Parts list

01/10-2008

Finally the list of needed parts to repair the front end of the car have been generated after taking the entire front end apart.

Here's what's needed:

* Anti-roll bar
* 2 pcs. anti-roll bar mounting blocks
* 2 pcs. toplink
* 2 pcs. lower wishbone
* Steering gear
* 2 pcs. track rod end balljoint
* Right side Steering arm
* 2 pcs. engine mounting rubbers
* Radiator
* 2 pcs. fender pipings for flared fenders
* Set of bushes needed for both left and right site. My count on the attached pic gives the following: 4 pcs. 636 bush, 8 pcs. Y9 bush
* 2 pcs. front dampers/springs.

Now we just need to find somewhere to source the parts. I'll be trying Redline Components first as I think they are able to supply all parts and that will make the shipping costs lower.

See the picture below where I have marked the needed parts.

Hill Climb in the rain = crash

10/08-2008

On Sunday the 10th of August everything was ready for the best Hill Climb in the series. The route is perfect and very difficult but unfortunately the weather was bad with lots of rain. Half ways through the course on the second trail run disaster stroke and I under steered directly into the cause barrier. The right front wheel hit the barrier and was pushed into the body of the car. Lots of pieces were broken in the suspension, the radiator was damages and the antirollbar was bent.
The accident was caused by a very wet road (and of course me driving to fast in this conditions) due to the rainy weather and even though I drove very slowly when hitting the barrier the car was badly damages. The repair will take a lot of work and several new parts.

Seeing what kind of damages the car took at this low speed accident I’ve started to reevaluate the sanity in using it for Hill Climbs. The combination of driving in the fastest class and having a minimum of racing experience might not be the best cocktail. As I’m only racing in the Hill Climb series I have no change of training giving me a total of less than 30 minutes of race experience in the car. This is further problematic in a wet race as I never drive the car in the wet and only have driven one trip back in 2006 in the rain. This was on the old springs, dampers and tires and therefore hasn’t given me much knowledge of how the car behaves when it’s slippery. Maybe it would be better to find an old Kadett or something like that in Germany and race that in class 8 where the speed is considerable lower.
Let’s see how the repair comes along and how the feeling towards this issue is when the Seven is once again ready for racing…

All running after 'a few' problems

07/04-2008

Getting the engine back into the chassis went all smoothly but then the first problems showed up. The starter had a very hard time turning the engine over and lots of theories were brought on; Not enough juice on the battery, the bearings were tightened to fast, the piston rings were not fitting, the chain were to tight, the oil pump wasn't working, etc., etc.
After a lot of checking, re-torking and general troubleshooting we finally got oil pressure and the engine started easily with just a few turns of the starter. We weren't quite glad about the oil pressure though as it wasn't high enough and during right cornering it dropped completely. After consulting some old e-mails from the previous owner it turned out we needed a high pressure pump and the installed one was a standard. A new one were ordered at Burton, 'FP200A - HIGH PRESSURE/HIGH CAPACITY OIL PUMP: X/FLOW, PRE-X/FLOW, BDA, LOTUS TWIN CAM', amongst some other minor parts.

The trouble didn't end here... Next the clutch stopped working and a new round of troubleshooting started and during the process the clutch were on and off 7-8 times, new parts were produced and tested. Finally it turned out the clutch wasn't rebuild correctly from the repair shop. The problem were solved by adding some 2 mm. shims. This fixed the problem and everything was running fine.

After installing the new oil pump and the rest of the parts from Burton the oil pressure was also back up where it's supposed to be but more trouble showed up...

The shims fixing the clutch problem killed the starter, see the pics below. This time the solution were straight forward; Get a replacement starter and it turned out one was at hand from the other car in the garage. The Morris is using the same starter and due to the conditions of that project it will not bee missed right away, see pics below.

Now all is finally running perfectly - knock on wood :-)


Thermotec exhaust wrap added:


New fuel pump installled:

Assembly has finally started

10/03-2008

As I haven’t updated the site with the status on the 2008 winter projects I’ll give you the brief version here;

The clutch were send out to be rebuild and have returned and are supposedly as good as new. That went smoothly and it was sent off to the engine shop so they could weigh the engine in with the clutch installed.

The engine rebuild on the other hand were some journey. First problem that stalled the project was the fact that the bearings needed to be oversize in both directions and the shop couldn’t find that kind of bearings. I started looking for a replacement block or another crankshaft but luckily the shop found the bearings somewhere and the project could go on.
Next issue came up when the piston rings were needed. The pistons didn’t have any indication on what brand they were and the hunt for a set of rings began. With help from the previous owner and some old invoices we fond out that the pistons are from JE Pistons, jepistons.com/, and they were bought ad Dave Bean, davebean.com/.
Dave Bean was able to supply a fresh set and finally the engine was returned from the shop last week. During the weekend we put assembled the engine with new seals, new water pump and new distributor.

While the engine have been in the shop a lot of cleaning have been done on the car e.g. the engine bay and the foot well are all nice and clean now.

All in all it looks like the car will be running again during Easter :-)

Out with the engine

6/11-2007

The engine is now lifted out of the chassis.

The operation was a success but the patient died :-(

28/10-2007

A new oil pump and new bearings were fitted and everything was put back together again. Unfortunately the new pump couldn't master more the one third of the desired pressure. We hoped to the end that it was the old pressure gage that was failing but a check with an external gage showed the same result.
This means the engine have to go to an engine shop capable of giving it a total overhaul. Only good thing is that it isn't driving season.

As a site note you'll find more info on engine oil pressure here

Broken oil pump – Season over

07/10-2007

It turned out the good old oil pressure gage was working just fine but the oil pump wasn’t… On the way home the gage kept not showing any oil pressure and I was getting a little worried. After about 10 Km the engine acted weird and when I pressed the clutch the engine just died. Releasing it again showed a locked engine and it looked very bad!
Parking at the roadside being pissed for not checking if the oil pressure gage was actually telling the truth a friend stopped asking if he could help. After checking for oil and temperature I tried the starter and luckily the good old Twink started again. We found the entrance for the oil pressure gage connection and unscrewing it proved that there was no oil pressure.
While waiting for the flatbed trailer to be arranged it showed that you’re never lost when stuck on a roadside with an old Seven. Five people stopped to ask if they could help and one of them actually being a local guy knowing my brother ended up picking up the trailer and come back to tow the car to the shop.
At the shop we found the oil pump to be completely worn down and the bearings were in bad shape to. The missing oil pressure surely hasn’t done all the damage to the bearings but probably giving them the last kick over the edge.
All in all the season is over a month early, insurance ending on the 15th of November, and I’m looking for new parts.

Dyno test: 145.4HP

14/09-2007

After having the oil sump fixed the Seven were taken to a twincam wizard. He adjusted the valves, carburetors and ignition. After the adjustments the Lotus were tested at the dyno showing the following results.

145.4 HP / 5911 RPM
185.2 NM/5144 RPM (That's 136.6 Lb-Ft for the US guys)

Here's the details

New drain plug and oil

05/09-2007


The sump repair has been improved and a new drain plug have been welded into the sump. New oil and filter were added at 98.363 miles.

New drain plug:

Repairing the crack in the sump

26/08-2007

The dent were pulled out and crack in the oil sump pan were welded. After adding new oil filter and fresh oil the old lady will be as good as before the race in Gjern.

Break light and video camera mount

25/07-2007

We fitted a LED break light at the roll bar - It's always nice knowing the guy behind will notice I'm breaking....

As the next Hill Climb is coming up soon we also fitted a mount for a video camera on top of the roll bar. The first test shows the at picture are completely stable due to the fact that the camera follows the car and the rest of the vibrations are eliminated by the 'anti shake' software in the camera. Look forward to some nice shots of the Hill Climb next at the 12Th.

Ram Pipes

24/07-2007

Finally installed the 30mm Ram Pipes I've had laying around for a while. I had ordered a new carburetor base plate and filter from burtonpower.co.uk as the pipes didn't fit in the K&N filters.

The filter is quit big and a new hole had to be cut in the spare bonnet to make it fit.

I also changed the fasteners for the bonnet as the old once just barley fitted between the wings and the bonnet and the spare bonnet needed some fasteners anyway.

So you might be wondering how the pipes work... They give a more smooth experience in the low revs and makes it's the car more responsible to changes in the throttle below 3000 RPM in higher revs I don't feel any changes.
That sounds all good but they are coming off anyway... for daily driving the noise they are adding don't match the better throttle response. Between 4500 an 5500 RPM the intake noise is insane and that's where I'm cruising so the conclusion is that the pips are only mounted at Hill climbs!

The new bonnet spring are definitely staying as they are much better than the old locks!

New ignition coil

07/07-2007

Changed the coil to fix a growing problem with the ignition going bad when the engine got up to working temperature. Installed a Bosch Blue High Performance Coil of the new type not using oil-bath technology.

The new coil fixed the problem completely and the engine is now starting better and running much more smooth all the way through the revs. :-)

Coloring the inside of the doors

23/06-2007


The fabric at the inside of the doors have gotten quit waren out and were looking really bad but a dash of blact fabric couler helped a lot!

Vinter projekterne afsluttet

14/04-2007

Så ble vinterprojekterne afsluttet med montering af trækøjer og cut-off switch, så vi overholder reglementet til Hill Climb

Derudover kom Buszards Revolution fælger tilbage på bilen.


Udvendigt cut-off switch håndtag


Forhjul, 6'' 195/60R14 - Yokohama A520


Baghjul, 6'' 205/60R14 - Yokohama ES100


Forskellen; til venstre er det originale 185/70R30 på stålfælge og til højre er det nye monteret.

Vinter projekterne stort set afsluttet

04/04-2007

Så er SB1403 på vejene igen :-)

De fleste af vinterprojekterne er veloverstået, her er et par billeder af de sidste reperationer.


For at give udstødningen / motoren mulighed for at vibrere uafhængigt af hinanden er der svejset et flexrør ing i den første del af udstødningen.


Hullet i kølerhjemlen er klippet til og der er monteret et crom kantbånd.

Der er monteret sidespejle, det er vare nr. 094.330 fra Holden

I første omgang blev et sæt sorte ekstraskærme monteret mens de rigtige var hos maleren efter en større omgang glasfiber udbedringer.

Monteret med de nymalede skærme.

Interiør omkring kadantunnelen er monteret efter der hullet omkring gearstangen har fået et kantbånd.

Ledningsnet og Kølerhjelm

03/03-2007

Der er ryddet totalt op i ledningsnettet bag dashboarded, se før og efter billederne herunder. Hullet til luftfiltrene i kølerhjelmen er også fikset ved at klippe det til og lægge et kromkantbånd på.

Før:


Efter:

Udstødning

03/03-2007

Hullet i siden er rettet til, 'lukket' med et gitter, endestykkerne på manifolden er skiftet ud og den er malet med varmefast maling.

Dashboard

03/03-2007

Beklædningen på dashboardet var meget dårligt og der var huller efter fx. en gammel radio, derfor er det blivet afmonteret, hullerne er lukket, det hele beklædt med tyndt skin og monteret igen. Se billederne herunder.