Revival of Lotus Elise S1 (1998)
Discussion
The rear lower ball joints had no play but the boots were knackered so I cleaned them out, packed them with new grease and popped on some new dust boots. That will keep them going till next winter.
Now came the toughest job of the rebuild……..the hole in the floor under the battery!
The old battery had a breather port on the left side that had dripped battery acid onto the aluminium floor.
I was pretty depressed at seeing this and didn’t really know how to progress. It’s a double skinned floor with about 5mm between the skins. The bottom skin was fine.
After wire brushing the floor with a stainless wire brush to remove all the corrosion, I dosed the local area with bicarbonate of soda solution to neutralise any acid.
After talking with some people who know lots more than me (not hard) I had a few options.
1) Weld a patch over the hole - A good friend who is an expert aluminium welder had a look and said the ali is so thin it would be very difficult to weld, plus the heat generated could weaken the surrounding aluminium.
2) Rivet a plate over the affected area as they do on aircraft, this was rejected due to the double skin.
3) Use Aluminium braising rods that you melt into the void and build up the plate. By friend had used these before and informed me the surrounding aluminium has to be heated to a high temperature before the molten alloy will bond properly. I was worried about negatively effecting the surrounding aluminium with the excessive heat.
So……………everyone I spoke too agreed the best way forward was to use a well-known proven epoxy designed to bond metal. The consensus was the repair would be as strong as the original aluminium and would not negatively affect the surrounding area. After much research I chose J-B Weld SteelStik for the job.
After cleaning the area I thoroughly mixed the epoxy and applied it to the affected area. Once hard I sanded it down (this stuff is hard!) and was left with this:
I mixed a strong bicarbonate of soda solution – tip, don’t do this in a bottle as the resulting foam will shoot all over your kitchen!!! This was pored over the floor and left for a few hours to neutralise any remaining acid.
The floor was thoroughly rinsed, cleaned and dried.
Masked up and then 3 coats of POR15 silver were applied. I didn’t feel there was a need to use the ‘metal prep’ as I figured the acid had etched the floor sufficiently!
I didn’t fill the pits as this could trap moisture. The POR15 dries by extracting moisture from the air and from the metals surface leaving a dry sealed floor. I was happy with the result and felt it the best solution.
Ignore the liquid running down the side, this was ACF-50 that I had liberally sprayed all around the battery/fan recess.
Now came the toughest job of the rebuild……..the hole in the floor under the battery!
The old battery had a breather port on the left side that had dripped battery acid onto the aluminium floor.I was pretty depressed at seeing this and didn’t really know how to progress. It’s a double skinned floor with about 5mm between the skins. The bottom skin was fine.
After wire brushing the floor with a stainless wire brush to remove all the corrosion, I dosed the local area with bicarbonate of soda solution to neutralise any acid.
After talking with some people who know lots more than me (not hard) I had a few options.
1) Weld a patch over the hole - A good friend who is an expert aluminium welder had a look and said the ali is so thin it would be very difficult to weld, plus the heat generated could weaken the surrounding aluminium.
2) Rivet a plate over the affected area as they do on aircraft, this was rejected due to the double skin.
3) Use Aluminium braising rods that you melt into the void and build up the plate. By friend had used these before and informed me the surrounding aluminium has to be heated to a high temperature before the molten alloy will bond properly. I was worried about negatively effecting the surrounding aluminium with the excessive heat.
So……………everyone I spoke too agreed the best way forward was to use a well-known proven epoxy designed to bond metal. The consensus was the repair would be as strong as the original aluminium and would not negatively affect the surrounding area. After much research I chose J-B Weld SteelStik for the job.
After cleaning the area I thoroughly mixed the epoxy and applied it to the affected area. Once hard I sanded it down (this stuff is hard!) and was left with this:
I mixed a strong bicarbonate of soda solution – tip, don’t do this in a bottle as the resulting foam will shoot all over your kitchen!!! This was pored over the floor and left for a few hours to neutralise any remaining acid.
The floor was thoroughly rinsed, cleaned and dried.
Masked up and then 3 coats of POR15 silver were applied. I didn’t feel there was a need to use the ‘metal prep’ as I figured the acid had etched the floor sufficiently!
I didn’t fill the pits as this could trap moisture. The POR15 dries by extracting moisture from the air and from the metals surface leaving a dry sealed floor. I was happy with the result and felt it the best solution.
Ignore the liquid running down the side, this was ACF-50 that I had liberally sprayed all around the battery/fan recess.
FINALLY the fun bit begins, bolting up some shiny/clean bits!
The fan went together with no issues.
Fitting it back in the car presented no problems………..except for the bolt located inside the fan. Thank goodness for 6yr olds with small hands! I tried for half an hour and every time I dropped the bolt I had to take the fan out of the car to retrieve it.
The 2 halves of the box that encases the heat exchanger and houses the air flap were in great condition and just needed a clean-up.
This is them together with the heat exchanger inside, ready to go. They are not held together with anything till you run the strap from the fan around the entire box.
When I came to fit the strap around the box it was clear it had perished, stretched and was too long. GGGGRRRRR After some googling the original material is used under cushions on chairs. So I set off to my local furniture material shop and presented them with the old strap. After some bemused looks and a short search I was presented with some faux leather that seemed to have the right amount of give and was free! Must be the first ever free part for a Lotus.
I cut it to the correct thickness and length and superglued the ends around the old fittings.
And here it is all fitted up. Time will tell if the faux leather survives the heat cycles?
Jobs a carrot.
The fan went together with no issues.
Fitting it back in the car presented no problems………..except for the bolt located inside the fan. Thank goodness for 6yr olds with small hands! I tried for half an hour and every time I dropped the bolt I had to take the fan out of the car to retrieve it.
The 2 halves of the box that encases the heat exchanger and houses the air flap were in great condition and just needed a clean-up.
This is them together with the heat exchanger inside, ready to go. They are not held together with anything till you run the strap from the fan around the entire box.
When I came to fit the strap around the box it was clear it had perished, stretched and was too long. GGGGRRRRR After some googling the original material is used under cushions on chairs. So I set off to my local furniture material shop and presented them with the old strap. After some bemused looks and a short search I was presented with some faux leather that seemed to have the right amount of give and was free! Must be the first ever free part for a Lotus.
I cut it to the correct thickness and length and superglued the ends around the old fittings.
And here it is all fitted up. Time will tell if the faux leather survives the heat cycles?
Jobs a carrot.
Very nice indeed. S1s always look good in titanium.
I fitted later spec ones to my S2 when I first acquired it. It’s currently in the garage having further uprated ones fitted.
Zoobeef said:
I know the toe links oh so well.
https://youtu.be/y89N8aPERC4
Ouch. https://youtu.be/y89N8aPERC4
I fitted later spec ones to my S2 when I first acquired it. It’s currently in the garage having further uprated ones fitted.
Next on the list – fitting braided brake hoses, how hard can that be? Just screw in each end, should only take 15mins…………………………………..
Well no, you can't access the front brake hose to hard pipe connections, so you have to cut a slot in the windscreen support. I felt better about doing this in the knowledge Lotus themselves added the slots to later cars. First I printed a picture of a later car with the holes and carefully marked the location. Then drilled 2 holes at each end.
Then masked up and used a cutting disc on a dremel down the sides.
Before tidying up the holes with a needle file and installing the hoses.
After some thought I realised I should have put a washer on the outside behind the nut to spread the load and prevent the gelcoat cracking, which I did. Always a pleasure doing fiddly jobs twice!
It will be interesting to see how much better the brakes are on track. Last time I had to push so hard on the peddle the bottom of my right foot was sore for 2 days (and I’m not a wimp, honest!) I’m hoping the pads were glazed, the discs knackered and the hoses crap!
Well no, you can't access the front brake hose to hard pipe connections, so you have to cut a slot in the windscreen support. I felt better about doing this in the knowledge Lotus themselves added the slots to later cars. First I printed a picture of a later car with the holes and carefully marked the location. Then drilled 2 holes at each end.
Then masked up and used a cutting disc on a dremel down the sides.
Before tidying up the holes with a needle file and installing the hoses.
After some thought I realised I should have put a washer on the outside behind the nut to spread the load and prevent the gelcoat cracking, which I did. Always a pleasure doing fiddly jobs twice!
It will be interesting to see how much better the brakes are on track. Last time I had to push so hard on the peddle the bottom of my right foot was sore for 2 days (and I’m not a wimp, honest!) I’m hoping the pads were glazed, the discs knackered and the hoses crap!
The front shock mounts were treated to a subtle smothering of Duralac and bolted into place.
Mounting of the newly painted anti roll bar followed the famous Haynes saying ‘refitting is the revers of the removal’. I purchased some Super Pro bushes which I lubed up and slid onto the ARB before lining everything up and (using new bolts) bolting it all back into place.
Oh and I painted the exposed part of the steering rack arms.
Another simple 5 minute job was fitting the battery………………………..um no. There was no way I was going to refit the acid spitting devil battery. So I purchased a new Bosch one, making sure it had the same dimensions as the old one. Which it did……………….apart from the top which was a different shape. This meant the support didn’t hold the battery in position. I’m pretty sure having a battery sliding around while on track isn’t good, so I set about modifying the mount to fit. Yes I could have returned the battery but it was mail order and I had disposed of the special packaging….oops.
I extended the slots in the mounting plate and made some spacers (I remade the wonky left one) to hold the plate off the bulkhead.
This thankfully secured the battery and I will make sure I am more careful when choosing batteries in the future.
Next up was the suspension, I’d been looking forward to this! Hopefully I had all the bits I needed ready…………….
Most of the bolts were new but any that weren’t got their heads painted.
I gave the uprights a quick polish as (obviously) this will make the car go faster. The bearings are smooth and I know they haven’t done many miles. So fingers crossed they’ll be fine for a while.
The wishbones went on without incident with anti corrosion grease on all the bots. The shim washers on the upper wishbones are a pain to fit, but once I worked out how to get them in they all bolted up quickly, the bolts were left loose as the bushes need to be tightened at final ride height.
The uprights, steering arms and track rod ends bolted up without issue. Don't you just love it when that happens.
I screwed the brake calipers onto the brake hoses, but made sure the inboard end was loose to ensure the hoses weren’t stressed when in their final position. The calipers need to be inverted during bleeding to remove trapped air, so just loosely fixed them in position for now.
Then the shocks were bolted up but not tightened. I jacked up the suspension till the car just lifted off the axel stand and tightened up the shock and wishbone bolts.
I bolted up the rear shocks, fitted the brake lines and after winding back the piston bolted up the brake calipers. The pads and discs slotted in easily with a touch of brake silicone grease on the back of the pads.
At this point I was thinking - this is going well I could have this back on the road in a few days........................................
Mounting of the newly painted anti roll bar followed the famous Haynes saying ‘refitting is the revers of the removal’. I purchased some Super Pro bushes which I lubed up and slid onto the ARB before lining everything up and (using new bolts) bolting it all back into place.
Oh and I painted the exposed part of the steering rack arms.
Another simple 5 minute job was fitting the battery………………………..um no. There was no way I was going to refit the acid spitting devil battery. So I purchased a new Bosch one, making sure it had the same dimensions as the old one. Which it did……………….apart from the top which was a different shape. This meant the support didn’t hold the battery in position. I’m pretty sure having a battery sliding around while on track isn’t good, so I set about modifying the mount to fit. Yes I could have returned the battery but it was mail order and I had disposed of the special packaging….oops.
I extended the slots in the mounting plate and made some spacers (I remade the wonky left one) to hold the plate off the bulkhead.
This thankfully secured the battery and I will make sure I am more careful when choosing batteries in the future.
Next up was the suspension, I’d been looking forward to this! Hopefully I had all the bits I needed ready…………….
Most of the bolts were new but any that weren’t got their heads painted.
I gave the uprights a quick polish as (obviously) this will make the car go faster. The bearings are smooth and I know they haven’t done many miles. So fingers crossed they’ll be fine for a while.
The wishbones went on without incident with anti corrosion grease on all the bots. The shim washers on the upper wishbones are a pain to fit, but once I worked out how to get them in they all bolted up quickly, the bolts were left loose as the bushes need to be tightened at final ride height.
The uprights, steering arms and track rod ends bolted up without issue. Don't you just love it when that happens.
I screwed the brake calipers onto the brake hoses, but made sure the inboard end was loose to ensure the hoses weren’t stressed when in their final position. The calipers need to be inverted during bleeding to remove trapped air, so just loosely fixed them in position for now.
Then the shocks were bolted up but not tightened. I jacked up the suspension till the car just lifted off the axel stand and tightened up the shock and wishbone bolts.
I bolted up the rear shocks, fitted the brake lines and after winding back the piston bolted up the brake calipers. The pads and discs slotted in easily with a touch of brake silicone grease on the back of the pads.
At this point I was thinking - this is going well I could have this back on the road in a few days........................................
Smokin Donut said:
At this point I was thinking - this is going well I could have this back on the road in a few days........................................
This is the car equivalent of saying "watch this" before doing something that in no way *should* injure you, but has the teeensiest chance it *could* injure you horribly.That aside, thank you for the painstaking write-ups. We have S1s of a very similar age and a lot of the same jobs need doing on mine, so anything I can tackle is made a million times easier with real, useful pics.
I had bought a new braided clutch hose for a bargain £30. But had been putting of fitting it.
The old red plastic hose is reported to heat up in the sills (due to being next to the cooling water pipes), expanding and the master cylinder not having enough volume to activate the slave. I was in two minds about this, the old hose has worked fine for 20 years including hot weather and it looked like a PITA to fit. However I do have the car in pieces so it was now or never. The fact it’s silver and shiny clinched it, it’s going on. With a feeling that this was a bad idea, I cut the old hose - no going back now!
Someone had documented the job, so I had some rough instructions which confidently stated it would take 4hrs, nice!
After cutting both ends of the hose I blew it through with compressed air and pushed some thin gardening wire thorough, so far so good!
Next I pulled out the red hose leaving only the wire running from the front of the car, under the dash, down the left side A pillar (behind the door hinge) and through the LHS sill.
Now I had to remove the front of the dash to gain access under the dashboard. The plastic facia around the heater controls has a lip around each side that springs into a slot in the aluminium, to remove it you have to squeeze the plastic together HARD and pull, praying to the car gods you don’t snap it in half.
Then you have access to the screws in the front and top of the aluminium fascia.
Once undone the upper and lower aluminium fascia come away leaving you with the required access.
This is looking down the A pillar hole (where the wires are going down at the back) you can just see the grommet that the hose passes though.
I secured the wire at the font of the car and cut it inside the car so I could work from the A pillar to the rear of the car only. I didn’t want to risk breaking the wire so I tied some small rope and tried pulling that from the A pillar to the rear of the car. It got stuck and wouldn’t pass through the square hole in the rear of the sill. Lots of foam insulation that had been around the old clutch hose came out and finally I gave up and pulled the rope back out the A pillar and found this:
Apparently there is a grommet at the front end of the sill and a block of foam (?!), no wonder it wouldn’t fit through the small hole at the rear of the sill! Once this was removed the rope pulled freely through to the back of the car and I was ready to pull the new hose though.
I secured the rope to the hose in such a way it would NEVER come off and pulled the hose though the sill. What a relief when it finally appeared at the back of the car.
I pulled as much hose through to the back of the car as I could and cable tied some foam insulation around the hose, before pulling it back forward through the sill. This was to avoid the hose banging against the water pipes in the sill and driving me nuts.
The hose was then led up to the slave cylinder and bolted up. At first I put the 45 deg end on the master cylinder but after emailing Eliseparts I was informed it was supposed to be at the slave end.
So I swapped the ends over.
Passing through the rear of the sill.
Running up to the slave
Then the front end was passed through the grommet under the dash, behind the heater inlet and forward to the master cylinder (small wife hands work well here). 4hrs it was not! More like an entire day! Anyone else doing this: buy a new length of insulated foam the correct diameter before starting.
Before I could bleed the brakes and clutch I had to fit a new gravity feed pipe from the header tank to the clutch master cylinder as the old one had perished. Lotus wanted £60 for one so I made my own. I bought some clutch/brake fluid resistant hose for £5 and used an old brake hose spring to stop it kinking.
The old red plastic hose is reported to heat up in the sills (due to being next to the cooling water pipes), expanding and the master cylinder not having enough volume to activate the slave. I was in two minds about this, the old hose has worked fine for 20 years including hot weather and it looked like a PITA to fit. However I do have the car in pieces so it was now or never. The fact it’s silver and shiny clinched it, it’s going on. With a feeling that this was a bad idea, I cut the old hose - no going back now!
Someone had documented the job, so I had some rough instructions which confidently stated it would take 4hrs, nice!
After cutting both ends of the hose I blew it through with compressed air and pushed some thin gardening wire thorough, so far so good!
Next I pulled out the red hose leaving only the wire running from the front of the car, under the dash, down the left side A pillar (behind the door hinge) and through the LHS sill.
Now I had to remove the front of the dash to gain access under the dashboard. The plastic facia around the heater controls has a lip around each side that springs into a slot in the aluminium, to remove it you have to squeeze the plastic together HARD and pull, praying to the car gods you don’t snap it in half.
Then you have access to the screws in the front and top of the aluminium fascia.
Once undone the upper and lower aluminium fascia come away leaving you with the required access.
This is looking down the A pillar hole (where the wires are going down at the back) you can just see the grommet that the hose passes though.
I secured the wire at the font of the car and cut it inside the car so I could work from the A pillar to the rear of the car only. I didn’t want to risk breaking the wire so I tied some small rope and tried pulling that from the A pillar to the rear of the car. It got stuck and wouldn’t pass through the square hole in the rear of the sill. Lots of foam insulation that had been around the old clutch hose came out and finally I gave up and pulled the rope back out the A pillar and found this:
Apparently there is a grommet at the front end of the sill and a block of foam (?!), no wonder it wouldn’t fit through the small hole at the rear of the sill! Once this was removed the rope pulled freely through to the back of the car and I was ready to pull the new hose though.
I secured the rope to the hose in such a way it would NEVER come off and pulled the hose though the sill. What a relief when it finally appeared at the back of the car.
I pulled as much hose through to the back of the car as I could and cable tied some foam insulation around the hose, before pulling it back forward through the sill. This was to avoid the hose banging against the water pipes in the sill and driving me nuts.
The hose was then led up to the slave cylinder and bolted up. At first I put the 45 deg end on the master cylinder but after emailing Eliseparts I was informed it was supposed to be at the slave end.
So I swapped the ends over.Passing through the rear of the sill.
Running up to the slave
Then the front end was passed through the grommet under the dash, behind the heater inlet and forward to the master cylinder (small wife hands work well here). 4hrs it was not! More like an entire day! Anyone else doing this: buy a new length of insulated foam the correct diameter before starting.
Before I could bleed the brakes and clutch I had to fit a new gravity feed pipe from the header tank to the clutch master cylinder as the old one had perished. Lotus wanted £60
for one so I made my own. I bought some clutch/brake fluid resistant hose for £5 and used an old brake hose spring to stop it kinking.Edited by Smokin Donut on Sunday 3rd June 16:11
Smitters said:
This is the car equivalent of saying "watch this" before doing something that in no way *should* injure you, but has the teeensiest chance it *could* injure you horribly.
That aside, thank you for the painstaking write-ups. We have S1s of a very similar age and a lot of the same jobs need doing on mine, so anything I can tackle is made a million times easier with real, useful pics.
I'm glad its of some use to someone. It takes a while to put it all together but if it helps someone tackle the jobs themselves its all worth it.That aside, thank you for the painstaking write-ups. We have S1s of a very similar age and a lot of the same jobs need doing on mine, so anything I can tackle is made a million times easier with real, useful pics.
Astacus said:
Oh my God, you’ve only gone and said the “thing” haven’t you?
You do realise you are now doomed
Saying the “thing” has a time dilation effect
Fitting the clutch hose was a fight, but bleeding it turned into a 3 day nightmare!You do realise you are now doomed
Saying the “thing” has a time dilation effect
But before bleeding the clutch I decided to fit the radiator as it’s shiny and I needed some bling therapy.
I was going to refit the original radiator but after having another look at it I decided it looked pretty tired and I’d kick myself if it started leaking over the summer. So after some research I decided to buy a Direnza one form eBay, because many had sold well, it looked well-made and most importantly it had been specifically designed to fit in the Elise. At £167 it seemed a no brainer.
I also bought a new uprated Spal fan that was a little smaller than the original so I had to make a couple of stainless brackets to mount it up. Every nut, bolt, hose clip, screw, washer etc. that is not structural is stainless (preferably 304) I’m a bit OCD about it if I’m honest.
Then I bolted it into the now clean radiator housing.
Before bolting it onto the car. The new radiator fitted perfectly and looks well made.
I reused the original hoses, with new genuine jubilee clips, as after a clean they looked brand new with no sign of cracking or delaminating. I added some protection where the hoses pass through the crash box.
Boyed with confidence at winning the fight with the clutch hose I filled the header tank with brake fluid and fitted my trusty vacuum bleeder to the slave cylinder bleed nipple and wedged the slave piston all the way in with a screw driver.
After a few minutes I had some air and oil at the slave which was a good sign!
However the peddle was still soft and there was air mixed with the oil. So I sucked thorough a load of oil, keeping the header tank full. No matter how much oil I pulled though the system I still had a soft peddle and no movement at the slave. I tried the old fashioned way, press peddle and release the blead nipple. I was getting really random results, some solid oil then air then oil etc. After a whole day of this I gave up and bought a pressure bleeder.
What a piece of crap! It leaked air from every connection, but I persevered and got a little air and oil out the slave. No matter what I tried I still had a soft peddle and no piston movement at the slave. I tried everything. After a second day of no joy I was ready to admit defeat and concluded the master cylinder must have failed when I drained the oil out of it. At this point I was pretty low as in a few days I had to travel for a while and my pans of having a drive before then were scuppered.
I asked for advice on SELOC and got encouragement to try one more time with the pressure bleeder before changing the master and slave cylinders. So after a day off to have a think (always a good idea) I epoxied the pressure bleeder and fixed all the leaks. Blew the whole clutch system through with air. Then pushed fresh fluid from the master cylinder. In about 2 minutes I had solid oil at the slave, a firm peddle and the slave piston was moving. Thanks to Dad and step Dad for their help with this job, I would probably have given up without you!
The morel of the story is NEVER USE A VACUM BLEEDER ON A CLUTCH SYSTEM, as it appears to fill it with aerated oil? And when buying a pressure bleeder choose the most expensive!
After a few minutes I had some air and oil at the slave which was a good sign!
However the peddle was still soft and there was air mixed with the oil. So I sucked thorough a load of oil, keeping the header tank full. No matter how much oil I pulled though the system I still had a soft peddle and no movement at the slave. I tried the old fashioned way, press peddle and release the blead nipple. I was getting really random results, some solid oil then air then oil etc. After a whole day of this I gave up and bought a pressure bleeder.
What a piece of crap! It leaked air from every connection, but I persevered and got a little air and oil out the slave. No matter what I tried I still had a soft peddle and no piston movement at the slave. I tried everything. After a second day of no joy I was ready to admit defeat and concluded the master cylinder must have failed when I drained the oil out of it. At this point I was pretty low as in a few days I had to travel for a while and my pans of having a drive before then were scuppered.
I asked for advice on SELOC and got encouragement to try one more time with the pressure bleeder before changing the master and slave cylinders. So after a day off to have a think (always a good idea) I epoxied the pressure bleeder and fixed all the leaks. Blew the whole clutch system through with air. Then pushed fresh fluid from the master cylinder. In about 2 minutes I had solid oil at the slave, a firm peddle and the slave piston was moving.
Thanks to Dad and step Dad for their help with this job, I would probably have given up without you!The morel of the story is NEVER USE A VACUM BLEEDER ON A CLUTCH SYSTEM, as it appears to fill it with aerated oil? And when buying a pressure bleeder choose the most expensive!
Edited by Smokin Donut on Monday 4th June 06:32
Wow sorry for the large pics above, forgot to resize
I had to retrieve the clam fixing that I had pushed through into the sill. To do this I had to remove the driver’s side coin tray to gain access to the sill. Fortunately someone had made a YouTube video of how it’s done.
It’s a pretty brutal job, I masked the aluminium to avoid scratching it. Pushed the scraper as far as I could then hit it with a large hammer. After a few attempts the coil tray was free. The glue Louts used was seriously overkill for securing a coin tray, I wish they had used the same stuff to secure the clam fixings!
Using an ‘oh crap I dropped it down there’ tool I retrieved the fitting and using my daughters small hand I retrieved an anti-vibration shim that had fallen from under the dash.
Just need to clean everything up and silicone the coin tray back on.
I had to retrieve the clam fixing that I had pushed through into the sill. To do this I had to remove the driver’s side coin tray to gain access to the sill. Fortunately someone had made a YouTube video of how it’s done.
It’s a pretty brutal job, I masked the aluminium to avoid scratching it. Pushed the scraper as far as I could then hit it with a large hammer. After a few attempts the coil tray was free. The glue Louts used was seriously overkill for securing a coin tray, I wish they had used the same stuff to secure the clam fixings!
Using an ‘oh crap I dropped it down there’ tool I retrieved the fitting and using my daughters small hand I retrieved an anti-vibration shim that had fallen from under the dash.
Just need to clean everything up and silicone the coin tray back on.
Time to bolt some shiny stuff on again.
New tow post to replace the VERY rusty old one.
Replace the broken LHS spot light with a new one.
Then bled the brakes, which took 5 minutes with the vacuum bleeder, I inverted the front calipers while bleeding them and tapped them with a rubber hammer to free any bubbles. I now have a nice firm peddle but will bleed them again after the first drive.
Then on with the front brake discs and pads, bolt up the anti-roll bar linkages, torqued up the front caliper retaining bolts and bobs your uncle. That’s me up to date, just the front clam, bonnet, wheel arch liners and wheels to go back on before
Should be able to continue in a couple of weeks and should have her on her wheels soon after.
New tow post to replace the VERY rusty old one.
Replace the broken LHS spot light with a new one.
Then bled the brakes, which took 5 minutes with the vacuum bleeder, I inverted the front calipers while bleeding them and tapped them with a rubber hammer to free any bubbles. I now have a nice firm peddle but will bleed them again after the first drive.
Then on with the front brake discs and pads, bolt up the anti-roll bar linkages, torqued up the front caliper retaining bolts and bobs your uncle. That’s me up to date, just the front clam, bonnet, wheel arch liners and wheels to go back on before
Should be able to continue in a couple of weeks and should have her on her wheels soon after.
Edited by Smokin Donut on Monday 4th June 12:43
Thanks for the kind words of encouragement.
I had an unexpected 24hrs at home, the weather was great and kids at school, so time for a final push to see if I can get here on the road.
If possible it’s good to get 3 people to help put the clam back on. It’s not heavy but the front is tight and easily damaged.
Once the clam was on, the shims for the securing bolts (that had been carefully bagged and labelled) were replaced and the bolts tightened. If not already done you should change these for stainless. The 2 bolts at the base of the windscreen have lock nuts to adjust the height of the bolt head which has a rubber cap and sets the height of the bonnet.
Then the front under tray can be bolted in place, lots of Duralac and nylon washers to stop corrosion.
Next the inner wheel arches were refitted, this only took a few minutes as all the bots were new, stainless and greased.
The bonnet went on easily, just make sure you haven’t misplaced the shims for the hinge.
Next the under fuel tank plate was replaced, again with stainless bolts and lots of Duralac.
While deep cleaning and polishing the wheels I noticed some light corrosion of the aluminium on the back of the wheels. Looks like I’ll have to get them refurbished sometime soon.
Then the under engine tray and finally the WHEELS!! No problems and everything had gone together without a fight. It felt good to be finally bolting on the newly cleaned and polished wheels.
Next the dash was screwed back together and a new stereo installed. After a quick wash (which is why the hood is on!) she was ready for a well-earned hoon!
I had a lovely drive, bedded in the new brakes and she didn’t miss a beat. I need to do a full geo as she felt a little unstable under braking. I’ve ordered all the bits from eBay to make a DIY camber and tracking gauge so I’ll soon have this sorted.
I had an unexpected 24hrs at home, the weather was great and kids at school, so time for a final push to see if I can get here on the road.
If possible it’s good to get 3 people to help put the clam back on. It’s not heavy but the front is tight and easily damaged.
Once the clam was on, the shims for the securing bolts (that had been carefully bagged and labelled) were replaced and the bolts tightened. If not already done you should change these for stainless. The 2 bolts at the base of the windscreen have lock nuts to adjust the height of the bolt head which has a rubber cap and sets the height of the bonnet.
Then the front under tray can be bolted in place, lots of Duralac and nylon washers to stop corrosion.
Next the inner wheel arches were refitted, this only took a few minutes as all the bots were new, stainless and greased.
The bonnet went on easily, just make sure you haven’t misplaced the shims for the hinge.
Next the under fuel tank plate was replaced, again with stainless bolts and lots of Duralac.
While deep cleaning and polishing the wheels I noticed some light corrosion of the aluminium on the back of the wheels. Looks like I’ll have to get them refurbished sometime soon.
Then the under engine tray and finally the WHEELS!! No problems and everything had gone together without a fight. It felt good to be finally bolting on the newly cleaned and polished wheels.
Next the dash was screwed back together and a new stereo installed. After a quick wash (which is why the hood is on!) she was ready for a well-earned hoon!
I had a lovely drive, bedded in the new brakes and she didn’t miss a beat. I need to do a full geo as she felt a little unstable under braking. I’ve ordered all the bits from eBay to make a DIY camber and tracking gauge so I’ll soon have this sorted.
What a cracking read, congrats! Lots of really nice touches gone into this, bits that only you'll notice, but that's one of the most satisfying parts.
Obviously it's no help now, but with the pressure bleeder (Eezibleed), I find that the standard cap set can be a bit limited, and unless it's identical it always leaks.
The easiest way is to buy another cap for the reservoir and drill the small diameter hole in the top the bleeder requires for the fitting. I'm building up a nice little collection now.
Obviously it's no help now, but with the pressure bleeder (Eezibleed), I find that the standard cap set can be a bit limited, and unless it's identical it always leaks.
The easiest way is to buy another cap for the reservoir and drill the small diameter hole in the top the bleeder requires for the fitting. I'm building up a nice little collection now.
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