Fitting Toyota Hurricane

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:28 am

My hurricane arrived today. Yippee!

Quick question: is it already oiled? I can't tell.

I've got the cleaning kit and oil so I guess I might err on the safe side and oil it before I fit it.

I think everything's in the box except for the cable tie it mentions for fastening the induction hose to the air vent adapter. I'm off to buy some . . . I take it I just use a normal plastic cable tie to fasten the hose to the air vent adapter and use the metal clamp on the other end of the hose to fasten to the huricane airbox?

I'm hoping to fit this afternoon or tomorrow morning if it's dry. Looks reasonably straight forward but I'm a muppet when it comes to mods, so is there anyone in the Glasgow/Renfrewshire/West of Scotland area that I could give a shout if I need a hand? I'm in Elderslie. Please PM me your number.

I hopefully won't need a hand, but it's just in case!

Can't wait to hear this . . .

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:43 am

Normal cable ties will do.

I'm sure mine was oiled already, but it won't hurt to do it just in case!

Is there a tunnel nearby? If there is you'll be lapping it just to hear the roar!

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 12:54 pm

Cheers Rich. Yup, I'll be heading up to the Clyde Tunnel as soon as it's fitted!

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:21 pm

WHAT A FECKING JOKE!!!

Who said this was easy and only takes an hour???!!!!

First, on the very first thing I have to remove, I can't get the screw off. It's fecking welded on with rust. A bit of WD40 and some effort and I eventually get it off, but in the process ended up snapping one of the wee plastic tube bits that comes out of the thing I was removing. I think the bit I was removing is the "Vacuum solenoid for intake flap valve" according to the service manual and may actually be redundant after fitting the hurricane, but this isn't really mentioned in the instructions. It just says something about putting them to the side.

Speaking of instructions . . . they don't bother to tell you that you need a right-angled screwdriver to get the MAF sensor out. There is no way in hell you could get at it with a normal screwdriver. I tried everything to get at the screws . . . molegrips holding a screwbit from a drill, etc . . . but still couldn't get at it. I could just go buy a right-angled screwdriver, but as I've now ended up braking the solenoid thingy above, I can't exactly put it back together and drive the car!!!

Then, it says to remove the airbox with the "clips" and remove the original air filter. No diagram saying what clips it's talking about. No detail about how to get the airbox apart. I ain't got a clue. I spent a while trying to yank at it and get it apart but no luck. I can't see how it comes apart??

So, basically, I can't get things off to continue with the install and I can't put things back together because of the broken solenoid thingy. So, basically, I now have no fecking car!!!

I've glued the bit on the solenoid thing with some araldite and have left it overnight to bond. I'll then put it all back together and go get a right-angled screwdriver tomorrow and have another go. I can't seem to get the electrical plug out of the end of the solenoid thing . . . it doesn't seem to come out. Any ideas anyone??

Why the hell is it that simple things end up being so fecking complicated?!!

It's so fecking fiddly and impossible to reach things and the instructions don't bother to tell you this!!!

Angry D.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:50 pm

don't worry about it (last thing you want to hear when pis*ed off

). mine breaks quite often, and i just tell myself that putting up with the crap makes it all the more enjoyable when it does work(which it doesn't very often).

solution is: let glue set overnight. find an ice cold cold beer and pop the top. swear at the car/kit. enjoy beer. job done. blo*dy thing can wait till the morning anyway

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:54 pm

ps no tech tips i'm afraid. no doubt someone else can help with that

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:13 pm

Cheers Tom. I'm liking your idea of a nice cold beer!

D

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:15 pm

Well, it serves you right for buying such a piece of crap

Seriously:

The electrical connectors on most cars have two styles of retaining clips.

The first is a metal spring wire that runs around three sides of the connector. If you press it towards the connector on the long side it should depress and this will allow you to pull the two halves apart.

The second style is a plastic barb. There are two types of these - squeeze to remove and lift to remove. The squeeze to remove type is just that - squeeze the connector between finger and thumb and pull off. The lifting type requires you to find the barb and insert a small screwdriver edge under it to release the connector - if you cannot see it, I would try the squeeze approach first.

If you post a picture I could probably tell you which type it is by the look of it.

BTW, I suspect you will need to remove the passenger side wheel arch liner to make any progress on fitting this - once removed you'll see the two clips that hold the airbox shut (the top and bottom are hinged at one end and clipped at the outboard end) and that allow you to open the airbox lid and paper element.

This may then also make it more obvious how to release the connector from the MAF. Also, if you remove the air hose from the throttle and air box you may get better access to the MAF?

Cheers,
Robin

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:19 pm

DIY is fun! Nothing ever goes as planned and you will always just pass the point of no return when you need something you haven't got.

Got any pics of the airbox?

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:37 pm

Or send it back as it 'may' cause the MIL light thingy to light up.

G

thinfourth · Post by **thinfourth** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:43 pm

If i told you i managed to get an engine out of a small jeep quicker would that help?

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:26 pm

robin wrote: If you post a picture I could probably tell you which type it is by the look of it.

I unfortunately don't have a digital camera, so this is the best photo I could get with my phone and a torch shining on the connector . . .

I've tried the squeezing method and also tried using a wee screwdriver to prize it off, but I'm maybe not trying hard enough!

robin wrote: BTW, I suspect you will need to remove the passenger side wheel arch liner to make any progress on fitting this - once removed you'll see the two clips that hold the airbox shut (the top and bottom are hinged at one end and clipped at the outboard end) and that allow you to open the airbox lid and paper element.

Thanks for the tip Robin.

The instructions do mention doing this, but not until after you've removed the top half of the airbox. It sounds like they need to update their instructions with what you've said above! Will give this a try tomorrow.

robin wrote: Also, if you remove the air hose from the throttle and air box you may get better access to the MAF?

I did try this, but it's actually the engine coolant tank that gets in the way. Hopefully if I can get my hands on a right-angled screwdriver tomorrow, I'll maybe have some luck. Also might have a better chance if I can detach the airbox and therefore get the MAF at a better angle.

Thanks for all the help!

richardhumble wrote: Got any pics of the airbox?

Crappy camera phone + poor light = no picture I'm afraid. I'm sure it's different from the rover engine airbox, as I've seen pictures of that and it looks different. I therefore think the clips are in a different place which is what's causing the difficulty . . . yet again they need to update their instructions! In fact, they admit in their instructions that some of the pictures are from a rover-engined Elise!

gareth wrote: Or send it back as it 'may' cause the MIL light thingy to light up.

I was a bit concerned about this at first, but I spoke to MMC, Lotus themselves and looked through the posts about it on SELOC and it doesn't seem to cause problems. Lotus said I wouldn't need to adjust anything on the car and it shouldn't cause any problems.

I get the impression I might be the first Toyota-engined SE'r to fit a Hurricane (even though they're fitted to loads of Rover-engined SE cars), so I'll post a full guide with the problems I encountered once it's finally fitted so that others don't have to go through the same frustration I did!

I've thankfully calmed down a bit now from my original raging post!

This is what I love about this forum . . . Problems with doing a mod on a Saturday afternoon and by early evening, you've got loads of helpful advice! Cheers!

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:34 pm

Good innit.

Get it jacked up and the wheel arch liner out then you'll be able to see better if nout else!

johncam · Post by **johncam** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:02 pm

Hi Dezzy,
Let me kow if you need a hand with this tomorrow - not that I've fitted one myself but I'm just along the road if you are stuck.

I don't have a right angled screw driver but would a small socket set with screwdriver bits let you get at the screws on the MAF sensor?? Fairly sure my dad has one of them I could get my hands on.

Cheers,

John

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:22 pm

johncam wrote:Hi Dezzy,
Let me kow if you need a hand with this tomorrow - not that I've fitted one myself but I'm just along the road if you are stuck.

I don't have a right angled screw driver but would a small socket set with screwdriver bits let you get at the screws on the MAF sensor?? Fairly sure my dad has one of them I could get my hands on.

Cheers,

John

Cheers John. I pinched a similar socket set from my dad but didn't have the right size of screwdriver bit. Will give you a call or text if I'm stuck.