust side port which goes to the water outlet elbow
I don't own a die grinder, but do have a dremel, so bought some light duty grinding bits from Machine Mart for all of £5.
About half of these bits are no longer useful...
Much careful grinding later, and we've got some waterways that water can actually flow through! Most of the effort was expended on the exhaust side, but a similar treatment was afforded to the inlet side too.
Typical exhaust opening after caressing
That exhaust side outlet - can you spot the difference?
After cleaning the head up with the world's loudest air compressor, it was time to crack the followers and cams out. The later VVC style followers are apparently the ones to use regardless of application (before lightweight solid lifters become a necessity anyway), and they're inexpensive, with a set of 16 only ~£80 from reputable suppliers.
First thing required with the new cams though (which are symmetrical - the exhaust and inlet cams are exactly the same) was to insert the distributor drive spindle. Various methods have been used here, but I had the best luck with a bit of light sanding to create a chamfer on the tip of the spindle to help it settle, then I used a 2 prong puller to press it into the end of the inlet cam. It seemed the most mechanically sympathetic.
Settled into place. I actually pressed it in slightly further than the picture shows - the rubber bush part of the spindle should be about level with the end of the cam
Fitting the offset dowels was very straightforward - they only go in one way (one way is snug, the other is very loose).
As the cams rotate clockwise, the offset needs to be "going anti-clockwise" to advance the timing.
I had intended to insert the camshaft end seals, but needed to rob the 24 cam ladder bolts from the old head as a sealant material needs to be applied between the head and cam ladder before the bolts are torqued into place, and the end seals are fitted after the cam ladder is mounted.
I opted for stainless exhaust studs with brass nuts to prevent any seizing issues. The exhaust manifold is stainless too, so there probably won't be any issues anyway, but the cost was basically the same as normal studs/nuts so I thought I may as well.
All done!
Day 1:
All the parts to be fitted (sans the head/cams) over the coming week
Starting on a Friday, I assembled all the parts required, a mass of tools, the jack and stands, and began by getting the car jacked up.
Our drive slopes down slightly so trying to get the car level is always difficult, but with the front stands a notch higher I managed it. The chassis is clearly very stiff as the rear left stand wouldn't quite touch so needed shimming.
Given the time taken to get ready I decided that the remainder of Friday was best spent draining fluids and installing the pressure relief thermostat and oil cooler/lines.
The K series suffers from two main coolant related issues (besides the low coolant volume):
- the thermostat is mounted at the entrance to the head, so when the thermostat opens, the head is subjected to the thermal shock of cold coolant hitting a warm head
- the bypass is the heater circuit, which being rather small, is not sufficient to reduce the pressure difference inside the circuit when the pump is flowing too much coolant for the radiator circuit
I bought the Elise Parts PRT kit to fit an oil cooler (which I'd picked up new from an abandoned project for a significant saving). My oil cooler is slightly longer than the one used by Elise Parts and uses -10 fittings. I don't know which fittings the EP one uses, but I'd imagine they're smaller than -10 as that is a massive size for a 1.8L K series and it makes routing a bit difficult.
Draining the coolant from both sides where the coolant hoses go into the chassis rails, I caught most of it. Removal of the stock hoses was straightforward and installation of the EP kit was easy.
I had to shorten the top hose slightly to account for the longer oil cooler
Fitting the oil lines was more difficult. I'd chosen -10 push fit Aeroquip hose, stainless overbraid and jubilee clips to make sure they don't come off. The first line was straightforward, running straight from the Mocal sandwich plate to the oil cooler with a pair of 90° fittings.
Yellow heatshrink - one must colour match...
Of course I failed to account for the wide sweep taken by the fitting and cut the hose about 3mm too short, so had to start again. There's no chance that the hose will come off by accident, those barbs are fierce!
The more difficult hose (accounting for my inability to measure) was the second line which has to run behind the exhaust manifold back down to the sandwich plate. A straight fitting works at the cooler end, but the 90° fitting was never going to be sufficient at the filter end. I sourced a 90° -10 male - female fitting which allows a 180° bend with a non-flat profile (more on this later).
I couldn't really do much more after hitting this snag, and with all the jubilee clips tight, I called it a day.
Day 2:
A very frustrating day spent stripping the engine ancilliaries down, ready for removing the head on day 3. Everything just seemed to take longer than it ought, despite deciding not to remove the inlet manifold (following advice on SELOC that removing/fitting the head is no more difficult with it in place and it's a b
h to remove in situ).Getting the crankshaft pulley bolt out was the most annoying thing, requiring a cut-down 22mm socket as the gap between the chassis rail and the pulley bolt is very small - just enough for my largest ratchet, but not the breaker bar. Adding to the frustration is that locking the flywheel is a pain. There's a small gap in the bellhousing by the right driveshaft into which an allen key is supposed to lock the flywheel. It does but after every attempt it falls out and requires reinsertion which is a faff.
I tried various things, but I couldn't loosen the bolt (which has a torque spec of 205Nm). The usual issues of working on the floor at awkward angles presented themselves again, and I couldn't stick a pole on the ratchet to get more leverage.
Eventually I realised my big torque wrench would fit, and is as long as my breaker bar. I still couldn't loosen the bolt with my arms, but then in a moment of frustrated genius, I held onto the chassis and used my leg instead at which point the bolt gave way and I could finally move on with my life.
With the pulley off, I rotated the engine to 90° BTDC and removed the cam belt. I noted whilst there that it was just as well I'd bought a new tensioner and belt as the old head was a manual tensioner, whilst the only new heads being made are all automatic tensioners - the two tensioners are not interchangeable and must be matched to a given head, plus the belts are different too (the automatic belt is a couple of teeth longer and is 3mm wider). Thankfully the crank pulley was the later type that can take either belt (stamped with "VVT") as that would have been a right pain if not.
I ordered a new outer timing cover (£20 - at least the K series bits are cheap!) as the old one was cracked, and called it a day with the head ready to be removed.
Day 3:
It was time to pull the head. I prepared a sturdy box with an old towel in the bottom and a bin liner. Covered the back of the car in old towels and cardboard so the head could be put down quickly just in case.
Pulling the cam cover off, everything looked healthy which was promising.
The head bolts came out easily (though if done with the cams in situ it requires turning the cams for clearance on a couple of bolts). I found removing the exhaust manifold a little difficult. I'd taken the advice of SELOC that the manifold can be slid off the studs rather than being removed fully, but I found unbolting the main engine mount (supporting with a jack!) made this much easier as the engine could be canted towards the back of the car allowing the exhaust to come off.
Enlisting my brother to help out, we lifted the head off and placed it on its side on some specially prepared cardboard. Imagine my surprise to find an elastomer gasket rather than the multi-layer steel gasket I was expecting. That means it's had a head gasket done since 2011, which is the only documented one I was aware of.
Inspecting the gasket showed no obvious signs of failure (to my eyes anyway), although it was only in its early stages in any case.
The head didn't show much sign of falure either.
It was nice to see that the waterways were not much better back in the series production days.
The K series is a wet liner design and the liners are supposed to stand proud of the block (deck) by 0.1mm
Realistically, anything from level to 0.1mm is considered ok to use with the elastomer style gasket (which is more tolerant than the MLS gasket).
I am glad to say that all liners stood proud by around 0.04mm so hadn't sunk (which would have required more engine tear down than I'm prepared for).
After a clean up, transferring the inlet manifold and camshaft carrier bolts over to the new head (the Rover sealant used between the head and carrier is really bad to work with - like thick snot. No idea why they've put it in the kind of squeezy bottle used for threadlock and the like - it doesn't come out!), plus changing the thermostat over to the blank supplied with the EP PRT kit (very difficult to get to with the inlet manifold in place), I was ready to fit the new head.
By this point the driveway had become a bit of a mess...
The new head went on ok (once we'd moved the block slightly to clear the exhaust manifold) and the new bolts were fitted and torqued in no time. By the end of the day I had something approaching an engine again, and a big cleanup job on my hands.
Day 4:
This was the most frustrating day of them all. It started fairly well, fitting the new water pump and belt tensioner which were both straightforward.
Having never done anything like this before, cam belts are new thing to me, and fitting this one was a right pain. I couldn't keep the belt taut enough between the exhaust pulley and the crankshaft and the chassis rail being in the way just made the whole process more painful. Finally got it into place, rotated the crank 720° and all the timing marks still lined up.
Then came fitting the crank pulley. The bolt hole is massive and it barely locates on the crank (there's a very small notch which doesn't sit very proud), and I faffed around a lot trying to get it into place. I couldn't lock the flywheel either, so after numerous attempts, the crank had been rotated anti clockwise a number of times loosening the bolt off again. Now I see why the manuals all stress to only ever turn the crank clockwise - the slack generated in the untensioned side of the belt meant it skipped a couple of teeth and ruined the timing.
I ended the day feeling quite deflated having wasted hours and getting nowhere.
Day 5:
After some research the night before, I went back armed with a better understanding of the technique.
Starting at the crank end, I placed the belt about halfway onto the crank pulley and wedged a couple of large allen keys between the belt and oil pump housing to stop it from slipping round. That meant I was able to keep the belt properly taut when feeding it onto the exhaust pulley, then I dealt with the inlet pulley, tensioner and water pump (which was more straightforward). Removing the allen keys and rotating the engine over, the timing was spot on.
I then put the car in 5th gear and the handbrake as on as I could get it to "lock" the flywheel (after reading a tip on SELOC). Got the pulley into place and the bolt went in without much trouble this time (practice makes perfect eh?) with the pulley properly located. The in-gear + handbrake trick held the flywheel well enough to torque the bolt properly to 205Nm. Under an hour and I was done. Timing covers back into place and then the postman arrived with the 90° oil fitting.
You can see the situation with the line coming back from the oil cooler needing to make a 'bent' 180° turn to meet the sandwich plate (of which I'd tried many orientations - a smaller hose size might have allowed other orientations, but -10 is too big)
The solution is to combine the existing 90° fitting with the new -10 to -10 90° fitting, allowing a 180° bend that is not flat in profile (so it clears the oil filter)
The (blurry) finished lines
Having finished all the engine bay bits, I gave myself the afternoon off to make a start on the front end in the morning.
I'm going to take a break writing now too - more later!
Cracking job. I'm about halfway through similar on my MG ZS. The inlet manifold was a pain on that (7 studs - cheers Rover) so on an Elise I dread to think.
When the man did my Elise HGF, he took the rear clam off - he said the time it took for removal was paid back in access and reassurance nothing was going to hit the bodywork. Handy of you've spare hands, new fittings and space to store the clam.
When the man did my Elise HGF, he took the rear clam off - he said the time it took for removal was paid back in access and reassurance nothing was going to hit the bodywork. Handy of you've spare hands, new fittings and space to store the clam.
Funnily enough I didn't think that removing the clam would have been worth it for the HGF rectification (especially in my situation sans garage). All the difficult jobs were due to lack of access past the chassis rather than the clam, so I'd say it's unnecessary.
Of course removing the inlet manifold isn't necessary to remove the head either which is handy.
Of course removing the inlet manifold isn't necessary to remove the head either which is handy.
Smitters said:
As long as the inlet manifold gasket isn't leaking...
That wouldn't affect removing the head though? I found it's much easier to remove the inlet manifold once the head's off - mine came off with no trouble as I had good access to all the hardware.Continuing the saga into:
Day 6:
This was front clam removal day. As I've had the front clam off before (to replace the rusty tow post with a stainless one), I thought it should come off fairly easily.
After adding this notion to a long list of "times I was wrong", I can reveal that the problem stemmed from the M8 bolt accessible from the passenger wheelarch.
I don't know why we're using allen head screws (especially with a button head) where they frequently seize as the amount of torque I can apply (even with the very good Wera allen keys) is minimal before the head is stripped. Which is of course what happened here.
Out came the drill, which of course wasn't very well charged. After flattening its battery I made a start on removing the battery and heater whilst waiting for it to charge.
The battery came out as easily as they always do on Elises (i.e. it's a pain because the access channel is about 3mm smaller than the actual battery, made worse by having to bend over a long way), then it was onto the heater.
Got the matrix out easily enough...
...then two of the three screws attaching the heater blower (thankfully including the one inside the outlet). The remaining screw simply span the rivnut having stuck solid.
Out came the angle grinder (as the drill couldn't get on the screw head), and because I didn't want to make a complete mess of the blower housing, I cut the mounting tab off before attacking the screw more head-on.
By this time the drill battery was charged so I carried on boring away at the stuck clam bolt (all the others came out (or loosened off sufficiently)) until the battery went flat again. I dug out an old corded drill and did the job properly (I don't think the drill bit was very sharp, it certainly wasn't afterwards!).
The mess left over
With the clam finally off I thought it would now be plain sailing.
That thought could also be added to the list.
When trying to remove the radiator shroud, it turned out that Lotus had used Philips screws, which of course no longer resembled a standard Philips, more a brown blob of rust. I went back into the house and dug out my Dremel which I used to cut a slot into each screw, and fortunately the three at the front came out with a big flat-head bit. The three at the back required persuasion with the angle grinder. Two of the four screws holding the radiator to the shroud similarly required a helping hand from the angle grinder.
This was turning into a test of the variety of power tools at my disposal rather than car disassembly
Just to finish off the list of seized bolts, the four holding the fuse and relay boxes to the passenger side wheel arch liner were also seized. Judicious use of the angle grinder to remove the rubber nutserts and I could finally remove the liner and get access to the connectors. Naturally one of the bolts on the fuse box seized into the rubber standoff too, so it was only going to be held on by one bolt from here on.
Anyway, with the radiator finally removed and all the seized bolts taken care of, it was time to prepare the new radiator.
I don't know how original the old radiator was, but it still had plastic end tanks and was rather battered, so replacement seems like a good thing
I'd already bought a new Spal fan, a thicker cored all-alloy radiator from Coolex and a new fan fitting kit (the old one was laughably rusty too) from Elise Shop.
I don't know whether it was me being weedy, or the lever-type rivet gun not really being quite suitable for the size of the rivets used, but this certainly gave my hands a workout
Thankfully all the radiator-related hardware used captive nuts (the slide on type) so with a ready supply of zinc-plated M5 captive nuts, I was able to use all new zinc coated or stainless hardware to reassemble the radiator shroud back onto the crash structure (once I'd given it all a good clean).
Next up was replacing the door spring on the driver's side as it wasn't staying open very well any more.
Removal was easy - a couple of 10mm bolt/nuts (two 10mm spanners required) removed both the spring and the support plate, and refitting was also straightforward. That is until I opened the door and found that the Elise Parts door spring plate was slightly too long for the hinge on my Elise, and the door beam bent the lower edge of the spring back. Expletives were used, then I salvaged the plate by cutting the bent part off with the Dremel. It's better than it was, which is all I can expect in the circumstances I guess.
After this, it was time to plumb in both the radiator and the new electric water pump (and its temperature sensor). Technically the best place for the temperature sensor is on the engine outlet, but the Davies Craig controller manual specifically tells me not to lengthen the sensor wire, and to be honest, there's not many places to put the sensor given the amount of stuff going on back there now.
I elected instead to use the location that many have used with success, just before the radiator inlet.
As the EWP is acting primarily as a boost pump, it's in some ways preferable for it to not run at any speed until the thermostat opens anyway. This location has the added benefit of being easily accessible and within easy wiring reach of my selected controller location. Using P-clips I routed the sensor wire around the front of the radiator to keep it out of the way.
Mounting the pump was trickier as it had to clear both the headlight and the wheelarch liner whilst being physically larger. I had to retain the bleed screw and the inlet ideally needed to be at least level, but preferably pointing slightly upwards to stop air being trapped in the pump. The pump was supplied with a 90° and a straight inlet/outlet and I went through several configurations before settling on the 90° on the inlet and the straight as the outlet. Sadly I cut my (new and expensive) silicone hose too short for this configuration, so I had to reinstall the original hose (which is in good condition in fairness) with the elbow flipped so that the longer piece of hose reached the radiator (accounting for the width of the water pump).
In this position the pump clears the headlights and wheel arch liner
The evening was drawing in, so I (not literally) threw the clam back on loosely and set about the lengthy task of tidying up.
Day 7:
Today was a wiring day.
I'd elected to mount the controller under the windscreen wiper motor as there was space, it was easily accessible and the wiring was straightforward due to the proximity of the battery, fuse box and relay box.
The MEMS engine management is generally considered to bring the fan on too late (over 100°C), and the new pump controller can also be used as a thermatic fan controller, providing a switched earth. As the MEMS also earths a relay to turn the fan on, all that was required was changing the fan relay's power to be permanently live (as the controller can operate after ignition off for a couple of minutes to help prevent hotspots in the engine) and the switched earth to come from either the controller or the MEMS.
Thankfully the Elise uses standard relay terminals, so crimping up the new wires/connections was easy. I have proper crimpers, but when I used to do R/C cars I learned to solder and so I tend to crimp the terminal on, then put a dab of solder on the end of the wire so I know it can't be pulled out (but not enough to cause problems with snapping wires should it go brittle).
I bridged the fan power input to the switched input (reusing the now unused ignition switched wire as the input for the pump controller) and joined the MEMS earth and controller earth into the switched output.
I neatly routed the wiring along the existing loom using TESA cloth tape. I had intended to add the controller's fuse to the fuse box, but the terminals are seemingly difficult to get hold of and there were no pre-filled slots, so I decided to directly wire the controller to the battery using the provided inline fuse. Elise battery terminals are crap from the factory (literally a strip of metal curved into a rough lollipop shape with a bolt through as a clamp/terminal point), and the only bolt for attaching terminals was M8. Naturally I didn't have any 8mm ring terminals, so that would have to wait.
Next up was reinstalling the clam shell properly, which included replacing the two dead rivnuts with aluminium ones. I used hex-head stainless bolts with Duralac to hopefully prevent any reoccuring seizures.
Lastly, I'd installed a second gauge to use for water temperature some time ago, and it was time to place the sensor. I decided that as the STACK sensor was so notably unreliable (and the reading varied significantly with electrical load, even with new earth cables) that I'd simply replace it in the coolant outlet elbow. Of course my sensor was 1/8 NPT and the original was M12.
Decided to quit whilst I was behind and ordered the requisite bits (namely a decent supply of ring terminals and a 1/8 NPT to M12 x 1.5 adapter) online.
Day 8:
This was a spanner check day, a little jobs day and generally buttoning up the car (save for the heater, which annoyingly was not likely to arrive for at least another week - it's not here yet as I write this in fact).
First job was fitting the new manifold heatshield I'd bought from junks on SELOC (who has amassed quite an array of difficult to find parts). With the oil cooler in the way, it required some modification with the angle grinder, but it went in fairly easily.
I think it'll be more effective than the old one somehow!
Next up was checking that the engine cranked properly and could be started (if only briefly due to the lack of coolant).
Of course the battery was flat, so I got my jump starter out and turned the engine over with the fuel pump fuse and the coil disconnected to build oil pressure. No horrible noises which was a big plus, but being a lithium jump starter, it's powerful, but doesn't have that much capacity, so it was flat before I had oil pressure. Dug out my grandfather's old battery charger (which I doubt was ever used in period given the condition, and it was the first time we'd used it) and it had 4A going into the battery in no time.
Whilst charging I put the wheel arch liners back in and properly realigned the boot and bonnet so they closed properly. In the interim, the sensor adapter and ring terminals turned up, so I sorted the pump controller's power source connections and installed the new sensor in the coolant elbow, connecting it up to the bunched wires that had been sitting waiting under the fuel tank.
I tidied up and left the battery to charge a little longer whilst I had lunch (a novelty when working on the drive...).
Came back out and cranked the engine over some more and checked the oil - it had gone from the max to min lines on the dipstick so I stuck another litre in. Set into it again until the oil pressure light went out, then reconnected the fuse and coil, crossed my fingers and cranked. The engine burst immediately into life, sounding rather 'tappety' but quietening by the second. Switching off after a few seconds (given the lack of coolant), my heart was racing - it worked!
About half an hour later I started it again and the tappety noise had nearly gone which was promising and I felt so proud that my first 'proper' engine work was actually working properly!
Checked all gaskets and new oil hose joins plus the filter and sandwich plate for any oil leaks, which looked pleasingly absent.
Put the wheels back on, got the ramps out and lowered the car down at last. Just need the bloody heater to turn up now...
Edited by _Marvin on Thursday 4th April 22:24
_Marvin said:
That wouldn't affect removing the head though? I found it's much easier to remove the inlet manifold once the head's off - mine came off with no trouble as I had good access to all the hardware.
D'oh. Oh yeah.Mind you - I actually found it easier (less of a ballache) to leave all the manifold pipework intact and undo the 7 mani studs, leaving the mani in the car and getting the head out, but again, that's in the luxurious spaciousness of an MG...
Not read the whole update below, but cracking work by the looks of things. I did find a method for switching the towpost without removing the clam online somewhere - will have to dig it out and link it FYI, but it may require the arms of a 15 year old ballerina and nine elbows.
OP do you remember where you got your bushes from? I'm gathering all the bits for a suspension refresh on mine at the moment but it's the bushes where I'm in a bit of a quandary, Seriously Lotus do some OEM-spec ones but they're currently out of stock, are hoping for a delivery towards the middle of the month but have already been waiting 5 months for those to arrive so I'm not holding my breath. The other option is the OEM ones from EliseParts but they're over double the price. Don't want to go down the Poly/Nylatron route.
Smitters said:
D'oh. Oh yeah.
Mind you - I actually found it easier (less of a ballache) to leave all the manifold pipework intact and undo the 7 mani studs, leaving the mani in the car and getting the head out, but again, that's in the luxurious spaciousness of an MG...
Not read the whole update below, but cracking work by the looks of things. I did find a method for switching the towpost without removing the clam online somewhere - will have to dig it out and link it FYI, but it may require the arms of a 15 year old ballerina and nine elbows.
Definitely with the space (e.g. your MG or an early Elise with the removable boot divider) it would have been easier to leave the manifold in position, but for most Elises, I think the best advice is to leave it attached and remove the airbox from the TB, the fuel return from the bottom of the manifold, MAP sensor hoses and the fuel feed line from the fuel filter as there are only two bolts that are a bit of a pain to reach (attaching the fuel return line to the manifold) and the rest are pretty straightforward.Mind you - I actually found it easier (less of a ballache) to leave all the manifold pipework intact and undo the 7 mani studs, leaving the mani in the car and getting the head out, but again, that's in the luxurious spaciousness of an MG...
Not read the whole update below, but cracking work by the looks of things. I did find a method for switching the towpost without removing the clam online somewhere - will have to dig it out and link it FYI, but it may require the arms of a 15 year old ballerina and nine elbows.
I think the way to access the tow post without removing the clam is to remove the front undertray which gives access to the two lower bolts, and then pick a wheel arch liner to remove and force your arm between the clam and the radiator shroud to get at the remaining bolt. I'm a bit too big for that to work, so I had to remove the clam, but I think that's the only way it's doable clam-on (I gave it a good go...).
Steve Evil said:
OP do you remember where you got your bushes from? I'm gathering all the bits for a suspension refresh on mine at the moment but it's the bushes where I'm in a bit of a quandary, Seriously Lotus do some OEM-spec ones but they're currently out of stock, are hoping for a delivery towards the middle of the month but have already been waiting 5 months for those to arrive so I'm not holding my breath. The other option is the OEM ones from EliseParts but they're over double the price. Don't want to go down the Poly/Nylatron route.
I was lucky and bought mine from Ebay. I checked them now but they don't have them anymore, so looks like they were an old stock type affair, they only had a couple of sets as I recall.It's heater time!
The below is a guide-type post written for SELOC, but it covers the bases so worthy of inclusion. Next update will be bleeding and driving
.
Thought I'd share my experience with fitting the T7 Design heater designed for the S2/VX220 to an S1 Elise.
Given the expense of the S1 blower motor, the matrix itself and the fact that the housing is made from a combination of rusty steel and brittle plastic, I felt replacing the heater entirely might be a good route.
I called T7 Design as they made a midi heater that looked like it would fit (which it turns out is very similar to their S2 heater) to discuss the configuration. We had a lengthy discussion (with dimensions etc) and ended up with the S2 heater kit, minus some of the components. Basically, I used the heater itself and the mounting brackets, then a pull to close heater valve (16mm), which works with the standard S1 bowden cable.
Fitting is fairly straightforward - the S1 and S2 chassis are the same as far as the heater mounts go, but you'll need the radiator shroud and the bonnet catch plate removed as it's a tall unit.
The heater valve is a basic tap-like affair. Pull to close is correct for an S1, but I had to drill a second hole for the bowden cable 7mm closer to the pivot to get the full open/close movement required.
Open...
...and closed
Note this style of valve only works because I've fitted a PRRT - meaning the heater is no longer the primary bypass. If you don't you'll need the full bypass type valve as supplied in the kit, but this will mean changing the bowden cable (also supplied, but no idea whether the length would be suitable).
The trickiest part was figuring the routing of the hose and the placement of the heater valve. In the S1 at least, the unit could probably have stood to go 40mm or so towards the drivers side to give more room...
...but I didn't fancy modifying the brackets (and drilling the chassis is difficult given the room) so left it as-is.
Brackets fitted
Lack of room very much on display
I found that the standard heater hoses cut carefully could be configured to fit the new layout. If you get new hose, you'll need three elbows.
Cut here...
Mount the valve between the engine outlet and the heater matrix using the newly cut elbows
All done, with plenty of clearance for the valve to open/close fully
The Spal blower fan has a built in resistor for three speeds and comes supplied with a strange 4 pin connector block. The terminals are the standard 6.3mm affair you'd find in any automotive T-type connector.
After some playing around, the connections for the multiple speeds are as above (I can't guarantee that Lotus used the same colours in your loom though).
I removed the standard terminals and inserted them into a four pin block that I could actually get the female side for and adapted the standard lead (meaning the main loom was unaffected).
I hope this is instructive - there is a good alternative heater available for the S1 if yours is somewhat beyond repair.
The below is a guide-type post written for SELOC, but it covers the bases so worthy of inclusion. Next update will be bleeding and driving
.Thought I'd share my experience with fitting the T7 Design heater designed for the S2/VX220 to an S1 Elise.
Given the expense of the S1 blower motor, the matrix itself and the fact that the housing is made from a combination of rusty steel and brittle plastic, I felt replacing the heater entirely might be a good route.
I called T7 Design as they made a midi heater that looked like it would fit (which it turns out is very similar to their S2 heater) to discuss the configuration. We had a lengthy discussion (with dimensions etc) and ended up with the S2 heater kit, minus some of the components. Basically, I used the heater itself and the mounting brackets, then a pull to close heater valve (16mm), which works with the standard S1 bowden cable.
Fitting is fairly straightforward - the S1 and S2 chassis are the same as far as the heater mounts go, but you'll need the radiator shroud and the bonnet catch plate removed as it's a tall unit.
The heater valve is a basic tap-like affair. Pull to close is correct for an S1, but I had to drill a second hole for the bowden cable 7mm closer to the pivot to get the full open/close movement required.
Open...
...and closed
Note this style of valve only works because I've fitted a PRRT - meaning the heater is no longer the primary bypass. If you don't you'll need the full bypass type valve as supplied in the kit, but this will mean changing the bowden cable (also supplied, but no idea whether the length would be suitable).
The trickiest part was figuring the routing of the hose and the placement of the heater valve. In the S1 at least, the unit could probably have stood to go 40mm or so towards the drivers side to give more room...
...but I didn't fancy modifying the brackets (and drilling the chassis is difficult given the room) so left it as-is.
Brackets fitted
Lack of room very much on display
I found that the standard heater hoses cut carefully could be configured to fit the new layout. If you get new hose, you'll need three elbows.
Cut here...
Mount the valve between the engine outlet and the heater matrix using the newly cut elbows
All done, with plenty of clearance for the valve to open/close fully
The Spal blower fan has a built in resistor for three speeds and comes supplied with a strange 4 pin connector block. The terminals are the standard 6.3mm affair you'd find in any automotive T-type connector.
After some playing around, the connections for the multiple speeds are as above (I can't guarantee that Lotus used the same colours in your loom though).
I removed the standard terminals and inserted them into a four pin block that I could actually get the female side for and adapted the standard lead (meaning the main loom was unaffected).
I hope this is instructive - there is a good alternative heater available for the S1 if yours is somewhat beyond repair.
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