Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Aaaargh, what does changing this front cover imply?

To do it properly:

remove head.
remove sump.
remove front cover, timing chain, pump and dizzy drive shaft sprocket and back plate.( you need remove the back plate as its seal will probably be disturbed removing the front cover as its only held on by one bolt once the front cover is off)
reassembly is the reverse with a new water pump and front cover assembly.

If getting a new front cover you may wish to consider one of the covers with the removable water pump module.

You may be able to seal the hose on the small amount of remaining metal for a short while but It will need doing sooner rather than later and since the engine is out for the gearbox now it the time to do it.

Its a fair amount of work

cheers
Rohan

Remove head? Aaah i do?t think i can do that..... Or i will be able to dismantle it but i wont be able to set the timing back...
Ok now i am depressed

Can't that be welded up ? If there isn't enough metal can a tube extension be press-fitted/welded/glued/etc. ?

@+

Vernon

Lots of potential ways to repair but you really need to take the cover off to do any of them properly at which point you may as well replace the cover I think.

If I was going to repair I would machine up a new aluminium hose spigot and machine the cover to fit it in to where the stub of the existing spigot is and then weld in place. But cost of this would be similar to a new front cover I think if you cant do the machining and welding yourself

New covers are readily available now but significant work to change one out unfortunately no proper quick fix

cheers
Rohan

If the head is removed, if the sump is removed, if the front is removed and a new water pump installed...

I might as well change the cranckshaft shells, conrods shells, piston rings, deglaze cylinders, check head for crack, check for wear in the valves guides, check valves seats recess, adjust shims, new distribution chain, a timing need to be done...

We re talking here about a complete engine refresh....

Yes hard to resist the temptation to do a complete strip and inspect and refresh

cheers
Rohan

I need to raise funds....

How about a crowfunding topic to send my engine to wilcox...

Its times like this that a spare engine just like a spare gearbox comes in handy so you can just do a quick swap and then rebuild it at leisure while you still use the car

cheers
Rohan

I wanted to remove the temp sender.
I unscrewed the big brass nut... And am i suppose to unscrew the black nut i see or pull out?

The sensor bulb should pull out, but often can be stuck, so go carefully. There's a thread on here somewhere about the trials and tribulations of removing a temperature sensor.
Peter

Pistacchio sprint 72 wrote:. And am i suppose to unscrew the black nut i see or pull out?

NO..... do not move the big nut!........... hold the big nut with a spanner, place another open ended spanner on the flats of the bulb and gently rock it SLIGHTLY until it starts to move....DO NOT TURN IT ....when it becomes loose pull it out, it is only pushed in.
If you tun it you will break the tube .....if you get a smell of either you have broken it!

Can i rock it now or do i have to put back in place the big brass nut before?

Geeeeez thanks!

Well it doesn't really matter but the brass nut would have to be loose and then removed before the bulb can be pulled out, the idea of rocking it is just to make it loose as the bulb tends to stick inside the sleeve nut if it has not been disturbed for a while.
When I refit the bulb I coat it with copper-slip.

thnks guys. I will open a new thread in the engine section because I need many advice still.....