EURON8 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I know you have your reaosns for using the lifeline I know its a small car and space is limitied I know lots of people have small extinguishers in their cabins But shit, what a cunty location for something that hopefully you will never have to use again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 That's the standard location for extinguisher in Elises and Exiges. I've always had one mounted there, albeit a handheld one and it really doesn't get in the way. There are other places you can mount one but they're either up front or out back, where they'll likely get damaged in an accident... When you need them. The only time it becomes a pain there is when your passenger is shorter than about 5'3"... And they can't reach the footrest. Then their thighs rest on the extinguisher and irritated them after an hour or so. Thankfully I haven't built this as a commuter of touring car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EURON8 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Sweet as, i think id get sick of looking at it or constantly worried about it getting just damaged enough to not work. ALthough like you say, not like theres a passenger often for touring. Looking good now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truenotch Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Chris - that spot is the best for all situations. I had one mounted there for years in my AW11 road car - always had passengers and it didn't get in the way. It's still in good condition and now mounted in the race car. Much better than having it on the side by the passengers knees or in the back where you can't reach it. I can't wait to see this car in action! When are you planning to see the track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 Was hoping to have it down at Superlap at Jamboree.... but given that it's not meant to stop raining between now and next month, I might give it a miss in favour of something a little more low-key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 It was a long time coming, but I managed to get SEXIGE out onto the track and running at some half decent pace this weekend! Credit to Richard "FreshPrints" Opie for capturing the attitude of the car through the turn 2-3 complex at Hampton Downs quite nicely here! A dab of oppo and I was away! Sadly I only managed two sessions before the alternator packed in (again!) so it's shown up a weak link that'll need further investigation. Either heat or revs is killing the alternator in very short order. The day ended with the car going home ignobly on the back of a recovery truck, but a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. The car is a good deal quicker than it ever has been, and even with me being pretty rusty behind the wheel and not having much time to dial the car in, it's lapping Hampton Downs in a 1:16 flat, which isn't hanging around. Some more practice should see me easily in the 15s, and hopefully the 14s ultimately with some fresh rubber. Given that the engine still has a little more to give I'm sure that's possible. Not bad for a completely street car Here's the only video I got from the day. My apologies for the shocking driving, I'm hellish rusty and this was the first session and I hadn't even got the tyre pressures altered from what I run on the road so it was all ham-fisted and snatched brakes! Still, you get to hear what the car sounds like with a semi-decent head of steam (no HGF pun intended!), and I know a few of you out there have been waiting to hear that! Now to find a new alternator... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Good to hear mate well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truenotch Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Awesome! Can't wait to see this car in person... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 holy crap these cars are beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 Well, not much has been going on this past month so, I've been working some pretty insane hours at work, so not had much tinkering time. Still, I managed to get the car down to Hampton Downs on Saturday for a bit of fun. My father came up too to share the drive with me so I was very much looking forward to the day! My father especially so, since it was his first time on track AND his first time sitting in a Lotus since he had his accident nearly a year ago to the day that destroyed his beloved Elise and nearly killed him. The car ran pretty well for my first session on track. I'm still plenty rusty and need some more seat time, but I managed to carve another second off my best laptime, and am now managing very low 1:15s laps, even when a bit messy. The car as is should be capable of at least a second quicker again when I can get my eye in. Not too bad for a compromised road/track setup and 5 year old tyres. Some new semi-slicks will see the car run even quicker I think. Here's the video of my only session on track, you can see how skittish the car is on cold tyres on the out-lap! For the next session my father climbed aboard. His first few laps were very cautious as he started to get used to an unfamiliar, and much quicker, car than his old Elise. He was pretty rusty, but he was having fun! On about his 5th lap however, when exiting the sweeper, this happened: He couldn't get a gear at all and coasted the car to a stop. Once stopped, all gears selected just fine. He was able to select first, start the car and limp back to the pits. Once there we figured something was up with the clutch hydraulics, perhaps a master cylinder as it was possible to select gears (albeit clunkily), and the bite-point of the clutch wasn't as defined any more, it was softer and more spongy, for want of a better word, although it wasn't slipping at all. However, after a couple of drives around the car park, the clutch started making some gentle whirring noises and emitting a fair bit of smoke when trying to slip it away from a standing start, which showed that something had likely broken in the clutch itself. So, we managed to limp it back to JC and Nixx's place in Pukekohe, where it now rests, keeping their machine company: This weekend, I'll drive it into KW to get Ken to start taking a look at it. I've not got the time or space to do it at the moment (at least not without it taking a couple of months) so it's probably better Ken having it over at his shop for a bit. Oh well, at least it was fun while it lasted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Cant remember what sort of clutch you have in there, but it wasnt an overly fancy one was it? Probably just not able to keep up with the increased torque! And surely it must just about be an afternoons work for you to swap the clutch over now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 It was an AP uprated one, but nothing major. I've heard of another failure of a near identical car to mine built at the same time, and we suspect a bad batch contributed to the issue..... once I've got it opened up I'll analyse the fault..... theoretically this clutch should be just fine at the power/torque i'm throwing at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Well it's been a little while since my last update. I've not been doing a lot with the car lately. It's midwinter here, and I've had a sick girlfriend to deal with as well as having the flu myself and shifting house, so it's all been a bit hectic. I got the clutch replaced, it ended up just being a failure of the centre plate, the friction material had come right off the plate. I suspect it must be faulty as I've never seen one go like that before. There was no wear at all on the lining and even the factory original inked-stamping on the lining was visible! I guess it was just bad luck, and fingers crossed the new clutch is a bit longer-lived! We managed to get the 6-speed box back out and in again without removing the engine or body this time, so now we know how to do that for the future.... which is good because I was getting tired hauling the body off and engine out each time! Also, I have been emptying my wallet, and have a nice new set of shiny, super-light, super-spendy TMR Podium FSL002 rims on their way to me from Japan. They're coming by sea so another 5 weeks or so away, but they'll become my dedicated track wheels when they get here. A useful weight saving on the track as well as the ability to run different tyres on road and track. The original Rimstocks will get checked over and any buckling removed, and will then be stripped back and repainted to be like new again. Here's my new wheels when they got to my agent in Japan and all boxed up ready to come to NZ. Another little thing that I've been working on is a new cam cover. At the last trackday one of the little cast-on pillars that the spark plug cover screws onto fractured off. Given the Exige's alloy spark plug cover is alloy and the Elise/Rover one is plastic, I had been tightening it up a little more as the screws don't bite into the alloy as they do the plastic. This was to prevent them working loose. I think I overtightened it and put the plug cover in tension, and the engine's vibration finished the job. Here's the old cover off the car: And here's the offending fracture: I picked a used cam cover up from the scrappy's, had it stripped down and re-powdercoated in the OEM satin black: Here's a new vs. old comparison... new one is much nicer without years of chips and marks on it I had been using the car without the spark plug cover in place, but it looks much better now it's fitted again, no unsightly plug leads! (excuse the poor quality cellphone snaps): Since I had the clutch done, the engine's picked up a small rattle or tizz sound around 3000RPM. It sounds like a loose bolt somewhere or the manifold is touching something. Tomorrow I'm going to track that down. I'm also going to finish off machining my sump plug temperature sender adaptor and do an oil change. My Eliseparts adaptor doesn't seem to seal well and it's weeped oil from here ever since I built the engine. Hopefully it's the last oil leak for me to chase down! In other news, I went for a spin in the car today with James (JC) and his Exige S out around the Waitakere Ranges. Some lovely roads and a fun little blat and a timely reminder to us both that we should do it more often! We swapped cars and it was interesting to see how his compared. He's got the Cup260 upgrade and the car has so much more torque than mine! You can be in pretty much any gear and it pulls like a train. I'm in no doubt that in the real world it's a much faster car than mine, even if mine has the legs up top. You can feel the extra weight though, but on the flipside it's much more comfortable and usable. It was an interesting comparison! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Just arrived! So shiny and light! I think they'll look good on the car on track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Nice! I was just reading this yesterday thinking I wonder where your at with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 Weather's been a bit wet here lately, so I've been busying myself doing a lot of little odd-jobs on the car. Slowly ticking through them. Nothing interesting, it's all stuff like replacing the wiper blade, re-gluing and cleaning up a couple of little bits here and there. I've also given it a wash, wax, polish, clean-out etc.... it hadn't had one for 6 months and while it didn't exactly look dirty, it's come up so shiny again. Got the TMRs and new Toyo R888s on the car now. Will bed them in on the road and then these will be my dedicated track-rims. Car looks a lot more serious with these on! Even though they're the same sizes as standard, they do look a lot wider than the stock rims. Optical illusions! Also finally got around to fitting my Lotus Sport sun-strip... handy at this time of year with the sun low in the sky! Managed to get it outside during a break in the showers to take a couple of photos at last! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Looks pretty damn badass on those rims chap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Damn........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camo_78 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 i think this thread needs to be retitled with NSFW in it,cause hot damn its car porn on the semi slicks and new rims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 suuuuch a good looking car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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