2 door VAE 306H

[philthehill]

kevin s

Thank you for the reply.

As regards the carbon thrust pressure plate on the clutch cover. A common problem is that when the engine is being fitted and the gearbox not correctly aligned the first motion shaft can displace the pressure pad from the clutch pressure plate release fingers. The pad is held in place by three spring clips and it does not take much to displace the spring clips - I would suggest that the springs have been displaced and the pressure pad has become detached from one or more fingers.
No great problem but unfortunately engine or gearbox out to cure.

[kevin s]

This has a concentric slave cylinder and roller release bearing, I did have to machine the centre of the pressure pad out to clear the centre of the slave cylinder so it is close, this could well be the issue, as you say I will only find out when I pull the gearbox later, before I do this I want to drive it for a while to check the gearbox works etc.

Looked at the leak form the fuel pump last night, blanking plate was a piece of 1mm aluminium with no gasket and just a splodge of RTV, I suspect the oil filter housing will be the same with no gasket (can't see any sign of one) and just RTV.

hopefully one of the other 1098 engines I have will have the correct part on it, if not I will make one from some f the 4mm steel I have.

[kevin s]

Found the correct blanking plate, fitted it with a new gasket. Removed oil filter housing the mating face was pretty knocked around so I filed it flat and fitted with new gaskets, no more oil leaks.

Next up I replaced the fuel line and took it for a drive, apart from the clutch everything seems fine, driving it got me thinking, could the clutch disc be in back to front, the symptoms certainly fitted.
So this sfternoon I removed the box and lo and behold it was in backwards, never managed this in 30 odd years of working on old cars. its mostly back together now, but on virtually the last bolt which was the crossmember into the chassis leg the captive nut let go ! So tommorow the trans tunnel will have to come out again, and I will replace both nuts with a single plate.

[kevin s]

started it up today, at first it still made the bearing noise as the clutch was depressed but not the noise as it was engaged but after a couple of uses of the clutch this stopped to and now it is perfect, the csc bearing is self centring as I assume it has now self centred, the hub of the clutch cover is now running true as well, the miss fitted clutch was stopping the cover closing evenly.

still need to put some oil in the box and fix the captive nut but this should be done this week, then it is a few finishing touches and we should be ready to go.

[kevin s]

Stripped the trans tunnel out, chiselled the captive nuts and their cages off, then made this:

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The two small brass screws are screwed into threads tapped in the 6mm thick bar to hold it in place, the larger X member bolts are screwed into two bsf nuts welded to the back of the bar.

it's now all been painted and will be fitted tomorrow.

[kevin s]

Plate in, floor back down, badges on, damaged hose replaced, all the floor bungs fitted, so now pretty much all I need to do ia a few interior items, carpets, glove boxes and mount a temp and oil pressure gauge, plan to be driving it around over the weekend as a shakedown.

[kevin s]

Took it for it's first drive down to the chip shop.

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All seems fine, brakes have a bit of dead travel but probably just need re-adjusting, the other thing is the gearshift is a bit sloppy and there is a fairly large throw in all directions, are they all like this?

Otherwise there are a few areas of the body I would like to improve , the bumper valances need sorting out, the carpet needs fitting and I want to wire in a temp gauge and brake fluid level light ( most of the wiring is there just needs connecting and a mount made) but it can now be at least be used.

[kevin s]

Took it for a longer drive this evening, firstly it didn't make it to the petrol station but it was only a short walk fill the can up an we were off again. Did about 5 miles up to 60mph, general observations:

In general it drives very well
Ride / handling is impressive for a car of it's age.
Gearbox is a bit noisy in frst and I think it jumped out once (or it might not have engaged properly) but is fine in all the other gears, even the synchros seem fine.
suprisingly fw squeak and rattles
There is a slight vibration at speed which feels like proshaft vibration.
Brake travel is a bit long but gets much better with the hand brake on, looks like they need adjustng up.
In the daylight some areas of pin need more work

So overall we are very pleased, looks like with some carpet and a good clean up it will make Andrew's prom on Monday and we can sort out the niggles and paint over the next few months.

[kevin s]

Spent most of the weekend cleaning it up and polishing it, then we took it for a drive (around 15 miles)

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After adjusting the brakes the pedal travel and feel is great, efforts are a bit high though so probably will fit a servo eventually.
Seats are terrible all the webbing is broken and there is no back support, being so low also makes the clutch awkward I have brought a pair of ka black leather seats.
The other issue is the gearbox, it is noisy (undestand this is common) and jumps out of first, in all the other gears it is fine even the synchros work well, there is also no feel of any detents and the gearstick is very sloppy so I might have a look at this first.

[kevin s]

used it a bit more now and some problems have started.

Nothing too major though, firstly I have fitted 2 different brass carb float valves and both have worked perfectly at first then started leaking after a week or so, I wonder if this is the ethanol in the modern fuels attacking them, consequently I have ordered a Viton replacement. Secondly there is a smell of fuel and a weep around the sender unit in the tank, not done anything about this yet but I will try tightening it (perhaps the cork has shrunk a little since it was fitted 4 years ago ?) or removing and replacing if that fails.

On the plus side The voltage stabiliser arrived and is fitted so the gauges work, I have started on the ka seats (original bracketry removed and tried in car) and the oil pressure pipe has also arrived.

[myoldjalopy]

Re the sender unit leak - I fitted a new tank a while back and the new cork gasket leaked soon after fitting it, so I nipped up the screws and all was well........for a few weeks, after which it started leaking again. So I nipped it up again and it has been leak free for the last six years or so
I wonder if a light smear of grease on the gasket might help?

[kevin s]

Fitted Sport Ka seats (full description and photos to follow) and a new float valve then used it for work today, approx 15 mile trip, no major issues, wipers stopped working (one wire was off, probably knocked it off when I was working close to it on the carb yesterday) and it is leaking a little oil out of the filler cap (seal feels rock hard so probably needs new cap).

We even have a sound system (bluetooth speaker I found in a drawer at home on the parcel shelf and radio streamed through my phone)

This is the first minor I have driven and it amazes me how well it drives steering is light, it corners well and for around town it is plenty fast enough, (got told off for driving it like my Lotus!) it doesn't seem to be using much fuel either.

[kevin s]

At work today with the lotus

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Seats installed.

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And how i did the seats

Firstly old brackets removed by drilling out the rivets.

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[Sleeper]

Is that a CN conversion ?

The Lotus that is...

John

[kevin s]

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The rear one adjacent to the seatbelt also needs a weld cutting, I used a slitting disc on the grinder.

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This is the end result.

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Then i cut the original rear leg and welded in a tapered piece to raise it and make it parallel to the floor.

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Brackets for the front and other rear were then made from steel bar.

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They were then all fitted using m6 dome head screws to replace the rivets.

The front was then marked and drilled to match the original holes in the floor, finally the front bolts were fitted and the floor drilled for the rear which were fitted with nuts, bolts and spreader plates .

[kevin s]

The missing pic it would not load.

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just need to wire in the seat heaters but not an issue at the moment!

[kevin s]

ref the elan, yes and no.

I converted it 20+ years ago, the hood, frame an tray are CN, for the rest of it I borrowed some ideas from other conversions and some of my own, there is a tubular steel frame behind the dash which links the door posts to the trans tunnel, all the open ares of the structure around the A pillars are foam filled, the windscreen reinforcement is bar similar to the CN, I have also added the roll bar to stiffen the B pillars and rear of the car as well as add some safety. with all of the above there is very little scuttle shake now.

kevin

[Sleeper]

Kevin
Re. your post 06/01/2017 , "springs were cleaned up and greased then a pair of leather gaiters made." can you elaborate...
Thanks

John

[kevin s]

yes, I took all the leaves of the springs apart, used a flap wheel on an angle grinder to clean them all up to a smooth finish, then put them back together packed with lithium grease. I then cut some strips of leather (from an old sofa) which wrapped around the spring with about a inch overlap, this means they were tapered to match the spring. I then punched holes every inch or so and used tie straps to lace the together.

[Sleeper]

Kevin

I take it with a view to protecting from "road muck" , good idea but have never seen it before , was this from your head of has it been used before?

John