What did you do to your Lotus today...

[Mike Spence]

Look nice on picture !
Who is your supplier of the 26R shell ?
Are you satisfied of this shell ?

txs

[baileyman]

Looks like the slip-in roll cage in the S2?

John

[Elan Peter]

Could I please see some pics of your shapecraft. It's my dream car so would love to see some pics. Not a problem if you don't want to. You can pm me if you want.
Best regards, Peter

[vstibbard]

Mike,

The 26R shell was supplied by TTR, as was the red one in the background, on both counts very happy with them.

I'm just under 6'5", so the roll cage was custom built here in Sydney by a chap who makes cages and chassis for Dakar, rally and the highest level drift cars. This is the second cage with further improvements to give me more space and add cross bar that connects to the bolts that are behind the centre of dashboard, and also has mounts to fit the steering column and keep the front legs apart in event of a side impact. Both were custom fitted to the shells and chassis. I've been in a 190KPH rear impact with concrete wall in the red shell, the cage limited the damage rear section, with the cockpit, doors opening and closing and the roof undamaged. The worst damage to the shell was restricted to the boot area which was shattered up to back of the boot lid, this was cut off and replaced locally.

rear damage after spinning in oil and hitting Eastern Creek pit wall at ~ 190kph backwards

Peter, I'll be posting pictures as I progress the builds of all three, the with 26R and Red S2 the first in line, the Shapecraft needs some more detailed work to roof and windscreen fit so I'm in a queue with a local guy who is amazing with ally.

Cheers

Vaughan

[Elan Peter]

Thanks for replying vaughan, I'm sorry to see the 26R damaged, I hope you were alright, looks pretty nasty.
I can't wait to see the Shapecraft, should be a great car!
Best regards, Peter

[h20hamelan]

the mistresse's lined up by sunset

the 2005 elise, about 5 months total rebuild from major glass fibre damage, windscreen & aperture...

[The Veg]

Now that I've got the brakes sorted I took it for another blat about the roads near home. It went well overall, and these are my observations:

-Shifting greatly improved. Dumped unknown dark grey sulfurous-smelling gearbox oil and refilled with Redline MTL since previous drive. Still a bit notchy but not nearly as bad as before.

-Desperately need to stick an old sparkplug boot on the dipstick. Oil-mist blew everywhere from the tube, including onto the windscreen as the bonnet is not currently fitted. Problem: I don't have an old sparkplug boot (anybody in USA want to send me one?).

-Toe adjustment may need work. Steering doesn't feel as on-center as I would think it should at 50+ MPH, also steering effort at low speed seems a little high for such a light car.

-Clutch still sticks, presumably master cylinder as slave is new. Sometimes have to pump pedal to get the clutch to engage (although master has been rebuilt). This caused a bit of porpoising at times trying to keep from stalling the engine at low speed.

-Car seems loud/noisy, but much of this may be due to having almost no interiour present. I've glued some aluminium-faced 3/16" closed-cell foam insulation on most interiour surfaces (floor still isn't done, to prevent the stuff being destroyed by me being in and out of the car and doing work inside). Good thermal insulator but not sure that it will be much good for noise. Uncertain how helpful carpets will be in this regard.

-Tires are surprisingly grippy for their age. Exact age uncertain but I suspect about 8-10 years, although so few miles have been put on in that time that tread-wear looks minimal and the many little nubs around the sidewalls are still present.

-Slight oil leak at endplate of oil pump, which is NOS unit for spin-on filter, recently installed. Will investigate.

-Amount of oil in catch-bottle connected to crankcase vent seems a bit much for the small distance driven. Did not measure, maybe 3-5 Tbs from no more than 15 miles.

[TBG]

Oil blowing out of the dipstick and a lot in the catch tank points to over pressure in the sump. Broken ring or two??

[The Veg]

I hope not! The engine got rebuilt by a previous owner not very many miles ago. Could it be that they haven't quite worn-in yet?

Also, would a broken ring produce visible marks on the cylinder bore? I don't recall seeing anything unusual when the head was off about 15 miles ago.

[TBG]

Well - where would the over pressure be coming from if it is not from combustion?

[mbell]

Possibly a too restrictive breather.

It could be that rings haven't beded in well and some running might improve it. Or a ring might have gone and running it might cause damage...

I've just put a bit of shrink wrap around my dip stick that seals it up.

The oil pump leak is probably the o ring. Easy fix but requires a thicker than standard o ring or will just leak again.

[661]

Started to corner weight the car on four ebay 300kg scales.
What a dog's dinner.
Will take it to the professionals!

[h20hamelan]

Started to corner weight the car on four ebay 300kg scales.
What a dog's dinner.
Will take it to the professionals!

What did you find the most challenging?
I will be doing mine, on my stationary alignment rack this week or next.

[661]

Started to corner weight the car on four ebay 300kg scales.
What a dog's dinner.
Will take it to the professionals!

What did you find the most challenging?
I will be doing mine, on my stationary alignment rack this week or next.

As per the PM to you, the scales were ultimately not of a quality that could be relied on. 2 of the them bowed in the middle ( therefore the wheel was at a lower height) and one scale split, so lower and of questionable reading.

[2cams70]

Slight oil leak at endplate of oil pump, which is NOS unit for spin-on filter, recently installed. Will investigat

Correct O-ring size to use here is a 45x3.5mm metric O-ring from your local industrial bearing supplier. Much better to order one in Viton rather than the regular nitrile or NBR material.