17 replies to this topic

[rsg]

Got a few goodies through today from accross the pond

Supertech standard sized waisted stem valves with nitride coating


Supertech dual valve springs with titanium retainers


Currently porting and polishing a cylinder head, to fit with Comp cams stage 1 cams, 2.4 manifold and a D.I.Y. induction kit (yes I'm a cheapskate!)

I've spent the day removing the front clam and doing a few bits around the front of the car.

Main reason is to fit my new rad from the Elise parts group buy (cheers Joe )

Also wanted to repaint the front grill with satin black hammerite as it was looking quite rusty. The front Vee paint was chipping too as whoever painted it did so straight on top of the silver paint. I've gone from this



to this



Another job was to remove the heater box and clean the matrix and refit with the venair mod

Edited by rsg, 16 February 2009 - 09:14 PM.

[Exmantaa]

What springs did you buy? The Supertech 76, 78 or 94 lb version??

[The Batman]

how comes you didnt go for bigger wasted stem valves?

[rsg]

What springs did you buy?
The Supertech 76, 78 or 94 lb version??

94 lb version - same as GM racing dual spring set.

how comes you didnt go for bigger wasted stem valves?

Coz i didnt want to have to get the valve seat reground (££s) and waisted stem valves make a much bigger difference than larger heads.
I can remember reading one of Vockys posts on z22se.co.uk that he thought the valve heads were big enough anyway.

[rsg]

Bought a cam cover off ebay going cheap. Cleaned it all up using Betaclean and lots of elbow grease.



Sprayed with Black wrinkle paint and left to dry. Not had chance to fit it yet though







More valve pictures

Standard inlet on the left, supertech on the right



Same again but in the cylinder head



Exhaust gasket fitted to head showing how much the port can be opened up



Some of the casting that needs to be smoothed

Edited by rsg, 01 March 2009 - 09:05 PM.

[mandarinvx]

Wow - looks like those valves will make a massive difference to the flow I read somewhere about leaving a step from the exhaust port, and not matching to the gasket; for the life of me I can't remember where now Something about return pressure waves (it was def the exhaust port, as I was intending to match mine to the gasket too)

[rsg]

Wow - looks like those valves will make a massive difference to the flow


I read somewhere about leaving a step from the exhaust port, and not matching to the gasket; for the life of me I can't remember where now Something about return pressure waves (it was def the exhaust port, as I was intending to match mine to the gasket too)

Yeah that was me (here)! and the general oppinion was that was for old yank V8s. I did what Vocky did on his Saab head ( Vocky)

Edited by rsg, 04 March 2009 - 09:30 PM.

[mandarinvx]

[MrSimba]

You look like you've been busy Rich

[rsg]

You look like you've been busy Rich

well my wallet has if nothing else

[rsg]

Update from the last few months.

I've fitted an anodised fuel cap and surround (obviously).



My header seal was peeling in several places and during one particularly bad downpoor on the M5 water started dripping in all along the header rail so I bought the latest design Elise seal from Bell and Colvill (cheers Theolodian).



Took all of half and hour to fit and has made a differece to cabin noise. There is noticeable reduction in wind noise and when you shut the door the roof puffs up which proves the cabin is now very well sealed


I've spent the past week giving my suspension a refresh. The cars coming up to 60k miles so I thought rather than waiting for parts to wear out I do it all in one shot. Bought some Eliseparts Track rod ends, Elise parts Tie rod upgrade kit and the Autobush Wishbone bush kit. I also bought 8x ball joints but these turned out to be First Line which don't fit. I couldnt be bothered to play Ball Joint Lottery so sent them back and bought 9x Elise parts ones (9x because I put the first one in the wrong way round )

The Tie rod kit went on ok but needed some slight adjustments to get it to fit properly. The inner bracket wasnt deep enough to cover rivet up to the subframe and allow the rose joint to fit. I spaced it out and used bolts to fix it rather than the rivets supplied. I'll get some photos up when I get chance.

Had the car geo'd today by Mike at Sports Car Services. Big for the service. Driving the car back it feels so much tighter and there is absolutely no slack in the steering . I did check for play in my steering rack but it all seemed solid. All the little squeaks and rattles have gone and I imagine the car feels like it did when it left the factory.

The eliseparts kit recommends 4x 1.9mm washers to set the rear bump steer, but driving down a bumply road the rear moves around alot and doesnt feel as planted as it was so I think I might play around removing a couple of washers. If I cant get a setting I like the feel of a trip to Hofmanns bump steer rig might be in order

[mandarinvx]

The Tie rod kit went on ok but needed some slight adjustments to get it to fit properly. The inner bracket wasnt deep enough to cover rivet up to the subframe and allow the rose joint to fit. I spaced it out and used bolts to fix it rather than the rivets supplied. I'll get some photos up when I get chance.

Pics would be great mate

[rsg]

Right some pictures of the Eliseparts kit:

The first problem was I saw was the rod locking nut would foul on the subframe during full compression. The picture below was taken at full droop:



The mounting face of the subframe is not flat, where the original ball joint sits. I filed the sides of a washer flat so it would sit and added a couple of extra washers to space the rose joint further out:



With the damper removed I could jack the hub up and check there was enough clearance.


The second problem was the bracket supplied did not mount against the subframe when fitted with the rose joint, as it was still 5mm from the subframe. In the fitting instructions the bracket is riveted inplace once the subframe is drilled. I used some small M5 bolts and some spacers I had to enable the bracket to mount properly. I was going to get some wider brackets made up, but having spoken to Mike at Sports Car Services, when he did the geo, he said it was fine as it is. The Elise is exactly the same so I can t see how the brakcets would actually fit. In this picture you can just see the nuts used to fill the space:



This is how the outboard end of the rod connects to the hub. Between the rose joint and the conical spacer there are washers to adjust the amount of rear bumpsteer.





Still besides these small problems I still think this is a much better setup than standard (and its half the price of importing the Spitfire kit from the Dutch website or where its from)

[mandarinvx]

Cool, cheers mate - good to know it's worth the effort Which kit did you order - as they list one for the S2 and one for the 111R/Toyota; and did they explain what the differences were

[rsg]

Cool, cheers mate - good to know it's worth the effort

Which kit did you order - as they list one for the S2 and one for the 111R/Toyota; and did they explain what the differences were

I ordered the Elise S2 kit. Its all to do with what rear hubs you have

[mandarinvx]

I thought it was the 111R that had similar hub carriers to the VX (as people have said in the past if you want to fit Lotus wheels and hubs you need to get wheels from a Toyota engined car) I might give them a call before ordering

[rsg]

Ah ok then

From the Elise parts website it looks ike you should get picture no 1 in the kit, that it pretty much what I made by filing the washer. You might want to ask about that too

[mandarinvx]