WAS:Front end refurb NOW:Suspension rebuild, rad and gearbox

[a4drk]

I hate to say this - but the speakers you have bought are 2 way components - i.e. no bass
The green speaker is just mid range & the separate tweeter mounted somewhere pointing at you
these are designed to be run with a sub woofer.

I cant say for sure without seeing the frequncy on the specs.....
but the ones you took out are full range speakers.

If you have kept your back ones, you might get away with it

david

[Corranga]

Doh! I'll see how it sounds, and maybe go back to my thoughts of trying to fit my old pair of 6x9s in there somewhere.

[Corranga]

So.. Progress.

My parts are back from Merlin Electroplating.

Shiny and rust free and yellow


The damper brackets have come up very nicely considering how they looked in the first place


This is the pats layed out following a degrease and rinse


The 2nd stage of POR-15 is the metal prep / etching. This removes yellow colouring as is etches the zinc plate.


I've since painted all of the parts and fitted all wishbone bushes and ball joints, and have 7 of the 8 wishbones fitted back on the car, but didn't take any photos.
The POR-15 didn't take to the metal too well, I think I really had to soak in the metal ready, but I wanted to keep it out of the bush and ball joint eyes, so I continually applied to keep it wet, but I guess that didn't work too well. The 2nd coat helped a lot, but it's not a perfect coat. Still, between the POR-15 and the zinc plating, they should last a good few years even if they don't look amazing.

Lotus managed to stuff up an order for some bolts (they sent me 2 bolts in a bag with the correct label on it, but the wrong bolts inside!) so I'm held up on putting the front hubs until they arrived, and I stupidly ordered the wrong bolts for the rear hubs so ditto..

As per my other thread here:
http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... =2&t=40332
When trying to fit the drivers side upper wishbone, it wouldn't fit. On closer inspection, I found that the damper mount on my car is badly corroded, so I'm in the process of finding a solution.

Later today (once I'd stopped panicking about the Lotus repair being to replace the 'Partial Body Assembly' (or chassis to you and me!) I started to think about the wishbone not fitting properly.
The problem I have is that the front most portion of the wishbone is hard against the front of the mount, and the rear most against the rear (i.e. no movement for castor adjustment). I also couldn't pick up the front bolt properly.
I originally thought this was due to the mount being bent / the corrosion.

In fact, this photo shows the problem..


If you look at gap between the wishbone and toe link bar you can see that it's more or less even at both ends, but wider in the middle.
That's because my wishbone is bent

[Corranga]

Ok, I've been a little lazy with my updates..

Having painted all of the wishbones, plinths etc, I decided to start building the car up again. My plan was to get it on the ground with no clams so I can run it and bleed the coolant system, and fix any leaks in the pipework that I have replaced.
I figured I'd also have to bleed the clutch as the end of the cylinder popped out and leaked fluid everywhere.

So, I started by fitting the new wishbone bushes to the freshly painted wishbones - very easy with the eliseparts tool. I popped into my local mechanic to use his press to fit the ball joints.

I had a bit of a delay as I had to wait for a wishbone to replace the bent one, then find some time outside of work when I could use the press to push out the new ball joint and get it into the replacement wishbone...

Whilst I was in there I hung around as this thing come in for a wheel alignment..


Next, I took an hour or so to get organised:
Label each wishbone (front upper drivers, rear lower passengers etc).
I also loosely fitted the correct new bolts to each wishbone.
Set out each hub with the accompanying bits ready to build up.

I stated with the rears. Despite having POR-15 on the plinths etc, I went all belt and braces and decided to Duralac the joints too.

Fit hand brake cable / rear lower wishbone front bracket properly. This was off for POR-15 treatment.
Fit wishbones loosely (nyloc hand tight..).
Fit damper bracket properly.
Fit damper loosely.
Fit plinth to the ball joint - 19mm spanner and hex key to tighten as well as possible. I can't torque these up as I don't have a pass through torque wrench (with a hole for an allen key or hex socket).
(off the car)
Fit top plinth along with camber shims. My new camber shims are stainless so I applied Duralac to both the side of the hub carrier, and the shim itself. I fitted the same number of shims as come out.
Apply duralac to bottom plinth, base of carrier.
Fit carrier to car, loosely fit the ball joint to get stuff in place, then move around a bit to get the 4 plinth bolts in.
The toe link rod end bump steer washers are a pita. I used a piece of masking tape to hold them in place, popped the bolt through, and gently ripped the tape out


Next I jacked the whole affair up so the wishbones were approx. horizontal and tightened everything up.





Finally fit the caliper, wind it back, fit new pads and disc.
I didn't have a wind back tool, I've always just used thin nosed pliers, but I always end up mashing my hand as they slip, and actually couldn't find them, so I popped to my local auto parts shop and bouts a Draper Expert 38200 like this.
I first looked at one of the cube type tools, but it didn't look like it was going to fit properly.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-38200- ... 5b0fb4d870
The pins are perfect for the rear Elise calipers, but the little raised circle in the middle stops it fitting correctly.
30 seconds with the angle grinder sorted that out...

[Corranga]

Now on to the front.

The drivers side (corrosion not yet reinforced so I wanted to make sure it wasn't that hard to remove the top wishbone without taking everything else off..

A hint for the nut of the upper rear wishbone bolt - I used a cable tie put together backwards to dangle the bolt in place, then it's easy to get a finger on the end of it behind the damper mount. You can then easily push / screw the bolt in.
Obviously make sure the steering column is on full opposite lock so it's out of the way.
When you get to tightening this, I found a ratchet spanner in the steering column side, with an open end spanner down the narrow gap was best.



Anyway, I opted to..
Loosely fit bottom wishbone.
Fit the damper bracket properly. Duralac behind the bracket (again belt and braces as it's already POR-15'd). A little hint - use a dot of duralac (or similar) to stick the washer to the back of the mount, makes it a touch easier to get everything together.
Fit plinth to ball joint as tight as I could.
Fit the damper, which made it easier to tighten the ball joint further!
Fit the ARB.
(off the car)
Duralac hub carrier and outermost camber shim.
Fit steering arm bracket to carrier.
Loosely fit M16 bolt etc as it's easier to tighten once on the car. I had a 63mm stainless steel disc cut to replace the very rust mild steel dust guard. I had it done in 2mm steel which in hindsight is thicker than it needed to be!
Next I fitted the carrier, 4 bolts into the plinth - 3 go in easily, 1 is a bit of a fiddle and needs some persuasion, plus loosely fit the steering rack rod end.
Finally I fitted the top wishbone and jacked it / tightened things up.
For the upper front wishbone front-most bolt, simply use a pair of pliers / grips to hold the bolt in place..

[Corranga]

Ok, so with everything built up, I next filled the gearbox with oil. With no clam in place this is mega simple, though even with one in place it would be pretty easy.
I'd never filled a gearbox before, but had seen it done. I borrowed a pump to make it as easy as possible, and popped the passenger side disc out so I could see better.
From there, the fill hole is directly in from the disc.
17mm socket gets it out and with the pump it's really easy, it takes around 2.5 litres to fill until it reaches the fill hole.

Now was time to fit wheels and get it on the ground, then I started to fill with coolant and pushed the car outside to run it up to temperature.







Now the issues begin, any advices is well appreciated

1. I have no clutch. I pressure bleed and lots of air comes out, but the fluid is running out with no bubbles / bursts and I still have no clutch. I did get my wife to pump the clutch and bled it manually too, still no clutch..
Brakes are fine.

2. I have a slight gearbox oil leak - where the drivers side, long drive shaft goes in. I presume I'm going to have to drain it again and that there will be some sort of seal? Please don't say I have to remove the gearbox again

3. I have a coolant leak in a strange place. It drips out at a fair rate too, so I didn't even bother bleeding the system properly.
It's leaking below the injectors here:


You can see drips here:


How do I fix this?

[Mikie711]

1. you have air trapped either in the master or slave cylinders. There is a thread on the same problem with brakes try the solutions in that thread one may work. For the clutch I would jack the back of the car as high as I could get it to help the air to the highest point, the slave cylinder.
2. probably nicked the gearbox driveshaft seal. Easy done if you don't have the rubber protector at hand. Need to pull the drive shaft and replace the seal.
3. looks like it's either a intake manifold gasket let go and is weeping. Can't remember if there is a water course on the end of the head others may know. If not that then "gulp" head gasket. Really hard to see from the photo.

[Corranga]

Thanks, I'll have a hunt for the brakes thread, and get the rear up in the air once I have sorted the other issues out.

The box is an unknown quantity (2nd hand, I've never used it) so my mistake was not replacing the drive shaft seals prior to fitting it. To be completely honest, I didn't really know any better - the joys of doing something fort he first time!
I had a look at my old box to see how they fitted / to get an idea on how to remove prior to ordering the parts and stuck a screwdriver through the old one trying to figure out how to remove it
I've now ordered a 32mm socket as I keep borrowing one to remove / refit the drive shaft nuts!

I had a closer look and it is leaking around the inlet manifold I think. It was dripping when I filled the reservoir prior to even attempting to start the car so I guess (hope?) that diverts suspicion from the head gasket, well that and it has been done, the car is always properly warmed and didn't leak coolant previously.. I was also able to start the car with no problem once I remembered to remove the latex glove from the throttle body that was stopping it getting filled with crap
So, I drained the coolant again and removed the inlet manifold. The gasket looks ok, but I ordered another to be sure.
Speaking to a mechanic friend, he suggested that the plastic inlet manifolds had a design issue where they start to deteriorate and leak around that area, so it might be the inlet manifold itself, I'll try the gasket and see.

[Dominic]

Thanks, I'll have a hunt for the brakes thread, and get the rear up in the air once I have sorted the other issues out.

The box is an unknown quantity (2nd hand, I've never used it) so my mistake was not replacing the drive shaft seals prior to fitting it. To be completely honest, I didn't really know any better - the joys of doing something fort he first time!
I had a look at my old box to see how they fitted / to get an idea on how to remove prior to ordering the parts and stuck a screwdriver through the old one trying to figure out how to remove it
I've now ordered a 32mm socket as I keep borrowing one to remove / refit the drive shaft nuts!

I had a closer look and it is leaking around the inlet manifold I think. It was dripping when I filled the reservoir prior to even attempting to start the car so I guess (hope?) that diverts suspicion from the head gasket, well that and it has been done, the car is always properly warmed and didn't leak coolant previously.. I was also able to start the car with no problem once I remembered to remove the latex glove from the throttle body that was stopping it getting filled with crap
So, I drained the coolant again and removed the inlet manifold. The gasket looks ok, but I ordered another to be sure.
Speaking to a mechanic friend, he suggested that the plastic inlet manifolds had a design issue where they start to deteriorate and leak around that area, so it might be the inlet manifold itself, I'll try the gasket and see.

Changing the inlet manifold gasket will have been much easier than the job I had, with the clam in situ.

In my case it was a leaking inlet manifold gasket that was my issue. The old one looked fine too.

[Corranga]

Ah yes, all through removing the inlet manifold in the back of my mind was 2 things:

1. How having the clam off was making it much easier.
2. How my old boot bag clam with removable panel would be easier than my now later boot box clam if it was on!

[Ferg]

R.e. The clutch
Have you bled the Slavs cylinder with the cylinder fully compressed? When I did this a few years ago, guidance was to cable tie the Slave cylinder in its most retracted state and then bleed. Worked first time.

[robin]

The fault was with the original design labyrinth gasket; your new gasket (assuming you bought a new one from somewhere sensible) will be the new design and fine.

Avoid running the engine until you are confident you have corrected the inlet leak - if the coolant leaks into the intake you can hydraulic the engine. If you must turn it over, remove the spark plugs to avoid this being an issue.

Cheers,
Robin

[Corranga]

The new gasket I've ordered is green and looks just like the old one?

I saw posts on some of the Rover sites saying the new one is green and the old one was black so assumed this was ok..

Thanks Ferg, I'll try a cable tie on the slave cylinder. I did have the clutch depressed, but of course it was moving the arm (though presumably not far enough..) which I guess leaves some room for air.

[robin]

Sounds like you already had the new gasket then - you'll need to take a good look at the old gasket when it comes out - also you'll want to check that the hose that's at the front end of the manifold (driver's side) isn't weeping.

Cheers,
Robin

[Corranga]

The gasket arrived today, compared old and new and the old one was perfectly formed but 1mm, maybe 2 thinner.
I checked the head and the inner face of the manifold for any signs of damage but all looked ok, so in went the new gasket and I put everything together and filled.
I then used my home made pressure bleeder to bleed the system with about 10psi turns out that's quite a lot when you completely remove the bleed screw on the rad pipe as it hisses then showers you!