The plan today is to take the old engine out. Before I could remove anything, I spent a good hour taking loads of photos of every pipe and cable connection and then labelling up with masking tape so that i would have half a chance of putting it all back again. As you can see there is plenty to take notes of. This does take a while but I will be glad I did in a few months time when today will be a distant memory.
I wqasn't sure I liked the red hoses but I have sinced realised they are silicone and will be perfect for racing (plus they retail for about 150 quid!!). First real job was to disconnect all electrical connections and move the loom out of the way followed by the plumbing
There is not much room behind the engine for access to the exhaust manifold. The nuts came off easy and I was able to ease the manifold out. The following were then removed easily in quick succession -
- alternator
- starter motor
- clutch slave cylinder and gearbox bracket
- gear selector cables and brackets
Finally with everything out of the way I could get the engine hoist into place. I had arranged to borrow one from work and had picked it up in the van earlier in the day
It is supposed to be a portable hoist but is in 2 parts, a heavy base and an even heavier column. Eventually got it all set up and in position. Had several straps handy which would be double wrapped around the gearbox end and another under the sump towards the crank shaft pulley end. Took the weight and removed the 2 engine mounts. Strapposition was ideal as I found the balance point first time and it lifted straight up about 200mm then swivel the whole lot 45 deg. clockwise and backed the hoist out - easy peasy!.
Dropped the engine and box down on the floor and then whipped out the 6 bolts holding the gearbox in place. A quick tug and it was free. Thats as far as I wanted to go as I will come back to these at a later stage. I will be fitting the c/r box so this one will either be an emergency spare or I will sell it.
It was then time for a tidy up as there were more bits lying around than garage floor. So with eveything pit in place it was time to stand back and admire the handywork. I had pretty well finished the 'taking apart' bit for now, at least for the chassis/body anyway. With everything removed and the bulkhead completely clear it was easy to admire the simplicity and beauty of the elise design.
The first part of refettling the engine bay area, after giving the ally a good clean, is to remove the remnants of adhesive stuck to the bulkhead from the original factory covering which had long since been removed, perished or fell off. I plan to fix nimbus on the bulkhead so will need to get some sheet on order. I will also check over the hoses where they enter the pontoons, replace the hoseclips and check that the grommets that are meant to stop the hose chafing on the hole in the ally of the pontoon are in position.It's going to be a few weeks before I can get back in the garage but that will give me time to pick up the remaining bits from junks that he forgot to bring over and place some wanted ads on Seloc/Lotus Central for the front o/s corner parts. I have a feeling that Geary of Eliseparts is going to be getting a shopping list from me in the week!
The other thing that will be occupying my mind over the next few weeks is which engine to re-fettle. Much standing back and looking at the 2 engines lined up and rubbing my chin looking studious didn't help so I willput a call in to Dave Andrews at DVA in the week........ ....... and finally.... got my medical for my National B race licence on Thursday. Lets hope they can find a pulse! and that will be another thing ticked off the list.
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