When I last updated progress on the VVC it was to strip it down to the block and head, degrease and inspect for damage/wear. The VVC is the EU2 version and as it came from a low mileage 'S' I have decided to put it in and run it rather than stripping it right down and rebuilding with new internals. So mostly the jobs were to clean up and do a visual check for obvious problems and compiling a list of missing parts. Some of the bits can come off the original K16 that was in the project donor car like the oil filter carrier, dipstick assembly, crankshaft main pulley, rigid cooling pipes and thermostat housing and various bolts/fixings.
One of the main items missing was the timing belt front and rear covers. I have spare K16 covers which I was able to adapt but will need to get a new front cover at least. They are still available and less than a tenner. The water and oil pumps were removed, cleaned and inspected. Both looked fine and were refitted with new gaskets. A new manual cambelt tensioner was fitted. The thermostat hosing was stripped, cleaned and the old stat removed and eliseparts blank stat and new 'o' rings fitted that came with the PRRT kit. The fuel injectors and fuel rail were cleaned and refitted together with the inlet manifold and VVC plenum, again with new gaskets. On the exhaust side, new studs were fitted and stud locked and the new Janspeed big bore 4-2-1 manifold trial fitted. The beauty of having the engine stand is that all the ancillaries can be fitted properly with good access. There are still a few things left to do before the engine can go back in like fitting the injector and main engine loom and making guarding for the alternator and oil filter from the large G3 nimbus sheet courtesy of Yvo at elise shop. Picked up a new 52mm throttle body and cambelt pulley off ebaywhich will be fitted during the next week when they arrived. I have ordered a sump baffle kit from eliseparts which will also be fitted in the coming week.
I also managed to get the new main engine mount fitted ready for the engine to go in. Similarly, the new mount and eliseparts tapered bush/bolt were fitted to the new PG-1 c/r gearbox, together with the refurbished clutch slave cylinder and mount and ready to be mated to the engine together with lightened flywheel and uprated clutch supplied by junks.
The interior has also received some attention. I was missing a handbrake assembly but that was sorted thanks again to ebay which provided a brand new unit and handbrake cable for a tenner!. So that went in together with the gearchange assembly. The electrical loom was in poor condition so much time was spent inspecting an re-taping it. The refurbished fuel tank complete with new pump courtesy of Gaz at spitfire was dropped to allow the refettled rear loom to be threaded through to the engine bay. Whilst the tank was dropped I took the opportunity to fit braided fuel hose to the quick release pump flow and returns and again thread them through into the engine bay. The tank then went back in with new fixings and the shear plate refitted having been cleaned up and new fixings used.
I was missing and a pax side lower dash extrusion that I had been hunting down for weeks from used parts suppliers in fear of the cost new from Lotus. I should have checked as they are only £30 or so new so B&C supplied me with a shiny new one. That meant that I could assemble the dash complete with controls panel that I had made up. The panel has 3 military style toggle switches with indicator lamps for ignition, fuel pump and extinguisher arming. A mechanical isolator in addition to a Cartek or Brise electronic isolator and a start pushbutton.
Looks quite neat with it's carbon backing plate and fits snugly in the dash. It will have to be wired but I will deal with all that later. Next job was to fit the momo steering wheel adapter again courtesy of ebay for £15 ready for when a decent momo/omp/sparco suede race wheel comes my way.
The brakes have also come in for some attention. A trip to eliseparts resulted in a pair of new AP 290mm discs ad EP ally bells, caliper spacers and new bolt sets for the pair of older 280mm EP discs and bells that came with the project car and that are going on the rear. The Lotus AP calipers were cleaned up and treated to new pistons, seals, pad fixings, crossover pipes and bleed nipples. A new set of pagids from junks went in and the calipers fitted onto the car. Jobs a carrot!!
Finally to round off a busy few weeks, the front and rear clams that had ben sat outside patiently over the winter waiting for their turn to get some attention were temporarily fiited on the chassis. Mostly this was to make me feel good that all of the hard work recently meant that I was getting closer to having a proper looking car again. It was also a chance to check alignmemt of clam fixings, clearances and to measure up for new aluminium panels that will be fabricated for the rear boot section that the electrics and new Emerald K6 ecu will be hung on. Did I mention that I had ordered a new K6 from Emerald........ more of that in the next installment.