Almost there....but then a set-back

Having got the brake master cylinder sorted out, I set about bleeding the clutch and brake lines using the Eezibleed. The clutch was no problem and all was going well until I got to the rear left brake caliper. The nipple didn't want to budge and, after filing down the sides to get a goof grip with a spanner, the head simply sheared off. I tried a number of things to try to move the remaining bit without any luck. So in the end, I got the caliper off. This is a bit of a tricky job (first time anyway) as the handbrake cable has to come off and the caliper needs to be rotated by hand while loosening the feed hose connection.

Calipers before refurb

I took advice from a few people about repairing the broken bleed nipple and even invested in a repair kit from Ebay, but in the end I had to give up and take the option of getting the whole caliper refurbished. Since the handbrake operation seemed pretty poor anyway, I guess this isn't a bad idea. When I took the right hand one off (might as well get both done and it was a much quicker job having learnt the lessons from the left hand one), the handbrake lever seemed completely seized so I'm convinced it's a good exercise. It's not particularly cheap and it's going to take at least a couple of weeks (hopefully, holiday season won't add to the delay) but it might make a difference when it comes to the MOT. Speaking of this, the electrics finally seem to be playing ball! Having got a bit worried about the tacho (rev counter) not working and even trying out a replacement cable wired on the outside of the car for a test, it was all finally traced back to the fuse box. I had previously tested all these but hadn't actually noticed that one crucial one was missing. With this back in place, it mostly seems to be OK! Wipers, gauges (mostly) and lights (mostly) all work - probably enough to get through the MOT. I've ordered a new solid state voltage stabiliser to replace the mechanical thermocouple one that's in there. This maintains a 10V feed for the fuel and temp gauge (both of which are a bit dodgy) but the original one is prone to jumping around as it simply switches the 12V supply off for a while and relies on the gauges reacting slowly. Other owners on the Lotus Forums have commented that this can leave the gauges wandering around. The solid state version should avoid that and once it's in, the instrument panel can be finally put back together and left alone.

OK, so the colour's wrong!

Of course, one other critical job was getting the replacement bonnet on. It seemed this wasn't going to be straightforward until I noticed that the extending arm that holds the bonnet up was really too long. When I drilled a new hole to shorten it, the bonnet fitted reasonably OK and even seems to be fairly secure when the latch is closed (it's not really a positive spring-loaded one like on modern cars, just a lever under the steering wheel that you push forward). The front corners are a little raised as the rubber seal that runs around there needs a bit of flattening. This might settle down in time.

So very few jobs left before attempting the MOT. I've noticed the ignition lamp is staying on when the revs are low, so the alternator may be playing up. The belt seems to be quite loose again (the engine has been running quite a bit but still not got fully hot) so first check will be to tighten that up again. If there's still a problem then a new alternator will be in order, but Lotus Bits have a reasonably cheap replacement in stock. A stronger current might help the low rev running of the engine if the spark isn't particularly strong at the moment. The timing and carb balance may still need some adjusting and then final job will be to sort the tracking - again the chaps at Lotus Bits have been very helpful with explaining their "string" method which they reckon is more accurate than gauges - we shall see if it proves to be as easy as they say...

Now running properly

Having removed the distributor cap, cleaned it up and secured all the leads, we started the engine with the cap still loose so it could be rotated by hand to try to find the best position for start-up. Rather unexpectedly, it started without too much problem and didn't seem to be overly sensitive to the cap position. If anything, it was better in the fully retarded position so it was tightened up there and now it starts fairly reliably either cold or warm (not really been properly hot yet). A pretty loud auxiliary belt noise was obvious though, but eventually I found a way to get some tension into it - wrapping some electrical cable around the alternator a couple of times and then pulling it tight while doing up the bracket seemed to do the trick. So now we have a real running engine! Sounds pretty good too, although I'm sure some timing and carb adjustment is necessary - something I'll let the guys at Lotusbits have a look at when I get it up there for an MOT and front-end respray.

Refurbished and refitted brake master cylinder

Getting close to this point now (at last!). The brake master cylinder finally showed up and everything went together OK. Some fresh fluid has been added but now need to make use of the Eezibleed system to get the clutch and brakes working. This uses the pressure from the spare tyre to pressurise the cylinder while you release the bleed nipples - saves someone sitting in the car and pumping continuously on the pedals! the only problem is access to the nipples and having a suitably small spanner - some on order now from Ebay!

Also been trial fitting the bonnet, as this will be the last job before it is potentially drivable. Seems a little wonky on first try so will have to remove and do some slotting work with a file to get the holes in the fibreglass a little bigger. Hopeful that this won't prove too tricky. What might be more troublesome is getting all the electrics sorted - some of this (e.g. windscreen and washer jets) need to work to get through the MOT...

A running engine....just!

After many hours (weekends and evenings only!), all the engine bits are now finally back together. Here's the list of new items:

A fully reassembled engine

• Timing belt
• Tensioner pulley bearing
• Tensioner body (after original broke when putting it together!)
• Auxiliary belt (water pump and alternator)
• Spark plugs
• Oil filter
• Air filter
• Air intake hose
• Cam cover breather hose
• Carburettor lid gaskets
• Intake manifold spacer O-rings
• Carburettor choke linkage

With the battery charged up, it was time to turn the key....

First of all with the spark plugs out just to make sure everything turned over OK. It had seemed fine when turning over by hand on the crank pulley bolt. And it seemed fine on the starter motor too (after finally figuring out that there was an immobiliser....!!). However, it became clear that there was no fuel and closer inspection of the pump revealed there was no noise. After taking some advice, a sharp tap with a "Birmingham spanner" (or a "hammer" to you and me!) did the trick and there was some obvious ticking sounds. So no more excuses! 

Comparing spark plugs

And lo and behold, with a bit of encouragement, we had a running engine! Having said that, it was pretty clear that not everything was 100% right. Out of about 6 attempts, there was only one successful start that lasted more than about 30 seconds. And even then it sounded a little rough. After leaving it overnight, as it was pretty likely there was some flooding, I tried again but this time there was no sign of life. I thought it would be interesting to have a look at the spark plugs and the evidence, as shown in the image, seems to point to no spark in cylinder 1. The other 3 spark plugs are pretty obviously coked while cylinder 1's spark plug was still completely clean and shiny. So next task will be to investigate the cause...

Cambelts and carburettors

Split breather hose

Still waiting for the refurbished brake master cylinder, so I was no longer able to put off getting into the engine. After a trip to Lotus Bits, I came home with a new cambelt, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs and carburettor seals, so lots to get on with! Getting the Dellorto carburettors off was pretty straightforward, although there are a few cables and hoses to disconnect. While taking the breather connection off between the intake cam cover and the plenum assembly, I noticed the short hose is split. This would explain the obvious signs of oil over the cam cover in this area. Hopefully, a replacement is easy to get hold of.

The Dellortos are pretty complex bits and will probably need rebuilding at some point, but for now replacing a few seals should help get the engine going. I picked up 8 o-rings for the seal carriers to the intake ports and 2 paper gaskets for the top seal face.

Dellorto Carburettors (still attached to airbox backplate)

The guys at Lotus Bits recommended cleaning up the insides, but this might be best done with a compressed air line (which I don't have) so I might have to get some help with that bit. But replacing the seals was straightforward and I also took the opportunity to sort out the covering and bracket clips on the airbox with some new rivets and screws. I'll also need to make sure the pipe that goes across the back of the engine to the breather hose (see above) is properly sealed into the back of the airbox. It just slid out while disassembling which means dirty air could potentially bypass the filter and go straight through the  carburettors into the engine - not good! Anyway, some decent high temperature silicon sealant, or similar, should sort that out.

Starter motor removed for flywheel access

With these parts out of the way, I was able to start the process of a timing belt change. Most advice suggests this isn't too easy with the engine in the car and that involves working from underneath as well as sitting in the rear engine compartment and working from the top. But, having jacked up the car at the rear, it seems there isn't a lot of access from underneath - just a couple of cut-outs in the chassis. So I decided to have a go just from the top. There are quite a few components to remove, starting with the alternator. This has one bolt through the alternator bracket and a metal strap to position it and tension the V-belt. Once these were removed, the V-belt could get prised off fairly easily and then it was straightforward to get to the timing belt auto-tensioner. But before touching that, it was important to set the engine to TDC by using a socket wrench on the crank pulley bolt and watching the marks on the flywheel. The engine turned over OK, so I'm reasonably confident the major rotating components and valvegear are OK. With TDC set, the white dots on the camshaft sprockets lined up, as indicated in the workshop manual, so all was well. It was important at this stage to mark the position of the distributor drive sprocket as this will be free to rotate once the belt is off. Then getting the starter motor off allowed access to the flywheel where I was able to jam a utility / pry bar into a flywheel tooth to hold the crank while undoing the crank pulley bolt. This was on pretty tight and I had to use the wheel nut wrench from my Audi as an extension bar to a wrench to eventually get it off. This will be going back on with some anti-seize grease to hopefully make it easier next time! Even with the bolt and retaining plate off, getting the pulley off still required quite a bit of effort to slide it off the crank towards the bulkhead - a bit of WD40 helped here. Next, getting the timing belt auto-tensioner off involved quite a bit of manipulation. Like most of the jobs down the front of the engine, a hand-held mirror and good lighting were important!

Timing belt auto-tensioner

With the adjustment screw backed off to release the belt tension, the best method turned out to be wiggling the belt off the sprockets first and then sliding the tensioner off. In the end, the workshop manual warning about not removing the adjustment screw completely and using a 4mm pin to retain the piston seemed a bit unnecessary. The springs are fairly powerful, but it isn't difficult to retain the parts when the screw is removed - so, I'll know better next time... The bearing (or idler wheel, as I would have referred to it during my engine design days) has some evidence of belt rubber deposits so, while it seems to spin reasonably freely, it is probably wise to take this opportunity to replace it.

The final task in removing the belt involved getting the coolant hose down the front of the engine off the pipe to allow the belt to pass through the gap. This sounds pretty simple, but actually needed quite a lot of effort! I'll need to use a suitable lubricant to reassemble this joint and also make it easier for next time.

So, with the belt off, I loosely fitted the new one and will now get the tensioner sorted out before starting the job of getting all the engine parts back on. Then it will be time to get some fuel in and turn the key....

Lights, camera and (some) action...

Clutch master cylinder back in place

So while the blog may have been neglected a little lately, the car certainly hasn't. Finding time to get on with things is proving a bit tricky, but nonetheless, some progress is being made. Last time I wrote about the clutch and brake master cylinders and that work is still ongoing. The clutch master cylinder I originally sourced proved to have the wrong outlet thread - the Landrover parts appear to be metric rather than the 7/16" UNF that's on the clutch line. So I resold that part on Ebay and then looked around, but even all the genuine Girling parts seemed to have a 3/8" UNF female connection for the outlet. In the end, I picked up one of these and then found an adapter at a diving store - it seems it's a common component for breathing apparatus. Anyway, it fitted fine with a copper sealing washer and the clutch master cylinder is now back in place. In the picture you can also catch a glimpse of a shiny brake servo. This isn't a new part, just the old one cleaned up and repainted. I took this decision as new parts aren't available and a refurbishment is pretty expensive, so best to try it out once the car is running and see if it needs anything doing. The master cylinder, on the other hand, has gone off to Lotus Bits for refurbishment as this is more likely to be problematic - lots of seals to replace and a piston bore that may have some corrosion from water coming out of the brake fluid it has been sat around in while the car has been out of action.

With these parts back on, I was then able to reconnect them to the pedals and replace the steering wheel and the seats. Not surprisingly, connecting up the clutch and brake pedals was extremely fiddly. Access to the clutch isn't too bad but the steering column is really in the way for the brake. In the end, I unscrewed the fork from the servo piston to make it easier to manipulate from inside the car. 

Seat sliding mechanism, pre-refurb

While the seats were out and being cleaned up, I took the opportunity to refurbish the sliding mechanisms which had become pretty rusted to the extent that neither seat could be adjusted. This involved using some rust removal cleanser (another Ebay purchase!) and then a respray with some black Hammerite from Halfords. With these refitted, the seats are now back in the car and they are adjustable!

With all this done and while waiting for the return of the brake master cylinder, the next step was to rebuild the lamp-pods and check if they fitted OK.  The bonnet brackets needed some attention to give them a loose fit in the bushes. The bracket shafts were then fed through the pods and secured with some shiny new R-clips. Once in place, the electrical connections were fed though the grommet space in the back and then the headlamps were refitted. Not sure if these are adjusted correctly, so may need to wait for the MOT test. Just getting the pods to lift correctly and close flush with the bodywork was a bit of a challenge! The pushrod shafts from the electric motors have to be unattached and their lengths adjusted by screwing the rod-ends along the shafts. But got there in the end and the result looks good! Will be interesting to see how it all looks when the bonnet is fitted. The new stainless steel brackets have been completed by Stable Fabrications and they fit fine, so everything is ready there - just waiting for the brake master cylinder so everything is completed in the compartment before finally fitting the bonnet.

Headlamp pods fitted and working!

Clutch and brake master cylinders

Disassembled brake servo assembly

So the next job was to look at replacing the clutch and brake master cylinders. In reality, it's difficult to tell if replacement is necessary without getting to the inside and checking for corrosion damage in the cylinder bores, but from the outside the parts do look a little the worse for wear. They've been sitting unused in their hydraulic oil for quite a while so it's quite likely some rust has formed.

Getting replacement brake parts is not simple. There's a lot of internet chat about the servo and master cylinder being equivalent to Morris Marina Ital parts, but it's difficult to confirm this. I had a look at the Lucas Girling catalogue with the guys at Lotus Bits and the part numbers don't seem to be the same. They can refurbish the parts, but this is a pretty expensive process. In the end, it seems the most economical and simple solution may be fit S3 servo and master cylinder, as these parts are apparently easier to source.

The clutch master cylinder is much more straightforward as the main cylinder part is equiavlent to a Land Rover Defender 90 part and is readily available from 4x4 parts dealers.

New and old clutch master cylinders

I managed to pick a new part up from Ebay for not much more than £10. The piston is not quite the same though, so it's necessary to retain the existing piston and then swap them over. A word of caution: watch out when removing the circlip to release the piston from the body as a flick of a screwdriver flung mine across the garage and it has yet to be found!! Getting the master cylinders out involves a bit of fiddling around in the pedal box to release the split and clevis pins from the pedals - not a simple process as there's not much room in there! For the brake pedal, you need to remove all the retaining nuts from the servo assembly in the front compartment so you can pull this towards the front of the car as far as possible - this moves the clevis pin along the steering column a little to a gap near the spline that just leaves enough clearance to extract it. Hopefully, using the same approach in reverse will allow it to go back in again OK! Now waiting for some bits (circlips and pliers) so I can get this rebuilt and then I'll try to source the brake parts. Then I'll have a go at using the Eezibleed kit that I picked up from Screwfix - this uses air pressure from the spare tyre to make bleeding the brake and clutch systems a very simple process (in theory!).

Inside and out

Some progress on the interior.....

Shiny seat!

Nic took delivery of the Gliptone leather cleaning kit from www.liquidleather.com and we took both seats out into the glorious sunshine on Saturday. As you can see from the photo, the cleaner has done a really good job! There are lots of other interior jobs to do, but this is a really good start. While the seats are out, we'll refurbish the sliding mechanisms, which have become a bit rusty which explains why it wasn't possible to adjust the seats while they were in the car.

We've also now had the refurbished steering rack from LotusBits along with the repaired bonnet and the relevant fixing brackets. This took a couple of attempts though as I noticed that we had only right hand brackets and no left hand ones! The brackets also need fixing plates and some shims - we could get the original Lotus parts but it may be better to visit Stable Fabrication (who I know well) and get some stainless steel parts made up. Then we'll be ready to fit the bonnet and headlamps and make sure it all goes together before the respray operation. Having discussed this further, we're probably going to need to spray the panels adjacent to the bonnet to otherwise we could end up with a noticeable colour mismatch. Will be a bit more expensive but probably worth it in the long run.

So here's a picture of the nice shiny refurbished steering rack with new track rod ends ready for re-assembly. Sounds simple, but probably even more fiddly than getting it off in the first place!

Shiny Steering Rack!