Chilli's classic car thread.

boogieman

That Ferrari. Ooof! Bet it ends up in Chris Evans' garage :-S

Axe_meister

@chillidoggy Are there any alternative gear boxes you can use, or are you still limited to the 350bhp limit of the Renault 25 gear box.

I'd love to see an Esprit with some proper power, e.g. 500bhp+

FX_Munkee

^ what he said. It strikes me now would be a very opportune time to see if there's anything you can do about the "sod it, that'll do" gearbox they used.

chillidoggy

The UN1 gearbox that's fitted to my car isn't the original Renault unit, it's a high-torque version of it, a UN1-026. The original Renault version would last about five minutes given the torque developed by the engine. There are various aftermarket upgrades available, but all come at a price, usually a high one. 

Having just done the engine/gearbox out job, gearbox removal on its own would be relatively easy, with only the translator, about ten bellhousing bolts, two mount bolts and the driveshafts to pop out before it can be lifted. I reckon I could do it in a couple of hours. So I'm not minded to spend a cartload of dosh on it at the present time, when it appeared to be working well. That's not to say I won't do it at some point, though.

They do say that the V8 Esprits were limited to 350bhp because of the gearbox. I can see that, but there are quite a few owners running higher powered 8 and 4-cylinder cars with uprated gearboxes, with LSD's fitted to alleviate the wheelspin.

 

A few more piccys -

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/Lotus/2015-01-13160924_zps3491e29c.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/Lotus/2015-01-13133903_zps7c9c23f7.jpg

 

 

chillidoggy

And finally, Rubik's fuel tanks have been extracted. What a fucking ballache that was, it was like trying to get something out of a hole that's too small unless you have it at precisely the correct angle. Anyway, the passenger side fuel tank is completely rotten at the bottom, although the driver's side has not long been replaced. I'm fitting a pair of alloy tanks, anyway.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/Lotus/2015-01-17141921_zps9397f8a0.jpg

TTony

Reading this, it almost sounds like you know what you're doing ...

chillidoggy

If I knew what I was doing I wouldn't have bought the bastard thing in the first place!

I do like a challenge, though. And when I've finished I'm sure it'll be a nicer car than when I bought it. I'm too far in to stop now.

Richardj

Just fallen into this tread. I grew up with Lancias, a Fulvia and a Gamma sedan. Also one of the first alfasud Tis. My first car was a tuned mini (that I crashed quite spectacularly being stupid) and moved on to a series of flat four Alfas, Sud Ti, Sud SC, 33 1.5 Green Cloverleaf and Sportswagon 1.7 Green Cloverleaf. Loved them. Parenthood saw them go for safe and practical stuff. I have however since had a couple of Series II Landys and a birth year/month (Feb1968) Volvo 145 I bought from a friend's parents who had it from new. Have a real hankering for a Lancia HPE Volumex, certainly not fast today but the classic twin cam two litre with a supercharger, mmmmmm.

chillidoggy

And the latest horror story. Some retard has re-drilled the top bolt hole in the engine mount, leaving me with a major headache. I'm guessing the original bolt broke because they have a tendency to do that on these cars, he then drilled a hole next to it, tapped it, and bolted it up. The that broke. He's also enlarged the hole in the engine mounting leg so that's shagged too. What a total wanker. http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpse54ff318.jpg

chillidoggy

Richardj said:

Just fallen into this tread. I grew up with Lancias, a Fulvia and a Gamma sedan. Also one of the first alfasud Tis. My first car was a tuned mini (that I crashed quite spectacularly being stupid) and moved on to a series of flat four Alfas, Sud Ti, Sud SC, 33 1.5 Green Cloverleaf and Sportswagon 1.7 Green Cloverleaf. Loved them. Parenthood saw them go for safe and practical stuff. I have however since had a couple of Series II Landys and a birth year/month (Feb1968) Volvo 145 I bought from a friend's parents who had it from new. Have a real hankering for a Lancia HPE Volumex, certainly not fast today but the classic twin cam two litre with a supercharger, mmmmmm.

Feel free to post some pics, please!

I never owned an Alfa, but drove a few. I was once very close to buying a Lancia Beta Coupe 2-litre, but plumped for the 240Z instead. I remember having a ride in a Lancia Thema 8.32 which belonged to a mate of mine, It went very well indeed, but the guy scrapped it when the engine failed, as it was serious money to put right.

Richardj

chillidoggy said:

Richardj said:

Just fallen into this tread. I grew up with Lancias, a Fulvia and a Gamma sedan. Also one of the first alfasud Tis. My first car was a tuned mini (that I crashed quite spectacularly being stupid) and moved on to a series of flat four Alfas, Sud Ti, Sud SC, 33 1.5 Green Cloverleaf and Sportswagon 1.7 Green Cloverleaf. Loved them. Parenthood saw them go for safe and practical stuff. I have however since had a couple of Series II Landys and a birth year/month (Feb1968) Volvo 145 I bought from a friend's parents who had it from new. Have a real hankering for a Lancia HPE Volumex, certainly not fast today but the classic twin cam two litre with a supercharger, mmmmmm.

Feel free to post some pics, please!

I never owned an Alfa, but drove a few. I was once very close to buying a Lancia Beta Coupe 2-litre, but plumped for the 240Z instead. I remember having a ride in a Lancia Thema 8.32 which belonged to a mate of mine, It went very well indeed, but the guy scrapped it when the engine failed, as it was serious money to put right.

Hmmm.  What happens when you (literally) shoehorn the engine from a Ferrari 328/Mondial into a front wheel drive saloon that shares it's basic design with the Fiat Croma, Saab 9000 and Alfa 164.  A triumph of engineering skill over common sense.  It is such a shame that Lancia committed commercial suicide in the UK.  They are very much alive and well on the continent.  They were always top of the heap design and quality wise (OK, not the Beta rust debacle) and the modern ones are so very nice.

chillidoggy

Well, I guess the British public have long memories when it comes to such things.

boogieman

chillidoggy;483265" said:

And the latest horror story. Some retard has re-drilled the top bolt hole in the engine mount, leaving me with a major headache. I'm guessing the original bolt broke because they have a tendency to do that on these cars, he then drilled a hole next to it, tapped it, and bolted it up. The that broke. He's also enlarged the hole in the engine mounting leg so that's shagged too. What a total wanker.





http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpse54ff318.jpg

Can you not get the original hole welded up, then redrill and tap it?

holnrew

Dealing with other people's shit handiwork is a pain in the arse. Even with a decent repair and the fact you can't see it, I would still be bothered knowing it's there, and the whole thing isn't 100% perfect.

But then that's why I don't try with anything, it's either perfect or not, and perfect is hard.

chillidoggy

boogieman said:

chillidoggy;483265" said:

And the latest horror story. Some retard has re-drilled the top bolt hole in the engine mount, leaving me with a major headache. I'm guessing the original bolt broke because they have a tendency to do that on these cars, he then drilled a hole next to it, tapped it, and bolted it up. The that broke. He's also enlarged the hole in the engine mounting leg so that's shagged too. What a total wanker.





http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpse54ff318.jpg

Can you not get the original hole welded up, then redrill and tap it?

I'm giving a repair some serious thought, but I don't think welding is an option, not yet anyway. Once it's been cleaned up I'll have a better idea.

boogieman

chillidoggy;483907" said:

boogieman said:

chillidoggy;483265" said:And the latest horror story. Some retard has re-drilled the top bolt hole in the engine mount, leaving me with a major headache. I'm guessing the original bolt broke because they have a tendency to do that on these cars, he then drilled a hole next to it, tapped it, and bolted it up. The that broke. He's also enlarged the hole in the engine mounting leg so that's shagged too. What a total wanker.











http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpse54ff318.jpg

Can you not get the original hole welded up, then redrill and tap it?










I'm giving a repair some serious thought, but I don't think welding is an option, not yet anyway. Once it's been cleaned up I'll have a better idea.

Cos it's alloy? You could still get it Tig welded I think. Otherwise a machine shop might be able to put a helicoil in if the hole's not too oversized.

chillidoggy

boogieman said:

chillidoggy;483907" said:

boogieman said:

chillidoggy;483265" said:And the latest horror story. Some retard has re-drilled the top bolt hole in the engine mount, leaving me with a major headache. I'm guessing the original bolt broke because they have a tendency to do that on these cars, he then drilled a hole next to it, tapped it, and bolted it up. The that broke. He's also enlarged the hole in the engine mounting leg so that's shagged too. What a total wanker.











http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpse54ff318.jpg

Can you not get the original hole welded up, then redrill and tap it?










I'm giving a repair some serious thought, but I don't think welding is an option, not yet anyway. Once it's been cleaned up I'll have a better idea.

Cos it's alloy? You could still get it Tig welded I think. Otherwise a machine shop might be able to put a helicoil in if the hole's not too oversized.

 

It's relatively easy to weld in a line, like a repair on a cracked casting, but trying to weld and fill down a hole is almost impossible. You'd end up with a cavity.

This morning's thought for the day is to clean it all up good and proper, then roughen up the inside of the adjacent hole and fill it with something like Belzona E-Metal, or Devcon. Wait until it hardens off, then retap the original 8mm hole, and see what it looks like. If it looks good, then I'll wind a steel stud in, and use an 8mm nut on the mount.

Or, depending on how it looks, I might re-drill and tap it out the next size up to 10mm, and use 10mm studs. Depends if there's enough space to use 10mm nuts on the mounting leg.

God knows why they used such pathetically small bolt sizes in such a critical area.

boogieman

Ah, hadn't thought about it being a deep cavity. Your 10mm stud idea sounds good if you can get that to work. You do have to wonder about how car design engineers come up with these things. I guess once it's sold they don't have to worry about how you actually repair and service it.

chillidoggy

Ordered up some aluminium epoxy putty, and it looks like I'll be able to fit 10mm studs. I'll have to relieve the engine mount legs a tiny bit, but nothing major.

chillidoggy

YES, YES! YES!

Think Meg Ryan in the cafe scene, but in the shape of a fat, balding bloke in a skanky boilersuit. The engine mount bodge-up has been cleared! It was a broken tap in there. Now I have to drill it out, and tap it to M10. Without, of course, breaking the tap. I can only imagine that the twat that did it, tried to do it in situ and failed miserably, and just left it for the next poor bastard........me, that is.

I intend to have a drink on the strength of the monumental removal task. If you've ever tried to do this kind of job, it's a complete bastard, as the taps are soooo hard!